Chapter 110: Coincidence

As Karl waited for Jack and Oliver to grab some drinks and start causing trouble, his attention shifted toward the parking lot behind the bar.

A new guest had just arrived.

When Karl saw the man step out of his vehicle—

He straightened slightly, no longer leaning against the Quartz EC.

Karl: "I see an interesting target heading into the bar. I think you guys might want to pick a fight with him."

Oliver: "Interesting target? What do you mean?"

Karl: "He's already inside. You'll understand when you see him."

As Oliver received the message, he spotted the man entering the bar.

A large brute, his body covered in glowing, Tyger Claws tattoos.

Fully cybernetic ink, unmistakable.

Tyger Claws Full-Body Ink Implant: Links the user's optics and weapon systems, providing real-time weapon status and granting smart-weapon targeting capabilities.

Seeing this, Oliver immediately understood why Karl had pointed him out.

Because—

By sheer coincidence, this Tyger Claw member was none other than—

Kazuo Sato.

Their bounty target from Father's mission.

Oliver: "Kazuo Sato. Well, now… talk about good timing. Feels like we just stepped outside and found money on the ground."

Karl: "Not exactly. This bar seems to be a regular gathering spot for the Tyger Claws. It's not just some secret backdoor tutoring center for Arasaka Academy. Sato showing up here just means we got lucky with our timing."

It wasn't all that surprising.

Katsu's father was an executive director at Arasaka Academy—

And the Tyger Claws?

They were nothing more than Arasaka's hired thugs in Night City.

Just like the 6th Street Gang was a corporate black ops arm—

The Tyger Claws were the same, just for a different megacorp.

A bar tied to Arasaka would naturally have Tyger Claws patrolling the place.

Hell, they probably ran security here.

Jack: "Still, this is lucky as hell. The Tyger Claws own a ton of bars. What are the chances we'd run into our target here?"

Karl: "Don't get too excited, Jack. You said earlier that this bar has a lot of Tyger Claws hanging around, right? Don't screw this up when you start a fight."

Jack: "Relax. We got this, Karl. Just wait for our signal."

Karl didn't respond, letting Jack's confidence hang in the air.

"Click."

Pulling out Overnight, Karl gave the slide a quick check, making sure it wouldn't jam at the worst possible moment.

Everything looked good.

And so—

He began walking toward the bar.

Kazuo Sato had shown up at just the right time.

Now, he could be used as a cover.

Karl didn't want Arasaka's corporate branches investigating this event too deeply.

If they dug too far, they might connect the dots to Arasaka Academy—

And that would be a problem.

But now?

Father's bounty contract provided the perfect excuse.

The original plan had been simple:

Start some random fight inside the bar.

Use the chaos as cover for Karl to hack into Maxim's head, extract information, and wipe his memory.

But now—

With Kazuo Sato here—

The plan could shift.

Now, it would look like—

A mercenary squad taking out a bounty target for a fixer's contract.

Maxim?

He'd be nothing more than collateral damage.

A "bystander" caught in the crossfire.

No one would suspect that Karl had wiped his memory while he was unconscious.

As far as the world was concerned, Maxim and Katsu had nothing to do with this fight.

Just two unlucky guys who happened to be at the wrong place, wrong time.

And even if Katsu's father was truly their real target—

There was no way he'd ever connect this bar brawl to some larger conspiracy against him.

This situation…

It was like a friend telling you they saw a wild dog biting another wild dog on the street—

The two dogs ran around barking, almost crashing into them.

Would you really worry about whether those dogs were secretly plotting to mug you for your grandma's famous cake recipe?

That would be insane.

To someone like Katsu Tanaka, street mercs, the Tyger Claws, even his own chauffeur—

Were all just stray dogs.

As long as they didn't bite him, they weren't worth a second thought.

Oliver: "Kazuo Sato—are we putting him down, or keeping him alive?"

Karl: "Keep him alive. Toss him in the trunk and send him to Father. He said if we found out why Sato killed that kid's father, he'd pay extra. If we deliver him alive and tied up, Father might even let the kid get revenge himself."

Jack: "That works. Revenge should always be personal. Alright, I'll start. Karl—get ready."

Karl: "Move in."

Karl made his way to the bar's back entrance.

This was the same door used by customers arriving in vehicles.

With Overnight in hand, he took a deep breath—

And waited.

It didn't take long.

A few seconds later—

Chaos erupted inside.

The first thing Karl heard was Jack's voice.

"What the fuck are you looking at? Your corpo-ass eyes shine too bright or something?"

…No way.

Jack was going with that old-school provocation?

But maybe that's why it worked so often.

Karl then heard a brief silence, followed by Kazuo Sato's voice, laced with both confusion and anger.

"What's your problem? You're big as hell—what, I'm not allowed to look?"

"Try looking again."

"Oh yeah? And what if I do?"

"Then try it, dumbass."

BANG!

No hesitation.

The moment Karl heard Jack's customized Doomsday Diva fire—

He rushed inside.

As soon as he stepped in—

A wave of blinding neon lights hit his eyes.

But within seconds—

Karl processed everything.

A few experienced Night City bar-goers had already ducked under their seats, hands over their heads.

Meanwhile—

Eight Tyger Claws had drawn their weapons.

Three bartenders were also pulling guns from beneath the counter.

All of them aiming at Jack, who was still seated at the bar.

And in front of him—

Kazuo Sato, clutching his gut, stumbling backward from the impact.

"Jack aimed for his stomach?"

Even with subdermal armor, Doomsday Diva was no ordinary gun.

There was no way Sato's armor had fully absorbed that shot.

But at least—

Jack was keeping him alive.

Karl stepped forward, gun raised.

Eleven enemies.

With Oliver and Jack backing him up—

This would take…

One second.

The brass shell casing ejected from Overnight, gleaming gold as it spun through the air.

.

.

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