Just as Charles liked poor people, Berry liked people who were afraid of death, because those people saved her a lot of trouble, willingly telling her everything they knew.
And the Charles in front of her was undoubtedly a perfectly qualified coward.
When Arnold released his mouth, the man gasped for air and spilled all his dirty laundry, tearfully recounting every wicked deed he had ever done, almost telling her the color of his mother's underwear.
"The Scavengers planned the robbery of that batch of goods. One day, they came to me and said someone in Little Chinatown was undercutting their business. They planned to teach them a lesson, so they had me order a batch of goods, and then they hijacked it to put the fear of God into them..."
These facts, of course, included his cooperation with the Scavengers and his deception of the poor and desperate.
To be honest, this guy was utterly scum.
She learned from him that Charles had once run an honest Ripperdoc business, but then the Scavengers came. After being intimidated by their glaring guns, he caved and was forced to cooperate with them—the Scavengers provided cheap goods, he sold them, and he was also responsible for reporting easy-to-slaughter clients to the Scavengers.
Some patients who came to him were quickly captured by the Scavengers, who would remove their cyberware. Those bloody pieces of cyberware would then be displayed on his shelves.
Of the people who passed through his hands, those who were immediately executed and stripped of their cyberware were considered lucky. Other unfortunate souls were captured to be filmed for Black-Supremes (illegal, extreme-violence braindances), tormented alive before they died—a miserable fate.
Listening to the man's tearful and snotty confession, Berry's face remained impassive, but her heart was ablaze with anger. If she didn't still need information, she would have instantly blown the top of his skull off with a single shot.
"I was forced! Really, I didn't want to! Those Scavengers forced me!" As if sensing the killing intent in Berry's eyes, Charles cried out for mercy, his mouth open. If Arnold hadn't been pressing him down so tightly, he would have directly knelt to beg Berry to spare his life.
Charles wasn't wrong in saying this. He was indeed forced at first, and his cut from the Scavenger dealings was pitifully small, only 20% of the total income. It was less of a partnership and more of a one-sided working arrangement for the Scavengers.
"Is that so?" Berry looked at him coldly, her killing intent undiminished.
She had seen people who aided the tiger, but this was the first time she had seen someone so eager to aid the tiger. This guy claimed to be forced, but his hand never trembled when he hurt people.
He was acting this way now to save his own life, but did he ever waver when those innocent victims begged for mercy?
"Yes, yes!" Charles nodded desperately. It was clear from his surprised look of delight that he thought he had a chance to live.
"Right, right! I'll give you a discount! From now on, everything in my shop is 50% off for you, no, no, free! Anything in the shop you want, I'll give it to you for free!"
Charles seemed to have quickly turned his brain around and hastily tried to bribe Berry.
"I have plenty of good stuff here! Feedback circuits, adrenaline boosters... all high-end goods from ZetaTech. I'll give them all to you for free if you want them." Charles was past caring about anything other than his life.
Berry's mind was made up to kill him, but on her face, she showed a smile. She wanted this quack doctor to experience the feeling of dropping from heaven to hell.
"Is that so? Alright then. I don't want your things. I just want you to tell me where the hijacked goods and those Scavengers are, and I'll let you go."
Berry put away her gun, demonstrating her friendly attitude.
"This..." Charles's reaction was not what Berry expected. His eyes widened when he heard the Scavengers, and he was speechless.
"No, absolutely not!" Charles shook his head in horror. "If the Scavengers find out I betrayed them, they will never let me go!"
The thought of the victims' terrible fate at the hands of the Scavengers made Charles's pupils wildly vibrate. He knew how brutal the Scavengers' methods of torture were, and it would definitely be a fate worse than death.
"It seems you think I'm easier to deal with than the Scavengers, is that that?" Seeing Charles's state, Berry frowned and directed Arnold to lift him, his hands cuffed behind him.
It looked like she would have to give him a taste of pain before he would honestly confess.
"No! No!" Charles cried out in terror.
Berry's Kinetic Arm Guard began to glow with layers of blue light, and her fist vibrated with electricity as she violently punched Charles in the stomach.
Pffffft—Berry felt only a slight resistance, and blood sprayed her face. Looking closely, her steel fist had already punched through Charles's body. Dark-red organ fragments and blood streamed down like rain from the ripped opening.
"Damn it!" Even Berry was startled.
She overdid it.
Berry quickly pulled out her fist, but Charles's eyes had already rolled back, and he looked like he had stopped breathing.
Charles was dead.
Berry looked at her steel fist, covered in blood, in shock and confusion. She hadn't realized her Kinetic Arm Guard was so powerful that it would punch straight through a person in one hit.
Now what should she do?
Looking at Charles lying on the floor like a lump of rotten meat, Berry's mind went blank.
She hadn't even gotten the intel yet, and Charles was already dead from a single punch.
"Damn… damn it?"
Arnold stood there like a door god, while Berry spun in circles, panicked.
She had finally found a lead, only to lose it because of her accidental strike. What now?
"Alright, don't panic. Maybe there's something in this place that can give me clues."
Berry reassured herself. This was the twenty‑first century—everywhere in cyberspace left traces. Maybe she could find his computer, or some notes, something useful.
Steeling herself, Berry came up with a new plan.
Arnold lifted Charles's corpse, laid it on the operating table, covered it with a plastic sheet, hung up the "Closed" sign, and locked the clinic door to buy them time.
Berry began searching the room for a computer.
Nothing in the reception area. She headed to the office room Charles had come out of earlier. If there was a computer, it had to be there.
Carefully nudging the door open with her foot, Berry entered with her gun raised.
The rest room was small and dark, just a broken ceiling fan and a shabby bed. But on the bedside table—there was a computer.
She stepped forward, pushed the chair aside, and tried to power it on.
"Shit."
The black screen lit up, but a password prompt appeared. Just as she'd guessed—it needed a password.
But Charles was dead. Where was she supposed to get it?
She wasn't a hacker. She couldn't exactly haul the computer to a repair shop to unlock it.
Wait… repair shop?
Berry suddenly thought of a solution.
She couldn't hack—but someone else could. One of her teammates was a skilled netrunner.
T‑BUG.
The idea hit her instantly: ask T‑BUG for help.
She pulled a single‑lens holo‑visor from her belt and dialed Bug.
"Hello, hello, can you hear me?"
"Berry, I'm eating." The lens projected Bug's image—a bald Black woman. Her face was sour, understandably annoyed at being interrupted mid‑meal.
But Berry was delighted. Her savior had arrived.
"Bug, I need your help. Crack a computer. Super easy, just a few minutes."
"Crack a computer?" Bug frowned. "Wasn't V supposed to meet with Dex today? Where the hell are you, needing me to hack a computer?"
"Just a little private matter, nothing serious." Berry chuckled nervously, wiping blood off her face.
"Fine." Bug sighed, agreeing—but before Berry could celebrate, Bug added: "You know the deal. Transfer the money. When it hits my account, I'll work."
"Hey, Bug, don't be so formal." Berry squinted, voice dripping with flattery. Whenever she did that, it meant she was planning to skip payment.
"We're friends. Talking money ruins feelings."
"Talking feelings ruins money, girl." Bug rolled her eyes. "I knew something bad would happen today. Turns out it's you, Berry."
"Bug~" Berry dragged out the syllable in a cloying tone.
"Save that trick for V. Doesn't work on me." Bug was unmoved.
"Just help me this once, Bug. Next time I'll bring you a Coke." Berry tried bribery. Bug didn't look convinced.
"…Fine. Just this once." Bug shook her head, finally relenting. "But only this once."
"Thanks, Bug, you're a good person!" Berry immediately handed her a "good person card."
"Cut the crap. Plug the data line into the computer."
"Yes!" Berry obeyed instantly, afraid Bug would change her mind.
She pulled a cable from her visor and connected it to the computer tower.