Chapter 222

The Gamma Warframe is not the 'Project Kong Prototype', so it doesn't need to turn the user into a human stick, nor is it like the T-Tyrants, which have poor intelligence and rigid tactical movements. The standard required is flexibility, with haptic feedback, force feedback, and body motion tracking functions. The Gamma Warframe must be able to perform the same tactical movements as humans.

At the same time, it is also necessary to be able to mobilize external resources and match the actual situation of the battle armor, and make corresponding commands to be executed in the shortest possible time.

In other words, it's a 'second skin'.

Third, human protective engineering.

In short, it refers to the necessary measures to ensure survival and continued combat operations when facing external forces. For example, the G-forces of high-altitude, high-speed maneuvers and the shock absorption and impact resistance need to be addressed.

Vera's solution to this was—

"Is everything ready?"

Vera turned her head from behind the holographic screen on the control panel. The dim light from the screen reflected off the gleaming, spotless wall, where ambiguous shadows swayed and flickered.

"Highly concentrated cherry blossom stone. And the miniature rotating cherry blossom stone core technology of that 'Count Pudding'."

One of them held up a column containing a cherry-pink liquid.

"The Brain-Computer Interface and some optical brain technology were obtained through technical exchanges with Motoko Kusanagi and Daisuke Aramaki's Public Security Section 9."

One of them seemed to be sitting or lying behind a desk, flipping through electronic files while responding.

"You want to use the old living Quinque [New Ayato-α] as a lining for your armor? Good idea. Hmm, a new custom living Quinque armor with Brain-Computer Interface and neural interface at the back of the neck is being made. With the SS-class healing Quinque [Nico], it's no problem."

One of them has a white dove brooch on the collar.

"I'll provide the raw materials. All those headless Ghoul materials you dumped in the ground of my San Francisco industrial park have been activated and cultivated, and there's no problem with continuously producing Kakuhou."

The collar badge features a yellow cube with an embedded V and the Militech logo.

Feeling the support of her 'sisters,' Vera's indigo eyes shone brightly, sparkling with energy. It was the spirit of rolling up her sleeves and getting to work.

"Alright, let's begin."

216

Chapter 216: The classic American formula: assemble a team, take on a tricky job, and make big money.

Time flies, seasons change.

In the blink of an eye, New Year's Day 2077 has become Remembrance of the past.

Night City remains the same as always.

The Corporate Plaza still stands in the City Center.

It should be a time of singing and dancing, with music and dance as usual, and people should be united in a physical sense.

The city council is always arguing but never gets to any conclusions; the Death Lottery every day as usual; the poor are dying of poverty, and those who need to cut their kidneys are cutting theirs; the lower classes, rife with criminal organizations and shady groups, should continue to pursue their dreams...

Even though the construction of the new Arasaka Research Center in the north of the city is progressing rapidly, the real estate market in the Heywood area is booming, the NCPD has received record amounts of government funding, and even Dogtown Autonomous District, which has relinquished its independence and returned to the municipal government, has received some investment, the flaws are still undeniable.

Shortly after the New Year of 2077, as it had for decades, Night City continued to reign supreme as the worst place in America with unparalleled dominance.

Night City seems to have changed, yet it also seems unchanged.

Or perhaps it's just that there were a few more lucky ones.

As one of the biggest drivers of Night City's positive growth over the past few years, Vera has not paid much attention to the outside world's disturbances since returning from Tokyo. Instead, she has been busy improving and enriching herself.

By day, he toiled away at his desk atop the tower; by night, he diligently studied in the laboratory. He was someone who needed both.

It is said that they are checking for omissions and optimizing a failed confidential project led by Shinichi Tanaka in the technology Development Department.

At the same time, the Jurassic Park Project is underway, and the sub-project of resurrecting dinosaurs is already showing promise.

Even when others were inevitably overwhelmed, he maintained control over his core military and political affairs. He even managed to find time to meet with foreign dignitaries...

The North American Region regional managers from Arasaka shook their heads in disbelief – they're fucking shrewd!

Sano Arasaka, who was far away in Tokyo, fell silent and did not immediately respond with a confrontational and infighting response.

While Vera was methodically advancing her strategy, countless undercurrents were surging beneath the shimmering surface of Night City.

Various aspects.

There are those within Arasaka, those across companies, those between gangs, those between individuals, those between political entities... and so on.

This is everyday life in Night City.

There have just been more of them lately.

At the same time, in Watson District, the Chinatown was teeming with people.

An inconspicuous street stall.

Behind the simple, portable table and chairs that extended into the narrow alley, bang! A dark-haired woman with slightly tanned olive skin slammed her hands on the round table and leaned forward.

"So, this time, it's not that retired old bitch Rogue's job, but yours? You've got some nerve, trying to take advantage of Arasaka in Night City, and judging from your tone, the target isn't low-ranking? Are you out of your mind?! Are you kidding me?"

Panam Palmer frowned, his expression suspicious. He lowered his voice and looked at Jackie Welles was slurping up his meat sauce noodles, with a somewhat unfriendly tone.

That's all I can say for now.

Jackie wasn't annoyed.

Having worked together a few times, he knew about Panam's fiery temper.

Overall, based on his experience with her, this former Nomads woman wasn't a bad person, just a bit wild and outspoken. Her sharp tongue could easily offend people without her even realizing it.

Whether they can get along well is a matter of opinion.

Anyway, it suited Jackie's taste perfectly.

Me too!

Jack shoveled down a couple of mouthfuls of noodles sprinkled with some kind of animal meat, smacked his lips, and turned to meet the gaze of the burly man in brown sunglasses slurping up noodles with meat sauce at the corner of the table. Jackie recognized the shared taste in the man from Maine's winking and grimacing expression as he adjusted his sunglasses.

If it weren't for Misty / Dorio, I would have had to flirt with her.

While Jackie and Panam were talking, Maine observed the girl who could earn the praise of 'Queen of the Afterlife' Rogue:

Dressed in simple jeans and a cropped leather jacket in an entropy-increasing style, his thick, black, curly hair resembled a rolled-up steel wool. There were almost no signs of implants on his body, and he had an unusually high amount of flesh. There were no tattoos on his exposed skin. Compared to the flamboyant style of the Moxes Gang, his brown eyes were even more understated...

How should I put it? She's a Nomads girl who's completely different from the kitsch fashion of the city.

"What are you looking at?!"

Annoyed by Maine's scrutinizing gaze, Panam retorted, "Watch out or I'll pluck your eyeballs out!"

Even with Maine's physique and arm size, which seemed capable of killing her with a single punch, her tone remained utterly unfriendly.

Wow.

Maine shrugged and raised his hands slightly in surrender.

"It's definitely spicy enough."

He said that, but his eyes were fixed on Jackie. His doubt was clear: could an ordinary person without cybernetics handle being brought into the team?

"Rogue introduced her to me. And then we hit it off."

Jackie put down the empty noodle box and said, "She has a reputation in the underworld. You'll know once you see her driving that big machine. Badlands is her home turf."

"Okay, as long as you're confident. What we're doing is more about trust and mutual respect than combat effectiveness."

Maine nodded to indicate that there was no problem.

The rules of the game in Night City are simply that a middleman finds the job, issues the orders, the mercenaries take the job, and then obey the orders. Leaving aside emotional issues like trust, Maine trusts Jackie more than that Faraday guy.

"Damn, what do you mean by 'love at first sight'? Do you think a turtle can't stand a green bean? Don't think I'll listen to your nonsense just because you're flattering me."

Although he said that, Panam looked like he was eager to hear more. "I'll listen to what you have to say first, as long as you two idiots don't do anything stupid like trying to get your hands on Vera."

"My brain isn't as drug-fueled as those idiots in the Vortex Gang."

Jackie shrugged.

"Don't you know how I handle things? I only take on tasks within my capabilities. I don't want to burden my relatives and friends."

At Vera's level, once she takes action, unless someone above her is holding her back, or the one taking action is Major Corporations of equal size, if she really starts to retaliate by imposing guilt on others, she'll probably just cancel the household registrations based on the discovered records.

"If it's not senior management, then it must be middle management?"

Sensing the underlying meaning in Jackie's words, Panam said somewhat speechlessly, "Really a mid-level manager? Jackie, how do you know how to deal with us scrubs..."

As she spoke, she pointed to the sky above the narrow alleyway leading towards the City Center, where a dark tower could be faintly seen.

Arasaka Tower.

"If those henchmen investigate, won't they just implicate our relatives and friends?"

"As long as it succeeds, there will be no investigation."

Jackie stated firmly, "That's their rule."

"Rule?"

Panam's eyes narrowed slightly. She just had a bad temper, but she wasn't stupid. After all, she had been involved in the Aldecaldo Tribe and had even been a caravan leader, so she still had some political sensitivity.

"Office politics. No wonder, no wonder..."

"Company jobs. You know, these kinds of jobs pay the most."

Jackie said solemnly, "I won't reveal anything else. Although I trust your character, this is also to protect you. If you don't agree..."

After he finished speaking, he waited for the other party's response.

Silence...

Just as Maine glanced sideways, thinking that Panam was about to give up, she spoke up.

"Why choose this kind of work? Why not give it up?"

"Cannot."

Jackie shook his head without hesitation. "This concerns the future of a very important friend of mine. I can't stand idly by. If you think the risk is too high, I won't blame you. Just keep it to yourself. We haven't met tonight..."

"Then I choose to join."

He paused, raised an eyebrow, Jackie intently at Panam, asking, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. You don't want to stay out of this because of your friend. Then, am I your friend?"

Panam grinned.

"Back then, when I had a falling out with my family and left the 'family' to make a living in Night City, you took care of me. My first pot of gold after leaving the 'family' was earned from you. Really, Jackie, you're not suited to be a middleman."

"You're not the first person to say that."

Jackie smiled too.

Maine waved to the deserted alley.

Not far away, Kiwi and Lucy stood on the second-floor balcony of the narrow alley, their expressions different.

"It seems Mr. Wells has successfully recruited someone; the Nomads has joined. Let's go, Lucy. Report to Maine on Pilar and the others' intelligence gathering."

"Don't let me down, Jackie."

Panam glanced at the two cyber hackers who came down the rusty emergency stairs, then punched Jackie in the chest as he laughed heartily. "When are we going to make our move?"

She asked.

"No rush. We have plenty of time to scout and prepare. The best solution is to take action in the Badlands."

Jackie patted his chest, then looked at the two beautiful female cyber hackers who were walking towards him.

"Hey, beautiful Ms. Kiwi, Porfavor (Spanish: Excuse me), please pull Panam into the encrypted channel."

Upon hearing this, a flash of orange light appeared in Kiwi's eyes.

Didi.

Panam then pulled out a mobile phone whose customer base had decreased by 99 percent by 2077.

Kiwi and Lucy looked at her with a strange expression. These days, someone so plain-looking is practically Nomads.