The Black Sapphire—Colonel Hansen's viper's nest.
"Let's hope this doesn't cause you too much trouble… Mm-hm. I'll handle it. Don't worry."
Kurt Hansen, partially obscured by the shifting shadows of his office, disconnected the call with the Night City official. He was a businessman above all else; everything was negotiable, and a massive firefight was simply part of the overhead.
He needed to manage the political fallout while ensuring the debt was paid in blood. For that, he'd need the cooperation of the city's vultures—the politicians.
Liam stood pinned by two guards, his head bowed. From across the polished floor, the rhythmic thud of Hansen's combat boots announced his approach.
"Let him go. Our friend here still has broken bones."
Liam lightly shook his numb arm. His eyes were steady, though the sweat sliding down his forehead betrayed him.
I hope that damn system wasn't lying to me.
Hansen was a man of cold precision and corded muscle, dressed in a sharp military T-shirt. He scanned Leo and the other two Barghest who had been dragged in—or rather, the two curs who had crawled back with their tails between their legs.
"Speak. You should know exactly what happened out there."
Liam took a deep breath. "Colonel, it was an ambush by a mercenary crew. Edgerunners."
That wasn't a lie. This cold-blooded warlord had sharp investigative instincts. Liam didn't dare reveal more than necessary.
"I know that, kid." Hansen tapped a finger against Liam's chest. "You should have waited for our support units. Don't you think?"
So he was going to brand him a deserter after all?
Liam swallowed and clenched his fists unconsciously.
At Hansen's glance, the soldier behind Liam hesitated—but under pressure, placed a hand firmly on his shoulder.
"Sorry, brother."
Liam's mind raced.
Edgerunner crew. Dogtown soldiers. A large shipment of weapons.
Damn it. There's something I'm missing.
"Wait, Colonel Hansen!"
Liam stepped forward. Two black gun barrels immediately pressed against his fractured ribs, twisting his expression in pain.
"They weren't there to steal the cargo. They were there to sabotage us—to catch us off guard!"
"A bunch of mercs don't need brand-new corp gear to arm themselves."
"You should consider whether someone else was pulling strings!"
Hansen raised a hand. "Let him finish."
Liam continued quickly:
"Nearly everything we procured this time was Arasaka equipment. It changed hands three times. How could edgerunners possibly know the route so easily?"
"This is business, Colonel! That shipment was corporate property to begin with. They'd never let their own people pocket the price difference. This… was retaliation."
Hansen listened while draining the last of his whiskey.
The scent of alcohol washed over Liam as Hansen's wolf-like eyes studied him.
"Bring him up."
The Barghest dragged someone forward like a dead dog. When the body was thrown to the floor, Liam finally recognized him.
If not for the gaudy Barghest tattoos, he never would've believed it.
The man's skull was practically smashed in.
It was Sano.
"Deserter."
Hansen's voice carried disgust. He nudged Sano with his boot. The poor man's throat still made faint sounds, but nothing intelligible.
"He wanted to leave this paradise. Care to guess who sold the intel?"
A chill shot down Liam's spine.
Sano sold us out?
"You know, I'm a lazy man. Whether you two shared the same pair of pants—I don't care enough to investigate."
He paused.
"But you should be grateful. He confessed to selling the intel himself."
"You two were close. Ate together, bunked together. By rights, I should put you down with him."
Hansen's gaze hardened.
"But… I'm willing to give you a chance."
Liam had stood ramrod straight from the moment he entered. Even when Sano was dragged in, he'd only spared him a brief glance. That composure sparked a flicker of interest in Hansen.
Typical edgerunner world, Liam thought bitterly. Today you sell me out, tomorrow I stab your back. You never really know who's a ghost and who's a friend.
Hansen drew a pistol from his waist and aimed it at Sano, sprawled on the floor.
He knew the young soldier named Liam hadn't been involved in selling the intel. But he still preferred to balance fear with favor. Loyalty was forged through life-and-death moments—and a few carefully granted mercies.
As a former Militech soldier, he understood that well.
BANG!
The deafening gunshot made Liam's body tremble slightly.
Hansen fired three times. When Liam opened his eyes, the still-smoking barrel was pressed against his own forehead.
Gulp.
Liam met Hansen's gaze. He knew he couldn't flinch. If he did, Hansen wouldn't hesitate to lose one more Barghest.
"Go to Heavy Hearts. Find an old friend of mine. Every trace of you being a Barghest will disappear."
"Do this for me, kid. Someone needs to give me a real answer about that shipment. Don't they?"
Hansen holstered the gun. A soldier behind Liam patted his shoulder. Only then did Liam move, stiff-legged, out of the Black Sapphire..
Inside the elevator, his legs nearly gave out.
The aftereffects of the Pain Editor. The stabbing agony of fractured bones.
He gripped the handrail just to stay upright.
"Hey, Liam. Maybe it's not that bad."
It was the same soldier who'd warned him earlier—Otto.
"No Barghest in Dogtown wants to leave the barracks. You know that. One day you're sleeping peacefully at home, next thing you know some resident shows up for revenge."
The Barghest were infamous for how harshly they treated Dogtown's residents. Strip off that uniform, and retaliation was inevitable.
And then there was the pay. Losing military wages was a disaster.
Otto sounded like he was comforting him—but it felt more like he was dismantling his confidence piece by piece.
For these junkies addicted to 'Glitter,' having no money was a fate worse than death.
"But I believe in you, kid. Damn! None of that's a big deal for you. Hansen had a gun to your head and you still stared him down? That's guts!"
Just like the place Hansen had told him to go, Liam's heart was heavy.
Did I just get fired?
But the way Hansen talked... sounds like I'm supposed to do something for him.
Everything was a tangled mess. No one was going to explain the full picture to a grunt. That was reality. Liam understood that clearly.
After all, the omniscient viewpoint belonged to players—not to living, breathing NPCs.
[Character "Kurt Hansen" Affinity Updated]
[Affinity: 10 (Do your job for your boss. Living with your head on the line isn't new to you.)]
[Reward: All Attributes +1. Opportunity to contact other legendary figures unlocked.]
[Special Reminder: From now on, you're on your own. Handle it yourself.]
[Aside from rewards, this system will no longer provide mission guidance. Goodbye.]
The "backbone" that had been supporting Liam snapped completely.
Seeing him about to collapse, Otto quickly grabbed him and pulled out a canister of MaxDoc, pressing it to Liam's mouth.
Damn it. Even the system was pulling a backstab move.
As the medicine filled his lungs, the tension drained from his body.
"Liam! Liam! Alright… you need some rest…"
Otto's voice faded.
Liam's vision sank into total darkness.