Buzz~
Soon, the tram arrived at the station near the Afterlife nightclub. As the two of them reached the entrance of the nightclub, Jiang Heng heard a roar from the sky. Looking up, he saw a hovercar landing on the roof of the Afterlife.
Jiang Heng: “That's Rogue's hovercar. That old hag really knows how to live.”
Lucy, however, said, “Why don’t you get one too? Doesn’t your apartment have a landing platform?”
“Uh… I can't afford it yet.” Jiang Heng immediately felt a little embarrassed.
His luxury apartment was a gift from the system. If it weren't for the system, he estimated he would have to complete countless missions to afford such a place.
Even though Night City's real estate wasn't considered expensive, that kind of luxury apartment wasn't something ordinary people could even dream of.
Jiang Heng had been in this world for a month, completed quite a few missions, but actually hadn't earned much.
First of all, the payout for mercenaries themselves wasn’t very high, the bulk of the money went to the middlemen. Jiang Heng received a 50% cut from Rogue, which was already a generous offer from her.
Ordinary mercenaries only received a 30% cut when working with middlemen. For example, V and Jackie when they stole the chip from the Konpeki Plaza, the fat, dead-eyed Dexter Deshawn only gave them 30% of the share.
Keep in mind, they were stealing from Arasaka, and even went into Arasaka’s heir’s room to steal.
Yet, even for this level of mission, they only got 30%.
Who is Arasaka Saburo? He is the Crown Prince of Arasaka Corporation!
In the “Edgerunners” anime, the protagonist group claims to be against the corporation, but they didn’t even encounter a single slightly higher-ranking figure in the company.
To David and his friends, Adam Smasher was the strongest figure they could face, but Adam Smasher was just a hired gun for Arasaka.
The real decision-makers like Arasaka Saburo, Arasaka Saburo, Arasaka Hanako, etc., were never even mentioned by name.
But even so, David’s group was still easily shattered.
It was tragic, but also realistic.
Not everyone could be like V, the game's protagonist, who could get his brain blown out and still crawl back from hell.
Also, the missions Jiang Heng completed weren’t actually too difficult. As he said, almost all of them were simply dealing with gang members.
Although Night City’s various gangs are powerful, the low-level thugs are not that strong. They are just cannon fodder.
After all, this is a gang, not a company. How strong can the low-level thugs in a gang be?
Of course, core members of the gang are different.
Therefore, even though Jiang Heng completed a lot of missions, he didn't actually earn much money, even spending most of it on food. He still needed to work hard to buy a hovercar.
But now things were different. With Lucy as his companion, Jiang Heng could take on some more advanced missions.
In Night City, hackers were indispensable. Even in the mercenary circles, this was the case.
Even if Jiang Heng were stronger, without hacking skills, he would be helpless when facing some special missions.
…
Without lingering at the entrance, Jiang Heng and Lucy entered the Afterlife nightclub together.
“Yo~ You’re back again? Found yourself a partner?”
As soon as they entered the nightclub, Claire, who was busy behind the bar, noticed Jiang Heng. However, her gaze quickly fell upon Lucy beside him.
“Yeah, she’s been attracted to my super strong personality. She’s eager to team up with me. Sigh… It’s such a burden to have too much charm.”
“…”
Hearing this self-absorbed and somewhat annoying remark, both Claire and Lucy remained silent.
“Ouch~”
Immediately, Lucy reached out and pinched Jiang Heng’s arm.
“Ahem, just kidding, don’t mind him. This is my new partner, Lucy. This is Claire, the bartender at Afterlife.”
After making a playful remark, Jiang Heng introduced the two women to each other.
Claire had been a bartender at Afterlife for a long time, so she had a lot of connections. It would be beneficial to maintain a good relationship with her.
“Nice to meet you.” The two women also nodded to each other.
“So, what would you like to drink tonight? Want another Johnny Silverhand?” Claire turned to Jiang Heng and joked.
“No, no, I’d rather drink sewage water than that crap. I suspect that brain-damaged fellow got that recipe from drinking sewage water.”
“Hahaha~”
Claire was also amused by Jiang Heng’s words.
Just then, Rogue walked into the bar.
Rogue arrived in a hovercar, so she didn't use the main entrance of the bar. Instead, she came down by elevator. As soon as she entered the bar, she heard Jiang Heng criticizing her ex-boyfriend.
Although Rogue agreed with Jiang Heng’s words, she still had deep feelings for Johnny Silverhand. Even though Johnny Silverhand had been dead for 50 years, those feelings hadn't changed.
Perhaps in this luxurious city, Rogue had changed as a person, but her feelings for Johnny Silverhand would never change.