"David said someone here needed a doctor, is that you?"
Arthur scanned the area and saw Lucy, her back to him, at the opposite end of the table.
She was sitting with a few other girls; it seemed the people nearby all belonged to the man's team.
"A doctor?"
Hearing Arthur's words, a clear look of displeasure appeared on the brawny man's face. He glanced at the woman sitting beside him, then at David next to Arthur, and denied it.
"No such thing! I'm perfectly healthy, no need for a doctor."
Arthur narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, observing the brawny man's face, which now wore a cheerful smile, as if his earlier displeasure had never existed.
Arthur extended his hand and shook the brawny man's, introducing himself.
"Arthur Morgan."
He then pointed to Jackie beside him.
"This is Jackie Welles."
"Maine."
The brawny man introduced himself.
"As for the others, you're all young people, you'll surely get along."
Sitting across the table, Arthur and Maine were now formally acquainted.
"I heard you saved Gloria. I owe her a favor, so this meal is on me."
This guy was loud and straightforward, and after a few exchanges, he treated Arthur and Jackie like friends.
"Then we'll eat our fill," Arthur said with a smile.
Speaking of which, although the restaurant's location wasn't ideal, the food was surprisingly good.
"David has been busy trying to save Gloria these past few days, and we've naturally helped him gather information on the matter, but with little success.
So, if you get any information on this, please let us know."
It seemed this boss was very loyal; he clearly took this matter to heart.
"Naturally, but Gloria's injuries are indeed very severe; for now, there are no good solutions."
The incomplete things in Diman Slaughterhouse's underground laboratory clearly couldn't save Gloria. To make real progress, they would have to try their luck at Biotechnica's Alcohol 2 Factory.
And that place, as Biotechnica's secret experimental site, was likely garrisoned by at least one armed force with mature combat protocols. Going there would be suicide.
David was impulsive, and after chatting with Maine, Arthur felt that David's boss was probably not a stable person either.
To prevent these guys from rushing into a fire, Arthur still chose not to tell them this information.
After the meal, naturally, came drinking.
During this most effective way to bridge distances, Arthur and Jackie quickly got to know the team.
A very interesting group of people, but… there was even a little girl among them?
The "little girl" who heard Arthur's complaint immediately fixed her gaze on him. She furiously approached Arthur.
"Little girl? Huh? Who are you calling a little girl?
Look closely, pretty boy, I'm already twenty years old this year!"
With wide, red eyes, the little girl reached out directly, trying to grab Arthur's collar.
But Arthur didn't let her. Before her short arms could fully extend, Arthur lifted her by the back of her collar.
"Twenty years old?"
With a puzzled expression, he held her up and examined her from side to side.
She was indeed short, and combined with her slightly plump figure, she looked even shorter. Wearing an oversized jacket, her already short legs appeared even shorter.
The girl, held in Arthur's hand, struggled frantically, but as Arthur held her further away, her short arms immediately fell short.
Her legs flailed in the air, trying to reach Arthur, but it was all in vain.
This scene successfully made the surrounding team members laugh, and this laughter was clearly extremely grating to the girl's ears.
"Pretty boy!"
The exasperated girl hugged Arthur's arm and opened her mouth to bite his hand.
"I'll bite you to death!"
Arthur tried to shake her off, but the girl used both her hands and legs to cling to his arm, and for a moment, he couldn't shake her loose.
It was during this time that the girl's teeth bit down hard on Arthur's tiger's mouth.
Enduring the pain, he could only grab the back of the girl's collar with his other hand and try to pull.
"Hey, let go."
He pulled his hand back and brought the girl closer, meeting a pair of blinking eyes.
With a slight squeeze from his other hand, a tearing sensation came from the bitten area again. Arthur wasn't afraid of pain, but he was afraid of her teeth breaking.
After blinking twice more, the girl let go and bared her teeth at Arthur.
"You little radish, what's your name?"
Putting the girl back on the ground, Arthur looked at the miserable state of his tiger's mouth; two deep rows of teeth marks with traces of blood.
Her teeth were indeed quite good.
"Rebecca!"
After spitting a few times on the ground, Rebecca looked up again, glaring fiercely at Arthur.
"Pretty boy, you remember this!"
Arthur rubbed the little girl's head and introduced himself.
"Arthur Morgan."
Rebecca puffed out her cheeks and unhappily swatted away the large hand on her head.
She crossed her arms and mumbled.
"Hmph! I didn't ask."
Just then, a sharp voice burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha, that stinky sister's new nickname is really good.
Little radish?
Hahahaha—"
It was a tall, thin man with a stubbly beard. He had a pair of slender cybernetic arms and was currently clutching his stomach, laughing breathlessly.
Rebecca charged over fiercely and started wrestling with the man.
This small scuffle did a great job of bringing the two groups closer, and the atmosphere became even more lively.
Arthur also didn't forget David's excuse for him to come, and using this atmosphere, he probed Maine.
"Want to go see Gloria? Your relationship seems pretty good."
As soon as the word "doctor" was mentioned in front of this guy, Maine would immediately bristle, which precisely indicated that his problem was not small.
"Go see her? Forget it, I'm very busy on weekdays."
Perhaps sensing something, Maine refused very directly.
The party continued until late into the night, but Night City was always a city that came alive at night.
This area wasn't bustling, and noise occasionally came from the elevated highway nearby.
On the secluded road, only neat streetlights and a few abandoned containers could be seen.
They hadn't walked far, almost at the moment they were about to part ways, when a strange figure blocked their path.
He stood on a container, urinating in the middle of the road as if no one else was there.
Under the streetlight, the man's shadow was stretched long, as was the uncomfortable stream of water.
"Hey, you bastard, this isn't a toilet!"
Pilar, Rebecca's brother, the man with the strange cybernetic arm.
He pointed at the figure and shouted.
"That guy! Answer me, are you deaf?"
The accusation received no response, which infuriated Pilar.
He was drunk, or rather, everyone was drunk, and no one noticed anything unusual. The group prepared to walk around him.
But Pilar had no intention of swallowing his anger. He jumped directly onto the container, ready to teach this bastard a good lesson.
He grabbed the man by the back of his neck and shook him from side to side.
"Shameless bastard, do you think this is your home?"
Saying that, he leaned in to look at the other person, then scoffed.
"Look at your shoddy cyberware, your stupid arms aren't even aligned."
The other party still showed no reaction, even when Pilar poked him hard a few times with his index finger.
By the roadside, Rebecca, with her small hands clasped behind her head, carelessly reminded him.
"Let's go, stinky big brother, ignore him."
She hadn't forgotten the grudge from Arthur giving her a nickname, occasionally kicking him playfully.
But Pilar had no intention of stopping, cursing beside the man.
"You idiot peeing in the street, get lost! Don't you know whose territory this is…?"
The man responded. His shriveled lips moved twice, and he stared blankly at Pilar standing beside him.
After a few dry grunts, the man raised one forearm.
The attack came without warning; his wrist folded, revealing a dark, hollow cannon barrel.
Gunshots and cannon fire erupted almost simultaneously. Arthur reacted almost instantly the moment the guy raised his hand.
But drawing the gun and shooting were still reactive actions, and no matter how fast, they still took time.
The strange man had already raised his hand halfway when a grenade pierced Pilar's legs and exploded on the container beneath him.
A bullet pierced the man's head, raining down a mixture of red and white.