Interdimensional Scientist, Starting from Cyberpunk

The Maelstrom gang had work to do, and so did Leo.

This kind of job was highly risky. Even if they got their hands on the goods, the aftermath would be a headache. Only the well-organized gangs of Night City dared to launch full-scale attacks on corporate convoys because they had multiple channels to move the loot.

Moreover, these gangs already carried a heavy burden of blame, so they didn't care about adding more crimes to their record.

To Meredith, it seemed like Leo could easily enlist the help of Nomads with just a wave of his hand. But Leo had no intention of dragging the Nomads into this—

The cost was too high, and it wasn't necessary.

Right now, he had two opportunities:

A commission from Peralez to lower the crime rate in Watson by eliminating Maelstrom members with bounties on their heads.Intel from Meredith—while the first option lacked information and clear direction, the second was full of details and possibilities.

The best choice was to use Meredith's intel to eliminate as many Maelstrom members as possible.

Leo vaguely recalled some details about Maelstrom: in 2077, their leader was a psychopath nicknamed Royce. He had imprisoned their former boss, Brick, and violently purged any disloyal members.

Currently, Brick should still be in charge. In the original timeline, Royce's coup against Brick happened right around the time they got the Flathead.

If Leo could accelerate this internal conflict and turn them against each other, a lot of Maelstrom members would end up dead.

As long as innocent civilians weren't caught in the crossfire and corporations didn't suffer losses, gang wars weren't even counted as violent crime. In fact, the deaths of these criminals would actually lower the crime rate.

So, Leo started discussing the details with Meredith.

"How do you want this done?"

"It's simple. The goods will go through customs and get stamped with an LOA. If they 'go missing' along the way, you know the drill."

"The customs officers will know not to ask questions when they see an LOA. Corporate reps will also stay quiet."

"But gang members love leaving behind evidence. If they get stopped by guards while picking up the goods, they might slip up."

"And if they don't get stopped?"

"Then the person responsible for the shipment will have a massive headache. Not my problem."

Leo copied the chip's contents and put it back, then said,

"I have a plan. You go deal with Maelstrom."

"You think I'm a child? What's the plan? If you don't explain it, how do I know you're not screwing me over?"

"I wouldn't lie to you." Leo shrugged. "Like you said, switching to another handler wouldn't benefit me either. We're basically on the same boat."

Meredith stared at Leo, quietly smoking.

After a few seconds of silence, V raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking at? You don't have a choice anyway. Instead of wasting time staring, you should be finding some muscle."

Meredith rolled her eyes at V, finished her cigarette, and tossed it to the ground.

"Don't disappoint me, Burger King."

Leo waved her off. "Relax, when have I ever let you down? Expect a surprise."

"By the way, remember: 'No pain, no gain.' If things get rough, don't go soft and back out."

"A surprise…"

Hearing Leo's last piece of advice, Meredith thought to herself: As long as it's not a shock.

"Tch. Acting all mysterious."

She gathered her things and left.

Once the outsider was gone, Jackie curiously asked, "So who are we going after?"

"Maelstrom, obviously." Leo grabbed his half-finished Rainbow Scorpion Lion drink. "I hear they've got some nice loot."

"Good. I hate those cyber-freaks." Jackie grunted. "Back when I was in a gang, I heard they'd kill kids in the street just for fun."

"One of my brothers got kidnapped by them for illegal cyberware implants. When we found him, his own mother couldn't recognize him."

V nodded in agreement.

Among the gangs they'd dealt with:

6th Street Gang were nationalistic idiots, always yelling about patriotism while acting as shady middlemen between Nomads and city dwellers.

Tyger Claws were the richest, with deep ties to Arasaka and the city's politicians. They ran everything from casinos to drugs, anything that made money.

Scavs were like cockroaches—everywhere, preying on people for their organs and cyberware. They weren't even a gang, just a bunch of organ-harvesting scum.

Valentinos had their own code, worshiped God and the Virgin Mary, and despite their criminal activities, had a strong sense of honor.

Razor groups of wraiths were the most brutal, killing for fun, but they mostly operated in the Badlands and had nothing valuable.

But Maelstrom was different. They weren't just ruthless—they were heavily armed and had their own tech.

Their standard look? Tactical cyber-eyes covering half their face, flesh peeled back and bleeding from excessive cyberware. Most of them needed extreme neural stimulants just to function.

They were the closest thing to full-blown cyberpsychos—a gang that worshipped endless cybernetic augmentation.

During the early 21st-century gang wars, they clashed openly with corporations, nearly sparking a citywide war.

Back then, Maelstrom was always at the frontlines.

In fact, if you traced history back far enough, they were involved in the founding of Night City itself.

Before Richard Night bought Coronado Bay and turned it into Night City, Maelstrom had already massacred an entire fishing village there.

The global outrage over that event caused land prices to plummet, and Richard Night seized the opportunity to buy the land cheap and build his dream city.

But from the very start, Night's bold vision was entangled with violence. After his death, Night City became what it is today—while Maelstrom remained the same.

Now, decades later, they still acted with impunity, occupying much of Watson's northern industrial zone. That's where they stashed their stolen corporate loot and developed new cyberware technology.

That was Leo's target.

Sure, Peralez's reward sounded great, but the job itself was a nightmare.

At its core, this mission was simple: Kill Maelstrom.

But who knew what kind of insane tech those psychos had hidden away?

Leo nodded at V and Jackie's concerns. "Yeah, Maelstrom is dangerous. But think about it—every gang we've dealt with so far, didn't they all end up falling in line?"

Valentinos? If Jackie had stuck around, he'd probably be their top dog by now.

6th Street? They got put in their place.

Tyger Claws? Same.

Wraiths? Their headquarters got wiped out by Nomads.

Scav leader Jaehyun? Eliminated.

Moxes? Treated the trio like gods—if they showed up at Lizzie's Bar, they wouldn't be able to walk out until morning.

All these gangs, when they heard "Burger King, the guy who sells out bigshots", they had to call him "boss."

"Now it's Maelstrom's turn."

Jackie and V suddenly got fired up.

Hell yeah—it's Maelstrom's turn!

Before rolling with Leo, they had to scrape by for cash, their dreams fading into just surviving.

But now?

Now they were walking the path to becoming legends.

The biggest names in Night City.

Jackie grinned and slung an arm around Leo. "Hermano, you really know how to hype us up."

V smirked, tapping the bar. "Damn right. Next job? We tear those Maelstrom freaks apart."

Leo grinned. "That's 'tear them to pieces.'"

The three of them finished their drinks, got into their car, and prepped for one final rest before—

Going to tear Maelstrom to pieces.