CHAPTER 497: CHAPTER 158: SUGGEST DIRECT ACCOUNT BAN_3

Valerie was also helpless. Last night, the Special Operations Department took over the mess from the Counterintelligence Department. In the end, Albertson didn’t listen to her, insisting on escalating things and clashed head-on with this group of mercenaries. As a result, the whole of Night City saw the Huang Ban Corporation take a punch to the face. Those who survived were just lucky.

This morning, they kicked the ball back, saying Valerie, who knows the company best, should be responsible for extracting the agents, or at least killing them all if necessary.

"Additionally, a mercenary accidentally trespassed onto Huang Ban’s waterfront and got injured. He’s receiving medical treatment now, and if all goes well, he should be discharged this afternoon."

Hmm....

Lin Miao knew the person they were talking about was Big Ears Tutu, who was now streaming the renovation and punishment types of the Huang Ban interrogation room on the official website.

Everything usable and unusable, Huang Ban used it all, just stopping short of digging out the guy’s brain for a live experiment. But Tutu himself showed no reaction, enduring electric, water, fire, and physical torture without a flinch.

Truth serums, drugs, hallucinogens—they were used in massive doses.

A few agents were exhausted, yet Tutu maintained an air of noble sacrifice, like a pig unafraid of boiling water.

But Lin Miao, in a tone of surprise, said, "What? Someone actually dared to trespass onto Huang Ban’s waterfront during the fire chaos? Then why haven’t you executed him yet!"

"How can you still allow such a criminal to receive treatment? He should be executed on the spot!"

Lin Miao was indignant, "Enough, even if you release him, I’ll personally execute this bastard. The scums that cause trouble during fires are the ones I despise the most, and they should be taught a bloody lesson."

"I’m telling you, that beating was well-deserved, should’ve hit harder, let them know that some things are not tolerable."

His tone was extremely angry and excited, insinuating with his words, leaving Valerie looking a bit uneasy, but she waited for Lin Miao to finish before continuing.

"Mr. Lin, some decisions are not for you or me to make. All we can do is follow orders; sometimes, our personal opinions don’t matter."

She waved her hand again, but this time, instead of money, she produced an order.

"Our superiors are very interested in the robots your company had in Watson District last night. This is an order for 100+150 units. You should be interested in this."

Lin Miao looked down and clicked his tongue... The order came even before the pricing was set.

He looked up with a faint smile.

"Is this... blood money?"

Just after offending Huang Ban, they promptly delivered an order. Do they think Lin Miao is a fool?

"Money is just money, nothing more. This order is for your company’s smart devices. As long as you agree, we can proceed with a suitable price."

"Deal."

Lin Miao needed money desperately, whether it was from Huang Ban or Military Science, he’d worry about any poison later.

With Huang Ban having said this much, whether he signed or not, bullets wouldn’t miss him later. Why pretend to be pure?

Even bullets extracted from a player’s corpse could be sold for scrap.

"Large ones for 55,000 each, smaller ones for 25,000, total price 9.25 million."

After finalizing the price, drafting the contract, and signing it, Lin Miao played the surveillance footage in front of Valerie.

"Those four are guests in the bar’s basement now, you can take them away anytime."

Seeing the deal settled, Valerie was about to go downstairs to take away those embarrassing agents, but Lin Miao called out to her as she was about to leave the office.

"Oh, by the way, Miss Valerie."

Valerie turned back, "Anything else, Mr. Lin?"

"Nothing much, just wanted to let you know that our company is hiring now. If you lose your job, you might want to consider applying."

"..."

Without responding, she immediately left.

Lin Miao wasn’t seriously trying to poach talent from Huang Ban. With such intentions, why would he say it openly? It was just a minor provocation.

Having already fallen out with Huang Ban, Valerie’s mission to extract people this time probably meant killing the next.

If she failed the mission, the best outcome for Valerie was unemployment; a slight misstep could mean ending up in Tokyo Bay.

————

Downstairs

Almost all players were busy in the Watson District, but the bar remained bustling because the ’mercenary’ of this bar did something that shocked the underbelly of Night City last night.

He messed with Huang Ban!

Driving right into the Ganbi Mansion, witnessed by the whole city!

Numerous citizens and mercenaries came to admire this glory.

This made the tired Tina sisters, who wanted to clock out, perk up and serve these overly enthusiastic customers, dark circles under their eyes.

However, this lively atmosphere quieted down completely when three Huang Ban employees emerged from the elevator.

Everyone saw the prominent Huang Ban logo on their suits, and the lively air turned icy cold.

If people merely disliked the Huang Ban dogs before yesterday, today it turned into hatred.

They might not dare to confront Huang Ban’s forces in Watson District, but here, they had the guts to bully Huang Ban dogs.

The crowd immediately surrounded them, forming a wall that blocked the passage completely.

Pairs of eyes filled with mockery, provocation, anger, and disgust, ready to pounce and kill the three Huang Ban operatives at any moment.

The tension between both sides continued to escalate.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! These are my friends!"

Just before things turned violent, a massive figure squeezed into the crowd, shielding V.

"I assure you, yesterday’s incident had nothing to do with her. Huang Ban might have many bastards, but Valerie isn’t one of them. She’s just working there, making a living, no heinous deeds..."

Valerie, who initially didn’t mind, felt a block in her chest hearing her good friend Jack vouch for her.

Was she wrong?

She had always lived this way, Valerie was just a thorough corporate dog.

She did everything her superiors wanted, be it killing or stealing intelligence, civilian or executive, it didn’t matter.

Even if many died yesterday, she only regretted the company’s failure, never feeling Huang Ban did anything wrong.

Hasn’t the world always been this way?

"Jack..."

She wanted to say something, but couldn’t open her mouth, not daring to tell Jack what she did last night.

Valerie felt she had betrayed her best friend because she was one of the executioners in the Watson District incident.

"Well... no fighting in the bar, if you start a brawl, I’ll... I’ll kick you all out!"

The trembling female voice echoing from a three-meter-high mech felt extremely out of place, lacking any deterrence.

Not until Nina extended the one-meter-long blade from her right mechanical arm did the crowd part to form a path.