"Chairman Yorinobu, can you gather some intelligence? It's not good for us to just sit here and wait like this."
A handsome middle-aged shareholder straightened his clothes, then immediately stood up and addressed Yorinobu Arasaka.
"Alright."
"Then I'll consult my intelligence network."
After thinking for a moment, Yorinobu immediately sent a message to Xiao, asking about the entire situation.
The reply came quickly.
You'd better not be involved in this.
Along with the message came a video.
It showed the interior of the abandoned car factory in eastern Santo Domingo.
The moment Yorinobu finished watching it, his fist slammed into the desk.
Bang—!
The entire desk shattered.
"Bastards…"
His face darkened with fury.
As a self-proclaimed fighter for the people—Night City's own Che Guevara—the thing Yorinobu hated most was human experimentation.
And this—
this was far beyond ordinary cruelty.
It had crossed his absolute bottom line.
This time, no matter who was involved, every single participant had to die.
Although he had always known his company had its share of dirty business, even he had never expected something this deranged.
They had actually set their sights on the Mechanical Cultivators.
This was practically a crime against heaven itself.
Yorinobu clenched his fists tightly.
His heart burned with rage.
If there wasn't a major corporation pushing this from behind the scenes, he wouldn't believe it even if someone beat him to death.
The scale of the experiment alone was impossible for the Scavengers to support.
The sheer quantity and quality of the materials.
The completeness of the lab setup.
Even the presence of top-tier nano-DNA scalpels.
Those bottom-feeding Scavs could spend a lifetime harvesting kidneys and still never touch equipment of that level.
Yorinobu slowly stood up.
His face was filled with killing intent.
His bloodshot eyes swept across every director present.
Then he sent the video to all of them.
"Whoever is involved in this—step forward now."
"Do it before the saints of the Mechanicus arrive."
His voice was ice cold.
"Don't drag your families down with you."
"You all know how the Mechanicus handles these matters."
"They will never let anyone involved walk away."
The meaning was obvious.
If they stepped forward voluntarily, only they would die.
Yorinobu could still protect their families.
But if the Mechanicus dragged them out themselves—
their entire bloodline would be buried with them.
At that moment, the entire conference room fell into a suffocating silence.
Human experimentation was strictly forbidden.
Once exposed, no corporation would protect those responsible.
No one would go to war with the Mechanicus over this.
The culprits would simply be thrown out as scapegoats.
Normally, corporations could still save face and quietly settle matters.
But the Mechanicus was different.
They would investigate everything.
Read every memory.
Search every prisoner.
Dig out every hidden hand behind the scenes.
Then erase them all.
"This…"
"Yorinobu, you're underestimating us."
"How could we possibly be involved in something this filthy?"
"It must be the subordinates acting on their own."
The shareholders and directors remained calm on the surface.
None of them appeared panicked.
Because in truth, most of them genuinely knew nothing about it.
Nor had they ever given any such instructions.
But in the corporate world, radical subordinates often took initiative in order to gain favor.
They misread the intentions of their superiors.
Did things no one had actually ordered.
And sometimes went far beyond what anyone could control.
"I hope so."
Yorinobu's expression remained cold.
If they truly had nothing to do with it, then naturally that was for the best.
But sometimes, not being directly involved did not mean they could stay out of it.
Everything now depended on the attitude of the Mechanicus.
After the memory searches—
whether the cult chose to let it pass,
or followed the trail and wiped everyone out—
would depend entirely on their mood.
The people in the room clearly understood this.
Immediately, calls began going out.
Each shareholder started contacting their own subordinates.
Some visibly relaxed after finishing their calls.
Others turned pale.
Clearly, their own people had already been dragged into it.
"You will go explain yourselves to the Mechanicus."
Yorinobu closed his eyes and spoke decisively.
"Whether you live or die depends on your own fortune."
"I will ensure your families remain safe."
There was no room for negotiation.
"We are deeply grateful."
Those shareholders immediately gathered the people involved, along with their assets and subordinates, and hurried off to negotiate.
Thanks to receiving the information early, Yorinobu had been able to respond quickly.
Other corporations, however, were in complete chaos.
At this moment, they were still scrambling in panic.
Some were already setting up emergency defenses in preparation for a possible assault by the Mechanicus.
Naturally, they didn't sit still.
Calls immediately flooded toward Rogue, hoping she might know what was happening.
But the Holy War had begun so suddenly that even Rogue had received no prior notice.
She herself was still confused.
Fortunately, with her connections, she managed to contact the upper echelons of the Mechanicus and obtain the crucial video.
After watching it, she fell silent for several seconds.
Then she let out a long sigh.
"How are there this many idiots in the world…"
If the Scavengers had merely been harvesting organs or producing illegal black braindance recordings, the Mechanicus wouldn't even bother with them.
But this—
this involved human experimentation.
And even worse—
they had used priests who had already awakened primal power and divine arts.
Rogue could already imagine how the cult's madmen were going to deal with these fools.
This matter was far too big.
Even she felt it was beyond what she could handle.
She didn't even know whether leaking information ahead of time might provoke retaliation from the cult.
So, she made the most sensible choice.
She switched on Do Not Disturb and ignored every incoming call.
"See?"
"They're finished."
The moment V heard the thirty-three cathedral bells, she immediately knew.
The Mechanicus was truly enraged this time.
Not just angry.
Furious.
"I just hope my car and cargo don't get destroyed…"
Panam slumped against the steering wheel, looking completely dejected.
V shook her head.
"Don't worry."
"The Mechanicus will capture them alive first."
"Then they'll search their brains."
"Every memory."
"Every single brain cell."
"They'll dig out everyone connected to this."
"And after that…"
Her voice turned cold.
"All of Night City is going to run red with blood."
As someone who once worked in counter-intelligence, V understood the cult very well.
The Mechanicus was notoriously protective of its own.
And priests—
especially those who had mastered true divine arts—
were treated like sacred treasures.
Touching one of them was basically the same as stomping on the face of the God of All Machines himself.
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