"All right. Since you've all finished stating your requests, it's my turn."
Roland smiled as he looked at Rebecca and the other two standing before him.
Rebecca and the others exchanged glances, a vague sense of unease rising in their hearts.
"Boss, go ahead."
"I'll be sending you to Pacifica to take part in the operation there. Don't worry—it won't be just you. The Corporation's forces will be going as well. I plan to set up a base there, one hidden in the shadows."
Roland nodded as he began issuing instructions.
"Once you arrive, Chris will tell you what to do. Just follow his command."
"Understood."
After hearing that, Jackie looked toward Rebecca and the others. Seeing that neither of them reacted much, she didn't say anything else.
The three of them then left Roland's office.
"So, how does it feel to be called 'Ma'am' by your best friend?"
After they were gone, Roland turned his head and looked at Lucy, amusement in his voice.
"Tch. I'll make her pay it back sooner or later."
Lucy clicked her tongue and turned her head away.
Roland laughed softly and didn't pursue the topic. At a time like this, it was better to keep an eye on what was happening in Pacifica.
Oh, right—and V and Sasha, along with those other troublemakers who had just finished their special training over there…
Perfect timing. He could send them to Pacifica for a bit of real-world experience. It wasn't like anything truly dangerous would happen there anyway.
...
Pacifica—ever since relations between Northern and Southern California grew tense, the city government had effectively abandoned the area, as mentioned before.
Recently, however, with neither Southern California nor the New United States making any moves, Pacifica had shown faint signs of revival. Still, the change was minimal and mostly limited to ordinary civilians.
The major corporations who knew the real situation had no intention of continuing to pour money into the district.
The city government, for its part, didn't bother discouraging these speculative investors. Even if it was only a drop in the bucket, it helped recover some costs—and that was better than nothing.
The corporation suffering the most from Pacifica's transformation was none other than Petrochem.
That massive stadium—abandoned before it could even host a single event to rake in money. Worst of all, the construction had already been completed. That was what hurt Petrochem the most.
The celebrities they had already booked had to be canceled, deposits wasted, losses piling up to a painful degree.
So who actually held power in Pacifica now?
The answer was a gang made up largely of Haitian immigrants—or rather… the Voodoo Boys. Even before corporate forces and city security pulled out, the Voodoo Boys had already been extremely powerful.
Once those constraints disappeared, their influence in the area only grew stronger.
Aside from the Voodoo Boys, there were also the Scavengers.
Pacifica could practically be called a breeding ground for Scavengers—especially after PROJECT Corporation tightened its control over Night City and rolled out PROJECT cyberware across the city.
That move cut off a major source of income for Scavengers who relied on expensive cyberware.
The main reason was simple: when Night City Scavengers abducted wealthy targets fitted with PROJECT cyberware, they discovered they couldn't dismantle those implants at all. Even when they managed to remove them, they found the cyberware couldn't be installed into anyone else.
Try it, and you'd get a cyberpsycho every single time. To make them usable, a netrunner would have to wipe and reset the embedded data beforehand—an extra step that drastically raised the entry barrier for Scavengers.
More importantly, if someone could already do that, they'd be better off getting a job at a cyberware shop. Why bother being a Scavenger at all?
As a result, a sizable number of Scavengers drifted toward Pacifica, hoping to scrape together some profit there.
After all, even though the city government and corporations had abandoned Pacifica, the people living there hadn't moved out.
And why didn't they leave? Do you think they didn't want to? Where would they go? They'd already drained their life savings just to buy homes there.
Another group consisted of homeless drifters from Night City. With so many empty buildings lying around, they saw no reason to pass them up.
All in all, present-day Pacifica was a chaotic mix of every kind imaginable.
The final remaining force was Shadow Stream.
The people of Pacifica didn't know where this organization came from or who founded it. All they knew was that it was both an assassin group and a gang.
They possessed overwhelming combat power and were rumored to have corporate backing, yet no trace of any corporation could ever be found behind them. Most notably, they showed no hesitation in going after corporate personnel—as long as the price was right, they would act.
Of course, sometimes they would refuse commissions outright, without explanation. A strange group, but an extremely powerful one. No one was eager to provoke them.
Shadow Stream's core strength lay in its armed operatives and assassins, along with heavy weapons sourced from various corporations—most notably, military-grade technology.
Much of their equipment bore obvious signs of battlefield wear, which inevitably led to speculation that their weapons were secondhand gear retired from actual military engagements.
"Zed, orders just came down. We're expanding our territory. Take everything we can in Pacifica. Either drive out the Voodoo Boys or swallow them whole."
Jhin spun Whisper in his hand and turned to look at Zed, who was sitting cross-legged nearby. He had no idea what the posture was supposed to accomplish, but it certainly looked impressive.
Hearing Jhin's words, Zed slowly opened his eyes. He wasn't wearing his exoskeleton helmet, revealing short white hair and crimson eyes. His face was that of a cold, handsome man, utterly indifferent.
"I understand. Gather the people and expand our territory. The Boss probably wants us ready before Militech arrives—reduce the Voodoo Boys' influence in this area as much as possible. How's your surveillance on them?"
Zed turned his head toward Jhin as he spoke.
Jhin nodded and tapped a button on his head. A holographic projection immediately appeared, showing the Voodoo Boys' leader deep-diving.
"They're still poking at that thing called the Blackwall. I have to admit, this Blackwall technology does have its merits."
Jhin sounded genuinely impressed.
While his netrunning skills couldn't compare to the monsters from the PROJECT world, in the cyberpunk world they were still overwhelmingly dominant.
As for the PROJECT world… why do you think Jhin still kept his head? Because he didn't dare upload his consciousness into the Net. He knew exactly what existed there.
"They're playing with fire. Sooner or later, they'll be devoured by whatever lies on the other side. The Boss probably doesn't want any accidents, which is why he's having us deal with this gang."
Zed made no extra movements, speaking calmly.
"Once they're dealt with, there's no need to bother with the rest, right?"
"The order is to control as much territory as possible. There's no requirement to take the entire zone."
"That's good."
Zed nodded, stood up, and put his helmet back on.
As for where the Voodoo Boys were currently based—the answer was Petrochem's stadium. Before being driven out by BARGHEST, the area had been inhabited by Creole immigrants.
It was practically a massive illegal marketplace. Anything you could imagine was being sold there.