Chapter 197: Contact
Given the current state of affairs, the situation was barely acceptable for the New United States. Although things hadn’t unfolded exactly according to plan, they were close enough. A sizable portion of the Free States had still been swallowed up.
The sudden emergence of PROJECT Corporation had caused them enormous losses, but it was something they could grit their teeth and endure.
Arasaka, however, was growing visibly impatient. One heavyweight reveal after another from PROJECT had left them, frankly, without much confidence.
Especially with PROJECT’s headquarters located in Night City.
At least for now, it seemed that PROJECT Corporation didn’t place particular importance on that headquarters—but that was only the situation as it stood.
They had quietly rolled out so many assets without anyone noticing. Who knew how many more things they might have hidden away in Night City?
If this dragged on for too long… then even if Arasaka sailed a supercarrier into Night City, it would be hard to say who the city truly belonged to.
And at present, Arasaka was still debating whether or not to move the carrier in at all.
That energy cannon PROJECT had displayed earlier—while it had been used to intercept airborne missiles, its actual destructive power remained unclear.
But based on their experience, a weapon like that couldn’t possibly be weak. They were genuinely worried about whether their supercarrier could withstand even a single shot.
Then there was the biological warfare weapon PROJECT had recently unveiled.
If that thing were unleashed on the carrier… they didn’t believe anyone under their command could stop it.
Not even the top-tier solo operatives they’d cultivated.
This wasn’t just a difference in individual strength—it was an enormous gap in technological sophistication.
Exactly how much firepower would be needed to punch through that energy shield was still a massive question mark.
As a result, Arasaka had become increasingly anxious lately and had begun adjusting its strategy—speeding up fleet preparations and stirring up trouble within the Free State Alliance.
The goal was to weaken the Alliance’s resistance against the New United States.
As for why they were doing this… as mentioned before, Arasaka had no intention of truly locking horns with the New United States. Their plan was to satisfy New United States’ appetite first, then reassess.
“Change our strategy. Don’t interfere with the ESA or the Highriders. Let them go negotiate with PROJECT. Give PROJECT Corporation something else to deal with.”
Higashiyama Ryoichi altered the previous approach in response to the shifting situation. As for covert manufacturing…
That could wait until PROJECT started buckling under the pressure. At that point, they could step in behind the scenes and keep PROJECT afloat a little longer.
...
“Yorinobu Arasaka has arrived in Night City?”
Roland paused when he heard the report, then thought about it for a moment. He realized the information had actually come in quite some time ago—he’d just been busy with other matters and hadn’t paid attention.
“Hm… then this might be a good time to think about making contact…”
Roland rubbed his chin, considering how to approach him. The simplest method would be to just hack in and chat—but his goal wasn’t merely conversation. Otherwise, why would Yorinobu bother coming to Night City at all?
“Still, if Yorinobu Arasaka is in Night City… Adam Smasher was his bodyguard at the start of the game. There’s a good chance he still is. Which means…”
“…Smasher might be in Night City too?”
The thought made Roland narrow his eyes. He immediately had Kelly verify it. After all, since Roland hadn’t shown any particular interest in Smasher before, no one had bothered reporting on him.
Meanwhile, in a training room inside a high-rise, Adam Smasher was testing a weapon when he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
“Tch… why do I suddenly have a bad feeling…?”
Adam Smasher glanced around. Seeing nothing but himself and a few robots, he dismissed the thought and continued testing the weapon in his hands.
The weapon was a high-end electromagnetic firearm produced by PROJECT Corporation.
[Melz Type-III Electromagnetic SMG: Built using stable electromagnetic weapon technology and equipped with specialized spike ammunition. Boasts extremely high penetration and rate of fire, making it an exceptional killing machine.]
As the saying goes, you might not trust Smasher’s character—but you can trust his taste in killing tools.
As for Yorinobu Arasaka, he was still confined to his office. At this point in time, it wasn’t suitable for him to appear in public. Even entertainment had to be brought to him by others.
Yorinobu frowned as he tapped his fingers against the desk. He had arrived in Night City according to the information he’d received, yet there had been no response from the other side. It was starting to irritate him.
And with the situation still in flux, it wasn’t easy for him to proactively approach PROJECT Corporation either. As a result, he could only stay holed up in the building—feeling even more stifled than he had back in Japan.
Yorinobu rubbed his temples and poured himself a glass of liquor. Just as he was about to drink, a familiar voice sounded beside him once more.
His expression didn’t change. He took a small sip of the golden liquid, then turned his attention to the contents of the message.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Yorinobu, and thank you for coming to Night City. If possible, I hope we can meet.”
At the bottom of the message was the emblem of the Iron Dragon. This time, it didn’t vanish immediately, clearly waiting for his reply.
“My current circumstances make it difficult for me to meet in person. I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. That said, I’m very curious—what exactly is it that you want?”
Yorinobu walked slowly to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked down at the city below, his expression completely unreadable.
“Our goals align, Mr. Yorinobu. You want to overthrow the rule of Arasaka Corporation, don’t you? So do we.”
Reading this, Yorinobu felt a trace of disappointment. His objective had long since gone beyond simply overthrowing Arasaka. After years of reflection, he’d realized the problem ran far deeper than just one corporation.
“It seems we haven’t reached an understanding.”
“Overthrowing Arasaka is one part of your objective. The rest requires a face-to-face discussion.”
At this, Yorinobu Arasaka slowly narrowed his eyes.
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