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

Faced with this blatant mockery, Abernathy retorted righteously, "Arasaka's internal affairs are none of the business of other companies! This is Night City, our territory! Stop making excuses, Jenkins. All the available agents are under your command. You're the only one suitable to handle this!"

Others dared not get involved in the battle between the two powder kegs, but they also did not want to take responsibility, so they silently took sides by voting—unanimously supporting Abernathy.

It's clear to anyone with eyes to see that the current situation is indeed very awkward. Kangtao has Xu Shiming in charge, while their highest-ranking official is only a vice president; the difference in rank between the two sides is significant.

Adding to that the recent accident, they simply couldn't muster any backbone.

No matter who is sent to handle the Taipingzhou incident now, the outcome is unlikely to be good; it's a complete disaster.

So... let Jenkins suffer a little longer. He didn't have many days left anyway, so let him shield everyone from one more disaster before he dies.

When he dies, everyone will surely speak well of him and come up with a glorious epitaph for him!

Jenkins was well aware of his colleagues' malice.

When a wall falls, everyone pushes it down; when a drum breaks, everyone beats it… That Eastern proverb is absolutely right!

He laughed in exasperation, slammed his hand on the table, and stood up: "Fine—you just want to be tough! I'll handle this, let's have a go at Kang Tao!"

After saying that, he turned and stormed out of the conference room.

The executives who remained in the conference room exchanged glances, all seeing the relief and satisfaction in each other's eyes.

That's good. Even if Xu Shiming suppressed the matter in the end, Arasaka didn't lose face. As for Jenkins, who messed up the job and was even more guilty... well, he didn't have many days left to live anyway, so who cares!

Meanwhile, after returning to his office, Jenkins immediately mustered his troops and dispatched a 200-strong elite force to Taiping Island in airships to "maintain order."

He himself picked up a bottle of wine and chugs it roughly from the bottle, accidentally staining his clothes because he drank too fast.

He ignored the AI's helpful reminder, grabbed a new coat from his wardrobe, and strode into the staff restroom.

He found a cubicle, quickly checked it, and after confirming there were no surveillance cameras, the anger on his face melted away as quickly as snow under the scorching sun.

He then contacted her using the encrypted line provided by Valerie.

"Jenkins: That bitch Abernathy has dumped another lousy job on me! Meddling in Contour's business while Xu Shiming is visiting Night City—isn't that just handing myself a free ride?!"

Valerie: Don't worry, everything is going as expected. Don't forget, Kanto is the next client I found. Her arrogant and terrible move has just helped us get in touch with Kanto!

“Jenkins: That’s what I was thinking too. I just sent two hundred men to cause trouble. They definitely won’t be able to complete the mission. Once they’re stopped by Kang Tao, I’ll have an excuse to bring our people to a formal meeting with Kang Tao and take the opportunity to defect. What do you plan to do? Come back and act with us?”

Valerie: No, I have special skills and can connect with our partners in my own way. You just stick to the original plan and give Arasaka a little thrill!

Jenkins: I'm all set. Let's split up!

"Click."

After hanging up the phone, Valerie carefully examined herself in the mirror.

The shaved side hairstyle with dark red highlights on the ends of the shoulder-length hair is passable in terms of taste, but it's not formal enough; it makes you look like a street mercenary.

After adjusting her micro-expressions based on her memory of the "brainless" demeanor, she felt that she already bore a striking resemblance to the mercenary codenamed V.

The most dangerous place is the safest place. Right now, where could be safer than around "L," who is once again at the eye of the storm?

I walked to the balcony and looked around.

Across from the slightly shorter apartment building, a group of people were adjusting searchlights, projecting wing-shaped icons into the night sky.

"Wings soaring freely in the sky—that's a nice symbol!"

Chapter 397 Big News in Night City: Kang Tao and Ara Saka's Suspected Conflict Escalates!

Municipal center area, company square.

An unusual tension quietly spread.

Inside the brightly lit company building, the employees were distracted at work, their eyes frequently drifting towards the windows.

In the plaza rest area, journalists from various media outlets aimed their cameras at the exit area of ​​the floating garage, preparing to capture precious footage of the company's military force launching a fierce attack.

Tonight, an extraordinary gang war is raging in Taipingzhou, and the Arasaka Company, the true rulers of Night City, must respond.

However, with the shadow of Kangtao behind the party that started the war, and the chairman of Kangtao personally visiting Night City, what actions will Arasaka take?

Regardless of their choice, the reporters have already made room for today's front page headlines, and they've already come up with the first half of the headline—"Shocking: Arakawa actually XXXX!"

Time passes minute by minute.

Around 5:30 a.m., there was finally some movement inside the Arasaka Building.

A dozen or so armored aerial vehicles flew out in an orderly fashion, turning on their warning lights as soon as they left the garage, making them extremely conspicuous in the night sky.

[This is the Arasaka Special Operations Unit, conducting an emergency mission. All air vehicles, immediately clear the air passage. To reiterate, this is...]

The warning sound of the armored airborne vehicle played repeatedly, without any regard for whether it would disturb the residents in the middle of the night.

After lining up in the sky above the company square, Arasaka's aerial convoy flew straight south, towards Taipingzhou!

"The show's about to begin! Get in the car, we'll follow and film you all the way!"

"Hurry up!"

Arakasa's actions were exactly what the reporters wanted to hear; this was exactly what they had been waiting for!

"Breaking news! Breaking news! Charge!"

Outside the company plaza, some unlicensed and private journalists who couldn't stand the light of day and could only hide in corners also joined the revelry.

Various interview vehicles sped along, chasing after the hovercar in the air.

Generally speaking, vehicles on the ground can never keep up with airborne vehicles, no matter what, even if all traffic regulations are ignored and the road conditions are good late at night.

But today was different, because Arasaka's convoy hadn't gone far when it was intercepted by another group of armored hovercraft that had sped up from behind.

The two teams of hovercraft stood in stark contrast above the sea-crossing bridge leading to Taipingzhou.

The reporters erupted in excitement after seeing the large Kang Tao logo on the vehicle that followed.

"Look! It's Kangtao's hovercars! There are even more of them than Arasaka's!"

Not only are there many of them, but the hovercraft are also the self-developed "Vermilion Bird" intelligent armored personnel carriers, indicating that elite troops have arrived!

For the first time, many reporters found the strange black and orange color scheme of the Kanto to be surprisingly pleasing to the eye!

"Shoot! Shoot already! Even just a few shots are fine!"

"Stop fucking egging us on! If a fight breaks out, it'll be a huge mess!"

WNS News reporters on the front lines loudly berated their colleagues from illegal radio stations, forcefully pushing them away to take the best filming positions.

The reporters' minor disagreements were insignificant compared to the far more intense conflict in the sky.

"What exactly is Kang Tao trying to do! Why are you sending troops to obstruct Arakawa from carrying out his official duties! Are you trying to... provoke conflict?!"

Hearing the stern questioning over the communication channel, Kang Tao's team leader, Li Qixuan, didn't even bother to lift his eyelids.

Arasaka is too cowardly to even utter the word "war."

That makes sense, though. With the shadow of the anti-Arasaka alliance looming ahead and Chairman Xu in charge of Night City behind, it would be truly brainless for Arasaka to stand up for himself now.

He organized his thoughts and calmly said, "The operation to eradicate the criminal group 'Voodoo Gang' has been authorized by Comto Corporation and Internet Surveillance. If Arasaka Corporation has any concerns, please participate in the review after the operation is completed to avoid letting criminals who have committed crimes against humanity go free."

"..."

There was a few seconds of silence on the communication channel, then suddenly another middle-aged man's voice came through.

"I am Jenkins, the director of the Arasaka Counterintelligence Department. And who are you?"

"Li Qixuan, Chief Security Officer (CSO) of Kangtao".

After announcing this title, Li Qixuan felt much more at ease. This was his new title after being promoted to Senior Director, with the authority to coordinate armed operations and defense.

In the Night City branch, he's a true top executive who could be ranked in the top ten!

Jenkins paused for a few seconds before speaking again, "Congratulations on your promotion, Mr. Li. But I must remind you, this is Night City! Night City of Arasaka!"

“I admit that, but I must also remind you that even Arasaka Corporation has to take into account the opinions of the Night City Council. Our joint law enforcement operation was reported last night and is a legal and compliant internal affair of Night City.”

"Submitted in the middle of the night, deliberately stalling the review process, huh? I bet the proposal hasn't been approved yet!"

"It will pass. We informed the biotechnology companies and military technology companies in advance, and it shouldn't be difficult for half of them to pass."

Jenkins understood his subtext: this was a way of putting pressure on the "Anti-Arasaka Alliance".

With Kangtao, Junke, Biotechnology, and the ambiguous stance of the internet regulators, if these four companies really join forces, even without considering Xu Shiming, Arasaka can't be too forceful.

This was indeed a terrible job; he had already lost before his opponent even revealed his hand…

but--

What does Arakasaka's loss have to do with Jenkins? He's not that loyal idiot anymore!

At this point, you have to be firm and drag Arasaka into the boiling oil!

"Are you threatening us? Arasaka Corporation never yields to threats! I will immediately request a formal meeting to ask Kang Tao face-to-face what exactly he intends to do!"

After saying that, he abruptly ended the temporary communication, appearing extremely angry.

Li Qixuan smiled faintly, seemingly unmoved by his threat.

As one of the insiders, he had long known that Director Jenkins was actually an undercover agent on our side, just waiting for an opportunity to break free from Arasaka's close surveillance and brazenly defect.

The expressions on the faces of the Arasaka executives will be quite interesting then.

Let's make a scene, make it even bigger, so that he, as the chief security officer, will have a stage to show his skills!

*

Through the city's traffic monitoring network, Leo also witnessed the tense standoff between Kangtao and Arasaka.

Below the airborne convoy, Contau's ground forces also stopped the NCPD, who were "forced to work," along with a group of reporters who were willing to risk everything for the news.

The military allies did a good job, which put Pacific Island under lockdown, similar to the Watson District at the beginning of the game.

Let's take a look at the movements of other forces—

The hounds of Dogtown dutifully guarded the entrances and exits of Dogtown.

The animal gang of Tai Ping Chau is now quietly holed up in the gym.

Mercenaries from all walks of life stayed obediently in bars and clubs.

Good, everyone is behaving themselves. It seems there will be less bloodshed on Taiping Island tonight.

"hiss--"

While he was pondering, Leo was caught off guard by V's S.A.W.S. attack.

"V, stop fooling around. The battle on Taiping Island is over. We should go and inspect the area and comfort the soldiers who fought so hard!"

"It was a numerical advantage against a numerically superior opponent, a complete stomp, what's there to offer condolences for..."

Despite complaining, V obediently returned to her seat, took out a wet wipe, and began cleaning her body.

Leo's heart stirred, and he took out Deep Blue from his spatial storage and issued a cleaning command.

A blue light instantly enveloped the car, and within seconds, both of them and the car became clean and tidy, showing no trace of the battle.

"A magical artifact can be used like this?" V's eyes were somewhat strange.

Leo grinned: "Technology changes lives!"

As he spoke, he finished dressing and slammed his foot on the gas pedal.

The Batmobile sped out from a hidden corner of the beach and returned to the city streets.

Listen closely, the wind is still howling tonight, but there are no more gunshots or screams, everything is so beautiful!

Chapter 398 A Day to Be Recorded in History: The Bloodshed Day in Taiping Continent!

The visit went very smoothly. Every time Leo arrived at a crossroads that had been taken over by the Wings of Liberty, he was greeted with thunderous cheers!

At first, he even got out of the car to chat with the on-site manager and soldiers, but then he realized that this was too inefficient and that it would take at least several hours to circle Taipingzhou.

Left with no other option, he had to change his approach.

He returned to the vehicle, lowered the Batmobile's folding roof, and then handed it over to V to drive. This allowed him to wave and greet the soldiers from inside the moving vehicle, greatly improving the efficiency of his visits!

The only regret was that the slogans shouted by the Wings of Liberty soldiers were somewhat scattered, mostly things like "Long live L" and "Long live Wings of Liberty," and no one shouted anything more lofty like "Serve the people."

After the efficiency was improved, he only took half an hour to tour Taipingzhou and gained a more intuitive understanding of the actual situation.

In short, the Taipingzhou strategy was a great success!

In this battle, the Wings of Freedom suffered 15 minor injuries and 3 serious injuries, with no fatalities. A total of 217 official members of the Voodoo Cult, 325 Voodoo Cult accomplices, and 21 opportunistic looters were eliminated.

The few seriously wounded soldiers were also rescued by the medical vehicles accompanying the army. No wonder the soldiers all had smiles on their faces and showed no signs of grief after the war.