Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 392 5. Stones and Gears

"The gangs in Los Angeles seem to have a lot of martial virtue."

Several people from Carl's team gathered at the small bar window and looked outside. Everyone was amazed.

What Carl noticed was the weapons held by the people who called themselves the Gear Group. This Los Angeles gang was not inferior to the Vortex Gang in terms of transformation. Basically, everyone was equipped with a sophisticated weapon, and the level of luxury was comparable to that of the Tiger Claw Gang.

"Ajax rifles. I remember that Mr. Johnson thought about buying one for a long time. These people are almost using it on a regular basis. It is worthy of being a place where the new US military is stationed. There is really no shortage of these weapons. They are all military-grade high-tech goods."

Carl's eyes swept over the prosthetics and weapons of the crowd outside, and continued, "And it can be seen that the prosthetics are not second-hand goods. With a little training, they can be thrown directly into the new American army as an elite assault team."

"More than just being thrown into the military technology to serve as an elite assault team."

Oliver obviously knew the most about the new American army: "This group of guys called the Gear Group, have you seen their actions and fighting methods? They are standard new American Army squad actions. Most likely, they are like me, and have been exposed to relevant training since childhood. If we really want to recruit them as soldiers, we just need to divide them into teams and explain the rules."

"So, behind this gear set is the New American military?"

V felt that this was not a problem: "After all, this is the frontline area of ​​military technology and Arasaka. It seems natural to train some of our own people."

It's very simple.

Compared with Night City, where there are numerous companies, unclear divisions of power, and numerous gangs, Los Angeles is a city managed by the New American Army, where the only people in power are military technology, and those who can mingle in this city are naturally supported by the New America.

“The other side is”

Jack looked at the people who were fighting with the gear group and found that they were a group of people whose number was almost twice that of the gear group and whose body size was almost twice that of the gear group. There were not many prosthetics on their bodies, only taut muscles and thick subcutaneous armor underneath.

"Animal Gang?"

"The Stone Gang."

The bar owner had already grilled the steak in the microwave. He listened to the conversation and said, "This is what another group of young people in this city look like."

"Another group of young people in the city."

Oliver listened to this and thought of what his boss had said before, the reason why he could tell at a glance that they were outsiders, and he was a little bit unbelievable: "You mean, the young people in this city don't have that mechanically modified look, so they have become another muscle look?"

“This is Los Angeles, huh.”

The boss sneered: "You've seen it, a city where all the young people are involved in machines and flesh. Here, among the young people, there is no middle ground."

The boss put the plate on the counter:
"These people whose brains have been damaged by machines and muscles can't see it, but I can see clearly that, except for the guy with a buzz cut, the rest of you are definitely not wanderers. I don't care where you are from, but I advise you to leave as soon as possible. This is not Night City, nor is it any other place in the New America. This is Los Angeles, a stupid city with a population of less than 300,000, and all the young people are competing for muscles and machines."

“The population is less than 300,000”

Carl recalled the data about Los Angeles in the past. At its peak, Los Angeles had a population of more than four million. But now the population has been reduced to less than one-tenth of what it used to be. Moreover, all the young people are competing for muscle and machinery. This is...
"why?"

Carl turned around and asked, but didn't get an answer from the boss. He just knocked on the counter and pointed at the steak on it.

The meaning is very clear. He gets information for every penny he spends on it. The extra words just now were a rare gesture of kindness on his part. If you want to ask more, give me some information.

Without any hesitation, Carl reported the code in the intelligence. "All-match, free."

"Ok?"

Hearing the words from Karl's mouth, the boss was obviously stunned for a moment, and then his expression became more serious: "I thought you were just curious customers passing by, but now it seems that you are really here for something important."

He opened the wine cabinet behind him, took out a bottle of rum and poured himself a glass of it amid the gunshots and shouts outside:
"Alright, although I don't know where you got the code from, I have a rule here. As long as you can report the code, I will provide you with five pieces of intelligence for free. I won't count the previous information about steak, and I won't refund you. Do you want to treat the question just now as the first piece of intelligence information you provide?"

"of course."

Perhaps this information can be obtained from other places, but the contact person specifically asked them to come to this bar, so the information this bar can provide must be the best. It is not a loss to obtain intelligence in this place. At worst, you can pay after the free times are gone.

Although Carl doesn't eat it, he believes that his friends would be happy to eat those strange foods, probably.

“That’s the first one.”

The boss took a sip of rum and then spoke: "The reason is simple, because the young people in the city all believe in one rule."

"rule?"

“When humans picked up the first stone, the gears of war began to roll, and they were the gears that started the roll.”

"Stones and gears."

Carl understood: "So they are called the Stone Gang and the Gear Group, but the war is rolling, what does it have to do with them?"

“This is the front line of the new America.”

The boss drank up the rum and said, "Young people with or without ambitions are all being instigated and forced by the country and the company to prepare to join the army. Los Angeles, a useless city, is now a testing ground. Only qualified young people can be selected to become 'glorious' national soldiers and company guards."

"A city of 300,000 people is used as a trial ground."

Oliver did some calculations and found out that the new US has published a report that young people make up 20% of the population. I don't know if it's true or not. 20% of 300,000 is
Oliver felt his hair stand on end.

"A 60,000-man reserve trial?"

The largest gang in Night City, the Valentino Gang, has only about 6,000 members. The total number of all gangs in Night City is less than 20,000. Counting the informal gang members, there are only about 50,000 at most. This is based on the population of 7 million in Night City, which means there is only one gang member for every 140 people. Los Angeles, an abandoned city with a population of only 300,000, has 60,000 people.

"New America, this is building a new barracks right on Arasaka's face."

There is a treaty between military technology and Arasaka, and weapons of mass destruction and troops cannot openly enter Night City and surrounding areas, but the distance between Los Angeles and Night City is not far.

In other words, if a conflict were to break out, the new American army would go to the front line first and would be able to bring along 60,000 cannon fodder reserves to follow.

The new United States currently has only a few million troops.

　ps. Little-known fact: the population of the new America in 2077 is only million, and it is quite difficult for million people to support the one million full-time soldiers (since the number of troops is not clear, I will just calculate it based on a rough number). In fact, it is not that there are only million, there are also tens of millions of homeless people who are not counted in the population.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)