Jefferson, Holt, Stout, and the Arasaka representative—all of them remained silent in unspoken agreement.
This matter could be resolved peacefully.
No one really knew why Arasaka had sailed in a carrier group, but after all, Arasaka was a Japanese corporation. As terrifying as a supercarrier was, in North America, the New United States didn't face the same challenges in projecting military power across oceans. Plus, they had support from flying fortresses.
So while both sides ramped up their investments, the balance remained, just at a much higher cost.
Both Arasaka and Militech understood this. Neither side said much, simply fixing their eyes on Lane.
No one knew what they were thinking, but Lane felt a chill run down his spine, though by now, he was used to that feeling.
"Good. We can discuss the details later. After all, this meeting isn't over yet."
Lane said this easily, smoothly transitioning to the next agenda item.
Pushing the megacorporations to invest more resources meant Night City would only grow wealthier—
Of course, it would also become more dangerous.
The escalation of conflict intensity wasn't all good news. As Holt had pointed out earlier, it was the countless small and mid-sized businesses that were Night City's primary taxpayers.
The megacorporations only held a fraction of their assets in Night City. Even if they lost everything here, the worst they'd do is pull out. Whether Night City lived or died didn't matter to them.
But the many local businesses—if the city's current order collapsed or faced drastic changes—could be wiped out overnight.
Even though they had no seats in the council, Lane knew he had to represent them to some extent, because they were the ones who least wanted to see Night City go up in flames.
The situation was already growing dangerously unstable.
Militech and Arasaka had a long-standing grudge. Petrochem's old rival, Sohu Petrochem, was now trying to breach Night City's markets by exploiting patent safety incidents.
And according to Netwatch intel, the mercenaries involved might not just be backed by Sohu—they could include support from other parts of Europe.
If Europe really was getting involved, then companies like EBM (Euro Business Machines) and IEC (International Electric Corporation) might be backing them.
One wrong move—
Night City would find itself attracting several giants who had all previously started corporate wars, and they were all old enemies.
Militech vs. Arasaka, Petrochem vs. SovOil, and possibly some of Europe's biggest players.
Compared to the wordplay and grandstanding in the council, this was what truly stressed Lane out.
The eyes of the megacorps were both opportunity and threat. Drawing investment was like grabbing fire with bare hands—and he had to prepare backup plans:
Give these heavily armed giants a new battlefield.
"The details can be drawn up later. Let's move on to the second topic—about the Pacifica District.
"I'm considering whether we should reevaluate our strategic stance on Pacifica. As everyone knows, after the Unification War, many plots of land there were abandoned by bankrupt developers."
Everyone in the room perked up in surprise—Lane's words caught them off guard.
Pacifica, as the largest district in Night City, had once been full of promise. It was supposed to be developed into a world-class financial, commercial, and tourist hub.
Instead, the Unification War had turned it into a lawless zone, completely abandoned by the city government.
In fact, city authorities had long stopped compiling crime statistics there—no statistics meant zero crime rate!
This tactic had been Lane's own idea. He'd used it to artificially lower Night City's overall crime rate by several points.
Now he was talking about going back into Pacifica?
Regardless, this presented an opportunity. The only real obstacle was a special area within Pacifica: Dogtown.
Lane's cybernetic eye lit up as he transmitted a recent investigation report on Pacifica to the meeting participants—
Yes, recent. Which meant, despite officially abandoning the district, Lane had been watching it all along.
The most eye-catching detail: Lane hinted that Dogtown might be preparing for another large-scale underground gathering.
Such gatherings were prime opportunities for smuggling and covert logistics operations.
Lane had agreed to increased corporate investment—and now, he'd handed them a new stage.
The council representatives exchanged glances with their aides via implants, silently thinking:
What a scheming old fox. Dogtown is even messier than Night City.
After sending out the files, Lane leaned back in his chair.
"We have plenty of work ahead. Perhaps some of you already have ideas?"
The neural implants of the council representatives began whirring at high speed. A new round of discussion was about to begin.
Lane knew—once again—he wouldn't need to say much.
As for whether this powder keg known as Night City—now packed full of explosives—would blow to pieces?
He could only hope the one who survived in the end was someone local.
After all, he was a politician, not a warrior.
But even he knew—that hope was slim.
"Vote for Peralez!"
What a coincidence.
Leo had just gotten out of the Delamain cab and looked up—only to remember:
This was H4 Megabuilding, where David and his mom lived.
H4 was located on the western edge of Santo Domingo. Just across the bridge to the north was Westbrook's upscale district—so this was a working-class neighborhood, bordering the main city zones.
People who were too poor for Westbrook but better off than the rest of Santo Domingo often chose to live here. It was far from many jobs, but had good subway access.
Leo and V lived in H10 Megabuilding in Little China. Even though there were still homeless loiterers and the NCPD sirens occasionally wailed through the streets—
It was still much better than H4.
Outside H10, the people might be rough, but their eyes still gleamed with calculation and cunning.
Outside H4, people sat on curbs drooling, wearing scavs' discarded braindance gear. Some were even half-naked, with heavy-duty cybercannons between their legs fitted with… vibrating toys.
More people here were completely lost to cheap pleasures.
In the elevator, campaign ads for Jefferson Peralez played on loop. To a first-time visitor to Night City, the ads would seem puzzling:
"Regular citizens don't even have voting rights—so who is Peralez campaigning to?"
"Do the corps assign their votes based on TV ads?"
Stick around long enough, and you'll understand—
Thanks to Night City's "fine traditions," some armed individuals could vote with bullets.
If you really hated a candidate—
You could shoot someone who disagreed with you.
So propaganda? Let's just say it had a… nuanced purpose.
Ding.
The elevator stopped. Leo stepped out and looked up toward Kanek's apartment.
And wouldn't you know it—he spotted someone familiar:
David, looking miserable, was following behind his mom. Still in slippers, scowling as he trailed her.
His mother, Gloria, carried a bag of something, heading straight for Kanek's apartment?
Just as Leo was about to step forward, Little Octopus poked him.
Little Octopus: "Boss, someone tampered with the building's surveillance. Both timestamps and footage are off."
Little Octopus: "Trauma Team's here too."
Ding—
Another elevator behind him opened. Two men in standard Trauma Team uniforms stepped out and headed toward Kanek's unit.
Leo's eyes narrowed. He slowed his steps.
Leo: "What kind of tampering?"
Little Octopus: "One segment is duplicated. High probability this 'Kanek' guy has already skipped out."