"The data on those Tyger Claws has been sent to you already. Funny, apparently every single one of them left the gang before today. I didn't know leaving the Tyger Claws was that easy."
T-Bug's voice dripped with sarcasm. Not long after lunch, Karl and his crew received the background info on the group that had attacked them.
The Tyger Claws had ambushed them and their client. No matter what, it needed investigating. Sure, Arasaka Seisen's local allies in Night City were probably already digging into it, but that didn't stop Team KK from doing some recon of their own.
"This morning, huh?"
Karl frowned. The cyberware those sixty-five Tyger Claws were sporting wasn't something you slapped on in a morning. Which meant they'd been equipped before they supposedly "left" the gang.
Interesting.
Add to that the fifteen Voodoo Boys…
Eighty cyber-enhanced combatants—sixty-five former Tyger Claws with no affiliations, and fifteen bitter Voodoo remnants. On paper, none of them tied directly to any group. The composition was damn near perfect.
Almost like someone was saying, "This isn't our responsibility."
"Tyger Claws…"
Karl murmured the name of the infamous gang and chuckled, shaking his head. "You were probably just the black gloves for someone else, but since you made your move, you'd better be ready to pay the price."
The true mastermind clearly wasn't anyone in the Tyger Claws upper ranks.
Their leadership had already been wiped out not long ago. Sure, that was back in '76, but one New Year doesn't erase pain that deep.
Even cicadas know to stay buried underground for years before singing their one summer song.
These idiots had barely gotten their heads above the dirt. They hadn't even tasted the sap properly before they started shrieking. Either they were insane—or someone forced them out early.
Karl and his crew had only taken on Seisen's protection job that morning. The attack happened that afternoon. And those attackers were clearly prepped in advance.
The timeline didn't match.
Unless… the team had already been assembled and was just mobilized after receiving new intel. That would track.
Targeting Arasaka Seisen—and at the same time, going after KK, who had a score to settle with the Voodoo Boys.
Was KK's involvement just a coincidence?
Maybe the people behind the Tyger Claws took in some Voodoo stragglers for their own ends, and those leftovers just happened to run into Team KK on escort duty. Blood feud, meet bad timing.
Too many possible threads. But one thing was certain:
Arasaka Seisen seriously needed bodyguards.
Karl glanced at Seisen, who was lounging on the couch, flipping through a Clouds brochure.
Night City isn't exactly friendly to guys like him.
Seisen had visited twice in the past two years—and both times, someone had tried to kill him. Without a dedicated bodyguard, he wouldn't last long.
To Karl, Seisen was capable—but not on the same level as Arasaka Michiko, the famed "Dangerous Girl" detective, who had once handled high-profile investigations and shootouts with ease.
Maybe Seisen used to hold his own on the streets, but now...
Karl had noticed the pistol he carried—a modified Liberty from Constitutional Arms, which Seisen called "Diamondback." From what Karl could tell, Seisen might barely be able to hold his own against old man Johnson.
And that wasn't meant as an insult to either of them.
To Karl, Johnson was a seasoned NCPD vet with real street chops. The guy had survived gang wars, shootouts—he could definitely handle himself in a scrap.
But fighting is about more than just not dying.
Sure, Seisen and Johnson could maybe take down a few street punks. Hell, they might even clear out a Scav den. But put them up against someone actually trained for combat?
Even Oliver—who was far from the best at close combat—could probably drop both of them in seconds.
After all, Oliver had already cleared Karl's combat sim on Hard Mode, and recently beat Challenge Mode. Not many people in Night City could say that.
And that was old news. Karl had since created a Despair Mode, an even tougher level, based on what had once seemed impossible.
Only Karl had cleared it so far. V had passed Challenge Mode. Jack and Oliver were still grinding.
Despair Mode was incomplete—some of the data had to be reconstructed from memory.
Chiyome, Ken'ichiro from that fight with Chiyome, and even Adam Smasher.
None of them were full recreations, since the original fights never reached the final phase.
Even so, this one-of-a-kind chip—gifted by a mysterious blue-eyed client—had become an unparalleled training tool for Team KK.
Everyone had since uploaded their latest combat data to it.
Oliver, after trying it once, had this to say: "Getting my head sliced off by V, cut in half by Karl's monowire, and having Jack punch my skull to bits? Yeah… not fun."
Karl's train of thought drifted from bodyguarding to training chips for a simple reason—
He happened to have the only copy with him.
Meanwhile, Seisen was still flipping through the Clouds brochure like he was ordering takeout.
Clouds, mind you, was Tyger Claws turf. They'd just been ambushed, and Seisen was casually shopping for companionship? It made Karl wonder if Seisen now owned the place.
Then again, chasing girls was way more exciting than worrying about your own security.
Stronger wrists meant better aim, right?
And if something did go down, well... maybe she'd help him conserve some energy.
With that thought, Karl sat down beside Seisen—who was now looking at the top page of the brochure—and offered the chip with a grin.
"Mr. Seisen, want to give this a try?"
"Try this?"
Seisen had only just shifted his thoughts away from the Clouds listings when Karl handed him the chip with that boyish grin.
And of course, his mind went straight to the gutter.
Back in the day, his friends had passed each other… certain "spicy" chips.
But now?
Looking at Karl—a kid young enough to be his grandson—with that sunny smile and that innocent face, and now this chip...
Kids these days...
Seisen reached for the chip.
What kind of new kink is this?
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