Chapter 268 c

Chapter 268 c

The woman spoke and stood up, leaving first.

Leo watched her walk away. Before she even exited the church, the recording ended.

…

Although the woman speaking to Evelyn had been heavily pixelated from head to toe, there was an obvious and massive electronic voodoo sigil on the church wall behind her.

That kind of symbol was exclusively used by the Voodoo Boys.

Just as Leo had suspected— the real force behind Evelyn was the Voodoo Boys.

However, what Leo hadn’t expected was that the theft of the Relic hadn’t been ordered by the Voodoo Boys.

They had merely tasked Evelyn with recording a braindance.

It was Evelyn herself, greedy and overreaching, who had set her sights on the Relic.

There was no way Evelyn didn’t know the Voodoo Boys wanted that braindance from Konpeki Plaza’s penthouse suite in order to access the Relic, yet she still tried to cut in and steal it herself.

Whoever gave her that kind of nerve… she had overestimated herself.

No wonder the moment news of the Konpeki Plaza incident broke across Night City, the Voodoo Boys immediately identified Evelyn as the culprit.

Which was why they bypassed Cloud’s subnet and fried her neural link.

Leo could only sigh at Evelyn’s actions she was too greedy.

The Voodoo Boys, Arasaka, Dexter… Not a single one of those was someone a low-level doll like Evelyn could afford to provoke.

But Evelyn, like an old man sick of a 9 to 5 gig, managed to offend all three in one go.

Yes, there's a saying: “Fortune favors the bold.” But this wasn’t boldness—it was stupidity.

Record a braindance, get a middleman, hire a few mercs to steal the chip… Evelyn’s plan was far too simplistic.

She didn’t even want to keep the middleman involved.

Even if Leo’s team had actually succeeded back then, Evelyn would’ve still had a hard time finding a buyer for the chip.

The Voodoo Boys would have come for her anyway.

Simply put, she was bold but had no plan—reckless step after step. No wonder she ended up the way she did.

Judy’s voice rang out in the room, puzzled.

“Leo? You’re not done watching the recording yet?”

“It’s done. I’m pulling out now.”

A burst of blinding light flashed again, and when Leo opened his eyes, he was back in the dim computer room.

He gave a brief summary of what he saw in the braindance to the others.

V looked thoughtful. “So after the chaos at Konpeki Plaza, Evelyn hid out at Clouds because she was afraid the Voodoo Boys would come after her?”

Lucy placed her right thumb and index finger together in a gesture shaped like a number seven, resting them on her chin.

“You can’t really blame her logic—Clouds is the top-tier dollhouse in the city, and it’s Tyger Claws territory. Even if the Voodoo Boys are a notorious hacker gang, who would’ve expected Cloud’s network security to be so weak?”

V and Lucy took turns speaking, making Judy’s face grow darker.

She knew they weren’t mocking Evelyn; everything they said was true. But still, she couldn’t help but feel upset for Evelyn.

Soon, Leo shifted the topic and pulled her attention away.

“That woman who hired Evelyn—can you guess who she is?”

Judy was confused. “Didn’t you say she was from the Voodoo Boys…”

“No, I mean her spesificly.”

“I probably don’t know as much as you,” Judy said, then added, “Sorry, Leo.”

“No need to apologize to me. Evelyn’s the one who should’ve apologized. All she had to do was record a braindance, but instead she staged a heist that shook the whole city—and stole the chip from right under her client’s nose.”

Judy spoke with guilt in her voice. “You were there that night… She hired you, got herself into deep shit, and dragged you in with her.”

No one in the room said anything.

Lucy fidgeted with a lock of hair by her cheek, V crossed her arms and stared down at the tips of her boots, while Leo scratched his cheek and pretended to look up at the ceiling.

The mood grew heavy.

After a minute or two, Judy finally spoke again, breaking the silence.

“There’s another recording here. Do you want to see it?”

Leo nodded. “Sure. At this point, nothing’s really going to surprise me.”

He removed the braindance wreath from his head. Judy took it, ejected the chip, replaced it with another, and handed it back.

Just like before, a blinding light—then Leo was back in the braindance.

As the light faded, what appeared in his vision was a pair of hands with golden finger sleeves.

One hand held a cigarette between the fingers, the other held a lighter.

Because Evelyn’s head was lowered, Leo could only see the faded, patchy floor tiles and a pile of bricks nearby.

He quickly realized this was a continuation of the previous recording.

Evelyn had just left the church. She reached for her cigarette— then noticed the woman who had assigned her the job hadn’t gone far.

She immediately ducked behind a stair railing, peering down secretly.

The heavily pixelated woman was holding a phone, and from the phone came a man’s voice:

“Wi li ale. Ou te gen rezon, manzè twò entelijan pou sa pote I byen.”

The voice was clear, but it wasn’t English, Spanish, Chinese, or Japanese.

“What language is that?” Judy asked. She was watching the footage live through the terminal while Leo wore the wreath.

Leo shook his head. “No idea. But since it's the Voodoo Boys, maybe it’s Haitian Creole.”

The Voodoo Boys operated in the Haitian immigrant districts of Pacifica, composed almost entirely of Haitians.

The gang was originally founded by voodoo priests and priestesses—Haitian immigrants, elite caste members of Creole society.

In 2062, climate disasters submerged Haiti, marking the start of a new era in the Voodoo Boy’s history.

They declared themselves guardians of Haitian refugees and assumed responsibility for the safety and interests of their people.

The Voodoo Boys were infamous in Night City, known for their cunning netrunning skills and strange voodoo rituals.

Most of their members were netrunners, outfitted with cooling suits and neural implants to manage system stress. Their style incorporated ritualistic elements—tattoos, symbolic jewelry, and coded patterns referencing old-world mysticism and subcultural identity.

“Hold on—let me see if I can install an auto-translation module. You can switch the wreath to intercept the phone signal, hear what the other side says… Just a sec…”

Leo paused the playback and waited for Judy to load the translation mod.

“Got it. I found a translation pack—it’ll work with the wreath. Later I can send it to your tactical optics too, if you want.”

“Great. But first, let’s hear what that Haitian woman and her partner were whispering about.”

Once the translation module was installed, Leo rewound the footage and resumed playback.

The Haitian language was now translated into readable subtitles—enough to follow.

“The doll’s gone?” the man’s voice said.

The Haitian woman who hired Evelyn hadn’t noticed Evelyn watching from above. “She’s gone. You were right—she’s too smart. She saw no benefit to herself.”

“Will she cause trouble for us?”

“She won’t dare. And she’s our best lead to get close to Yorinobu Arasaka. We have to take that risk.”

“I wish I had your faith—that Silverhand better help us reach Alt.”

“You have a better plan? No? Great. If you’re done questioning my judgment, get back to work.”

The second recording was shorter. That was the end.

Leo exited the braindance, pulled off the wreath, and rubbed his eyes.

Just like staring at a monitor too long made your body ache, extended use of a braindance could make you feel disoriented and sore. Thankfully, Leo’s body wasn’t exactly normal—he recovered quicker than most.

He put the wreath back on the table and stood up to stretch.

Judy picked it up and returned it to its place. “I don’t get it—what does any of this have to do with Johnny Silverhand? He’s dead… been dead for who knows how long.”

Leo said nothing. He only exchanged glances with V and Lucy.

The fact that Johnny had come back was known only to them three, plus Rogue and her two most loyal subordinates, Jackie, T-Bug, and Panam. (Though honestly, that was already too many.)

Still, Leo figured it was best not to tell Judy.

He stood up and politely refused the help Lucy and V offered. “Thanks, but I’m not that weak yet.”

He turned to Judy. “Thanks, Judy. That helped a lot. If there’s nothing else, we’ll head out.”

Suddenly, a voice came from behind. “Wait, please.”

The three of them stopped. Leo looked at her. “What is it?”

Judy hesitated. “It’s nothing. It’s just… you’ve helped me and Evelyn so much. That time with Jotaro Shobo, and her hospital bills… at least stay for a meal.”

Leo smiled but gently declined. “Thanks, I appreciate it. But we’ve already had breakfast.”

“Then stay for lunch.”

Seeing how insistent she was, Leo knew if she didn’t do something to repay them, she’d feel guilty. There was no urgent need to chase down the Voodoo Boys right now, so he softened a little.

“Alright. Let’s try your cooking.”

“Great!” Judy nearly jumped up, but quickly caught herself, a bit embarrassed. “I’ll go buy groceries. You guys wait here, okay?”

Before Leo could say anything else, Judy had already rushed out the door. A moment later, the sound of the door closing echoed through the apartment.

“Make yourselves at home. I’m gonna go call Johnny.” Leo left Judy’s place and stepped out into the corridor.

Facing the breeze, he called Rogue.

After a few brief words, Leo asked her to hand the phone to Johnny.

Soon, that familiar voice came through the receiver.

“Well, well. Leo calling me directly? Surprised you didn’t send a carrier pigeon.”

“You? Reading a paper note? I’m not that cruel. Listen I’ve got a question for you, Johnny. Do you know the name—Alt?”