Chapter 294 c

Chapter 294 c

2-in-1 chapter

---------------

Back in the vehicle, Jackie saw Leo returning and immediately opened the door for him.

As Leo climbed in, Jackie asked eagerly, “Where’d you go just now?”

“Bought us a one-way ticket across the border.”

Jackie froze for a moment.

Leo had mentioned earlier that he had a way to get them across.

But Jackie hadn’t expected that method to involve contacting a smuggler.

Even in the year 2077, smuggling still existed.

Just looking at Night City—plenty of people thought it was a bad place.

And they were right—it was. But that didn’t stop countless others from wanting to get into Night City.

Some were even willing to pay smugglers to get them there. But those who got in that way often ended up worse off.

Because in Night City, an entire slave trade pipeline had been built around smuggling.

Yes, you read that right—a slave trade pipeline.

If the person being smuggled had a background in skilled labor from another country, they’d be sold to a corporation and sent to a factory, where they'd spend their days tightening screws.

Because these people had entered the country illegally and had no legal identity—they were, on paper, non-existent “people”—the corporation could exploit them at will without any fear of consequences.

Even if they were worked to death, their bodies would simply be dumped into the ocean or tossed into a landfill.

And if the smuggled individuals had no technical skills and were purely at the very bottom of the social hierarchy, they would be handed over directly to the Scavs or sent to underground studios to shoot black-market braindance content.

For example, in Jotaro Shobo’s black-market braindance productions, the “actors” were sourced by snatching people in the dead of night, or by contacting a man named Saiken, who specialized in transporting smuggled individuals.

So when Jackie realized that Leo’s solution involved finding a smuggler, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

“Is this reliable?”

“Most likely, there won’t be any issues.”

It was Leo’s first time doing this as well, but he trusted McCoy wouldn’t lie to him.

Seeing how certain Leo looked, Jackie didn’t press the matter further.

There wasn’t much else to say. They all stayed in the car, waiting for the checkpoint to open.

While they waited, more and more vehicles arrived one after another.

Just like Leo had said earlier—if they waited until exactly 8 a.m. to show up, they’d be stuck in a long queue.

After a patient wait, the checkpoint finally opened.

The gate at the checkpoint slowly rose, and the roadblocks outside gradually lowered.

Traffic began to move, though very slowly.

The checkpoint only had three inspection lanes, so they could only process three vehicles at a time.

It took over half an hour before it was finally their turn.

Jackie glanced nervously at Leo, who said calmly, “Let’s go. Drive forward.”

That eased Jackie’s nerves slightly.

As he drove the car into the inspection lane, the barriers at both ends of the lane rose swiftly, and the automated turrets on either side locked onto their vehicle.

A voice from the loudspeaker instructed, “Driver, please enter the building for questioning.”

Jackie tensed up. “I suddenly have a really bad feeling about this.”

“Don’t jinx it—it’ll be fine.”

Leo patted Jackie on the arm, opened the door, and got out of the car.

A guard standing at the building entrance glanced at him but said nothing.

Leo entered the building. It was a large hall with two corridors extending inward on either side.

A guard at the reception desk told him, “If you are carrying any weapons, please place them here. We’ll hold them for you and return them when you leave.”

Leo shook his head. “I’m not carrying any weapons.”

The guard suddenly pointed to a surveillance camera above Leo’s right side. “Look here.”

Leo looked up.

A scanning beam dropped from the ceiling, and his tactical goggles immediately alerted him that he was being scanned.

The guard looked down at the results displayed on the terminal—but nothing showed up. Not even a photo could be captured.

Leo was standing right in front of the guard, but on the surveillance feed, his entire figure appeared like it was covered in a thick digital mosaic.

It was a top-tier anti-surveillance scrambler. This was something only top-tier corporate security forces would possess.

The guard was stunned.

Equipping something of that level meant the person in front of him wasn’t someone he had the authority to question.

He had just wanted to verify if the young man was carrying any weapons—but ended up scanning a great white shark.

Not daring to probe further, the guard quickly and respectfully pointed toward the corridor on the left. “Please proceed to Room 3 for questioning.”

Leo followed the indicated direction and found Room 3. It was a small room, similar to the one he had entered during his first trip through the checkpoint.

A border officer sat behind a desk.

“Please, have a seat.”

Once Leo sat down, the officer added with a smile, “No need to be nervous. You’ve already paid—I know that. This is just standard procedure. You only need to stay in this room for a few minutes, and you’ll be free to go. Oh, and the vehicle behind yours is with you, right?”

Leo replied with a blank expression, “Yes.”

“Alright. Then later, just have them follow you straight through. Want a cigarette?”

“No, thank you.”

After that, neither Leo nor the officer spoke. The few minutes passed in awkward silence until the officer finally looked up at the clock on the wall.

“Alright, time’s up. You may leave now,” he said, standing up and extending his hand. “Welcome to California, sir.”

“Thank you. Appreciate it.”

After shaking hands, Leo exited the room and walked back to the car.

Sure enough, the barriers in front of and behind the vehicle had been lowered, and the automated turrets had retracted.

“Drive, Jackie.”

Jackie started the engine and pulled out of the inspection lane, driving through to the other side of the checkpoint. As the officer had said, the vehicle behind them—carrying V and Lucy—was allowed through without further inspection.

They passed through the checkpoint without incident.

José rolled down the rear window and stuck his head out.

The landscape beyond the border wasn’t much different from the one before it—still a stretch of wilderness—but José wore a look of blissful satisfaction.

“Ah, the sweet taste of freedom! We made it? I can’t believe we actually made it!”

Unlike Leo and Jackie, he wasn’t someone who had seen this kind of situation before.

Before being kidnapped by the Salamanca Cartel, José had been just another ordinary rich kid.

Though his father was from Night City and he was born there too, he never liked guns. In fact, he was scared of them—scared of even hearing gunshots.

So, when they were still at the checkpoint and saw the barriers rise and the automated turrets lock onto them, José had almost pissed himself.

After that, Leo had gone into the building, leaving only him and Jackie in the car.

It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in Jackie’s ability to fight, but no matter how tough someone was, there was no way they could stand up to two automated turrets.

At that point, José was convinced they were finished—convinced they would die right there.

But unexpectedly, a few minutes later, Leo walked out as if nothing had happened, and the barriers and turrets retracted.

They had made it through safely.

Seeing José like this, Jackie laughed and cursed, “You sheltered little punk.”

José just smiled he was too happy to care.

Leo was in good spirits too.

Although they had paid 100,000 eurodollars to cross the border, he wasn’t a bother at all—it was money that could be reimbursed by Dante González.

Leo was confident Dante wouldn’t mind either, since it was for his son’s safety.

“After we cross the border, San Diego isn’t far. Once we get there, we can catch a flight back to Night City. And yes, the generous Mr. González will be covering the cost of the tickets.”

Leo didn’t bother with the comms; he said it directly.

He didn’t think there was any need to hide this from José.

José, still riding high on excitement and feeling no concern about spending someone else’s money, immediately agreed, “No problem. When we get back, I’ll talk to my dad and tell him to give you even more.”

Leo just smiled noncommittally.

Money wasn’t the most important thing right now. What really mattered was boosting the reputation of the Aurora PMC and expanding their network.

If they wanted to grow the Aurora PMC into a powerhouse like Arasaka or Militech, reputation and connections were both essential.

Throughout history, no one accomplished great things alone. It always required a team, a solid foundation, and a complex network of relationships.

Why had Rogue become the queen of fixers—the top intermediary in Night City? Because of her massive, interwoven web of connections.

Lucy’s voice came through the comms: “I booked six tickets online. The earliest flight today is at 1:00 p.m., so we’ll have to wait at the airport until then.”

“Thanks, Lucy,” Leo checked the time. “How about this—when we get to San Diego, let’s not head straight to the airport. Let’s grab something to eat first?”

It was just after 8 a.m. They’d probably reach San Diego by 9.

Heading straight to the airport was fine, but that meant being hungry for hours. Even after boarding the plane, they’d still have to endure the flight back to Night City.

No point in starving themselves.

Sure, the airport had restaurants, and for convenience, they could eat there.

“Any of you know good places to eat in San Diego?”

V answered first, “Nope.”

Lucy added, “Not sure. Never been there.”

“Jackie?”

“Don’t look at me. I’ve never been to San Diego either.”

“José?”

“I… I know a few places that are decent, but…” José hesitated.

“Hm? Just say it. No need to beat around the bush.”

Encouraged by Leo, José mustered a bit of courage: “I was thinking… maybe we could just go straight to the airport? They’ve got food there too, and it’s actually not bad.”

Jackie looked puzzled: “Airport food? Isn’t it usually more expensive? People usually say don’t eat or shop at airports.”

“Alright, Jackie, that’s enough. Let’s just head to the airport.”

Leo understood what José was thinking.

For Leo and the others, it had only been about a day.

But for José, the ordeal had lasted several days.

Since yesterday, they had been constantly hunted by the Salamanca Cartel.

So even if the flight wasn’t until 1:00 p.m., José just wanted to get to the airport and wait there—he didn’t want to go anywhere else.

.........................................

..............

.

As Leo and the others drove toward the airport, several inconspicuous vans were also on their way to San Diego International.

One of the vans had an ice cream logo painted on the side, looking like a regular ice cream truck.

But there was no equipment or ingredients inside for making or selling ice cream—only a group of grim-faced Mexican men.

They were all between their thirties and fifties, and each bore the hardened expressions of men pushed to the edge by the weight of life.

These men weren’t here for sightseeing.

Each wore a ballistic vest—not the heavy armor like the enemy they’d faced when rescuing José, but a light vest covering the front and back with inserted ballistic plates.

Their arms and thighs had no protection.

In their hands were loaded weapons: DS1 Pulsar kinetic submachine guns, Nokota D5 Copperhead kinetic assault rifles, and Rostović DB-2 Satara tech double-barrel shotguns.

Each man carried extra magazines in ammo pouches strapped across their bodies.

The atmosphere inside the van was heavy. No one spoke. No one made eye contact.

They each sat silently, clutching their weapons, staring at the floor.

No one knew how long had passed before the van suddenly stopped, jolting its passengers slightly.