Infinity, progress from Arasaka

She needed to win over factions, build relationships with subordinates, and familiarize herself with the representatives from other North American branches who came with Michiko. She needed to show her style and a trustworthy image in front of them.

Ding, when Vera walked out of the living room on the 108th floor of Arasaka Tower.

drip.

"Oh?"

There are two new emails in the mailbox.

One was from the Department of Security and the other was from the Office of the Director of Special Operations.

[Director, the report you marked, Adam Hammer has returned to Night City from the Mexican blockade and is about to arrive at Arasaka Tower.]

[Mr. Director, according to sources in the underground mercenary market developed by the Counterintelligence Department, external forces are eyeing the results of your project. Please be vigilant...]

Vera's eyes narrowed.

What are the results of my project?

It was my Russell House in Westbrook, or myself, or the port.

After she returned to Night City, Arasaka's naval transport ships were on the way, carrying a large number of additional soldiers, secret power armor units, and the [Solar Staircase Project]'s phased weaponization experiments.

It’s okay for the others to be exposed, but the secret power armor units cannot be exposed for the time being.

Thinking of this, Vera's eyes flashed red.

"I am Vera Adelheid, tell me the source."

...

Not long ago, an encrypted communication channel.

[Jack: Damn, V, no, Faraday is really brave. Wasn't his old nest, Saint Domingo, blown up by those people in Dogtown? How can he have the time to mess with you... We have news about Mann and the others. The task given by Faraday is to keep an eye on Arasaka Beach.]

[V: Stalking Arasaka Beach? Damn, they must be from a big company. Dig deep. Jack, tell Mann to stay alert and don't expose himself. I'll find a way to cooperate with them.]

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Chapter 096 Vera is very 'heavy' (4.5K)

Everyone laughs at company dogs for being soft-hearted and doing things that sell their souls.

So am I selling my soul by my current actions?

Watson, a rusty and dilapidated old industrial area, in a wide alley close to the main road.

Wearing a thick acid-proof raincoat, Lucy, the edgewalker commissioned by the company, got up from the tattered sofa on the balcony.

Through the gaps between the alleys and factory buildings, she gazed out at the dark, continuous fortress-like buildings. On the towering facades made of shiny black glass and steel concrete were the fluorescent aRaSaKa letters and a circular clover logo.

Lucy didn't know the answer to this question.

She had always hated that sign.

She hated being controlled by them, hated being helpless, and hated her past...

Now, she's just as annoying.

"Lucy, keep an eye on Blackthorn Street, which connects Arasaka Beach to the northern industrial area. I'm sure Faraday has hired more than just us. Jack and that corporate dog... well, that lady is waiting for our news." It was Mann.

His voice came from the encrypted call channel between the two hackers in the team.

Lucy's expression froze for a moment, and then she said, "...got it." Her expression was quite interesting.

She was going to continue doing Arasaka's job.

"Huh..." After throwing away the empty cigarette butt and taking a breath, Lucy turned around, walked through the gap in the iron fence, and entered through the half-open door.

Seven twists and turns.

As she stepped onto the stairs, Lucy's frosty purple eyes flashed with data. In the optical field of view, the detection lines of multiple anti-personnel infrared monitoring mines turned from red to green. Biometric information verification passed.

Squeak.

Pushing open the door, a cold breath carrying the smell of mold, smoke, alcohol and food entered her nose. Lucy looked at the two people in the room.

Qi Wei was lying naked in a bathtub filled with ice cubes.

The fan on top of the computer case next to her was turning silently, the slightly messy data cables were crisscrossed, and multiple display screens were turned on behind her head. Countless 01 data characters and images of specific monitoring areas were being screened quickly.

The other was a middle-aged man with flowing hair, a big beard, and a 'T'-shaped implant indentation on his chin.

He was using a plastic bucket to pour ice cubes into the bathtub where Qiwei was.

Hackers need to dissipate heat when working. Those who don't have money to buy equipment can just take an ice bath naked. Those who have money can just wear special black customer service and lie on the hacker chair to dissipate heat.

"Falco." Lucy greeted.

Falco is a full-time driver in Mann's team. Although he does not directly participate in the operation, he will definitely be there when the team needs passenger support or has big business.

During the reconnaissance, or disguised reconnaissance phase of this commission, Mann and Dolio were in one group, and Pira and Rebecca were in another group, moving around outside.

Lucy and Qiwei are the team's network hacker group. They set up safe houses at fixed locations, waiting for opportunities to hack into surveillance networks or provide off-field support during battles. Falco, the team's veteran, is responsible for protecting and transferring the two of them, and they work in groups of three.

"Would you like some instant noodles? I just heated them up."

Falco, who had an uncle-like face, nodded and pointed to a half-open, steaming square paper box on the table. There was a pile of greasy noodles with some kind of minced meat.

"No."

Lucy shook her head and walked towards another bathtub filled with ice in the room.

Start taking off your clothes and shoes...

There was nothing to be ashamed of. As mercenaries and marginal walkers, they still had some trust in their companions. After stripping naked, Lucy lay in a bathtub filled with ice.

"It seems you have accepted it."

Sensing Lucy's network signal, the rapidly flashing data stream in Qi Weiyi's eyes returned to normal. She lay on her back and lit a cigarette.

"Ah, it's all work." Lucy replied: "Besides, the money is not small this time. In this world, only money can bring dignity..."

"Are you still thinking about going to the moon? Well, one flight costs 25 euros. After this commission from Wells and Faraday, plus your savings over the past two years, your daily expenses are very small. If you do the math, you should have saved up more than half of that."

"..." Lucy didn't answer.

Buzz, her pupils flashed orange light, and she hacked into the local area network and monitoring network for data exchange in the northern industrial zone, and began to screen.

At the same time, encrypted channel within the team.

[Mann: Qiwei, have you found them? How many teams of scapegoats did Faraday send?]

[Qi Wei: I've been keeping an eye on him. In addition to us, there are at least 4 teams. That guy still has some influence and has found a lot of cannon fodder. His backer is most likely military technology. Mann, it's a good thing you have a trick up your sleeve, otherwise, if you were desperate for money and went to him, you would definitely be sold out.]

[Rebecca: That four-eyed guy will have his head blown off with a gun sooner or later.]

[Mann: Humph! If he wasn't cunning and ruthless, he wouldn't be the middleman of Night City. However (I don't know if it's a sigh or a self-deprecating tone). He's just a hyena who picks up corporate benefits. Ha, although we are also...]

【Falco: There's nothing much to say. It's not that I haven't done orders from the company, but the people who did the orders with me at the time are dead. Mann, don't do this kind of commission that makes two profits at once and pleases both sides... Dolio, keep an eye on Mann and don't let him go crazy.】

[Dorio: OK, I have double the deposit, and I have enough inhibitors. ]

[Lucy: Stop, we've found something, Mann, Arasaka Beach, a fleet has arrived! ]

Under the old neon sign, there is a dirty terrace with heavy metal music blaring.

"Mann, look!" Dolio's voice.

In the homeless shelter transformed from an abandoned water tower, wow——

The brown-skinned giant wearing sunglasses stood up quickly, pushed aside the playing cards lying on the chopping board, and looked towards the port warehouse behind the Arasaka Automated Factory.

It was originally called the Marina District. It is one of the four districts of Watson.

Now, including the Night City government, it has become customary to call it Arasaka Beach. Arasaka Beach.

A fortress island that symbolizes corporate authority in the sea of ​​Watson crime. The new and bright appearance of Arasaka's control area forms a shocking contrast with the abandoned factory buildings that have been corroded by time in other parts of Watson.

Woo——!

The sound of the flute was low and echoed over the port for a long time.

Mann and Dolio raised their high-powered military binoculars.

It was a rare sunny day after the rain. The inversion smoke and acid rain fog had dissipated, and the vision was very clear.

At the Arasaka seaside port, painted in Arasaka's iconic metallic black, six integrated transport ships are slowly approaching the naval dock under the escort of the Arasaka escort fleet.

It was as if some kind of switch was pressed, and in an instant, half of the Arasaka beach became noisy.

The rarely seen Octant heavy combat drones, of the Terrorist Mobile Team level, but with Arasaka paint scheme, flew in groups from the flight deck of the transport ship and headed for a temporary parking spot for military personnel in the warehouse.

The sky was filled with ferocious war machines flying around, densely packed and rising and falling.

Going down, there is the unfolded stern connection ramp, which is rotated 40 degrees to connect to the dock and fixed.

hum...bum...

The engine roared.

What can be roughly seen are wheeled Behemoth armored vehicles loaded with attack drones and armed robots, suspended armored motorcycles, light armored floating vehicles, two-legged heavy-duty unmanned armor, heavy manned multi-legged tanks, integrated firepower mobile delivery platforms, large box trailers carrying unknown things, supplies, and large groups of Arasaka heavy infantry formations...

A series of violent weapons that dazzled Mann, a mercenary old-fashioned man.

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

Even a woman as macho and carefree as Dolio couldn't help but shrink her head and smack her lips at the massive increase in troops and the deployment of military personnel and tactical equipment that almost covered an entire port yard unit.

ka ka ka-

Mann used his prosthetic eye camera to quickly take a picture and transmit it back to the team channel.

【Falco: Fuck! Does Faraday want to kill us?! Steal? Is he going to steal at the cost of his parents’ lives?!】

Inside the safe house, even a calm veteran driver couldn't help but swear.

Qi Wei was smoking a cigarette, squinting her eyes, and no one knew what she was thinking.

Lucy, who hacked into the Watson Industrial Park surveillance system and was able to piece together the actual situation at Arasaka Beach from different angles, has fallen silent.

Especially when that large-scale main battle armored floating vehicle appeared, she was numb. This thing was more powerful than the symbol of the highest force of Night City NCPD - the Scorpion Tailed Lion of the Terrorist Mobile Team, and there was also an unknown aerial behemoth similar to Zeta's 'Surveyor'. Its physique was estimated to be able to deploy a full platoon of troops behind enemy lines at one time.

Considering that Arasaka was about to start city sheriff patrols in the Rei-scenic area to get close to the public, Lucy decided that from now on, she would completely stop her petty thefts and "revenges" against Arasaka's grassroots employees in the subway and train.

[Mann: That thing is a demon lizard? How can Arasaka use a demon lizard of military technology? ]

Mann, who had been a soldier, suddenly uttered a slight doubt. He was a fourth-class horseman, but he had seen the demon lizard before and would not make a mistake.

[Qiwei: Hey, Mann, read more news and less Black Super Dream. International news, a spokesperson from Arasaka headquarters in Tokyo, in short, Arasaka increased its troops in Night City, Militech strongly opposed it, and then Arasaka used Militech's "showroom strategy" as an excuse to fight back...]

Showroom strategy.

That is, a comprehensive strategy of military technology that integrates sales, recruitment stations, and troop deployment.

Since Military Technology signs a castle-like contract with local governments when it opens showrooms in major cities around the world, the company's employees have the right to "fully demonstrate the performance of weapons" in the showrooms.

Although it is a universal rule that "excessive firepower" is strictly prohibited in urban areas, military technology always deliberately ignores these rules in their exhibition halls.

This has led to a phenomenon where in the city center, in the military technology weapons store showrooms, not only long guns and short guns are sold, but also various heavy firepower such as tanks, floating armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery, etc., and they are actually in a state of combat readiness.

Arasaka just kept on holding onto this point, talking about all sorts of things like the principle of equality, saying that your exhibition hall is so small and my seaside area is so big, we must have equal defense forces, and there is also the chaos in Dog Town, and you, the NUSA rebels, need to reassess the danger, and so on.

European banks, biotechnology companies, and Sinopec have all expressed their understanding and support for Arasaka's actions.

And when Saburo of the Arasaka headquarters in Tokyo made a second statement, saying that he would establish a new high-precision research center in Night City to provide the best environment for his "Arasaka rough gem" and "Night City's most dazzling gold and stone", and reached a new land purchase agreement with the Night City government, real money was flowing down.

Zeta Technology, Kangtao, and even Peizhuo Petrochemical, the arch-rival of Su Petrochemical, are rarely in step with Su Petrochemical.

In 2076, the sources of corporate wars that people all over the world are most worried about are Arasaka and Militech, and Su Petrochemical and Petrochemical.