As the hours of celebration wore on, the pier where their ships were docked was alive with the sounds of laughter, music, and celebration. The former crew of the Demonic Monkeys reveled in their newfound wealth, their spirits high as they toasted to their success and future plunder that lay ahead of them.

“Here’s to our new commander!” one of them raised her glass, which was replied with the same cheers. And as they raised their glasses to the stars above, they became confident of their future under him.

The festivities continued around them.

Their commander, smiled as he saw them from the sides as he inspected more information that he bought from info brokers and smugglers. But all had no concrete information that he wanted. Most of them contradicted each other even. He was about to step forward to the celebration to ask someone from them, but after seeing the happy atmosphere, he decided not to. Not wanting to kill the mood, Ubel sent a message instead that could be read later.

Then he saw Bastille dragging two prostitutes back to Godright. Most probably to have a very good time which they rarely get previously under Munda. Others were the same, drinking until they vomit what they ate, fucking male and female prostitutes like there was no one around them, and gorging themselves with food that they never tasted before.

“Eat hearty everyone. For we don’t know tomorrow.” He muttered as he glanced again at his holo, searching for any traces of known NPCs that he met on this station. The former owners that he used to know were exiled. Something like a family conflict that turned into a gang war. Then after taking over the station, the gang who won decided to share their power with other gangs and create a circle of authority in which they will rule the station together instead of fighting over it.

A good suggestion, until someone tries to break the status quo.

Ubel noticed the lingering presence of several people. Then when he decided to sneakily get out of the festivities. He made some distance away from the celebrating crew and turned. He nodded in acknowledgment as they approached, their expressions a mix of curiosity, determination, and… hate.

"Decided to stick around, huh?" Ubel remarked, a hint of amusement in his voice as he addressed the group.

A large woman with orange hair, probably the group's spokesperson, stepped forward, her gaze steady as she spoke.

"We may have chosen to stay commander, but don't think for a moment that we've forgotten what happened to Munda Ek're and the others," she said, her tone firm and unwavering.

Ubel nodded, understanding the underlying tension in her words. He realized that they were probably the remnants of Munda’s supporters who at that time of massacring their former commander and captains, were at Godright, defending their flagship.

He scanned them one by one for their identities and immediately, their names came out thanks to the intricate recordings of his droids. Aela, Ursa, Mucker, Zinc, and Tepra.

Ursa, a burly female pirate with a scarred face, grunted in agreement. Though not tall or bulky enough to be called a brute, the well-toned muscles on her chest and abdomen hidden by her black tank top, showed the disciplined and rigorous training she had done.

"We'll be keeping a close eye on you, Captain," she warned, her voice low and menacing.

Ubel met her gaze evenly, unfazed by the implied threat.

"As you should," he replied, his tone steady. "But remember, we're all in this together. If we want to succeed in our raids, we need cooperation once again to get this same amount of plunder or more. And I don’t condone and forgive any attempt to disarrange the plans that I made."

He reminded them with a counter-threat, he didn’t mind their hostility as long as they would never attempt to sabotage his plans. Mucker, a wiry pirate with a quick smile, spoke up next.

"We'll see about that," he said, a hint of skepticism in his voice. Then another one, Zinc, a quiet and observant figure, simply nodded in agreement, his expression unreadable.

“Why are you all here?” he asked. “I don’t remember Creed asking for another group of companions this time. Is there something you want to talk about?”

Tepra, the one with the youngest-looking appearance of the group, spoke last, her voice tinged with a hint of defiance.

"We decided to give you a chance, commander." She said, her eyes narrowing slightly. "But don't expect us to forget where our former loyalties lie."

Ubel met her gaze, his own eyes gleaming with interest. He was reminded once again that he was in a pack of wolves. Ready to pounce and challenge him if his pack deems him weak and useless to lead them. Something that he very much wanted.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," he replied, his voice firm. "Now go, enjoy the festivities. You all have earned it."

With that, the group fell silent, their eyes locked in a silent understanding. Then they silently left him on his walk back to the commercial area of the station while they turned and joined the rest of the crew who were still in the middle of their celebration.

Ubel gazed around and it was already dark unlike from the bright part of the dock. He scanned the buildings and realized that their current place was in a nighttime zone, a system where it created artificial morning and evening zones for the station. He left their docking bay and walked again towards the cityscape. Even at night time, the people around never changed. It's still the same crowded streets that welcomed him.

The sights of dying beggars, prostitutes in the alleys, gangs, and outlaws making shady deals, and specks of blood on each corner of the streets truly reminded him that he was not on a normal space station.

He remembered back in the game that this station used to have guards around that he and his friends used to bribe for easy exploit in smuggling. Where he would bring a small number of medicines, which was by the way strictly controlled in most outlaw stations as the local gangs monopolized such trade, then he would purposely grab the attention of the guards when he docks and pay them hush money depending on the number of medicines he brought. He would usually bring only small amounts to give out small bribes.

After that, his friends would park at the back of his freighter and toss in the large crates of medicines that were disguised as arms to his ship, a commodity that was unironically cheap and allowed in outlaw stations. What they had done was exploit the system where the guards would only inspect your goods if the ship docks while the system still allowed swapping or trading cargo between ships that were near to each other.

Using this, practical exploit that could be considered a cheat, they would then sell the medicines to the lower districts that gangs never controlled but were reigned by bands of beggar kings. This smuggling trade would usually give them a profit of a hundredfold.

It soon became so big when he and his friends became so rich in smuggling medicines, that they could afford several fleets of freighters and create a smuggling empire across the outlaw stations.

However, due to their attention span of a goldfish, they soon got bored with their wealth so they sold their smuggling empire to various smugglers. Inadvertently starting and creating a competitive smuggling trade empire of medicines across all outlaw systems. He grinned as he remembered the stupid antics that he and his friends always had done in the game which caused accidental effects on the galactic board.

Glancing around to find something to rest, he found a very large establishment with loud bystanders outside its main doors. He looked at its signboard and realized it was a bar that provides nightly services. As such, this type of establishment would always get crowded in this dark time.

“Bells ‘n Balls.” he read the name of the establishment and laughed, then went towards the main doors.

The bystanders who were flirting with the prostitutes right on the door saw Ubel coming. He could see that they were either drunk, high on drugs, or both due to the complexion of their skin and eyes. He was about to enter when he was blocked by three men with very broken teeth. Then quickly took back his impression as they were not broken teeth but serrated teeth, probably cybernetic upgrades.

“What’s with those teeth? Are you going to need that to eat rotting metal or something?” he mocked them loudly.

“Huh?!” one of the men triggered by Ubel’s words, raised his voice. “You trying to make us laugh boy?”

“Boy?” Ubel was confused and then remembered that his appearance was not his middle-aged Japanese salaryman life, but his in-game avatar. Then he laughed as he somehow kept on forgetting about it.

He started to understand why some of the crew still couldn’t find themselves to feel comfortable in obeying his orders. A person younger than them just killed their entire commanding authority and took control of their entire group by force. It's probably humiliating at first then became unsettling as Ubel proved his capabilities in leading them.

The man who blocked his way however was not amused at his smirking face. Under the influence of drugs and alcohol, one of them tried to kick Ubel to the ground.

But before he could even lift his foot, he fell to the ground with a foaming mouth and twitching head. The white eyes made it harder to know if he was dead or just dying. The prostitute who was with him screamed in terror. Catching the attention of other people and the brute guards of the establishment.

And before they could arrive, the other two men who blocked Ubel from entering also fell to the ground, with foaming or salivating mouth. Causing their prostitutes to run away in fear.

“What the fuck happened here?” one of the brute guards asked after seeing the unconscious three men on the ground and the fleeing people who saw what happened. The muscle mass on his arms expanded as a tone of intimidation for the boy, Ubel.

“I don’t know. Maybe they are too drunk?” Ubel shrugged and then asked. “By the way, can I come in?”

The two brutes frowned at his indifferent reaction but decided not to chase the matter.

“Hmph! Weapons?” The brute asked in his deep growling voice.

“Really? Weapons? What is that?” Ubel asked sarcastically, showing off his digital capabilities with glowing, golden eyes.

The two brutes went silent on his answer and gestured for him to enter. They obviously and immediately knew his status as a Neuromancer.

“You... Fucking stay out of trouble.” Both of them shoved the three bodies out of the entrance of their establishment. Two of them realized that he wasn’t worth their time.

The brutes just grunted and he left them as he entered the long black corridors of the bar. He can still hear the two yelling at other people to help them clean up the bodies at the entrance.

As he opened the double doors, he was then greeted by noises of people talking to each other with loud music.

The sight was quite different from what he was expecting. In the game, one of the lacking features was the ground encounters which the developers never had the time to focus on fleshing out. So, most of the content on the cityscapes and establishments for the players was just meant for NPC encounters making trade deals, or shopping. It was never meant to immerse the players to stay on the stations for long.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

That’s why he searched across the modding community who found themselves adding new features and layers of life on the seemingly bland stations. But found nothing that could cater to what he wanted. Then he found another game that had these features, minus the space and ships. It was CyberFunk 2305. It had bars, shopping malls, dynamic NPCs that were not even related to quests or the main missions, apartments, restaurants, arenas, and other features that made the world alive.

So, he had to create his mod that connected two different games. The Pitch Black Void and CyberFunk 2305. He added the city assets from CyberFunk 2305 to Pitch Black Void stations, colonies, and planets.

It took him a long time, and it was one of the creations that he had made along the way before he finished his modified ship. Since then, he could just fully immerse himself in nightclubs, listening to loud music as if he were there, hearing the clink sounds of glasses and the pouring wines. Or he could go for a walk in the city malls where he would see NPCs interacting with the world. Something that he couldn’t find the time to do in his real life due to very tight schedules at work.

“Come to think of it, it became my personal ASMR as time goes on.”

But it was different this time. As it was so much more personal. He could hear the sounds of the bustling nightlife with his ears without the use of headsets, he could touch the very bottles that the drunks still had on their hands without the use of mouse and keyboard.

He finally felt, for the first time, thankful that he was sent to this universe.

For this was where he felt truly alive.

He gazed around, trying to take in the sights in front of him. The interior of the establishment was dark but it was made this way to cater to the flashing bright lights and the privacy of the customers who wanted to enjoy their own thing inside. It was a large space enough for hundreds of people. It had lots of tables and chairs that were purposely arranged for making deals, eating, drinking, or fucking.

A typical and very attractive establishment for smugglers, info-brokers, gangsters, and shady traders while having someone to suck them off. Ubel sat at the bar’s counter and signaled to the bartender for a drink.

Prostitutes of different genders roamed around in their sexual features with their seduction skills. As he squinted his eyes, he could see smugglers carrying around peculiar black cases or juggling chips.

Info-brokers playing cards or smoking on their tables, waiting for would-be clients.

Traders along with their guards, welcomed their patrons as they started new deals… or new victims to scam.

Mercenaries watch naked male and female models dance on the poles or dance on the floor with prostitutes.

And people who were obviously bounty hunters, preparing for their next hunt as they checked their arms and ammo while getting drunk. And gang members, living their lives of sin and greed, enjoy it to the fullest with loud laughs amidst drinks and public displays of intercourse.

The bartender took notice of him and raised his brow after seeing a young boy on his table. Ubel also noticed the confusion of the bartender and just raised his hand for a drink. Shaking his head, the bartender poured him a glass and served a black wine with a very sour smell.

“Thanks.” Swirling his wine glass Ubel observed more about the bustling activity around him.

More and more people entered and then spread around to other vacant tables that were placed around, starting their businesses. Floating house drones were also flying about, cleaning the vomit, spilled drinks, blood, and tables for the new customers. But he also had another thing on mind other than immersing himself, he was keeping an eye on every smuggler in the establishment. Three of them already caught his eyes.

One of them was a woman with short hair, with a yellow jacket, sewn with armor plates, and was armed with an energy pistol. He could see that she was probably already bored for not getting a trade after waiting this long as he saw her eyes turning to the right every time like a person with OCD, where the digital clock was usually located. She also kept unloading and loading the energy cells of her pistols to keep herself busy. He scanned her and found that her name was Lucy Wu, a transient smuggler of this station after finding out her short history of docking in and out of various outlaw stations on the list. Showing that she was a very busy woman that has a good history of traveling around.

But what got him interested was the bounty on her head. She was wanted by the Colonial Alliance for trespassing, smuggling, human trafficking, resisting arrest, and murder of fifteen Colonial Police. She had a status of ‘Wanted: Alive’ with a bounty of 2,390,000 credits. This was a very good background in the eyes of Ubel for it displayed that she knew how to go around authorities and probably handle very ‘hot’ goods.

The second one was a bunch of twins. What made them instantly get his attention was right after he scanned them. He had a hard time checking for their identities every time he scanned them. It seemed that the twins had a FOG Defense System against neuromancers like Ubel. Then when he finally cracked through their FOG. The first couple of names he got were Arlen and Huen Phex, then when he tried to check again for confirmation, they had another name which was Rissa and Vex Strubben and the next was Rica and Rusel Vlatcord. This made him grin with great interest, as he felt that he was practically being challenged by the layers of anti-hacking defense measures set by the twins.

And Ubel was not a person to deny or ignore such a challenge.

He had to make an effort by hacking through the main security hub of the Station System to search for their real identities, which then he was led to hack the twin’s ship, a stolen UGTR corvette. What he found was something that could turn this entire station into a frenzied manhunt. The twins were members of QUILL, the UGTR intelligence agency. Something that made him suddenly laugh out loud which caused some of the patrons that was drinking near him to look at him strangely.

“This is why I love docking in stations. You never know what you will encounter and it will always make you flow with adrenaline,” he said, drinking his entire glass and asking the bartender to pour him another.

The twins had no names, they were just addressed with codenames TT or Tiamat Twins in the deleted communique from their QUILL higher-ups. Ubel wasn’t able to salvage the purged information in their database. But he could safely assume that they were probably assigned here on Banedog’s Backyard to act in liaison with the UGTR informants, insiders, and agents in this station. And as smugglers as their cover, they would be able to easily ferry information and informants in and out of the station. He made a mental note, adding the twins to his list of ‘People of Interest’ which he wanted to make connections with in the future.

Then as if they noticed his scans, they both turned towards him which he replied with a raised glass and a smile. And he turned his attention to his next candidate.

The third one was a party of smugglers. They were comprised of two women and a man. Unlike the previous twins, he had an easy time scanning for their identities. And he found out that they were related. Cousins from the same family. And that aspect got the attention of Ubel after realizing that they were members of a Reaver Clan. A nomadic group of people that travels around from sector to sector. Their livelihoods were focused on raiding, smuggling, trading, and most interestingly, traveling with one of the known species of animals that could survive in deep space, the Moonwhales.

Moonwhales have the average size of an L-size ship. They travel in large groups called pods like most whales on the Earth’s oceans. But Moonwhales' main diet was asteroids and gasses. And their excrement was what the Reaver Clans wanted as it usually comprised precious metals, ores, and valuable minerals.

And that’s why Ubel interest in them grew as Reavers were known to be good smugglers and traders. They give out good deals that would become one of the standards in smuggling. And he may become willing to compromise or take a bargain just to earn a favor from them. He always wanted to see a Moonwhale in person this time now that he was part of this universe. A childish desire was bursting out of him.

The dimly lit room was filled with the sounds of laughter and conversation, a stark contrast to the tension and danger of life in the underworld. As he took a sip of his wine, his mind mulled over his options. Then as he turned to stand and start a deal with the twins, his eyes fell upon a certain person seated at a nearby table. There was another smuggler, Ubel noted the subtle signals and gestures that indicated his profession. Bragging about his latest escapades with the UGTR authorities, barely running away in time while under fire. A typical story for every smuggler in a heavily secured system.

But his attention was drawn to another figure across the same table. A handsome but feminine man with a tattoo on his shoulder, flirting shamelessly with the smuggler. Anyone could see that he was a male prostitute.

However, Ubel's eyes narrowed as he recognized the tattoo, a symbol that he had seen only a few times in the game. Although it was covered by a large pink rose tattoo, he could still see the form of three vertical lines parallel to each other, overlapped by an omega symbol.

Shock and disbelief coursed through Ubel as he realized the implications of the person’s presence. He had never expected to meet someone so rare to be encountered in the game and certainly not in a seedy bar in this outlaw station. But there was no mistaking the tattoo, and Ubel knew that he had stumbled upon something far more significant and so stupid to be called a coincidence. This was his first docking after being sent to this world. And now he met a person who was considered a game-changer in the Pitch Black Void.

“Are the RNG gods toying with me or what.” he swallowed his drink in one gulp as he continued his gaze on the man.

Summoning the bartender again, Ubel ordered another bottle of wine, his mind racing with possibilities. He needed to confirm his suspicions, to ensure that he wasn't jumping to conclusions. With each sip of wine, he observed the person from afar, noting the subtle details of his appearance and behavior.

He asked himself, how could he use this unexpected and rare encounter to his advantage? Then an idea popped out. Filling out the holes in his plans, making everything whole again. He smiled playfully as he realized that his old habits, die hard.

Finally emboldened by the alcohol coursing through his veins, Ubel made his move. He approached the person, his heart pounding in his chest as he prepared to confront him. As he drew closer, he could feel that what he was about to do may change the status quo in their known galaxy.

Without a word, Ubel took the vacant seat beside the person, his mind whirling with questions.

The smuggler—the person he was aiming for, became confused at his sudden intrusion. The person even regarded him with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity.

“Hey,” Ubel called out the smuggler, who frowned to see a boy sitting on their table. “Could you please fuck off?”

“Wha-?”

“Ah never mind,” Ubel said as he rested his chin tiredly on the cold table.

Before the client could even react, the smuggler started choking, fainted, and fell face-first to the table. The golden eyes of Ubel glowed as he looked down after knocking out the smuggler without even using anything.

“Damn man! You’re drinking too much! Bela is going to beat you up once she finds you’re drinking here again! I know that your brother just died but you shouldn’t drink your sorrow like this!” Ubel stood and patted the unconscious smuggler on the shoulder, pretending a relationship between them while the male prostitute just watched the event with wide-open eyes in shock and confusion.

Then Ubel turned his attention to the male prostitute.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t kill him. Especially when I don’t want to kill the guards and everyone here on my way out later,” he whispered, loud enough only for both of them to hear.

Then he kicked down the unconscious smuggler to the floor and sat on the now empty seat in front of the male prostitute. As they settled into their chairs, Ubel wasted no time in getting to the point.

“I don’t want to spoil or prolong the great surprise… so, I’m going to make things short and straight.” Ubel drank the wine that the smuggler was previously drinking and twitched, he didn’t expect that man to be drinking such a level of alcohol. “I need your services as an info broker.”

The prostitute frowned, seemingly disturbed or even confused at Ubel’s words.

“I don’t know what you’re saying, boy-”

"I already mentioned that I dislike beating around the rock so I will just say that I know who you truly are," he said bluntly, his eyes boring into the prostitute's, which caused the other side’s demeanor to shift. His expression grew guarded as he regarded Ubel warily.

"Then who do you think I am?" he asked, his voice tinged with suspicion and obvious playfulness. “Aren’t you probably playing too much with pretend cons-”

Ubel leaned forward; his gaze unwavering.

"You're someone, with a golden mark," he replied, his words hidden in a whisper.

The prostitute's eyes widened in surprise, a flicker of fear passing across his face before he regained his composure. But Ubel was undeterred.

Then he said the magic words.

“For an ounce of gold in life, we toss the passing Death of dice.”

The prostitute's facade crumbled, his mask slipping away to reveal the face of indifference and coldness beneath which he answered.

“And for Death we have gold, but none for the depths and cold.” The feminine man just narrowed his eyes. Ubel leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile playing at the corners of his lips.

Then he asked Ubel in a whisper.

“Who are you?”

"I am Ubel, commander of a certain pirate group. For now, let's just say that I knew your… little group," he replied cryptically. As the tension in the room mounted, Ubel knew that he had the upper hand. The man before him had nothing on him and Ubel intended to use that to his advantage.

With those words, the male prostitute suddenly changed his demeanor from a pretend shock to a calm face. Then he stood from his seat and told Ubel.

“This isn't the place, follow me.”

Ubel made guts pose inwardly as he successfully got the attention of a known Non-player Character in the game, Pitch Black Void.

He stood and followed the prostitute back to the kitchen where as they passed the bartender on the counter, he tossed a metallic card to the prostitute. He was led into a black wall that was no different from the entire interior walls of the establishment. Then the prostitute raised the card that sent a signal somewhere. The wall then started shifting, and folded down, showing a hidden room behind the former wall.

“Please.” the male prostitute gestured for him to enter first which Ubel accepted.

Both of them disappeared behind the wall, leaving only the specks of dust from their boots on the floor.