"F***ing b****!"
Someone shouted, their voice cutting through the blast wave, hysterical and frenzied.
"Arasaka! F***, those gutless cowards, hiring Arasaka, damn it, Military Technology is a bunch of motherf***ers too, they don't even fight... that Arasaka b****! She tricked me, damn it! Nothing good ever comes when those corporate dogs show up, b****, don't let me catch you!"
A fierce-looking bald Latino strongman, carrying an MK.31 heavy machine gun, burst out, spewing profanities and rushing frantically.
Underneath his spark-ridden, worn, reddish-brown coat was a heavily modified, robust body; artificial muscle fibers, steel bones, reinforced Achilles tendons, and subcutaneous armor were clearly visible.
"Lads! Go, salvage our property! Whatever you rescue, I, 'File' Beard, am a man of my word, I'll split it with you!" the strongman roared.
In the world of street gangs, these were undoubtedly generous terms.
However, the quick-witted ones had already sensed the grim situation and began stuffing valuables into their pockets before making a run for it.
Arasaka? Asking them to stop Arasaka's people? Wasn't that just suicide?
Then there were those who, either from the thrill of the previous action, had their brains fried by drugs, or perhaps were long influenced by their gang boss's authority, were incited by him.
They showed frenzied, hyped-up expressions, grabbed their weapons, and charged into the gang camp, which was on fire from the explosion.
"Bastards, a bunch of ingrates!"
Although he was furious at those who fled, especially those he valued and had entrusted with important tasks due to their quick thinking, and wished he could blow them up and throw them into a meat grinder, Beard knew that running was paramount now.
Hopefully, those high-on-drugs subordinates could buy him some time.
With that thought, he quickly yanked open the door of a nearby customized car and Drill ed in, his crude movements making the exposed welds of the car interior rumble.
He ignited the engine, sharply turned the steering wheel, hit the gas, and accelerated into a turn.
Buzz... Buzz...
Inside the burning gang buildings, gunshots, explosions, shouts, howls, the roar of collapsing walls, and the crackling of burning construction materials were all mixed together.
Thump! Thump! Thump—
It happened in a flash, amidst the intertwining flames.
Beard saw the shifting light and shadow, the bloody and blurry scene through his rearview mirror.
At the camp entrance, a gang subordinate who had just charged in howling was pierced by a sabot round, his entire body torn in two; his torso spun limply in the air a few times before falling heavily to the ground.
God knows how abnormal the weapons of those damn Arasaka killing machines were.
His gang members were like paper, crushed by the three Arasaka Heavy Soldiers who appeared.
Literally crushed, like a meat grinder, under the firelight, shrapnel flew everywhere, and every gang member blocking the way was blown apart without exception.
Red-hot nanoblades sliced through their twisted bodies, exposing cheap cybernetic modification circuits, as easily as cutting plastic.
Under the Arasaka soldiers' iconic tactical helmets with protrusions, were blood-splattered, demonic masks, and embedded mechanical tactical visors gleamed red, staring fixedly at him.
Having witnessed the brutality of the Arasaka Heavy Soldiers, Beard felt his fully operating cybernetic spine chill, and he instinctively floored the accelerator.
He spun the steering wheel rapidly, cursing in Spanish while operating the heavy machine gun he had illegally installed on the customized car, aiming everything he could fire at the stationary Arasaka soldiers.
Wait! Stationary?
Why would they stop...
"No good!" Beard sensed something was wrong.
In an instant.
Zzz—
Beard suddenly shivered, his vision went black, as if he had been electrocuted.
His optical implant's connection circuit shorted out!
"Warning: Undergoing intrusion."
Arasaka's netrunner!
Then, bang!
A dull gunshot, the car window shattered, and Beard felt a sudden tightness in his chest, as if he had been struck hard by a spiked warhammer.
Excruciating pain surged through him, and his entire body seemed to instantly lose all strength, going limp.
The next moment, the world spun.
The uncontrolled customized car crashed directly into a trapezoidal stone block by the roadside, violently rearing up, becoming airborne, flying off the road, overturning, sliding, and finally hitting a wall.
"Ugh—"
His head felt like hazy mush; when Beard's senses returned, half of his body was already mangled.
The health monitor, which had re-established its connection and was working again, emitted a piercing hum.
That single sniper shot had opened a bowl-sized bloody hole in his chest, and his body, which was top-tier in the streets of Rio, was deformed and twisted under the impact and the crushing of the vehicle wreckage, exposing its internal mechanical structure.
White coolant and blood flowed everywhere.
Thump thump~
In his final moments, Beard saw the Arasaka Heavy Soldiers approach, and the Arasaka netrunner, who had been hidden at a high vantage point, now appeared, holding a Nekomata tech sniper rifle.
He knelt in front of Beard, then pulled out the interface for the hacker terminal on his arm, lifted Beard's blood-stained head, and forcibly connected it.
"Warning: Unauthorized access..."
Beard was speechless at this point, only able to let the Arasaka netrunner hack into him, reading data from his information database.
All his files, gang information, contingency plans, fund storage locations, and safe houses were meticulously searched and extracted.
In less than half a minute, after extracting the last drop of information, the Arasaka netrunner stood up.
"'File' Haxson Beard, executed."
The brilliant muzzle flash was exceptionally dazzling in Beard's increasingly blurry eyes.
'F*** Arasaka, f*** corporate dogs.' These were his last thoughts.
....
That evening, in Rio de Janeiro, the day-long slaughter drew to a close; overall, the riot had largely subsided, with only sporadic skirmishes remaining.
The setting sun was like blood, and the Special Rapid Response Force's cleanup operation was successfully concluded.
On the list, 1,328 marked key criminals had been executed, with countless collateral casualties.
Arasaka's prepared sweep was powerful and effective.
After the operation, the heads of various large and small gangs on the streets of Rio de Janeiro were cleared out, along with fixers, mercenaries, and those who typically had significant criminal records with corporations and the Municipal Center.
Only a very few clever individuals, lucky ones, and corporate black hands managed to escape.
"It's over."
Finally, in the early hours of the morning, the last group of Special Rapid Response Force members returned with their captured spoils.
Vera, in a crisp uniform, stood silently with her arms crossed in front of a gigantic floor-to-ceiling window that spanned an entire wall, overlooking Night City from a bird's-eye view.
The streets of Rio were devoid of lights, but the neon signs of the Municipal Center's skyscrapers flickered.
Here, it was paradise.
Outside the Municipal Center, it was a chaotic war zone, a purgatory.
In the early morning, the sun would rise as usual, but many people would not see a second dawn...
"..."
Turning around, Vera silently looked up at the internally structured skyscraper and the prominent Arasaka clover logo.
After a long while, she shifted her gaze.
"It's time to return to Night City."
Walking towards the operations center, Vera pulled up the miniature display built into her optical implant.
"This is Vera Adelheid; the Rio de Janeiro riot has been suppressed and is entering the mop-up phase."
Summary Report: Arasaka Group South America Investigation Team
[Arasaka Information Department, Operations Oversight Committee Meeting — Night City]
Executor: Vera Adelheid Russell [Arasaka Security Department, Public Security Bureau Special Rapid Response Force Team 6 — Night City]
Location: South America / Brazil / Rio de Janeiro
Mission Description: Assist Arasaka Corporation's South American branches in providing security services, suppress the riots in Brazil, and eliminate terrorist organizations hiding in Rio de Janeiro.
Time: 2074/5/24
Status: In Progress → To Be Completed
——
Chapter 002: The So-Called Vera Adelheid Russell
Northern California, Night City.
Municipal Center, Corporation Plaza.
Gray-white clouds, clustered and scattered across the sky, under the clear sky, a massive 130-story building stood like a dark, towering structure, quietly in the heart of Night City.
Compared to the adjacent Military Technology Building and Kantaou Building, its design appeared conservative and lacked individuality, composed entirely of black reinforced glass curtain walls and steel, giving off a chilling, oppressive, and somber feeling.
It could be clearly seen from most areas of Night City.
Just as its presence in Night City, no one in Night City could ignore it, not even the 'legends' who once blew it sky-high.
Arasaka Tower.
Full name: Arasaka American Division Night City Headquarters.
The tallest building in Night City, and a symbol of Night City's new militarism and Arasaka's hegemony.
Countless people hated its existence, wishing to blow it up and raze it to the ground, yet countless others yearned for it, willing to sacrifice everything just to climb Arasaka Tower, kiss its cold black marble plaque, fantasizing about making a name for themselves, getting promoted, getting rich, and becoming a person above others.
"Hey, have you heard? The South America Investigation Team just pulled off a big one, executing over a thousand criminals in Rio de Janeiro."
"Your news is outdated; I heard that the people in the Corporate Engineering and Construction Department are going crazy with work, pulling all-nighters to design the urban reconstruction plan for Rio de Janeiro, and the Market Department's negotiators have already flown to Brasilia."
"Brasilia is very satisfied with this security service; the Security Department made a killing again. They should be back soon, I guess this foreign mission bonus will be worth several months of our salaries. It seems Ms. Adelheid's next promotion isn't far off."
"No comparison, who told you the Security Department is Arasaka's favorite child? We, hehe, are like stepchildren..."
In front of the elevator leading to the Arasaka Counterintelligence Department office floor, a woman with rolled-up sleeves, wearing a wine-red office uniform and a single-sided undercut hairstyle, listened to the discussions of passing colleagues, frowned, and showed a thoughtful expression.
"Security Department... Adelheid?" she murmured to herself.
"No way, V, I remember you were also from Arasaka Tower Academy, right?"
Beside her, the woman's companion looked puzzled. "Ms. Vera Adelheid is one year older than you; she's your senior." He then added with a somewhat envious tone, teasing softly, "Speaking of which, with that connection, why don't you try? You might just open a door..."
"Get out of here!"
The woman called V turned her head at the remark; her beautiful face with sharp eyebrows instantly brought the word 'wild' to mind.
She quickly stopped her companion's unrealistic fantasy.
"Of course, I know. The top graduate of the 2073 class, even registered at Tokyo Headquarters, a promising future big shot in reserve. Me, I'm just a small fry, a '74 class intern who hasn't officially been promoted yet, I haven't even met her, so how can I make a connection?"
The current teaching model is unlike the word-of-mouth tradition of the last century.
Teacher-student and classmate friendships are very weak. Unless one is top-notch and highly valued, most classes are taught by AI.
V shook her head and said, "We're not in the same system. She studied Military and Political Management and Law, and I studied Information Communication and Intelligence. Our required and elective courses are completely different; we're worlds apart. Building connections isn't done this way."
Vera Adelheid belongs to Arasaka Corporation's largest and most famous Security Department.
She, however, joined the Counterintelligence Department.
The internal security level is high, but this department's reputation isn't very good.
"Making a rash approach would probably only bring trouble. In a company like this, if you're not close, who knows if she'd sell me out and then make me count her money? I'm not in a hurry; I'll just let nature take its course..." Saying that, V waved her hand, and just as the elevator arrived, she stepped inside.
Silence throughout the ride.
Ding.
The elevator reached the floor where the Counterintelligence Department offices were located.
"Well then, V, good luck."
"You too."
V parted ways with her companion and then walked towards her office area, where currently only her acquaintance, Harry, was at his workstation.
This rather honest-looking black man's eyes lit up when he saw V; he stood up and waved, "Hey, V, Jenkins wants to see you."
"Jenkins?" V murmured. Arthur Jenkins, an executive in the Counterintelligence Department; she had met him a few times. Could it be about her promotion? Her performance during the internship period wasn't bad.
"Harry, do you know why Jenkins wants to see me?" V asked in a low voice.
"I don't know." Harry shook his head and spread his hands, showing he had no idea; such matters were certainly not something a low-level employee like him would know.
"Alright."