Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 191 50. Exoskeleton Price

"No. 05, equipped with a basic weapon installation platform and a carrying system, and then..."

In a warehouse in the Haywood District, Carl listened to T-BUG's muttering in the communication, took a look at the mechanical exoskeleton in front of him, which was about two meters high, and touched it.

"Thanks to T-BUG, you were able to find the exoskeleton's storage location with just a little information. I thought we had no chance of getting the exoskeleton."

"Humans are born social animals. As long as they are alive, they will definitely leave traces."

“Is it still that famous quote from Aristotle?”

Carl responded on the comms, glancing at Oliver who was almost lying on the exoskeleton: "Why, Oliver, do you want to give it a try?"

"I'm not stupid yet."

Oliver looked at the mechanical structure of the exoskeleton and said, "This kind of military-grade exoskeleton cannot be used without a special prosthetic body. It also has a special locking program that no one has cracked. I suspect that once I get on it, I will be crushed into a piece of meat by its built-in anti-theft program."

"And you can't drive either, right?"

Jack patted the exoskeleton, listened to the feedback from it under his palm, and showed a very satisfied look: "This is really a good baby."

"The market price is about 100,000 Euros or more. Military technology like this might be more expensive, maybe starting at 200,000?"

Carl estimated the value of the exoskeleton, but was corrected by T-BUG in the communication.

"180,000 to be exact. This type of military technology was sold to NCPD, and the transaction price was 900,000 Euros for five units."

T-BUG finished speaking and added the price of another thing: "In comparison, the price of a lightweight ACPA is about the same."

"A lightweight ACPA costs 900,000 Euros?"

Oliver thought back to what he had heard in the past:

"When I was a child, my grandfather, who participated in the Second Central American War, told me that power armor began to be developed not long after the Second Central American War. In the new round of corporate conflicts that began later, my grandfather served as a grassroots officer because of his past military experience. At that time, he came into contact with the ACPA team and learned about the prices of those power armors."

Oliver recalled, "I still remember those numbers. I remember the price of the 'Commando' power armor was about 108,000 Euros, and the price of the 'Paragon B' power armor was 89,050 Euros. At that time, I thought that if I only had this much money, I might be able to buy it in full."

"According to official information, power armor was first developed by the Meta Group, and the patent was later sold to Military Technology. Considering your family's situation, your grandfather might have been one of the first people to come into contact with power armor."

T-BUG said, "But compared to when your grandfather was in the military, inflation has increased a lot. It's like dreaming to buy an ACPA for around 100,000 Euros now."

After doing some calculations, T-BUG said in the communication: "At that time, because power armor was a newly developed weapon, the price was relatively expensive. Considering the inflation from that time to now, if power armor had just started to be developed now, the price might have increased tenfold, which is the approximate price of power armor now."

"That is to say, if the power armor is being developed now, then a Commando will cost about 1.08 million Euros, and a Model B will cost 890,500 Euros?" Oliver felt his teeth ache when he heard this. "It seems that my previous calculations were not too inaccurate. Compared to spending this amount of money, sometimes it is better for the company to spend some cheap lives. The Sian Westin prosthesis can be purchased for only about 100,000. For ten trained soldiers equipped with Sian Westin to take down a light ACPA, it should not be a difficult task."

"You can't say that."

When discussing the war, Jack also joined in and said a few words:
"ACPA can ensure continuous firepower and deterrence to the enemy on the battlefield. This kind of thing can never be replaced by elite soldiers. Just think about it, would you rather see a steel behemoth equipped with machine guns slowly walking towards you, or would you rather see a few soldiers with weapons who do not pose a threat yet attack you? Normal people will choose the latter. At least the gun in their hands will not make you feel like you cannot resist."

"Hearing you say that, I suddenly realized the despair that the Germans felt when they saw the tanks appearing in front of them during the Battle of the Somme in World War I."

Carl, who was listening nearby, couldn't help but say, "I remember that it was the first time tanks were used, and the technical equipment was not yet complete. However, the breakthrough they achieved in a few hours was something that the British and French forces could not achieve even after spending a month and suffering huge casualties."

"Karl, are you talking about the First World War? That's really a rather old term."

While Jack and Oliver were at a loss as to what Carl was talking about, T-BUG, as a rare educated person in the team who read books, said, "Nowadays, when people talk about world wars, they tend to assume it is a corporate war. Carl, your description is really old-fashioned."

“Isn’t this something that few people mention now?”

It seems that the battles that almost everyone knew about in his time are now considered unknown.

"Forget it, just pretend I never said anything."

Carl shook his head at Jack and Oliver, who looked confused. “If you are interested, we can talk about this later, but let’s talk about this now.”

Karl patted the exoskeleton: "An exoskeleton worth 180,000, a military technology product, with an identification lock, what should I do with it?"

Oliver asked, "The employer doesn't want it?"

"I asked, and they said I could keep them as spoils of war. But you know, if there are more, I can't take too much. I have to save face. It's okay to lose a few, but if there are too many, it won't look good on the books."

"Bullshit account! The guy who has been embezzling military funds since my grandfather's generation actually said this."

Oliver, who knows the nature of military technology, scoffed at the so-called accounting: "It's timid to report ten times the cost of a gun. It's timid to report twenty times or more. And you still talk about accounting."

"I guess we should report all of them as lost, but most of them were embezzled by our subordinates, so we should be allowed to take a few away."

Jack shook his head. He was a little confused about the ACPA in front of him: "So, again, since the employer is willing to give it, what should we do with it?"

"I don't know, let's take it first."

This is Carl's answer.

(End of this chapter)