The Creators: From Night City

Page 264

However, as employees of Arasaka's intelligence department, each of them not only possesses the gold membership of the trauma team, but their own tracking and counter-tracking abilities are undoubtedly professional, making it not so easy to kidnap someone.

Fortunately, Valerie was somewhat of an 'insider,' and now she could be considered to have connections within Arasaka, making the plan's execution a natural progression.

The Old Wharf in Night City, west of Watson District, is a very interesting place. Its overall structure is shaped like the Chinese character "山" (mountain), and it is divided into two areas on the left and right by a protruding concrete road in the middle.

What's even more interesting is that the actual use of the port is divided into two parts. The south side is the cargo port, where normal commercial ships and cargo ships of Kejing Logistics are docked. The ships coming and going make it seem very prosperous. However, when you get to the north side of the port, the scene changes drastically.

This is the territory of the Whirlpool Gang. Only ships that cooperate with them can dock here, and the goods transported are naturally not very legal.

Meanwhile, at the northern port, there was a massive cargo ship—the Ebnik. Legend has it that this ship was Adam Hammer's mobile base, which is why it could so casually dock in the heart of the Maelstrom Gang's territory, and why the people on board maintained a good relationship with the Maelstrom Gang.

It has to be said that a robot like Adam Hammer, whose entire body is nearly 96% cybernetically enhanced, would definitely get along with the madmen of the Vortex Gang.

Here, Valerie can officially clarify this rumor: the claim that the Ebnik is Hammer's mobile base is not a rumor, but it is only one of his bases.

Since Adam Hammer became the head of security for Arasaka, he has rarely returned to this place. He only uses it when he is doing something dirty that is not convenient to be associated with Arasaka.

In addition, a container loading and unloading area is an essential feature of a modern port.

Despite their advocacy of physical weakness and the ascension of cybernetics, the Vortex Gang is still fundamentally made of flesh and blood, so they need large gantry cranes to assist them in unloading cargo.

Moon stars are rare.

A person and a dog cautiously peeked out from a gantry ceiling that was tens of meters high.

It's Valerie.

She was holding a 'Flying Dagger' electromagnetic sniper rifle, and was secretly scanning the entire loading and unloading area with the green night vision mode of the scope.

"We hope we don't run into Adam Hammer here this time," Jack said worriedly, perched atop two stacked containers and watching the Vortex Gang patrolling in the distance.

"Can't you say something nice, Jack?" Vincent was checking his weapons so he could draw his gun immediately if a firefight broke out.

“I’m just preparing for the worst. You know, this is the Vortex Gang’s lair, with at least thirty or forty people. If you ask me, we should wait for the special operations team to arrive before we take action.” Jack was a man with a strong sense of crisis.

"The daylily is already cold." Valerie's cool voice came through the encrypted communication channel.

[It's already quite good that Carter was able to get the information out before the operation began. The intelligence team is known for its secrecy, so it's really lucky that they managed to catch them meeting with the Vortex Gang. Don't be picky. Besides, he's already defected from Arasaka. If he misses this opportunity, there won't be any inside contacts to provide real-time information.]

"But we can't just wait until we meet them to get the news. A last-minute operation is risky. We have no idea about the people here, their weapons, or even the terrain. Trying to kidnap the Arasaka people silently is a long shot," Jack said, examining the Riot Suppressor in his hand.

"This is the job I do, there's no other way. At least I can see the tools I have, it's much better than being a marginalized wanderer." Vincent was quite optimistic.

[Shh, they're here.] Valerie, with her superior vantage point, had the best view and spotted the target early on.

As soon as she finished speaking, a blinding beam of light pierced the night sky and entered the dock gate.

Jack and Vincent lay on the container, silently watching the three vehicles a few dozen meters away drive into the Vortex Gang's storage area.

"You should take action now. I will provide you with guidance." Valerie had her reasons for choosing to become a sniper; her hacking skills could be extremely useful in situations with a wide field of vision.

Jack and Vincent did as instructed, silently climbing off the container and jogging under the cover of darkness.

[There's a camera ahead. I'll temporarily overwrite its footage, but you only have about ten seconds. If it goes on any longer, the enemy hackers will easily discover it.] Valerie, taking advantage of her superior field of vision, had already thoroughly studied the enemy's security equipment layout. She took control of the camera without much effort.

The duo were able to pass by crouching low.

There's another camera around the corner; wait for my signal.

The two of them naturally agreed.

Chapter 511 Satellite in the Warehouse

The camera in the corner was originally following the system's preset path, scanning left and right as usual, but for some reason it suddenly turned towards a more distant area, instantly turning the area below it into a blind spot for surveillance.

【Walk! 】

The two continued to stealthily probe deeper inside.

[There are two Vortex Gang members at the entrance. Either take them out or go around them.] Valerie continued to offer support.

"I suggest we take a detour," Jack said, despite his large size, as he crouched behind a trash can.

[There's a ladder on the side you can climb up, but there are people on the roof, so be careful.]

The two did as instructed, sneaking out from under the eaves.

"I'll kill him?" Vincent stared at the sentry with his back to the two men, clenching his fist. If the other two agreed, he could immediately pull out his mantis knife from his arm and deliver a 'heart-piercing, exhilarating' blow.

"No need, watch me, make sure he gets some support."

As soon as Valerie finished speaking, a burst of sparks suddenly erupted from the sentry's terrifying panel, who was holding his gun properly. His body went limp, and he collapsed into Jack's broad chest.

"These Vortex Gang members are only concerned with piling on cybernetic implants, completely ignoring the fact that these inferior products are riddling their own ICE bodies with holes," Valerie said with a faint sneer.

Jack gently laid the person down on the roof and waved for Vincent to follow.

[You think everyone has three beautiful, high-achieving medical and prosthetic students constantly surrounding them? These thugs barely even go to illegal prosthetic clinics; they do everything themselves, all self-taught. It's a miracle they haven't gone insane.]

For some reason, Vincent felt that Jack's tone was strangely sarcastic when he said this.

"Stop talking nonsense, there's a skylight up ahead, let's see if we can get inside." Valerie quickly changed the subject.

These metal-sheet warehouses are only spacious and sturdy; they are otherwise useless. However, for the sake of lighting and ventilation, several glass skylights are often installed in the roof.

This made things convenient for Jack and Vincent.

The two men peered out the window and saw that the Whirlpool Gang members had been waiting inside the warehouse for a long time. A leader with a honeycomb-shaped compound eye mask on his face, a mouth modified into a metallic smiling face, and neon pipes nailed to each shoulder, crossing from his back to his chest, like wearing neon armor, was welcoming Arasaka's convoy.

Jack grimaced as he watched the other person blatantly alter his body, vaguely feeling a phantom pain as if he were being pierced in the chest.

"May I go in?" Valerie asked in the communication channel.

Vincent clenched his right fist and instantly launched a sharp monomolecular mantis knife, slicing open the skylight with just a gentle slide.

【no problem.】

The two filed in, and as soon as they landed, a member of the Vortex Gang heard the commotion and turned around the corner to check the situation. However, Vincent activated his Sianwistan and instantly transformed into a streak of light. With a straight punch, the mantis blade on his arm pierced straight into the man's forehead and exited from the back of his head without any obstruction.

Jack picked up his shotgun and listened intently.

Fortunately, everything around us was normal.

"Wait a minute, don't rush into anything. Find an information relay point and bring me in. I can also provide you with network support," Valerie instructed.

Vincent's prosthetic eye was also a high-end product. He looked around and easily found a data box on the wall. He gently cut open the lid with his mantis knife, pulled out the data cable from his left wrist, and connected it to the box.

Valerie easily hacked in by using Vincent as a springboard.

[It's done. They were using Raven Tech's seventh-generation, outdated cameras, while my network access bay is the latest model, allowing for covert takeover.]

As Valerie's voice rang out, her shared webcam feed popped up in front of the two of them in real time.

Wow, look what I found!

A view, clearly taken from above by a surveillance camera, appeared before the two of them.

There were twenty or thirty rectangular boxes stacked together, typical of strong storage boxes used for storing military supplies, with several square boxes over two meters tall placed next to them.

Valerie's camera zoomed in precisely, focusing on the company logo printed on the box.

KangTao's prominent yellow logo is printed neatly on each box, while the large square box on the other side is also prominently printed with the "Fragile" label, indicating that the equipment should be handled with care.

Next to it was another large box of the same model that had been disassembled. The outer shell was covered with a matte white composite material, the surface was covered with honeycomb-shaped heat dissipation grilles, and the edges were inlaid with a dark blue anti-radiation coating. The round sphere was fixed to the bracket with a soft and malleable special plastic, and it gleamed with a cold light under the fixed light.

Two huge rectangular solar panels are folded on the top of the sphere, with deep blue photovoltaic cells embedded on the panels, which also shimmer like fragments of a galaxy under the light; while on both sides, a set of butterfly parabolic antenna arrays are folded and hung, with the golden antenna coating reflective layer in a retracted state, making the whole object look like a mechanical flower bud waiting to bloom.

[Damn it, the Vortex Gang stole Contau's satellite!] Valerie recognized the contents of the box almost immediately and was immediately shocked.

As mentioned earlier, besides selling drugs, another very important source of income for the Vortex Gang is robbing the transport convoys of various companies.

They not only robbed convoys on land, but also, having controlled half of the port, sometimes acted as pirates, robbing company transport convoys at sea.

They not only dared to mess with military technology, but also with Arasaka. Of course, having messed with both of these giants, Kangtao was no match for them either.

However, the ability to hijack Kangtao's satellite was not something this Vortex Gang, which had already been chased like stray dogs by [Anti-Entropy], could accomplish on their own. The group of Arasaka intelligence personnel who came today were obviously also involved.

"Looks like we've caught a big fish this time," Vincent said excitedly.

[Of course, it's also possible we've gotten ourselves into serious trouble. If we're not careful, we could be dragged into the power struggle between Arasaka and Contau. Believe me, that's not a good thing.] Compared to the agitated Vincent, Valerie had a clear understanding of the situation.

[So, are we still going to do it or not?] Jack is a man who is rough but shrewd. If he were still a fringe traveler, he would probably try to kill all the people in the underground and take the stuff for himself. But now he is an organized person, so he naturally has to consider the additional impact of this matter. His every move represents the decision of [Anti-Entropy] in the outside world.

"Find a safe place to hide first, I'll contact Supervisor Gloria." Valerie made a quick decision.

But to her surprise, the feedback was so surreal that she couldn't believe it.

Chapter 512 Contau Tactical Squad

A short while later.

"What do you mean by retreating first and patiently regrouping with allies?" Jack, who had secretly slipped out again outside the dock, crossed his arms, looking very unwilling.

"When did we, Anti-Entropy, ever have allies?"

“I guess it’s Conto.” Vincent was a man of few words, but that didn’t mean he was stupid; he often hit the nail on the head.

Valerie held the long, narrow 'Flying Dagger' electromagnetic sniper rifle upside down, letting the sea breeze blow her chin-length hair along one side, and explained to her friend, "It's pretty much a done deal. This matter is probably more important than we thought. Director Gloria said in the communications that Mr. Sabur will be coming over soon."

Valerie said this without a hint of speculation, after all, the boxes in the warehouse all clearly bore the Comtau logo.

"The boss is coming in person?" Jack clicked his tongue. "What exactly did these vortexes do for Arasaka? They're in for a treat today."

“Do you think we and Kangtao might…” Jack changed the subject again, raising a hypothetical question, “After all, Mr. Sabur looks like a native Asian.”

"I advise you to worry less about this." Valerie, having worked in large corporations for so many years, even knew that it was best to know as little as possible about some things.

Jack indeed shut his mouth.

As expected by Double V, the visitor was none other than Kang Tao.

Dozens of low-key cars from a certain industrial park in the north of Northeast China, without even turning on their headlights, turned into the seaside street from a distance, shrouded in the veil of night.

The car came to a stop, and two people got out of the second car. One was wearing a black suit, and the other was wearing a tricolor suit. They were Kang Tao's army lieutenant colonel and Jiang Bing, the boss of [Anti-Entropy].

More than twenty special forces members from Kangtao Company got off in the following vehicles.

Kangtao's soldiers are different from Arasaka's. Arasaka's elite troops are all taken to military camps from a young age for rigorous training, and their combat skills are extremely high.

Kangtao's soldiers are mostly conscripts and mercenaries who volunteered to join the company. They lack the well-trained skills that Arasaka soldiers acquire through years of rigorous training, but this does not mean that their combat effectiveness is low.

As a company that started with intelligent weapons, Kangtao's employees are naturally equipped with a full range of top-notch intelligent weapons. These weapons, which can take down enemies with just a flick of their fingers, largely make up for the gap in tactical skills.

Not to mention that the people of Kangtao inherited the fear of insufficient firepower from a certain Dongda University, and they basically carry an excessive amount of firepower when they go out.

These Kanto special forces soldiers were all dressed in orange Kanto exoskeleton tactical uniforms, fully armed to the teeth.

They wore semi-covering smart goggles on their heads and heavy orange bulletproof armor plates on their bodies. Two Chinese-style bulletproof armor plates hung on their thighs. Each of them carried a backpack on their back, which was the power system for this exoskeleton and the data computing center for all the smart weapons on their bodies.

They were all armed with Kangtao's signature weapons. The assault troops were all equipped with the Zoe smart shotgun, a weapon that could fire eight smart shots at once. This weapon perfectly combined the precision of a smart weapon with the multiple projectiles of a shotgun, resulting in high lethality. Often, a single shot would be enough to turn an enemy into a bloody mess.

The other soldiers are carrying sophisticated standard submachine guns, and some are holding rather large sniper rifles. Needless to say, these are also Comtau's intelligent weapons, but they are most likely prototypes and have not yet been released to the market.

The most outrageous thing is that someone was carrying a grenade launcher. Judging from its sophisticated weapon structure, it is undoubtedly a smart weapon.

As soon as these fully intelligent soldiers got out of the vehicle, they immediately launched five or six intelligent drones to scan their surroundings.

These orange-painted "backpack drones" are also internal supplies from Kanto. Despite their small size, they are equipped with firepower comparable to a standard submachine gun. In addition to their agile mobility, they can also be synchronized with these fully intelligent soldiers. In addition to providing fire support, they can also provide a wide tactical field of vision, making them an absolute weapon for urban warfare.

Of course, this also brings up a problem: the equipment is worth far more than a soldier's life. In addition, the smart weapons are easy to learn and use. People in the underworld have a particularly apt saying about this: "Kantau didn't equip the soldiers with a set of equipment; he equipped the equipment with a soldier."

"Yao, hurry up and take care of these bastards! Steal our goods! Screw them, they dare to mess with us!"

The lieutenant colonel cursed and swore. The special operations commander named Yao nodded and said nothing more. With a wave of his hand, more than twenty special operations soldiers rushed towards the dock area where the Vortex Gang was located.

Before the person arrived, the intelligent miniature grenade arrived first.

Contau is, after all, Asia’s largest arms company, and it operates with a similarly domineering attitude.

Negotiation?

If it doesn't exist, the bullet is a declaration, and the grenade is a negotiation.

The few Vortex Gang members standing guard at the gate were chatting idly when suddenly more than twenty regular soldiers appeared in front of them. The soldiers were wearing the distinctive combat uniforms of Kang Tao, which they had just stolen. They didn't understand what was going on.

The victim has come knocking on our door!

But they had no chance to fight back before their heads were blown off by a barrage of smart bullets.

These intelligent bullets were so dense that when more than twenty people fired at the same time, even the heads of the Vortex Gang members couldn't keep up with the sheer number of bullets. On average, each person's head was hit by dozens or even hundreds of bullets, and then they exploded into a bloody firework.

Smart weapons typically require specialized smart lock-on devices and prosthetic eyes to achieve accurate bullet locking and tracking, and locking onto a target usually takes time.

However, these Kangtao special forces members, relying on the intelligent data processing backpacks on their backs, have already shared the scanning and locking data of the smart helmets on everyone's heads over a wide area. In other words, as long as one person successfully locks onto the target, all the others are essentially unlocked at the same time.