Soon, PROJECT's armed forces in Night City sprang into action. The first to mobilize were the PROJECT security units deployed on the streets.
Hounds and various security robots—funded by PROJECT and assigned to the NCPD—immediately rushed toward Watson District, drawing the attention of countless NCPD officers and pedestrians along the way.
"Holy shit, what's going on?"
"Is the NCPD making some kind of big move?"
"Yeah right. Believing that is easier than believing a corporation suddenly grew a conscience. No major corporation's in trouble, so why would they act… wait, wasn't there an explosion earlier?"
"Didn't you notice? Everything moving out there belongs to PROJECT Corporation. Looks like some poor bastard's about to be screwed."
"PROJECT Corporation…"
Hearing that name didn't spark much fear among the crowd. Mostly because PROJECT Corporation hadn't been caught in any major scandals recently, and it had provided quite a bit of support to the NCPD.
Sure, there had been significant property damage when dealing with cyberpsychos, but compared to MaxTac, it was still much better…
So for the average Night City resident, PROJECT's robots had, in a way, genuinely improved public security. Overall impressions were fairly positive.
...
"Alright. Two-person teams. Each team takes one unit and clears out the Maelstrom gang inside Watson District."
Roland pulled up the map of Watson District and divided the north, east, and west sectors among Vilet, Pyke, and Kiwi. Each of them was to pick one local mercenary as a partner and lead a security robot squad to handle a sector.
He planned to hand part of the southern area over to Jhin, leaving the rest to The Mox, since they'd already infiltrated that area extensively.
As for worrying… that simply wasn't necessary. Rather than worrying about whether his people might get hurt, it made more sense to worry about whether the damage would be so excessive that he'd have to pay compensation.
This time, Roland deployed nearly one-third of the armed forces he'd accumulated in Night City over this period—yes, that one-third included the secret base.
The forces stationed at the secret base were the real heavy hitters, and it was better to keep them hidden. Otherwise, it would be hard to give the New United States and Arasaka a proper little surprise later.
Before long, under Roland's arrangements, everyone boarded the AVs and headed toward Watson District.
Roland himself returned to his office, eyes fixed on the map before him. A three-dimensional data model of Watson District unfolded in the air, with the life signals of every Maelstrom gang member clearly marked.
This was the power of AI. This time, however, it wasn't Lissandra—it was Kelly.
Roland had another reason for having Kelly handle this: he wanted to see if it might draw out the rogue AIs that had previously tried to surround and kill her.
But for now… the other side seemed completely scared stiff, showing no intention of revealing themselves.
At that moment, a large cluster of green dots appeared on the map, slowly closing in on the red dots representing Maelstrom members.
"Oh, right. Tell them to hold back a little—avoid excessive damage to buildings and the like. Except for Maelstrom strongholds, of course. Uh, and be careful with economic buildings like nightclubs."
"Understood, boss. Leave it to me."
Kelly's projection nodded before vanishing from Roland's sight.
Astat had already taken full control of all security robots and begun strategic deployment.
At this very moment, Maelstrom gang members lounging around their bases—chatting and killing time—still hadn't realized how serious the situation was.
Many of them were already high, seemingly celebrating how they'd slapped the corporation in the face and gotten away with it.
Butz, meanwhile, was leading his men as they prepared weapons and equipment. As someone higher up the chain, he understood corporate methods all too well.
They'd humiliated the corporation this time, and retaliation could come at any moment. They had to be ready for combat.
Over on Jhin's side, he directly woke up several people who hadn't been asleep for long. In response to their dazed looks, he pulled out a transfer receipt showing an enormous sum of money. Their eyes instantly snapped wide open.
"Let's move. Targets are several Maelstrom bases in the south. It's corporate work—but nobody hates money, right?"
...
"Hah! The corporation? Just a bunch of trash! Look how badass we are this time—blew their factory sky-high in one shot, and they can't do shit to us!"
A clearly high Maelstrom member waved his arms wildly as he bragged to the person next to him.
"Cut it out. The boss told us to stay alert. If something goes wrong, you'll be the first to suffer."
The man beside him shot him an exasperated look, then smacked him on the back of the head.
The guy collapsed straight backward. The sight stunned his companion.
"Hey—what, you playing dead?"
He crouched down and reached out to check on him. Suddenly, the scene shifted. His hand felt slick—and then warm. Dark red blood spread across his fingers.
He stared blankly ahead, only to see his companion looking back at him with sheer terror.
When he finally looked down, he realized his hand had already pierced straight through the other man's chest.
"Th-this… what the hell is going on…?"
Swish—
Thud!
With the sound of something landing on the ground, a mantis-shaped robot slowly retracted the blade from its arm.
[Assassination-Type Robot — Edge of Karma: Specialized in covert assassinations. Equipped with optical camouflage and a highly integrated stealth chassis. Commonly operates alongside Shadow during assassination missions. A hunter of the darkness, boasting extreme mobility and lethality. Its only drawback is its exorbitant cost.]
Pyke stood quietly outside the perimeter wall, calmly watching the scene unfold. In his line of sight, figures were falling like harvested wheat. In less than half a minute, every outer sentry post had been wiped out.
"We can move."
Pyke gave a slight wave of his hand. The security robots behind him immediately chambered their weapons. At the front, several unusually tall robots raised massive shields and cutting tools.
At that moment, the mercenary wearing a half gas mask returned, his body now splattered with fresh blood.
"Looks like we won't be needed much anymore, huh?"
"We just need to deal with the boss."
As they spoke, the lead Smasher-type robot sliced through the gate. The deafening noise immediately alerted Butz inside.
"All of you, on alert! Get ready to gun down those damn corpo dogs outside!!!"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of metal hitting the ground made Butz's pupils contract sharply.
Before he could react, a blinding flash of light filled everyone's vision.
Boom!
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser