Ritz Bar

Rita had to admit, she had clearly misjudged him.

This man, who didn't even have any combat cyberware on him, was extremely dangerous.

"I like tough guys like you; fighting you is actually satisfying. I want to see how long you can keep that mouth shut."

Chen Nuo shook his hands. He had only broken three of the other guy's alloy ribs, yet his hands were already hurting a bit. He really needed to train more.

"If you keep hitting him, he's going to die."

Rita picked up the metal baseball bat in her hand and tapped it twice against the wall, making some noise to alert Chen Nuo of her arrival.

Seeing Rita appear was like seeing a glimmer of hope for Aiden. He raised his hand and let out an incoherent cry for help.

"Why did you get here so fast?"

Chen Nuo said as he threw another punch, knocking Aiden out cold again.

"Kid, you've got some nerve. Do you know whose turf this is, causing trouble here?"

Rita glared fiercely at Chen Nuo, trying to intimidate him, but it had no effect.

Chen Nuo pulled a stack of tissues from a nearby stall, wiped the blood that didn't belong to him off his hands, and asked calmly.

"Installing micro-cameras in the men's restroom? Can't a guy have some privacy?"

Other than that, there was no other explanation for why Rita arrived so promptly.

"We installed them in the women's restroom too,"

Rita replied nonchalantly.

Of course, they didn't install them for voyeurism.

Although they did capture many eyesore-inducing scenes, the primary purpose was to monitor Lizzy Bar and ensure there were no security blind spots.

This was the consequence of not bringing Lucy out.

These days, if you wanted to do something in Night City without being discovered, how could you manage without a Netrunner by your side?

"Don't be nervous. I'm just here to handle some business. Give me two more minutes and I'll be done. It won't affect your business."

Chen Nuo tried to negotiate with Rita.

Rita didn't speak, just shook her head.

Chen Nuo clicked his tongue, picked Aiden up, and shoved him into the urinal to help him sober up, then spoke.

"Consider yourself lucky. But there's less than three hours before this place closes for the night. We'll continue our chat then."

"Wait... wait a minute, what exactly do you want?"

Aiden asked, wanting to cry but having no tears. Actually, the moment Chen Nuo's first kick landed on him, he had already surrendered.

However, Chen Nuo hadn't asked anything; he just kept pummeling him until he couldn't even speak. To this moment, Aiden didn't even know why he was being beaten, feeling incredibly wronged.

"...Did I not say?"

Chen Nuo looked at Rita and asked.

"How the hell should I know if you said it or not?"

Rita cursed back. If she didn't feel like she couldn't take Chen Nuo down and didn't want to make too much noise in the bar, she would have started a fight with him long ago.

Causing trouble on her watch—he clearly didn't respect her at all.

"Sorry about that, I might have forgotten."

Chen Nuo looked at Aiden, who was beaten so badly even his own mother might not recognize him. He wanted to help wipe the blood off his face, but remembering he had just stuffed the guy into a urinal, he decided against it.

"It's... it's fine."

Aiden's courage had long been beaten out of him by Chen Nuo; he didn't dare say anything else.

"It's like this: you haven't settled the fee for the Netrunner you hired earlier. Please settle it now."

Chen Nuo explained the reason. Only then did Aiden understand. So it was because of this. If you had said so earlier, I would have... "What's wrong?"

Chen Nuo noticed Aiden's changing expression and tilted his head.

"I used the money to get myself a Big Steel Cannon..."

"So you have no money."

"No, no, I can scrape it together right away, believe me."

"Fine."

Chen Nuo was in a decent mood and was willing to give Aiden a chance. He jerked his chin to signal the man could start now, then turned to Rita.

"Everything's fine now."

"Whether everything's fine or not isn't for you to decide."

Chen Nuo didn't speak, just glanced at Aiden. The latter immediately understood, forced a smile, and said.

"We were just playing around, really, it's nothing."

"..."

Rita gave Chen Nuo a vicious glare, but she really had no further reason to cause trouble. Since the victim said it was fine, what could she, a security guard, do? She couldn't forbid people from playing rough.

A short while later, Chen Nuo walked out of the restroom, having washed the blood off his hands, looking as if nothing had happened.

The forty thousand Eurodollar debt had also been transferred to Lucy.

Half was transferred to Kiwi, and half was left for Lucy as pocket money.

Aiden hung his head, looking half-dead.

To scrape together that sum in such a short time, he had pawned off his Big Steel Cannon.

What was the point of all this? If he had known, he would have just paid honestly and wouldn't have had to take this beating for nothing. Not to mention the medical bills, his Big Steel Cannon was gone, and he was now in debt to others.

Ignoring the despondent Aiden, Chen Nuo walked out of the Lizzy Bar entrance.

Rita was leaning against the wall by the door, accompanied by a beautiful woman. Judging by her revealing outfit and implanted cyberware, she was definitely a Sex Doll.

The two were discussing something. When she saw Chen Nuo, Rita immediately called out to him.

"Hey, you, come over here."

"I'm not 'hey you', you can call me BT."

"BT?"

Rita thought the name sounded familiar, but couldn't recall it for the moment. She didn't dwell on it and continued.

"You're an Edgerunner, right? I have a job..."

"Not interested. I'm going back to sleep."

Chen Nuo refused directly. No joke, he had worked overtime long enough today.

"Then don't ever come to Lizzy Bar again. You won't be welcome here, and none of the sisters will do business with you."

"Hiss, what a wicked threat."

Chen Nuo's eyes widened. He hadn't expected Rita to be this kind of person. She looked like she had no brains, but her words could strike where it hurts.

Although he was unlikely to seek out a Sex Doll, her directly stripping away the possibility of him doing so was a completely different matter.

If it were anyone else, Rita certainly wouldn't have made such a threat, but Chen Nuo had caused trouble in Lizzy Bar and was now walking away nonchalantly.

"What's the job? Let's hear it."

Chen Nuo thought about it and stepped forward to ask.

"She and a few of her sisters want to come to our turf to make a living, but their Pimp is holding onto them and won't agree. Aren't you good at communicating with people? Then I'm commissioning you to go and persuade him."

Rita explained.

The matter wasn't difficult for her; it was just a small-time Pimp who could be handled with a bit of intimidation.

But Rita was restricted by her status in the Moxes.

After all, that place wasn't within their sphere of influence. Taking action rashly might alert the surrounding gangs. It was already hard enough for the Moxes to gain a foothold in Night City; they didn't dare to actively seek trouble.

"How much?"

Chen Nuo was more concerned about this.

Rita held up five fingers and waved them.

"Fifty thousand? I didn't realize you were so rich."

"No, five thousand."

"..."

Chen Nuo's expression instantly collapsed. What was this? Were gang members these days living such pathetic lives?

"I just got new cyberware; this is all the money I have in my pocket," Rita explained. She probably felt the amount was a bit hard to justify herself, so she added,

"If that's not enough, I can have these sisters keep you company for a few days."

"Forget that."

"What, you want me to keep you company? That's not out of the question."

Rita seemed quite enthusiastic about it.

"..."

Chen Nuo was silent for a moment, then spoke.

"Five thousand it is. Payment first, then work."

"You really don't want big sister to sleep with you?"

Rita put on a charming expression and winked at Chen Nuo.

"Damn, you're trying to take advantage of me!"

Chen Nuo reached his limit and gave Rita the middle finger.

Damn it, he could tolerate the low pay, but he really couldn't tolerate this.

Was his high-quality original equipment something just anyone could use?

"What's your name?"

After taking the money, Chen Nuo stopped looking at Rita and turned to the Sex Doll beside her.

"Me? Just call me Katie."

Katie said somewhat cautiously.

Sex Dolls like her were basically at the very bottom of Night City.

When they were young, they could be exploited by gangs or Pimps, but once they got older, they would be sold to Scavengers.

Then their removed cyberware would be resold to the next young woman embarking on this path of no return.

Even worse was being sold to XBD producers, suffering unimaginable torture and ending their short lives in endless pain.

Most of them didn't choose this path voluntarily.

Every year, a large number of outsiders flood into Night City. There aren't many jobs for these undocumented people to make a living; selling their bodies is the lowest threshold and the least harmful option.

Other undocumented people might not even live as long as Sex Dolls.

And the Tyger Claws are the biggest beneficiaries of this black industry chain.

"Then what are we waiting for, Katie? Lead the way."

Chen Nuo urged. With only five thousand in profit, how much more of his time did she want to waste?

"Oh, right."

Katie finally reacted and walked ahead to lead Chen Nuo.

The Pimp she mentioned was located on another street, not actually that far from Lizzy Bar. From this, it was evident how small the Moxes' sphere of influence was.

There was no helping it; facing the suppression of the Tyger Claws, who had over five thousand people, it wasn't easy for the Moxes, with only about two hundred members, to maintain the current situation.

There were many brothels of this scale in Kabuki.

Hidden within various residential buildings, when you saw sexually suggestive graffiti on the walls and half-closed doors, you knew what kind of place lay behind them.

Chen Nuo followed Katie to a dilapidated apartment.

The environment here was more than ten times worse than the place he had rented before.

A large tattooed man was crouching at the stairs, holding a katana; one might have mistaken him for a member of the Tyger Claws.

But this was actually just a disguise used to intimidate others.

The tattoos on the Tyger Claws had clear hierarchical meanings and weren't just inked randomly. If a real Tyger Claw member saw this guy, he wouldn't survive for a second.

"Katie! Where the hell did you..."

The tattooed man was somewhat agitated upon seeing Katie and rushed forward while cursing.

However, in the next second, he flew backward at an even faster speed, his head hitting the steps, and he passed out immediately.

Katie froze on the spot, unable to process it for a moment until Chen Nuo gently patted her shoulder.

"Keep going."

"Mm!"

Katie felt an unprecedented surge of courage. Looking at the unconscious tattooed man, she stomped hard on his crotch. Chen Nuo, standing behind her, could hear the sound of eggs cracking.

The tattooed man didn't wake up; his body just twitched uncontrollably.

Most likely, even if he wasn't dead, he was pretty much crippled.

Katie went upstairs and pushed open the door. Various sounds drifted out; one didn't even need to look to know what was happening inside.

Chen Nuo didn't really want to go in, fearing he'd see something eyesore-inducing, but he had no choice. With the job on hand, he could only follow with a sigh.

"Katie? You actually dare to come back. Is it this guy who gave you courage? What, want to leave my hands? Don't forget who gave you a meal in the first place."

The man sitting on the sofa was the Pimp of this place. His cold gaze swept over Katie and finally settled on Chen Nuo. With a little bit of thinking, he knew what was going on.

To be able to bring Katie here, no matter how ordinary he looked, he couldn't be an ordinary person.

"Let's keep it simple."

"How simple?"

The Pimp said coldly as several thugs behind him stood up.

"Either you let me take everyone away, or you all lie down and then I take everyone away. Simple enough, right?"

Chen Nuo really didn't want to kill this group for just five thousand; it would make his work seem very cheap.

If calculated according to the commission Wakako gave, averaged over each dead person, one person should be worth at least ten thousand Eurodollars.

"Haha,"

The Pimp laughed loudly, trying to draw Chen Nuo's attention to give the thugs beside him a chance to pull their guns. However, while the laughter was still echoing in the room, the thugs beside him had all fallen with bullets in their foreheads.

Chen Nuo pressed the hot barrel of his gun against the Pimp's forehead, forcing him back into his seat just as he was about to get up. He said in a flat tone.

"Keep laughing."

"...I was wrong, spare me."

How much backbone could a Pimp who lived off women have? With a slight poke, he collapsed onto the sofa like a deflated balloon.

"What are you still looking at? Bring your sisters out."

Chen Nuo turned back to Katie and casually picked up a gun to toss to her.

Holding a gun for the first time, Katie was a bit nervous, but since she had the courage to run to Lizzy Bar alone for help, she had guts and decisiveness. She soon steadied her wrist and kicked open the partition rooms deep in the apartment.

Before long, gunshots rang out. Several men who didn't even have time to pull up their pants ran out in a panic. When they saw the corpses in the living room, they almost collapsed on the floor.

Then, Katie walked out with her sisters.

"Is everyone here?"

"All here."

Hearing the answer, Chen Nuo put away his kenshin. Seeing this, the Pimp secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but in the next second, his heart was in his throat again.

"Then what about this guy?"

Katie asked, staring intently at the Pimp.

"I still have money... I can give it all to you, spare my life,"

the Pimp said hurriedly.

"I'm not interested in your money. As for your life..."

Chen Nuo patted Katie's shoulder, as if encouraging her.

With a "bang," a gunshot rang out, and the bullet hit the Pimp's stomach. Katie's marksmanship was a bit poor.

But it didn't matter. If your marksmanship is poor, just get closer.

Katie mimicked Chen Nuo, pressing the gun firmly against the Pimp's forehead. Gripping the handle with both hands, she ignored his pleading and fearful eyes and pulled the trigger once more.