Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 950, Section 160: I Don't Like Seeing People Die

Dogtown was once again illuminated by neon lights, and as residents began to flock to the streets to enjoy the nightlife, Carl waited for his two friends, who had made a special trip to the Mexican border as his representatives, in Gemstone Green.

"Thank you for your help this time, Jack, Oliver. Since you mentioned you had been there before, we sent you. I heard the talks went well. Thank you for your hard work."

“What’s so hard about this!” Jack grinned, but his gaze swept curiously behind Carl. “Where’s Johnny? I haven’t seen T-BUG or V either?”

“The lab finally succeeded. Johnny’s matter is settled in the next few days. He has to wait there now and can’t come over. We might have to go and watch over him then.” Carl gestured for them to go inside.

"T-BUG and V are waiting inside. Have you gotten so used to using the satellite channel that you forgot to switch back to the squad channel? They're trying to contact you in the comms but you're not responding. Regular communication has been restored now, so remember to switch back."

"Oh, I forgot about that. I was wondering why no one came to chat with me as soon as I got close to Night City."

Oliver slapped his forehead and switched back in time, only to find a bunch of messages in the reconnected squad channel.

"Where are you? Are you almost there? I see your location is almost there. Wow, a whole bunch of you, and you didn't even say anything on the satellite channel."

"We didn't expect you to forget to switch back."

Carl smiled, realizing that his two friends weren't as carefree as they had claimed.

They can even forget something like this, and judging from the fact that they clearly haven't showered in a while, it's no wonder they can't relax after being exposed to the wind at the Mexican border.

After all, the biggest thing happening in Mexico was negotiating business with a representative from a Central American country.

According to the information Carl knew, although the person who concealed his true identity thought he hadn't been discovered and had been playing the role of a highly influential arms dealer on the Mexican border, he had clearly underestimated Dogtown's current intelligence network.

Today, Dogtown's intelligence department has been reorganized and rebuilt by professionals from various fields, so figuring out the true background of a representative of a small country is not difficult. Their analysis suggests that this arms dealer will take advantage of Hansen's downfall and the new king's ascension to the throne to test the waters, and subsequent events have verified the results of their analysis.

The other party didn't intend to directly double-cross them; they just wanted to forcibly take more benefits. Jack and Oliver responded decisively—each of them 'dismantled' several armored vehicles and took down all the special operations personnel disguised as bodyguards, which finally led to the negotiation.

And this was just one of many troubles, at most the most important one, not the most troublesome. Karl hadn't looked into the other matters in detail, leaving them entirely to the two of them. Judging from their current appearance, they must be really exhausted.

After thinking for a moment, Carl said to Jack and Oliver, who were disheveled and still smelled of sweat:

"Why don't you go take a shower first? Although this place is a half-built and abandoned luxury hotel, the shower facilities are in good condition. There seems to be no need to rush."

After hearing Carl's words, Jack and Oliver looked down at their travel-worn appearance and immediately realized that Carl had noticed their disheveled state.

“Alright, since Johnny’s not here, we’ll be short one for drinks, so we can take our time.” Oliver nodded, checked the location, and then suddenly remembered something, saying to Carl:

"By the way, we saw some construction going on at the stadium from the airship earlier. Could it be that the abandoned project is getting restarted? If so, we need to be careful of the reactor there."

“No, that’s not it.” Carl glanced towards the stadium and explained, “It’s just that some Dogtown residents want to build a statue.” “A statue?” Jack was taken aback. “Build what?”

"Initially, they wanted to build a statue of me, saying it was to thank me for making Dogtown a better place, but I suspected there was someone pushing behind it—how long has it been? People don't have much money left, and their lives have just started to improve, so they don't have the leisure to praise me, so I refused."
However, the person behind the scenes had already given them the funds, and they had delivered everything. I thought this might at least create some jobs, so I let them turn it into a memorial statue.

"Whom are we commemorating?"

"Yes, in memory of the residents, Ghosthound soldiers, and soldiers of New America who died in Dogtown recently."

'In memory of the residents of Dogtown, the Ghosthound soldiers.'

Jack wasn't surprised by this; the Valentino gang he used to belong to had a similar tradition—respecting the victims and painting their portraits on the walls, making them revered like holy spirits.

Jack himself almost became one of them back then, so he completely understands this way of commemorating, except that it includes the invaders of the new America.
Before he could speak, Oliver asked, "Do we commemorate new American soldiers too?"

Although he was a member of the Sixth Street gang and a member of the Stars and Stripes, Oliver had no bias towards the new America. In fact, the actions of the new president and politicians had long since eroded any remaining patriotism in his heart.

Therefore, he didn't quite understand why the invaders also commemorated it.

Carl nodded firmly in agreement.

"Yes, we'll commemorate both sides."

Seeing his companions' confusion, Carl explained: "If it were just a simple invasion, there would be nothing to commemorate. There's no such thing as a free lunch. But we all know about that incident. In that event, many new American soldiers genuinely believed they were there to liberate Dogtown."
They are guilty, without a doubt, and it is no pity that they died, but they were also pawns abandoned by the higher-ups;

My commemoration does not imply that the new America was right; rather, it is precisely because I opposed it that I commemorate it. As a third party at the time, I am offering an equal commemoration to both sides, solely based on 'death,' in the hope that war will never happen again.

Carl paused for a moment, then continued, “Perhaps, it would be more appropriate to call it a ‘peace monument’ than a ‘monument.’ Have you heard of the Gettysburg Monument from the American Civil War? It’s very similar in spirit. In any case, the two sides that fought were once compatriots by blood.”

Carl himself did not strongly object to the demand for a unified new United States—in his view, unification was the best natural aspiration for a nation, there was nothing wrong with it, and the country should be completely unified.

What he truly opposed was the ruthless methods employed by the new American leadership to achieve their goals. Those people had never truly cherished the lives and patriotism of their soldiers, nor had they ever loved the country. They did not deserve this loyalty.

They will not grieve for pointless deaths.

Therefore, Carl is the only one who can bear the grief and remembrance of the new American soldier's family and friends.

After all, Karl really didn't like seeing people die.

(End of this chapter)