“Huh, where did this guy come from?”
“Quiet, Rebecca! Let me sleep a little longer, I just dropped Sasha off at home after four this morning!”
“What? I don’t care, stop sleeping, Dorio, quick, quick, tell me what’s going on with this kid? He’s pretty cute, and those cheeks, are they natural?”
Loud noises echoed in the small warehouse. Roel yawned and, as he got up, instinctively reached out to the wall, intending to turn on the light in the cubicle, but instead hit something soft and elastic.
The sensation on his hand made Roel freeze instantly. Then, as he opened his eyes, he was wide awake.
This wasn't Lizzie's.
He met a pair of bright red eyes, the whites entirely red, the pupils small yellow-green rings with red centers, looking at him curiously. Green hair spread across Roel’s face, making him involuntarily sneeze.
“Hahaha!”
The owner of the eyes and hair laughed, revealing a mouth full of pretty white teeth. She had a chubby, round face and smooth, beautiful green long hair. Just looking at her hairstyle, it was like she was cosplaying a virtual idol Roel knew—Hatsune Miku.
“Rebecca?” Seeing the other party’s appearance, Roel subconsciously called out her name. Trying to sit up, he pushed with his palm, and only then did Roel realize his left hand was resting on Rebecca’s thigh.
On a pair of chubby, somewhat short, fleshy legs.
“You know my name? Did Maine tell you? So you’re the guy Maine recruited to help Sasha with infiltration work, right? What’s your name?”
Rebecca didn't mind Roel's hand on her thigh; instead, she rapidly fired questions at Roel.
Roel felt a headache coming on.
Last night, Maine's crew took him on a quick tour of Night City. During their stop in Santo Domingo, he almost got caught up in a gang war. Therefore, Roel was genuinely exhausted now.
He had imagined that the life of a mercenary would be exciting, but he truly hadn't expected it to be *that* exciting... staying up all night, getting drunk, driving recklessly, shooting guns on the main road—this was Maine's crew's daily life.
“My name is Roel, and no, I haven’t joined your crew. I’m just collaborating with you on one job,” Roel said, sitting up and answering Rebecca’s question.
He looked at Rebecca. She was short, wearing an oversized black jacket that extended past her hips. From beneath the hem, a pair of greenish thighs were visible. She looked small and very thin, yet she had full, attractive thighs...
Heh, Rebecca, you sly one!
“Roel, that’s a bit hurtful to hear.” From the sofa nearby, Maine’s voice chimed in. He wore sunglasses even while sleeping, and one large hand was draped over the back of the sofa. Maine sat up straight and continued:
“Joining us has many benefits. We’re different from other edgerunner crews. Although we do the same life-threatening work, I can guarantee that in my team, there will be no hard feelings over money. We are partners, and we are family.”
“Here we go again.” Dorio also got up. Rebecca’s voice was loud and sharp; with her around, getting a good nap was impossible.
Maine’s words reminded Dorio of her first meeting with Maine. That insensitive big guy had saved her, then proceeded to explain the benefits of joining his team in front of a mix of red and white substances and headless corpses.
“But you don’t seem to have many cyberware implants, not even as many as me. Why would Maine pick you?” Rebecca pressed.
“You’ll have to ask your patriarch what he was thinking,” Roel replied, getting up from the sofa. Roel looked around.
This was a small warehouse, seemingly inside a cargo container. If he wasn't mistaken, it was probably Maine's crew's temporary hideout?
“Tsk! You’re cute, but your words are really unpleasant,” Rebecca said, a bit annoyed by Roel’s cold attitude.
Dorio spoke up, “Roel is in charge of infiltration work.”
“So he’s a netrunner too?” Rebecca’s inhuman yellow-green eyes lit up, looking at Roel excitedly. Her previous annoyance at Roel’s cold attitude was instantly replaced by curiosity.
Her excited expression was like that of a small animal sniffing out something new.
Standing up and leaning close to Roel, Rebecca was almost pressing against Roel’s chest. She tilted her small face up to examine Roel, her round face full of expressions, her eyes even becoming one large and one small as she looked at Roel, O.0:
“You don’t look like one. So fair and tender. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Maine kidnapped a little dancer from a bar. Hey, let me see your work equipment?”
As she spoke, Rebecca’s hand went around Roel’s neck, preparing to poke the port at the back of Roel’s neck.
The coolness of Rebecca’s fingertips made Roel shiver. Agilely avoiding Rebecca, Roel said helplessly, “I’m not a netrunner. I’m the bodyguard Maine hired to protect your netrunner’s safety.”
“Huh? Just you?” Rebecca missed, sitting back on the sofa, her round face showing distrust towards Roel.
“Alright, Rebecca, stop messing around,” Dorio stepped forward to interject.
Maine finally seemed to wake up, hitting his head with his large hand. He grumbled, “What time is it? Is it time for breakfast? Come on, after we eat, we need to go to Afterlife. The job Sasha got isn’t enough for us.”
As Maine spoke, he got up and walked over. Seeing this, Rebecca put a piece of bubblegum in her mouth, chewing it indignantly, and turned her head away from Maine.
“Come on, after we eat, we’ll meet at Afterlife.”
“Rebecca, where’s Pilar?”
“Who knows where he went!” Rebecca shouted, angrily slapping her thighs as she sat cross-legged. “That scumbag brother, he left me behind and drove off by himself!”
“He probably went to Afterlife to see Sasha early,” Dorio muttered.
“That’s actually possible…” Maine stroked his chin and nodded.
Given Pilar’s personality, he could indeed do something like that.
Roel listened to the others, picked up his small bag, and walked into the container’s bathroom, yawning.
Then, in front of the mirror, he opened his small bag, pulled out a toothbrush and toothpaste, and began to wash up.
Hearing movement from the bathroom, Rebecca scurried over to take a look. She had thought Roel went into the bathroom to relieve himself, but when she saw Roel brushing his teeth in front of the mirror, Rebecca clutched her stomach and burst out laughing.
“Haha, you’re crazy!”
“Are you really a pure native? Your face isn’t just modified with optical implants, is it?”
“How are you going to be a mercenary like that?”
Roel looked at Rebecca, toothbrush in hand, and tilted his head.
He had indeed only modified his optical implants; his facial skin, flesh, and bones were all natural. Besides that, the only other modifications on Roel were his hands and parts of his skin.
Rebecca clutched her stomach with one hand and wiped the corner of her eye with the other, tears of laughter streaming down her face. “You really are, truly adorably simple!”
Then, Maine’s voice sounded again.
“Hurry up and eat!”