Infinity, progressing from Arasaka

Woo——!

The low, mournful sound of the whistle lingered over the harbor for a long time.

Mann and Dorothy raised their high-powered military binoculars.

It was a rare sunny day after the rain; the temperature inversion smog and acid rain fog had dissipated, and visibility was excellent.

At the Arasaka seaside port, six transport ships, bearing Arasaka's iconic metallic black paint, slowly approached the pier under the escort of the Arasaka escort fleet.

As if a switch had been flipped, in an instant, half of the deserted beach became noisy.

The Octave heavy combat drones, rarely seen in the past and of the Terrorist Mobile Squadron level, were replaced by a fleet of armored aerial vehicles painted in Arasaka style, which took off from the flight deck of the transport ship and flew towards the temporary berthing point for military personnel in the warehouse.

Densely packed, rising and falling, the sky was filled with ferocious war machines flying back and forth.

Below is the extended stern connecting ramp, which connects to the dock after rotating 40 degrees and securing it.

hum...bum...

The engine roared.

What could be roughly seen were wheeled Behemoth armored vehicles fully loaded with attack drones and armed robots, hover armored motorcycles, light armored aerial combat vehicles, bipedal heavy-duty drone armor, heavy manned multi-legged tanks, integrated firepower mobile delivery platforms, large box trailers carrying unknown items, supplies, and large formations of Arasaka heavy infantry...

A series of violent weapons that dazzled the country bumpkin mercenary Mann.

"Damn, is Arasaka preparing to start the fifth corporate war...?"

Even a tomboy like Dorio couldn't help but shrink back, staring in astonishment at the massive reinforcements and the military personnel and tactical equipment that filled almost the entire port area's storage units.

ka ka ka-

Mann used his prosthetic eye's camera attachment to quickly take photos and transmit them back to the team channel.

[Falco: Fuck! Is Faraday trying to kill us?! Steal? Steal at his parents' lives?!]

Inside the safe house, even a seasoned driver, usually so composed, couldn't help but swear.

Qiwei was smoking, her eyes squinting, seemingly lost in thought.

Lucy, who had hacked into the Watson Industrial Park's surveillance system and pieced together the real-time situation at Arasaka Beach from different angles, has fallen silent.

She was particularly stunned when those large main battle armored airborne vehicles appeared. These things were even more impressive than the Manticore, the symbol of the Night City NCPD's highest military force, and there were also unnamed aerial behemoths similar to Zeta's 'Surveyor'. Their size was probably enough to transport a full platoon of troops behind enemy lines in one go.

Considering that Arasaka was also planning to conduct community outreach patrols in the Rei area, Lucy decided to completely stop her petty theft 'revenge' against Arasaka's employees on the subway and trains.

[Mann: That thing is a Demon Lizard? Why would Arasaka use a Demon Lizard with military technology?]

Mann, a former soldier, suddenly let out a soft sound of doubt. He was indeed a fourth-class soldier, but he had seen the Demon Lizard before and wouldn't mistake it.

[Qiwei: Sigh, Mann, watch more news and less Blackie Dream. International news, the spokesperson for the Tokyo Arasaka headquarters, in short, Arasaka is increasing troops in Night City, military technology is vehemently opposed, and then Arasaka retorted with the military technology's 'showroom strategy'...]

Exhibition hall strategy.

This refers to a comprehensive strategy for military technology that integrates sales, recruitment, and troop deployment.

Because military technology companies sign contracts with local governments similar to the Castle Law when opening showrooms in major cities around the world, the company's employees have the right to 'fully display the weapon's performance' in the showroom.

Although prohibiting 'excessive firepower' in urban areas is a universally accepted principle, military technology companies deliberately ignore these rules in their exhibition halls.

This has led to a situation where, in the city center, military technology weapon showrooms not only sell rifles and muskets, but also tanks, airborne armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery, and other heavy firepower, all of which are in a state of combat readiness.

Arasaka seized on this point and kept bringing up things like the principle of reciprocity, saying that your exhibition hall is so small while my seaside area is so big, so there has to be a balance in defense forces, and also the trouble in Dogtown, and that your NUSA rebels need to re-evaluate the danger, and so on.

European banks, biotechnology companies, and Su Petrochemical have all expressed their understanding and support for Arakasaka's actions.

When Saburo, head of the Tokyo Arasaka headquarters, issued a second statement announcing the establishment of a new high-precision research center in Night City to provide the best environment for his "Arasaka Treasure" and "Night City's most dazzling gem," and reached a new land purchase agreement with the Night City government, he was pouring real money into the project.

Zeta Technology, Kangtao, and even Peizhuo Petrochemical, Su Petrochemical's arch-rival, have surprisingly aligned themselves with Su Petrochemical.

In 2076, the two most feared sources of corporate warfare for people around the world are Arasaka and military technology, and Su Petrochemical and Peizhuo Petrochemical.

The diplomatic and public opinion pressure faced by military technology is considerable.

After the Metal Wars, almost everyone in the world did not want the USA to be unified again.

Ultimately, Arasaka backed down, offering to purchase Behemoth, Lizardman, and Manticore as part of the vehicles used to reinforce the military forces, thus giving military technology a way out and allowing Washington to compromise.

After hearing Qiwei's explanation, the rest of Mann's team felt somewhat disappointed.

[Rebecca: That Vera, why does the old emperor of Arasaka value her so much? She's like some kind of unpolished gem or some kind of precious stone...]

[Qiwei: I'll play it for you. Wait a minute.]

Before long, “...her weight in my heart exceeded the total weight of the escort troops and escort fleet dispatched this time.”

An elderly voice, speaking in a Tokyo accent, with intonation and rhythm.

“If it weren’t for President Miles’s intervention, I think I would have continued to send more guards. She is an elder, and her care for the younger generation is never enough. I don’t want her to be harmed by the sinister plots of those with ulterior motives. I have suffered such pain before…”

Doodle.

[Qiwei: Okay, this is a news clipping I took, Saburo Arasaka's exact words. Who knows how true it is? I guess Saburo is just making excuses for sending reinforcements. The kind of person he is... never mind, this kind of thing is none of our business.]

[Mann: It seems our decision to side with Arasaka was the right one.]

[Qiwei: That's how it seems at the moment.]

"call..."

At the top of the abandoned water tower, Mann exhaled a breath of stale air, his eyes flashing with data characters. As he continued to inject himself with a new inhibitor from Arasaka, he shook his head with a sigh and said, "This Vera is indeed quite heavyweight."

"The guards, these are all the guards the old emperor gave her... Damn, these are guards? I'm so envious! What's this high-ranking VIP doing now? Is it on the news?"

[Qiwei: Yes, she had lunch with Michiko Arasaka at the Konpaku Building. Why, do you want to go?]

[Mann: I'd like to, but I'm not qualified.]

[Qiwei: Okay, stop joking around, Mann, get to the point. I've already compiled and downloaded the images and audio onto the discrete chip. Those vans and large sealed compartments should be what Faraday Future needs. What are you going to do about them?]

Mann grinned. "That's extortion, of course! It's much more serious than he described; he'll need more money to continue. And there's no guarantee of success."

[Qiwei: What about Mr. Wells?]

"Give us the locations of those four teams..."

[Lucy: No, it's six teams.]

She remained silent, and while hacking and traversing the local area network, she projected a signal coordinate into the channel.

[Their people almost discovered me. The signal from this network access pod looked familiar, similar to the frequency of military-grade training chips. I'm not sure if they're from Faraday Future. If he hadn't been in contact with another team Faraday Future sent, I wouldn't have noticed him... There's another team, but I'm not sure.]

"enough."

Mann, with a disposable communication chip inserted, sent out an encrypted email.

"Brother Jack, here's what you wanted."

[Muy bien (Spanish for "very good"), be careful, buddy.]

After sending the email, Mann crushed the chip. He observed it for a moment, then signaled to Dorio to prepare to move. Just as they stepped down from the water tower, a buzzing sound rang out—

With a roar of engines, an armored hovercraft from Arasaka soared through the air and headed north.

"So fast?"

Running through the narrow alley, Mann looked up.

Before he could take Dorio away...

In the team chat, Lucy posted a picture.

Judging from the background, it's the northernmost part of the old industrial area, where a large, poorly defined black iron lump jumps off the hovercar dozens of meters above the ground with a bang.

drip.

Then, Lucy captured and uploaded two more pictures.

One photo shows an explosion occurring on the towering chimney of an old factory, spewing out thick smoke and dust.

Two images show what appear to be several torn humanoid figures falling from the top of the chimney. At the broken opening in the chimney, a tall, pitch-black "giant machine" stands out amidst the flames and smoke, holding a severed limb that is dripping with red and white liquid.

Mann recognized him.

Product Manager for the Bar at 'Next Life' Nightclub!

"Holy crap, Adam Hammer?!"

------

PS: He has been revived.

Chapter 097 Exchange of Sons

Do you know where the legends of Night City gather?

In the grave.

Who will bury them?

"The hammer! It's Adam Hammer!!"

Boom! With a deafening explosion that tore through the air, the grotesque, jet-black metallic figure plummeted from the top of the chimney, smashing through the reinforced concrete roof of the old factory like a battering ram. The walls shattered, and dust and debris flew everywhere...

In an instant, gunfire erupted and flames soared, disrupting the image transmission from the surveillance cameras.

"Stop looking, everyone, run!"

Mann dragged Dorothy out of the narrow alley, jumped into a dilapidated van, and floored the gas pedal.

After the car sped off, he roared into the team communication channel, "Qiwei, tell Pila and Rebecca to retreat! Be careful not to interfere with Arasaka and get us counter-tracked. We don't have any friendly forces markers in Arasaka!"

drip.

[Qiwei: No need for you to remind me, it's already sent.]

Within the team's encrypted channel.