"Hey, did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"Apparently Northern California reached some kind of agreement with PROJECT and is now under their control…"
"Seriously? Aren't they just a corporation?"
"Isn't Arasaka and Militech the same? They're corporations too."
"Well… that's true. So PROJECT has become a mega-corp like them?"
"Maybe… but it doesn't seem to have much to do with us."
"Well, at least Night City's security has gotten a lot better."
"Then you clearly haven't been to the really rough parts…"
Wearing a baseball cap and sitting at a small roadside stall, Roland quietly listened to the conversation nearby, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Here, your food."
Lucy placed a cup of instant noodles in front of Roland and sat down beside him.
"I didn't expect you'd actually come to a place like this."
She stuck a straw into a can, took a sip, and looked out at the busy street filled with traffic and people.
Roland picked up his chopsticks and stirred the noodles—made from who-knows-what—before taking a bite.
Yeah… tasted like pure artificial flavoring.
"You seem surprised to see me here."
"Well, someone as rich and powerful as you coming to a place like this to eat something like that… it's pretty rare."
"…Well, you don't really know much about me, so it's normal you'd think that."
Roland paused briefly, then shrugged.
"What do you mean by that?"
Lucy tilted her head and looked at him curiously.
"What, did you think I was born into some wealthy Night City family?"
"…Wasn't that the case?"
Lucy looked puzzled. Roland chuckled and shook his head.
"No. My hometown is overseas. Everything I have now was built with my own ability… though I did receive a tiny bit of help from a benefactor."
Roland turned toward her with a smile.
"That's… a little surprising."
Lucy muttered quietly, then fell silent.
"What do you think about Night City now?"
"Huh? Even if you ask me that, I haven't actually been here that long. Most of the time I've just been staying by your side."
Lucy narrowed her eyes slightly at him.
"Uh… yeah, I guess I didn't think that through."
Roland rubbed his chin and nodded, then suddenly thought of a few people who probably knew the city better than Lucy—Jackie, V, and the others.
"Let's go somewhere else to talk."
"Where?"
"The Afterlife."
"Huh?"
...
"Hey, why do you think the boss called us here?"
Jackie shuffled closer to Falco and whispered.
Although they had already left the edgerunner life and joined the corporation, they still had enough reputation to enter the Afterlife. It also helped that Rogue seemed to like them.
"How would I know… All I know is that it came from the top. We can't exactly refuse."
Falco shrugged indifferently and drained the beer in his glass.
"You showing up here, big shot… aren't you worried something might happen?"
Rogue sat across from Roland, raising an eyebrow.
Roland smiled.
"This is your turf, after all. You wouldn't let someone cause trouble here, would you?"
"Hard to say…"
Rogue didn't answer directly. Instead, she gave an ambiguous reply while casting Roland a meaningful glance.
And she wasn't wrong.
Coming here really wasn't the smartest move.
The bounty Militech had placed on him in the underworld was astronomical.
Some idiot might suddenly jump out and try to put a bullet in him.
"My bodyguard isn't exactly helpless, so there's no need to worry so much, Ms. Rogue. Besides… Night City is basically my territory now, isn't it?"
Roland smiled and tilted his head toward Lucy beside him.
Lucy stood there expressionless.
"That little girl?"
Rogue glanced at Lucy with mild surprise but didn't say anything else. She simply nodded and walked away.
She had already given her warning, and Roland wasn't wrong either.
Night City was now PROJECT's territory.
"Long time no see, everyone."
Roland walked over to Jackie's booth and sat down in the central seat.
"Boss."
Jackie and the others quickly stood up, looking a little stiff.
"Sit down. No need to be so tense. I mainly came to ask you about a few things… and tell you something."
Roland smiled.
Jackie and the others exchanged looks but stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.
"The first thing I want to tell you is that Jhin—the one who spent some time with you before—was actually me."
"Huh?!"
Whoosh—
The moment the news dropped, Jackie and the others shot to their feet.
Only Jessica remained sitting there, looking completely confused. She had no idea what they were talking about.
Roland didn't react much to their shock. He calmly took a sip of his drink.
"At the time, the corporation hadn't fully risen yet, so it wasn't convenient for me to act openly. I used Jhin's identity for a while, and later an AI took over controlling Jhin's body."
"Is this really something we should be talking about here?"
Jackie couldn't help asking.
"Relax. Even if it leaks, it doesn't matter."
Roland shrugged.
Times were different now. Even if the truth about Jhin came out, it wasn't a big deal. The people who had real grudges against him were mainly in the New United States.
And right now…
What could they even do to him?
Meanwhile, Jessica was quietly trembling.
She suddenly felt like she really shouldn't have come tonight.
She had definitely heard something she wasn't supposed to know.
Bang!
Rebecca's reaction was much more direct.
She jumped straight onto the table and leaned forward until her face was right in front of Roland's.
The sudden move caught Roland completely off guard.
"I just want to know one thing. The gun you sent me—was that you, or the AI?"
"Me."
"That's enough."
Rebecca nodded immediately after hearing the answer and sat back down.
Pilar silently gave her a thumbs-up.
"Telling you this means I'm treating you as my own people. I need a little help from you."
Roland raised his hand and made a tiny gesture with his fingers.
"A very little help."
"I'll give you stronger power. You're familiar with the PROJECT squads, right?"
Hearing this, everyone's eyes widened immediately.
...
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