Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 552: The Deal.

"How about we make a deal?"

When he heard the words, Dante’s first instinct was to give the skull-faced bastard a good punch, then let him roast for a while. Nevertheless, he could see some use for the enemy lieutenant, making him put that decision on hold.

"You want a deal?" He said, raising an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"

"How about we talk somewhere more private?" Harry said. "Go on. Dive into my MLP."

The invitation gave Dante pause, both because he didn’t understand why his enemy would suggest such a place and because he realized the skull-faced man had left his implants open despite knowing about Dante’s reputation as a deadly Diver.

’This feels like a trap...’

[Even if it is, I have no doubt about my ability to overcome it,] Volcan said. [I will not be caught off guard this time.]

’... Alright, lead the way.’

Dante closed his eyes. Right away, he experienced the sensation of plunging into a cold body of water, having arrived at the data ocean contained within the skull face’s MLP. Noticing something odd, he looked down at himself and noticed that he was now a muscular fish man of some kind, covered in jagged red scales as if it had been bathing in blood for a long time. Apparently, Volcan had changed his Diving avatar at some point.

[I will handle moving you through the streams,] Volcan said. [Please do not resist.]

The avatar began to move, swimming swiftly through the dark waters. It felt the same as the few times Dante dove along with his resident AI, though without the fish leading the way, the fact that he wasn’t in control became even more prominent.

Soon enough, they reached the center, where they found another humanoid fish waiting for them. Unlike Dante’s, it appeared dark and skeletal, like a dried shark corpse. Swimming up to him, Dante stood straight and raised his head.

"Talk."

"You sure got an attitude, don’t you?" Harry replied.

"Trying to buy yourself more time?" Dante snorted. "It won’t make a difference. If you don’t have anything that interests me, you will be done for before you return to the surface."

"Are you sure about that? I’m not that easy to kill. Besides," the skeletal shark looked behind him, as if something was supposed to be there. "I’ve got about a couple of dozen Genomes waiting outside." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Pseudo-Genomes, right? Last I checked, those burn out long before they could put a scratch on my back."

"These have had the chance to practice their powers. I’m confident they will give you a good fight."

"Didn’t take you for the guy who talks too much. You gonna be done with the threats any time soon?"

"Threats? No. I was just setting things up for our deal. You might not like it, but proper build-up is necessary for these things."

Dante was on the verge of asking Volcan to get him out so he could burn the bastard into a real black skull. Thankfully, Harry chose not test his patience any further, getting straight to the topic.

"Black Skull isn’t very stable right now."

"No shit." Dante scoffed.

"I’m not talking about the trouble you caused us." Harry shook his head. "I’m not talking about the Daggers, either."

"What? Your pedo industries aren’t as profitable anymore?"

Closing his mouth, the skeletal shark stared at Dante for a while. The last comment seemed to have hit the right cord.

"The boss is dying." He said after a while.

Dante’s eyes narrowed, and though he never intended to, he started taking the conversation seriously.

"Your boss is dying?"

"That’s right." Harry turned to the left, placing his hands behind his back an drifted slowly. "No one thought he would make it this far, but... the old scars are finally getting to him. I don’t think he would live to see the new century."

"Get to the point already," Dante said. "You want to take his place or something?"

"... that’s about it."

Guessing that much was easy, and guessing what comes next was easier.

"So, what does this have to do with me?" Dante asked.

"It’s simple. I want your help in securing the throne." Harry said. "I’m not exactly in a winning position right now, but if you were to eliminate the others..."

"Aren’t you being too honest for your own good?"

Hiding his real intentions and manipulating things to turn in his favor should have been the right move, but the skull face was taking a different approach. Of course, this whole thing might be a lie, but something told Dante that’s not the case.

"I don’t have much to lose," Harry said. "We have a common enemy here. I think we can help each other."

"You’re trying to sell out your allies?"

"Rivals. And I’m just doing what I need to secure my place."

"... Sounds to me like you would be the only one benefiting from here," Dante said. "What do I get from helping you?"

"Isn’t your goal to take down our doll business?"

"That’s my thing. I’m not doing it to benefit anyone." Dante said. "If we’re going to have a deal, however, I’m gonna need to see some profits. Not about to do you favors just because you forked out some info."

Looking over his shoulder, Harry thought for a moment, then sighed.

"Understandable," he said. "How about half the earnings from the doll business? What has been gathered before you shut down the operation, of course."

"You can keep the filthy money," Dante said, his fishman face twisting into a grimace. Thinking for a moment, his expression turned serious. "I want the names of every client your... doll business had. If you have anything on them, that’s all the better."

"Fine by me," Strangely enough, Harry replied almost instantly. "Is that all?"

Thinking for a moment, Dante decided to add one more thing.

"I want you to get me in contact with whoever is selling Catalyst to you."