Interdimensional Scientist, Starting from Cyberpunk

"Welcome back to News 54. We interrupt with an urgent safety alert."

"There has been an intense shootout in North Watson. According to preliminary reports, the conflict appears to have been initiated by a gang called the Maelstrom Gang."

"Around 9:30 PM, the NCPD received multiple reports of gunfire from the North Watson area."

"Eyewitnesses described a chaotic scene: several gang-modified vehicles sped through the streets, gunmen firing out of car windows. The walls and pavement on both sides of the road were riddled with bullet holes, and stray bullets flew everywhere."

"The criminals weren't just using modified vehicles—highly restricted military-grade armored vehicles and heavy weaponry were also spotted at the scene."

"Due to the ongoing anti-corruption crackdown within the NCPD, a large number of officers failed to respond in time."

"Residents in the area are advised to shelter in place immediately. Stay vigilant and avoid this zone if possible."

"This marks the 11th major street shootout in the Watson district in recent years. Some experts argue that military-grade security forces should be deployed to stabilize the region."

As the television broadcast reported the recent incident, Leo listened while distributing cash to the drooling Aldecaldos.

The Galena G240—once worth just over 20,000—had been used for years but was now reselling for over 60,000 each.

The Aldecaldos had never seen such a deal before. Panam counted on her fingers, struggling to believe this kind of reverse depreciation!

This time, Leo bought out all of Roshan's machine gun turrets and accessories—ten sets in total—for 100,000 eddies.

After that payment, 550,000 remained.

According to the sponsorship deal with the Mikino concept stock—specifically Throton—Mackinaw-modified vehicles would be sold to the Nomads at cost price.

This cost included Sherman's labor fees, with adjustments made for usage scenarios and additional anti-skid chains for desert terrain, coming to 35,000 per vehicle.

Even after deducting the costs of replacing the Aldecaldos' vehicles for free and paying Roshan, each vehicle would still yield over 10,000 in pure profit.

Not only were the vehicles upgraded, but they made money in the process—what an incredible deal!

If this girl found out that Leo had also collected tens of thousands in interest from Brick, her reaction would probably be even stronger.

"Damn, Leo, you're a genius at business! We got free car upgrades and made money at the same time! But… those Maelstrom Gang guys don't seem like good people. Are you sure we should be helping them?"

V patted Leo on the shoulder, about to compliment him, but Panam beat her to it, saying exactly what she was thinking.

V froze, suddenly unsure of what to say.

Leo glanced at V with a puzzled expression and responded, "You can't judge things just by their surface. The Maelstrom Gang is a threat to all of Watson District, even Night City itself.

"If we don't help Brick, he probably won't survive the week. That means Royce will still be running the gang unchecked.

"But if we do help Brick, the two of them will be at each other's throats."

The Maelstrom Gang would be severely weakened. No one understands the Maelstrom Gang better than its own members—outsiders might wound them, but it's hard to deal real damage.

Otherwise, the corporations would've wiped them out already.

Leo didn't even have to finish his sentence—everyone in the Aldecaldos raised their thumbs in approval.

Old man Cassidy was the most straightforward: "Damn, that's devious! This is what you call killing several birds with one stone! I'm writing this down in a book for the kids!

"Saul's problem is he thinks too straightforwardly. I say the Aldecaldos should make 'learning to be cunning' a part of our education, so we don't keep getting played by city folk!"

Cassidy, a grizzled man in his 50s, wore a cowboy hat and had a small mustache. Despite his age, he was still fit and rugged.

Passing down wisdom is an important part of education, and for the Aldecaldos, who still teach in traditional ways, stories like this were great learning material.

Though, knowing this old man, the kids would probably pick up his habit of cursing too.

V withdrew her hand and nodded in agreement with Jackie. But they were mostly agreeing with the first part of the conversation.

It seemed the Nomads had sharp eyes—they'd already seen through Leo's cunning nature after just a few interactions.

V was about to say something when Panam beat her to it again: "But why did you tell us to dump the fuel?"

"If they had both fuel and weapons, what if Brick really did manage to take out Royce all at once?

"Fanning the flames is an art—balance is the key.

"Besides, like you said, the Maelstrom Gang isn't exactly friendly. We need a way to exert some control over them.

"Now, let me ask you: What do they do when they run out of fuel?"

"Look for fuel."

"And an angry boss will only be thinking about punishing traitors. Put those two things together, and you get the outcome I want."

Everyone suddenly understood—this needed to be handled just right.

The next steps were obvious: Brick would have to attack a fuel depot first, and with his mind set on traitors, he was almost guaranteed to hit assets belonging to Royce.

There was another bonus to this plan—Ethanol-2 fuel couldn't be hidden easily. Once the shootouts started, they could track them to identify the Maelstrom Gang's financial network.

Leo hadn't forgotten their main goal: to weaken the Maelstrom Gang and lower crime rates in Watson.

Large criminal organizations often had legitimate businesses that helped them launder money.

After all, the world's most valuable and widely accepted currency, the eurodollar, was still a fiat currency at its core.

The dirtier a gang was, the larger its financial front needed to be to clean its money.

That's why, aside from the most violent groups, a bank was always the most profitable enterprise—because these gangs needed them and protected them.

The Maelstrom Gang didn't have its own bank, but Leo needed to find out which legitimate businesses they controlled—those were the key to their laundering operations.

As everyone marveled at Leo's cunning, V seized the moment to shift the conversation to something no one would argue about:

"Alright, time to split the cash!"

"Why are you in such a rush? Here, let me count."

Leo started doing the math.

After deducting the 340,000 paid to Roshan and Chesson, 210,000 remained.

Buying six Mackinaw vehicles had cost another 200,000, leaving just 10,000 in pure profit.

There were also four more machine gun turrets being modified—once those were sold to Brick, there'd still be a decent profit to be made.

Sherman soon drove the vehicles into the compound's parking lot, and the Aldecaldos' eyes lit up with envy:

Brand-new, straight from the factory—fresh Mackinaw rides!

Cassidy and the other Nomads eagerly grabbed spray paint and ran downstairs to start tagging the cars with Aldecaldo markings, adding their unique artistic touches.

Sherman watched their excitement and grinned. "Now this is how a car delivery should feel! Let me take a picture—you don't have to worry, my cyber-eye images are copyrighted to me."

Click.

The cyber-eye captured the joyful moment—the Aldecaldos leaving their family's mark on the vehicles.

Nearby, some Aldecaldos working on vehicle mods sped up, secretly imagining themselves as the ones doing the spray-painting.

This scene was recorded, a moment frozen in time.

Leo and his two companions leaned against a second-floor window, watching the scene below. Panam, beaming, gave Leo a thumbs-up.

Leo had to admit, the girl's smile was pretty cheerful, so he smiled back and returned the thumbs-up.

Smack!

Leo felt a knock on his head. He turned to see V standing there, the culprit.

Jackie whistled beside him, then checked his cybernetic arm.

"Smile," V said coldly. "Now, where's the money?"

"Relax!" Leo rubbed his head. "We still have Jefferson's subsidy, right? We can claim that later!"

"Count it. Right. Now."

"Jeez, fine." Leo started scanning the Maelstrom Gang bodies they'd taken down.

So far, between carjacking and recent kills, they had 22 names on the list. The total bounty was 15,400 eddies, doubled to 30,800 eddies.

Add the remaining 10,000 eddies, and the net profit was 40,000.

"That's it?"

"Calm down!" Leo said irritably. "Let's go inside—I still need to adjust your neural components.

"And Jackie, come here—I'll fix up your arm and see if we can upgrade it."

"Finally, hermano, you remember my arm!"

Jackie's cyber-arm was already powerful in regular combat, especially when combined with his Lizard Berserk module, allowing him to exert hundreds of kilos of force without the sluggishness of linear actuators.

But as fights became more intense, Jackie was reaching the limits of his cybernetic fists.

Leo was considering adding a passive exoskeleton layer for extreme load-bearing and pulling, improving stability.

Just as he was about to step into the cybernetics lab, the TV blared a breaking news alert:

"Breaking News!"

"We have just received reports of an explosion at a fuel storage facility in Watson!"