Watching the scene unfold from Alex Carter's perspective, Judy's voice crackled through the comms, puzzled.
"Why are there three of them? What's Maiko playing at now?"
She knew Maiko Maeda well enough to know that her behavior was never so straightforward or obedient.
Unfortunately, Maiko wasn't on the action channel and couldn't hear Judy's question.
Walking to the window, Maiko turned to the man sitting alone on the couch, connected to a Mewtwo device.
"That's our target — Hiromi Sato."
"Oh," Alex responded coolly.
Then, to help Judy better understand Maiko's true motives, he asked knowingly:
"And what about the other two?"
"They're the audience for tonight's performance — Hiromi Sato's direct superiors."
A flash of ambition gleamed in Maiko's eyes.
"They're about to see Hiromi Sato die in his own piss."
A faint, intrigued smile crept onto Alex's face.
He whispered, "And that's how you'll use this chance to take Hiromi's spot and climb to the top of Clouds?"
"Damn it! Maiko! I should've known..." Judy's frustrated voice blared in Alex's ear.
Now that Alex had said it out loud, Judy couldn't deny what was happening — Maiko was just using them to secure her own power.
Maiko frowned when Alex exposed her plan so easily.
"You don't know a damn thing!"
"I know how the Tyger Claws operate — for them, power comes from strength and cruelty. That's the only way!"
With that, Maiko stubbed out her cigarette and moved behind the two Tyger Claws bosses.
"I'll cut the link now. If they wake up like this, they'll definitely be..."
Bang! Bang!
Two sudden gunshots interrupted Maiko mid-sentence.
The burning-hot bullets grazed her fingertips and struck both men square in the head.
The two powerful crime lords — once perched at the top of Night City's largest gang — were dead before they even knew what happened.
"Hah... I figured waking them up wasn't a great idea."
Alex calmly blew the smoke from his gun's barrel and slid it back into his holster.
Maiko's pupils widened in shock as she stared at the bodies.
For a long moment, she couldn't find her voice. Then, rage surged forward.
"Do you even know what you've just done!?" she snapped.
"Let me guess," Alex said with a smug grin, scratching his chin.
"Did I just crush your big dream?"
"You've also put Clouds in danger!" Maiko shouted furiously.
"The Tyger Claws won't just let this slide! They'll come back for revenge!"
But Alex simply wagged his finger at her.
"No, no, no... I can guarantee they won't."
Seeing how calm Alex had been the entire time — even revealing her plan without a hint of surprise — Maiko's expression darkened.
"You knew all this... You planned this from the start, didn't you?"
Alex shrugged.
"Planned or not — I know one thing for sure: you should get out of here now."
His eyes narrowed.
"Or... I'll help you leave myself."
"If it weren't for Judy's sake, you'd have joined those two Tyger Claws in hell just now."
"Shit... what's going on?"
A confused male voice broke the tension.
It was Hiromi Sato, stirring from his braindance session, woken by the sound of shouting and gunfire.
As his vision adjusted, Hiromi took in the blood-splattered room — the bodies of his superiors sprawled lifelessly — and Alex, standing like a grim shadow in the chaos.
Instinctively, Hiromi reached for help.
"Help! Somebody—!
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