Infinity, progressing from Arasaka

Every sentence here states a simple fact: I am watching you.

Hansen was not surprised that Arasaka knew about the Chimera.

This thing was developed under the leadership of Dr. Filippo Andrus, the chief engineer of military technology armor, and was used in the Metal Wars. But how did Arasaka know about the 'Neural Matrix' that he is currently carefully excavating underground in Dogtown, and the FIS agents infiltrating Dogtown that even he is unaware of?!

Especially the 'neural matrix', which originated from the Beidou project in the top-secret bunker established by the new United States and military technology. It was a top-level secret, and he kept it tightly under wraps. Even the Soviet Petrochemical Company, which had been supporting them and providing military relief supplies, should not have known a thing about it!

Finally, Vera casually pointed out clues about NUSA's undercover agents, and how many of Arasaka's spies were lurking in Dogtown.

Of my trusted confidants, how many are truly trustworthy? How many of the veterans he brought out from Operation Midnight Storm have been bribed by Arasaka?

...

Actually, not many people were bribed.

However, they had secretly planted and bribed a dozen or so spies to fish in Dogtown.

There were no direct espionage operations, but Vera had been arranging her actions as an online troll and opinion leader, spreading hate speech against NUSA and military technology in Dogtown for years, deeply betraying her memories, even before she went to study at the University of Tokyo.

Many of the Arasaka agents assigned by Vera who were recruited as members of the Ghost Hounds were actually completely unaware of their actions.

After all, Arasaka's intelligence agents neither asked them for any information nor asked them to take him anywhere to broaden his horizons. They just accompanied him like good buddies, chatting and venting. Over time, they only knew that what you said was right, very right!

It was those damned Washington and their military technology that betrayed us, and now they've even started a new "mistress" right next to us, preparing to use her against us in the future. We have to take them down!

As for the hounds tinkering and repairing in Dogtown, the chimeras trying to restore their manufacturing capabilities, what they are digging down to build, and the old rival NUSA agents, Arasaka's intelligence department knows, but only superficially. Some key information is fragmented and cannot form a complete logical conclusion.

Hansen is indeed very good at hiding.

But that didn't stop Vera from speaking out.

The goal was to give Hansen a strong and memorable impression.

I know, which is the same as Arasaka knowing.

If you're so capable, let Hansen go and verify with Arasaka's intelligence department.

However, Vera was also careful not to reveal the full name of the military technology project, the "Neural Matrix," which she claimed to represent. She only revealed half of many things, or even less than half, and deliberately inserted some incorrect information, leaving Hansen to guess.

Compared to some Night City legends who are like madmen, obsessed with taking others down with them, Hansen is as steady as a conservative 'honest man'.

He wasn't barefoot; he was a propertied person...

Where there is property, there are constraints.

Soon, after engaging in elegant yet warm conversations with some social luminaries who were also present, such as Arif Iqbal of WNS News, Stanley, an 'old friend' from the radio station, and especially with Night City Deputy Mayor Wilton Horton, Vera returned to the center of the banquet and sat down next to Michiko Arasaka, who was sitting with her legs crossed.

Unlike the private banquet held in Arasaka to welcome Vera, Michiko, who is also the founder and CEO of Dangerous Girls, has a much wider network of connections than Vera.

Her style is quite American, so the guests invited to this banquet were a diverse group, including media, business people, independent investors, NCPD members, and city government officials...

What did you talk about with Hansen?

"It's nothing. Just make friends. Let him become Arasaka's friend."

"Is he qualified? What are you up to now?"

"If that's enough. Kurt Hansen was able to establish Dogtown and build the prestige of the Ghost Hounds in the chaotic Pacific, and in a short time, he was able to cultivate a black market with international influence in that empty, unfinished building. He is barely qualified to be a half-player."

Vera shrugged.

Then he snapped his fingers at the waiter standing to the side.

Snapped.

Upon receiving the instruction, a well-trained and friendly waiter wearing a gold mask respectfully presented Vera with a tray of champagne.

Vera handed Michiko a stemmed glass filled with champagne and followed her gaze: on the stage in the center of the banquet, a group of dancers were gracefully dancing to the rhythm of the music.

"Let's not talk about him. Anyway, Tokyo headquarters has high hopes for you when it comes to military matters..."

Taking the champagne, Michiko pointed with interest to the center of the stage, "Your hobby is indeed quite old-fashioned. Young people shouldn't be so stiff and old-fashioned."

The official team at the Azure Tower understands Vera's preferences very well. The musical style and performance style she plays are also classical. In Night City in 2076, this is not old-fashioned, but rather ancient.

She's the kind of person that a certain rock kid would want to rant about, jump up, and explode at.

"I like listening to instrumental music."

Vera did not deny it.

"Then would you like to hear what's mine?"

As Michiko finished speaking, bang!

"Next, please welcome Ms. Lizzie Weisz to the stage to sing for us."

Lizzy Weisz?

Since Vera has no connection to the entertainment industry, she gave a slightly questioning look.

Seeing this, Michiko was also somewhat surprised. "Did you really grow up in Night City? You don't even know Lizzie Weiss..." She shook her head, "Now I understand why Saburo admires you..."

"Oh, you mean that singer who died once on stage?"

After thinking for a moment, Vera remembered.

In 2071, an actress committed suicide during a stage performance. She immediately received surgery and remained 'dead' for about an hour during the procedure. She was then revived. Later, she performed as a Cyborg.

It has been hailed by countless media outlets as one of the greatest performance art pieces of all time.

The performer thus became a world-renowned superstar.

At that time, Vera was still an intern at the academy, preoccupied with making progress. She only remembered that this incident happened; she had glanced at it in the news. She didn't remember the name, but she had heard about the distinctive chrome skin and the detachable prosthetic chin in subsequent follow-up reports.

Then Lizzy Weisz's performance began.

In the song, the holographic projection on the stage moved in sync with her movements, blooming in an instant, like thousands of pear trees in bloom, with light and shadow changing and shimmering. To be honest, the visual effect was indeed magnificent.

Well... looking at Lizzie Weisz's chrome-plated face and her detachable limbs, Vera can only say that this kind of art is still too advanced for her.

Fortunately, Lizzie Weisz was the grand finale of the banquet. Amid applause, Vera followed Michiko by half a step and walked onto the platform almost side by side.

After Michiko, as the chief executive of Arasaka North America, delivered a formulaic thank-you speech, Deputy Mayor Wilton Horton took the stage in place of Mayor Lucius Lane, who was unable to attend due to illness, holding the land purchase agreement for the joint development of the Johoku area with Arasaka, which had just been approved by the city council.

The background in the lobby changes in a timely manner to the flag of the city at night, the flag of the Liberty State of Northern California, and the Arasaka logo.

The land purchase agreement was placed on a signing platform that rose in the center of the stage.

After Michiko and Vera signed the agreement, the land purchase agreement took effect immediately.

With a stern expression and relaxed demeanor, Vera picked up the land purchase agreement, with Michiko on the left, Wilton Horton on the right, and the three of them showing the agreement to the socialites present.

clap clap-

A round of enthusiastic applause immediately erupted in the room.

------

PS: Operation 'Midnight Storm' is the codename for the military operation in which Kurt Hansen led his troops into Night City at the end of the Metal Wars in 2070.

Chapter 099 The New Landscape of Night City

"...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 Liberty State?"

"Never. Everything has come back. Arakawa 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 Arakawa, and Wilton Horton met with Night City celebrities at the Azure Tower 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 military technology internationally. What do they care about how many people died in the Sixth 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 than 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 Sixth Street Gang is gone, but the Ghost Hounds are here, and they've come from Taipingzhou, where murders are even more rampant... You be careful too. Okay, I'm hanging up."

beep.

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 Ghost Dogs almost beat the Sixth 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 on the other side of the river as a topic of conversation and a real-life battlefield full of gunpowder and blood.

Happiness is created by comparison.

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 drones, 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, whose attitude towards the Sixth Street Gang, who treated the Santo Domingo 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, how 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 Sixth Street gang members killed in front of his house, and the arrogant street kid being thrashed like chickens by the even more swaggering Ghost Dogs, David has never longed to graduate as much as he has.

Once he graduates, he can become a respected figure even the Ghost Dogs 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 Haywood Park.

According to inside information obtained from Shengnan, Chief Vera Adelheid seems to be planning to wipe out the remnants of the Sixth Street Gang in 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.