Cyberpunk: The Relentless

"Yo! If it isn't the legendary Smasher-Slayers—the Dragon Squad of Night City! Come, take a seat!" The moment Karl and his crew stepped into

"Yo! If it isn't the legendary Smasher-Slayers—the Dragon Squad of Night City! Come, take a seat!"

The moment Karl and his crew stepped into the Afterlife, they felt all eyes turn toward them. In the corner booth, Old Captain raised a glass in greeting.

His greeting left the team a bit puzzled. After a long night's rest, they'd come to the Afterlife just to chill and grab a morning drink.

"Smasher-Slayers? Dragon Squad? What kind of nonsense are you spouting, Old Captain?" Oliver asked, walking over to the bar to greet Claire and order some drinks before flopping into the booth across from Old Captain. "Still… sounds kinda badass."

"Quit the act. Don't pretend you don't know what you pulled off yesterday," Old Captain said, scoffing. "You trying to test my intel network or what? That'd be insulting."

"Word already got out?" Karl quickly caught the implication in Old Captain's words. "You're talking about the fight with Adam Smasher?"

He hadn't expected the news to spread so fast. Sure, in this age, keeping secrets from determined info-hunters was tough—but still, the speed was impressive. When they'd clashed with Smasher, Arasaka's people had already retreated, and Militech had been wiped out. The whole thing went down in the Badlands. How the hell did a fixer like Old Captain get wind of it overnight?

"Whole Night City's talking about it," Old Captain said, smirking.

He could tell from their expressions that they'd spent the night completely unaware of the storm they'd stirred up. As a good buddy, he felt obligated to explain.

"Turns out a few Arasaka grunts didn't get out in time. Their transport broke down. The rest of their crew bailed and left them behind. So they hid out nearby, planning to wait until you left, then call in backup."

"And they were part of a spec ops unit, weren't they?" Karl added. "Which means they had personal recording gear."

"Exactly. Once they got back to Night City, they headed straight to Japantown. After taking out a dozen Tiger Claw bodyguards, they barged into a BD studio, woke up a half-asleep braindance producer, and cut a deal. Traded a copy of the footage for a hefty payday. Most of the money went to their unit's superior. With the rest, they booked a night of luxury at Cloud Nine."

Old Captain laughed as he filled them in on what happened while they were resting.

"That BD director? Smart guy. Within half an hour, he'd already edited a full highlight reel. But on his way to deliver the BD master, word got out. He got gunned down in an alley. That BD he planned to sell at a premium? Bootlegged across Night City in one night."

"All that over one BD…" V muttered, stunned. "One braindance caused all that chaos?"

"That's nothing," Old Captain chuckled. "I haven't even mentioned the turf wars and shootouts that broke out over distribution rights. You seriously underestimate your impact, V. You guys are on another level now. One twitch from you sends the underworld scrambling."

"Especially this time. You actually went head-to-head with Adam Smasher and forced a truce. Just thinking about it gets my blood pumping. Watching that BD? I almost pissed myself from the adrenaline."

"It's just a POV recording, right? What's so exciting about that?" Jack asked, returning with drinks and setting them on the table.

"You don't get it. That Arasaka spec ops grunt's heart was pounding like a drum. He was scared shitless—then overwhelmed with relief when he made it out alive. That intensity? It's infectious. I'm telling you, he probably pissed himself during the recording, so when I experienced it… how could I not get hyped?"

"Sounds less like excitement and more like pure terror," Karl muttered, leaning back. Still, he was intrigued by the mention of the BD.

David had been upset yesterday about not having a BD recorder. Karl had also regretted it—he wanted to review the battle from a third-person perspective to spot his own mistakes. Who would've thought someone else had done the job for them?

"What's the BD called? Send me a copy. Drinks are on me today."

"Pfft. I should be the one serving you drinks. There are a dozen folks lining up to buy you a round. You did something epic—least I can do is ride the hype wave."

As he spoke, Old Captain sent a delivery request form to Karl via drone courier. Even though he knew Karl's address, Night City's security required verification before sending anything.

Karl glanced at the form—and spotted the BD's title.

"Dragon of Night City: Ultimate Mercenary – Smasher Slayer's Badlands Blitz"

Beneath it, the description read:

"A shadow over Night City—the ultimate legend among mercs. Nemesis of Adam Smasher. Like divine warriors descending from the heavens, they decimated the battlefield with overwhelming force. Their legend echoes across the savage wastelands in a symphony of glory!"

"…What."

Karl blinked.

Was this for real?

Maybe it was a dumb bootlegger who slapped on that ridiculous title?

He asked cautiously, "That name—did the bootleggers come up with it?"

"Hell no. Everyone knows better than to slap random titles on a Karl BD. You'd be hunted down. That title came from the original director—the one who got shot. Word is, he wrote it word-for-word."

"Word-for-word, huh…"

Karl paused for a moment.

Then he exploded:

"Damn that overdramatic Japantown BD director! Am I cursed to clash with every braindance producer in this city?!"

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