Chapter 107 - 101: Entering the City Hall Twice_2

Contact: Lucy

Beep—

Lille: "There’s a job, head to the service center at the City Hall metro station now, wait for my signal, and then hack into the equipment inside."

Lucy: "Hack into the subway? What are you plotting now? This kind of job is practically a death wish..."

Lille: "Ten thousand euros, the battlefield up front will attract a lot of attention, you just provide me with the access line, I have a data barrier to cover you."

Lucy: "...I’m on the subway right now, with David. Who are you guys up against this time? Battlefield? Are you going head-to-head with the corporations?"

Lille: "You’re better off not knowing too much. Give me a straight answer, are you in or out?"

Lucy: "I can’t do it..."

Lille: "Fifteen thousand, take it or leave it, I’ll find another hacker."

Lucy: "...Fine, but I won’t get into any conflicts, if something feels off I’m bailing."

Lille: "You think I would agree to that? If you run at the sight of one or two people, I guarantee you’ll never survive in Night City again—even if you hide on the Moon, I’ll drag you out."

Lucy: "Not a small threat, over two people and I’m out, twenty thousand euros, final offer."

Lille: "Deal, get in position now."

After hanging up with Lucy, Lille received a call from Cheson.

Drip—

Cheson: "Boss, the stuff’s left at the pick-up point, that rocker kid Dino’s place, I’ll send you the location. It cost us a pretty penny."

Cheson: "But what are you guys up to? With so many weapons, if NCPD finds ’em, there’s no escaping a search."

Lille: "Don’t worry about it, as long as the stuff’s there, tell your brother to keep a low profile for now, no need to show his face, there’ll be plenty of chances later."

Cheson: "I thought you weren’t planning to include him in the plan, okay, I’ll pass the message along."

The car drove into a dark corner of City Hall—right beneath a pedestrian overpass, where stairs and tall buildings enclosed a deserted area.

The so-called pick-up point was a machine disguised as a vending machine.

Jack and V carried out two heavy cases, wrapped like soda carton boxes, anyone clueless would think the three big guys bought two packs of drinks.

V shook the box: "What’s inside? It’s so heavy."

"Get in the car and you’ll find out."

The three men carried the gear into the car and, under the curious gaze of the two, Lille opened the boxes.

One box was crammed with bullets and hand grenades, the other held a disassembled... rocket launcher, commonly known as an RPG.

Lille nonchalantly grabbed a magazine—from the first batch of smart weapon bullets Cheson had just produced.

Because they weren’t custom-made for Yinglong, the chances of triggering an electromagnetic pulse were much lower, but the quantity made up for it.

V and Jack both turned their heads to look at Lille:

"Holy shit, you’re really serious, aren’t you?"

"Spent twenty grand on shipping, of course it’s serious."

Lille then started to assemble the loosely packed RPG from the box.

"Heavy firepower is a must—the NCPD is about to complete a full lockdown, drive, don’t get stuck outside City Hall, that would be a joke."

The car started up again, nonchalantly cutting through the streets.

It wasn’t until they entered the City Hall area that the three men saw NCPD support cruisers gradually moving towards the edge of the area with blockade equipment, completing the total lockdown.

This made V somewhat curious: "Such a big incident happened yesterday, and they’re only starting a full lockdown now?"

Interestingly, the NCPD’s lockdown order was delayed quite a bit, by the time Lille and his crew drove into City Hall, the area blockade began to be established.

"Actually, I think NCPD is just going through the motions—they didn’t dare to lock down immediately, now they’re doing this, they know it’s not much use."

As for why this was the case, there were many possibilities.

After all, a lockdown would have a significant impact on the economy and would also create an unpleasant living experience for the wealthy people in the city center.

In the poor areas, gunfights happen no need to care, but when something happens in the rich areas, you still have to consider the feelings of the wealthy, and the lockdown order had to come from above.

The authorities, on the other hand, would have to communicate with all parties involved, which slowed things down considerably.

However... the NCPD might have been slow, but the corporate security forces certainly hadn’t been.

More corporate soldiers appeared on the streets, and if the three chose to approach Company Square, they would only see more corporate soldiers surrounding the buildings tightly.

In the end—even letting Mackinaw escape was tolerable, as long as the people in the subway were killed, Koch’s plan to cleanse and shift the blame would still be a success.

So the lockdown was actually something Military Science cared a lot about and focused on around the subway station, with the NCPD merely putting on a show.

Could it be that the Mackinaw would come back seeking death?

Lille’s phone began to ring.

Caller: Man.

Man: "Burger King? You seem right, the subway is full of Military Technology men... Are they really going to open fire here?"

Lille: "No shit, get the protection target to hide themselves, wear a mask if they need to! Don’t stick your head out at all costs!"

Lille: "Do you see Morton and Mendoza?"

Man: "I see them... should we move in?"

Lille: "You don’t have to move in, let them hide themselves."

Lille: "Here are your options: Military Science will probably spot you guys soon, you can choose to wait for them to come over before firing."

Lille: "Or shoot them by surprise right away—I’ll attack from the outside the moment you fire."

Lille: "By the way, let your hacker open the team channel. I’ll connect you to my data barrier; otherwise, Military Technology will chase you to the ends of the earth."

Huh?

The just-exited-Man from the subway looked at the Military Science soldiers standing near the subway entrance and the passersby, suddenly feeling very confused about life.

Purge the subway?

The subway’s broadcast echoed in Man’s ears:

"Dear passengers, due to the sudden terrorist attack at City Hall yesterday, City Hall will undergo a complete lockdown, and we ask all subway passengers to orderly proceed through the security checkpoint.

This regional lockdown is partially contracted to Military Technology International Arms Company, choose Military Technology, choose your victory."

The subway ceased operations, and the crowd began heading towards the subway exits—

Before long, the subway would be deserted.

Then if things happened as Burger King had said, Military Technology would find them, find Murphy, find Mendoza and Morton at that very moment on the other side of the subway.

And then...

It would all be over.

The strong woman Dolly beside Man saw him freeze and elbowed him.

"Man? What’s wrong?"

The rest of the teammates also looked over, revealing puzzled expressions.

Man swallowed hard.

"Qi Wei, open the team signal to someone named Burger King."

"Burger King, the bigshot dealer of dummies? Is it that person? What’s going on?"

"...Yes—get ready for a firefight."

"Huh? Firefight?" The short-tempered and petite Rebecca uttered a bewildered sound, "What are you talking about, Man, who are we fighting?"

"...Military Technology."