Chapter 68: Chapter 64: Crisis of Trust_2
"Sorry, what’s the result of the conversation?"
The restaurant owner pulled down his scarf, with obvious scratch marks next to the data slot.
"That woman fought with me, refused to give a specific explanation, and just slammed the door and disappeared. I suspect she’s holed up with her lover. If you can find him, just take out that bastard!"
"Be clear, one or both of them?"
John asked seriously.
Internally, though, he wasn’t much agitated.
After all, in the Cyber Era, the probability of infidelity is actually much higher than the probability of a car accident.
The restaurant owner hadn’t made up his mind.
He stayed silent for a long time, only to say:
"Just take out the bastard. I’ll personally talk to Maya. I don’t know how to explain to the kid... about shooting her mother."
[Mission Objective Updated]
[Find Maya’s whereabouts. (Unaccomplished)]
[Investigate Maya’s lover. (Optional)]
John first obtained a photo of Maya, then opened his contacts and sent it to Jilead.
"Buddy, I need your help."
"This woman disappeared near Dan Street. I know finding you guys is definitely more effective than finding the cops. Keep an eye out for this face and let me know if there’s any news."
Jilead took on the task.
John returned to his apartment himself.
The outfit he was wearing was really eye-catching:
Flashy stripes and sequins, the shirt being open-chested due to the lack of a tie.
He looked entirely flamboyant.
Passing by the mezzanine, the girls in the club saw John’s style and teased him directly.
"So, decided to join us as colleagues? I can introduce you to a way into the club, with a face and figure like that, it’s a shame to freeze at a street corner."
John forced a couple of smiles.
Just after showering and changing back into his own jacket, he received a message.
[Jilead [Unread Message]]
[John, there’s news about the woman you’re looking for.]
[The patrolling brothers recognized her as the restaurant owner’s wife, then asked around within the gang. The Habitable Rental Company, my agency, sounds familiar?]
[This woman showed up in the neighboring district a couple of days ago. At the time, she didn’t have a takeout box in hand but went in and out several times frequently.]
[I’ve sent you the specific address. I’ve informed the person on duty, so once you get there, directly use the backend to investigate user information. If she’s indeed in one of the rooms, there will definitely be clues left behind.]
"Thanks, buddy, I’ll bring something good back for you."
John replied to Jilead.
[Mission Objective Updated]
[Head to the apartment. (Unaccomplished)]
John immediately set off downstairs.
The sign for the Habitable Rental Company was set next to the Bolago Club.
The office didn’t change much compared to the last time:
Familiar rap played from the speakers, the desktop was cluttered with handgun parts, a familiar black guy stood in the corner lifting two overweight iron dumbbells.
"I have two more sets, whew~ the information backend is already logged in... whew~ you just... click query."
He didn’t even turn his neck.
The muscles in his arms were extremely explosive, veins protruding through the skin provided sweat paths.
"Alright then, it’s what you said."
John pulled out the data cable.
[Habitable Rental System - Client Records. (Hacked)]
He searched twice inside but didn’t find any rental record for Maya.
She probably changed her name.
So John continued to switch systems, found the monitoring center’s entry point on the main interface.
Data filtering, pulling out.
John’s prosthetic eye kept flashing.
He repeatedly cross-checked the corresponding date and finally saw a similar figure in the elevator.
Since being recognized by gang members, Maya had become much more cautious, even changing her hairstyle.
"Caught you."
John stared at the screen, watching her walk into one of the rooms, moving very cautiously... and professionally.
"Wow~"
John exclaimed in admiration.
This woman’s cheating skills are top-notch, definitely an honor student among habitual offenders.
The black guy finished lifting weights.
He picked up his work clothes draped on the table, wiped off the sweat, and put them back on without expression.
"Can I come with you? The authorization code is in my chip, still one more card to swipe today."
"Whoever made gang assessments is a genius."
John nodded indifferently, unplugged the data cable, and went to the apartment with the black guy.
"I used to work in a company too, totally understand you, really. I just didn’t expect that even in a gang, there are still so many annoying rules."
The black guy seemed a bit straightforward.
He didn’t really want to complain much, instead he felt this kind of steady income life was quite okay,
The salary wasn’t particularly high, but it could cover the cost of prosthetic body maintenance and muscle injections.
There was even some extra on weekends.
He could go out and party all night with his buddies.
John lost interest in complaining.
They walked through the neighborhood, reached the corresponding building, then took the elevator to the door.
John knocked but got no response.
The black guy’s artificial eye flickered, and he directly used an internal authorization code to hack the smart door lock.
It’s no secret that the Habitable Company could open doors.
Members of the Black Gold Gang would even hint this to tenants and offer password-changing services as a side job, accommodating tenants’ privacy needs while also creating additional income.
Guys like John who could handle the security system themselves, even if they are skilled, wouldn’t care as long as the public areas didn’t get trashed.
Maya wasn’t in the room.
The place had just been rented out, the furniture was standard, there were no signs of life, and no traces of DNA.
John found a computer.
He used Black Light to bypass the encryption and found chat logs between Maya and the adulterer.
[...]
[Andrew: You can’t avoid it, Agent. Since you joined the Special Affairs Bureau, you can never return to normal life. You should have understood this long ago!]
[Maya: Fuck you, I’m sick of New America’s doctrines and empty promises. Get out of my life, let’s pretend we never met.]
[Andrew: ...Think carefully about your husband and daughter. Doing what we do and still daring to get married and have kids—do they know how many people you’ve killed in Greenwich?]
[Maya: What the hell do you want?]
[Andrew: I need a batch of weapons. Either help me finish this task or provide some funding, the choice is yours.]
[Maya: I’ve made up my mind. I’ll bring the money to the address—I swear this is the last time!]
[Andrew: That’s my good girl.]
[Andrew: [Coordinates]]
...
"WTF!"
John felt extremely surprised after reading.
"His wife is an agent of the Special Affairs Bureau, blackmailed by her former boss!"
There was no one around to share it with.
John could only smile at the black guy, but he just silently took photos of the surroundings with a terminal.
Beep beep, employee card.
[Dan Street—Loading Dock]
John rode a motorcycle to the designated location.
There were containers everywhere, and cranes were unloading and distributing the goods.
All around were genuinely busy workers.
People from all walks of life rarely came here.
[Talk to Andrew. (Optional)]
John saw a scruffy man sitting in a shabby Calormen mini truck.
He always felt something wasn’t right.
Initiate scan.
[Name: Andrew Ball]
[Faction: None]
[Profile: Former Special Affairs Bureau Intelligence Agent, fled after the UK International Trade Incident, internal authorization revoked, classified as a Level 3 wanted criminal... (Special Affairs Bureau Internal Files)]
John found the information even more interesting after reading.
Maya’s boss was a fraud.
He botched the job, got completely abandoned by New America, and now he’s down and out, extorting his former subordinates.
Andrew noticed the rearview mirror.
A dockworker approached carrying a box.
He realized something was wrong, immediately ducked to the passenger side, trying to escape from the other side.
Bam!
The car door was blasted with a dark hole.
John dropped the disguise box and raised his Technique Revolver called Vodka.
Andrew clutched his bleeding thigh.
Bam!
He was about to draw his gun when another loud bang sounded, and his right arm snapped off at the elbow.
"Wait, don’t rush, what do you want? The intelligence theft really has nothing to do with me, everybody knows it, they just want to kill me to keep me quiet..."
"Tsk tsk tsk."
John raised the gun, covering his face with a scarf.
Andrew regained a bit of composure. "Are you from New America or something else..."
"Mercenary."
"You want money, right? Who would... that bitch Maya paid you how much, I’ll pay you double!"
[Accept the offer, let Andrew go. (Optional)]
[Kill Andrew. (Optional)]