Chapter 159: Saving Face

After realizing why Karl and Jack had been so full, Oliver nearly lost control of the wheel, almost swerving the car straight into the polluted river—taking both of those assholes down with him.

"Alright, alright, we admit it. Our bad. We just wanted to watch your training session, y'know? Supervise a little."

Karl's words made Oliver's hands twitch on the steering wheel. The slight jerking of the vehicle was enough for Karl to wisely shut his mouth.

What's worse than pissing off a driver while they're behind the wheel?

Pissing off a driver with road rage.

"If you don't know how to shut up, Karl, just don't talk."

Jack, riding shotgun, tried to console Oliver. "Look on the bright side, at least for once, we actually ate till we were full."

The car shook even more violently, causing a few nearby drivers to lower their windows and curse at them.

"Oh yeah? You two ate plenty—but I was left with nothing but scraps."

Oliver gave Jack a deadpan side glance.

"Eyes on the road, Oliver! The road!"

Karl, sitting in the back, was genuinely concerned. Oliver behind the wheel was scarier than any firefight. If they crashed the car, fine—Karl would just squeeze in uncomfortably. But if they hit someone, that would be a problem.

"I am watching, relax. My optics are crystal clear."

After making a sharp turn, Oliver refocused on driving and muttered, "Anyway, what's the job today? The blue-eyed guy send over a gig?"

"Nope. He said to wait a few days. And with guys like that, 'a few days' could mean weeks. It's barely been a few days."

Jack, having made some decent eddies from their last job, wasn't in any rush. He turned to Karl.

"What was it you said we were doing today?"

"Jack, I swear—you should consider getting a memory implant."

Karl glanced out the window at the scenery.

"Got a side gig from Danger Girls. It's not urgent, just one of those extra-pay gigs. They want me to check out a missing persons case in the City Center. Figured I'd take it since we've got nothing else going on."

"Oh, right! You mentioned something about a missing person—wait, hold up." Jack's memory finally kicked in.

"Isn't Danger Girls supposed to have a bunch of cat-eared girls handling missing person cases? I've seen their ads. And wasn't your contract with them mostly escort duty and bodyguard work? Why are you the one investigating?"

Karl had to admit, Jack's memory was weirdly selective.

"Because the missing person is one of the cat-eared detectives."

Karl explained.

"A cat-eared girl detective went missing while investigating, so now their bodyguard division—a.k.a. me—is playing damage control."

"So today's job is just this?"

"Yup."

Once they arrived, Karl opened the door and stepped out.

"There's a confidentiality clause—no outsiders allowed. And you guys count as 'outsiders' in this case. I'd rather not mess with my paycheck over this."

"You say that like you actually care about rules."

Oliver, having cooled off from earlier, leaned on the driver's seat and asked,

"Alright, fine. But we can still help in other ways, right? You don't have to tell us the full story—just tell us what needs doing. T-Bug's free today too. If we all investigate together, wouldn't that be way easier?"

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, mercenary Oliver."

The voice didn't belong to Karl.

Instead, it came from a man walking toward them—dressed in a black suit.

Ken'ichiro.

"For this job, Karl will be assisting me."

So Karl isn't even the lead on this job?

Oliver glanced at Ken'ichiro, his gaze lingering for a moment on the man's East Asian features—similar to Karl's.

So this is the Ken'ichiro Karl mentioned? The one who's probably ex-Arasaka?

Jack was also watching Ken'ichiro—but his focus was different.

Even with the suit covering him, the cyberware beneath was still obvious, enough for Jack to instinctively sense danger.

It was like he was standing in front of a lethal killing machine.

The combatants in the Challenge Mode of the training chip? Compared to this guy?

Didn't seem all that different.

If Jack had to describe the level of threat Ken'ichiro gave off, he'd put him on par with someone he'd only seen once—

That moment Karl had been downed, and Jack caught a glimpse of a certain man.

Adam Smasher.

The same level of overwhelming danger.

"While we were driving earlier, the Padre sent over a quick job. I forwarded the details to you guys—go handle that for today."

Karl, smiling, spoke casually to Oliver and Jack.

Then, looking at Ken'ichiro with a calm expression, he asked,

"Mr. Ken'ichiro, you wouldn't mind if I said a quick goodbye to my friends, would you?"

"It's not that urgent."

Ken'ichiro simply stepped aside, his demeanor composed.

"The job's all yours."

"Got it."

After exchanging a few words, Oliver and Jack left.

A few kilometers down the road, Oliver finally broke the silence.

"That guy… was he watching Karl?"

"More like evaluating him. First job together—he probably wanted to see Karl's skills firsthand."

Jack, unable to shake the feeling, almost turned back.

"That guy is insanely strong."

"I got the same feeling. From a sniper's perspective—I'd say even if I had already pulled the trigger, if the bullet was just inches from his skin… he'd still react in time to dodge and counter-track my position."

"So that's what true corporate elites are like?"

"If so… we're way out of our league."

"...So?"

"We keep grinding that training chip."

Oliver's driving was smooth, and as he accelerated, he connected to T-Bug.

"T-Bug, comms open. You listening? We're handling this gig fast—we need to get back and start training again."

"Karl sent me the file. I already pinpointed your targets and sent you the location. Head there now—I'll assist with surveillance."

"Reliable as ever, T-Bug."

The Quartz Hera sped up.

"Alright, let's wrap this up quick."

Standing there, unable to say a single tough word under that guy's pressure—that wasn't them.

As Karl's friends, they had a duty to back him up.

At the very least, they needed to make it clear—if anyone tried messing with Karl, they'd have to deal with them too.

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