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

Chapter 403 Major Event in Night City: Blue Dream Company's Taipingzhou Revival Plan!

July 2th, 4:30 AM.

Today is Thursday, an ordinary day for office workers out of the 365 working days of the year.

But in Tai Ping Chau, no one went out, or rather, no one dared to go out.

Even the homeless huddled in their small tents, praying that stray bullets wouldn't add a few holes to their only shelter from the wind and rain.

Even though the gunshots carried by the wind had gradually subsided, the residents of Taipingzhou remained vigilant, yearning for the familiar, irritating sound of police sirens.

However, nothing happened.

After the outdoor area returned to silence, there were no large company hovercrafts in sight, nor were there any NCPD police officers. Taipingzhou seemed abandoned, as always, with no one paying attention to it.

but--

That's not the case!

The mayor, the nominal highest official of Night City, has arrived at the Grand Empire Mall in Taiping Continent by official hovercar, and is about to participate in an important meeting that will affect the future of Taiping Continent.

As the initiator of the meeting, Leo and his business partners were already waiting in the square directly in front of the mall.

This is both a matter of respect for the mayor and because... the interior of the Grand Empire Department Store is truly an eyesore; we can't exactly have someone discussing business in a dusty, filthy office...

[We are about to dock; please give way to other passengers.]

The mayor's warning message for the hovercar was quite different; it had a hypocritical tone, but at least it was polite enough on the surface.

After the vector engine is turned off, the hovercraft comes to a stop on the open ground.

Leo led V to meet them, while he assigned the others to handle Wings of Liberty affairs.

As you approach, the hatch of the hovercar opens, and two heavily armed elite bodyguards step out first.

Behind them followed a bald man in a suit and tie wearing smart glasses.

He was of average height and build, slightly overweight, with fairly regular features, but his hooked nose made him appear somewhat sinister and cunning.

While waiting, Leo did his homework and recognized the man as Deputy Mayor Wilton Holt, who belonged to the Night City Local Party along with the mayor and was nicknamed "Ryan's Bulldog".

Many people online say he's Ryan's lapdog, only following in his "master's" footsteps and always ready to bark and snarl at anyone.

But Leo knew that this man was quite ambitious, and that he had used his position of managing Ryan's affairs and schedules to participate in the "Werewolf" game that led to the mayor's death.

After Lane's death, he inherited his political legacy and participated in the next mayoral election.

"Hello, Deputy Mayor Wilton, I am Leonardo, the founder of Blue Dream Company. I have an appointment with the mayor to discuss business."

When faced with someone he didn't like, Leo spoke calmly and indifferently, and once again gave a fake name, drawing a clear line between himself and the other person from the very beginning.

Having served as deputy mayor for many years, Holt had seen all sorts of people, and he could sense the aloofness and distance emanating from this young man from just his first words.

To be honest, he wasn't particularly fond of the young man in front of him who called himself "L," but someone who could get the secretary of Chairman Kang Tao to personally greet him was not someone he could easily offend.

He withdrew the scrutinizing look from his eyes, replaced it with a polite and formulaic smile, and extended his hand to Leonardo: "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Leonardo. After receiving your request, the mayor took it very seriously and came immediately. May I ask where the meeting place is?"

Leo shook hands with him perfunctorily, taking the opportunity to glance in the direction of the Great Empire Mall, where a group of burly men were diligently cleaning up the site: "If it's convenient, can we talk in the hovercar? I just took over Taiping Continent and haven't had time to tidy it up yet."

Holt's prosthetic eye lit up, conveying his request to the mayor.

A few seconds later, he politely turned to the side and gestured for people to get in: "Of course, please get in the car."

Leo smiled politely and got into the car with V.

The official hovercar provided by the Night City government to the mayor was certainly not the kind of small passenger hovercar that could only carry four people. Its body was longer than that of a typical armored hovercar, with a partition in the middle that could serve as a temporary meeting room inside, while the outside was reserved for assistants and bodyguards.

After verifying his personal information and successfully entering the inner room, Leo met Mayor Lucius Lane, who wore black-rimmed glasses and had a rather burly and wealthy build.

If I had to make a comparison, I think his physique is similar to DeShawn's, except that he has a slicked-back hairstyle typical of successful people, and his demeanor is more refined, clearly indicating that he has received higher education.

"Nice to meet you, young man. You've been quite famous and successful lately."

Ryan took the initiative to shake hands with Leo and introduced himself in a calm tone.

Leo gave a fake name again and introduced his female companion.

Then, at the mayor's invitation, they took their seats, and the deputy mayor served them hot tea.

After the safety door of the compartment closed and the soundproof and privacy protection was activated, Leo said, "Mayor, please let the airship take off. Let's go to a higher place to tour Taiping Island. This way we can get a better view of the current situation of Taiping Island."

"can."

Ryan glanced at Holt, signaling him to make the arrangements.

Later, the airship took off again, maintaining a safe distance from Dog Town, and cruised over Tai Ping Chau.

Leo put down his teacup and placed a data chip on the small round table: "Mr. Mayor, this is the project I've brought to discuss with you, and it's called the Taipingzhou Revitalization Plan."

Ryan and Holt's eyes narrowed simultaneously, both drawn to the project's catchy name.

Taipingzhou Revitalization Plan... Could it be that Kangtao's subsidiary plans to develop Taipingzhou and launch a new round of investment promotion?

Thinking about it carefully, six years have passed since the Taipingzhou Tourist Resort project failed miserably, and now another large company has set its sights on this undeveloped "wasteland".

Out of caution, Mayor Fang also used his office computer to extract information from the data chip and quickly saw a rather rigorous, yet also rather extravagant, business project.

It was not an investment attraction effort, but rather a large-scale infrastructure project independently funded by the so-called "Blue Dream Company" in Taipingzhou.

You know what, this large-scale infrastructure project really has Kangtao's style; they're experts at this...

The first phase of the project is expected to cost 100 billion euros, which is an outrageous figure. Several years ago, investors lost billions of euros, and it is unexpected that they would dare to make such a large investment.

They even claimed that the money was already in place and construction could begin across the continent at any time…

Personally, Ryan liked and supported the plan. It didn't require government funding, and if it succeeded, it would be a credit to him and the government. Even if it ultimately failed, with such a large sum of money invested, Taipingzhou could prosper for a while, enough to last until the next election.

But he dared not express his opinion easily, because this was not something he could decide on his own.

"Is this what Kang Tao means?" he asked tentatively.

Leo deliberately spoke vaguely: "This is an investment project of Lanmeng Company, but Kangtao is indeed our strategic partner and will stand with us through thick and thin in this matter."

Ryan understood—that was what Kangtao meant!

No wonder a little-known company could come up with such a huge sum of money, mobilize Kangtao's elite troops, and now block Arasaka and NCPD troops on the border of Taipingzhou.

This means Kangtao is planning to extend his reach into Night City!

Blue Dream Company, Wings of Freedom, and middleman L are all smokescreens they created to avoid escalating the conflict. Their real purpose is to take over Taipingzhou!

No… wait, there’s also the eastern suburbs!

The eastern suburbs... Taiping Island... and the large area of ​​land sandwiched between these two, which used to be a useless power plant, can be completely transformed into a secret military base!

By taking over these three areas, Kangtao essentially drew a semicircle on the Night City map, enclosing the east and south, leaving only the northern region for Arasaka.

No, no, no, that's not all!

If the Anti-Arakasa Alliance is real, then the Night City's food supply center, the "Protein Farm," is located in the south of Taipingzhou and is a biotechnology industry.

The Santo Domingo region has long been in the hands of military technology, and they also have an off-the-board unit in Dogtown. In a critical moment, they might reconcile and fight side by side again.

After quickly coloring in the "territory" of these three companies on the Night City map through Yi's eyes, he was shocked to discover that the Anti-Arasaka Alliance was about to occupy half of Night City. With the Red Peak Mountains as the boundary, they had completely blocked Arasaka to the north.

What ruthless methods! They literally carved out half of Night City from Arasaka's hands!

Ryan's heart was pounding, even triggering an abnormal alarm in his bio-monitoring system. He quickly used some built-in sedative to help himself calm down.

So that's how it is... He saw through everything!

What a load of rubbish, this "peace declaration" is nothing! According to them, Chairman Kangtao's move was clearly a personal military campaign!

While there is no one in Night City who can stand against him, he should quickly and forcefully take over Taipingzhou. Once the anti-Arahaka alliance's encirclement is complete, it will be difficult for Arahaka to run rampant again!

I wonder if the people from Arakawa are aware of this, and what their response is...

After a brainstorming session, the great Night City Mayor Lucius Lane understood everything and decided to remain neutral and observe how things would unfold.

He is a true Night City independence advocate, whose governing philosophy is to find a balance among large corporations.

To ensure Night City's independence, he resolutely sought help from Arasaka during the later stages of the unification war, repelling the military technology offensive. However, as Arasaka became increasingly lawless in recent years, he was also eager to see other companies able to check Arasaka's power.

He was pleased that Kang Tao had taken over Taipingzhou.

"Um……"

After pondering for a long time, he revealed a solemn expression and inquired about Leo's plan's focus and implementation scheme.

Leo naturally brought up the "work relief" argument again, which won his approval.

"No wonder you only want the municipal government to provide the engineering equipment, but not our professional engineering team. This is to create more jobs and give the residents of Taipingzhou an opportunity to get decent work..."

He looked at Leo, his eyes no longer filled with perfunctory politeness, but with genuine agreement.

“Very good. You are a kind and generous person. The citizens of Taiping Island should thank you. The city government should also thank you. Considering your age, this kindness is even more precious.”

But… let me put it this way, although I am the mayor, theoretically the highest-ranking official in Night City, I cannot directly approve your proposal…”

Ryan took a sip of tea and patiently explained the municipal system of Night City to him.

In this system, the mayor is merely a representative of the highest governing body, with the power to appoint and dismiss public sector officials, but without dictatorial power.

For any major proposals, the mayor must submit them to the Night City Council for approval before they can be implemented.

The members of this council are elected by the ten largest companies headquartered in Night City through “new democratic principles”.

It can be seen as the "board of directors" of Night City, with power even exceeding that of the mayor.

Leo understood and was deeply moved.

Elected by the ten largest companies—what kind of democracy is this? Oh, they call it "new" democracy, how incredibly democratic…

Fortunately, he also has connections and can take advantage of this mechanism.

"In the Taipingzhou Revitalization Project, we will entrust infrastructure such as water, electricity, and gas to more professional companies in exchange for their support."

"In that case, I believe Peizhuo Petrochemical Company and Yeshi Company will be willing to support us. Add to that Kangtao, Internet Surveillance, Military Science, and Biotechnology, and securing a majority of votes among the legislators shouldn't be difficult."

Ryan looked at him intently for a moment, then slowly nodded: "If we can persuade these companies, this proposal can indeed be approved. When do you plan to submit it?"

"I hope it will be approved today, before tonight, so that I can announce this good news to all the citizens of Night City at the Blue Dream Company's ribbon-cutting ceremony tomorrow!"

I would greatly appreciate your presence, Mayor, and that you join me in signing this investment project in front of the media. I believe this will be very beneficial to your approval ratings!

Ryan actually believed that.

Tai Ping Chau has always been a thorn in his side. Those damned vagrants are an indelible stain on his political career. He even had a crazy idea—to legislate to designate Tai Ping Chau as a no-man's land and stop counting Tai Ping Chau's crime rate.

But now, Leo's appearance has brought him another option, which is to turn the thorn in his heart into the thorn in Arakawa's heart... How perfect!

"Hmm!" he snorted approvingly. "If that's the case, then of course I support your charitable work for the well-being of the citizens of Taipingzhou!"

"However, I have a small suggestion for you: go and look up the brief history of Night City during the period after the end of the unification war."

Company employees and the city government had tried to take back Taipingzhou, even sending NCPD police to help suppress local riots, but in the end… as you saw, Taipingzhou became the most chaotic area in Night City, and nobody could control it…

Following his gaze, Leo looked at the dilapidated Taipingzhou and offered a different perspective:

“I think it’s because your methods are wrong. The citizens here live at the bottom of society and are already on the verge of giving up on themselves. Further oppression of them will only force them to rebel.”

I will give them hope, and offer a way out to those who still want a decent life. As for the stubborn and obstinate, my troops and weapons will also grant them liberation.

"..."

Ryan remained silent for a long time, then suddenly nodded.

"It's already good enough, especially for the people here; it's like a fairytale..."

He raised his glass to Leo: "I still have official business to attend to today, so I can only offer you this cup of tea as a toast to your heart of gold!"

Leo smiled without saying a word and gently bumped into him.

The meeting was a complete success. From today onwards, the Night City government will provide him with legal support, allowing him to act without restriction!

Chapter 404 Leo: "Taipingzhou is no longer the same Taipingzhou it used to be!"

The municipal government's hovercraft flew around Tai Ping Chau several times, bringing some comfort to the citizens who were fortunate enough to see it.

During this period, the details of the Taipingzhou revitalization plan were quickly settled.

Leo's investment of such a large sum of money in Taipingzhou was certainly not for charity; he needed to make a request in order to appease the large corporations and the municipal government.

Therefore, he put forward three requirements:

First, all the Taipingzhou properties held by the municipal government will be provided to Lanmeng Company free of charge for twenty years. During this period, taxes and basic living expenses will be paid normally, but the rent will belong to Lanmeng Company.

Second, Blue Dream Company supports the city council in restoring all municipal services in Taipingzhou, but Blue Dream Company requests special privileges to act expediently without violating principles.