Chapter 231: The Assault and the Fall
“Head down below. There should be a network access point—I need to hack in and check it out.” So Mi’s shadow flickered a few times before V’s eyes, then stopped over a section of floor covered by corrugated steel plates.
Stepping forward, V gave a light push and flipped the steel plate, nearly two meters across.
Sure enough, another space opened beneath it.
Everything went smoothly. After a brief search, they not only found a network access platform but also uncovered the entrance to a massive underground garage.
It was a platform large enough to hold several big sedans. Guided by tracks on either side, it carried the group deeper below.
First came a horizontal passageway. Once through, the space ahead suddenly expanded—an underground cavern nearly a hundred meters deep.
Rows upon rows of iron frames filled the chamber, packed tightly together, one after another. At first glance, they looked like bookshelves, only magnified countless times.
“This is the garage... Data on Night City’s EMB Stadium is mostly lost, but... it’s said the place could hold nearly eight hundred thousand people at once. Football, soccer, concerts—they crammed in anything they could, sometimes more than one at a time.” So Mi explained, her shadow hovering near the edge of the platform.
She didn’t care about the drop, but Arthur and V stuck to the center. Falling from here would mean certain death.
“What can you do? Corporations and the war completely trashed this place.” V muttered, tilting her head back toward the blue-white lights pouring down from above as the platform moved past row after row of massive steel frames.
The sight was overwhelming. Maybe this kind of sheer scale and order was what people called industrial beauty.
Then came the sudden screech of grinding metal. The platform jerked to a stop. Ahead stretched what looked like a maintenance passage—a steel walkway leading upward.
“Come on... there’s an elevator up ahead. Technically, we’re already inside.” So Mi’s voice came from the front.
At the end stood an abandoned elevator. After a few quick adjustments from So Mi, it rattled back to life. “We’re here!”
...
They stepped out into chaos—an outdoor market buzzing with noise.
The ground was crammed with stalls. The nearest one sold guns: black rifles as long as a man’s arm lay scattered across the floor like produce at a vegetable stand. Against the wall leaned even heavier weapons.
“Hansen’s twisted this stadium beyond recognition...” So Mi remarked casually as her shadow darted past the stalls. “Space Force One is closing in... We need higher ground to figure out where it’ll come down.”
Watching her flicker ahead, V thought for a moment that her nickname fit her perfectly. Talkative, restless, always moving...
“Stairs again? Really?” V sighed, lifting her gaze with weary resignation.
The stadium still had outdoor structures. From here, the red sunset had already swallowed the city whole.
Across the way, the far side of the circular stadium rose like a towering wall, with part of a yellow megabuilding jutting above it.
Pacifica’s megabuilding. They could even make out the line of glowing red exclamation marks.
From outside, the stadium still looked magnificent. Inside, though, it was nothing but ruin.
Crumbling walls, dust—that was all there was to see. Ring after ring downward, the field that should have been grass was now nothing but yellow dirt and piles of discarded construction material.
“Up there... doesn’t look easy to climb.” Arthur glanced around. They were already on a higher level, but above this point the structure had been abandoned, either unfinished or too damaged to use.
So Mi’s shadow appeared at the very top of the ruin, standing against the sunlight, staring out at the horizon—at the city burning red in the glow of dusk.
“Oh, right... how’s it been for you two, staying in Night City this long?” she suddenly asked, turning back.
“Night City? Same as always. People drop dead every day, but idiots still come chasing their big break.” V answered without looking up—her eyes stayed on the treacherous ground beneath her boots.
So Mi just nodded and said nothing more.
...
Just as the tension seemed to ease, a strange tremor froze Arthur mid-step as he studied the floor.
Almost at the same time, So Mi’s startled cry rang out from above. “Shit!” She only said one word, but it carried the weight of something very wrong in the sky.
Arthur braced against a broken steel bar and looked toward the source of the vibration.
A thin plume of black smoke rose from the ground not far from the stadium, stretching into the horizon.
The next moment, something else shot skyward. Arthur watched it streaking upward—it looked like... a long, cylindrical object with fire blasting from its rear.
“Holy shit...” This time it was V. She stared at the sky, where a tiny spark was already erupting.
They saw the whole thing this time. A second missile followed close behind, slamming into the expanding dark speck above.
The world fell silent. Distant... but closing fast.
The black dot, trailing a fiery tail, screeched across the sky like a falling meteor.
In the glare of fire and light, they saw it clearly—an enormous spacecraft. Its sheer speed cracked the air with a sonic boom.
The shockwave nearly knocked them off their feet. After grazing past nearby buildings, the massive craft slammed headlong into a tower in Dogtown.
“Shit... this just blew up big time. Has Hansen lost his damn mind?” V muttered, dazed as she stared at the flames.
“Uh... so... did they survive?” Arthur frowned, finally voicing the only question that mattered.
That kind of explosion? Survive? This wasn’t poking a hole in a hot air balloon.
“So Mi... So Mi! Songbird?!” V shouted over the channel—but only static hissed back.
For a moment, she felt lost. Maybe... she could go see the President’s corpse? Or... maybe it was better to stay out of it.
“Hey? Hey! I’m here—I made it out.” So Mi’s voice cut in abruptly, breaking V’s thoughts. “We’re fine... The President was secured in a safety pod. She should hold out for now.
You need to find her before Hansen does. And listen—take her to Elizabeth Clayton Street. Right now, the trash heaps there are the only place left to hide.”
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