Chapter 96

"... What does it feel like to see so many Arasaka soldiers moving around in Night City at the same time? What are your thoughts on the police contract service agreement signed between the NCPD and Arasaka, and on Deputy Mayor Wilton Horton presiding over the city council to deepen cooperation with Arasaka and sign a new land purchase agreement? Are you surprised... or panicked by the appearance of so many Arasaka supporters in Free State?"

"Never. Everything has come back. Arasaka has simply returned."

"If you had the chance, what would you tell President Rosalind Myers?"

"Bitch! Fuck you!"

The day after Vera Adelheid Russell, Michiko Arasaka, and Wilton Horton met with Night City celebrities at the Konpeki Plaza and held a banquet and press conference.

On the street, a reporter from News Channel 54 was conducting random interviews with passersby.

Although reporters have tried their best to guide the conversation and dig for linguistic traps, the result is often a concise middle finger.

Most people simply don't care about the unfair commercial targeting of Militech internationally. What do they care about how many people died in the Six Street Gang, how many buildings were destroyed in Santo Domingo, or what role Arasaka played and how much he profited?

All they knew was that Arasaka was about to develop the North City Industrial Zone and establish a new research center. This comprehensive new area plan had been announced by the city government and would provide a large number of jobs.

"Okay, okay... Mom, I'll be careful. The Lijing area has the Arasaka sheriff and NCPD, it's definitely safer Santo Domingo."

On the SkyTrain, David Martinez held onto a handrail with one hand and hugged a backpack hanging on his chest with the other. His eyes, flashing with the orange glow of a communication device, were fixed on the Lijing Station platform outside the train window, where media personnel were interviewing commuters.

"Hmm... I'll do my best. I'll be graduating soon, and we'll move as soon as I get my first month's salary. Let whoever wants to live in that lousy place, Santo Domingo... It's gang warfare all the time. The Six Street Gang is gone, but the Barghest are here, and they've come from Pacifica, where murders are even more rampant... You be careful too. Okay, I'm hanging up."

After hanging up the phone with his mother, Gloria, David took a deep breath and tightened the backpack hanging on his chest.

He was standing because the train seats were a bit dirty, and he didn't want to get his newly washed school uniform dirty. He put his backpack in front of him to avoid pickpockets. He had learned his lesson after being robbed once.

As the train sped along, David looked out the window at the glittering lights of the Lijiang scenic area and the patrolling Sheriff Arasaka and NCPD officers, a strange mix of melancholy and dejection on his face.

Separated by a river, two worlds.

Santo Domingo was a fierce gang war; the Barghest almost beat the Six Street Gang's brains out of their sockets.

Meanwhile, Heywood continued his life of revelry and debauchery.

A couple of days ago, many residents of the Lijiang scenic area stopped on the riverbank as if watching a show, and some even set up bonfires and barbecue grills. It was as if they were using the gang battle in the Santo Domingo Valley District on the other side of the river as a topic of conversation and a real-life battlefield full of gunpowder and blood.

Happiness is always relative.

Although both places have a huge gap between the rich and the poor and rampant gang activities, at least Heywood does not have old and dilapidated infrastructure, nor does it have gangs that are so fierce that they drive armored vehicles, operate heavy Drone Mechs, and have firepower that is more powerful than NCPD cops, and that thousands of people fight each other in the street.

Not to mention the locals, even David Martinez suddenly found the NCPD, which guards key transportation hubs such as bridges, stations, and docks across the river, to be more pleasing to the eye.

Especially Arasaka, Barghest attitude towards the Sixth Street Gang, who treated the Santo Domingo Six Street Gang like his own son, immediately did a 180-degree turn when he saw Sheriff Araji patrolling the Skyrail Station in the River Valley Ward. He became incredibly polite.

I didn't realize it before. I always heard my mom nagging about how great the company was, Arasaka was the No.1 in Night City, and how joining Arasaka would be like ascending to immortality... David knew this, but he didn't have a very sensitive or concrete understanding of it.

Now, amidst a gang war, with several carloads of Six Street Gang killed in front of his house, and the arrogant street kid being thrashed like chickens by the even more swaggering Barghest, David has never longed to graduate as much as he has.

Once he graduates, he can become a respected figure even Arasaka Barghest would treat, and then he can take his mother away from that rotten land of Santo Domingo, allowing his mother, who has toiled half her life, to finally get some rest.

As for the location of the new home.

David has already decided: the Heywood Park.

According to inside information obtained from Katsuo, Chief Vera Adelheid seems to be planning to wipe out the remnants Arasaka the Six Street Gang the Rei District, and then have the NCPD and Sheriff Arasaka intervene to turn the Rei District into a 'model room' for Arasaka Police's contract services in Night City...

Just as David was pondering the details of his college graduation exam, a shadow seemed to flash across the glass in front of him.

"Huh?" Not again?!

Yes, this was the same line last time. Damn thief, I'm not the same anymore, watch me—

David turned around abruptly.

Thump, thump, thump! Suddenly, heavy footsteps sounded.

Two figures were even faster.

"Drink up—!"

David turned around and saw clearly that a scruffy man dressed like a street kid was running across the aisle. Suddenly, two heavily armored figures rushed out from behind the suddenly opened partition door of the train carriage.

The pitch-black figure almost became a blur.

Moment.

David swore he didn't blink, but like playing a game with a very low frame rate, whoosh! The dark figure had already passed through the carriage.

Just as the disheveled man was about to escape into another carriage, she grabbed him by the waist, pulled him up, and slammed him hard onto an empty seat in the aisle.

The hard plastic seat back of the train shattered into pieces. The disheveled man seemed to have suffered a broken bone from the fall. Just as he was about to get up and fight back in pain, a second figure in black armor attacked.

Lift the slovenly man by the shoulder and give him a vicious knee strike, snap!

David could almost hear the sound of bones cracking.

Without stopping, the figure in black armor continued its actions, one hand bracing against the shoulder, the other gripping the slovenly man's jawbone and slamming him down onto the second seat.

He smashed the back of the chair with the back of his head.

At this moment, the armored soldier, having completed the bomb-throwing maneuver, swung his fist in a wide arc towards the disheveled man's face. Thud! The Mimetic Shroud was damaged, skin torn open, eyeballs burst out, blood splattered everywhere, and the blood-stained fist rose again with two more heavy punches.

The sound of a gun being cocked rang out. As his companion finished firing and took a step back, another man drew his pistol, aimed at the disheveled man who had already fallen, his face covered in blood, and pulled the trigger. Bang! Bang! Bang! Blood splattered on the disheveled man's chest.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye, and only then did many passengers in the carriage belatedly scream.

"JKE-X2 Kenshin?"

David recognized the model of the pistol. He had one too.

The text indicates that the two individuals are soldiers from Arasaka.

"We are the police officers of Arasaka City, here to apprehend criminals. Citizens, please do not panic, the crisis has been averted. The damaged facilities in the train car will be cleaned and repaired upon arrival at the final stop."

After calming the frightened passengers, the two Arasaka police officers dragged the unconscious, disheveled man back to the carriage aisle. "This is patrol group 6-2309, we found..." they reported to their superiors. As they passed David, the prosthetic eye that was flashing red paused slightly. " From the Arasaka Academy?" he said, before walking away.

David stared blankly at the bloodstains in the hallway.

One aspect is the admiration for the efficient movements of these Arasaka soldiers.

On the other hand, he blinked and muttered, "Is it really necessary to go to such lengths to catch a thief?"

The train's arrival announcement brought David back to reality.

Well, I don't want to think about it anymore.

Go to school first.

Santo Domingo, Megabuilding H4 Apartment building, Martinez's home.

Gloria Martinez, unusually, didn't go to work but instead sat on the sofa by the window, looking very tired.

Her eyes gleamed with the light of data streams.

[Gloria: Maine, that's it... That's how Santo Domingo is now, endless shootings and murders, the situation is too chaotic, nobody can predict the future, I'm planning to move away, David is right. For safety's sake, the sooner the better.]

Maine: No problem, I'll lend you the money. After all, I owe you a favor. And that top-notch product you gave me is truly exceptional; it helped me and my team through many difficult times. Although it's also slowly killing me.

Gloria: I'm so sorry about this, I didn't expect this...

[Maine: You don't need to apologize, this is exactly what I need. I also have a favor to ask. Your son should be graduating from the Arasaka Academy soon, right? Once he enters Arasaka Tower, he'll be a high-and-mighty Corporate Dog... cough cough, I mean, a superior person. Have him buy me a batch of Arasaka's latest immunosuppressants at their internal discount price. That's my only request...]

Gloria:... Okay, I'll do my best.

[Maine: Thanks. Yeah, the money's been transferred to you. Gloria, Santo Domingo really isn't a place for a woman like you who wants a peaceful life. Rent in the Lijiang area is only a few dollars. Why don't you quit your job? Don't ruin your health and let your son's good intentions go to waste. Once he's successful, it'll be time for you to enjoy your retirement...]

[Gloria: Oh, Maine, how could you say something like that? Didn't you always complain that working in a company was too restrictive and boring, and insist on becoming Cyberpunk?]

[Maine: Sigh, I've come to a new understanding... Major Corporations like Arasaka and Militech are the real big shots.]

Watson, the Arasaka Waterfront, where security has become increasingly tight after the troop reinforcements.

Vera is inspecting a temporary military outpost at the seaside port.

"Ms. Michiko, what are you doing following me here?"

A sea breeze carrying the smell of fish and dampness swept by. Vera, a cigarette between her fingers, took out a lighter with a platinum casing and pure gold inlay, and lit it. She exhaled a puff of smoke, turned to the side, and looked somewhat helplessly at Michiko Arasaka who had followed her.

"Aren't we sisters?"

Michiko Arasaka asked in return, her eyes light and quick.

The woman stood on the dock, wearing a thin, midriff-baring gold dress, seemingly oblivious to the astonished gazes of the Night City Security Department around her, leisurely puffing on her cigarette.

Honestly, being all alone in North America with no relatives or friends, she was incredibly bored.

My boyfriends were just for fun, for use, or for my needs. Maybe there was true love, but that was in the past. Once the impulsiveness and passion of youth faded, that was it.

She had grown accustomed to living in an environment where she was coveted and schemed against.

When the story of Saburo's search for a successor to Kei Arasaka's will reached North America in great detail, Michiko had no liking for Vera Adelheid. However, after learning about the details of Saburo's "family reunion" and spending some time with her, she admitted that she had become interested in Vera.

She wanted to test Vera's true abilities.

"Yes, but not entirely yet."

Vera glanced at her god-sister, who was old enough to be her grandmother.

As expected of a representative figure of the Cyberpunk worldview and anime, her mentality is much younger and more active than that of Hanako Arasaka, whom she often met in Tokyo. She is old in appearance but not in spirit. Oh, she is not old in appearance either. The ages of the powerful and wealthy here should be halved.

With a slight smile, Michiko didn't dwell on the issue and immediately began commenting on the instructions Vera had issued the previous night.

"The land purchase agreement has been approved, and the relocation of residents in the northern suburbs of Arasaka Waterfront has begun, as well as a small part of the Old Industrial Zone in the north of the city... Driving one tiger to devour another, very Saburo-esque, the Vortex Gang, interesting. It seems they aren't all lunatics after all. They understood your hint and are working quite efficiently."

"A move doesn't have to be old, as long as it works."

"According to reliable sources, the first thing Kurt Hansen did after returning to Dogtown was to launch a thorough internal investigation. I heard the Militech is quite annoyed. What did you say to Hansen?"

"A friendship, a bit of dirt, some clues."

Under the watchful eyes of the sufficiently reliable Arasaka Heavy Armored Forces, Vera and Michiko Arasaka traversed the coastal port area, which consisted of various automated cranes and automated logistics robots.

The nearby storage yard had ceased its original logistics and sorting operations and was now densely packed with heavy military equipment.

This is the northernmost point of the Arasaka Waterfront, a temporary outpost before the Arasaka Comprehensive Research Center was built. Naturally, Vera's temporary laboratory was also set up here.

The cultivation and storage room is composed of multiple custom-made modular units of the highest chemical protection level, and the integrated transport ship, which is moored at the ship dock and converted into a large scientific research vessel.

Vera strolled to the entrance of the incubation storage compartment in the yard, which consisted of protective equipment such as motion detectors, electrified blade fans, and automatic armored turrets.

It's sufficient as a place to store low-risk finished products.

Beep beep beep. After the scan was successful, the sensor changed from red to blue, Vera looked at Michiko.

Are you interested?

Chapter 100: Arasaka, you need to maintain a good image!

Although it is a temporary storage warehouse in the form of a modular container, the interior space is not cramped or dark at all.

[AI: Identity verification complete and passed. Welcome to visit, Director Russell and Executive Michiko Arasaka.]

After a second, meticulous check by two built-in turrets and at least four scanners, Vera and Michiko Arasaka passed through the security checkpoint and entered the modular warehouse as guards in full Cyber Ninja combat suits bowed behind the partition door.

The system includes an intelligent digital display temperature controller module, a chemical-resistant drone hidden in a pillar, widely spaced three-dimensional observation windows, and multiple operating platforms with projected nameplates bearing serial numbers.

"T—King Kong... King Kong?"

Michiko exclaimed "Eh!" and stopped in front of the cabin marked with the letter "T," muttering to herself.

The word "King Kong" reminded Michiko of the most famous and enduring monster in North American film history. Ironically, during her childhood, before the Great Network Collapse, her father, whom she considered an ordinary middle manager at an ordinary company, had taken her to see a King Kong movie.

Since Vera is clearly not involved in making movies or manufacturing toys and merchandise, there's only one possibility.

"Is it the 'Cybernetic Kong'? I saw it in the project briefing submitted by Night City's R&D department. Wasn't that thing made for Adam Smasher?"

Michiko suddenly turned around and looked at Vera.