Malfunctioning Utopia

Chapter 33: The New Job

After hearing Sun Jack’s suggestion, Four Ai set her chopsticks down and lit a cigarette.

"Handsome, your proposal isn’t bad. PUS, if you don’t agree, I won’t join either."

King Kong and Father also stopped eating. Though they said nothing, their gazes turned to Song 6PUS, silently expressing the same sentiment. Clearly, the near-death experience had left its mark on them as well; it was impossible to pretend otherwise.

Song 6PUS didn’t want to agree. The whole point of becoming a broker was to avoid risking his life on-site. But he also knew that refusing this condition might cause his patchwork team to fall apart immediately.

After hesitating for a while, he finally gave in. "Okay, I accept. From now on, we’ll make money together."

Hearing this, Father lifted his gaze, giving Sun Jack a thoughtful look before nodding in agreement. Seeing three members join in, Four Ai and King Kong quickly followed suit.

"Haha! Let’s raise a glass to this! Here’s to getting filthy rich!" Six glasses clinked together heavily.

Once the drinks were down, the tense atmosphere at the table relaxed considerably.

Song 6 glanced at Sun Jack and tapped his chopsticks on his glass.

"Since we’re all in, let me tell you about our next job."

"What? Already?" Everyone at the table looked surprised.

Song 6PUS felt helpless. He didn’t want to rush things either, but Sun Jack had taken all his money, and even this meal was paid for with a high-interest loan. If he didn’t make some cash soon, his golden teeth might not survive.

Of course, he couldn’t admit that outright. With exaggerated gestures, he said, "This job is a rare opportunity with generous pay. I fought hard to snag it! Once we finish this gig, we can take a nice long break."

"Let me guess, more theft?" Tapai jabbed at a spider egg in Jack’s bowl with his chopsticks.

"No!" Song 6 waved grandly. "This time, we’re not stealing. We’re going for an assassination!"

"An assassination?" All eyes turned to him immediately.

"Mind if I ask who placed the order?" King Kong asked cautiously.

"BCPD! Surprised, huh? Even they’ve come to me for jobs! Bro, don’t you think I’m awesome?" Song 6 boasted to Sun Jack.

"Not impressed. Just tell us what the job is about," Tapai cut in.

Sun Jack agreed—he needed the money but wasn’t willing to take just any job without understanding the risks.

"I’ve sent the case file. Take a look."

When Sun Jack opened the link Song 6 shared, his already weak appetite vanished entirely. The file was full of grisly photos—bloody, mangled corpses with their entrails scattered everywhere. 𝙍𝔞ƝÔ฿Εs̩

"Recently, women have been brutally murdered in the Puxi District every night," Song 6 explained.

"I’ve heard about this," King Kong said after swallowing a mouthful of food. "The killings happen in the middle of Idol Street."

"Amitabha. My customers told me it’s likely a case of cyber psychosis. Business at my shop has been affected because of it," King Kong added solemnly.

"Cyber psychosis? Isn’t that usually handled by BCPD’s 6th Unit? Why outsource it to mercenaries?" Four Ai asked with confusion.

"Correct, 4i. Normally, the 6th Unit deals with cases like this, but that’s when the cyber psychotic goes on a rampage in public," Song 6 explained.

"The issue this time is that the killer is highly elusive, vanishing after every murder. The 6th Unit is too busy to play hide-and-seek, so they’re outsourcing it to us."

Sun Jack examined the case file while listening. He hadn’t expected mercenaries to accept both legal and black-market jobs as long as they paid.

As a doctor, Four Ai quickly identified a critical point. "Wait, are you sure the killer always hides after the murders? That doesn’t sound like typical cyber psychosis behavior. Is this some new variant?"

Song 6 shrugged. "Who cares? Our job is to deal with it, dead or alive."

Sun Jack was already scanning his system for more information on cyber psychosis and quickly realized this job might be even trickier than the last.

If the killer was just an ordinary maniac, fine. But if it really was a cyber psychotic, there was no telling how many combat prosthetics the person had crammed into their body. Cyber psychotics were notoriously dangerous—only those who pushed their limits with excessive augmentations ended up like that.

"PUS, what’s your plan for this?" Father asked.

"Simple," Song 6 said. "The murders occur in a fixed area. We’ll use someone as bait to lure the killer out, take them down, and dump their body at BCPD’s doorstep. The money will hit our accounts automatically."

"Is it really that simple? Are you sure there won’t be complications?" Father pressed, narrowing his eyes at Song 6.

"Last time, your negligence nearly got us all killed."

Feeling cornered, Song 6 quickly grabbed Sun Jack’s arm.

"But no one died in the end, right? We’ve got Jack! With someone as incredible as him, what’s there to fear?"

Everyone turned their eyes to Sun Jack, recalling the events from the last mission. He squirmed under their gazes.

"Wait, hold on. Let’s get something straight," Sun Jack said, pulling his arm free. "That ‘ability’ of mine? I can’t control it. I can’t guarantee it’ll work if we get into trouble again."

Moreover, there was no telling how many augmentations the killer had. Taking unnecessary risks was foolish, especially since Sun Jack’s body was still made of flesh. One good shot could end him.

"You’ve got one life. Lose it, and that’s it," he muttered to himself, unwilling to gamble.

Seeing the hesitation from the group, Song 6 grew anxious. While they could afford to wait, he was buried in debt.

"The job pays 57@! You each get 10@! I’ll take the smallest cut! Come on, don’t we all need the money? Why else are we mercenaries?"

This silenced everyone. Song 6PUS wasn’t wrong.

10@ per person meant 20@ for Sun Jack and Tapai combined—a lucrative payout, albeit a dangerous one.

Seeing their continued reluctance, Song 6PUS pushed harder.

"We don’t even have to kill the guy! If we can hold them off until the 6th Unit arrives, we still get half the payout!"