Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 714, Section 128: Helping
"Eat something, you can't keep going on an empty stomach."

In the dimly lit makeshift base, V took out a few energy bars and a bottle of mineral water from his tactical backpack and handed them to Rosalind Miles: "Jack just went out to scout, and there are still ghost hound soldiers patrolling the streets. Now is not the best time to help you contact the others."

"Thank you."

Rosalind Miles took the energy bar and glanced at the packaging in the dim light.

"Octopus pancake flavored energy bar?"

"It looks weird, doesn't it? Actually, it tastes pretty good." V shrugged. "I know this might be completely different from what you usually eat, but we have to make do with it for now."

"I am not the kind of politician who lives a life of ease and comfort."

Rosalind Miles said calmly, tearing open the crumpled wrapper and taking a bite out of about a third of the package without hesitation, chewing mechanically and efficiently as if it were just an ordinary daily supplement.

Despite her deliberate attempt to appear nonchalant, her brow furrowed slightly involuntarily—clearly, even for someone who wasn't picky about food, the strange taste of the energy bar had exceeded her expectations.

“You might not be used to it at first,” V added, “but you’ll get used to it after a few times. Carl was the same way at first, and later he even treated it as a nasty snack, occasionally chewing on a few pieces.”

"Karl KK?"

When the topic of KK was brought up, a thoughtful look flashed in Rosalind Myers' eyes.

She held the remaining energy bar in her palm, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the edge of the wrapper. After a moment of consideration, she spoke: "Speaking of which, we didn't see KK on this mission. According to usual practice, your team should mobilize the entire staff for a mission of this level."

"It seems you do know quite a bit about us, even the level of our personnel deployment. Is this the kind of job that protects the president? I guess so."

V glanced at the three homeless people crouching in the corner in the distance. He wasn't too worried about them being exposed or leaking secrets. With them all under control, he said frankly, "Karl just had something to do and couldn't come."

"Something came up, so I can't come."

V's clearly reluctant tone made Rosalind Myers wisely refrain from pressing further.

She lowered her eyes, her knuckles lightly tapping the energy bar packaging as she sorted through the intelligence she had recently gathered—according to the intelligence, KK had recently obtained a custom weapon from the Tsunami Design Bureau and had been making public appearances in Night City for quite some time without accepting any commissions.

'Could it be that they're getting used to the new weapon?'

This speculation is reasonable.

For mercenaries, a handy weapon is their second life. If they rashly use unfamiliar equipment to carry out a mission, even a tiny operational error could lead to fatal consequences. If KK's absence was for this reason, it would make perfect sense.

The confident gun designers at Tsunami Design Bureau didn't keep anything secret except for the core design. They were so open about it, almost as if they were deliberately showing off, that other companies basically got their hands on the relevant information. According to Rosalind Miles's perspective, that peculiar weapon was so unique that it could be said to belong only to KK. Even KK probably wouldn't be able to adapt to it in a short time.

"What a pity. If KK were here, we wouldn't have to worry about security at all," Rosalind Miles thought to herself.

She had previously commissioned Karl through Blanca, and later learned from the detailed report submitted by Agent Li De that KK's performance in that mission was nothing short of amazing. Apart from a slight deficiency in stealth skills, he was almost flawless in other aspects—and in some aspects, his professionalism even surpassed that of Li De, the former top agent of the UNIS.

KK's performance certainly lives up to his reputation.
Rosalind Miles had initially thought that KK would lead his team to the attack on the plane, but seeing V wouldn't be a bad thing.

The three homeless people huddled in the corner tensed up. Despite their efforts to shrink into a ball and minimize their presence, V's conversation with Rosalind Miles inevitably reached their ears. Upon hearing those keywords, all three faces turned even paler.

What the hell did I just hear?!
Without implanted prosthetic ears, their hearing shouldn't be so acute. However, the abandoned basement wasn't very big, and as keywords like 'politician' and 'KK' bombarded their minds one after another, the three heads drooped even lower—they could even hear each other's accelerated heartbeats.

Although the three homeless men never looked up at the faces of the generous temporary tenants, they were all people who had once lived in the badlands.

Aside from tribes like the Night Wanderers, most of the tribes in the Badlands are wanderers with warm personalities and are much more honest and simple than the residents of Night City in some ways.

Of course, while they may be simple and honest, they are not dull-witted—on the contrary, many homeless people in Night City, who have to spend a lot of money to receive a formal education, actually make reading a habit and are probably more intelligent.

In other words, they weren't stupid; they had already roughly guessed V's identity.

They lived in Dogtown, so they knew about the plane crash. The news had spread throughout Dogtown, and everyone on the street was talking about it. There were all sorts of rumors, like Hansen was planning to launch an eastward expedition from Dogtown, or that he wanted to make America great again. But the most important news was true: the new US President, Rosalind Myers, had crashed.

politician.
How many people in Dogtown are politicians now? And if we bring in that already famous name, known to everyone in Night City and even Dogtown, then the deduction can be completed very quickly.

Rosalind Miles crashed, and now the KK team is protecting her, temporarily occupying their basement residence.

Shivering.

All three of them felt they had been dragged into something terrible, but when they glanced at the thick stack of euros, they felt it wasn't a risk that couldn't be taken.
However, since it's the KK team...

The three exchanged glances. As wanderers, they had long heard of V's story in the KK Squad.

Contrary to the rumors of a serial killer circulating in the city, the wanderers mostly admired and felt that V's deeds were remarkable. After all, they were both wanderers, yet he had become a legendary mercenary.

If it's V
"that."

The three men's gesture of raising their hands with their backs to the wall caught V's attention. As he looked over, the one in the middle holding the money said to the wall, "Right now, all the hounds in Dogtown are checking for outsiders, but if anyone needs to be contacted, we, as Dogtown residents with records, can help."

They planned to see if they could help.

A source of pride for the homeless.

(End of this chapter)