A Beaten Dog, or...

All the members of the Bright family stood outside their camp, much like when Leo had first arrived at the Red Ocher tribe. Leading them was Saul, a man with sharp black hair and piercing eyes that seemed to constantly scrutinize those around him.

When Saul saw Cedric from afar, he immediately waved his hand.

It was clear that Cedric was quite famous, as not only Saul but also many of the Bright family nomads greeted him warmly.

As they approached, Saul said, "About your tribe's situation..."

Cedric waved his cane dismissively. "Enough of that. I've got two tasks here. The first is to introduce you to the new Red Ocher chief—Navi, come over here."

Navi stepped forward, standing beside the two men.

"This is Navi, a young man who just turned 24. He helped us during some smuggling runs; you might remember him. Navi, this is Saul, leader of the Bright family and an elder of the Aldecaldo."

Saul grabbed Navi's shoulder and said, "Not bad. And who are these others?" He turned toward Leo and his group.

Cedric scratched his head. "Uh, that's the second matter. Let's go inside. Dakota said she'd be here soon."

Saul shot Leo a meaningful look. "Alright... let's discuss this inside."

As they followed Saul, they could see that the Bright family's situation wasn't much better than the Red Ocher's. They were also surviving on the infamous "kibble" mixed with drinks. However, the Bright family seemed in better spirits, and their group included experienced adults and young people, without the generational gap seen in the Red Ocher. Aside from the half-crippled Cedric, the most experienced person in Red Ocher was Navi, a 24-year-old.

Cedric clicked his tongue. "Things are this bad? Not a single job?"

"What did you expect?" Saul said.

"But it wasn't that bad, right? I just killed a few biotechnica guys..." Cedric began.

Saul suddenly stopped, giving Cedric a strange look. "A few? From what was reported on that 'Death Lottery' special on TV, over a hundred people died that night."

Cedric looked completely confused, prompting Navi to step in quickly. "It's like this... he wasn't involved that night; something else came up. Let's move on."

Saul seemed to partially understand, nodding with a mix of realization and doubt. "That makes sense. I was wondering why you were still here."

"Anyway, the incident was serious. Some news outlets are saying the damage is 5 billion; others are saying 50 billion. Either way, it's numbers beyond our imagination. Militech has increased their patrols on the highways, specifically targeting nomads."

Cedric walked along, listening as if hearing a foreign language. Billions?

Seeing Cedric's confusion, Navi quietly took out a chip from around his neck and passed it to him. "You should check this out."

Cedric inserted the chip and, as he absorbed its contents, his mind began to go blank.

Saul continued, "The Raffen Shiv are becoming more active, and Militech is even deliberately letting them run loose. Things are getting bad. I'm thinking we might have to leave Night City soon. There's no telling what might happen if we stay."

Leo listened carefully and nodded—Saul's assessment was spot on. Militech was likely planning a large-scale operation to wipe out the nomads outside the city.

Nomads were a headache for corporations because they were hard to track in the Badlands. But the nomads' ancestors had no farmland out there and couldn't settle down. To survive, they had to find supplies in the city, and continued targeting and lockdowns would eventually break their will.

Sooner or later, they'd be forced to either leave or go back to working for the city. Either way, they'd become easier to trace.

The longer they held out, the more it worked in Militech's favor—wiping out the Aldecaldos outside Night City was just a matter of time.

As they reached a shaded canopy, Saul stopped and turned to Navi and Leo.

Before he could speak, Cedric exclaimed, "What the hell!"

Saul looked at him. "You really look like you just crawled out of the ground. What's going on?"

Cedric struggled to sit down on a nearby chair—learning the truth had left him a bit embarrassed.

"Give me a moment... I pretty much did crawl out of the ground. Just pretend I did."

Saul raised an eyebrow but didn't press further. Instead, he turned to Leo and Navi. "We've decided to leave. Red Ocher should come with us; I don't need to explain why. Unless you have a better suggestion?"

The last sentence was directed at Leo. It was clear Saul had made up his mind but still valued Leo's opinion.

Leo stroked his chin and replied directly, "You can't leave. The border control won't let you through, and they'll stall you for months. Have you applied for crossing permits? Did you get them?"

Saul frowned. "No... not yet."

"Exactly. You're not going anywhere," Leo said. "Militech isn't playing around. They'll either find someone to blame or make one up. A lot of Red Ocher died, but there are plenty of nomads left out here. Their blood will be enough.

If I were you, I'd be using whatever assets you have left to buy weapons from the brokers."

"We don't have any money left."

"That's easy—if you've got work, you won't refuse it, right?"

Saul furrowed his brow, staring at Leo, struggling to make a decision.

Truthfully, if he hadn't seen the Red Ocher massacre on TV, he might have been seriously considering selling Leo's group out to the corporations.

He had already been thinking about working with them; for Saul, the tribe always came first.

But the horrors shown on TV revealed the brutal reality of such cooperation.

Plus, Leo had already helped them a lot—this was one of the rare times a nomad had actually managed to take a stand against the corporations and win some justice.

Seeing Saul's hesitation, Leo smiled and added, "Before you make a choice, let me ask you something:

Do you want Aldecaldo to live like a beaten dog, getting kicked around in the Badlands, eventually dying with a leash around your neck when you're old and gray? Or do you want to stand tall, no matter how powerful or wealthy your enemies are, and declare your sovereignty over the Badlands, telling the corporations and the world that they'll never make you kneel?"

A beaten dog, or a free spirit?

Saul's eyes grew conflicted. He looked at the familiar yet foreign Badlands and lit a cigarette.

"I'll think about it."

"Take your time. Meanwhile, can I use your medical equipment?" Leo asked.

"Sure, but we don't have the high-end stuff from Night City."

"No worries, I brought my own gear. Think it over, Saul."

Leo waved to V and Jackie, and Navi brought a box of implants from the car.

Inside the vehicle, Jackie muttered about Leo's earlier speech, feeling like it sounded oddly familiar.

He looked at V. "V, doesn't that sound like something you said before? Feels like you told me something like that."

He was referring to their first job together, where V had hyped up a nervous Jackie to cross the border.

Back in Atlanta, Leo had also used similar words to hype up a nervous V.

V shook her head. "I might have said some deep stuff, but it was definitely my own. No way it was the same as Leo."

Leo smirked as he patted the operating table. "Yeah, deep stuff. Hop on."

Jackie sat in the chair, trying to recall the exact phrasing, while V lay down on the medical bed and winked at Leo with a smirk.

She whispered, "Nomad edition? Not bad, I'm saying it now."

"Nomad edition," Leo nodded, putting on his cybernetic gloves. "You're allowed to license it."