Infinity, progress from Arasaka

"I can't let Arasaka Tower blow up. I have a good sister who is still trying her best to climb up in that snake den. Well, let me think... vodka, ice, lime juice, ginger beer... I haven't decided yet, let's just leave it this way for now."

"Wow, you want to keep a portion of your own wine? You're quite ambitious. Wait a minute."

On the other side, at a booth against the wall, a tall, brown-skinned man drank the liquor in the shot glass. His sunglasses slid down slightly, revealing a pair of eyes that revealed shock.

"Mann, this matter obviously has nothing to do with us. It's just the intrigues between big companies. As it turns out, their actions have successfully angered Arasaka. Soldiers wearing exoskeletons, mechas, armored vehicles... even tanks have been deployed."

As she spoke, the blonde girl named Qi Wei, who had a perforated mask and yellow eyes with red pupils, was smoking a cigarette. She turned her head away and glanced at the battle scene that was partially exposed on the holographic screen. "Do you want to be one of them?"

"How could that be? Am I such a fool in your eyes?"

"I'm just reminding you. You're the head of the team, and everyone depends on you for their livelihood."

"Hahaha...that's not like what you would say, Qiwei. I'm really stressed out."

The brown-skinned burly man laughed.

It was Mann's team. They had just completed a commission and made some money, so he was bringing his team to the "next life" to see the world.

"...There are corpses everywhere and the ground is devastated. I just don't know if they have achieved their goal. Lucy, what do you think?"

Dolio, a sturdy woman with golden side bangs, suddenly took Qiwei's arm from the side, and watched the scenes on the screen where Arasaka soldiers were cleaning the battlefield and the body collection team were separating the corpses. She responded casually and asked the person beside her, looking like a heartless person who didn't care about anything.

"I hope they succeed. Only big companies can do this. Big companies fight big companies. Arasaka will suffer. Isn't that good?"

Lucy, the white-haired punk girl who was curled up in the corner of the sofa and smoking a thin cigarette, just said it lightly. She continued to express her consistent anti-Arasaka attitude.

"Hey, hey, don't be so bitter."

Dolio, who was stronger than a man, laughed without thinking too much. He picked up a bottle of beer from the coffee table and stuffed it into Lucy's arms, then gave a thumbs up and said:

"That kind of thing is too far away from us. If they are dangerous, then we should stay away from them. When we have saved enough money, Mann and we may be able to transform into a middleman team. By then, if we make enough money, you can also go to the moon. Although I don't understand why you want to go to the moon. Now, don't think about those unpleasant things, just have fun first."

"You're right." Lucy laughed dumbly, took off the bottle cap, raised the bottle and touched it lightly with Dorio, "Gurgle..."

After guzzling half a cup and feeling the coolness flowing down her throat, Lucy slowly turned her gaze away from the Arasaka Clover logo on the holographic screen...

Let the past be the past.

Mann's team made her feel the warmth she had not felt for a long time. Her leader Qiwei, the big brother-like Mann, and the team's big sister and atmosphere neutralizer Dolio were all ordinary people who were pleasant to get along with.

"Okay, let's stop talking about this. Let them fight as they please. Let's think about what to do next." Mann rubbed his big iron hands together and grabbed the beer. "Hacker girl, this is a toast to you. With your skills, you are condescending to - Ouch!"

Bang! An elbow nearly knocked Mann out with stomach acid. It was Dolio.

She said with a look of dissatisfaction, "What nonsense are you talking about? You are so polite, Lucy is an outsider." Then she raised her beer and smiled, "Come on, let's toast to the team."

"Cheers to the team." Lucy raised the beer bottle with a smile. Qiwei beside her also took out a cigarette from the hole in her mask and picked up the beer.

Just as everyone was about to clink glasses, "What the hell? Why aren't you waiting for us?" The skinny Pila, whose arms were almost as long as his body, and Rebecca, the runaway dwarf loli who was let in after much persuasion, entered the booth holding several dozen drinks.

"Oh, Rebecca, didn't you say you wanted to see the Queen of the Afterlife? Didn't you see her?"

"How would I know? Anyway, after the news of the bombing of Arasaka broke out on the radio, those old guys suddenly fell silent and many people left the table. I thought the situation was not right, so I didn't go and get into trouble..."

...

The private room on the second floor of Laisheng Nightclub.

An old lady wearing a yellow long-sleeved waist-baring top, black leather pants, and with trendy gray and white hair shaved on one side sat quietly in the middle of the sofa.

If young cyberpunks who aspire to be big shots and legends see her, most of them will exclaim in surprise.

Because her name is Rogge, the operator of the most powerful underground intelligence exchange platform in Night City, the king of middlemen, the owner of Afterlife Nightclub, and the last living legend in Night City.

"Here's a piece of international news."

"In the early morning of June 6, South African time, a major terrorist attack occurred at the Arasaka Industrial Park in Johannesburg. It is suspected that important experimental materials were stolen from Arasaka, but the incident has been successfully resolved."

"According to the on-site reporters, Director Vera Adelheid Russell, who is studying and living here, has been appointed as the Special Operations Specialist and will be fully responsible for the investigation of this terrorist attack..."

Rogge just crossed his legs and looked at the South Africa terrorist attack on the round table camera with a complicated expression. The incident was being reported by many media outlets.

Bombing Arasaka? She was familiar with this.

But that was more than half a century ago. The rock boy Johnny Silverhand and the strongest lone wolf mercenary Morgan Blackhand led a large group of legends to attack Arasaka Tower. How heroic it was! That was a true legendary deed.

Unfortunately, Arasaka has now returned and has become the emperor of Night City again.

There are no new Black Hands or Silver Hands in Night City who dare to challenge Arasaka. Not to mention bombing Arasaka Tower, there are not many people who dare to protest, attack Arasaka's convoy, or spy on Arasaka Industrial Park.

The Fourth Corporate War and the dot-com crash did not destroy corporations; they made them stronger.

"Johnny... I didn't expect that you, a lazy, despicable bastard, would become the last courage of Night City. After your death, the world has become worse and more disgusting..." Rogue murmured.

"But Vera Adelheid... a familiar name, is it her?"

The next moment, Roger's eyes began to turn red, and he said to the person on the other end of the communication without question: "Find a way to help me find out the full picture of the South African incident. Money is easy to talk about. I have a hunch that any information related to Vera Adelheid, even the most garbage and vague fragments of Mewtwo, will be bought by countless people at a high price."

"As soon as possible," she emphasized.

From a former mercenary to the king of middlemen in Night City, Rogue has a sense of intelligence far beyond that of ordinary people.

After this, Vera Adelheid, who is making her debut on stage in front of the whole world, will definitely not be the only one interested in her.

After giving the order as a professional habit, Roger leaned back on the sofa, the orange light in his eyes faded, "Haha, if Johnny was still alive, I really want to see what he thinks of me now..."

...

Arasaka Tower in Night City.

The floor of the security department.

"Fuck! Captain Jimmy, it's Vera's supervisor. Isn't she studying at the University of Tokyo? How did she come to South Africa and become a special mission and full-power operations commissioner? My God, with this position, I'm afraid all the security departments in South Africa will have to obey our boss's orders!"

"Yes, the border is under martial law, the whole city is blocked, and the whole city is searched... After the director came back, we issued it."

At the Special Assault Force Training Base, after seeing the announcement on the big screen, a dozen Arasaka squad leaders immediately rushed to find Jimmy, who had just reported to Deputy Director James Thomas, and started talking to him in a flurry.

"Okay, everyone, shut up."

Adjutant Jimmy clapped his hands to interrupt his subordinates and said, "Continue training, look how excited you are." Although he said that, it can be seen from the arc of Jimmy's mouth that he was very happy.

"Okay, don't all gather here. Go tell the news to the brothers below. Before Commander Vera comes back, everyone should behave well!"

"We are the commander's direct subordinates anyway. Don't act arrogantly and cause trouble outside. If we behave well, we may be able to get extra points for the commander's promotion. Will Commander Vera treat us badly?"

...

Counterintelligence Department.

Company employee NC770416 indoor workstation.

beep.

On the desk, a heroic woman with a dark red shaved-side hair frowned and looked up, then answered the call, "This is V."

"V, there's a mission."

It was Arthur Jenkins, the head of the Counterintelligence Department, and V's mentor and immediate superior.

V said solemnly, "What mission? Location, time, nature?"

Jenkins: "Counterintelligence, hunting down spies. Pack up now and take your men to Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa. Does Vera Adelheid know? Your senior sister at Arasaka Academy, her Tokyo University field trip plan was sabotaged by terrorists. Have you read the internal bulletins and news from the Tokyo headquarters?"

V nodded.

Jenkins: "Most of her research results were destroyed. She must have been furious. She killed at least a hundred people in one night. After obtaining military authorization, she directly dispatched troops to block the entire Johannesburg. She is still searching..."

"She is really trusted. She is indeed an elite second generation." Jenkins couldn't help but sigh. "She suspects there are spies in the company who are engaged in military technology. Tokyo attaches great importance to this. This is also a good opportunity for you. I will send you the attached information as soon as possible."

"Okay, that's it. Just hold on tight. Don't let me down."

beep.

Black Harry poked his head out from the opposite side at the right time, "So, what is our mission this time?"

V smiled slightly, then stood up quickly and began to pack his backpack, saying, "South African counterintelligence, Harry, it's a big job, we'll get paid if we do it well."

...

A day later, on the afternoon of June 6th, South Africa time.

Johannesburg

The fire at the Arasaka Industrial Park has long been extinguished, and the restoration of the city's power supply is also ongoing.

"I'm Vera. OK, I understand. Gather the bodies of the dead terrorists for the media to see and report on..."

"What? The body is too broken into pieces? Ask the forensic doctor and the body collection team at the city medical center to wrap it in body bags and count it according to the human tissues. One spine counts as one, one skull counts as one..."

With the biological research building, half of which was blown up, as the command center, Vera, who is well aware that she will make her appearance in the world after this incident, is concentrating on fulfilling her role this time.

That's counter-terrorism!

She currently does not have the courage to start a war, nor does she want to be labeled as extremely arrogant and domineering, but she still has the courage to mobilize the army in the name of anti-terrorism, that is, to mobilize some soldiers wearing exoskeletons, light tanks and armored vehicles.

Not only that, it’s huge.

Anyway, anti-terrorism has a legitimate reason.

This was not an unprovoked incident. There were no mecha troops or power armor troops involved, no main battle tanks or near-ground armed airships were deployed, and it was not too irritating to the nerves of the Central African "friendly neighbors".

"Sir Russell."

Just as Vera was thinking about how to make the most of her temporary position to highlight her presence, a senior executive of the local Arasaka Transportation Department came to her.

"The latest news from the airport control tower is that the people coming from Tokyo headquarters will arrive in about half an hour."

Vera raised her eyes slightly.

It looks like her debut is coming to an end.

It's time to go back to Tokyo and fight Lao Deng and Lao Lao Deng.

------

PS: Useless, or perhaps useful, little piece of knowledge: Johannesburg is one of the top ten spring cities in the world.

Oops, I was delayed by the meeting, so I’ll just run 5K today.

Come again tomorrow.

Chapter 060: Leaving South Africa, meeting Sanlang, presenting a big cake (4.5K)

On the afternoon of June 6, after an hour or so of handing over command and organizing things, Vera stood up from the leisure terrace next to the rooftop landing area of ​​the Johannesburg International Hotel.

She had already changed out of her battle uniform that was stained with dust and blood and full of the baptism of war, washed herself, and put on a clean white shirt and black trousers. She did not wear a tie and wore a pair of mid-cut boots. She had transformed from the terrifying image of a killing machine on the battlefield to the beautiful and dashing image of a company dog ​​face.

"Crack..."

Holding a South African roujiamo wrapped in oil paper, which is a meal of spiced grilled meat and fresh vegetables sandwiched in bread, Vera took a leisurely bite and chewed, looking towards the horizon with her cheeks slightly puffed up, towards the direction of the international airport.

The black dots are getting bigger and rushing towards us.

Her private plane has arrived.

"Director Russell, I'm sorry that our negligence caused such an unpleasant incident during your study trip to South Africa."

A thin, middle-aged white man with sunken eyes and a slightly bald head came forward and said apologetically.

He was the head of the Johannesburg Arasaka branch. He looked very tired. Obviously, the major terrorist attack in the early morning of the 7th had caused him to face accountability and tremendous pressure from his superiors.

"I promise that the Johannesburg branch will give you a satisfactory answer. We may not be able to guarantee the terrorists who have escaped from Gauteng Province and the city, but I will find those rats trapped in the city one by one and grind them into meat paste!"

He was very serious and assured Vera with gritted teeth.

Vera seemed satisfied with this and nodded, indicating that she was no longer angry. She said that this misfortune could not be blamed entirely on the Johannesburg branch, but was caused by a combination of factors, such as the border checkpoints and the sudden changes of the Central African indigenous warlords...

But deep down, Vera kept shaking her head.

Hahaha.

Even though the other party was being humble in front of him, he must have been cursing in his heart, blaming himself for why he had to do some planning and research in his jurisdiction and was targeted. Why couldn't you go to Cape Town, Pretoria, Tokyo, or your Night City?

Vera would naturally be able to point it out, and would get angry and scold him, oppress him, and bully him, and he would never dare to talk back.