From Gotham to Night City, my infamy is known to all.

Wen Qilu's gaze held appreciation and approval, while the other two executives showed some resistance.

Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts—this saying applies all over the world.

"A request? Hmph, whatever."

Meredes' gaze swept across the entire area, and when he saw the members of the Immortal Squad, he frowned almost imperceptibly.

But she didn't delve into it further. She simply raised her right hand and waved it forcefully forward, shouting, "Proceed according to plan! Search!"

Military-grade soldiers and biotechnology agents quickly mobilized, forming joint teams that ventured deep into the town with their equipment without requesting permission.

Leo knew this would happen. Compared to Kangtao, who was barely negotiable, Military Technology and Arasaka were the most domineering even within the company.

Their arrogance and recklessness are well-known.

Obstruction is pointless and will only increase conflict, but we cannot remain silent and weaken our resolve: "Leaders, restrain your people and proceed according to the plan."

Leo opened the encrypted channel and loudly gave an order in front of everyone.

He borrowed parts of Meredes' dialogue, the confrontational tone of which was self-evident.

Meredes crossed his arms, a gesture of defense and resistance: "Quite the airs of an official. What, are you admitting to having ties with illegal armed groups?"

Leo smiled calmly: "It depends on who's asking the question. If it's a company representative like you, then I'll admit it. If it's a reporter or the general public, then I won't admit it. Is there a problem with that?"

Meredes didn't answer, because that's part of the game.

Soon, the reconnaissance teams sent out sent back messages, all of which said that they had found nothing.

Meredes' heart sank.

Unlike ordinary products like firearms, military-grade war vehicles utilize a large number of electronic components with backdoors. They can pinpoint the exact location of even a single part removed from a vehicle, let alone the entire vehicle.

The soldiers have now circled the town several times with the "retrieval equipment" but have found nothing, which can only mean that the hovercraft is not here, or may not have even been here.

Where did the convoy go?

They saw Kang Tao rushing over here and thought there might be some clue, but it turned out to be a waste of time.

An unpleasant feeling churned within her, prompting her to take an even more unfriendly action: "Take them on the lie detector test, conduct random checks. I refuse to believe that among nearly a thousand people here, not a single one knows any clues."

Leo frowned and spoke up to stop him: "Merides, Senior Operations Manager, we are not your prisoners or suspects. I won't stop you from conducting random checks, but I'm warning you, if you cause casualties among my people, I won't let it go."

"You dare threaten me!?"

Meredes didn't care how he knew his identity, but he was concerned about his words.

"I think you're the prime suspect, so we should start the investigation with you!"

She spoke sternly, but her body remained motionless, as did the soldiers behind her.

The reason for this is that Wen Qilu of Kang Tao was standing next to Leo.

The intelligence gathered revealed that Kangtao's goods and soldiers were everywhere in Stone Ridge Mountain. They stood guard at the shop entrances and blocked the military science soldiers from collecting evidence, which was really annoying.

That L is clearly in cahoots with Kang Tao. If you don't want to cause conflict between the companies, you can't take action against someone like that in public.

Fearing the consequences, Meredes grew increasingly agitated.

The convoy, consisting of four war vehicles and one heavy transport vehicle, vanished into thin air.

If we can find clues, that's fine. But if we can't, then it's not just a matter of taking responsibility or not; there must be a shocking conspiracy hidden behind this!

She glanced suspiciously at the head of biotechnology beside her, causing him to frown.

"What do you think I mean? You suspect me again, don't you? I've explained it three times already, and I'm explaining it for the fourth time—the transport truck only contained a batch of laboratory equipment for human...small animal cloning, there were no smuggled goods! You failed in your escort duties, don't try to shirk your responsibility!"

"Who knows if you're telling the truth or not? Why would such a meticulous enemy risk robbing a convoy on the outskirts of Night City if there wasn't something particularly important to them?"

"We said no, and we mean no! The equipment loaded matches the shipping manifest! If you can't even find the person who did the dirty work, you can expect a full refund!"

"grass--"

Meredes cursed and stopped looking at his "allies".

This is unbelievable!

Chapter 309 Meredith: "Thirty-three that year, standing like a lackey..."

While anxiously waiting, the reconnaissance team kept sending back bad news.

They randomly checked dozens of people, and apart from the leader and junior leaders who barely knew that something had happened in the eastern suburbs, the others didn't even know why the company's army had come to Shijishan.

In other words, these people had absolutely nothing to do with the convoy's disappearance.

But is this possible?

The Night Wanderers who originally occupied the eastern suburbs have been wiped out, and now this is the only force left here. If this matter has nothing to do with them, then who is the force inside the city who did it?

Meredes, his face grim, reviewed the information gathered by the ground-based follow-up troops from their small outposts.

There was nothing. Even after everyone took a lie detector test, no clues were found.

Fuck fuck fuck!

She thought the mission wouldn't be difficult, which is why she volunteered for it. Who would have thought that such a large convoy of floating vehicles could simply vanish into thin air?!

She'd snatched a hot potato... no, she'd grabbed a ticking time bomb and was holding it in her arms!

If no clues are found and the company loses its fleet, personnel, and compensation, she will definitely be drowned!

Damn it, you stupid transport convoy!

Meredes panicked.

If it weren't for her excellent professional skills, she would have really wanted to curse right now!

Her gaze swept across the room once more, finally settling on Leo's face—three of the four people present were company representatives, and the only one who could be considered an easy target and a scapegoat was the mysterious L.

She didn't want to die, so the only option was for the other person to die.

They'll just insist he did it and make him take the blame, regardless of whether he's innocent or not!

"The ground forces using military technology have sent back intelligence—" she drawled menacingly, "You and your elite squad were near the Sonora Mountains during the time of the attack. How do you explain that!"

Leo looked at her calmly: "Do we need ground troops for this kind of intelligence? My escort convoy has ten vehicles, and there are definitely your agents and informants inside."

I rode in a ceremonial vehicle around the eastern suburbs to distribute supplies to the soldiers stationed there and to celebrate the victory. Every few minutes I went to a new outpost to give a speech; at least two or three hundred people could provide me with an alibi.

Meredes retorted, "That proves nothing! Everyone knows you're a wealthy and powerful middleman; you could have easily hired mercenaries to do it!"

"Mercenaries? Are you sure?"

Leo looked at her like she was an idiot.

"That was a convoy of airborne vehicles. I heard it included Manticore armored vehicles, Lizard tanks, and a full complement of military technology special forces."

Taking the convoy down is somewhat achievable, since someone has already demonstrated it. But how to eliminate the guards after the convoy is down, and how to remove so many hovercraft—I simply can't think of a way.

Meredes was at a loss for words, because she couldn't think of a solution either.

This is what makes it so outrageous.

Honestly, even if she were to lead the company's elite team to do this, she might not be able to do it as cleanly and efficiently as she has now, leaving no trace.

She was the first to disbelieve that the Wings of Liberty, a group of wanderers who had just acquired smart pistols, could do such a thing.

However, when she accepted the mission, her superior had spoken with her—the relationship between military technology and Arasaka had just eased, and without solid evidence, it was best not to provoke Arasaka lightly.

Even if they are the prime suspects!

Since we can't investigate Arasaka, and we can't shift the blame to Kangtao and Biotechnology, which also suffered heavy losses, we have no choice but to sacrifice this insignificant person in front of us.

After making up his mind, Meredes abandoned reasoning and resorted to intimidation.

She stepped forward, glaring menacingly at Leo: "Since you claim you have nothing to do with this, then let's try a lie detector test, just to go through the motions, how about that?"

Leo scoffed: "With your lie detector, you can get whatever result you want."

Meredes' eyes remained unchanged, but he felt a sudden pang of fear.

Yes, that's what she thought.

Tamper with the lie detector, pin the blame on Leo, and on the way back, find an excuse to make him an idiot or even kill him, and that'll be the end of it.

The truth can be investigated later; the important thing is to get through this hurdle and save your own life.

"I bet you're just too scared! You're definitely suspicious, soldier—"

Meredes intended to use force, and she looked at Wen Qilu, explaining,

"The military technology team lost three Manticore tanks, one Demon Lizard tank, and all accompanying personnel; these losses alone exceed thirty million euros. The heavy cargo airlift vehicles and laboratory equipment for biotechnology will only be more expensive. With such a huge loss, we cannot let any suspicious individuals get away!"

She thought that saying this would make the other party compromise, since she would also be punished if she failed to complete the task. Unexpectedly, Wen Qilu stepped forward instead, adopting a stance of protecting her at all costs.

"No...you're stopping me!? What, is this person a current employee of Kangtao!?"

“He isn’t, but that doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want,” Wen Qilu replied calmly.

"Reckless behavior?" A flash of rage crossed Meredith's eyes. "I think you're protecting a criminal suspect! Soldier!!"

The soldiers, armed with advanced military technology, gripped their weapons with predatory intent.

The head of the biotechnology company, Qiwu Tumor Dad VII, hesitated for a moment, then nodded to his subordinates.

Upon receiving the order, the biotechnology agents also prepared for battle.

Between Comto and military technology, biotechnology, which claims to be a "neutral party," has clearly made its choice.

Meredith grinned, revealing his teeth: "You're a Senior Operations Manager, and so am I, and I have more people than you, plus biotechnology support. I'll give you a chance. Reconsider whether you want to stand in my way!"

Despite being outnumbered, Wen Qilu remained calm and said slowly, "I can't make that decision. You should talk to my superior."

"Your superior? Are you kidding me?"

Just as Meredes was about to utter a harsh remark, he noticed that the other person's gaze was directed behind him.

She turned around to search and soon noticed several hovercars speeding toward her on the horizon.

After seeing the shape of the hovercar clearly, her heart sank slightly.

Kangtao's self-produced and self-developed "Zhuque" intelligent armored personnel carrier is reserved for elite troops.

In contrast, the regular troops of Kangtao travel in Zeta Technology Surveyors, which are known for their ruggedness, durability, and excellent cost-effectiveness.

Does Kangtao have a backup plan?

She glanced back at Leo, suddenly unsure of his identity.

I initially thought he was just a rich kid from China, someone I could easily bully. Why is Kang Tao in such a hurry...? Is he the child of some important person? Or is he on a very important mission?

Such doubts reached their peak when they saw the true face of Kangtao's reinforcements.

Li Qixuan —

Kangtao's Night City branch, Deputy Director of Security Operations!

Something's not right!

Twelve out of ten things are wrong!

Everyone was a mid-level manager of roughly the same rank, and they were just fighting amongst themselves. In the end, Kang Tao sent out the top-ranking department head.

The soft persimmon turned into a sea urchin...

Chapter 310 The Anti-Arasaka Alliance is Established!

Li Qixuan's arrival ended the game.

The tense atmosphere between the three parties vanished as he approached.

Wen Qilu straightened her back and looked down at her two opponents with disdain.

The heads of Meiqi Lingba Shi Lu Ba VII7 Redes and Biotechnology slumped down, looking like two small fry in the background.

The deputy director of security operations... is from Kangtao, so the word "deputy" can actually be dropped.

There is a three-level difference between the two sides:

Senior Operations Manager → Department Manager → Deputy Director → Director.

The bonus from the special department "Security Operations" can be considered as level three and a half.

If we say that these action managers still need to pay homage to powerful figures and choose sides, then Li Qixuan himself is one of the most powerful figures.

There's absolutely no chance left, damn it...