"That Twelve Angel has finally made it to Night City. Honestly…"
Roland rubbed his forehead with a weary sigh. One of the main reasons he'd stayed in Night City instead of heading to Nevada to handle other matters was precisely to wait for this person.
Yet that slippery bastard had crawled along the entire way. He'd waited so long the flowers were practically withering. Meanwhile, the Highriders' people would be able to reach Night City in just one more day.
And this was already the second person they'd sent out…
"Did he submit an appointment request with us?"
Roland turned to Kiwi and asked.
"Yes. The appointment is for today, and… he should arrive in about half an hour."
"Alright, I know."
Roland nodded.
But just then, a piercing explosive screech suddenly rang out above the building. The sound resonated through the glass on several nearby floors, and in an instant, every window shattered, raining shards across the ground.
The sudden incident triggered alarms throughout the PROJECT Corporation building. Security robots hidden around Roland immediately emerged from all directions.
In a heartbeat, they were fully armed, their weapons trained on a silver-white figure hovering in the air.
Jamil took in the scene before him, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. He raised both hands and slowly descended, landing in front of Roland. The combat cyberware across his body still emitted a faint blue glow.
"I've been hearing your corporation's name everywhere lately. Now that I finally see it for myself… you really are something else."
As he spoke, Jamil swept his gaze over the surrounding security robots, his vigilance rising. Several of them radiated a distinct sense of danger.
"So you're the legendary Twelve Angel. But judging from this way of saying hello… you don't seem all that friendly."
Roland narrowed his eyes and stared at Jamil coldly.
At his signal, the security robots slowly raised their weapons. Several of them made the hairs on Jamil's neck stand on end, and he immediately locked onto the source of the threat.
One weapon's barrel glowed with a hazy blue light. Its muzzle was unlike that of kinetic or electromagnetic weapons—clearly an energy weapon.
"Haha, nothing like that," Jamil laughed, waving his hand. "I was just testing the equipment on my body. Still, I was rude. Please accept my apologies."
He chuckled and gently lowered himself to the ground.
Roland remained silent as he watched Jamil. He understood exactly what the man was doing—probing the strength of the security around him. If they posed no real threat, Roland had no doubt Jamil would make a move.
There was also the possibility he was trying to intimidate them. But… he'd already shoved his face right up to theirs. Not responding at all would feel unreasonable.
And just so happened, this guy didn't know that something had already returned…
Close the door—let Maine loose!
"ROAR!!!"
A deafening roar exploded through the PROJECT building. In the next instant, a figure tore down the corridor at blinding speed, leaving deep, horrifying claw marks behind as blue electrical arcs danced across its body.
As its speed climbed higher and higher, Apocalypse's massive form streaked in like a bolt of blue lightning, arriving in an instant. Without the slightest hesitation, it locked onto Jamil, who had just touched down.
The moment Jamil saw Apocalypse, his expression changed drastically. He activated the cyberware in his legs, executing a backward evasive jump and triggering Sandevistan, vanishing from his original position in an instant.
Boom!
As expected, Apocalypse's attack slammed into the ground the very next second, blasting out a massive crater.
Back in the air, Jamil's heart was pounding wildly.
Wasn't this beast supposed to be out of Night City?!
"Heh. Your little stunt triggered Apocalypse's internal safety response. No offense intended," Roland said with a cheerful smile as he walked over.
Apocalypse, meanwhile, stared coldly at Jamil in the air.
Jamil let out an awkward laugh. "No problem, no problem. I didn't take it to heart."
Seeing him back down, Roland waved his hand, signaling Maine to disengage carnage mode.
Soon, the blue glow surrounding Apocalypse slowly faded. It straightened up like a human, then crossed its arms and stood off to the side.
Jamil cautiously descended nearby, though his eyes kept flicking toward Maine, clearly worried the man might suddenly snap and finish him off.
"Well," Roland spread his hands, "this doesn't look like a great place for a conversation. How about we move somewhere else and talk?"
"No problem. Your call," Jamil nodded without objection.
...
Before long, the two arrived in a conference room, with Maine following them inside.
After they all sat down, Jamil glanced at Maine beside him, his mouth twitching slightly. "Mr. Vimers, do you think maybe…"
He trailed off, looking at Maine.
"Haha, of course, of course," Roland laughed, gesturing for Maine to wait outside by the door.
Only after Maine left did Jamil finally let out a breath and relax, turning his full attention back to Roland.
"My name is Jamil. My title is Swift Angel. I rank somewhere in the middle among the Twelve Angels. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Vimers."
"Jamil… hmm. Before we get into anything else, let's talk about the damage to our corporation facilities."
"That's easy enough. We'll take responsibility for it," Jamil said, nodding.
"Then it seems we have the basis for cooperation," Roland replied. "So what exactly does the European Space Agency want from us?"
As he spoke, a faint orange glow surfaced in Roland's eyes as he scanned Jamil's combat data and cyberware.
Jamil did the same in return—and the moment he saw the numbers on the panel, his heart skipped a beat.
Damn it, his stats are higher than mine?! Are you the boss, or the bodyguard?!
At that moment, Jamil completely abandoned any thoughts of taking the technology by force. If things came to blows… he probably wouldn't win.
"Although my orders were to obtain your technology and all related blueprints," Jamil said slowly, "it's clear that isn't realistic. So… I'd like to propose a deal with you, Mr. Vimers."
"Oh?"
Roland's interest was immediately piqued. He'd been expecting things to fall apart—but now it seemed… this man wasn't exactly the obedient type either.