Actually, this is a pledge of allegiance to military technology.

No matter what, he was the one who caught the person. Even if it's finally found out that the arsonist was the All Foods Factory or someone else, Huang Ban would still come after him.

What can you do when you're under someone else's roof? If you want to stir up things in Night City every day, you need a strong backer.

"Heh... interesting..."

Mercedes's attitude was ambiguous. She remained silent for a moment, presumably seeking advice from her superiors.

A few minutes later, she slowly said,

"You keep this gift for now. I'll send someone to pick it up after things are over. But here's a heads-up for you: someone's heading your way, but I doubt it's for a drink."

Lin Miao frowned slightly. It's outrageous enough for someone to start a fire at this critical moment, and now someone else is coming to cause trouble?

Damn, don't they want people to survive?

---

Huang Ban Tower

Counterintelligence Department

In the large office hall, there was a massive display made of dozens of screens, each representing a Huang Ban agent on a mission being monitored in real-time.

Their location wasn't far from the fire, and even the positioning of the building set on fire and the ignition time were pre-calculated to exhaust the firefighting teams, most likely causing chaos and letting the fire spread southward.

Moreover, every agent here knew what their actions meant.

"If this mission succeeds, I won't have to worry about my performance review this year. I might even get a big bonus by the end."

"Doing this... might cost thousands of lives..."

"Yes, and then become numbers in our accounts. Besides, what does it have to do with us? Does anyone ever die in this city? Living is suffering, dying would be a relief."

"In a way, they should thank us, right? Get a head start on reincarnation, find a good family."

"You're really a saint."

"Don't mention it..."

The murmured conversation of the two counterintelligence agents leaning against the wall reached Valerie's ears.

She just glanced in their direction, and they instantly shut up, not daring to say another word.

Beside her, Carter quietly reported the situation,

"Group Seven has been exposed, Dongshan Zhao was killed on the spot, Shinno Aso was captured alive, unable to release the neurotoxin in time."

"The other teams have set the ignition programs and have not been detected for now."

This mission came from the higher-ups. Although Valerie didn't want to do it from the bottom of her heart, as an employee of Huang Ban Corporation, she had no choice.

In Huang Ban, showing even a hint of weakness means being torn apart by ambitious colleagues and subordinates around you.

In this free city,

In reality, no one has a choice.

Without lifting her head, Valerie asked,

"How long until the City Council people arrive on site?"

Carter glanced at the tablet and then operated the front large screen to play the videos uploaded before the death of the two,

"The nearest response team is three minutes away from the target location."

In the footage, two white-haired women wielding long swords were driving the agents into a desperate situation. One of the short-haired women was unbelievably fierce. As soon as Dongshan Zhao showed a slight flaw, he was immediately cut in two pieces.

Valerie had seen these two in that bar, mostly following the three who claimed to be from the Super Earth organization, speaking rarely. Yet she hadn't expected their combat and reconnaissance skills to be so strong, identifying the counterintelligence agents from the crowd.

Valerie: "Deploy a special operations team, retrieve the person from these mercenaries, and if you can't, then dispose of them. They must not get any live hostages."

Although she had a good impression of that bar and the mercenaries inside, she could only say sorry at this moment.

---

"Robbery, murder, illegal... firefighting?"

On the shaky police car, NCPD officer Reaver Ward looked down at the mission report for the operation. He couldn't make heads or tails of the list of criminal charges written on it.

He glanced at Detective Han, who was driving,

"What's illegal firefighting?"

"..."

Detective Han was equally speechless, trying to organize his thoughts and awkwardly said,

"Maybe... they think those people interfered with the normal rescue operations of the firefighting team. Just like when we detectives are working, those bystanders only get in the way."

"Do you think I'm an idiot, Han? What do those firefighters do apart from trying to sell you fire rescue insurance?"

He looked again at the line of armored vehicles in front and behind, with helicopters and drones above. Anyone unaware would think they were going to attack Dogtown.

"And does it need such a big show?"

"Ugh..."

Knowing he couldn't fool Reaver, Detective Han could only say,

"Why do we need to know so much about those bigwigs' affairs? Get to the place, stand with a gun behind others, and if needed, shoot into the sky a couple of times. Just write a report to conclude afterward."

He thought it was bad enough to be called for duty at dawn, and now he had such a meticulous partner.

As the convoy moved forward, the closer it got, the more crowded the streets became. Even in broad daylight, Watson District had never seen so many people.

Even through the car window, Reaver could see their exhaustion and sorrow. Many were wearing just thin vests and shorts, their faces still covered with unwashed black dust.

The only thing these people could do at the moment was stand and pray for the fire to fade quickly. When they saw the NCPD armored convoy entering Watson District, many people's eyes lit up with hope.

After all, it's an official company under the City Council. Surely, coming to Watson District means they're here to save us, right?

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