CHAPTER 483: CHAPTER 154: I CAME OUT OF HELL

Nishijima Da Ren lay prone at the window, manning a light machine gun, continuously applying suppressive fire on the enemies approaching on the street. His entire body was covered as if brushed with wall dust, far from the majestic bearing he had when performing tasks for Huang Ban.

The air was filled with the dense sound of gunfire from the street. With enemies everywhere and no possibility of retreat, Huang Ban’s troops could only huddle in the buildings, engaging in defensive battles with those gang members and mercenary players.

Downstairs were two chemical tankers, one of which was continuously releasing toxic gas into the sewers.

In the room behind him, several severely injured agents were lying down, receiving emergency treatment from the medical team.

The observer on the roof suddenly shouted, "Another batch of mercenaries is approaching from the street 600 meters ahead, numbers unknown!"

This was the third report of reinforcements in ten minutes, no doubt adding insult to injury to the already crumbling defensive line.

"Damn it!"

A wounded soldier with bloodshot eyes and a severed hand clenched his fist and pounded the floor.

"If only we could get heavy weapons into the city, these guys wouldn’t be so arrogant!"

Such a level of chaos has been rare in Night City’s history. The Huang Ban intelligence department never anticipated the situation would escalate to this extent.

People have even dared to use hovercars to bomb the Huang Ban waterfront and crash into the Ganbi Mansion, something unheard of. You wouldn’t see them doing this in Night City with military technology either.

Utterly lawless!

These are no ordinary terrorists anymore.

"It’s okay." Nishijima Da Ren reassured, "Once the contents in the truck are fully released, even if these guys survive today, their future won’t be easy. That’s the price of crossing us Huang Ban."

"I really don’t understand why they refuse to accept the teachings of Huang Ban Sanlang-sama. Clearly, if they just complied, they could live well."

The wounded kept complaining.

"This place is utterly rotten, nothing compares to us in Neon, not the system, economy, or race. They won’t even accept the mercy of Huang Ban Sanlang-sama, no wonder it ended up in such a mess."

Unlike the clerical staff recruited locally in Night City, armed forces personnel were selected by the Huang Ban Thought Department from all over the world as ’educable individuals’ who were then subjected to in-depth ’ideological education’ and ’cultural education.’ Even the prosthetics were internally produced by the Huang Ban Corporation, ensuring that they wouldn’t betray the company from mind to body, or rather... the rule of the Huang Ban family members, wholly serving the group’s interests, even if it meant sacrificing their lives.

Lucy’s father was once one of them; he didn’t hesitate at all to offer his daughter as a mining cart miner.

Moreover, even clerical staff were prioritized from within the company’s children, like Valerie, whose parents were mid-level employees who died for Huang Ban.

Interestingly, the Huang Ban Corporation maintained a quite decent level of mobility internally, thanks to the high mortality rate caused by internal company struggles.

High salaries combined with hopes of climbing up, and a bit of loyalty education towards Huang Ban, resulted in this company’s employees having a higher loyalty level than other companies.

Even after leaving, if they saw a member of the Huang Ban family, they would instinctively bow.

This is the loyalty that sets Huang Ban apart from other companies.

"Rest assured."

As Nishijima Da Ren pulled the trigger, he said,

"They’re just a rabble relying on numbers. Just hold on until the reinforcements arrive."

Despite saying that, he still hadn’t heard any news of reinforcements on the command channel so far.

However, unlike the conventional mercenaries the observer might have expected, there was something a bit different about those coming this time.

The Truth Department urged the propaganda department and other small players who got off the vehicle: "Hurry up, hurry up, or that damned helicopter will be back again."

The players and mercenaries had no qualification to contest airspace control with Huang Ban. That helicopter bombing a few rounds could make the whole street chicken-fly-and-dog-jump; dealing that with even machine gun strafing was beyond the players’ capacity.

Furthermore, the probability of downing the helicopter with conventional unguided rocket launchers was too low; even experts couldn’t guarantee a hit. So the players could only seize the opportunity to attack the poison gas troops while the helicopter returned to re-arm after a strafing run.

Moreover, ground attacks were also problematic. Those ADS defense vehicles could deal with bombardments from all directions. Even Huang Ban’s ground defense firepower was above that of the players and mercenaries, making it impossible to break through.

Hence, the players were left with only one last option by the Wildman.

Suicide squad charge.

The Truth Department took out a set of biohazard suits and full-face gas masks from the car’s trunk, all sourced from a warehouse in the firefighting equipment market. There were only eighteen sets.

Thanks to the biohazard contamination in many areas of Night City, the supplies here were adequately stocked.

"Here, one set per person."

Once the mask was on, the propaganda department felt awkward, like wearing a pig nose. And looking at other players who changed into the biohazard suits, clad in orange, they looked both ugly and strange, something didn’t feel right.

A thought struck him,

"That’s it!"

He turned into a clothing store nearby, rummaging through to pull out a pile of overcoats.

"Here, put these on as well, and wear a fireman’s helmet too."

He then borrowed a black spray paint can from the Vortex Gang members, painting all the players pitch black. Strangely, they ended up resembling some Aryan supermen from the "Return to Castle Wolfenstein." Adding two yellow stripes, iconic of the cloaked cockroach, and handing out a fireman’s shovel or axe each.