Chapter 167: Seeking Justice

"Did they confess everything, Johnson?"

"Oh, they confessed alright."

Johnson gave Karl a weird look.

"They confessed too much. I barely had time to sort through all the key points."

Then, with an even stranger expression, he added:

"They weren't even begging to live anymore. Just to die.

Not by your hands, specifically."

"What the hell have you done to make people react like this?"

Karl let out a long sigh.

"How the fuck should I know?"

"So, what did they spill?"

Johnson took a moment to mentally organize the information.

"Alright. Here's the breakdown."

"These two bastards were working with outsiders.

They've been selling out their own people for a while now."

"Smuggling real meat into Night City is expensive.

Some customers couldn't afford the full transport fee but still wanted a taste.

"So these two took bribes to expose our delivery routes."

"The delivery guy that got killed?

He grabbed the wrong shipment and saw the real meat.

The people behind all this didn't want him talking, so they silenced him."

"As for the detective?

She was snooping around at the wrong time and got caught."

Karl crossed his arms, processing the new info.

"The smuggling routes…"

Standing nearby, Jade's face darkened.

"I thought all the recent busts were just bad luck…

I assumed NCPD was behind it, confiscating the shipments."

Johnson let out a short laugh.

"NCPD? Confiscating meat? Oh, kid, we never got any of that.

I remember getting reports about smuggling, yeah. But when we showed up?

All we ever found were bodies."

He scoffed.

"All we did was collect the corpses. But hey, at least we got to call it a 'successful operation' for the records."

Jade clenched his fists.

"Those two bastards… I actually believed it was the route itself that was compromised.

I thought it was a coincidence."

He took a shaky breath, his rage barely contained.

"Six men.

Six of our own.

Men who grew up together. Trusted each other.

And they sold them out like it was nothing.

"For what?!"

Johnson exhaled sharply, his tone flat.

"Five thousand eddies."

Jade froze.

Johnson continued.

"I checked their transactions.

Altogether, they made about twenty grand from this."

"But they spent most of it already."

"The last five thousand?"

"That was just sent to them recently."

Karl let out a low whistle.

"Selling out your own crew… for just five thousand eddies?"

"That's fucking pathetic."

Without hesitation, Karl pulled up his interface.

A moment later, five thousand eddies transferred to Jade.

Jade blinked in confusion.

Karl shrugged.

"Their blood money won't bring anyone back.

But at least their families can buy a gun."

"In this city, being unarmed isn't an option."

Jade stared at Karl for a second.

Then, with a slow nod, he accepted the funds.

"Yeah."

"They'll need it."

After a brief pause, Jade pulled up his own account.

A moment later, he sent back the 10,000 eddies Karl had originally paid him for the meat.

"The pigs are gone."

"Deal's off. You get your money back."

Karl rejected Jade's transfer request.

"Hold on."

Karl flashed a grin.

"The meat isn't necessarily gone."

"We still need to have a little chat with the guy behind all this."

"He took my pork without permission, didn't he?"

Jade pressed his lips into a thin line, staring at Karl for a long moment.

Then, with a heavy nod, he muttered:

"Thanks."

"What for?"

Karl laughed.

"I was gonna rescue someone anyway."

"A cat-eared detective trapped in a villain's lair, waiting for me to save her."

"Taking down the evil dragon is just part of the job, right?"

Karl climbed into the Enforcer.

"Johnson, let's drive."

Johnson raised a brow.

"Hold up."

"My guys aren't here yet. I need to hand these two over first."

"Also…"

He shot Karl a look.

"I might not be able to drop you off at your next destination."

"That place…"

"You're planning to storm in, aren't you?"

Karl smirked.

"When the alarms go off, please try to stall for a bit, will you?"

"Stall, huh?"

Johnson grinned.

"I don't have that kind of authority."

"Buuut…"

"If a call for backup happens to come in…"

"I might suddenly find my belt too loose, my uniform a bit messy."

He shrugged dramatically.

"Wouldn't be right to head out in such an undignified state."

"Might need a good half-hour to fix it."

"After all…"

"NCPD is Night City's proud enforcer of justice, aren't we?"

Karl chuckled.

"Gotta look sharp for the important folks."

As he scrolled through the location Johnson had just sent him, Karl's grin widened.

"North Oak, Westbrook."

"The only district in this city with no gangs, no slums… just pure high-class elite living."

"Fancy."

"An ordinary merc like me?"

"Invited to see the high life?"

"What a privilege."

Karl's smile turned sharp.

"Wonder how this greedy bastard will feel when he sees me at his doorstep."

"A man who already has wealth—

"Yet still chooses to cut corners to save a few bucks."

"At the cost of six lives."

"I wonder…"

"Will his attitude toward death be any different from theirs?"

"If he doesn't react the way I want him to…"

Karl cracked his knuckles.

"I might just have to try a few… alternative methods."

After NCPD backup arrived, Johnson slid into the driver's seat.

This time, this police vehicle wasn't heading to uphold the law.

It was heading out to deliver justice.

"You coming?"

Karl stood by the open door, looking at Jade.

The man was watching as the two traitors were dragged into a squad car.

Jade tightened his grip on his Lexington.

"Of course."

He firmly shook Karl's hand.

"For my brothers…"

"We have to make this right."

It didn't matter if it was for those who had already fallen…

Or for the ones who still thought they were brothers.

Justice had to be served.

Even if all he had was a Lexington.

Even if all he could do was stand beside Karl.

That was enough.

Seated in the front passenger seat, Ken'ichiro remained silent.

He simply opened a secure line and made a call.

Not long after—

In Japantown, a group of Tyger Claws received an urgent message from the top.

A certain elite resident of North Oak…

Someone who had paid them handsomely for emergency protection services…

Just had their contract revoked.

The reason?

They dared to mess with the Dangerous Girls Detective Agency.

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