Chapter 312
2-IN-1 chapter
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A nervous Dante asked the driver, "Can the car still run?"
The driver shook his head. "No. Even if we push it back on track, the smart driving system is completely offline. It won't start."
"Then call a Delamain cab… no, better make it two."
After giving the order to his men, Dante turned to Leo.
"Mr. Leo, should we leave here first?"
Dante looked uneasy. It wasn't surprising. He had once been part of the Valentinos and had seen plenty of violence back then, but that was more than twenty years ago.
Though built like a basketball star, and still physically fit, Dante had just gone through a firefight—it was only natural for his nerves to be frayed.
Even without military training, he could tell this elevated highway was a bad place to linger.
If there were snipers around, they'd have nowhere to take cover.
His suggestion was reasonable—and coincided with Leo's own thoughts. Leo nodded.
"Alright, then we'll… wait a second."
From the corner of his eye, Leo spotted another vehicle overturned behind theirs—a yellow Thorton Galena.
A woman in a medical center jacket lay on the ground nearby—likely thrown out during the crash. Inside the car was a bloodied teenage boy, probably her son.
Leo scanned them both with his tactical goggles and confirmed they were still alive. He breathed a silent sigh of relief.
He had agreed with Dante that they shouldn't remain here—but this changed things.
"Jackie, V, Lucy—you three escort Mr. González and José out of here first."
The three were stunned.
"What about you?"
"They got hurt because of us. I'm staying to call Trauma Team's AV for them."
Dante warned, "Mr. Leo, people like them probably don't even have a basic Trauma Team subscription. They might not even afford the AV's fuel charge."
"I know," Leo said calmly. "That's why I'm staying—to pay their medical costs."
"If you insist on staying, then I—"
"No, Mr. González, your concerns were correct. This place isn't safe. We don't know if any enemies are still hiding nearby. For your safety, you should leave immediately."
"…I understand. Please be careful, Mr. Leo. Also—I can't let you pay their medical bills. The attack was because of me. If anyone should cover the costs, it should be me."
Dante's blue cyber-eyes flashed, and Leo received a confirmation text from the bank: a $€100,000 transfer.
As Jackie, V, and Lucy walked the Gonzálezes away, Leo contacted Trauma Team's emergency line.
Three minutes later, the AV arrived—right on time.
You didn't need to be a subscriber to call Trauma Team. At its core, it was still a business. Just like an ambulance, if you could pay, they would show up—membership or not.
Leo assisted the medics in loading Gloria and David into the AV and paid the fuel and estimated treatment costs on the team leader's tablet.
He also left his contact number in case the actual treatment exceeded what he paid—Trauma Team could call him for the rest.
Watching the AV slowly rise and fly off toward the Trauma Team hospital hub, Leo ordered a Delamain cab to take him to Konpeki Plaza.
When Leo arrived, he saw Dante and his son waiting outside the building instead of going in. As soon as Dante saw Leo get out of the cab, he rushed over with his son—faster even than Jackie and the others.
Upon learning from Leo that Trauma Team had taken the mother and son to the hospital, and that the bill was covered, Dante—familiar with Trauma Team procedures—insisted again that Leo bill him for anything extra.
Leo nodded and said he would.
After that, everyone followed Dante inside Konpeki Plaza, fully indulging in the five-star luxury experience.
Besides the previous time when they'd come here to talk business with Dante, Leo's only other visit had been the infamous mission to steal the Relic containing Johnny Silverhand's engram from Arasaka Yorinobu's penthouse suite.
Following that incident, Leo, V, and Lucy had made a deal with Yorinobu.
Arasaka didn't put a bounty on them, which meant they could return to Konpeki Plaza openly, without fear of being flagged as hostiles.
No doubt, Konpeki's pricing was sky-high—but the food was excellent.
As a top-tier international hotel, it didn't just offer Japanese cuisine, but also Chinese, Korean, French, Italian, Indian, and many other styles.
The next day, Dante even invited everyone to spend some time at Clouds—but Leo turned him down.
There would be chances to visit a place like that in the future.
Right now, he had more important things to handle.
Before leaving, he had bought a large plot of land outside the city in Rocky Ridge as the headquarters for Aurora PMC.
He'd been away long enough. Leo was eager to see how construction had progressed.
Of course, it hadn't even been a full month since they'd left Night City.
Leo knew even with 2077's tech, they weren't building at spacefaring-civilization speeds.
At best, maybe they had cleared the ruins and begun groundwork—it'd still look like a construction site.
Even so, he wanted to go. It was his company, his project, and his dream.
So he declined Dante's invitation, got into the Delamain Dante had ordered, and returned to Rocky Ridge with V and Lucy.
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Panam once said, there were thousands of ghost towns like Rocky Ridge across the country.
After sundown, when everything quieted down, you'd know if it was a ghost town—just listen.
What would you hear?
The rattle of wind slapping against boarded-up windows. The rustle of tumbleweeds rolling across dry earth.
No big crashes. Just low groans and soft wails.
That's what gave ghost towns their name.
But Rocky Ridge had changed drastically.
Every building had been razed. Construction crews moved like ants, clearing debris from the flattened structures.
At the edge of town, rows of portable cabins had been set up—bunkhouses for the crews to sleep and eat.
"Hey, boss—you're back."
Panam was on sentry duty today. She spotted the incoming Delamain early, and rushed over to greet the trio the moment they got out.
Leo said nothing. He just kept staring at her.
Panam grew uneasy. "What? Do I have something on my face?"
"No. You're just… not quite what I expected. I thought you'd still call me by my name."
Panam smirked, hands on hips.
"Hey, things are different now. You pay my salary—I'm not dumb enough to piss you off. I know some people are real petty—smiling to your face and badmouthing you behind your back."
"Don't take it personally. I wasn't talking about you, boss."
Leo chuckled. He knew Panam wasn't the type to think this far ahead. Mitch and Scorpion probably coached her on it.
And that made sense—those two were her closest friends in the Aldecaldos. She didn't care about the rest.
"Where is everyone?"
"Scorpion and Mitch are on watch in other sectors. The rest are off-shift. We rotate in three shifts—eyes on 24/7."
"Good work," Leo nodded.
Choosing the Aldecaldos instead of city mercs had been the right call.
They'd lived up to his trust.
The difference between city mercs and the Aldecaldos was like U.S. vs. Russian contractors in the real world.
Most clients preferred Russians—not because they were better fighters, but because they were cheaper, despite having similar military backgrounds.
The Aldecaldos were the same. They didn't like dealing with city folks, didn't know market rates, and rarely got high-paying jobs.
But they had mouths to feed, entire families counting on them—so they had no choice but to take whatever work they could find.
Now that Leo was paying them handsomely, they were determined to prove they were worth every eddie.
"Even the Raffen shivs aren't showing up? Aren't they usually…"
Panam cut in with a smile.
"Raffen shivs don't pick up just any garbage. Maybe you didn't know, but there are several real trash mountains outside the city—and I mean that literally. Giant heaps of waste piled so high they look like actual mountains."
"Most of that trash comes from Charter Hill and North Oak. A lot of it's still usable, so the Raffen shiv all head there instead. That's why none of them are coming out here."
Leo nodded.
He had hired Panam and her crew precisely to prevent interference from the Raffen Shiv or any scav groups. Even if no one showed up and it looked like a waste of money, Leo considered it paying for peace of mind.
It was just like buying medical insurance. Some people regret it when they stay healthy and think it's wasted money.
But the second they cancel it, something always seems to happen.
That's just how it works sometimes.
Leo didn't mind spending a little on this—no trouble showing up was the best-case scenario.
"You've worked hard. When we're back in the city, I'll treat you all to a proper meal."
Panam's eyes lit up.
"Really? Where? Just don't take us to some fancy place. They're a pain—too complicated, too little food, and way too expensive. I hate that. I like those tiny hole-in-the-wall spots—the kind that look sketchy but taste amazing…"
Leo hadn't expected Panam to be such a hidden foodie. You wouldn't know it from looking at her.
After she finished, Leo smiled and said, "You pick the place. By the way, where's the construction foreman? Tell him to come see me."
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A few minutes later, a middle-aged man wearing a safety helmet appeared before Leo.
"Give me a status report on the construction."
"Yes, sir," the foreman replied seriously. "After multiple rounds of site surveys, we've come to the conclusion that the original layout and urban planning of Rocky Ridge Mountain is highly irrational. It might have barely worked as a low-income settlement, but for a corporate facility—especially one with potential military functions—it's completely inadequate."
"Therefore, our engineering team has drawn up a new plan. I'm sending it to your tactical goggles now."
The blueprints appeared on Leo's display, and the foreman continued.
"As a company, an administrative building is essential. But since we're outside of Night City, there's no need for it to be tall. We believe a height of four to five stories is sufficient for operational needs."
"This area will be the residential zone. To maintain morale and mental health, we recommend two-bedroom units. Of course, if you feel that's too much land usage, we can switch to more compact four-bedroom units—or even eight-bedroom units if necessary."
"If you insist on downsizing, we suggest stopping at four. Eight-bedroom units are simply too cramped. They'd strain your employees physically and mentally and wouldn't allow proper rest or relaxation."
"But the final decision is yours. We're only offering suggestions."
"This area here is designated for a shooting range. While there are plenty of smart weapons on the market now, not even megacorps can afford to issue them to every employee."
"Furthermore, smart weapons can be countered. Cyberware manufacturers now sell smart-weapon jamming modules, which, when implanted, seriously reduce smart weapon accuracy."
"That's why it's still important to have a shooting range for practical marksmanship training. In fact, many weapon stores in Night City have their own ranges for this exact reason."
"This section is planned as a VR training room. In simple terms, it's a simulated environment that can replicate a variety of conditions—indoor, outdoor, urban, rural, wilderness, desert, day, night, snowstorms, cold nights—whatever you need."
"These are the essential facilities we believe any private military company should have. If you have anything to add or revise, we're happy to adjust."
Leo reviewed the plans carefully and grew more satisfied the longer he looked.
The team had been recommended by Rogue, and it showed—they were professional and reliable.
In fact, they had thought of more than Leo expected. He decided to go with their proposed layout.
His company didn't have many people yet, but these facilities would be more than enough for now. When the team grew, they could expand later.
Besides, he had already purchased large tracts of land around Rocky Ridge Mountain. There was no rush to develop everything at once.
If he had one suggestion, it would be about the VR training room.
T-Bug had once shown him a very basic kind of VR training chip.
It didn't even require a braindance headset—you just slotted it into your neural interface.
It worked like a braindance, except instead of watching through an actor's eyes, the user had full freedom of movement.
But what the foreman described wasn't some cheap, plug-and-play chip. This was high-end gear—able to simulate fully realistic environments, the kind used by megacorps. That level of VR system required an actual training facility.
Leo didn't have one of those yet, but he wasn't in a rush. He'd have the team build the room first.
After that, he left the foreman to his work and made a call to T-Bug.
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