Infinite Progress, Starting with Arasaka

His withered, wrinkled old face was stained by the explosion's flames, taking on a flickering crimson hue.

The explosion, naturally, hadn't occurred at the Arasaka Family Estate.

Yes, Johannesburg!

Saburo Arasaka's face turned extremely grim in an instant.

On the holographic screen, a substation in a corner of Johannesburg's urban area in South Africa erupted in a surge of fire, thick smoke billowed into the sky, and electrical sparks flew, momentarily dyeing half the city red.

The image clearly showed that this substation, besides supplying power to some city blocks, was exclusively for the Johannesburg Arasaka Industrial Park!

In this series of explosions, the brightly lit factories of the Arasaka Industrial Park plunged into darkness.

And at this very moment, accompanied by the flashing muzzle fire and the roar of explosions within the darkened factory complex, the covert security team Saburo Arasaka had casually stationed in the industrial park began to suffer casualties.

"Enemy attack! Johannesburg Industrial Park is under a premeditated assault by an unknown armed force. Attention, all personnel are equipped with military-grade advanced cybernetics and high-powered firearms! They are disrupting the backup power grid within the industrial park. Repeat..."

On the connected dedicated communication channel to Johannesburg, the roars of the industrial park's defense forces sounded out.

At this moment, Saburo Arasaka understood perfectly: the Solaris Staircase Project had been leaked.

Someone wanted to take advantage, dispatching an elite force of equivalent caliber.

"Baka!"

How could it be so fast?

How could the timing be so precise?

Arasaka's border outposts in South Africa weren't just for show. Accumulating such strength couldn't have been done in just a day or two.

Vera Adelheid had only extracted the Progenitor Virus less than a day ago, and the stability project's PPT had only recently been submitted to Tokyo University. How could they be so sure it would yield results? To place such a huge bet...

Before Saburo could ponder for a moment, a 'beep beep' signaled a new file. The latest urgent report from the northern border outposts in South Africa had arrived: several Black Warlords in Central Africa were showing large-scale movements!

Johannesburg Arasaka Industrial Park.

Inside the Biological Research Experimental Zone factory.

BOOM!

Flames flickered in the darkness, illuminating the faces of fully armed personnel, their eyes augmented with various models of external optical cybernetic eyes. The air was filled with the pungent smell of burning components.

Shattered glass, exploding concrete, the roar of gunfire, and the flames of explosives continuously consumed the personnel on both offense and defense.

Rapid and fierce.

"F*** Arasaka, why are there still a few teams hidden inside? Where are the hackers? Get their positions marked for me!"

The attackers' curses, accompanied by the dense firepower woven by kinetic machine guns and tech shotguns, instantly covered the entire narrow corridor. Several Arasaka security personnel, holding submachine guns and wearing light aramid bulletproof vests, fell like rag dolls, hitting the ground as blood gushed out.

"...Damn it, there are too many of them! Quickly restart the automatic defense turrets!"

"No, there are at least two dozen hackers operating simultaneously. The substation was blown up, and a massive amount of Puppet Virus was forcibly injected into our factory control center. They didn't even intend to control it; it's pure data congestion. My computing power is barely resisting the intrusion; clearing it will take time."

A scream, followed by the sound of a body falling.

"Shit! Shoot that bastard!" Amidst the angry shouts of the Arasaka defenders, a deafening blast accompanied by electrical crackling echoed through the room.

The burly machine gunner, wearing a nondescript protective suit, bent over and pushed forward. He suddenly lurched backward, his head exploding. Splattered blood and brain matter smeared the glass on one side.

"It's a Nekomata! Damn it, Arasaka's bastards are truly insidious, hiding this level of defense in addition to the basic security. Damn it!"

The Nekomata Electromagnetic Sniper Rifle, the pinnacle of the Japanese company Tsunami Defense Company's work, fired tungsten darts that could easily penetrate individual armor and conventional buildings. Even the thickest subdermal armor and titanium skeletons would be pulverized.

RUMBLE!

As fast as lightning, the attackers clearly knew the tactic for dealing with Nekomata snipers: blow them up! A series of micro-rockets accurately struck the defensive position a hundred meters away, and the violent explosion immediately rendered the security room unrecognizable.

A figure cloaked in intermittent optical camouflage leaped out of the opening and retreated, but while still in mid-air, a barrage of scorching, high-kinetic heavy rounds slammed into his chest, sending him flying back.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Sparks flew.

All military-grade controlled-use firepower, far beyond civilian applications.

If the camera zoomed in, one could see the sniper's lightweight external armor being breached first. The alloy plating beneath his skin was dented and damaged by the massive kinetic impact. The most severe wounds were around his chest; multiple shots struck the same spot with deadly accuracy, piercing straight through him.

"Damn it, you sons of bitches, it's you, Militech's bastards!"

They say your greatest enemy knows you best.

Militech and Arasaka had been fighting for so many years. While things had been peaceful in recent years, their covert security teams and infiltration agents clashed almost daily. They knew each other better than a mother knows her child; they knew what you were about to do just by the twitch of your butt. The familiarity in their fighting was such that the Arasaka security forces guarding the Solaris Staircase would soon be spewing all sorts of profanity.

"You're talking nonsense! Arasaka's stupid pigs, it's your bitch Russell who made too many enemies! Someone paid us to mess up her good deed! We operate with integrity! Feel free to place your next order with us, Arasaka dogs."

In any case, Militech's infiltration agents naturally denied everything!

Before completing their mission and returning to Militech, their identities were concealed. Even if they were found out, they would be considered retired, and the company would claim they acted independently, their contracts terminated, and their actions were voluntary.

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT—

BOOM-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!

The two sides exchanged fire with passion.

"We're outnumbered, and they came prepared. They clearly waited until Supervisor Russell left... Where are the reinforcements?"

Blood and flesh splattered. Another Arasaka heavy security guard had his upper body blown off by a rocket. He crouched behind the pillar of a rear cover wall. The Arasaka security team leader looked at the biological laboratory door not far behind him – the Solaris Stairflower's lab was in there.

"We're under attack. It's more than one group. They have heavy anti-air firepower. The armored hovercar sent from the branch to reinforce us was shot down. The latest news is that at the northern border outpost, the Black Warlords' army is on the move, and a large number of mobile units are tied down at the border, unable to move."

"Damn it! Tell them to stop dealing with those Black people. The lab, their target is the lab!" The Arasaka security team leader angrily slammed his fist on the floor tiles. Dong! The floor shattered.

"We can't count on the local branch's strength for now." He gritted his teeth and asked, "Where is Supervisor Russell?"

"Johannesburg Grand Hotel..."

"Contact Supervisor Russell immediately. The Johannesburg Grand Hotel is less than a 15-minute drive from here. If we hurry, tell the brothers to hold on for another 10 minutes, and reinforcements will arrive. As long as we can hold on until Supervisor Russell arrives, everything will be fine..."

Meanwhile, at the Johannesburg Grand Hotel.

Bedroom, "Zzzz..."

Vera was woken from her deep sleep by the 'drip-drip' sound of a new email notification, and the sounds outside the window.

"Why is the sky red?"

(^▽^)

Chapter 055: Do you know why Vera is recognized by Adam Smasher?

The brightest star in the night sky.

It was the bursting flames.

Vera, who had been groggy, instantly woke up. She sat up straight from her bed and looked out the floor-to-ceiling window—

Parts of the city went dark as power was cut, the sky was half-dyed red by the flames, armored hovercars fell with sparks and lightning, the industrial park was filled with gunfire, and guided rockets snaked into the sky from every corner...

Her face instantly flashed with a complex emotional shift, like a fan-shaped statistical chart.

Terrorist attack?!

This is truly… regrettable!

"Beep beep beep, beep beep beep… Attention, the building has activated a red alert. Johannesburg public service facilities are under large-scale terrorist attack. For your safety, please remain in your rooms and do not move around. Hotel security personnel will do their utmost to ensure your…"

The intelligent AI's alarm blared throughout the entire hotel building.

As fast as lightning, the moment Vera, with uncontrollable astonishment and anger on her face, wrapped in her bathrobe, came to the floor-to-ceiling window to observe, Boom—!

With the advantage of the Johannesburg Grand Hotel's highest point and her far-above-average eyesight, Vera clearly saw the location of this explosion.

In the suburbs, between the city's main power substation and the urban area, the transmission line towers connected to the high-voltage grid, some key nodes lit up with fireballs almost simultaneously, the towers twisted and collapsed, engulfed by the rolling smoke and shockwaves generated by the explosion, and the city's power supply was instantly cut off!

The hotel building, maintained by backup generators and ultra-large energy storage batteries, was not affected.

"This is Vera Adelheid. Someone, notify the Johannesburg Security Department to prepare heavy weaponry and mobilize riot control troops!"

Adjusting her emotions in less than two seconds, Vera issued the command. As she spoke, 'drip-drip', she opened the virtual screen grid built into her optical cybernetic eye plugin. The old emails hadn't been checked yet, and the notification for new emails sounded again.

She quickly scanned them. There were emails from the Johannesburg branch, the hotel, the industrial park, and even a red-colored one marked urgent from the intelligence department. She quickly scanned them one by one. They were all reports, requests for support, and tactical guidance. Among them, she clicked on a data unit in the intelligence department's attachment.

A video of an exchange of fire inside the industrial park was transmitted, very dark and blurry.

It came with a battle report. The attackers were from Militech. Even if they weren't, Militech couldn't escape responsibility. The secret security forces of the industrial park's defense sequence said they could only hold on for less than 15 minutes. The enemy came prepared with various military-grade heavy firepower. Their target was clear: the Solaris Stairflower and its experimental results.

[Received. Please hold on for 10 minutes.]

Sent.

Vera continued her actions, taking off her bathrobe and quickly changing clothes while replying and issuing commands.

"Prepare a hovercar, your hotel's heaviest armored hovercar. Destination: Arasaka Industrial Park. Send them the route and tell them to depart immediately. Meet me along the way when there's an opportunity!"

Hotel AI: "Notification relayed. Is there anything else..."

"Plan a fast route directly to the rooftop helipad for me."

With that, in less than a minute from waking up to leaving the room, Vera, who had changed into comfortable clothes suitable for intense activity, rushed out of the suite.

Unfortunately, most of her high-priced, custom-made war-grade private weaponry was stored in Night City.

After all, she had come to Tokyo to study for the past few months, not for field operations, so there was no need. It's not like she could have predicted everything that would happen, so being fully armed wouldn't have been appropriate.

She was 'passively' responding to the attack, not actively engaging the enemy.

As for this sudden attack, Vera had a premonition and was psychologically prepared.

Who the attacker was, it certainly wasn't Saburo Arasaka. And if Sano Arasaka was truly planning this all along, then he was playing a much bigger game than Vera had anticipated… She would have to look at Sano with new eyes.

Ding ding—

The corridor was in chaos.

Whether it was hotel security or secret agents from other Arasaka departments following her, Vera didn't have time to distinguish. She entered the cleared express elevator, and soon, Vera led them to the top-floor helipad.

An armored hovercar belonging to hotel security was waiting.

Vera boarded and said sparingly, "Depart, Industrial Park."

Hum… hum…

The vector thrusters roared, and the hover armored vehicle took off, accelerating, and heading towards the Arasaka Industrial Park at full speed.

Inside the cabin, as soon as she was seated, Vera grabbed the advanced individual combat armor and weapons prepared by the hotel's security. This combat gear included a thickened aramid combat suit, a bulletproof vest with double plates designed for a woman's physique, shoulder pads, knee pads, combat boots, and a high-tech helmet.

Ugh, a little tight.

They were standard issue, definitely not as well-fitting as Vera's custom gear, but tonight, she'd make do.

As for weapons, Vera glanced at them and then turned her head away.

Sigh, the hotel security, no need to make things difficult for them. Their priorities are different. They emphasize defense, with defensive sentry turrets and mechs. These individual weapons are too lightweight, not powerful enough. I'll wait for the security colleagues from the Johannesburg branch to bring more suitable equipment.

"This is the only one that'll do."

Vera picked up a large, rugged, mass-produced 'Slaughter' shotgun. Just then, a beep beep, friendly communication connected. "Supervisor Russell, we have arrived." On the cabin's screen, three armored hovercars were flying in from the Johannesburg Arasaka Tower.

"Very good, prepare for transfer."

The hotel's armored hovercars were clearly more geared towards self-defense, with a more flashy and ornate appearance. They were also smaller compared to the security department's armored hovercars, which were equipped with external organic cannons, rocket launchers, and decoy launchers.

The two vehicles hovered parallel to each other, and their doors opened. Just as Vera was about to jump from the cabin into the combat model armored hovercar, beep beep beep! The vehicle's AI issued an alert. "Damn it! Commander, we've been locked on—!" A panicked voice of an Arasaka soldier could be heard.