Infinite, Progressing from Arasaka

The firelight from the explosion washed over his shriveled, wrinkled old face, making it flicker an alternating fiery red.

The explosion could not possibly have happened at the Arasaka Family Estate.

Yes, Johannesburg!

Saburo Arasaka's expression turned exceptionally grim in an instant.

On the holographic screen, a substation in a corner of Johannesburg, South Africa, had erupted in roaring flames. Thick smoke shot into the sky at once, Electric Sparks burst and flashed, and the blaze instantly dyed half the city red.

The footage made it perfectly clear: aside from supplying several city blocks, this substation exclusively powered Arasaka Industrial Park in Johannesburg!

Amid the chain of explosions, the brightly lit factories of Arasaka Industrial Park were plunged into darkness.

At that very moment, muzzle flashes flickered throughout the darkened industrial zone and explosions thundered. The covert security teams Saburo Arasaka had casually stationed in the park had already suffered casualties.

"Enemy attack! Johannesburg Industrial Park has suffered a premeditated assault by unidentified armed forces! Attention, all personnel are equipped with cutting-edge military-grade cyberware and high-powered restricted firearms! They are sabotaging the industrial park's backup power grid! I repeat..."

The furious roars of the industrial park's garrison forces rang out through the connected Johannesburg emergency communication channel.

At that moment, how could Saburo Arasaka not understand that news of the Solaris Staircase Project had leaked?

Someone wanted to steal the prize and had dispatched an elite force of equal caliber.

"Baka!"

How could it have happened so quickly?

How could they have timed it so precisely?

Arasaka's border checkpoints in South Africa were not useless. Gathering such a force could not have been done in just a day or two.

Vera Adelheid had extracted the Progenitor Virus less than a day ago. She had only recently finished the stability proposal PPT and submitted it to Tokyo University. How had they known for certain that she would achieve results and dared to place such a heavy bet...

Before Saburo could ponder it further, the beep of a new document notification sounded. An urgent report from the northern border checkpoints in South Africa had arrived as well: several Black Warlords in Central Africa were making large-scale military moves!

Arasaka Industrial Park, Johannesburg.

Inside the Biological Research Experimental Zone factory.

Boom!

Firelight flashed through the darkness, illuminating fully armed faces fitted with all kinds of external optical cyber-eye support devices. The air was thick with the pungent stench of burnt components.

Flying glass, shattered concrete, roaring gunfire, and blazing explosives continuously devoured personnel on both sides.

Fast and fierce.

"Fuck Arasaka! Why are there still several teams hidden inside? Where are the hackers? Mark their positions for me!"

The attackers' curses accompanied a dense web of fire spun by kinetic machine guns and tech shotguns, instantly covering the entire narrow corridor. Several Arasaka security personnel firing back with submachine guns and wearing light Aramid Bulletproof Vests dropped at once, crashing to the floor like rag dolls as blood gushed out.

"...Fuck, there are too many of them! Restart the automated defense turrets, now!"

"Can't do it. At least a dozen hackers are acting simultaneously. The substation was blown up, and they forcibly stuffed massive amounts of Puppet Virus into our factory control core. They never intended to take control—it's purely data congestion. My processing power is barely holding back the intrusion. Clearing it will take time."

A scream rang out, followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor.

"Bullshit! Shoot that bastard!" Amid the Arasaka guards' furious shouts, a thunderous electric crack echoed through the room.

The hulking machine gunner at the front, clad in unmarked protective gear and advancing while firing from a crouch, suddenly jerked backward. His head exploded, and splattered blood and brain matter smeared the glass beside him.

"It's a Nekomata! Damn it, those Arasaka dogs are sneaky bastards. Besides the basic guards, they hid this level of defense too. Fuck!"

The Nekomata Electromagnetic Sniper Rifle was the pinnacle creation of the Japanese corporation Tsunami Defense Systems. Its Tungsten Dart Rounds could effortlessly penetrate personal armor and conventional buildings. Even the thickest subdermal armor and titanium skeleton would be shattered by its shots.

Boom!

The attackers clearly knew exactly how to deal with a Nekomata sniper: blow them up! Miniature rockets accurately slammed into the defensive position a hundred meters away where the gunfire had come from. The violent explosions instantly blasted the guardroom into a mangled ruin.

A figure in intermittent optical camouflage leaped out through the breach and tried to retreat, but while he was still in midair, a barrage of scorching heavy rounds packed with immense kinetic force smashed into his chest, blasting him back through the opening.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sparks flew everywhere.

Every weapon was military-grade restricted firepower, far beyond civilian standards.

If the camera zoomed in, it would show that the sniper's lightweight external armor had been pierced first. The alloy-plated armor beneath his skin had caved in and ruptured under the massive kinetic impact. The worst wound was near his chest, where several consecutive shots struck the same spot. These people were absurdly accurate—they had shot straight through him.

"Fuck! You bastards, it's you! You sons of bitches from Militech!"

They said your enemy always knew you best.

Militech and Arasaka had fought for so many years. Things had been peaceful in recent years, but covert security units and infiltration agents like theirs clashed almost every day. They knew each other better than their own mothers. The moment you lifted your ass, the other side knew exactly what you were about to do. That familiar feeling in battle soon had the Arasaka security forces guarding the Sun Stairflower hurling every kind of Foul language at them.

"Bullshit! You Arasaka idiots! That bitch named Russell made too many enemies herself! Someone paid us to ruin her sweet deal! We run an honest business! Next time you Arasaka dogs need something, feel free to place an order!"

Naturally, Militech's infiltration agents refused to admit anything!

Until they completed the mission and returned to Militech, their identities would remain concealed. Even if they were exposed, they would be listed as retired. Ask them about it, and the answer would be that it had nothing to do with Militech—the contracts had ended, and the employees had acted independently.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat—

Boom! Boom!

Both sides exchanged fire with wild enthusiasm.

"We're outnumbered. They came prepared and clearly chose the time Supervisor Russell was away... Where are the reinforcements?"

Flesh and blood splattered as another heavily armored Arasaka security officer had his upper body blown away by a rocket. Crouching behind a pillar in the rear cover position, the Arasaka security team leader looked toward the biological laboratory doors not far behind him—the Sun Stairflower laboratory was inside.

"Under attack. They have more than one team. They have heavy anti-air firepower. The armored hovercars sent by the branch to reinforce us were shot down. The latest report says the Black Warlords' forces are moving at the northern border checkpoints. A large number of mobile units have been drawn to the border and can't move."

"Damn it! Tell them to forget about those Black people! The laboratory—their target is the laboratory!" The Arasaka security team leader furiously slammed his fist into the floor tiles. Boom! The tiles shattered beneath him.

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

"At the Johannesburg Grand Hotel..."

"Contact Supervisor Russell immediately. The Johannesburg Grand Hotel is less than fifteen minutes from here. If she moves fast, tell the brothers to hold on for another ten minutes. Reinforcements will arrive. As long as we hold out until Supervisor Russell gets here, everything will be fine..."

Meanwhile, at the Johannesburg Grand Hotel.

In the bedroom, "Zzzz..."

Vera was awakened from a deep sleep by the beep of a new email notification—and by what she saw outside the window.

"Why is the sky red?"

(Please provide the text you would like me to translate and revise.)

Why did Adam Smasher acknowledge Vera?

The brightest star in the night sky.

Was the flare of explosions.

The drowsy Vera snapped awake in an instant, sitting upright in bed and looking out through the floor-to-ceiling windows—

Sections of the city lost power one after another and fell into darkness. Half the sky was dyed red by flames. An armored hovercar trailed sparks and lightning as it fell. Gunfire erupted from the industrial park. Guided rockets spiraled upward from hidden corners...

A complex series of emotions flashed across her face like a pie chart.

A terrorist attack?!

This was truly so excit... regrettable!

"Beep beep beep, beep beep beep... Please note that the building has activated a red alert. Johannesburg's public service facilities have suffered a large-scale terrorist attack. For your safety, please remain in your room and do not move about freely. Hotel security personnel will do their utmost to ensure your..."

The smart AI's warning blared throughout the entire hotel tower.

At that moment, Vera, wearing an expression of barely restrained shock and anger, had just wrapped herself in a bathrobe and stepped before the floor-to-ceiling window to observe when—Boom!

The Johannesburg Grand Hotel's commanding height and Vera's exceptional vision allowed her to clearly see where the explosions had occurred.

In the outskirts, between the city's main substation and the urban district, key nodes along the transmission towers connected to the high-voltage grid erupted into fireballs almost simultaneously. The towers twisted and collapsed, swallowed by thick smoke and shockwaves from the blasts. The city's power supply was cut off at once!

The hotel tower remained unaffected, supported by its backup generators and enormous energy-storage batteries.

"I'm Vera Adelheid. Someone notify the Johannesburg Security Department. Prepare heavy weapons and mobilize the riot suppression units!"

Having adjusted her emotions in under two seconds, Vera issued her orders. As the beeping continued, she opened the virtual screen grid built into her cyber-eye implant. Before she could check the old email, another new email notification sounded.

She glanced through them. Some were from the Johannesburg branch, some from the hotel, some from the industrial park, and some even bore the intelligence department's urgent red designation. She quickly reviewed them one by one. They were nothing more than situation reports and requests for reinforcements and tactical guidance. Then she opened the data unit attached by the intelligence department.

A dark, blurry video of fighting inside the industrial park was sent over.

It came with a battle report. The attackers were Militech personnel; even if they were not, Militech could not escape responsibility. The covert security forces outside the industrial park's garrison roster reported that they could hold out for less than fifteen minutes at most. The enemy had come prepared with all kinds of military-grade heavy firepower. Their objective was clear: the Sun Stairflower and its experimental results.

Received. Hold out for ten minutes.

Sent.

Without pausing, Vera removed her bathrobe, changed clothes quickly, and replied to messages while issuing orders.

"Prepare a hovercar—the heaviest armored hovercar your hotel security has. Destination: Arasaka Industrial Park. Send them the route and have them depart immediately. Meet up with me along the way if possible!"

Hotel AI: "Your notification has been relayed. Is there anything else..."

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

With that, less than a minute after waking up, Vera—already dressed in everyday clothes best suited for intense activity—ran out of her suite.

Unfortunately, most of her custom-made war-grade personal equipment was stored in Night City.

After all, she had gone to Tokyo to study these past few months, not to go on field duty. There had been no need for it. It was not as if she could predict everything that would happen later, and showing up fully armed would certainly have been inappropriate.

She was passively responding to an attack, not actively seeking an enemy.

As for this sudden assault, Vera had both a premonition and mental preparation.

Whoever the attackers were, they could not possibly have been Saburo Arasaka. And if Sano Arasaka had planned the entire operation, then he was playing a far bigger game than Vera had expected... She would have to think more highly of Norinobu.

Thud thud—

The corridor was in chaos.

She did not know whether those following her were hotel security or covert agents from other Arasaka departments. Vera had no time to tell the difference. She entered the cleared direct elevator, and before long, she led them to the top-floor helipad.

An armored hovercar belonging to hotel security had been waiting for some time.

Vera boarded and spoke with terse efficiency. "Move out. Industrial park."

Hum... hum...

The vector thrusters howled as the armored hovercar lifted off, accelerated, and sped at full speed toward Arasaka Industrial Park.

Inside the cabin, having just settled into her seat, Vera grabbed the advanced personal armor and weapons prepared by hotel security. The combat gear included a reinforced aramid combat suit, a bulletproof vest with double plates tailored to the female body's physiology, shoulder armor, knee pads, combat boots, and a high-tech helmet.

Mm, a little tight.

Standard-issue gear naturally did not fit as well as Vera's custom equipment, but tonight, she would make do.

As for the weapons, Vera gave them a few looks before turning away.

Well, they were hotel guards—she should not make things difficult for them. Their role was different. They emphasized defense and had defensive sentry turrets and mechs. These personal weapons were too lightweight and lacked punch. She would wait for her Security Department colleagues from the Johannesburg branch to bring equipment better suited to her.

"Only this one will do."

Vera selected a massive, rugged, affordable-firepower-produced "Carnage" shotgun. Just then, beep beep, an allied communication came through. "Supervisor Russell, we've arrived." On the cabin screen, three armored hovercars flew in from the Arasaka tower in Johannesburg.

"Good. Prepare for transfer."

The hotel's armored hovercar was clearly more geared toward self-defense. Its appearance was more ornate and luxurious, and it was a size smaller than the rugged armored hovercars of the Security Department, which were fitted with external autocannons, rocket launchers, and decoy flare bays.

The two sides hovered parallel to one another, and their cabin doors opened. Just as Vera prepared to jump through the air into the combat-model armored hovercar, beep beep beep! The in-car AI sounded an alarm. "Damn it! Ma'am, we've been locked on—!" An Arasaka soldier cried out in terror.