Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 598 12. Oda Santai

"the fourth."

After taking out another sniper, Johnny Silverhand had fallen deeply in love with the pleasure of being able to take out those Arasaka bastards with just a few moves.

Even though he was reluctant to admit it deep down in his heart, he now understood one thing, that is - his current body was indeed stronger than his previous self.

Although Johnny Silverhand used to think he was the greatest in the world, his actual ability was that he could be easily beaten to his knees by a few Arasaka agents. But now, in his eyes, the Arasaka agents are nothing more than lambs to be slaughtered.

Although this consciousness was confined in a small body, the great power made up for the limited pleasure. To be honest, it had made Johnny Silverhand somewhat obsessed.

To put it in a rather fantastical way -

When a bard who usually can only boost morale in the team suddenly finds that the joy of fighting with his own hands is so addictive, he can no longer go back.

Fuck it, of course it feels good to play an instrument to inspire people to revolt, and it feels good to lead others to attack Arasaka, but taking out those Arasaka bastards one by one by yourself is like being invincible. Who can resist this feeling?
"Where's the next target, Carl? Tell me and I'll take care of him."

Unconsciously, Johnny Silverhand's tone became friendly again, and the swear words in the communication disappeared. The cooperative atmosphere at the moment reminded him of the days when he participated in the American War - at that time, he also had such a caring comrade-in-arms.

Carl, who noticed the change in Johnny Silverhand's attitude, remained calm as usual. He quickly calculated the obstacles he might encounter when entering the float, and then pointed out the next move for Johnny.

"There are four snipers. To be on the safe side, I have marked all the snipers who may see the float for you. Now that the festival has begun, there is no time to deal with the snipers with a low probability of detection.
You had already implanted a virus into the float when you sneaked into the industrial park. To prevent it from being detected when activated, I will show you the way. We will go and get rid of the hacker who manages the float. He is now in an abandoned building."

"Hacker? I get it. Leave it to me."

Just as Johnny Silverhand followed Carl's instructions and climbed the stairs again, heading towards the hacker who might pose the last threat before infiltrating, Carl intercepted a communication from the channel of an Arasaka operative through the surveillance connection.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhh-"

A low, angry voice was heard over the communication. Although the volume was not loud, the emotion was obvious. Because he couldn't hear it clearly, Carl simply used the camera's perspective to hack into the channel of the Arasaka operative and connected himself to the communication.

As soon as he entered, he heard a man harshly criticizing the security team:
"The escort process this time was completely unsatisfactory! The staffing was a mess, and the security check was not carried out thoroughly! I demand that the festival be suspended immediately and that a comprehensive check be carried out for Miss Hanako's safety, delaying the next procedure!"

Judging from the tone and content, this man is obviously Arasaka Hanako's bodyguard, or a core member of her faction. He is extremely dissatisfied with the current lax security situation and directly issued a stern warning in the communication channel.

Sure enough.

Carl was just wondering why there were no loyal people around Hanako Arasaka to object to such lax security. Now it seems that they didn't notice the problem until the festival began. However, this is no wonder - in Night City, there are indeed not many people who are truly loyal to Hanako Arasaka.

If you think about it carefully, Night City has always been Michiko Arasaka's territory. Even if you trace it back further, it was the sphere of influence of Michiko Arasaka's father, Kei Arasaka.

After Saburo Arasaka's death, although Arasaka Nobuyuki was nominally the helmsman of Arasaka, he was unable to completely suppress the local tyrants in this city. Even Arasaka Nobuyuki was like this, let alone Arasaka Hanako. Arasaka Hanako's original sphere of influence was mainly in Japan. In the past, she was just a puppet and a front figure of the faction pushed by Saburo Arasaka. Naturally, she did not have much of her own direct power in Night City. What's more, as early as when Saburo Arasaka was still alive, his faction's manpower in Night City was almost cleared out by Kenichi Shiro and Carl who took over the job in one action after another. Now Arasaka Hanako's situation here is difficult, and it has reached the point where even security cannot be guaranteed.

However, this made Carl notice something strange.

Even now, he could realize with a little thought that Hanako Arasaka was in a very dangerous situation, but she still chose to come to Night City and took the initiative to bring herself to Arasaka Nobuo and Arasaka Michiko. Did she still believe in the so-called family friendship, or did she have other plans in her heart?

strangeness.

As Carl was thinking, a voice with an electric sound suddenly came from the communication channel. The voice responded to Arasaka Hanako's duty of guarding, and the tone was very familiar to him:

"There is nothing wrong with the security procedures. Everything was carried out in accordance with the regulations. I can't find any need to re-check. I have more important things to deal with and don't have time to check these already perfect protection measures. Your doubts about the security measures are nothing but wishful thinking."

This sound is
Adam - Hammer!

As expected, he was the one in charge of security this time.

However, judging from his tone and the fact that Carl did not see him through the surveillance camera, Adam Hammer did not seem to be present in person this time?
It seems that the lax security this time was indeed intentional on the part of Adam Hammer.

Just as Carl was sorting out his thoughts, the guard of Arasaka Hanako became even more angry because of Adam Hammer's response:

"Safe? Perfect? ​​You call this security measure that is not even up to the standard of protecting a branch board member perfect?! We must announce to the public that public safety can no longer be guaranteed. For the safety of the people, this festival must be suspended! The safety of the young lady is the most important. She must evacuate immediately, right now!"

Facing the anger of Huazi's guards, Adam-Crusher, who had learned the skill of being sarcastic from nowhere, simply replied calmly:

"Arasaka personnel should be able to protect the people they are loyal to. When I was protecting Miss Michiko, and your master Takemura Goro was protecting Seto Nobuyuki, there was no complaint at all. Moreover, there were street mercenaries protecting Seto Nobuyuki before.

The famous training camp genius Oda Santaifu, don't you even have the ability to protect your master? Your training camp results are as good as your junior Chiyo, do you need me to ask Chiyo for protection methods? When Haruko came to Night City, even Chiyo was not around. If you think you don't have this ability, I advise you to resign early and let someone more capable protect Arasaka Hanako. I think it's easier to find a smart and capable dog. "

"You want me to think about my master who failed in his duty once? And you want to compare me with Chiyome? She is just a young girl! Ask your master, does she care more about Arasaka's image or her family's safety? Even if Michiko doesn't care, doesn't Nobuaki Sei care about his own sister?"

"You are not allowed to say that. As a guard, you are not qualified to discuss this. I will say this for the last time. There is no problem with the security measures. Over."

Click.

Carl heard the obvious sound of the communication ending, as well as the almost uncontrollable roar from the man named Oda Santaifu in the channel.

(End of this chapter)