Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 808, Section 18: Intelligence Acquired
The synthetic meat curled up on the grill, its edges turning a deep brown, the crispy skin slightly raised, like pastry licked by flames. The cheap sauce boiled under the high temperature, producing fine bubbles, like dark red lava rolling and bubbling between the meat's crevices, until every fiber was soaked in a rich sweet and salty flavor.

With a gentle flick of the iron tongs, the piece of meat obediently leaped up, its edges still glistening with fat, leaving long, thin golden threads in the air.

The moment he took a bite, he first heard a very soft "crack"—the caramelized crust burst open between his teeth, followed by a gush of scalding hot juices.

The rich fat melts on the tongue, coated with salty and savory flavors. The excessive monosodium glutamate in the cheap sauce acts like a fuse, instantly igniting a burst of umami on the taste buds. However, the aftertaste strangely releases a smoky aroma, like straw scorched by flames, mixed with the roughness of some kind of industrial fuel, which actually makes the flavor layers much deeper.

Karl squinted, his Adam's apple bobbing.

The taste was surprisingly good.

Carl always felt his spirits lifted whenever he ate delicious food, and this shop was clearly the kind of place that provided him with such invigorating food.

'It was definitely the right decision to come.'

While thinking this to himself, Karl felt a little regretful that he couldn't fully enjoy the food, because he had people around him who needed to be observed and listened to.

The young people at the next table were clearly more knowledgeable about grilling meat than Carl was.

They used modified mechanical fingers to tear chunks of meat, dipped them in double-concentrated orange sauce, and as the unlabeled synthetic liquor slid down their throats, it left a trail of light shining through their skin, as if they were swallowing light.

They kept stuffing their mouths with the synthetic meat, which was full of juice, and kept drinking intoxicating alcohol. Before long, some of them fell into a half-dreaming, half-awake state of intoxication.

The first to speak was a girl with dreadlocks. She had dark skin and bright, unfocused eyes. The way she looked at the liquor and the meat on the grill was like looking at the twinkling stars in the night sky.

"So the security system in Warehouse B malfunctioned again today!"

She shouted, taking a swig of wine, "My identification was almost mistaken for an unauthorized person by the system. You didn't see that cannon that suddenly started. If it hadn't followed up with a correct biometric scan, I would have turned into a pile of ashes and died over there!"

"If you were hit by a cannon, you'd probably be turned into mincemeat. Compared to my situation, you should be grateful; at least you weren't actually hit."

The crew-cut young man next to her picked up a piece of charred meat, gestured to it, and then stuffed it into his mouth. "When that batch of goods from Zone C was being stored last week, the scanner identified me as an intruder, and I got a shock for a minute. If it weren't for the problem with my shift, and the fact that I had a grounding coating installed, I would have been in serious trouble."

He made a convulsive gesture as if he had been electrocuted, which made everyone burst into laughter.

"So what exactly happened?"

A young man with a side-parted hairstyle said, "Why has the security situation at our warehouse been getting weirder and weirder these past two months? It's like the whole thing has been overturned and rebuilt. I don't remember our warehouse being any important one. With the money to rebuild it, we could have built a new warehouse. It can't be that the higher-ups are planning to build another farm here, so they need to prepare storage nearby."

"Who knows? We can't possibly understand what's going on with the higher-ups. But I think it's less about a complete reinstallation and more about the fact that all the security equipment was too old and had long passed its end-of-life, finally giving out and breaking down completely."

The girl with dreadlocks said, "I just hope it breaks down completely, preferably with the identification system and the security system, and then the time clock too, so I can sleep a few more minutes and go to work later."

"You should at least include us in your dreams." The crew-cut youth laughed loudly, chewed a piece of grilled meat a couple of times, and swallowed it. "I don't think it's that easy. These days, the supervisor has been inspecting our warehouse every day for some reason. I've seen her go around C section six times a day. I bet she's looking for someone to slack off and fire. Don't let it turn out to be you who gets fired. I won't sympathize with you then."

Did the supervisor also visit your area?

The young man with the 2/8 parted hairstyle said, "My supervisor from Area A also comes, but she's not as frequent as you. She only came a few times, and I didn't keep track of it. But every time she comes with that deadpan face, it's kind of scary. If you ask me, with her temper, sooner or later she'll have to ask someone to pool their money and ask KK to take her away."

"Come on, KK? If we really run into KK, we'll probably all be taken down together. I don't want to be dragged down by that bitch supervisor."

The girl with dreadlocks muttered as she spoke, "I think she has a problem with me and has wanted to fire me for a long time, but she can't because of her connections with higher-ups. She comes to my B area seven or eight times a day. I'm almost tired of seeing her fat face. She's probably looking for something wrong with me and is preparing to fire me."

"Seven or eight times a day, you must be really miserable."

"is not that right."

The girl with dreadlocks was about to complain to her friend who had a 2/8 hairstyle when her sleepy gaze suddenly caught sight of someone out of the corner of her eye.

I was so excited and looking forward to the barbecue restaurant that I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings. I was also a little tipsy from drinking and my eyes were squinting. But when I looked closely, I saw a handsome blond guy next to me.

Night City is a place where men and women are equal; just as men approach men, women also approach men.

The girl with dreadlocks had to admit that this blond heartthrob was the most handsome man she had ever seen, or at least the most to her liking. He was incredibly handsome, almost like the neighborhood heartthrob she had seen in her childhood, now the famous Oliver.

Emboldened by the alcohol, she decided to strike up a conversation with him.

But just as she was about to get up, she felt a wave of dizziness, as if the alcohol was taking effect.

"Gurgle."

What's wrong? Does he feel dizzy? Did he drink too much?
Damn it, a handsome guy is right in front of me! He's almost as handsome as Oliver! Am I really going to miss out?
Amidst her friends' teasing comments about whether she could handle it, the girl with dreadlocks shifted her position and lay down next to the table.

Carl finished his meal at this time.

'Sector B?'

Thinking about the information he had heard, he caught a glimpse of the dreadlocked girl who had collapsed, seemingly drunk but actually taken down by his data hack. He silently apologized to himself.

Your senses are so sharp! Did you notice my inadvertent glance? In that case, I'll take a nap and forget everything when I wake up.

(End of this chapter)