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

Only those who are stupid, malicious, or have ulterior motives would be so eager to jump out and cause trouble for me on such an important day.

As you've seen, there are quite a few people with rebellious tendencies.

“Voodoo is different from other religions; it’s a belief built on fear. That’s why Voodoo hackers are so annoying—they prefer intimidation, threats, and terror to cooperation.”

As a former lone wolf hacker, Sasha's assessment of voodoo is incisive.

The other companions echoed this sentiment, and no one took the person about to be executed seriously.

Compared to the Haitians who bared their teeth at any "outsider," they were more curious about how Leo had managed to do that incredible thing.

"This is the latest technological achievement of Blue Dream Company. We will conduct large-scale research on it in a while to see if we can create a true sixth-generation prosthetic body!"

You have to eat one bite at a time, and it's impossible for everyone to have a magical artifact like a Mother Box.

Leo decided to first acquire some powerful but not uncontrollable equipment to arm his elite troops, creating a 2077 superhero team to suppress other large corporations.

Back in his car, he looked at the ordinary citizens on the roadside who were staring at him with terrified eyes, and a feeling of joy welled up inside him.

Indeed, teaching these xenophobic Haitians to respect and love is by no means an easy task, especially given their backward thinking and the interference of religious figures.

In situations like these, teaching them "reverence" and "obedience" is definitely a simpler and more efficient governance model.

The convoy returned victorious to the Grand Empire Mall.

The crowd that had gathered in the square had shrunk considerably. The reason is obvious: these were all well-informed people who were very astute about the situation and would never put themselves under a dangerous siege.

Looking back at history, we can see that Taipingzhou is currently a huge powder keg, and the tragedy of six years ago could be repeated if we are not careful.

But after today, seeing Leo's iron-fisted methods, their views will change.

When a powerful enough ruler, unafraid of infamy, raises the butcher's knife, those thugs who think they can get away with it by uniting will realize how ridiculous their ideas are!

Ignoring the many prying eyes, Leo led his men back to the Blue Dream Company headquarters and found Valerie on the seventh floor.

While they were out running errands, she had already chosen an office, located directly below Leo's office, and had even assembled several office computers.

Seeing them return looking relaxed, she knew things had gone well.

"Welcome back, boss, and colleagues. My name is Veronica Valerie, and I hope to work well with you all in the future."

After she started, people who didn't know her before also introduced themselves.

When Leo announced that Valerie would also become a reserve member of the Immortal Squad, his friends learned more about his "V-sexuality".

To be honest, they really couldn't understand how Night City could have so many "V"s, especially since they were all natural and hadn't undergone any cosmetic surgery.

After everyone introduced themselves, Leo moved closer to the computer and looked at the candlestick chart on the screen—

In such a short time, Arasaka's stock price was pulled back by 0.2%, which was unpleasant to watch.

When will your operation begin?

Valerie glanced at the crowd behind her who were listening intently, then looked at Leo, her questioning intent clear.

Leo immediately understood what she meant and casually said, "Everyone here is my trusted subordinate, so speak your mind."

Valerie nodded: "At noon. I secretly deployed a number of puppets in the internal network of Arasaka Tower. When the countdown ends, they will all explode together to destroy Arasaka's data fortress. Incidentally, I will also send some information that is not critical but enough to affect the stock market to the media outlets of Night City."

More important intelligence was carried by Jenkins and has likely fallen into Contau's hands; it's just a matter of when they'll detonate it.

Leo pondered for a moment and asked, "How much will the combined intelligence leaks from you and Frankfurt cause to drop the Arasaka Stock Exchange?"

"These two events, combined with the defection of the Counterintelligence Department, have pinned the blame for starting the war on Arasaka. In the stock market, this should cause the stock price to drop by about 20% in a short period of time, followed by violent fluctuations."

Arasaka is, after all, one of the strongest companies in the world, and these few incidents won't shake their foundation. Also, less than a quarter of their total shares are currently outstanding. Considering Arasaka's strength, I think it's best not to use too much leverage.

"If two more things happen at the most opportune time—the bombing of Arasaka Academy and the attack on Arasaka's military base with no survivors—the stock price should still have room to fall, right?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked.

"You want to..."

Valerie hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped herself.

Leo nodded nonchalantly: "That's right, I'll handle both of these tasks. You just need to tell me the most suitable time to act. By the way, it's best to bomb Arasaka Academy late at night. I'm a merciful person and will give innocent students a way out."

Valerie recalled the various rumors about him and found it hard to comment on the statement: "The merciful Night City King of Hell"... how did those two terms come together?

Forget it, who cares? If he can really do it, then it just means—this boss is the right one to follow, he's got boundless power!

"Theoretically, of course it is possible. After all, we seized Taipingzhou and Xu Shiming even came out to support us. This is enough to stir up the nerves of onlookers."

To those completely unaware of the true situation, Kang Tao's actions have long since crossed the line, bordering on provocation. Furthermore, they are about to receive Arasaka's tainted witness… hiss…”

As she was talking, Valerie suddenly realized that Leo's actions were just fanning the flames.

In the end, won't Kang Tao find himself in a difficult situation and actually drag those two allies into a fight against Arasaka?

The current situation is truly unpredictable, a mix of truth and falsehood, enough to drive the think tanks of major companies to despair.

Leo remained unconcerned: "I don't think a fight will break out. Arasaka's top priority is to launch their RELIC biochip, and Kangtao also has other important matters to attend to. At most, there will be a commercial battle, and that will be over."

Valerie also learned important information from him: the "top secret mission" that Abernathy was busy with was this unheard-of biochip?

I don't know where Leo got his information from, but he's even more well-informed than she, the "mole."

Putting aside their distractions, they discussed for a while and made up their minds—to be on the safe side, they would short Arasaka stock with 4x leverage!

Under Valerie and Pure White's management, the 80 billion yuan was divided into many accounts of varying sizes to officially build positions, just waiting for noon to participate in the grand event of hunting down Arasaka stock!

Chapter 421 V: Separation is impossible, it's impossible for us to separate in this lifetime!

Strategic deployment completed.

Valerie's eyes gleamed as she stared excitedly at the computer screen. She was determined to make a fortune for the company through this operation, prove her abilities, and pave the way for a meteoric rise in her career!

Others were also shocked by Leo's extravagance and the two crazy actions he proposed—bombing Arasaka Academy and attacking Arasaka Military Base.

Both of these are extremely difficult tasks, especially the latter, which is simply beyond the capabilities of their two teams. Unless… Leo personally intervenes and performs another “magic trick” with those magical gloves.

Leo saw their concerns and waved his hand casually: "I will complete these two tasks myself. Having fewer people will also make it easier to act secretly."

"..."

The group of friends fell silent.

They originally saw themselves as high-level thugs and bodyguards, so how did they suddenly degenerate into mere leg accessories for the big boss?

Leo ignored his friends' nagging and didn't care about the gains or losses in the stock market. Even if he lost it all, he could just grab a piece of gold and sell it to make it all back.

The only thing that gives him a headache right now is one of the three great problems in life—what to eat for lunch.

It's already 10 o'clock. It's too late for V to rush back to the apartment to cook. It seems we need to finish renovating the kitchen and cafeteria at the company headquarters first, so that we can enjoy the lovingly cooked dishes by V.

As for today, we can only ask the logistics team at Shijishan to do a little extra work and prepare a decent lunch for them.

After assigning the tasks, Leo, unwilling to sit idly in the office, decided to take his team to see where they would be living in the future.

Valerie stayed behind to handle company affairs, while the others followed Leo, acting as a de facto "honor guard."

The group left the Grand Empire Shopping Mall, got into a car, and drove along the left-hand road for ten minutes before arriving at the northern part of Taiping Island.

Directly opposite the west gate of Dogtown Stadium stands a skyscraper with a completely different architectural style from Taiping Island.

Its most outstanding feature is that the main building is already completed and can be used normally. Although the exterior lacks decoration, it is at least not dilapidated.

The name of the skyscraper can be seen from the south side of the road – Marques Hotel.

There's a huge gold letter Q after the name, which looks quite impressive.

Leo directed the convoy to stop at the hotel's main entrance. Looking south, one could see that this grand hotel was connected to the Bati Hotel, which was a few hundred meters away, and they could travel between them via a long connecting corridor.

This is one of the reasons why he likes this place.

It boasts convenient transportation, spacious and impressive layout, and is not far from the headquarters of Wings of Freedom and Blue Dream. It is also adjacent to the only subway station in Taipingzhou, making it outstanding in every aspect.

Upon disembarking, Joey Durant, one of the senior officers of the Wings of Liberty, personally led a group to greet them.

"Has the handover been completed?"

Leo looked at the empty hotel lobby and asked casually.

Joey responded softly, "Yes, ever since we announced our intention to wipe out the Voodoo Gang, most of our guests have requested to check out and left Taiping Island as quickly as possible. A small number of long-term guests also gladly cancelled their rental contracts after receiving triple compensation from you. Now, apart from the original hotel staff, there are no outsiders left in the Marquis Hotel."

“Hmm…” Leo thought for a moment, “Give the hotel staff triple severance pay, and if their identities are clear, give them priority in finding new jobs. The Marquis Hotel needs a complete renovation, and the new staff will be selected from the best members of Wings of Freedom.”

"clear."

"Take us to the top floor."

"Yes, I will lead the way for you."

Led by Joey, the group entered the only ultra-five-star hotel in Taipingzhou.

Along the way, Joey quietly introduced the Marquis Hotel, giving everyone a better understanding of this luxurious hotel with 88 floors and high-end facilities such as a spa, indoor stadium, dream cinema, and rooftop pool.

In short, this is an extremely expensive hotel.

It was only because of the stagnation of the Taipingzhou investment project that it became a no-man's-land; otherwise, even if this place couldn't compare to the Kwan Pik Building, it would definitely be a luxury hotel of the same level.

Take the internal elevator to the top floor, and the elevator doors open to reveal the Marquis Hotel's only presidential suite, which also has a unique and elegant name—the Marquis's Bedroom!

Leo felt the name wasn't imposing enough, but considering he only controlled Taiping Continent and was only a marquis, he was far from being the king of Night City.

Joey explained, “This presidential suite is 888 square meters in size and features a private rooftop garden with a view, a private rooftop pool, separate dining, entertainment, meeting and relaxation areas, a 50-square-meter bathroom and an oversized jacuzzi with a view of the sea.”

Even in the chaotic Pacific region, this suite costs as much as 30,000 euros per day.

Leo looked around, extremely satisfied.

Not bad, not bad. Thirty thousand a day, that's nine hundred thousand a month. Rounding up, that's a million-dollar mansion. That's more befitting of his current status!

"This room is mine!" he declared immediately. "What's the layout of the floors below?"

Joey glanced at the information and quickly replied, "Floors 80 to 87 each have two 440-square-meter luxury suites. Floors 65 to 79 each have three executive suites. Floors 60 to 64 are public areas, including a luxury restaurant and the facilities I mentioned earlier. The floors below are regular floors."

Leo listened and nodded, then looked at his friends: "You heard it too, you can choose any floor above the 65th floor."

The group of friends looked at each other in bewilderment, and then began to discuss who would live on whose floor.

After listening for a couple of minutes, Leo realized something was wrong and quickly interrupted, "Twenty-three empty floors are more than enough; why cram them all together? Just pick one, one floor each! If the company next door sees this, they'll think we can't afford a hotel!"

Such extravagant and outrageous remarks made the audience somewhat unable to contain themselves.

After a brief standoff, the lively Sasha decided to support Leo: "Me, me, me! I want the seventy-seventh floor! Two sevens, double the magic! That floor has three rooms, one for myself, one to use as a hacker base station, and one for Lucy, perfect for keeping an eye on her!"

When she heard her name mentioned, Lucy nodded indifferently.

Honestly, after a few days of peaceful life with the Immortal Squad, her desire to escape wasn't as strong anymore. Now that Leo has established the Blue Dream Company, he has the strength, the backing, and he's at odds with Arasaka, so officially joining him seems pretty good.

The only hidden danger is that he and Blue Dream Company are too conspicuous, so she must strengthen her disguise to avoid being discovered by Arasaka Company and her parents who are far away in Poland.

Leo thought Sasha's words made some sense, so he agreed to let the two of them stay on the first floor temporarily, and looked at the others.

The second person to speak up was Jack: "Then I'll stay on the 65th floor. The common area is downstairs, and I'll guard the entrance for you."

Li Ao was deeply moved by his good brother's thoughtfulness: "That's fine, but it shouldn't be necessary. This grand hotel will no longer be open to the public. Only the middle and senior management of Blue Dream Company and Wings of Freedom can stay here."

During their conversation, Mann's team also finished their discussion privately. Mann spoke on their behalf: "We happen to have three men and three women in our team. Let's stay on the 66th and 67th floors. A room of nearly 300 square meters is more than enough for one person."

Leo glanced at Rebecca and received a signal from her eyes.

I understand. This is a temporary arrangement. She'll be transferred to another floor once she's officially hired.

So, only three women from the Immortal Squad remained who hadn't chosen a floor yet—V, Vera, and Panan.

Urged by Leo, Vera randomly chose the 81st floor. Panan wanted to be her neighbor, but Leo disagreed, so she could only choose the 80th floor.

Finally, Leo looked at V and saw a clear sense of bewilderment in her eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?...Wait, are you trying to kick me out?!"

V finally realized, wasn't she sharing a room with Leo? Their relationship was already confirmed, why was she trying to kick him out!

Leo is also in a bind. He made the decision to go down to the source to gain an advantage, but he never expected it to come back to haunt him so quickly…

"Well... there are plenty of empty floors anyway, so I'll reserve the 87th floor for you. You can stay if you want, or continue living together if you don't."

"Humph!"

V grumbled in dissatisfaction, his super intuition starting to warn him, sensing that Leo was up to no good!

Leo repeatedly recited the basic principle of using V to control V in his mind, temporarily putting this headache out of his mind.

After everyone decided on their floor, the next step was the interior decoration. He didn't care about that; everyone could just tell the decoration team what they wanted. All the basic furniture was paid for generously by the "Marquis".

V couldn't wait to jump out and make a request: "There are many rooms here, so please set aside one specifically for the cat. I want to install one of those special cat trees on the wall!"