The Creators: From Night City

Page 292

Chapter 579 Black Lacquer Well

"You knew from the beginning that I had come from the moon?" Matilda was extremely surprised.

"Wake up, little sharp fruit. In this world, no one will save a complete stranger for no reason, unless she is of use." Song Zhaomei slightly pulled down her mask, revealing two tiny ventilation holes around her lips, and also took a small sip of water from the tank.

“You’re right.” Matilda agreed with the lark’s statement.

“I do have a way to smuggle myself to the moon.” The young former waitress scratched her hair in distress, only to find a sticky stain on her hand, which only made her more frantic.

“But,” she gave a wry smile, “although I hate it when the main character says ‘but’ during Mewtwo movies, but but, they only care about money, not people. The money in my account has been locked up for a long time. Do you have any money?”

Song Zhaomei certainly had money, and a lot of it, but she was in a similar situation to the other party. If she didn't want to be blocked at the cabin door by the new American spaceship the moment she set off, she wouldn't be able to spend a single penny of her money.

“I’ll figure out the money. We can try to get a local’s account to layer and avoid being tracked. But you need to tell me the truth now: how much money will it cost if we smuggle ourselves to the moon? Also, you need to confirm whether this route is still usable.”

“Based on last year’s market rates, it would cost at least 12 euros for two people. As for the route, it’s in ‘Cocoon Village.’ We’ll go check it out in a bit,” Matilda replied without hesitation.

The two were like rabbits being chased by dogs, never stopping for a moment, and turned around to go to the location of the smuggler that Matilda had mentioned.

'Black Lacquer Well'

Even within the "Cocoon Village," the "Black Lacquer Well" is a very special place.

What makes it special is that not only are the lighting conditions extremely poor, but the entire settlement is built in a single vertical shaft.

Here, various crudely made metal structures grow wildly in three-dimensional space, forming countless suspended platforms with "mezzanine" structures. Countless swaying rope ladders, creaking metal walkways, and rusted fire ladders connect different levels.

The lighting conditions here are poor; flickering little signs, cheap LED strips, fluorescent lights, and various indicator lights salvaged from other places make up all the illumination. This results in a significant portion of the area being shrouded in a permanent, greasy gloom, with heavy shadows engulfing everything.

It also devours all morality.

As soon as the two women entered one of the many passages leading to the "Black Lacquer Well," they were surrounded by several people.

Although there is order here, it only exists within the light; darkness is a paradise for the disorderly.

"Two little girls, what's wrong? Just ended up here? This isn't a good place, it's dangerous." The leader of the 'roadblock ghosts' was greasy all over, and his face, wearing a tattered air-purifying mask, gleamed with a cold, eerie blue light in the dim light, but you could tell from his eyebrows and eyes that his expression was extremely lewd.

Matilda and the lark did not have any guns at the moment. Fortunately, although one of them had not had much contact with firearms since childhood, she had a wealth of experience in fighting. Although the other did not bring a gun into the Crystal Palace, she did not rely on firearms for combat in her daily life.

"Get out of my way!" Matilda pulled a short but sharp dagger from her pocket and threatened the other person.

In such a confined space, long weapons are simply not usable; only close-quarters combat offers any room for maneuver.

"Oh my, you've got quite a temper." The other person shook his head and laughed jokingly with his companion, "Little sister, your brother isn't easily intimidated."

"Why waste words with them?" the lark said coldly over the communication channel.

She had already anchored the brain-computer interface codes of the entire enemy force. With just a thought, her state-of-the-art hacker combat cybernetic body could roast the brains of all of them in milliseconds.

"Keep it down. We're not here to cause trouble. Let me try first." Matilda quickly stopped the lark's actions. Once the other party made a move, it would be a big show.

"Don't give me that crap. I'm here to talk business with Captain Three-Eyed Jack. You'd better not mess around." Matilda handled the situation with ease, no different from a seasoned veteran who frequented the gray areas.

In fact, aside from the two years she worked a proper job, she was mainly a marginal figure in the Tycho colony, just trying to make a living.

Captain Three-Eyed Jack Sparrow's reputation seemed quite famous here. After Matilda uttered the name, the other party indeed glared at the two of them awkwardly a few more times, but ultimately didn't linger. He muttered curses and disappeared into the darkness, making way for them.

“Captain Three-Eyed Jack, that’s a really strange title.” Lark’s prosthetic eye was a high-grade military-grade product, far superior to Matilda’s. At least in this dimly lit environment, her prosthetic eye, with its night vision mode activated, was perfectly clear, so she led the way for the two of them.

“Nothing’s strange about him. He’s a true captain.” The ship Matilda was referring to was definitely not a sailboat, but a spaceship capable of traveling in space.

To be precise, it was a dilapidated cargo spaceship.

"You'll see when you meet him, that nickname is definitely not wrong..." The two voices gradually faded away as they moved forward.

But not long after, the passageway welcomed new guests.

This visitor was clearly a lone wolf. He was wrapped in a loose, entropy-increasing style coat, and like most of the residents of the 'Cocoon Village' who had the means, he wore a half-covered air-filtering mask and covered his eyes with dusty combat goggles, making his features impossible to see.

As soon as he stepped into the dark passage, the group of ghosts that blocked his way jumped out of the darkness again, and the leader of them probed him with frivolous words.

Those who can survive here all possess a unique way of doing things and a set of wisdom specific to this place.

They won't attack right away, but will first test the waters with words. Only if the target shows fear or weakness will they reveal their cruel side, and vice versa.

This guy is obviously a tough nut to crack.

He wasn't interested in saying a word, but instead used his obviously high-end metal prosthetic arm to part the corner of his coat, revealing a delicate short blade and the grip of a "gel nail" pistol tucked into his waistband.

The group immediately realized they had bitten off more than they could chew. Without uttering a sound, they scattered into the darkness, fearing that if they were too slow, they would be left behind forever.

Unlike the Tsunami's 'Air Hammer' series, the High Knights' Screaming III "Gel Nail" series pistols, while also following the 'power-controlled' space firearm design philosophy, have innovatively proposed a new weapon shooting concept of 'highly effective injury/paralysis with minimal environmental damage'.

Chapter 580 Oil Wrench

The "gel nail" pistol fires short, hard alloy nails (about 3.5 cm long) encased in high-density viscoelastic gel. These special gel bullets are accelerated by chemical propellants at the moment of firing. Upon impact with the target, the gel deforms immediately, absorbing most of the subsequent kinetic energy while "nailing" the nail into the target's body, causing severe lacerations and intense pain. However, the presence of the gel itself also significantly reduces the penetrating power of the nail, making it difficult for it to penetrate the outer layer of the space station or even hard, lightweight armor.

However, this does not preclude it from possessing immense deterrent power within a space station where kinetic weapons are strictly controlled.

Although these types of guns have a short effective range and the gel bullets risk expiring if stored for a long time, the fact that someone possesses one, a weapon capable of causing death, already indicates the special status of the person in question.

"What a bad day!" The leader of the roadblocks pulled a small metal wine flask from his greasy pocket. Amidst the others' eager gazes, he took a sip of the cheap alcohol inside, shook it, and realizing there wasn't much left, simply handed it to his accomplice as a way to win him over.

Perhaps it was this drink that brought him good luck, because before his companions had finished sharing the wine, four more passersby came through the dimly lit passage.

Although all four of them had donned work coats with hoods in a space-themed style to blend in with the local culture, their completely new attire and the glimpses of their fair skin that occasionally peeked out as they walked made the roadblock leader realize that these four were definitely wealthy patrons from the rich neighborhood looking for thrills.

'Yongzhai' is considered a 'famous attraction' within the Crystal Palace. There are always some rich people who are too comfortable and tired of their good life, so they want to come to places like this to seek excitement.

This happens frequently and is not unusual.

The leader of the roadblocks didn't rush out; instead, he tried to determine how many of the four were hired guards and what their equipment was like.

This is also the main difference between a fat sheep and a dangerous outsider.

After observing them for a while, he successfully determined that the four men were unarmed.

So he rushed out excitedly again, only to find that three of the four women were exceptionally tall and beautiful, looking him up and down with their very similar pretty faces.

The other person's expression showed no fear, not even much surprise, only curiosity.

"The one blocking the way? You must have a lot of lives on your hands, right?" The leader of the group suddenly spoke up. This roadblock genius suddenly noticed that the other man's eyes were emitting a faint golden light in the darkness.

He was about to launch into a long-winded explanation of "This mountain is mine, this tree is mine," when he was ruthlessly interrupted by the other party.

“Night ghosts really are everywhere. Judging from this situation, this place is even worse than Night City. Don’t listen to his nonsense, just burn it down.” Jiang Bing tapped his cane and turned to say.

Kragg, already annoyed by the lecherous stares from the group blocking her way, heard this and a cruel sneer appeared on her cold, beautiful face.

The next moment, flames shot into the sky inside the passage, illuminating all the dark corners that had not been lit for decades.

"Lord Sabur, why don't we just grab that bird at the casino and leave instead of letting her run around?" Klara walked forward with a furrowed brow, the dirty and chaotic environment around her always reminding her of the Sick Village.

Jiang Bing, who was "fishing," had golden flames flashing in his eyes as he toyed with the resin bullet in his hand.

Klara understood instantly.

The four figures continued forward, disappearing into the darkness.

An oval-shaped illegal building, supported by a tangled array of scaffolding, brazenly occupies the best prime location in this abandoned gravity well. Compared to the dim environment inside the well, this shady shop called 'Oil Wrench' is brightly lit.

Several broken cans collided with each other with a loud crash.

Under these circumstances, the shopkeeper even managed to put a retro wind chime under that broken iron gate.

"What would you like?" A young salesman behind the counter, who was fiddling with the machinery in his hands, looked up and asked, revealing an old-fashioned multi-lens microscope over his left eye.

"Seat," Matilda replied.

The other party visibly perked up, as if a big deal had come their way.

Where are you going?

"The Moon, Tycho's Colony."

"How many seats do you need?"

"two"

When are you leaving?

"The sooner the better."

"We can't leave now, there are no boats available right now," the salesman said, taking off his magnifying glasses and shrugging.

"Not even black flags? I can pay more." Matilda frowned, then added through gritted teeth.

As soon as these seemingly coded words were uttered, the salesman's lazy demeanor instantly changed, and he scrutinized the two men with a serious expression.

Song Zhaomei, who is covered in super hacker prosthetics, noticed that a camera with depth scanning capabilities in the corner of the shop had been quietly activated. However, she did not stop it or make a fuss. Instead, she tried to hack into the security system of the other party using shortwave communication.

"You're not a local, are you?" the salesperson asked.

"It turns out that Tycho had dealt with the Black Riders a few times before, and he came here through Captain Jack's connections."

Matilda answered fluently.

The other party's prosthetic eye lit up slightly, clearly indicating that it was receiving information.

"Alright, since you're on the same side, go inside and talk to the captain face-to-face." The salesperson gestured towards the inside of the shop, put on the multi-lens microscope, and sat back down behind the counter.

The two then followed the direction the other pointed and entered the inner room.

After passing through an airtight door, the two clearly felt that the air inside the room was much better than outside.

At the very least, the sticky feeling from being filled with sweat and oil is reduced by more than half.

"Welcome," a burly man wearing a tube-type oxygen mask said, turning his chair so that it faced the two women, under the watchful eyes of two men who were leaning against various medical equipment with their arms crossed. He then gestured for them to sit down.

As the old saying goes, there are no wrong nicknames, only wrong names.

Captain Three-Eyed Jack Sparrow, true to his name, does indeed have three eyes.

However, his three prosthetic eyes were arranged in a very strange way. He did not follow the example of Erlang Shen, who opened his third eye on his forehead, nor did he hide his third eye behind his head like some marginalized people, so that he could always be on guard against enemy attacks.

His three prosthetic eyes were arranged horizontally on his face, making his face look like that of a member of the Whirlpool Gang, which looked very strange.

“We need two seats, Captain Jack,” Matilda said, sitting down without any pretense.

“Two women.” The other person blinked three eyes in turn, carefully observing the two women.

"Two young and beautiful women, two women who would rather sail on a black-flagged ship than leave this place. I smell trouble coming from you."

Chapter 581 The All-Seeing Eye

"Even the famous Captain Jack Sparrow is afraid of trouble?" Matilda provoked.

Unexpectedly, the other party completely ignored her provocation.

"No one likes trouble because trouble means variables and additional risks."

"It also means you can get extra euros," Song Zhaomei suddenly said, adding coldly.

Captain Jack suddenly burst into laughter, which was so loud that it turned into coughing.

"Ha, what a profound insight, down to the cleavage itself."

"Stop talking nonsense and give us a number," Song Zhaomei continued.

"30 euros," the other person said, holding up one finger, indicating a person.

“I didn’t charge you extra money. Recently, Crystal Palace’s immigration department has been strictly checking all departing ships. If you want to sneak out, you can only board the ship through a special channel.”

"What special passage?" The lark didn't even bother to answer the price, as if the wages a track worker could save up in five or six years without eating or drinking were nothing to her. Instead, she was more concerned about the special passage the other party was talking about.

Captain Jack simply smiled and did not reply.

Song Zhaomei understood perfectly well what the other party meant; this was an industry secret, and the other party couldn't easily reveal it.

"When is the earliest we can leave?" She wisely didn't press further, but instead asked about the time issue that concerned her the most. The longer they stayed in the Crystal Palace, the greater the chance of them being caught, so naturally the sooner they left, the better.

"23 hours later." Captain Jack's prosthetic eye flashed a few times as he calculated the optimal timing.

“At that time, the Crystal Palace will be inside the lunar umbra cone, and we will have a 'dark window' of more than forty minutes to sneak out.”

The lark agreed to this timeframe, and the two sides reached a settlement.

As Matilda had said, this 'Three-Eyed Captain Jack' was indeed famous here and very trustworthy in business. Apart from business, there were no other complications. After agreeing on the time and place for the transaction, he sent the two of them out.

As soon as they stepped outside, the lark eagerly asked Matilda, "What does the black flag mean?"

The young waiter, still worried about the 30 euros per person payout, could only reply with a hint of distress: "It's a space pirate ship."

Just as the oceans of the Age of Exploration were teeming with pirates, space pirates also exist in the vast expanse of space. They pilot spaceships and roam between the space stations of various powers, occasionally engaging in activities such as looting space station supplies, robbing supply ships, and even attacking important space facilities of major companies.