Infinite Progress, Starting with Arasaka

"Yes!"

Without asking any reasons, only the need, the squad leader nodded, then turned around to gather personnel and prepare for transfer.

During the process, Vera took a final look at the so-called Mapungubwe Palace Ruins.

It was nothing more than a cluster of shed-like earth and stone buildings, with sand everywhere, and its entire surface covered in pockmarks caused by wind and sand.

Having been neglected for a long time, more than half of it had already collapsed. Inside, there were dried excrement left by wanderers, and the collapsed walls also bore bullet holes and traces of explosions, both old and new, indicating that there had been more than one firefight.

Hum...

Amidst the engine's exhaust, the convoy set off again.

After driving on the boundless wasteland for nearly 10 minutes.

"Supervisor Russell, we have already left the South African border and entered Zimbabwe. According to the map of ancient tribal ruins of the Bantu language branch you provided, we should reach the next tribal ruin in about 35 minutes."

Inside the Behemoth armored transport vehicle, Vera brushed the dust off her sleeve, placed some mutated mushroom samples, and began to focus on writing her log.

Well, at least she looked focused.

How could serious research be done without writing a log?

2075/5/31

[Mapungubwe Ruins] | ×

No suitable flower plants found.

It is speculated that due to half a century of natural changes and environmental degradation, the special precious flower plants discovered by this mining and transportation company may have become extinct. Lowering expectations, the project's feasibility is reduced...

"Increase vigilance!"

"Huh?" Vera looked up.

The soldiers of the security force outside her cabin immediately got up, synchronized the vehicle's weaponry, and opened the firing ports to guard both sides. After a while, the squad commander's voice sounded in Vera's ear through the internal communication channel.

"Supervisor Russell, we have a situation, it seems to be a Badlands feud."

Shua. On the detachable display wall, the screen synchronized with the drone's recorder was projected before Vera's eyes.

Beyond the road, behind a small hill a hundred meters away, was a campsite in complete disarray. Several small, dilapidated vehicles, modified countless times, were splattered with blood and brains, and mangled corpses that would be censored on any official television channel.

"Hoh..."

Vera wore a thoughtful expression, then a smile played on her lips as she manipulated the vehicle's external camera and looked towards the distant stone ridge.

Arasaka agents...

When she was at the ruins, she could roughly determine the position of the observers.

The observers who had been following them all the way.

"Request another detachment from the Cape Town branch, adjust the route, expand the drone reconnaissance range, increase vigilance, and continue forward." Let's give you some difficulty.

"...Yes!"

After feeling the convoy speed up, Vera put down her data pad and closed her eyes to rest.

"It's about time."

She murmured silently in her heart.

After leaving South Africa, she would need to find an opportunity to bring out the Sun Stairflower in a reasonable and logical manner.

Leaving South Africa meant leaving the Arasaka-dominated area. North Africa and West Africa were territories of the European Community, while Central Africa was a buffer zone with no dominant power, a world of warring African warlords.

She had to keep herself in optimal condition.

Although she was quite sure that the Arasaka rapid response team's strength was not comparable to the black African wanderers, and with Arasaka security agents following and monitoring her, as long as she wasn't meeting with Militech or ESA personnel to discuss job changes, protecting her life was also one of their priorities.

But she still needed to remain vigilant until everything was successfully completed.

Vera knew very well that she couldn't rely on them.

She didn't know how Sano Arasaka, this landmine hidden within Arasaka, Saburo's filial son, would deal with her, an Arasaka 'loyal servant'. Would he plant his own people among the personnel, or deliberately leak information to divert trouble?

And if Sano became timid and retreated, it was also something Vera did not want to see, because she needed Sano's targeting to 'act pitiful'.

If she got the items too easily, without experiencing some hardship, how could she show her thoughtfulness and importance, and her 'loyalty' to Arasaka, to the great Lord Saburo?

Well, there was no hardship, only bumps, and nothing happened along the way.

Leaving the Great Zimbabwe ancient cultural ruins and on the way to the source of the dried-up upper Congo River, Vera rubbed her forehead.

Three days.

The rapid response team she requested from the Cape Town branch had already arrived overnight.

For the Sun Stairflower project, she had scouted the Kami Ruins in Zimbabwe and the Matobo Hills. She kept updating and sending back logs, sometimes raising expectations, sometimes lowering them. She had already clashed with local indigenous warlord forces several times, but she still hadn't waited for the intervention of external 'competitor' companies.

Fine! If there's no chaos, I'll still get it!

Watch me update my log.

2075/6/3

[Great Zimbabwe Ruins]|?

Although no suitable flower species were found, a significant discovery was made.

Based on observations on the stone walls and the surviving bronze and wood carvings and mask styles from the local ruins, they had arrived at the location where the mining and transportation company originally discovered the precious flower species...

"Supervisor Russell! We're about to reach the Congo River Ruins."

Vera stopped updating her log, her pupils flickering with orange-red light. Her ocular cybernetic implants connected to the vehicle's external cameras. The dim yellow light revealed the Congo River, a Congo River without water.

The wide riverbed was exposed. The river, once one of the world's largest in terms of flow, was now reduced to mere gullies and cracks.

After a brief pause, Vera excitedly said, "Deploy all drones. I'll operate them."

The connector emitted a faint 'buzz, buzz' sound.

At this moment, Vera displayed the terrifying computational power expected of a powerful operative in Night City's Arasaka Security Department. Taking over the controls, the wall of monitors in front of her filled with constantly comparing and sliding images from the scattered drone reconnaissance.

Barren hillsides, dried-up wells, piles of scrap metal. Small towns built in the past crisscrossed the badlands, most of them buried by sand. Oh, and the ruins of ancient mud-hut tribal settlements...

"Ancient Bantu tribes. The Congo River basin was once their largest habitat and gathering place." Nodding, Vera then stood up. "Stop the vehicle."

Screech.

Clack!

Accompanied by the light sound of hard heels striking the hard earth, Vera jumped out of the vehicle. She walked past the vigilant soldiers, scanned her surroundings, and finally headed towards the tribal ruins.

She could feel eyes watching her from all directions as she landed.

Tsk, the third rapid response team to arrive. She was sure at least two of them were informants.

There was nothing more to say, 'Search'!

After turning the entire tribal settlement upside down, the unearthed underground storage and aqueducts were not enough for Vera to work with. Change!

Vera got back in the car. Following the Congo Riverbed, she quickly found the next tribal ruin. 'Search'. No suitable ruin garden found, so she moved on again.

As she drove and searched, night fell.

Vera's face showed visible signs of annoyance. The gazes of those watching her had also weakened considerably. The convoy continued forward, passing through one isolated abandoned town after another.

"We'll camp here for the night. Set up camp, establish outposts."

At a tribal ruin nestled between two barren hills, where the entrances were faintly marked by leaning, massive wind-eroded stone carvings and largely destroyed wood carvings, Vera got out of the car with a perfunctory search, leading a few soldiers inside.

Search.

Inside the largest and best-preserved stone house of the tribe, dust filled the air, and dirt and broken stones flew everywhere, creating a chaotic haze.

Light.

A dark opening.

Finally, a large enough tribe had been found.

Vera exhaled a breath.

Such primitive tribes still exist in modern times, especially stone-built tribal settlements constructed on the slopes between two flat-topped stone ridge mountains. Building a dwelling by carving into the mountain generally meant utilizing natural caves.

This was the place.

Putting on a protective mask and ignoring the guards behind her, Vera stepped inside.

Tap, tap.

The deeper she went, the more irregular the cave walls became. Vera also saw more and more traces of artificial excavation intersecting with natural caves on the surrounding stone walls, as well as severely decayed wooden frames used for support, and what looked like ceremonial masks hanging on them?

There were also many spoiled grains on the ground, which Vera couldn't identify. There were even human skeletons and many animal bones.

Even in the 20th century, tribal conflicts over water and food were common in Africa. This place was likely used by the tribe to store food, but for some reason, it was abandoned in the end.

Perhaps it was due to the corporations' development of Africa, leading to extreme environmental degradation. People were either forcibly relocated as labor or died in the chaotic situation...

Drip, drip—

Continuing further inside for a distance, the natural cave had become extremely narrow, only allowing two people to pass. There was a faint sound of flowing water. Vera followed the sound, water?

In a corner, very sparse, she didn't know if it was poisonous but extremely rare mountain spring water seeped out, human skeletons, animal skeletons, animal hides, shamanic painted masks, large quantities of spoiled and clumped grain that had turned black, forming fertilizer-like humus, and various scattered rotten seeds...

A subtle smile appeared on Vera's lips.

"Don't move!!"

Swish! Swish!

Several soldiers who were closely following Vera were startled. They reflexively raised their guns, their cybernetics activating. "Supervisor Russell?" But Vera completely ignored them. She crouched in the corner, her pupils flashing red light, and said, "Found it."

Vera's gloved hand plunged into the accumulated gray-black humus in the corner. She dug through it, and in a dimension they couldn't see, another 'her' picked up large handfuls of Sun Stairflower blooms in front of her, transitioning from illusion to reality.

Very gently, Vera made a pulling motion. A color that appeared extremely vibrant in the cave 'emerged from the earth,' reflecting in the eyes of the soldiers. "What is this?"

"See, the Sun Stairflower."

Vera's voice trembled as if from excessive excitement. She raised the dark red, round-petaled flower high, and like a famous corn enthusiast, she grinned, revealing her teeth, smiling brightly.

"Go, get my floral cultivation dish! Seal off the area."

She let out a sigh of relief and excitedly shifted her gaze to the soldiers standing still, ordering them in a deep voice.

Before her words had even finished, she crouched down again, her hands sifting through the gray-black soil again and again, tossing aside shaman masks and bones mixed in with it. One by one, dark red flowers, some withered, some upright, emerged from the earth.

Thump!

At this moment, several soldiers in the front row quickly departed upon receiving their orders. Of the two soldiers left behind, one unconsciously focused his gaze on the Sun Stairflower that Vera had carefully placed behind her.

The high-precision recording camera on his camouflage was emitting a faint glow.

Chapter 052: At This Moment, Vera Begins Her Evil Virus Research

Boom!

The shockwave from the mountain blasting instantly spread outwards, kicking up dust and gravel. After the smoke cleared, the seemingly solid wind-eroded cliff face began to collapse on a large scale. At the safe distance of 500 meters, at the Arasaka convoy's parking area, Vera stood with her arms crossed, her fingers tapping idly.

"Keep searching. Long stems, single-head flowers, dark red pistils."

She had been acting very excited ever since she 'discovered' the Sun Stairflower deep within the natural sunken cave, which was chiseled open from the mountainside inside what looked like the tribal chief's stone house, in the center of this large African tribal ruin.

After packing the dozen or so flowers she had scavenged, of varying quality—including damaged, wilted, dead plants, and some rotten, carbonized seeds—into petri dishes, Vera ordered all the soldiers in the rapid response team to start searching.

She herself continuously updated the exploration log with her data pad, showing a strong desire to return.

An eagerness to begin the corresponding research.

Under her command, the tribal ruins within a mile or two in every direction—mud huts, wooden houses, stone houses, grass-thatched houses, dung houses—were turned upside down within two hours. They dug three feet deep, and some were even flattened entirely, comparable to violent demolition.