Chapter 40

The hotels along the Watson coastline had originally been developed for summer vacations. Now, tainted by nuclear heat and the illegal waste discharged by the megacorps, no one in their right mind would try to set foot in the contaminated seawater.

Unless, of course, they were like them, clad in specialized bodysuits—without which their bodies would no doubt suffer irreversible damage.

They emerged from the direction of the sea, all dressed identically: tightly sealed suits reinforced with outdated protective armor, carrying sealed gun cases and backpacks strapped over their shoulders.

Their faces were hidden behind full-face helmets with V-Y shaped visors, the glowing red eyes dimmed to blend faintly with the dusk, casting an eerie presence in the fading light.

They slipped quietly into one of the abandoned lodgings, eliminating the youths inside who had been drinking beer in a discarded room.

They landed silently behind their targets and drove fatal stabs cleanly into their guts.

The muffled screams of death were silenced beneath thick gloves, and the warmth of life spilled out with the red liquid that followed.

Their weapons resembled short daggers—carbon katanas—and by the time the blades were slid back into the scabbards mounted at their lower backs, everything was already over.

Like discarding filth, they stuffed the corpses into black garbage bags and tossed them into a basement incinerator before setting them ablaze.

"This is Suzaku One. Secured the candidate location."

『This is Genbu Zero. ……Mark the second point. Proceed to secure it.』

"Suzaku One, roger. ……Let’s move."

"Got it."

They spoke fluent Japanese—something rarely heard in Night City—and proceeded to occupy each of the former lodgings in turn. Soon, additional teams, Suzaku Two and Three, landed to begin establishing the base.

They were Japanese operatives belonging to 《Machine Dragon》. After the recent declaration of war, they had anchored the 《Carrier Kujira》 offshore, waiting for the dust to settle before executing this plan.

The 《Carrier Kujira》 was a stealth carrier developed by Arasaka to deploy armed forces into foreign corporate territories. As its name implied, it could submerge like a whale.

Arasaka's miscalculation was letting it remain too close to Japanese waters—where it was actually captured by Japanese whaling-nomads.

Thanks to their whaling expertise, the Kujira was quickly seized, falling from Arasaka’s grasp and being refitted as the mothership of 《Machine Dragon》, the spearhead dispatched by the Japanese Nomad Union.

To the corporations of Night City, the sea was either a useless void or just a trash can they could dump endlessly into.

As a result, they failed to detect 《Machine Dragon》 lurking beneath the waves and had no choice but to fall silent before the eerie calm of an approaching storm.

In just a few hours, the special operations unit Suzaku secured the coastline’s lodgings and commercial properties—and laughed at their success.

The members of 《Machine Dragon》 were a collective of ideological extremists. The fact that they were launching an assault on one of America's most vital cities, Night City, said plenty about their sanity.

As they laid the groundwork for their forward base of invasion, they looked toward the dazzling lights of Night City with rage.

Japan had taken devastating damage from nuclear heat during the aftermath of the Third Corporate War, stalling societal progress by a full century.

Society was rebuilt around a pre-modern structure with the Emperor at its core. Then, in the Fourth Corporate War, Arasaka was nationalized, prompting a rapid resurgence.

However, the Arasaka-led recovery sparked a technological breakthrough that leapfrogged essential research stages. Small and medium enterprises crumbled, and Arasaka remained in power, unchallenged.

The resulting wealth gap was massive, and a dystopia straight out of a manga came into being.

From that despair was born the anti-Arasaka group known as 《Steel Dragon》.

Their movement was rooted in reclaiming Japanese pride during the era when the nation had been derided as “Old Japan”—the beginning of an anti-Arasaka resistance.

Thanks to demonstrations near Arasaka HQ, united resistance efforts, and the achievements of Nomads roaming the wastelands, the dystopia never fully took root. Saburo Arasaka eventually relocated to the Night City branch.

With this, Night City became the new Arasaka headquarters, and Japan's HQ was demoted to a branch.

And the central figure in this tale was none other than Yorinobu Arasaka—once a man of Arasaka, who had joined the Nomad-led 《Steel Dragon》.

He smuggled Arasaka resources into the resistance and provided crucial intel. Through his devotion, the dawn of a beautiful Japan was preserved.

"……So, Suzaku pulled it off. Impressive."

"Of course, Yorinobu. No—Nobunaga, it's all thanks to you coming back."

"I told you to stop calling me that, Mitsuhide."

"Come now, we’re both guilty of that. I still remember when I was called Hide. Don’t you, Nobu?"

"……Yeah, I guess you’re right."

Back in the days of 《Steel Dragon》, Yorinobu had gone by the nickname Nobu. With naga added to symbolize his status as a leader, he was eventually dubbed Nobunaga, after the historical lord.

The scruffy, bearded young man beside him was Hidemasa, leader of 《Steel Dragon》.

Now, thanks to Yorinobu’s overwhelming charisma and dedication, he had become his right hand. The name Mitsuhide, given to him as a vassal of Nobunaga, lingered from his old nickname Hide.

Yorinobu, the leader of the emerging anti-Arasaka group 《Machine Dragon》, and his second-in-command Hidemasa, stood talking in the captain’s cabin of the 《Carrier Kujira》.

Their objective: the complete destruction of Arasaka’s Night City HQ—and the eradication of Arasaka itself.

They were fired up, now standing at the edge of Night City with those who had suffered through the darkest era of dystopia.

"Still… back then, you pulled such a crazy stunt, I seriously thought you’d gone rogue."

"Hahaha, well, it fits my nickname—Mitsuhide. One stray shot could always be chalked up as a misfire, right?"

"Don’t screw with me! We’re already short on chems thanks to Jugra! You think we can afford your damn gambles!?"

"Eh, no big deal. My goggles are the latest model. I made sure the line of fire was clear of you."

"……Thank Jugra for that, seriously. Do you even realize that whole mess almost cut ties with her?"

"……Mmm. Even I was shocked, I must say. Never expected Ojou’s forces to be there that day…"

"She shredded half our supply drop. If we hadn’t stolen all that stuff from Biotechnica, we’d have starved to death."

Their expressions turned gloomy.

Naturally so—after all, the very sponsor providing them with supplies was none other than Jugra Kagura.

Back when she helped Yorinobu retrieve an iguana stolen by scavengers, they’d formed a connection. Since then, under shared anti-Arasaka ideals, she’d supported much of 《Machine Dragon’s》 founding.

Their assassination of Saburo Arasaka that day had succeeded—but what followed left a lasting scar.

Their agreement with Jugra had been simple: she would provide funding and supplies as long as they maintained their anti-Arasaka position and relied on force as their primary method.

Yorinobu hadn’t expected someone to try to steal a bio-chip he had taken in retaliation. That coincidence became a catastrophic double booking.

The truth was, he’d only used the chip as bait to lure Saburo—who always let his guard down when visiting Yorinobu. The plan had just happened to succeed while he was playing along.

But by sabotaging Jugra’s carefully laid chart, 《Machine Dragon》 earned her wrath. Half of the secretly transported materials were cut, and they’d been stuck ever since.

"Still… the fact that she didn’t completely pull the plug was merciful, in a way."

"If any of her people had died, things would’ve been a lot worse… Guess I went too far trying to fake your death."

"Think long and hard about that, seriously. Anyway, what’s next on the plan?"

"Nu-fu-fu, worry not. This time everything’s in place. ……I’ve already sent data on Ojou-sama’s crew to the operations team. There won’t be a fight."

"……Don’t forget who we’re dealing with. This is Jugra—the kind of woman who’ll have Adam Smasher punch a subordinate’s heart out just to properly activate the Relic. Push her too far and she might take a contract from Arasaka just to come after us."

"……Why would she do that?"

Yorinobu exhaled deeply as he sat in the captain’s chair.

It was something that had come up during one of his past talks with Jugra—when he heard her own thoughts on what it meant to be a cyberpunk.

"The thing about cyberpunks is—they're mercenaries, not private soldiers. They're unmoored firepower. All it takes to tie them down is money, and cutting ties is just as simple. It’s only natural—and expected—that someone who’s your ally today might be your enemy tomorrow. It’s different from being a corporate pet. They’re individuals with their own wills. And that’s exactly why being a two-faced bat is perfectly acceptable, as long as you do it with confidence. Take me for example—Tyger Claws or not, I’ll kill or treat them if necessary."

At the time, when he heard that definition of what it meant to be a cyberpunk—no, a mercenary—Yorinobu couldn’t help but be impressed.

There was something refreshingly honest about it. If anything, it made him feel more at ease. Especially since he had firsthand experience with Adam Smasher—an excellent example.

People liked to say Adam Smasher was Arasaka’s lapdog, but in truth, he was a bodyguard working on a yearly contract.

So if a better job came along, he’d turn down the gig and take the other one. Just like that incident—getting hit with a stack of cash and accepting a job from some girl.

…Granted, Adam had looked completely thrown off by the whole thing.

He probably never imagined that the daughter of his savior and best friend would come to him with a job that sounded less like a hit and more like a betrayal.

And to top it off, even though he blew her heart out cleanly, she was revived anyway—left him stunned, beyond surprised.

『How far is that girl going to go…?』he’d muttered, voice distant, as if staring off into the horizon.

"Oh, right, speaking of which—I finally found where your girlfriend’s holed up. Credit goes to the Seiryu squad."

"Huh? No shit? I figured Evelyn would’ve skipped town ages ago. She’s still in Night City?"

"Apparently… she’s the one who hired Jugra for that 《Relic》 heist."

"...The hell?"

"It seems the Voodoo Boys are after your… thing, and she got worried. Since you were treating it like bait and brushing it off, she probably swiped it behind your back and tried to cut ties while pocketing the job money."

"…So this is my fault?"

"Hard to say. She acted out of love, sure. But I’d say it’s a lesson that girls shouldn’t get involved in this kind of bloody business."

"…Shit. So where’s Evelyn now? Clouds?"

"No, looks like someone already sent a hit squad after her. She nearly died and ended up with Fingers. Then Wakako took her in. Word is, she got pushed into the underground as a high-end doll. Rumor has it she was sold off to a studio that makes extreme black-market BDs."

"You serious? She’s still alive after all that? No way the Voodoo Boys didn’t have a hand in this. That’s just straight-up murderous."

"Seems like it. Anyway, we just found where that studio’s based. We’re planning to infiltrate. The place is—"

Hidemasa brought up a map of Night City and pointed to the location. It was one of Electric Corp’s power stations.

There was apparently a place nearby called Buck-a-Slice that sold pizza with the texture and flavor of styrofoam.

"...I just hope she’s still okay, that nothing’s happened to her yet."

Yorinobu muttered the kind of thing that practically begged to be a flag.

Unaware of that, Hidemasa dropped a marker on the spot—one that, depending on how you looked at it, could almost be mistaken for a flag.