Chapter 28

Get up to 15 future chapters at patreon.com/FFAddict !

Please donate power stones and add to collections if you enjoy the story!

The Yu Jin Restaurant.

Five minutes earlier.

Tang Yu was negotiating a business deal with Gloria, seated at a table across from her. Their communication and cooperation were progressing smoothly.

The meal was nearing its end, and out of the corner of his eye, Tang Yu casually noticed two individuals entering the restaurant through the main elevator doors.

Both had an unmistakable Arasaka style, favoring dark reds and deep blacks.

After working in counterintelligence, Tang Yu had become incredibly adept at recognizing faces. He immediately identified the bulky middle-aged man as Tanaka, a high-ranking pure-blooded Japanese executive from Arasaka's R&D department who held a lot of secret information on weapons, equipment, and, most importantly, human biological research.

The military-grade Stanivest human operation data that they needed to acquire was an assignment request issued by the R&D department, which, after approval at the higher-level meeting, was assigned to Arthur Jenkins.

Gloria, with her back to the entrance, was unaware of Tang Yu's observation and continued to discuss matters quietly and politely.

While it was common to encounter Arasaka counterparts at Yu Jin, what drew Tang Yu's attention was the boy following Katsuo.

Tang Yu remembered Katsuo's face from David's life simulation and was well aware of the extremely bad blood between him and David.

Sure enough.

As soon as Katsuo entered the restaurant, his eyes met David's in a surprising and almost instinctual clash. Both their reactions were of astonishment.

Tang Yu inwardly winced on behalf of David.

"Running into Katsuo just by stepping out?"

"And always at the worst possible times..."

"David's life is truly filled with dark humor."

Tang Yu then saw David duck into the restroom, and not long after, Katsuo took the chance to follow suit. Tang Yu guessed the latter was going in to cause trouble for David.

However, Tang Yu believed it wasn't the right time for them to create a scene. Dragging Gloria and David into Arasaka high-level executives' view would jeopardize her role as an intermediary.

Moreover, Tanaka from R&D was sitting there, a member of the Arasaka Academy Council—if he was dead set on expelling David, it would almost certainly seal his fate.

So, Tang Yu excused himself, telling Gloria he needed to use the restroom.

Gloria briefly stood to watch Tang Yu leave the table, then glanced around, searching for David, only to realize he was nowhere to be seen in the hall.

"Where did David go?" she wondered.

Despite looking around again, she couldn't spot where David had gone.

At that moment, a gentleman from the bar approached Gloria, offering to assist her. Gloria outright rejected him with a displeased expression, showing a strong aversion to the approach and flirtation from a stranger.

All she wanted was to find out where David had gone. She called over a waiter to inquire about the whereabouts of the tall boy who had just been sitting at her table.

The attentive waiter informed her that David had entered the restroom and should still be inside.

Gloria was relieved but thought it odd that he had not come out for so long, suspecting he might have overeaten and upset his stomach, so she casually asked the waiter another question.

"Is the food in the self-service area free?"

The waiter politely explained, "Ma'am, our Yu Jin Restaurant does not offer a complimentary buffet. All dishes are priced according to the menu."

Gloria was puzzled.

She remembered Tang Yu clearly saying that the buffet was free. Since it was her first time eating at Yu Jin Restaurant, she wasn't too familiar with its policies.

"And how are the charges for your buffet going to be calculated?" she asked.

The waiter confirmed, "Ma'am, we charge the original menu prices. The dishes in the self-service area are delicately prepared cold foods from our kitchen."

Gloria felt something might be wrong. If David had eaten too much, it could potentially go over the budget, maybe even way over. She quickly followed up.

"How much did the tall boy spend just now? I would like to see the bill."

All dishes in the self-service area were automatically charged to the table as soon as the food was taken from the station."Please wait a moment," the server's cybernetic eye glinted as it calculated the amount due. "Your total is 5,020 Eurodollars."

Gloria's suspicions were confirmed by the amount, and she sighed in resignation, covering her forehead with her hand. "Sigh... I knew this place wasn't quite right for me." She was about to pay for her bill from the buffet area when the server politely declined.

"Madam, it's like this: All expenses have been charged to our exclusive member's electronic account. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make a second payment or transfer the charges."

Gloria hadn't expected Tang Yu to have picked up the check in advance—it was no wonder he mentioned the buffet area was free. With everything charged to him, it was free for David! "Is this the power of a high-level Arasaka executive? Such frightening financial might..." She mumbled to herself, "I owe him a big favor again. But is this really okay?"

She resettled into her seat, a whirlwind of emotions in her mind, lost in thought as she gazed out at the city's nightscape. The most luxurious and bustling district of Night City was right beneath her feet; high-end AVs glided through the air at the same altitude as her—a sight too surreal to be part of her life. Were it not to repay a favor, she never would have splurged in a place like this.

The experiences of the past few days had been bizarre enough. Working in a public medical center, she knew all too well that car accidents in Night City were common, but encountering a good Samaritan, especially one from the corps, was truly rare. "This is even more absurd than meeting God himself..." she pondered. "A middleman... maybe he wants to benefit from me? But I have little left to lose, and David's future, bright as it may be, probably won't outweigh his destiny."

Lost in her thoughts, Gloria felt dazed. Agreeing to the middleman was already an accident. She had dealt with some cyberpunks but never got involved in anything too dangerous. "His intentions are truly inscrutable..."

Suddenly, she noticed a burly middle-aged man in a suit pass by, a serious expression on his face as he made his way toward the restroom. The emblem of Arasaka was printed on the cufflink of his sleeve. Tanaka, after receiving a distress call from his son, felt a twinge of irritation. He hadn't expected his own son to run into trouble just going to the restroom.

He walked slowly to the bathroom and soon found his son, Katsuo, collapsed on the floor, clutching his face in pain. Seeing his father, he crawled over with difficulty, pointing at Tang Yu and cried out, "Father, it was him! He's the one who beat me up!" Wincing in pain, he implored, "Father, you mustn't let this man get away!"

Tanaka looked toward Tang Yu, his face expressionless, activating his cybernetic eye to confirm the identity of the man his son accused. Meanwhile, Katsuo kept crying and complaining but was bluntly interrupted by his father, who disapproved of his son's behavior—seeking help instead of defending himself was not in line with his own tough nature and style. "Get out," Tanaka ordered.

Katsuo's pleading expression froze, but he did not dare to disobey his father. After a moment of hesitation, he swallowed his pride and respectfully left the restroom, glowering back at Tang Yu with resentment and fury until he was out of sight.

Once he ordered his son to leave, Tanaka continued, "The incident between you and Abernathy in the elevator this morning has already spread throughout the company. Why did you have a conflict with her?"

Tang Yu, moving from the cubicle to the washbasin, glanced at Tanaka's reflection in the electronic mirror and replied: "Abernathy and I have never gotten along. I've heard that many in the company have privately nicknamed me 'Mad Dog.' Sometimes I quite like the nickname. But right now, I think Director Abernathy might be more suited to the title of 'Mad Dog' than me."