Chapter 655 - 626: Fake Husband and Wife

Lille found it quite amusing. He had just facilitated a temporary ceasefire for a humanitarian evacuation in Somalia in the Marvel World, and here he was orchestrating a humanitarian rescue.

Of course, the nature of the two was different. Additionally, on this side, he worked his way up from the bottom, whereas on the other, it was from the top down.

"Lille!"

"Huh?"

V came up behind the wheelchair and called Lille back, "We torched the Five Poison Gang’s joint, smashed the Scavenger’s place, and took over a Sports Academy. Can we finally focus on the real stuff now?"

"Hasn’t it been about real stuff all along? The groundwork has to be laid... Where’s Jack?"

"Jack’s gotten wrapped up with Misty again," V said with a smirk. "Did you set up a dedicated line for that kid?"

Lille had indeed set up a dedicated line for Jack, using specific software and communication channels to achieve face-to-face VR communication, which was essentially like talking in person.

The net indeed seemed to embolden people—since Jack tried it out the other day, he had been on it every day.

"Can’t help it; Jack’s mom and his crush are both in Night City. I had to give him a line, right?"

"Oh, how thoughtful—just now that kid also nailed down his relationship with that albino hacker. Things are moving fast."

"When life takes a sudden turn, people get like that. They quickly see the light; it’s normal."

"So you think dangling by a thread every time is a big deal?"

Lille spread his hands, "I’m used to it, as you well know. I’ve got this problem, but as long as things are moving in the right direction, it’s fine."

V looked at Lille and felt a surge of annoyance—

But Lille quickly added, "You know about the Gem Blue Nightclub in Dog Town?"

"No!"

Lille explained, "That place is a splendid skyscraper, on the same level as the Azure Tower, but it’s been out of operation due to the war. Hansen took it over personally, using it as a command center and operational base. Periodically, he gathers influential figures to discuss business..."

Hearing this, V put his irritation aside, "Azure Tower? There’s that level of a hotel in this place?"

The Azure Tower is Arasaka’s top-tier hotel and one of the world’s leading chains. Only corporate elites are privileged enough to stay at this super-premium hotel—a symbol of luxury and status.

It was hard to imagine a hotel of that caliber in a war zone.

"That’s the plan, but as you know, this place has become a battlefield. Anyway, Hansen took a fancy to it, feeling it was a base worthy of him, and of the bigwigs from around the world who meet here."

"Bigwigs... isn’t that our line of business?"

"Exactly, so we’re going to attend the banquet."

"Banquet... isn’t that just a black market?"

"Black market or not, it depends on the status of the people attending the feast. If Fiona, a head of a Sports Academy, can pull out that much cash, do you think the banquet will be full of synthetic food and carbonated drinks for two euros a bottle? Is that realistic?"

"Not... realistic."

Lille picked up some everyday travel items from the warehouse and put them in the rear storage of the wheelchair, leading the way to the elevator.

Construction noises echoed in the building, and the elevator doors shakily opened.

Lille said, "Not to mention the food and drinks—you’ll find the best things you’ve ever eaten and drunk at the banquet. And in other respects... do you know Lizwizi?"

"That mega Transhuman celeb? No way, you’re saying they could get her to come?"

"The Gem Blue Nightclub’s daily turnover could invite dozens of Lizwizis... and she’d be happy to come. The people visiting are the real bigwigs, prominent and wealthy."

V became instantly intrigued—

Lizwizi was a legend in the entertainment industry, boasting an extraordinary level of Prosthetics that could turn her into a cyberspace phenomenon. Her performances were captivating, a true international superstar.

"Then we’re in for some fun this time. When does it start?"

"We’ll have fun, alright. The banquet starts in two days, but we’ve got some prep to do: although any fool could see the many issues in our activities in Dog Town and boldly guess we might be mingling with Hansen, on the surface, we still need a guise.

The invitations for the three of us have pseudonyms, a bodyguard with two attendees..."

"Anyway, it’s impossible for someone in this kind of attire, so first, we need to buy some clothes, then work on our styling..."

"You mean I have to dress like... that corporate drone look? I’m good at that!"

"No," Lille denied, "You did look the part at the border control last time, but we’re not going to pose as corporate drones this time—it’s too risky to get caught, so we need to impersonate...

We need to impersonate a political figure with clout in Night City, officially there to have cordial talks with Dog Town, while incidentally catching a fugitive, giving the corporations more smoke grenades to let them guess slowly."

"So... who is it?"

"The main person we’re impersonating, you’ve seen him before: Jefferson Perares."

"Perares, that brainwashed guy? He does sort of resemble you, all pompous and dull. What about me then?"

"You..." Lille said slowly, "you’ll be posing as Mrs. Perares."

"Oh... I’m posing as Mrs. Perares..."

V had just finished speaking when a sudden flash of realization struck:

If Lille was impersonating Jefferson Perares and she was impersonating Elizabeth Perares, did that mean...

Ding—

The elevator stopped, its doors opening, Lille continued, "So, first, let’s check out the high-end clothes at the black market’s clothing store, and while we’re at it, I’ll explain the specifics of how we’ll go about it. You don’t need to cover every base like a corporate agent, to put it simply..."

While Lille was still talking, V’s brain was racing with other thoughts...

They were going to pose as a couple?!

...

Dog Town, the temporary monitoring office.

This place was located in a dimly lit basement, occupying one of the Voodoo Gang’s safe houses in Dog Town—

The Voodoo Gang here had already been taken out by them.

Blais had been holed up in the room for a long time and sometimes felt like he was under house arrest.

Bang.

The door opened, and his hypocritical European colleague walked in.

Seeing this, Blais half-sat on the desk, arms folded, and asked:

"...Agent Jonathan, the Cyberspace fluctuation that just occurred was clearly the Black Wall, do you have anything to say about it?"

"Actually, I do. What just happened is related to us, and you don’t need to know the specifics. What you need to know is that we’ve just confirmed something:

The Burger King crime organization, the target you are pursuing, has a very high tendency for AI—over 99%."

Blais was stunned, but Jonathan continued, "With such a high propensity, you should have discovered it earlier. The headquarters is starting to doubt your expertise, so now this case is being transferred to my responsibility, and you will assist.

Of course, I think it’s not your fault, because considering the current situation, this ’Burger King’ might be a highly threatening critical entity.

Such cunning critical entities are not something you can detect alone; it’s quite normal.

However, if there’s insufficient competence, adjustments must be made..."

Jonathan’s subsequent words had one clear message: From now on, he would be taking the lead on the mission.

Blais shook his head, "I... I obey the arrangements. What do we do now?"

"Very good, Agent Blais. Although your abilities are slightly insufficient, your attitude is commendable. Hansen will host the Jewel Green gathering in two days; prepare yourself for a second encounter."

"I thought... you would make the contact?"

"My work is mainly in the network; that’s all you need to know."

Jonathan replied decisively.