Chapter 172 - 156: A Small Sponsorship from an International Arms Dealer

Suo couldn’t sit still; he had to find a way to reverse the situation, or the feeling of betraying his people would be worse than death.

They needed to have a meeting to determine their future direction and strategy.

Lille agreed to Suo’s request, but before that, he had to make a call.

In the equipment room, Carol reassembled the carriage and connected the lines, while Dakota’s people fiddled with the wires beside her.

Making a call in the Evil Land was incredibly troublesome, involving two types of situations.

One was short-distance communication. This type only required the communicators to have both sending and receiving devices.

For example, the new Cyber Modulator that Lille had equipped, which had a sending function.

The device given by Regina in the city could directly connect to the cellular network and use the NCPD’s network for communication. It could also send short-distance communication signals.

As understood from the Cyber Modulator’s function, another type of communication needed to use transmission stations.

The Wanderers had signal station equipment, making it easier for their people to stay in touch within the Evil Land. However, cross-communication over hundreds of kilometers to Night City was much trickier.

It required specialized sending equipment. As a middleman in the Evil Land, Dakota had it and knew how to covertly contact people in the city.

After confirming the equipment was functional, Dakota said to Lille,

"The person you want to contact is in Taiping State—also the person who took over the goods. People on the street call him Mr. Hans, a mysterious guy I can’t figure out.

Are you sure you want to contact him? The local gang there, the Voodoo Gang, is a bunch of unpredictable, manic hackers. The people in Dog Town are even connected to Military Technology."

"I’m sure."

Taiping State was located south of Night City. When Night City was thriving, developers and the city government planned to develop it into a tourist paradise, offering wonderful experiences to attract immigrants and visitors from around the world and showcase Night City’s prosperity.

But just as Taiping State’s development was booming, New America launched the unification war—

In this world, the United States had once split into several independent countries, and only in the early ’60s did they start planning reunification.

This reunification escalated into war during its final stages, so the war that swept across the North American continent was also called the Unification War.

During the war, Southern California was incorporated into New America, while the Northern California Free State sought to remain independent, and war broke out.

In 2070, an elite Military Technology force received orders to capture a strategic location in Taiping State and await further attack instructions.

However, the attack instructions never came. Instead, New America signed a peace agreement with the Northern California Free State.

The Military Technology force was ordered to retreat—but their commander, Colonel Hansen, refused to obey the orders.

As a result, this area became an odd place. Strictly speaking, it was a war zone, under Military Technology’s occupation, but both sides had already signed a peace agreement.

Even Night City didn’t dare intervene, and Military Technology couldn’t persuade them to leave, so this place became a grey area.

Now, years later, Hansen had completely taken over this territory and, aligning with the economically affluent Night City, developed it into an internationally influential super black market.

The situation grew more complicated. The original enemies and his superiors didn’t know how to handle it, so they simply didn’t mention it in the media.

As for Dog Town’s relationship with Night City and Military Technology, outsiders could only see it as a murky affair—

But anyway, officially, Hansen and his Netherworld Dog forces were still part of the Military Technology combat sequence.

This was why Dakota thought Lille’s idea was dangerous and unreliable.

On the surface, in an era where crucial information flow was extremely obstructed, in a time flooded with ineffective information, most people had no understanding of what was happening around them. The middlemen in the Evil Land knew far less about Dog Town than Lille.

She only knew Dog Town was a lawless place, an international black market that, although officially hostile to Night City, had countless connections with Military Technology.

But Lille knew if their enemy was Military Technology and other companies silently allowed Military Technology to behave like this—then the only one who might help him was indeed Hansen.

Hansen was a typical soldier. Even though he had engaged in business, he usually wouldn’t mess with his old superiors, but he actually harbored great resentment against the President of New America.

If he had the chance to take down that old bitch, he wouldn’t mind taking ruthless action.

Therefore, as long as Lille could bring him appropriate benefits, he would definitely be willing to sponsor Lille to suppress Military Technology’s arrogance.

In the end, Hansen didn’t want to be stuck in Dog Town forever. A top mercenary squad capable of influencing external situations was something this trapped hero had no reason to refuse.

And for people like him, they certainly wouldn’t come knocking directly, nor would they agree to cooperate just because Lille approached them.

What would be the point of a middleman otherwise?

Lille plugged his personal link into the communication equipment.

Communicator, Mr. Hans.

Mr. Hans, "Finally, the mysterious new legend of Night City calls me. This call is worth a fortune, but don’t worry, I won’t trade it for money."

Lille, "Let’s talk business. If I have some hot goods in my hands, can you pick them up from the Evil Land?"

Mr. Hans, "That depends on what kind of goods, logistics costs aren’t low now."

Lille, "Don’t you want to know the truth behind Military Technology and Biotechnology’s dealings? The news is always exaggerated; who knows what’s real?"

Lille, "And... I also have some additional technology, with more equipment possibly coming soon."

Mr. Hans, "Hmm... You’ve stumped me; I’m growing more curious about you. I even want to find a place to sit and talk right now."

Mr. Hans, "Can you give me more details? Like what this technology is about? I heard there were even Lizard Men that night? Sounds like a fairy tale."

Lille, "First question: it’s about pharmaceutical technology. Second question, that’s not free."

Mr. Hans, "What do you want?"

Lille, "Money, preferably supplies, the kind of stuff Dog Town is never short of."

Mr. Hans, "In that case... I can prepare it, but you’ll need to send someone to pick it up—unless you’re already in Taiping State. Lastly, we can negotiate the price."

Lille, "Fair enough—consider the answer to your second question as a deposit. There are indeed Lizard Men, but they’re unrelated to us, and probably not tied to the Nightingale Project mentioned in the news. We were just lucky to encounter a living King Yan."

Mr. Hans, "Understood. Impressive. Send me what you need via this channel, and I’ll get it ready for you."

Mr. Hans, "By the way, I have some additional information: Recently, Kantao’s people have been snooping around Taiping State. Have you worked for them before?"

Lille, "Did a job in Saint Domingo a while back—think they’ll find anything?"

Mr. Hans, "In my view, unlikely. This is Taiping State we’re talking about."

Lille, "Ha—right, this is Taiping State. That’s it for today, I’ll contact you again later."

Mr. Hans, "Alright."

The conversation ended, and Lille processed the information revealed during the talk.

This cooperation was more of a transaction, a test.

Hansen’s primary goal should be finding ways to expand his influence, with his secondary goal being to create external chaos to divert some attention.

Since Mr. Hans didn’t hesitate in the arms deal, Hansen’s stance was clear.

Evidently, he was more interested in fulfilling his secondary goal through Lille, which made him more inclined to provide assistance via transaction:

Ignoring Military Technology’s control and selling arms.

This was already substantial support, especially from someone like Hansen. For him, providing weaponry might already be a significant effort.

For the Wanderers, opportunities to buy premium military supplies at a rock-bottom price were rare.

The only question was who would transport the goods—Lille had someone in mind.

Lille organized his thoughts and headed towards Suo’s tent.