Machine gun fire roared wildly, tearing through anyone rushing down the stairs to help. The unfortunate backup fell dead right there on the steps, riddled with bullet holes. Their bodies tumbled down to the nding below.

  A Tyger Cws member hiding behind cover peeked out and opened fire, but Leo, standing beside Jackie, blocked the incoming bullets.

  Bang—

  Leo gripped his bde in his right hand, sweeping it in a whirlwind of steel. His left hand held a tech revolver, which let out a thunderous roar.

  The Tyger Cws member's forehead exploded on impact, sending the body flying a few meters.

  With Jackie providing covering fire, Leo, V, and Lucy broke into the workshop. Once inside, the three of them split up to clear the Tyger Cws from two different directions.

  Leo had no trouble on his side. The workshop was cluttered with obstacles, and in such close quarters, a bde worked better than a gun. Anyone from the Tyger Cws who crossed his path fell in a single exchange.

  Meanwhile, V and Lucy moved together, fwlessly using the Mozambique Drill: two quick shots to the body followed by a rapid shot to the head—essentially a Double Tap plus a Headshot. The first two shots were meant to strike quickly and accurately, aiming for the torso since it was easier than going straight for the head. Those rounds also left the target momentarily unable to fight back, giving the shooter a chance to line up the next shot. The third bullet finished the job by obliterating the brain, ensuring the enemy stayed down for good.

  …

  "Damn it, damn it, damn it! Where the hell did these people even come from?"

  The officer in charge of this hideout, Ogata Michiko, was cowering inside a makeshift tin shack, too afraid to step out. She watched helplessly as her subordinates were cut down like bdes of grass.

  Neither Jackie, carrying a heavy machine gun outside, nor the three who had stormed into the workshop could be stopped. One by one, her men were sughtered.

  A gang member beside her was shaking in terror.

  "Michiko… What should we do?"

  "How am I supposed to know?!"

  Ogata Michiko shed out without thinking, but yelling wouldn't solve anything. Despite her frustration, she wasn't a complete fool—she had become an officer for a reason. Hearing the unrelenting gunfire downstairs, she forced herself to calm down.

  "Call Jotaro Shobo. Tell him to send reinforcements immediately."

  "Got it, I'll—"

  Before the underling could finish, a high-caliber round tore through the metal wall, striking him and flinging him back against the opposite wall. When he colpsed to the floor, he was already dead, blood spilling from a massive wound that quickly drenched the ground.

  Soon after, the barrage of gunfire below came to an abrupt end.

  Ogata Michiko peeked out warily and saw Leo climbing the stairs, bde in hand. A Tyger Cws member y there, barely alive. He trembled, raising his weapon in a final, desperate attempt to shoot.

  But Leo moved faster. He kicked the man's hand aside, then ended his life with one swift ssh.

  When Leo entered the office, Ogata Michiko hurriedly threw down her gun, raised both hands, and sank to her knees.

  "Wait… please wait, don't kill me. I have money. Lots of it. Enough to make you happy."

  She trembled as she looked Leo over. His outfit didn't resemble anything from the NCPD or a corporate agent, so she came to a single conclusion: Leo was a mercenary, someone who worked for cash.

  "You're only here because someone hired you, right? If you let me live, I'll give you all the money I have. Since you've seen what we produce here, you know I can pay, and I'll pay more than whatever your employer promised."

  She took a breath. "What do you say? Think it over."

  Leo paused for a moment, then slowly smiled.

  Ogata Michiko mistook that for a hopeful sign, and her tense expression eased.

  However, Leo's next words were a death sentence.

  "Listen. The corpse is talking."

  Michiko blinked, confusion flickering in her eyes. Then, she noticed something strange.

  A warm trickle ran down her neck.

  She reached up instinctively, fingers brushing against wetness—then pulling away, slick with blood. Her blood.

  Her breath hitched. When had he—?

  A thin, precise line ran across her throat, so clean that for a moment, it was as if her body hadn't even processed what had happened. No pain. No choking. Just the slow, horrifying realization that the cut was already there.

  Her lips parted, but no sound came.

  Leo raised Murasame—and with a swift flick of his wrist, he snapped the bde to the side, sending a sharp arc of blood spttering onto the floor. The crimson droplets trailed in the air for a brief moment before vanishing into the mess beneath him, leaving the bde clean and gleaming once more.

  A heartbeat ter, blood erupted from Michiko's throat, and her head slipped from her shoulders, hitting the floor with a dull, wet thud. Her wide, unblinking eyes stared up at nothing as the rest of her body swayed, then colpsed into the spreading pool of crimson.

  In just a few minutes, the Tyger Cws had been utterly wiped out from this drug b.

  ......

  ..

  .

  While Leo and the others were raiding one of the hidden bs, the remaining two were simultaneously taken down by the Mox and NCPD.

  Mayor Rhyne's reaction was exactly as Leo had predicted. Just one busted b wasn't enough for him to risk covering it up—solid votes and political achievements were far more enticing. If they had only hijacked the truck carrying Glitter shipments, Jotaro Shobo might have patched the loss with his own funds. But a major blow to the entire Tyger Cws Glitter operation was impossible to conceal.

  Besides, Mayor Rhyne wanted to boost his image. Surrounded by heavy security, he arrived personally at one of the Tyger Cw's hidden bs. In front of cameras from News 54 and WNS, he delivered a speech about justice and the fight against crime, using the fming remains of the busted b as a dramatic backdrop.

  The publicity was enormous.

  Because of this, the Tyger Cws higher-ups deemed Jotaro Shobo incompetent. They stripped him of his officer status and repced him with someone else.

  Regina's informant saw Jotaro Shobo for the st time outside his casino called Phoenix in Kabuki's Elton Street. The informant staked out the area and confirmed that once Jotaro Shobo went inside, he never came out again.

  Attacking various Tyger Cws outposts, hacking their subnet to learn about Glitter transport routes and production sites, then delivering a crushing blow to their entire Glitter operation—Leo had pnned all these moves to ruin Jotaro Shobo's standing.

  Only after Jotaro Shobo lost the trust of his bosses—falling from his lofty perch—would he become vulnerable. That was the best time to go after him.

  Still, Leo decided not to send the Mox in guns bzing. He wanted to scope out the casino first to see exactly what was going on inside.

  …

  Kabuki earned its name back when a Japanese medical corporation controlled this part of Watson. It used to be their pride and joy, located near a major medical center and flourishing because of it. Eventually, Arasaka either crushed or absorbed most competing corporations. Others fled to the far side of the bay, leaving Kabuki in a state of poverty (much like the rest of the Pacifica region).

  But if there was one thing Night City never cked, it was people. Kabuki quickly filled up again, transforming into a haven for bck-market trade. By day, it looked like a cramped warren of narrow alleys full of discount shops, bootleg cosmetics, and cheap junk stores. Neon signs and paper nterns glowed over the cramped stalls and storefronts.

  By night, though, Kabuki showed its true face: a bustling center of Night City's bck market. Impnts, organs, combat stims, cyberware components, steroids, synthetic viruses, and braindance recordings…if you knew the right pce and the right people, you could get anything.

  Rumor had it some ripperdocs operated hidden clinics in basements or back rooms, ciming their wares came from bs in Chiba City or Scandinavia. Anyone tempted to buy such "exotic" items had to be cautious—some bck-market merchants acquired their stock from Scavs. These ghoulish criminals were the scum of the earth, hunting naive tourists and dragging them off to be dissected so their impnts and organs could be sold to unscrupulous ripperdocs.

  …

  Leo and his three companions stepped out of the Demain taxi and headed deeper into a narrow alley. The cramped, winding ne was lined with messy storefronts, street vendors, and food carts, creating a stark contrast to the rest of the city.

  Unlike Night City's trademark "steel jungle," Kabuki's buildings were hastily constructed and low-rise, leaving the sky open above. Sunlight streamed through gaps in sor panels, illuminating the dusty streets. Garbage drifted along like tumbleweeds, swirling in the breeze. East Asian influences blended with a gritty Wild West fir in a way only Night City could produce.

  …

  Walking further in, they spotted several Scavs squatting in the alley. Scavs were effectively body-snatchers who didn't bother waiting for their victims to actually die. Their specialty was acquiring high-grade impnts by any means necessary.

  If you happened to be sporting a piece of cyberware so expensive it could buy a mansion in North Oak, you were asking for trouble. Whenever you walked a dark, rainy street, you had to make sure you were worth saving so Trauma Team might come for you. Otherwise, you risked running into some filthy Scav with a heavy Eastern European accent and a beat-up bag full of bck-market gear.

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