Chapter 140: The Decision
Weis narrowed his eyes as he looked over Watson District, now firmly taken in the northern areas, along with the Tyger Claws members withdrawing from Watson and some of Arasaka’s operational units pulling back.
“Gris, what do you think Arasaka is planning with this sudden move?”
“Uh… maybe they think there’s no point in continuing to fight us? After all, our main forces are about to reach Southern California.”
Gris paused, thought it over briefly, and answered cautiously.
“If that were the only reason, then Arasaka never should’ve made a move in the first place. Going against us now would just make the retaliation fiercer once our forces arrive.”
Weis shook his head, rejecting Gris’s guess outright.
Hearing that, Gris frowned. Indeed, as Weis said, that explanation didn’t add up at all.
Still, he couldn’t think of any way Arasaka could stop them from consolidating control over the region. The unification of the New United States was already showing unstoppable momentum.
The current territory of the New United States was unprecedented in scale, nearly rivaling its former peak. If Northern and Southern California could both be reclaimed, then the New United States would truly be unified.
If Arasaka wanted to interfere, the only option would be deploying even greater military force. Given Night City’s location, that could only mean an approach from the sea.
But how was that possible? There was a maritime ban in place. Breaking that restriction would mean risking permanent loss of the region—a strategic-level disaster. Surely no one would be that foolish.
“In any case, they’re definitely buying time. And by doing this, they’re clearly trying to push our people into a head-on clash with The Mox and PROJECT Corporation. But PROJECT… that corporation is a bit troublesome.”
At the mention of PROJECT Corporation, Weis narrowed his eyes, clearly displeased by the name.
Which made sense. Over the years, PROJECT and Militech had never been on good terms. Not only had they never benefited from PROJECT’s technology, they’d also been screwed over by them more than once.
“We need to find a way…”
Gris stepped forward and made a slicing gesture across his throat.
Weis immediately shot him a look as if he were an idiot.
“You still think they’re the small corporation they used to be? They’re a megacorp now. Not an international one, but they already control an entire city. Their headquarters are in Agas City.”
“To be honest, I really don’t want to clash with them head-on. Their urban combat forces are far too strong. As much as I hate to admit it, fighting them in a city would cost us dearly—especially their so-called PROJECT squad, or counterintelligence unit.”
Weis tapped the table and shook his head.
“Then what should we do? Given the situation, the only way to reach our goal is to expand our sphere of influence.”
Gris scratched his head, clearly troubled.
“You go find—no, I’ll go with you. This time, I’ll personally meet their boss and talk it through. He should’ve noticed Arasaka’s movements as well. Maybe… they’ll be more than happy to let us pass.”
As he spoke, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Weis’s mouth.
Gris, however, looked completely baffled.
...
Michiko was pacing back and forth inside her home, as if waiting for something.
“Miss Michiko, please sit down and wait. These things can’t be rushed.”
Kenichi couldn’t help but speak up when he saw how anxious she looked.
“Mm… I know. But I can’t sit still. This is a rare chance to make contact with researchers involved in the relic chip. Before this, there was never an opportunity like it.”
Michiko sighed and finally sat down on the sofa.
Just as she said, the researchers working on the relic chip hadn’t joined any of the factions. Or rather… they belonged to a fourth faction, loyal only to Saburo Arasaka.
Truly neutral figures like Kuroda were extremely rare. And even so-called neutrality usually leaned toward Saburo Arasaka.
However, since Kuroda had never formally pledged loyalty to Saburo, Saburo acknowledged his abilities but didn’t trust his loyalty.
That was precisely why Kuroda didn’t know the true purpose behind the relic chip’s development.
Just as Michiko closed her eyes and prepared to wait quietly, a short message arrived in her inbox.
The sender was Kuroda.
“Kenichi, have the netrunners begin inspection and take action.”
“Understood.”
Kenichi nodded and immediately issued the order through the comms channel.
Soon, several netrunners loyal to Michiko began moving. They first checked the message itself and confirmed there were no issues. Then they ran a sweep on Kuroda’s side, making sure no one was tracking his message. Only after everything checked out did they report back to Kenichi.
After receiving the confirmation, Kenichi nodded toward Michiko.
Seeing this, Michiko quickly opened the message and began reading.
At first, she looked a little disappointed. The opening lines stated that Kuroda truly didn’t know the real purpose behind the relic chip’s development.
He explained where he worked within the research structure and clarified that he wasn’t involved in the relic chip’s core components. His knowledge was, in fact, very limited.
But… the later content made Michiko’s eyes light up.
Kuroda detailed the current problems facing the relic chip, as well as the general progress of the research.
This included the relic chip’s incompatibility with the human body, the severe physical damage it caused as a side effect, and how it could easily lead to instability or confusion in the consciousness stored within the chip.
After reading this, Michiko frowned. Based on this information alone, nothing seemed particularly important—except for the incompatibility with the physical body.
In her original understanding of the world, she knew nothing about this issue. But under the butterfly effect, Kuroda had chosen to inform Michiko. And as a result… Roland struck gold.
“Relic chip… physical body… Grandfather… I remember the relic’s development timeline was… no… that doesn’t make sense…”
A chilling thought suddenly surfaced in Michiko’s mind. She quickly dismissed it—not because it was impossible, but because she didn’t want to believe it could be true.
So she chose to avoid it, at least for now. Still… she kept the matter firmly in mind, intending to investigate it further later.
Author's Note
Comments (0)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.