Jackie carried the case and walked at the front, moving with his usual big, blunt swagger.
V followed second, quietly watching everything around them.
Luo Qi trailed behind in silence.
"Welcome to Konpeki Pla—"
The attendant had only just bent at the waist in greeting when Luo Qi's gaze cut him off.
What kind of look was that?
It was like staring into the eyes of a mad demon ready to devour someone alive.
For the moment, that thing was still hidden beneath the surface of a body that looked calm and human.
The attendant had seen eyes like that before—at his young master's side, on the legendary mercenary Adam Smasher.
But Smasher's stare was cold, mechanical, utterly devoid of emotion.
Luo Qi's eyes, dark and black as night, held something else.
Something terrifying.
Something almost indescribably savage.
What kind of monsters did the corporate elite bargain with every day?
Without showing it, the attendant swallowed and forced his professional smile back into place.
"Welcome to Konpeki Plaza. Please form a line and proceed one at a time."
Security in the lobby was simple in principle. You just walked between two pillars and stood still while the scanners swept over you.
The equipment hidden inside those columns was a perfect illustration of modern elegance. Exposed pipes, visible wiring, and bare structural steel—the sort of style some places passed off as "industrial chic"—would have been dismissed by Arasaka as cheap and crude.
"Sure thing, bro—uh, sir," Jackie answered instinctively, broad and easygoing as ever.
Being spoken to politely meant replying politely in turn, while staying in character and matching the status of his fake identity. For a guy who had spent two or three decades running around the streets, that was genuinely asking a lot.
Beep beep beep…
A red scan line lit up, accompanied by a soft warning tone.
If this had been some old Soviet-style installation, there would probably already have been at least two turrets, three machine guns, and ten blinding red alarm lamps spinning and screaming around them.
"Ahem, one moment. There's a problem." A guard in sunglasses lifted a hand to stop Jackie, his face stiff. "Sir, would you care to explain why you are attempting to bring a combat robot into Konpeki Plaza property?"
"We are… weapons merchants." Seeing Jackie stiffen a little, V immediately stepped in, speaking in the measured tone T-Bug had prepared for their fake identities.
"Hmm? What was that?" the guard asked. He hadn't quite caught it.
At that moment, a concierge in luxurious formal wear and a golden mask walked over, PDA in hand, checking a message as he approached.
"Ahh~ You are here to meet Takigawa-sama, yes?"
The Japanese inflection in his voice was so strong Luo Qi could practically smell sushi wafting out of it.
And for some reason, whenever he thought of Japan, his first association was not cherry blossoms or Mount Fuji, but the terrible street-stall sushi downstairs that tasted bad enough to make a person crawl around on the floor in despair.
"Ahh~ This was our mistake. Please accept our apologies."
The concierge bowed deeply and elegantly, so flawlessly courteous that even an irritated guest would have trouble staying angry.
Sure enough, the more luxurious and refined the place, the more emphasis it placed on making the guest feel well cared for.
"Your etiquette department is doing very good work," Luo Qi said, unable not to admire it, even if this was enemy territory.
"To receive your praise is our greatest honor."
The concierge replied in that same sushi-scented accent.
"The scan will not take long, sir." The guard motioned for V and Luo Qi to proceed.
Now that they had a legitimate explanation, the rest went smoothly.
"This way, please."
"Konnichi-wa. Welcome to Konpeki Plaza."
The young woman at the reception desk, also wearing a gold mask, greeted them sweetly.
The next part of the process fell to V. Using the name reserved for their cover identities, he booked them a single large-bed suite. Three men sharing one room looked suspiciously intimate on paper, but given that they were here on business, and the suite was only meant as a temporary base of operations, it did not seem too strange.
"Very well… I will notify Takigawa-san that the three of you have arrived. Please wait just a moment."
The receptionist suddenly said something that made all three of them flinch internally.
"No need to bother him with that." V lifted a hand and gave a small, elegant wave of refusal. "We'll return to our room first to freshen up. We can go see him ourselves afterward."
"But… Takigawa-san is waiting for you, is he not?" the receptionist asked, puzzled.
"Señorita, do you know how long we've been on the road? Eighteen hours from New Barcelona!"
Jackie launched into the line with ridiculous drama, making it sound vivid enough to believe.
At once, Luo Qi was reminded of Jackie's wild acting performance back when Watson had been locked down and he'd been putting on a whole show for that NCPD officer.
"And there was a cyberpsycho at the Meta terminal who blew himself into pieces. Delayed us for quite a while…"
"Yes. It was… very frightening," V added with a perfectly solemn face.
"I told them they should have let me go over and kill him. Then none of this would have happened."
Standing off to the side, Luo Qi raised his eyes and spoke in a low, eerie tone.
"…!"
The receptionist visibly jolted.
Her mask hid her face, but she probably shivered.
In that instant she mentally sorted Luo Qi into the same category as the company's black-ops killers and those bodyguards who moved around like carved stone.
"Y-yes… of course. We understand."
Oscar-worthy acting.
Jackie shot Luo Qi a look that clearly said, holy shit, you're unbelievable.
Meanwhile Luo Qi desperately wanted to strike a pose and say: I am an assassin. I have no feelings.
"Your room is ready. The Lapis Lazuli Suite on the forty-second floor." The receptionist resumed typing. "There is just one small final step… please verify your SID chip."
As she said it, she stole a nervous glance at Luo Qi.
It was a completely standard procedure and entirely reasonable, but she was clearly still afraid of him.
After a brief chorus of beeps and chimes, V withdrew his hand.
"Everything is in order. We wish you a pleasant day. G-goodbye."
Her perfect tone finally cracked, just a little.
"Let's go." Jackie strutted ahead as if he had already gotten used to this kind of place. "What do you think, Harry?"
"Hm?" V looked at him, puzzled.
"Classy. Comfortable. Not at all like that hotel we stayed in when we had that meeting in Zurich."
Luo Qi was now completely convinced Jackie had real talent for performance. The moment he got into character, there was no stopping him.
With a better upbringing, he might have become a famous comic actor, beloved by the whole city.
Instead of…
Luo Qi's face, which had only just relaxed a little, stiffened again.
He sighed and walked on under the soothing lights, past carefully arranged greenery full of lush life.
He had thought this whole trip might actually go smoothly this time—maybe even lightly, maybe even cheerfully, in the literal sense—but in the end he had still overestimated his own ability to handle the pressure.
The dense network of cameras.
The meticulous security.
The seamless and polished structure of the building.
What did it feel like?
Like a ball of tangled yarn with needle-sharp spikes hidden inside it.
Like distorted rock music.
Like a hawk launching straight into the sky.
Like clear spring water dripping over stone.
Like a truck thundering across an endless interstate highway, smashing through a fragile planet, plunging into glaciers, and finally crashing across a green plain.
"Hey. Hey, Luo—Erwin."
At last, V reached out and waved a hand in front of Luo Qi's face, dragging his wandering mind back.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing. Just thought of something." Luo Qi waved it off.
They passed a brilliantly lit bar decked out in impeccable style. The lighting came from flowing gradients of vivid neon, the shifts in color carrying a kind of deliberate aesthetic beauty. The people coming and going certainly looked refined enough, but who could say how much truth there was in the smiles they exchanged over drinks?
The lights were red. The alcohol was green.
It really was a literal case of "wine and red lights."
Luo Qi smiled to himself.
"Welcome to Konpeki Plaza," said one of the bar hostesses. "Without a weekday reservation, you may choose any available table. Or would you prefer a seat at the bar?"
"This place looks great," Jackie said, happily glancing back at V and Luo Qi. "Someday I should bring Misty here. After we, y'know… finish this job."
Luo Qi glanced toward the lounge seating area.
That guy—Kojima Hideyoshi—wasn't sitting there with his legs crossed.
"Don't worry. You will." Luo Qi said. "You will."
Suddenly, as if an east wind had blown through overnight, ten thousand blooming death flags burst across his vision.
After sentencing the scriptwriter to death for the thousand-and-first time in his heart, Luo Qi patted Jackie on the shoulder.
Once they entered the elevator and found themselves alone, Jackie started showing off.
"So? I'm in a suit now. Heh heh heh. Tell me honestly—do I look good?"
"You know… actually, yeah. Not bad at all. You've really got the look," V said, giving him an appraising once-over.
He truly did.
Seen properly, Jackie actually carried it off.
"Well, obviously. I'm a natural clothes hanger. Anything looks good on me." Jackie was starting to float.
"Yeah, yeah." Luo Qi finally laughed and pointed at him.
When they stepped out of the elevator, a television behind the counter was playing a documentary about Saburo Arasaka. The black-and-white footage gave off the unmistakable feel of a century-old past.
History belonged to the victor.
Saburo Arasaka had won. He had inherited his father's will, expanded it, and forged an empire of terrifying power.
So he was no longer merely the pilot crippled after being shot down by the Americans in the Second World War.
He was the emperor of the Arasaka Empire.
"Alright, here we are. The Lapis Lazuli Suite."
Jackie stopped at the door and said it with a little awe.
"Fancy as hell. Shame we can't actually stay the night. Good taste, Bug."
Carrying the Flathead case, Jackie stepped inside.
A massive built-in aquarium stretched across one wall. The windows beyond looked directly out over Arasaka Harbor. The carpet was soft and even, the furnishings immaculate and refined.
Yes.
This was one of those absurdly expensive suites the three of them could never have afforded on their own.
"I didn't choose it because it was fancy. It gives the fastest access to the subnet and the server system," T-Bug said.
"Yeah, yeah, I remember." Jackie was immediately shut down.
The Flathead crawled nimbly out of the case and entered calibration mode.
"The vent's here." Luo Qi stepped over and nudged a panel in the corner with his foot as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Well damn. Better eyes than Kiroshi," Jackie said in surprise.
Unfortunately, fate was not inclined to cooperate. In automatic mode, the Flathead got stuck in the ventilation duct, forcing V to switch to manual control.
Now linked into the camera feeds of each room, V started to look dizzy. Luo Qi caught him, guided him over to the sofa, and sat him down.
"V, from here on, tell me what's happening in every room you pass. I need it."
"We don't have time to waste. We need to move fast," T-Bug objected immediately.
"No, T-Bug." Luo Qi pressed a finger to his Bluetooth earpiece. "This could be very important."
"…Fine. But make it quick," T-Bug relented.
Wasting time meant more danger and more uncertainty. Everyone knew that, Luo Qi included. But he still had his reasons.
"One naked joytoy and the customer who can't wait to get to work," V reported.
The feed switched.
"One guy waving his arms like he's arguing about something. The other one's sitting there ignoring him."
Another switch.
"Okay, the view's clear," V said to T-Bug. Then suddenly he frowned. "Wait. These people…"
"You can't just throw citizens out of their own homes, their own offices…" V continued, relaying what he was hearing. "It's some fat man in a suit… I remember him now. That's Night City's mayor, Lucius Rhyne!"
"HOLY— That's it! That's exactly him!" Luo Qi's eyes lit up, and he slammed a hand down on the table. "Quick! T-Bug, route that feed to me. That's what I needed!"
"Fine, but from here on we talk through everything first. Don't make any decisions on your own," T-Bug said as she worked. "Done. You getting the signal?"
On the tabletop, Luo Qi's PDA now displayed a live camera image from another suite.
The curtains were drawn, leaving the room dim. Its structure looked much like the Lapis Lazuli Suite they were in now.
A pudgy black-haired man in sunglasses—the current mayor of Night City, Lucius Rhyne, who was constantly appearing on the news.
On the couch facing the camera sat a bald man in a suit, rubbing his chin in thought.
Deputy Mayor Weldon Holt.
Two bodyguards stood by the door.
And with their backs to the camera stood a well-dressed man and woman, conducting a measured, orderly discussion with two of the city's biggest names.
"Arasaka will provide full compensation for all damages."
"This isn't about the money." The mayor sounded anxious. He paced while smoking, then finally sat down. "Elections are coming. What are people going to think of me? They'll say I can't even keep Watson under control—and I'm from there!"
"One week. That's all the time we can give you," the deputy mayor said flatly from the side.
"We will do what we can. That is all I can promise." The Arasaka woman on the negotiating side sighed and accepted the terms.
Luo Qi opened his mouth.
Then swallowed with painful difficulty.
"What's with you?" Jackie, already thrilled at the sight of major political figures conducting a secret deal, noticed that Luo Qi's expression had become deeply ugly.
"The Watson lockdown… it was the mayor's order. Arasaka requested it." Luo Qi didn't answer Jackie directly. He was muttering to himself now, sinking into pure analysis. "Arasaka wants time. Their stance is firm. They don't care about compensation…"
He dropped the PDA. His breathing started to quicken.
"Oh, no."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 119)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter79)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter125)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 73
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 55
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 66
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 63
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 55
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 31
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 31
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 31
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