Chapter 37: The Know-It-All

What is a fixer?
Taking client requests from above, and handing out tasks to teams from below?
Lin Yue knew that wasn't enough.
Handling both ends relied on having clear and open information channels. A reliable client would lay out their true demands in full, the fixer would assess the feasibility and danger of the job, and when assigning the task, they had to find someone dependable and quick at getting things done.
The entire process was seamless. Lin Yue had even brought over the operational style of the military.
Contingencies were meticulously planned out, and various emergencies were considered in advance.
Though Maine found it troublesome, Lin Yue still followed through with it.
There was a phrase in Lin Yue's memory, spoken by Hansen, a former Militech officer: "Figure out what you need to do before stepping onto the battlefield."
Judging by the results of the contracts, this workflow was indeed viable. Apart from the first job where Hands and Biotechnica played him and Arasaka got their hooks in him, the other two contracts had been executed cleanly and decisively.
The Scavengers and the Maelstrom were both furious to the point of madness.
Strictly speaking, Angie's commission was quite troublesome, with the most critical issues lying in the information channels and the specific demands of the task.
Without leaving a trace, they needed to investigate the movement patterns of this Ayaye character—who always went out with hired muscle—and find an opportunity to strike.
To check schedule information, one naturally needed a netrunner, and Lin Yue had his ways.
Yet after half a day of discussion, he found that this matter was not as easy as he had imagined.
In Lin Yue's words, it was easy to find a turncoat from Barghest's Barghest hounds, but the Animals were a different story.
The members of this gang didn't care much for cyberware modifications and rarely left digital footprints. If you wanted to investigate them, you either had to tail them face-to-face or plant an informant.
Looking at it this way, the information brokers in Night City couldn't be counted on.
Lin Yue hung up the call with Nix, rubbing his chin as he pondered how to dig up Ayaye's schedule.
The road toward the stadium was a bit long, and Lin Yue planned to get a car once this gig was settled—say, a Caliburn?
As he walked, Lin Yue checked the messages sent by the mobile auto dealer, and soon he found that streamlined sports car among the models.
After staring at it for a long time, Lin Yue's expression turned ugly. He darkened his phone screen and shoved it into his pocket. What kind of Caliburn hammer was this!
One million Eurodollars?
Damn it! Back in his past life when he was heavily modded, he never imagined this car was expensive enough to buy his life several times over—
No, ten thousand was enough to buy his life. Lin Yue couldn't help but sneer inwardly; this truly counted as a dark comedy of hellish proportions.
"Hey! Amigo!"
Lin Yue was walking with his head down, not even noticing the few drunkards shouting at him on the side.
He looked at the long-haired man running over with an excited expression. The guy wore ragged clothes and had dirty hair... the traditional fashion of Barghest.
"Saw you down at the fighting pits?"
The man slapped Lin Yue familiarly on the shoulder. "Thanks to you, pal! I almost lost the shirt off my back recently! Good thing I had you... The money earned from this match is enough to keep me going for a month!"
"Speaking of which... *hic!* That cyberware of yours, couldn't be Miletech surplus, right?"
Lin Yue thought for a moment. "Sort of, and not quite—just out here making a living on my own."
"Hey! Boys, this is the guy I was telling you about—the one who took down that Animal black-skin rhino! That cyberware is vicious! Knocked that asshole so hard he didn't know which way was up."
Several Barghest gamblers and vagrants gathered around Lin Yue, all wanting to see what Lin Yue's arm actually looked like.
Lin Yue didn't mind that these Barghest residents, who didn't smell particularly pleasant, were blocking his path. These vagrants who loitered on the streets every day either carried debts or had criminal records... Still, he could fish for some information from them.
Taking out a cigarette case from his inner pocket, Lin Yue displayed a traditional Eastern skill.
Smokes for everyone!
"Pal, you're not like those Barghest dog-brains! You aren't a cop, are you?"
The drunkard hiccupped. Having free cigarettes to smoke was pure bliss!
Lin Yue smiled and shook his head. "Just looking to ask around about a few things. Do you guys often see members of the Animals?"
At that moment, a man with some rusted cyberware on his face spoke up: "The Animals usually hang around the back alleys near the black market fights and the ripperdoc. That's all Ayaye's turf. You can spot some of the low-level grunts there."
Lin Yue nodded. "I want to pay my respects to this big boss. Any ways in?"
The man shook his head. "There are plenty of fighters in the Animals. Since you've got cyberware, they won't think much of you... At best, you can fight in the underground ring to make them some pocket change."
Lin Yue shrugged. "That'll do, damn it. As long as it pays, anything works."
"Hey, I'm telling you, pal, no need for that, right? You don't look like a down-and-out sort, why degrade yourself like this—if I were you, I'd just go smash up that fighting ring. In a couple of days, Barghest will be carrying you back to work for them."
Lin Yue shook his head. "I just love boxing."
"Heh, you're a piece of work..."
"Then go ask Mr. Fix-It," the somewhat silent man continued. "Make a left at the stadium black market, the asshole who sells black BRAMs and all sorts of odds and ends. He has wide connections and can help you out. The Animals aren't always hanging around the front, so you better be careful not to let those bodyguards beat you half to death."
Lin Yue achieved his goal. "Thanks, guys!"
Inside the EBM Petrochem Stadium, Lin Yue stood in the corridor looking at the bustling crowd, realizing there were simply too many people selling black brain-dances and various pieces of junk.
He should have asked what Mr. Fix-It looked like back then.
Lin Yue had no choice but to ask around one by one.
The first stall was tended to by a yawning Japanese woman. Lin Yue looked at the brain-dances, mustered his courage, and asked:
"Are you Mr. Fix-It?"
Lin Yue thought: *God, I really am an idiot.*
The woman raised her eyelids. "What the hell are you talking about, asshole?"
Lin Yue stood up. This awkward situation happened several times over. The final stall belonged to a skinny old man wearing a brain-dance wreath, his body twitching incessantly.
Aging like fine wine, eh? Lin Yue held a brain-dance with a complicated expression.
Let's wait until he finishes his trip.
The glow of the brain-dance wreath faded, and the old man looked at Lin Yue, who was squatting in front of his stall. "Browse all you want."
"I'm looking for Mr. Fix-It."
The old man stared straight at Lin Yue. "That tape is explosive, youngster. Fifty eddies. No bargaining."
Right.
Lin Yue felt the Barghest patrol soldiers behind him walking past. "Name your price. Looking for someone from the Animals. Schedule information, anything works."
The old man shook his head. "I can scout out a bit, but I don't guarantee all the info. I dig this stuff up from all over Barghest. How you handle it is up to you."
Lin Yue recalled what Nix had told him. Aside from Barghest using Barghest's own subnet, even getting electricity was tough for those ordinary residents, let alone connecting to the net. To track this kind of information, one had to use a positioning program planted right inside the target's head to extract any valuable data.
Lin Yue nodded. "Fine. As long as you can get the job done, money is negotiable."
The old man: "Pay upfront. Three thousand Eurodollars."
Lin Yue sneered. "Take me for a fool? Asking for three thousand right off the bat... Do the job well, and I'll give you the rest. Maybe we can even have a long-term partnership."
Just as the two of them were negotiating the scope of the subsequent information gathering, a hand reached out toward Lin Yue's shoulder...
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[Nix]: A vanilla Cyberpunk 2077 character, a netrunner from the Afterlife. The quest regarding Bartmoss's corpse connects to this netrunner. Details can be looked up independently; this text does not involve Bartmoss for now.