Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 57 35. One Petal Against Another

“I feel like I’ve been resurrected.”

"How can you not be resurrected? You have been struggling on the line of danger for two days and almost died."

On the hospital bed, Jack commented on Carl's first words after waking up.

"So, what's the matter?"

Carl looked at Oliver who was sitting on the other side of the bed. He didn't quite understand why he found himself in the bed when he woke up, and there were two silly faces staring at him on both sides.

"Karl, I think you can scold us in person in the future, instead of pretending to accidentally say what's in your heart and calling us idiots."

Oliver was wrapped in bandages and looked seriously injured. After rolling his eyes at Carl, he explained the general situation.

The distance that Carl sent his target to was actually farther than he imagined. When the ACPA was chasing Carl, the medical staff stationed in the Blue Bi Building found the target and protected her. Because the target had been successfully reached, the attackers on Jack's side also received relevant intelligence and began to retreat one after another, and then.
Then when Jack and the other mercenaries who had nothing to do rushed over to check on Carl's condition, they saw Carl being covered with a white cloth and carried away.

"We all thought you were dead at the time. Jack even howled a few times and rushed over to try to retrieve your body."

"Bullshit, it was you who was howling, I just rushed over."

Jack corrected Oliver unhappily and continued to explain the general situation.

Then they were informed by Arasaka's medical team that Carl was not dead yet. The target had specifically instructed before receiving treatment that Carl should also receive treatment. The medical team covered him with a white cloth because he looked too miserable and they were afraid of scaring the young lady.

"Oh, speaking of this lady, she is our target, Carl, do you know who she is? We are protecting a big shot this time. I never thought that we were protecting her."

Jack said, patting the bed excitedly, but other than making a loud noise and causing Carl's body to tremble, he did not make any overly radical movements: "She is actually from the Arasaka family, you know, the Arasaka family."

"Of course I know Arasaka."

[Arasaka]: A family-owned company from Japan that provides security, banking and legal services to corporate giants and is one of the most influential giant conglomerates in 2075.

The eldest daughter in the family business.

Of course I know.

"Any questions?"

“It’s a big problem.”

Oliver said at the side: "Arasaka Haruko, her mother is Arasaka Michiko, one of the people in power at Arasaka Corporation, and her great-grandfather is Arasaka Saburo. You know that Arasaka Saburo? He is the emperor of Arasaka Corporation, a person of the pinnacle of power that almost no one in the world can compare to. We are actually involved with them. Do you think it is a big problem?"

"Fortunately."

Karl was quite calm: "Do the task, complete the task, there can be no big problem between the client and the client."

"you sure?"

Oliver stared at Carl with some suspicion, and indeed did not see anything special from the expression on Carl's face.

"Jack and I are sure that we have no relationship, but do you really have no relationship?"

Oliver lifted the quilt on the bed and pointed at Karl’s hand: “It doesn’t matter, then why did she have to ask everyone to treat you together, and even paid for someone to come and treat and maintain your hand.”

"my hand?"

Only then did Carl realize that his hands seemed different.

Remember that before you fainted, your palm was gone and half of your arm was peeled off?

now this is
Carl raised his arm and looked at the hand that looked no different from before, but he felt a different kind of power from underneath it.

"This is."

"The best titanium bones, the best dense bone marrow, the best bionic joints, the best artificial skin. If you punch a wall with your hand right now, it will go right through it, you know."

"This"

Carl tried to control his hand to scratch his head and found that the control was no different from his previous arm. It even seemed to be smoother. What was going on?

All are the best, awesome.

“That doesn’t seem to mean anything.”

Carl said, "The eldest lady of the Arasaka family is rich. Seeing our hard work, she helped us disabled people. Isn't that normal?"

"ordinary?"

Seeing that Carl really didn't seem to be strange or hiding anything, Oliver and Jack looked at each other, and both of them began to doubt whether this matter was simply the kindness of the young lady. Could it be that people from the Arasaka family really have such a thing as conscience?

Something is wrong. Ten percent or even nine percent wrong.

"Okay, then we don't care about these."

Oliver slapped a storage chip card on Carl's quilt.

"Then how do you explain this?"

"What the hell?"

Carl took it, and at the signal from Oliver and Jack, inserted it into his brain-computer interface.

Then, a string of astonishing numbers entered the account.

One, two, three, four, five, six?
"One million euros?!"

Carl was stunned.

"No, one hundred thousand euros?"

"Yeah, we're curious too."

Jack stared at Carl's face suspiciously, and was very worried that his friend might have sold something. "This is something that Miss Arasaka gave to you. She said it was specially for you. After you receive it, the middleman can get 100,000. So, Carl, tell me again, you are not in trouble?"

"should?"

Karl thought about it and found a reason: "It must be because I challenged ACPA alone. Damn, people almost died. What's wrong with taking more money?"

"We know about this. The place where you fought has a video that has not been dismantled. I don't know who spread it. Now the whole Night City is in turmoil. The ACPA appeared in Night City, which prohibits ACPA. There was also a mercenary who almost eliminated ACPA. You are famous now, Carl."

"famous?"

"That's it."

Oliver still stared at Carl with suspicion, but soon, it turned into a smile.

"Forget it, as long as you're okay, it's fine. If you say it's okay, then it's okay."

"Good health is the most important thing."

Jack also patted Carl on the shoulder: "Anyway, even if there is a problem with Arasaka and they want to force you, we can help you."

"Why do you listen, Jack and Oliver, and you all take me for some weak girl who is going to be forced to marry into a wealthy family?"

Karl said helplessly: "I hate corporate dogs, you know that."

"But she gave you the best prosthetic arm and a million dollars."

"Actually, I don't really dislike honest office workers that much."

"Virtue."

Jack and Oliver complained about Carl and helped him pack up. They felt uncomfortable staying in the hospital managed by Arasaka. If it weren't for accompanying Carl, no one would be willing to come. Now that Carl has woken up, it would be better for them to leave early.

"Speaking of which, did you see Adam hammer?"

"Just a few glances, and then he passed out."

"That guy is a legend."

The hospital's senior executive, 'Sakura', watched Karl's leaving figure, and swung her hand slightly. A small knife that was close to her body in her kimono flashed into her palm at a speed that was almost invisible to the naked eye.

“The cherry blossoms have blossomed countless times, but only this time did they happen to float into someone’s arms.”

She swung out the knife and stabbed it into a blood-stained, unused "Qinglizhi".

Two days ago, she had been holding this thing, close to her wound.

She had held it tightly, just as Carl had held the grenade.

"One petal for another."

　PS. Burnt out

　　
　
(End of this chapter)