In the bad land of the south, in a small town where there is still smoke and smoke, several unconstructed flat sand roads form the main traffic artery of the town.
The entire town is built in a bad land area filled with yellow sand. It gives people the feeling and impression of a small western town in the United States in the past. Words such as luxury and prosperity have nothing to do with this kind of place. Depression is everywhere. A sense of desolation.
But from time to time, a few passers-by walking by the road silently told that there are still people living here.
It was noon, and a small red off-road vehicle that stood out in the desert appeared in the town.
The wheels rolled over the sand and dust, making a fine noise. V sat in the driver's seat with a numb and bored look on his face, holding the steering wheel with both hands and yawning from time to time as he looked at the monotonous scene in front of the car.
There is really nothing commendable about this town. Most of the buildings on both sides of the road are flat houses made of wooden boards. The only visible green is the relatively short desert vegetation.
It would take a long time before one or two cars would pass by on the entire spacious road. Most of the travelers and outsiders who came to the town would choose to go to the auto repair shop or convenience store in the town. Stop at service points such as shops and gas stations, and then continue to set off after repairs are completed. The vehicles run over the sand road and disappear at the end of the road with the yellow sand.
Parking his little car on the side of the road, V got out of the car and found a convenience store built on the side of the road. He bought a bottle of ice-cold soda. Then he walked slowly to the side of the road and opened it with a single expression on his face. Bottle cork, tons of drinks under the sun.
After taking several sips to satisfy his thirst, V yawned and walked weakly to his car.
Her demeanor and movements perfectly fit that of a hard-working worker who works overtime until late at night, and there is no energy left in her body except for a look of dejection.
"It's such a shitty weather. I've only been out for a while, why am I already sweating because of the heat?" V couldn't help complaining as soon as he got into his little car.
Feeling the coldness inside the car, she put the drink on the car and leaned on the seat with a sigh like a salty fish.
Having said that, it had been a long time since she came to this unknown town.
So during the boring days she stayed here, she also tried to sit on the curb and watch the cars passing by the town in boredom, and then use this as a basis to judge whether there was anything special about this town.
After so many days of exploration and investigation, she gradually realized that there was actually nothing special about this unknown town.
...This seems to be an ordinary small town.
When V realized this fact, he couldn't understand why the middleman would send himself to such a place where no one can poop, "just wait and see"?
——Since she chose to leave the family and work alone, she also had a difficult life for a period of time.
After all, there is no family backing them, and with the entrustment orders in places like Badlands, intermediaries usually choose to give priority to capable and well-established wanderer families, so that these task orders can be digested "internally" within the family, which is very difficult. It’s rare that an intermediary chooses to hand over a commission to a “maverick” lone wolf wanderer.
Under such a difficult employment situation, V had the idea of giving up making a living in the bad land countless times, and instead went to work in Night City early.
She did not go to Night City to work hard at the first time because she considered her own lack of ability, because her previous experience of staying overnight in Night City for the first time left her with less than happy memories.
It was precisely because of that experience that V understood that he still had shortcomings and shortcomings. Instead of going to Night City to work hard without any preparation, it would be better to stay in the bad land for a period of time to hone his skills and make up for his shortcomings first.
However, dreams are beautiful, but reality is cruel.
Without a middleman's order, no matter how frugal she was, there would always be a day when she ran out of money.
Rather than stay here and starve to death, it's better to go to Night City to look for opportunities.
At least his senior, Mal, is still there, and they have someone to look after each other.
Ran
However, things took a turn later on. Somehow, one day suddenly passed, those middlemen who originally looked down on themselves began to entrust various entrusted tasks to themselves very enthusiastically.
Although he didn't understand the reason for the collective change of attitude of these intermediaries, V at least recovered and was tempered and grown in many missions.
Now, she also received another big order from a veteran middleman whom she has known for a long time!
According to the middleman, the employer of this order needs a veteran wanderer who is familiar with the bad land environment, and the other party's compensation fee is quite generous.
The mission requirement only requires the wanderers to wait at a specific location, and when the time comes, cross the border between Northern and Southern California and arrive at the predetermined place to gather.
The waiting place arranged by the middleman is the town where she is currently staying.
Knowing that this middleman had never played tricks on him, and the remuneration was indeed considerable, V accepted the commission with confidence.
As for the waiting period, Quan should treat it as a holiday for himself. People can't be so tired in life.
Afterwards, not long after arriving in this small town, V had to admit that the pace of life and working atmosphere in this small town were really comfortable... so comfortable that it was a bit boring.
Since the task has not progressed and the employer has not contacted her, she has been in this small town for many days.
Now, she has gradually been infected by the atmosphere of life in this town, and her whole person has become a little salty.
I don't know when I will be able to cheer myself up again. This kind of "vacation" life is really a bit difficult.
"It's almost noon, where are we going to have a meal later?" V started his car and drove slowly around the town, his eyes starting to drift past the houses on the roadside.
The car drove for a while, and just when V had chosen a restaurant that looked good, the communicator in the car suddenly rang.
The Badlands area is naturally not as prosperous as the City of Night.
There are very few places in this kind of small town with local area network coverage. Even daily communication is difficult. Special communicators must be used to communicate. The signal and performance are much better than the convenient communication with the processor in the brain. The device is much better.
Picking up the communicator from the front console and pressing the button to connect it, V asked lazily:
"Hey, this is V, what do you want from me?"
Soon, a familiar voice came from the other end of the communicator. It was the middleman who handed over the commission to her:
"V, no matter what you are doing now, hurry up and go to the outskirts of Night City across the border. Our employer is ready to take action. After waiting for so many days, you must not stay here. Time is absent!"
"Huh? So sudden? Okay, I'll be there right away." V raised his eyebrows, and his whole body was instantly full of energy, as if a machine that had been in disrepair was filled with gasoline in an instant.
After hanging up the phone, she didn't even eat lunch, and quickly returned to her temporary residence, carrying some luggage, documents and items needed for border crossing back to the car.
She stepped on the accelerator to the maximum, used the maximum horsepower of the vehicle, and disappeared into this small town where she had been stranded for a long time.
