Chapter 145: Hardline
“Oh, right—there’s something I never asked. How’s our new product coming along?”
Roland suddenly recalled his earlier plans and arrangements and turned to Kelly.
“Everything’s running smoothly. The medical robot production line is fully set up and ready for mass production. Hospital site selection and construction are complete, and confidentiality has been maintained across the board—no leaks.”
“Good. Contact News Channel 54 and have them help us run some publicity. Oh, and Militech too—they’re fighting a war right now. I’m sure they’d love to cut down on medical costs.”
“What about WNS?”
Kelly paused, then asked.
“No need. Since Arasaka plans to use us as a gun for hire, there’s no reason to keep up a strategic friendship with them. Besides… from here on out, Militech will be our closest partner.”
As he spoke, a bright smile spread across Roland’s face.
“Other than the medical robots, how’s the new batch of mid-tier weapons?”
“Same progress as the medical robots. They can be released to the market together.”
Hearing this, Roland stroked his chin. The weapons they had previously released to the mass market weren’t particularly impressive—clear strengths and weaknesses, with a limited audience.
Moreover, firearms weren’t their long-term focus. They had already shifted into other fields, so they hadn’t seriously threatened anyone’s market share and had remained fairly restrained.
But this new weapon was different. Combined with PROJECT’s performance over this period…
It would likely cut into the weapons industry’s territory for real.
A high-performance, mid-priced electromagnetic rifle equipped with quadruple advanced mechanical encryption. Once released, Roland could already imagine Tsunami Defense and Constitutional Arms Unity losing their composure.
At the same time, Kang Tao, Arasaka, and Militech would certainly covet the technology behind this weapon. The reason was simple: a stable, mid-priced electromagnetic firearm meant a major leap forward in electromagnetic technology.
After all, this was a true electromagnetic weapon, using technology and ammunition fundamentally different from existing Tech Weapons—one of a kind.
Which meant… the same technology could be applied to smart weapons and other fields as well.
As the two leading forces in the smart-weapon sector, they naturally wouldn’t let such a lucrative opportunity slip by.
Because this effectively meant combining Tech Weapons with smart weapons, greatly addressing the latter’s lack of killing power.
As for Militech… they were most likely eyeing the overwhelming lethality and combat effectiveness this weapon offered.
For megacorporations like these, their real foundation lay in the mid-tier and mid-to-low-tier markets. They generally didn’t care much about the absolute bottom tier—at least not in the firearms sector.
After all, their profit sources went far beyond a single industry.
That lowest tier was usually dominated by cheap, affordable firepower—nothing more, nothing less.
Even so, despite attracting attention from so many forces, Roland wasn’t particularly worried. While PROJECT still couldn’t stand toe-to-toe with the top megacorps in a direct confrontation, it was no longer something that could be crushed with a single finger.
“Go. Make the arrangements. Contact the media and set up a press conference. Then start pouring money into advertising. Get some celebrities to shoot movies, braindances—anything works. Go.”
Once Roland gave the order, PROJECT’s Night City branch immediately sprang into action.
At the same time, the orders were quickly relayed to Agas City. Compared to Night City, things moved even faster there.
And the first consequence of that speed was simple—
Trauma Team caught the scent and came knocking.
Thanks to their existing cooperation, the partnership progressed smoothly.
From a market perspective, Roland still chose not to release the highest-tier medical robots. If they rolled out the best ones right away… what would they sell later?
Besides, medical technology in this world was somewhat skewed. If a disease couldn’t be cured, no problem—just cut it off and replace it with cyberware. But once the brain was involved, things became much harder.
PROJECT, however, took a two-pronged approach: biological medicine and mechanical ascension. And the medical robots they developed were more than enough to give this world a small shock to its medical system.
Of course, the robots currently being released mainly handled simpler and mid-difficulty conditions.
But that wasn’t the point.
The real issue was that one corporation had panicked.
Granite Medical—a firm specializing in mid-to-low-end medical equipment and doctor training. And now, PROJECT’s medical robots could already perform relatively simple cyberware surgeries.
Which directly impacted the cyberware doctors trained by Granite Medical.
There were plenty of similar companies, including several tech firms that had also been hit by PROJECT’s newly launched mid-tier electromagnetic weapons.
Among them, the most eager were Militech and Tsunami Defense.
Tsunami Defense’s core market was actually similar to Arasaka and Kang Tao, focusing on the high-end segment.
They coveted PROJECT’s electromagnetic technology, while Militech focused on the mid-tier market. But given the current situation—and their recent cooperation with PROJECT—they couldn’t make a move yet.
So while they were tempted, they held back.
Tsunami Defense and several other mid-tier companies, however, were far less polite and directly initiated “friendly” cooperation talks.
Militech’s stance on the matter was simple: I didn’t see anything. Do whatever you want.
Roland’s response was just as simple—go back where you came from. He let those clueless people think long and hard about the consequences of their actions.
At first, the ones who were turned away weren’t convinced—until the commotion from Agas City caught their attention.
Without anyone noticing, PROJECT had already assembled a small army.
A high-tech mechanized force numbering close to six thousand, a strategic-level ground combat unit, with possible aerial support included.
After that, they chose to back off—or rather, to start working in the shadows.
Even so, this development sent a chill down the spines of certain people, including Kuroda and the leadership in Northern California.
They hadn’t noticed a thing.
Or rather… PROJECT had raised an army right under their noses?!
If circumstances weren’t so restrictive, Roland would have loved to show them what the First Cataclysm really meant.
Not long ago, he had also discovered something else—PROJECT actually possessed a complete war development system.
The temptation was strong, but he held himself back. After all, the real trump card wasn’t ready yet.
For now, he would endure.
But when the time came…
The Fifth War would be ignited by him.
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