From Terra to Terra, the Star Emperor's Holiday

Previously, because Si Ye was present, she felt that everything should be prioritized for His Majesty Si Ye. After all, although Si Ye seemed easy to talk to, the more she knew about the terrifying Xinghai Empire behind Si Ye, the more nervous she became.

Accompanying you is like accompanying a tiger.

Now that nothing went wrong, Sasha could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"?"

Mann was stunned. You know, Sasha got into trouble during the mission of stealing technology from a biotechnology company. Why did it have to be this big company in such a roundabout way?

"Tell me more about that...it's biotechnology."

None of the big companies are easy to mess with. Although the biotechnology company is not as martially vigorous as military-industrial enterprises such as Arakiban or Military Technology, the monopoly on the patent for Alcohol-2 Wheat has made this company extremely wealthy. Money often means weapons. The batch of Kangtao armed intelligent security robots that Sasha encountered in the biotechnology company building is the best example.

If it requires in-depth conflict or even direct confrontation with biotech companies, Mann thinks it would be better to force everyone to return the money. The conflict between marginalized people and large companies always ends with the marginalized people disappearing.

"There's no need for us to engage in direct conflict with Biotech. You can consider the money I gave you as a deposit. As long as we get the minimum amount of Pure 2 Wheat, we'll complete the mission."

Mandolio and the others had taken good care of Sasha in the past. Sasha was here to bring them prosperity, not to send them to their deaths.

Sasha also knew very well that even if she relied on the computing power core and became as strong as a superman on the Internet, it would be difficult for her to destroy a company overnight.

So what she had to do was to vent her hatred by causing as much trouble as possible to Biotechnology within a limited time, and at the same time hold on to some achievements that could be obtained, so that she could exchange them for credits after the arrival of the Star Sea Empire.

It is a dreamlike concept that hard work pays off.

"If you want more, you'll have to take some risks. The upper limit is that you can get the original data of Pure 2 wheat. Then I can guarantee that you can obtain enough wealth to escape marginal status and live a happy life."

As a crop, wheat needs to be cultivated on a large scale. It is inevitable that it will be lost during growth, harvesting and transportation. There is a possibility that it will be studied and cracked by other companies, thus breaking the monopoly.

In order to avoid this situation, biotechnology has developed a very inhumane preventive measure.

That is, using gene editing technology, the corresponding immunity gene was encoded into the alcohol-2 wheat seeds planted that year, and then targeted gene viruses for plants were sprayed on a large scale around the world to kill all seeds that were not produced by their own company.

Moreover, this immunity gene and targeted gene virus are replaced every year, completely cutting off the possibility of other companies stealing Alcohol 2 seeds for research, development and planting.

The original data of the alcohol-2 wheat crop is undoubtedly an important item that can break this monopoly wall. It is conceivable how much effort biotechnology will put in to protect this data and how much risk it will take to obtain this data.

"...Is it just pure 2 wheat?"

Mann's expression was very subtle. If it weren't for the real euros still in his account, he would have thought Sasha was playing some kind of international joke.

Although most of the alcohol 2 wheat is now grown hydroponically, there are still several experimental fields in the biotechnology protein farm on the southern border of Night City. It is not difficult to pick a handful, but the risk is not as high as delivering it to the Badlands.

So I can get 15 euros this way? How is this different from giving it away for free?

As for what Sasha said later, Mann pretended not to hear it. If the original data of Alcohol-2 wheat were so easy to obtain, Biotech would not have a monopoly on Alcohol-2 wheat now.

When marginalized people want to live well, another important ability is to know their own weight. Mann is not so arrogant as to think that he can be on par with those legends.

"Just Chun 2 Wheat will do. Of course, if everyone is willing to help me cover or something, that would be great."

The tricks that Biotechnology has done to Alcohol 2 Wheat are most likely useless to the Star Empire. Sasha said that the latter condition was only for the sake of Anman and others.

After all, pie falling from the sky is not necessarily a good thing for marginalized people.

"...I understand. Let's do what you say."

Now that the words were made clear, Mann hammered his palm to make the position clear on behalf of the team members.

...

"Perhaps this projection will look better later in the evening?"

Everyone had arrived at Night City's famous company square. In front of the dark and solemn Abandoned Tower, two blue and red goldfish, symbolizing yin and yang, were projected onto the sky. It was nearly dusk, and the neon lights between the buildings illuminated the streets, yet hurried office workers were still swiftly passing by.

Nian was snapping photos. Rebecca quickly became familiar with Nian by relying on her ability to read people's expressions, which she had developed on the streets. She was now offering various photo suggestions.

"How's it going?"

Si Ye stood on the black stone steps nearby, connected to the communication of the engineering ship on the back of Jupiter, and inquired about the progress of the project.

"The small passage has been completed. The time difference between the world number [3. Cyber] and the Imperial Universe is slowing down. A large gate is under construction."

It seems that the cross-world technology has been perfected and no major problems have occurred. The imperial space domain will be further expanded in dozens of hours.

"Well, the scenery is nice, but these office workers coming and going are a bit of a spoiler. Why are they all so serious?"

Nian jumped to Si Ye's side and shared with him the scenery photos he had just taken.

It can be seen that Director Nian has a solid foundation and his framing and composition are top-notch. It's a pity that the hurried company employees in the photo add a sense of urgency to the photo.

"This company in this world is so great that even Mainna would shake his head and draw his sword."

Compared to Rebecca, who doesn't know much about the company's internal affairs, Si Ye has a deep understanding of the unethical behavior of these companies in the cyberpunk world.

Being a company employee in the cyberpunk world is actually just a little more respectable than being a street kid, but only a little more respectable.

For ordinary office clerks or factory workers who are treated as consumables by the company, it is common for them to rely on various powerful prostheses and energy supplements to work 18 hours a day.

Many company employees will gradually overdraw their jobs under this extreme exploitation, eventually becoming ill and abandoned by the company. Some even directly turn into cyber psychopaths and go crazy, and are eventually beaten into a tattered corpse by the terrorist squad.

Biotech, known as the best company to work for in Night City, generously provides six days of vacation every year for its lower-level employees.

Working 12 to 18 hours a day and having six days of vacation a year, this is the twisted big business in cyberpunk. Si Ye felt that even if it was Mainna, who had worries at the beginning, facing this kind of exploitation, he would have to pick up his sword and fight from the south to the north of the city.

“…That’s outrageous.”

I used to think that the anthropomorphic dogs and donkeys in my hometown of Terra were already inhuman enough, but now look at it, if those dogs of the Casimir Business Association were put in this world, they might become great good people.

"I've finished here, where are we going next?"

Shaking his head, Nian turned and asked the tour guide Rebecca.

"Um... a bar? Or Twilight Street? Um... or take the subway?"

Rebecca, who came from the streets, the first thing that flashed through her mind was the bars scattered throughout Night City, but she was afraid that those mixed bars would make Si Ye and Nian dissatisfied.

Theoretically, with a male boss like Si Ye, it would definitely be a good idea to go to Night City's largest red-light district, but unfortunately, there is also Nian.

Looking at Nian's natural and stunning face, Rebecca felt that the vulgar women in the red-light district probably wouldn't catch Si Ye's eye. For a moment, she really couldn't say what was worth seeing.

...

Chapter 232 Kushinada Lucina

After a long journey, the group finally boarded the Night City Skyline Loop Rail Transit. Si Ye and Nian were browsing the restaurants of all sizes in Night City using a data panel, discussing what to have for dinner.

"Rebecca? What are you doing..."

Rebecca was sitting in a chair bored when someone suddenly called her name.

"Lucy?"

Turning her head, Rebecca saw a white-haired woman half-sticking out of the connection between the carriages in the distance. She was another hacker who had recently been introduced by Qiwei to join the Mann team and started to work with them: Lucy.

Lucy walked out of the shadows at the connection between the carriages and wanted to say hello to Rebecca, but she saw Si Ye and Nian, who looked like they had high status, standing beside Rebecca, and she stopped again.

"You didn't go...Oh, I forgot, what a pity."

Strictly speaking, Lucy had not yet officially joined the Mann team, so she was not always available. Naturally, she did not show up at the party at noon where Sasha was spending money recklessly.

"What do you mean… another job? I didn't receive any mail."

Lucy checked her mailbox and didn't see any notification from Mann's team or anyone else. She didn't quite understand what Rebecca meant.

"Nothing much. It's just that the hacker we thought was dead suddenly came back alive with a really big job. She probably didn't notify you because she didn't know you existed."

"Big job... I'll contact Mann."

Because of her own identity, Lucy believes that Night City is a prison like a tomb, so she has always had a dream of going to the moon and has been working hard to save money for this.

Appearing on the rail transit at night is also a job for her to make extra money. She uses hacking technology to pop out the chips on the necks of people riding the rail transit and sell them. If she only targets people who are on the wrong side of the board, she can make at least one thousand euros a day.

"Take a look first. Don't pick those small places. There aren't many restaurants in Night City that serve the real thing. Trust me, you don't want to know what their synthetic meat is made of."

Rebecca and Lucy's conversation attracted Si Ye's attention. He stuffed the data panel into Nian's hand and warned Nian not to be interested in the small restaurants and diners in Night City.

After all, with the environment extremely deteriorating, real meat, real vegetables, and even real water are luxuries in Night City. Most restaurants consider a live fish with excessive heavy metal content to be a high-end ingredient.

As for the materials for synthetic meat, guess what the protein farm in the south of Night City is used for. Promise me, don't go into the details of what the main source of protein is.

"friend?"

Si Ye looked at the young widow in front of him... Oh, not yet...

He looked at Kushinada Lucina in front of him. This Japanese-Polish hacker girl was a genuine Araita person and a member of the Araita Youth Talent Hacker Group. However, she chose to escape from Araita after witnessing her companions being killed one by one for digging up the old network behind the black wall.

But even after escaping from Araba, Lucy has been facing Araba's pursuit, which makes this hacker who is struggling to survive under Araba's terrifying shadow want to go to the moon and escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.

"Well, she's Lucy, one of the hackers Mann recruited."

Rebecca diligently introduced Lucy to Si Ye. After all, she had failed in arranging the sightseeing spots. In order to save some points, Rebecca told him everything she knew.

"You are…"

All Lucy could detect was chaotic noise on Si Ye's body. Unable to figure out his origins, she could only ask tentative questions.

"I'm a tourist visiting Night City and I'm hiring Miss Rebecca to be my tour guide."

The combination of the two words "Night City" and "travel" was enough to bring a surprised smile to Lucy's face, which had a cold expression.

This city is a city of opportunity, a city of chaos, and a city of companies, but it is not a place suitable for tourism.

Rich people may be able to enjoy some top-notch services at the top of the city, but those services can actually be enjoyed anywhere as long as you have money.

“This city is not suitable for tourism…”

"Si Ye, these all look good to me. Do you want to try them all?"

Nian ran over with the data panel. The giant beast would not feel hungry just because she didn't eat a meal. She just simply felt that she had come to a new world, and it would feel like a wasted trip if she didn't eat some local food.

"Then let's go together."

Si Ye rubbed his hands and looked at Lucy beside him.

Sasha's little tricks didn't escape Si Ye's eyes. He guessed that the other party should have started spreading negative information about biotechnology on the intercity network. Maybe he would take advantage of the chaos in biotechnology to let Mann's team steal the Pure 2 wheat?

It is a tradition for mercenaries to do things for money. Lucy has missed the best opportunity to get a ticket to the moon.

"Miss Lucy, would you like to have a quick meal together? I'm quite interested in the old network and the roving AI on the other side of the Black Wall. I believe that as a former member of the Arashi Boys hacker group, Miss Lucy should have some unique insights."

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

Although Lucy was shocked, she remained expressionless and tried to pretend that she didn't understand Si Ye's words in order to get away with it. However, she was interrupted by Si Ye's powerful "reason" before she could finish her words.