118 Chapter 117

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Before dawn, the Badlands fell into an even deeper darkness. Tang Yu sat by the campfire, staring intently at the flames that crackled and popped. Beside him, Panam added a log to the fire, making it burn brighter. Sasha sat on Tang Yu's other side, warming her hands by the fire, yet her gaze never left him. Gloria and Maine were talking with an elder wearing a cowboy hat from the tribe, who couldn't stop expressing his gratitude. Even though they were paid for the job, it was clear that the task had far exceeded expectations.

Dorio, Rebecca, Kiwi, and Falco were sitting around another fire, clearly separated. After a fierce battle, everyone present fell silent. Though they had dealt with the Wraiths and a small contingent of Kang Tao cyber-enhanced troops, the heavy atmosphere had yet to dissipate, and a tense mood filled the tribe. Maine and the others had been in desperate straits, trapped against the canyon walls with Kang Tao heavy combat drones above and cybernetic robots advancing up the slope—a complete dead end. Thanks to Tang Yu and his team, they broke the siege. Panam fired an RPG rocket from afar, taking out the drone and creating a gap in the enemy's firepower, while Gloria drove up the slope, allowing Sasha in combat mode to storm into the robot ranks.

Tang Yu and Gloria continued their pursuit of the biotech company's personnel, capturing Alex Pushkin and delivering him to Maine who took him back to the tribe. Now, Alex was hanging at the entrance of the tribe's camp, with every passing tribal member able to pick up a stone and hit him.

Panam looked up and noticed the loli by the other campfire, who seemed to be staring at Tang Yu and Sasha with a questioning look. "What's going on?" she asked. "It seems like those mercenaries know you."

Tang Yu asked Gloria to discuss the follow-up matters with the tribe, as it wasn't of much concern to Panam. Sasha was also eager to know the backstory, so she watched Tang Yu attentively, waiting for him to tell the story. Just as Tang Yu was about to explain, another figure came over, sat down on a small stool opposite the fire, and said with dissatisfaction, "I want to hear it too." She looked suspiciously at Sasha and then at Tang Yu, filled with puzzling question marks as if she couldn't understand why the company's guy was here, why Sasha didn't know her, and how she ended up with him.

It was all so strange!

Rebecca had wanted to ask ever since she had seen Sasha suddenly appear, followed by the sudden arrival of company personnel. Then Sasha got into the company car, and Rebecca was almost shocked for a whole year. On the way back, Dorio held Rebecca in the passenger seat, stopping her questions several times. Falco and Kiwi sat in the back, guarding the biotech company staff. Maine drove without saying a word, his expression extremely grave. Rebecca held back her questions until they reached the tribe.

When she heard someone at the campfire ask the same questions, Rebecca could no longer contain her curiosity and wanted to hear Tang Yu explain everything. Tang Yu knew that Rebecca had also been involved in the commission and there was no problem telling her. "This all ties back to the company," he started. "Biotechnica was developing a super bacterium while simultaneously researching a new antibiotic."

"Now, they've developed an experimental product and need to conduct clinical trials. Unlike other products, clinical trials for drugs must have a massive amount of sample data."

"Biotechnica didn't want to spend much on volunteers but wanted plenty of trial subjects, so they set their sights on the nomad tribes of the Badlands."

Panam was furious when she heard this, cursing, "Is this how those corpo rats treat nomads? Don't they have a shred of humanity? Not a single good thing about them!"

Hearing Panam's anger, Sasha and Rebecca both looked at her. It was a bit improper to curse about the company in front of its employees. Panam, with her straightforward character, didn't care about these things. She didn't know Tang Yu's identity and simply urged him to continue, "Come on, keep talking; I'm listening."

Tang Yu smiled helplessly, "You're right; not a single good thing comes from the companies." He went on to reveal that Dr. Joanna Koch, the director of Biotechnica's R&D division, decided to use the nomad tribes for clinical trials, authorizing Alex Pushkin to oversee it. Alex, unable to find volunteers within the tribes, contacted the notoriously bad Wraiths, as no other tribe would take on such dirty work.

To avoid drawing attention and causing a larger issue, Biotechnica didn't want the Wraiths to introduce the bacterium into water supplies. They targeted the weaker 'Red Dirt' tribe, with the Wraiths moving into action with Biotechnica's covert approval.

After hearing the full story, Panam cursed again, decrying the cowards for preying on the weak. This time, Sasha and Rebecca agreed with Panam's assessment, considering the Wraiths a true Badlands cancer.

Tang Yu could only tell them, "Whenever there's appropriate profit, companies get bold. With a fifty percent profit, they take risks. With a hundred percent, they trample all human laws. With three hundred percent, they dare commit any crime."

Reflecting on the vast investment Biotechnica made in antibiotic research, he suggested they had likely secured buyers willing to pay even more. The hundreds of thousands of eurodollars they'd make from selling corpses were mere drops in the bucket for them. The Kang Tao cybernetic troops were just one of many security services outsourced by Biotechnica.

After Tang Yu's explanations, the group fell silent, realizing how corporations, with control over money, technology, resources, and armaments, could indeed wage long wars. Not even Night City, the most "free" city in the world, was free from the corporate shadow.

Rebecca felt disillusioned. Although she'd always despised corporations, she now felt their oppressive, hopeless grasp. A tribe of a thousand might be a strong force in the Badlands, but to a corporation, they were nothing but dirt.

Rebecca glanced at Tang Yu, who was calmly tending the fire as if discussing everyday matters, yet his clear eyes shone with the light of the fire. She couldn't fully understand why he, a company man, would share such things, but she sensed an intangible understanding in his eyes. Not wanting to dwell on troubling matters anymore, Tang Yu shifted the conversation away.

Everyone knows that corporations are the root cause of all misfortune, but being born in Night City, we can only numbly accept everything.

After all, life must go on, right?

Gloria finished discussing matters with the elder and turned to crouch beside Tang Yu, whispering, "They've paid the fee for this mission, a total of 100,000 Eurodollars. Maine gets 60%."

"Additionally, the tribal elders are willing to cover the vehicle losses for Maine and his team."

Tang Yu nodded slightly. The vehicle damage, ammunition consumption, and other expenses totaled up to 60,000 Eurodollars, which wasn't much profit, so it was good that the tribe was willing to take on more.

Gloria then suggested, "There's a lot of salvage left from the Wraith's convoy and Kang Tao's automated transport units. It's inconvenient to take it all back, how about we let the tribe handle it?"

Tang Yu had the final say since it was his team that had taken down the bounty. But these spoils were of no use to him, though he considered that the Red Mineral Tribe could use parts of it, like firearms, ammunition, and vehicle parts, to improve their self-defense capabilities.

However, giving the Kang Tao armored vehicle to the Red Mineral Tribe would be a waste and might attract unnecessary attention from Kang Tao, stirring up trouble.

Turning to Panam, Tang Yu asked, "How about a gift for your tribe?"

Panam was puzzled and retorted, "What kind of gift? Don't think about using junk in place of payment, sweetheart, I won't settle for that."

Tang Yu proposed, "Kang Tao's ground armored vehicle, a big toy. If given to the Aldecaldos, your top mechanical engineer Mitch could have something interesting to work with."

Panam's interest sparked at the thought of enhancing her camp's mechanization and transportation capabilities while allowing Mitch to develop more useful technologies.

But then she frowned, suspicious of Tang Yu's generous offer, and challenged, "Why? Name your price, and as long as it isn't outrageous, I can convince Saul."

Tang Yu responded with a smile, "How about this for price: if I ever fall on hard times, let me take shelter with you."

Panam felt there was something off about his words but reassured with bravado, "That day won't come. But deal, I indeed want that armored vehicle. The Aldecaldos owe you one, and I've got your back in the Badlands."

Gloria, Sasha, Rebecca, and Panam all followed as Tang Yu and the elder explored the Red Mineral Tribe's camp, learning about their structure and history while witnessing the men standing guard and the others returning with spoils.

Finally, Gloria informed them that the tribe was grateful and sought their services for another job - assassinating Kang Tao's behind-the-scenes mover, the director of biotech R&D, Joanne Koch.

Eliminating a high-ranking corporate executive posed a considerable challenge, but as long as Joanne Koch remained in Night City, there was a chance to strike.

The elder, grateful for Tang Yu's assistance, invited everyone to visit their camp.

Tang Yu, uninterested in gratitude, believed more credit was due to Gloria's bravery and Maine's and his team's valiant efforts. 

A whimsical moment occurred when Tang Yu noticed a smart pistol, Skippy, with a sassy AI, singing on the ground. He played with it briefly, then passed it to Gloria, explaining its self-aiming features.

Mission done, he considered it time to return. The decision to accept the elder's new offer was left to Gloria, as Tang Yu's corporate affiliations made such involvement less suitable.

Bidding farewell to the elder, Tang Yu set off towards home, walking into the dawn's early light.