Bait and Meat

Carl had started taking jobs again, and this first one was just to get back into the groove. Nothing too complicated.

More precisely, this job was related to the work he had done while hiding his identity, except the positions were now completely reversed.

After Hanako Arasaka was suddenly attacked by Arakawa Sesen during the meeting at Arasaka Tower and imprisoned, a thorny problem was laid before Arakawa Sesen.

No matter what, Hanako Arasaka's faction remained a deeply entrenched behemoth within Arasaka Corporation—her influence had quietly taken root at every critical point in the corporation even while Arasaka Saburo was still alive. Recently, she had continually sent trusted subordinates to North America, spreading her influence like a spider weaving its web.

Now that she had suddenly been imprisoned, those diehard loyalists lurking in the shadows were bound to stir. Like a pack of wolves that had caught the scent of blood, they needed to be uprooted before their poisonous shoots could emerge.

And to completely eliminate Hanako Arasaka's diehard loyalists, Arakawa Sesen would need people who were both trustworthy and capable—precise as scalpels, ruthless as hammers.

So, who did Arakawa Sesen consider both trustworthy and capable?

"You really didn't have to come with me."

Sitting in the metal cabin of the Basilisk armored vehicle, Carl looked through the bulletproof glass at the Aldecaldos outside and spoke to Saul.

The cabin smelled of engine oil mixed with dust. The engine's low-frequency vibrations traveled through the armor plating like the breathing of some sleeping beast. "Just send someone to take me there. It's not that far."

Saul grinned and tapped the console with a rough finger. A holographic map cast a dim blue glow through the air.

"You rarely come out to the Badlands, so we've got to show you some hospitality."