Infinity, progress from Arasaka

In the field, it seemed as if only a cold wind was blowing.

Memories came flooding back like a tide, weighing her down and making it hard for her to breathe.

The words "cage facility" and the scary three-leaf clover logo with a black background and white patterns flashed before Lucy's eyes. She stared blankly at the three tarot cards she had drawn on the table, wondering what she was thinking.

"I, I have something to do, so I'll go back first."

She said, reflexively trying to escape.

boom.

He bumped into someone. It was Pila with big hands and long arms. He had been watching the sex dolls dancing across the street from the psychic house, and he spoke with a funny and rude emphasis: "Please be careful, Miss Lucy... Hey? Wait, Lucy, why did she leave... What happened? Did the job fail?"

"It seems that she has hidden her past. Her deep connection with Arasaka..." Qiwei walked out with her long legs and her hands in her pockets.

呲——

There was a sudden screeching brake sound as the car stopped outside the store.

Lucy, who had just stepped out of the door of the psychic house, stopped, and a matte black Villefort Curtis V5000 sedan drove into the shadow area.

Click.

The driver's door opened and a woman walked out with decisive steps.

A dark red suit, a red turtleneck shirt, office loafers, and a sharp red shaved-side haircut.

Arasaka!

Still an Arasaka company dog ​​with a job title.

At this moment, Lucy felt her whole body stiffen. The shadow of her childhood made her subconsciously take a step back, and the expression on her face became very fragile and delicate.

This is not something that can be compared to those grassroots exploited company dogs who catch the tram.

Black her?

No, no, she couldn't instantly hack the ICE (Intrusion Countermeasures Unit) on a corporate dog of this level. The distance was so close that it was enough for the other party to react. Moreover, Little Chinatown was close to the municipal center. If she attacked a corporate dog with a rank like Arasaka, Mann and the others would not help her...

Her pupils flashed orange data light at high speed, and Lucy's brain started to work at high speed.

V looked at Lucy who came out of Good Brothers' shop in surprise.

The other person's stiff, dull demeanor, white light rainbow hair parted bob, eye shadow but not charming, very young and clean, not like a sex doll of the dust, could it be that her good brother has changed his taste? And...

The intelligence officer's conditioned reflex was to glance with his prosthetic eye, and V's eyes turned cold.

A port on the cerebral cortex, a hacker submersible device? Arasaka model.

"who are you?"

Just when Lucy had no idea how to defend herself, a hearty exclamation suddenly came from behind her, "Hey, V."

"This is the team I mentioned that has two good cyber hackers. Not bad, isn't it?"

A smile instantly appeared on V's originally cold face.

"Jack." She nodded. "Very good Netrunner. Very thoughtful. I hope you didn't get scammed. Is the area safe?"

Jack patted V's shoulder familiarly.

"I'm Old Jack, a native of Night City. I have the blood of Heywood in my veins, so I'm considered to be well-informed in this area. I can't be sure of other things, but I believe in Mann's reliability. There are very few bosses as responsible as him in the 'next life'. This street is at least my small circle, a shabby place, no one will compete with you for it, and that Faraday... he's not that powerful."

"Ha, you haven't changed much."

Shaking her head, V looked at Pila, who had long arms and big hands and looked like a small fry. "You. Help me keep an eye on that Curtis V5000. Don't let me see a scratch on it when you come back." She warned him with her eyes.

"Tsk, you are becoming more and more stylish."

"Hmm." V raised her eyebrows and didn't comment. Then she looked at Lucy who had a strange look on her face, "You, come with me into the house."

Lucy was silent.

drop.

[Qiwei: Follow Lucy. I don't know what your connection with Arasaka is. This is an opportunity for you to step out of the shadows. Of course, you may also fall into them. But don't let Mann's efforts go to waste.]

It was a communication from Qi Wei, her guide in her marginalized life.

She clenched her fist, and the white finger marks were faintly visible on Lucy's palm. Finally, she gave in. Her identity had not been exposed yet, and she could not escape.

Da da.

get inside.

backyard.

"One part vodka, add ice, lime juice, ginger beer. Oh, and most importantly... a little love. I just figured out the recipe at the last minute. So, Wilster makes a cocktail. You're the first to drink it."

Jack pushed the cocktail he had mixed himself in front of V.

V drank it all in one gulp without saying anything else. Her eyes were fixed on the brown-skinned burly man opposite the broken coffee table.

"Military-grade [Sianwestin], [Projectile Launch System]..."

V grinned. "You didn't go crazy after using it. Not bad, not bad, very good. Although a large part of it is due to the effect of our company's new medicine, I recognize your ability. Add two senior hackers, a few good technicians and breakthrough experts, that's enough. Let's talk about cooperation."

She looked around at the Mann team present, her eyes lingering longest on the white-haired hacker and the blonde hacker with a long body and a blond hair.

"Cooperation begins now?" Mann was a little incredulous.

"if not?"

Taking the lead, V smiled arrogantly.

"You are not worthy enough for Arasaka to remember your name. To show my sincerity, I will pay a part of the deposit first." She took out the separation chip storing euros and placed it on the beer box that served as a temporary coffee table.

"20 euros."

"Please remember, Arasaka's money is not so easy to get. Just pretend you have never met me. I need you to meet Faraday and accept his commission... You know what I mean."

...

Seven or eight minutes later.

Mann's team left.

"V, is this your detailed discussion?" Jack complained.

"Yes, let's talk about it in detail." V and Jack clinked their glasses gently. "We just need to take the initiative, use our power to overwhelm him, and bluff him. We need to grasp his pain points and explain them clearly, and give him what he needs. There is no point in saying more, and it will make us look insecure."

"That's awesome, V. If this deal goes through, can I get promoted again?"

"It's not that simple. If Faraday really has the support of military technology, the counterintelligence department alone cannot inflict a serious blow on him. Anyway, you just wait and see. After having a few drinks with you, I need to go to the airport to pick you up."

"Pick up?"

"You said I was going to pick her up at the airport. Actually, I was just joining the group. Director Vera Adelheid is already on her way to Night City International Airport. The boss of my department and that bitch who doesn't get along with my boss are both rushing to pick her up at the airport..."

Ding. V turned on the TV in the room.

Night City Information Channel.

A big headline: "Vera Adelheid Russell is about to fly into Night City."

The host was describing with saliva flying all over the place the grand scene of Arasaka's middle and high-level executives rushing to the international airport.

Bang. Clinking glasses again, V was about to admire Jack's rocket-like promotion, when suddenly...

"Here's the latest local news."

The host seemed to have received new information.

"Just now, a large-scale gang fight broke out in the Santo Domingo Valley. Witnesses said it was between the Six Street Gang and the Pacific Island's Nether Dog Gang."

------

PS: Even if I am in the underworld and nailed in a coffin, I will shout in the grave with my rotten vocal cords, I want the world of the living!

Chapter 093: Lightning Attack and Arrival (4.5K)

Night falls.

The River Valley District is adjacent to the old riverside blocks of Taiping Island and Heywood. Gray and dark are the main colors here. The scrapped factories of bankrupt factories and unfinished buildings of real estate developers dot this industrial heartland of Santo Domingo.

The dilapidated old streets are shrouded in the shadow of the towering overpass, and there are bonfires and grill pans made from oil drums.

"Fuck Arasaka! Why is the dog meddling in other people's business..."

Sitting on a rusty scaffolding, a shirtless street thug opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm, then raised his middle finger towards the prosperous and magnificent modern skyscrapers of Heywood and the Civic Center that he could see when he looked up.

"If it weren't for those stupid corporate dogs, the Mexican wimps from the Valentino gang would have been fucked to their knees by my big guns. They wouldn't have had a chance to occupy Glenn and the Lijing area."

"Dozens of people died. A good friend of mine said that the ground was in pieces and it couldn't be put back together. It was hard for my sister-in-law..."

"Bah! What a misery! Who was it that came knocking on my door in the early hours of yesterday morning? Did you take care of me even in the bed?!"

"You don't understand. This is emotion and love. Alas, the lieutenant's plan to occupy the beautiful scenic area failed. The coquettish little bitches of the Heywood Mox Gang are so eager to prostitute..."

"Just you? Be careful or Lizzie's women will pinch you off."

The street scum were talking to each other, and soon, several armed men wearing military boots, jeans, work pants, combat vests and knee pads, some of whom looked like militiamen but whose temperament and dress were extremely rabble-rousing and hooligans, joined in while muttering.

Baseball caps, cowboy hats, and boat hats printed with old-style American flags, stars, stripes, and bald eagles tell their identity: the Six Street Gang. In Night City, no one else would use the stars and stripes as a symbol except them.

"Hey, have you paid the tax?" asked the shirtless old street thug.

In the territory controlled by the Six Street Gang, taxes are protection fees.

"What the hell. The people in Saint Domingo are all poor, and the money they squeeze out is barely enough to fill their teeth. If you want to make big money, you have to go to Heywood. Damn, why did that Arasaka bitch come back at this time? It's unlucky..."

After drinking several bottles of liquid mixed with industrial alcohol, syrup, flying leaves and stimulants, the street scum talked and complained to each other.

The night in Santo Domingo is indeed quiet. Apart from the noise of industrial equipment, only gang members and desperadoes are still wandering around the streets. The sane residents have already gone home.

And, clang…clang…

The disturbing sound of engines and the noise of dismantling and leveling the border wall.

The area of ​​influence of the Nether Dog Gang in Dog Town, Taiping Island, is close to the wall of the Santo Domingo River Valley area.

It is made according to local conditions and uses whatever is available. It has a very wasteland style and is shaped by piling up steel bars, cement, scrapped vehicles, fences and other waste materials.

Standing up from the scaffolding, "Shh!" The old gun of the Sixth Street Gang showed his yellowed steel teeth and whistled in that direction across the gap between the tall piers of the overpass filled with dull yellow sand and smelly garbage.

The east-west elevated overpass is the dividing line, with Santo Domingo to the northeast and Taiping Island to the southwest.

The factories on the Santo Domingo side are lined up and dilapidated, and the Taiping Island side is just as desolate, or even more empty. After all, the construction was interrupted by the war before it was completed, and there are abandoned buildings and messy damaged equipment everywhere.

"Hey buddy over there, wanna come for a drink?"

On the container that served as the main structure of the wall, several military personnel wearing yellow and green camouflage combat uniforms and holding guns were looking at the old guns of the Six Street Gang.

"Hey, guys from NUSA."

With someone leading the way, several street thugs from the Sixth Street Gang, under the influence of alcohol, shouted loudly over there, "If you had fought back earlier, it would have been better. If we had won the Unification War (Metal War), why would we Americans continue to be oppressed by the Arasaka devils?"

“....” No response.

silence.

And the whistling sandstorm.

"Alright, alright, stop yelling."

A sergeant wearing a Six Street Gang armband was picking his ears impatiently.

"It's giving me a headache because of all the noise. There's no point in shouting. They are just a bunch of traitors who don't know what they are thinking. There's no point in shouting. They have been hiding in Taiping Island for six years. They really ruined this resort..."

Before he could finish his words, BANG! !

Like a watermelon exploding suddenly, the Sixth Street Gang Sergeant's upper and lower jaws, which were still opening and closing, exploded, splattering bloody skull fragments and brain tissue everywhere.

"Shit! Electromagnetic sniper rifle...enemy attack!"

"Calling Lieutenant, enemy attack!"

The Sixth Street Gang soldiers on his left and right only spoke in horror. Bang! Puff! Puff! Clang Clang! A series of bullets knocked them down in an instant, sparks and blood splashed, tearing apart their prosthetic bodies and piercing their flesh and blood.