Adam Smasher stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the sprawling lights of Night City. A trace of concern flashed through his eyes. Recently, PROJECT's level of activity had been far beyond anything anyone expected.
They had swept through the territory of the 6th Street gang and large portions of the Tyger Claws' turf, clearing them out completely. At the same time, they had launched large-scale hunts against Scavenger dens, to the point that within the entire area surrounding PROJECT, not a single Scavenger could be seen anymore.
Naturally, the people of Night City welcomed PROJECT's actions.
After all, neither those gangs nor the Scavengers were anything close to decent.
The Scavengers harvested cyberware from people. Usually, they first forced their victims to record black-market braindances. After the recordings were finished, they killed them and stripped out their cyberware—squeezing every last bit of value out of their bodies.
The Tyger Claws extorted protection money while allowing their members to run wild—murder, forcing people into becoming sex dolls, pushing addictive substances, and even maintaining cooperation with the Scavengers.
As for the 6th Street gang, they used the banner of "protection" to brazenly extort money and bully civilians. From time to time, they even worked with Militech personnel to pull off larger operations.
So PROJECT's series of actions had won enormous public support.
But it also stepped on the toes of certain groups.
For example, Arasaka. Militech. And the black clinics that worked with the Scavengers.
Especially those underground clinics. They hated PROJECT's actions with a passion, because it directly cut off a large portion of their income.
Some of them even banded together to organize street protests. They stirred up parts of the public with claims that PROJECT had ulterior motives—that while it appeared to be helping the people, it was actually eliminating rivals and preparing to strip citizens of their freedoms.
Conspiracy theories always found an audience.
And with people behind the scenes actively pushing the protests, it placed considerable pressure on Night City's municipal government.
But pressure was just pressure...
The city government had absolutely no intention of responding.
They weren't stupid.
Their own boss had already sided with PROJECT. If they jumped out to oppose them now, it would practically mean they didn't want their jobs anymore.
Oh, and at this point in time, Night City had not yet achieved full independence. In the game timeline, Night City gained independence largely because of Arasaka's presence.
But now...
Night City officials could only say they weren't familiar with any of that.
Not familiar at all.
"Adam, what do you think about PROJECT's current actions?"
Yorinobu Arasaka slowly walked up beside Adam Smasher and asked.
"...It's extremely unfavorable for us, Mr. Yorinobu. You've seen the reports. PROJECT is removing both our influence and Militech's presence in Night City, expanding its own power. Their goal is to bring Night City fully under their control."
"Mm. Indeed. The Tyger Claws have clearly split into two factions now. One still supports us, while the other—Wakako's group—has chosen to cooperate with PROJECT and accept their management."
Yorinobu nodded as he spoke.
But Adam Smasher failed to notice the brief smile that flashed across his face.
In truth, Yorinobu was quite pleased with PROJECT's actions.
PROJECT was striking hard against Arasaka, and after learning about Saburo's plan, he understood just how important Night City was to them.
But now?
That future was becoming uncertain.
And indeed it was.
After receiving reports from the Night City branch, Saburo Arasaka's expression turned extremely unpleasant. However, sending warships directly was unrealistic.
Especially after the New United States had already used nuclear weapons and still failed to deal with that monster, Saburo Arasaka did not dare act rashly.
There was still some room to maneuver.
Although PROJECT was cutting away Arasaka's influence in Night City, their people were still there. As long as they remained, there was still a chance to continue expanding their presence.
For now, Saburo Arasaka had ordered his spies to go deeper underground.
All contact with them had been severed. The only thing left active was a chip capable of receiving signals. Every other line of communication had been cut.
Of course, Arasaka wasn't completely passive.
They had taken various actions and provided considerable armed support. Unfortunately, it was useless. PROJECT's mechanical forces simply crushed them.
Especially when facing the new members of PROJECT's squads.
The scenes were brutally bloody.
"Is it possible to capture one of them alive?"
Saburo Arasaka turned to Takemura and Oda beside him.
Displayed before them was footage of Jack's battle.
He descended from the sky, smashing the ground apart on impact. Then he charged straight through a hail of gunfire toward a Tyger Claws officer equipped with Berserk cyberware.
With one hand, he grabbed the man's head and slammed it into the ground.
The terrifying force blasted the pavement apart.
Takemura and Oda exchanged a glance before silently shaking their heads.
"The opponent's strength is extremely terrifying. Even if we deployed our most elite ninja squad, together with the two of us, we might only be able to kill him."
"As for capturing him alive… that is impossible in Night City. We deeply apologize, Lord Saburo. Our incompetence."
After speaking, both men bowed to Saburo at a full ninety degrees.
Saburo Arasaka sighed softly after hearing their analysis and waved his hand, signaling them to stand.
"Forget it. I was being unrealistic…"
Although he said this, the desire in Saburo's eyes for those powerful PROJECT cyberwares was impossible to hide.
Ever since learning that his life could continue through Yorinobu's body, his desire for greater power had become unavoidable.
"By the way, what is the status of the person we sent to negotiate with PROJECT?"
Takemura slowly shook his head, indicating that they had received no communication from the envoy.
Saburo Arasaka frowned.
He immediately ordered someone to connect the communication line. He intended to speak directly with the other side.
As the massive screen unfolded, the connection was established.
However, the face that appeared on the screen was somewhat unexpected.
Saburo Arasaka suppressed the flicker of surprise in his eyes almost instantly.
"I truly didn't expect we would meet this way. Mr. Roland Vilmers, founder of PROJECT."
"I didn't expect it either. For Mr. Saburo himself to contact me personally—what an honor."
Although Roland said this, his eyes showed no surprise at all. There wasn't even the slightest ripple of emotion.
"Your story is truly legendary, Mr. Roland. Rising from nothing and step by step becoming a dominant force of today… it is truly admirable."
Saburo Arasaka smiled warmly as he spoke.
There was none of the domineering aura one would expect from the emperor of Arasaka. Instead, he looked like nothing more than an ordinary old man.
Roland narrowed his eyes, silently cursing the old fox.
But he had no intention of wasting time exchanging empty pleasantries.
So he spoke directly.
"Mr. Saburo Arasaka, I think we can be straightforward. The person you sent is already in my custody."
"So regarding your conditions… I have no intention of accepting them."
Saburo Arasaka's eyes instantly turned cold.
However, he still didn't lash out. After all, he was the one asking for something.
"In that case, Mr. Roland, tell me your conditions."
"As long as it is something I can accomplish, I will accept it."
...
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