"The guy handling the smuggling agreed to et with ."
Karl hung up the call.
"We arranged to et at the back entrance of the logistics center. It's not far—we can walk. Looks like, thanks to doing business with Oliver before, he's happy to talk to ."
As Karl spoke, he noticed Johnson taking off his NCPD uniform and pulling an Ajax assault rifle from the trunk.
[Militech M251S Ajax] Kinetic assault rifle Reliable, practical, and easy to use Requires no extensive training or high-end cyberware The go-to weapon for soldiers worldwide
"Johnson, you're using an Ajax?"
Karl recalled that last ti he saw Johnson, he had a different sidearm.
"All thanks to you."
Johnson inspected the brand-new rifle and smirked.
"Now that my squad actually has decent weapons and armor, I can finally spend so of that 'misallocated' money on myself."
Karl chuckled.
"Damn, is the NCPD really that broke? Bribery, embezzlent—last I checked, you were shaking down street vendors for protection money. How'd you even afford an Ajax?"
Johnson, wiping his new rifle with his sleeve like it was a prized possession, shot back:
"Don't underestimate the Ajax.
For the price, this is the best damn rifle you can get."
Karl raised a brow.
"So the NCPD really does care about budget-to-performance ratio that much?"
Johnson shrugged.
"A brand-new one runs close to 2,000 eddies. You think we don't care?"
For a police chief barely making ends et, finally having a decent weapon was a big deal.
"If it kills, it's a good gun."
Karl glanced at the Ajax, now wondering if he should pick up an assault rifle himself.
His Overnight was great for close-range, but when it ca to sustained firepower, it lacked the ammo capacity to hold up in prolonged fights.
Plus, since he had emptied his entire armory for V and his crew, it was about ti to restock.
Assault rifle? ✅ Shotgun? ✅ SMG? ✅
If he was serious about optimizing his loadout, he'd need all three.
As they walked down the street—
Johnson, with his Arican-looking face, military posture, and Ajax rifle, could easily pass for a 6th Street Gang mber. Karl, hands in pockets, walking like he owned the place, looked more like so corpo kid on a field trip. Ken'ichiro, in a sleek black suit, trailing behind like a silent bodyguard, completed the picture.
The sight of them together?
They stood out imdiately.
So much so that, at the logistics center's back entrance, Karl's contact spotted them right away.
The Smuggler
Young, probably around Oliver's age Grew up on the sa block Took different paths: One joined 6th Street The other stayed legit, got a job at the logistics center
The smuggler eyed Karl's companions, frowning slightly.
"Who are these two?"
He recognized Karl—his reputation preceded him—but he hadn't expected him to show up with two unknowns.
Karl casually introduced them.
"This here is Johnson, NCPD police chief. A friend. He's helping investigate sothing."
"NCPD?!"
The smuggler stiffened, eyes widening in panic.
For soone in the smuggling business, the NCPD was bad news.
But when he saw Karl's expression, he quickly realized sothing...
The smuggler glanced around, then back at Johnson, who was now standing behind Karl. He lowered his voice and asked cautiously:
"Is he one of yours?"
Karl hesitated for a second before answering.
"Uh… he's my friend."
The smuggler nodded, a relieved expression crossing his face.
"As long as he's your 'friend,' that's fine. No worries—I get it. I've got 'friends' like that too."
Saying that, he turned his attention to Ken'ichiro.
Karl continued the introductions.
"He's from the Dangerous Girls Detective Agency. Technically, my boss."
"Wait, what? Dangerous Girls?"
The smuggler frowned, clearly surprised.
"I thought all their detectives were… you know, cat-eared girls?"
Karl sighed.
"Man, you Night City locals really know your shit, huh? First thing you ntion is the damn cat ears. No, he's security personnel. Anyway…"
Karl decided to cut the conversation short before it spiraled into another "old dude detective" debate.
He quickly explained the whole situation to Oliver's friend.
"So let get this straight—"
The smuggler processed the information.
"A cat-eared girl detective went missing while tailing soone. The target she was investigating later turned up dead—his body chopped to bits in City Center. And at the cri scene, you found fresh pig bones?"
Now he was frowning.
"Yeah, that's weird."
Karl perked up.
"Weird?"
The smuggler nodded, his expression serious.
"Yeah. We only smuggled in two pigs recently—one you bought, and the other is still in cold storage. If the pig bones you found were fresh, with no signs of freezing… that ans there's soone else smuggling pigs into the city."
Karl narrowed his eyes.
"Have you seen any other smugglers operating recently?"
The smuggler shook his head.
"Not a single one. Moving real at isn't easy—it takes a whole chain of bribes to make it work. We've been doing this for generations, passed down from our parents. Outsiders? No way in hell they're sneaking in without us knowing."
Karl thought for a mont.
Then—sothing clicked.
"In that case, there's only one possibility."
The smuggler tensed.
"What possibility?"
Karl looked at him.
"Can you take to the storage facility?"
The smuggler's frown deepened.
"Wait, you're saying the pig in storage—"
He trailed off, then gritted his teeth.
"But only our people know where the warehouse is… you're telling there's a problem inside?"
Karl shrugged, offering a solution.
"Just pretend I'm a custor."
He wired the guy 10,000 eddies on the spot.
"If the pig's still there, consider it a sale. I'll buy it right now."
The smuggler hesitated, but Karl had already outmaneuvered him.
Taking random outsiders to see smuggled goods?
→ Not okay. Too risky.
Taking a paying custor to inspect their purchase?
→ Perfectly reasonable.
Karl had given him a way out—he couldn't refuse.
The smuggler laughed in surprise.
"Damn. You don't ss around, huh?"
After a brief pause, he made up his mind.
"Alright. Let's go."
Whether the problem was internal or not, they'd find out soon enough.
.
.
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