"Wow, so everyone in the Tiger Claw gang is gonna die today, huh?" Jack's naive smile seemed quite festive.
"What do you think? The four of us can't all blend in," Luo Qi sought everyone's opinion. "Just now, someone went to the bathroom upstairs. We could follow him, one by one. There's a guard at the door on the second floor. If we're going to make a move, we better do it quickly. Time is of the essence."
With a swoosh, the four of them stood up, attracting the attention of the guards at the entrance.
"Hey, buddy, I want to ask you something."
Luo Qi leaned on the wall with one hand, casually chatting with the tall guard.
The guard's gaze followed Mo Er into the bathroom and then watched V and Jack head to the back, gradually lowering his guard.
"What's up...gah!"
He had just turned his head when he felt his gaze forcibly turned back. Only this time, it wasn't his muscles but his entire spine that did the turning.
Luo Qi dumped the guard's body in the bathroom, along with the skinny guy who Mo Er had punched to death against the wall.
"Any gains?"
"A token." Mo Er held a Cloudtop chip in her hand.
"...Wait, let me check." Luo Qi looked at her, groping the corpse, "Got it."
Two shiny gold access tokens reflected the same light under the bathroom's lampshade.
In no time, V and Jack dragged another body in and tossed it on top.
"Three in total..." V checked the tokens in hand, "Still missing one."
"No one's at the entrance, no one will stop us," Luo Qi said. "Let's go straight up."
"Right."
The four of them walked up the stairs, meeting the puzzled gazes of the Tiger Claw gang members on the second floor. They each sat down at random places.
"Only two cameras on the whole second floor? Your security measures are not up to par."
V held a freshly mixed cocktail, speaking to the Tiger Claw gang member wearing sunglasses next to him.
"With us here, there won't be any problems."
For VIP customers, this was their source of cold hard cash.
Perhaps due to the Tiger Claw gang's policy of not seeking trouble, the guy was fairly polite and responded with a muffled voice.
"Seems like we can avoid some unnecessary damage, right, Jack?"
Luo Qi sat a few meters away, nodding at Jack, who was munching on snacks.
?
The guard revealed a vigilant look, but seeing Luo Qi's laid-back appearance, he relaxed again.
After a while, V walked out and sat next to Luo Qi.
"He doesn't know where Evelyn went either, but the security manager here, called 'Woodman' or something, was the last one to handle her. Woodman's office is over there."
He gestured with his eyes to a door in the corner with "NO ENTRY" written on it.
"Sorry, customers are not allowed in here."
The Tiger Claw gang member placed both hands in front of him and stood at the door, saying.
Luo Qi and V glanced at each other and shrugged.
"Seems like we can't avoid it..."
"Take action."
As soon as the words fell, the Tiger Claw gang member beside Mo Er was punched to death against the wall, his head still bursting with sparks.
Jack kicked the guard with his back to him down the stairs, breaking his neck, and apologetically smiled at the startled customers.
As for Luo Qi and V.
A left jab and a right roundhouse kick, the guard fell dead to the ground in a snap.
Opening the door, they were met with a dimly lit corridor.
It could also be called the backstage or the staff area.
A Tiger Claw gang member, lounging on a sofa, was passionately discussing the difference between "motorcycles" and "motorcycle racing," believing that this cool sport was very impressive.
"Oh, talking about motorcycles?" Luo Qi approached, leaning on the back of the sofa next to him.
"Yeah... huh? Who are you?"
The small-time Tiger Claw gang leader turned his head, puzzled by the grinning stranger up close.
"Crack...!"
His head, with Luo Qi's help, turned even further.
"Look around for clues."
The four of them quietly spread out, searching for traces of Evelyn.
In the backup area for the sex dolls and the Tiger Claw gang, some clues could always be found.
"Have you ever heard of Zhengfa Chengtaro? He's with the Tiger Claw gang."
A faint voice came from behind a door.
"Yeah, I've heard of him. He's a pervert who loves torturing people." It was a man's voice, somewhat effeminate and whiny.
"He's on Mokes' blacklist. Those girls want him dead," the woman said.
"No big deal, darling. What about being on the blacklist? Scum like Chengtaro has been on my blacklist for a long time." The man spoke with a seductive tone.
"Mokes' blacklist is much more dangerous. It's truly lethal."
"I'll believe it when I see his rotten, stinking corpse."
"Definitely."
Mokes gang targeting Zhengfa Chengtaro?
Luo Qi silently noted the name and continued eavesdropping.
"Hey, have you heard about Ri-ko?" The man changed the subject.
"No. Is she related to that politician, what's her name, Xia Zi?" The woman was somewhat absent-minded.
"Yeah. Ri-ko is her daughter. Her body was just found." He whispered.
"Wow, what happened?" The woman seemed more interested now.
"Kichikawa killed her. That's all there is to it."
"Who is this person...?" The woman asked, puzzled.
"Her boyfriend, don't you pay attention to real life at all?" The man explained, "He's from the Tiger Claw gang. I saw them here once, a bunch of them. I've never seen such cyberware before, and each of them had it. You can tell from the way he looked at her, he must have been completely devoted to that woman..."
"Then why did he kill her?"
"I'm also wondering what the hell happened..."
A Tiger Claw gang member named Kichikawa killed the daughter of a female politician named Xia Zi.
There's quite a bit of information in this place.
Luo Qi silently wrote it down in his PDA's notebook.
What's the fastest way for news to spread in Night City?
The company's intelligence department and the underground world's gutters.
Competent intelligence personnel would definitely know a lot of mixed characters from all walks of life.
He looked up.
This was the makeup room.
"What are you squatting here for?" Jack approached from behind and asked.
"Listening for information, it might be useful. How about you guys?" Luo Qi turned his head, "Whoa, did you guys just raid an armory? So many guns?"
Mo Er, V, and Jack each had a gun, both long and short.
"There's a netrunner next door, surfing the web. We killed him and found quite a few things," V said, passing some files to Luo Qi.
A detective named Jin Jie·Ryan obtained Wooden Man's approval to handle case number eleven, which was Evelyn's room, but progress seemed limited. This detective was hired by Maiko, who is the current manager of Cloudtop.
Additionally, Cloudtop Club had detailed information on its customers, from the number of visits, membership duration, VIP level, average spending time, consumption level, and other routine records, to sex dolls, fetishes, occupations, backgrounds, marital history, family, and social relationships.
"The Tiger Claw gang's informants are more professional than peeping toms, always watching their sex dolls and knowing everything going on inside the rooms," V shook his head.
[I knew this would happen eight lifetimes ago.]Johnny Silverhand was quite disdainful of these activities.
"This is just my guess, we haven't figured out whether they use the information themselves or sell it. If they sell, who are the buyers?"
"Competitors, superiors and subordinates, enemies or intermediaries," Luo Qi was well-versed in these things. In Night City, not having any intelligence sources was like a headless fly crashing around, which was no different from seeking death.
The information on Ganbi Tower and Huangsaka Lai Xuan was considered quite high-level.
Furthermore, there were also records of Cloudtop Club's dealings with Evelyn.
[Club Attacked:
At around 1:50 am on Wednesday, a cyberattack occurred in room 11. The witness was named Thomas Briggs. He was connected to the system with a sex doll at the time. The attack caused her to go into shock and exhibit symptoms of mental disorders.
Afterward, it was discovered that the hacker's attack also caused the sex doll's mental breakdown. Considering that Cloudtop might be under a full-scale attack, at 2:06 am, all Cloudtop security guards were called to the scene. Ten minutes later, the Tiger Claw gang's reinforcements also received the call. Fortunately, the hacker's target was only room 11.
Mr. Briggs received first aid and was transferred to a psychiatric clinic for treatment. Starting from today (Friday), the sex doll is deemed unfit for use.]
"It seems that the Tiger Claw gang is not the culprit. I guess Huangsaka hasn't found any trace of Evelyn either, otherwise, they wouldn't have made such a fuss, they would've just sent someone to kill and silence her," V analyzed.
Many clues also confirmed his thoughts.
They also found an event report on a shift change that was completely consistent with the records.
"Hold on a second, darlings, I think you've gone to the wrong place, haven't you?"
The woman who heard the noise outside came and opened the door.