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

Third, the NCPD branch in Taipingzhou is subject to the constraints of Blue Dream Company and cannot enforce the law outside of Blue Dream Company.

The first two points were within Mayor Lane's expectations; it would be truly terrifying if Leo and Blue Dream Company didn't want anything at all.

After all, what's free is often the most expensive...

After some bargaining, the first clause was amended to allow free use for fifteen years. His reasoning was that this would make it easier to pass a parliamentary vote, as twenty years was too long.

Leo pretended to be dissatisfied and complained a few times, but in reality he didn't care at all.

Let alone fifteen years, even if we add a decimal point in the middle, he is confident that he can take over the entire Night City. At that time, he can easily change the timeline.

The second point is uncontroversial; it would restore the city government's influence to Taipingzhou, a very appealing achievement. Ryan directly assured him that he would appoint some government officials skilled in "cooperation."

There was a minor issue with the third point.

Ryan has no say in matters concerning the NCPD.

"Well, how should I put it..."

The obese mayor looked troubled.

"Since the privatization of the NCPD last year, the city government has been gradually reducing the NCPD's financial allocations to alleviate financial pressure."

Their current director, Kohlrich, was elected internally after the old director I appointed resigned. He used to be a sales manager at a large company and always preferred business dealings; he didn't really listen to the city government.

The fact that the city government doesn't listen to the city government but hasn't been fired by the mayor who has the power to appoint and dismiss officials is enough to illustrate the awkward situation of the city government and the NCPD being outwardly united but inwardly divided.

Leo seemed thoughtful, then suddenly asked, "If I may ask, which major company was he a former employee of?"

“Night Corporation,” Ryan replied casually.

It's the Ye family again...

Leo nodded nonchalantly.

The major financial backer of the NCPD after its privatization reform is the Ye family, and their chief is now also from the Ye family. This private police station with law enforcement power is about to be infiltrated by the Ye family and become a sieve.

That won't do. Such a useful tool shouldn't be left to Lilith; it's better for him to use it himself.

“Alright then, we’ll put the third point on hold for now. Could you please give me Director Kollridge’s private phone number? I’ll speak with him later.”

"no problem."

Ryan was happy to pass the buck and sent the call to Leo.

At this point, the cooperation between the two parties has been basically agreed upon, and they are just waiting for the city council to review and approve it, so that it can be officially signed on television tomorrow.

Wishing you a pleasant cooperation in the future!

Ding--

The glass teacups clinked lightly, producing a pleasant sound, much like the mood of the two negotiators.

Later, the hovercar drove back to the Grand Empire Mall and dropped Leo and V off.

Before leaving, Leo suddenly received an anonymous text message.

Anonymous: Games can only proceed smoothly if they follow rules, but in Night City, those who follow the rules will only die faster. Young man, here's some real advice for you—some people don't deserve your kindness; they'll only see your kindness as weakness.

Leo looked up and saw Mayor Ryan nod slightly, as if in polite farewell. That's when he learned who had sent the anonymous text message.

Even a mayor cannot speak freely and must use an encrypted number to send messages.

Is he guarding against Hote, or against the city council members who provided the hovercar?

The waters of Night City are indeed deep…

After disembarking from the hovercar, Leo waved to see the mayor and his entourage off.

Once the hum of the vector engine had faded into the distance, he turned to V, who had remained silent beside him: "I think Mayor Ryan is someone we can work with. What do you think?"

V crossed his arms and said carefully:

"While you were negotiating, I asked Pure White to find me some information about him. Overall, he seems alright. Some people online say he's not very morally upright, but he's definitely a man of action and has made a lot of contributions to Night City."

However, I dislike his attitude towards the underprivileged. He has made some statements advocating for the expulsion of the homeless. Not just the homeless in the wastelands, but all the homeless, sleeping on the streets, and without proper work in Night City. This is insane; Night City doesn't just belong to the elite…”

As someone who was once a member of the lower class and a street mercenary, it's not surprising that Leo has this viewpoint.

In fact, he himself did not agree with Lane's extreme views.

Population has value, especially for someone like him who can open sonic boom channels and lead all of humanity in interstellar colonization—population is a dividend, a head tax, and the value of labor!

He needs more people, the more the better. Of course, they have to be people willing to do honest work; criminals who only cause destruction should just die...

While he was thinking, V suddenly nudged his arm.

When Leo looked over, she held up her phone: "It's almost eight o'clock, wanna watch 'Dead Man's Lottery'?"

Since returning to the 2077 world, Leo hasn't watched this show yet; the last time he watched it was about a week ago.

"Look! That bastard Stan hasn't been secretly cursing me these past few days, has he?"

The two huddled together and watched the live TV broadcast on V's phone.

At 8:00 PM sharp, Night City's popular show began broadcasting precisely on time—

Good morning, City of Night!

A green broom-shaped hairstyle appeared on screen, and the host delivered the opening remarks that had been consistent with the show's broadcast since its inception.

[Welcome to Dead Lotto's morning debut! I'm your good buddy Stan!]

After a day full of surprises and jokes, I'm sure many viewers, like myself, are wondering just how many people got riddled with bullets for telling inappropriate pranks!

The answer is—thirty-three people, an ordinary number, no different from usual. It seems April Fool's Day is indeed outdated.

Stan casually gave the answer, showing none of his usual liveliness.

What? You're wondering why there isn't a funny video to accompany this episode?

This isn't because the editor was lazy, but because... nobody cares!

[What news could be more important or exciting than Mr. Xu Shiming, Chairman of Kangtao Group, visiting Night City? I believe anyone with eyes and ears already knows this major news!]

[Another major piece of news is the lockdown incident that occurred in Taipingzhou—]

The large screen behind him finally showed an image of the bridge being blocked by the Contau Army, with NCPD police cars on the ground and the Arasaka air convoy in the sky all being kept outside Taipingzhou.

The footage also cleverly captures the silhouette of the municipal government's hovercraft heading towards Tai Ping Chau. The reporters lined up close to the coastline also add an interesting element to the composition.

As for the other large companies, they did not appear in the video.

Stan tilted his head, looking at the big screen with the audience, and unusually refrained from making any witty remarks.

As you can see, under the direction of the esteemed Kangtao Company and the network monitoring authorities, Taipingzhou is launching a comprehensive crackdown on the illegal gang 'Voodoo Gang'. This gang, composed of illegal hackers, is probably familiar to everyone; just check your personal emails, and who hasn't received a few extortion emails?

[We are not a professional news program, so we cannot comment too much on what happened in Tai Ping Chau. What I do want to say is that the death toll today will likely be difficult to calculate, and will be a rather unpredictable and staggering number. What are you waiting for, friends who want to get rich overnight?]

[Come buy the Dead Man's Lotto... no! It should be the latest round of the Dead Man's Super Super Super Lotto—!]

After the show ended, Leo rubbed his chin.

It has to be said that Stan's show is always entertaining, which explains why many viewers who don't buy lottery tickets also enjoy watching this show to pass the time.

He didn't dare mention Wings of Liberty and L this time, which shows he was much more restrained.

Leo was quite satisfied with his tact and gladly decided to reciprocate:

"Pure White, in my name, invite the 'Dead Man's Lottery' crew to Taipingzhou. Didn't they say it's hard to count the death toll today? Then invite them to the pre-booked crematorium and let Stan count for himself how many people have died in Taipingzhou before disposing of the bodies!"

The mass cremation was arranged before the war began, since we couldn't leave so many corpses unattended and affect the appearance of Taipingzhou.

The crematorium was also booked in advance – the entire place was booked for the whole day!

The ashes of those no one wanted were transported to the eastern suburbs for scattering, while those that were wanted were given to their families for burial.

Since this was a pre-arranged matter anyway, Leo simply invited Stan over to "cure the root of the problem," so that whenever he felt like speaking recklessly in the future, he could first think about today's scene.

He is so kind!

After dealing with this minor matter, Leo contacted the officers of the Wings of Freedom to confirm the current situation in Pacifica.

Thanks to their control of the entire Pacific Island and their ability to support each other, the cleaners, drug manufacturers, and human traffickers were wiped out in a short period of time.

The soldiers have already cleaned up the battlefield and are gathering the bodies. After dealing with the inspection teams from the large corporation and the municipal government, they will send them to the crematorium.

In other words, the fighting in Taipingzhou has temporarily come to an end.

“Then let’s lift the lockdown. Let the military from the big companies and the NCPD officers come in to appease the public. Remember to have the people from Contau ‘accompany’ them all the way, so they don’t cause any trouble.”

Leo handed the liaison task over to Pure White, then looked up at the mottled exterior walls, where dilapidated Taipingzhou buildings were everywhere.

"Taipingzhou is still Taipingzhou... That should be changed. I've arrived, so Taipingzhou is no longer the same Taipingzhou!"

As V listened to his bold words, a smile had already crept onto his lips without him even realizing it: "The company you're going to start is indeed different from other companies. Perhaps, you really can change this place, change Night City!"

“This isn’t just a maybe!” Leo stretched out his arms and pulled her into his embrace. “I will change Night City, and not just Night City. Anyone who stands in my way will die!”

Chapter 405 My Turn, Money Power!

After cuddling and kissing V for a while, Leo noticed that there were more and more hovercars on the horizon, from various companies.

The sirens of the NCPD could be heard from afar, indicating that they had entered the Taipingzhou area.

After a three-hour lockdown, Taipingzhou was officially reopened, and more excitement is expected to follow.

According to his plan, the Wings of Freedom would send a portion of its members to appease the masses and organize security patrols, thus initially resembling a traditional militia organization.

In order to ease the hostility of the locals at this step, and also to conduct a rough census, Leo decided to use his invincible money power to buy everyone off!

“Pure White, send a text message to all residents of Taiping Island, saying—”

"Blue Dream Company apologizes for the impact on the travel and lives of law-abiding citizens and hereby provides compensation of 100 euros per person. There are no age or gender restrictions; anyone residing in the Pacific region is eligible to receive this compensation."

To avoid duplicate claims, you will need to turn on your electronic device's camera and undergo simple facial recognition to receive the compensation. The money will be directly deposited into your personal account; we guarantee that your personal information will not be stolen, and you will not need to present any other identification documents.

They're giving out money, and it's a collective giveaway!

Considering the hundreds of thousands of permanent residents in Taiping Island, even if each person only receives one hundred euros, it would still amount to tens of millions of euros.

V supports the policy itself, but the thought that it's Leo's hard-earned money still makes her feel the pinch: "You're wasting money again..."

Leo glanced nonchalantly at the Grand Empire Mall, where the animal gang's hulking figures were frantically putting down their clutter and taking out their phones to collect their money.

"This isn't called wasting money; it's called investing heavily to acquire valuable assets. With Lanmeng Company taking over Taipingzhou, it's only natural to make a splash and let everyone see the new look of this place."

One hundred euros isn't much; it's barely enough for them to eat their fill for a few days. Once the major infrastructure agreement is signed tomorrow, the hardworking people should be coming to look for jobs.

After receiving so many benefits from Lanmeng Company, anyone who still dares to oppose me is probably just rebellious and needs personality correction. If that's incurable, the only solution is to remove the lesions above the neck—a permanent solution!

V grimaced as he listened, but then he remembered his concern: "Are you afraid that the locals will riot again like they did a few years ago?"

Leo nodded: "That's for sure. Even if they don't want to, there will be people with ill intentions who will incite them and encourage them to riot. That's why the municipal government failed to take back Taipingzhou back then."

The truth is written by the victors; this is an eternal truth.

Back then, the NPCD's police force had already entered Taiping Island, but their superiors withdrew the force from the area, citing concerns that a violent crackdown on the streets would lead to large-scale bloodshed.

The city council subsequently shut down all municipal services in Taiping, ostensibly to force the voodoo community and locals to relocate.

Yes, in Night City's brief history, it was the Voodoo Clan and the locals they led who drove back the NCPD and the Big Corporation's coalition forces.

If Leo were to comment, he could only say that the clerk was incredibly daring to write such a thing, and anyone who believed it should get their head checked to see if there was any lesion.

The truth is obvious; it must involve a power struggle among major companies, especially Military Science and Arasaka. Other large companies didn't want Arasaka to dominate, so they tacitly allowed Taipingzhou to "become independent."

Now that Lanmeng Company, which has an ambiguous relationship with Kangtao, wants to take over Taipingzhou, neither Arasaka nor other companies will ignore it. It's perfectly normal for them to do something behind the scenes.

Leo has his own solution to this!

The legal support of the municipal government, the grassroots control of the Freedom Wings militia, the violent suppression by the Animal Gang, and the law enforcement assistance of the NCPD!

The interconnected measures nipped the riots in the bud.

With that in mind, he first sent a text message to Li Qixuan, inviting him to come and help out.

Within minutes, Kangtao's "Vermilion Bird" hovercar arrived swiftly.

Li Qixuan, who had been promoted to Chief Security Officer, stood in front of Li Ao wearing a brand-new uniform.

He glanced at Leo's Infinity Gauntlet instinctively, adopting a relaxed demeanor typical of acquaintances: "Looking for my support? Who dares to make you uncomfortable these days?"

Leo casually replied, "If I want to have a talk with the NCPD director, I naturally need a witness of sufficient stature."

"The director of the NCPD..."

Li Qixuan quickly glanced at the information.