[Johnny: That world is just as rotten as ever, and then thereâs Elliot, always so conflicted and indecisive.]
[Johnny: But... whatâs up with Arasakaâs carrier? Is that for real? You sunk the Kujira? Is it really not just media nonsense?]
[Johnny: And Arasaka Saburo... hah, that old dog got taken out by his own son after all these decades. Iâd love to see the look on his face.]
[Johnny: Iâm getting interested in Night City as it is now...]
[Johnny: Free City is truly free now. New America is just as shitty as the old one. I donât even need to hear the name to know.]
[Johnny: When are we going back? Letâs check out what your girl looks like.]
Click.
Lille got up from the chair, ignoring the furious pacing of Johnny nearby.
"I was wondering why you are so quiet... Does that young guy make you hold back?"
Johnny seemed unusually calm in Elliotâs head, so calm that Lille thought he might have changed his ways and stopped caring about the mundane world.
Turns out heâs been holding it in all along.
Right now, Johnny doesnât look much better than Elliot hearing legends about Night City, with the hardwareâs temperature revealing his rich and colorful thoughtsâ
[Johnny: Haha! Didnât expect after fifty years, thereâs still some good news in this world!]
No minding Johnnyâs excitement, Lille headed towards the tower that was just used to concentrate high-energy oil:
In this world, only an hour had passed.
The explosion of high-energy concentrated oil completely rendered the tower useless, with robust military alloy flowing like magma.
Cybertronâs energy field control technology could certainly support this kind of cross-dimensional technology, but Sentinel Prime is dead, and Optimus Prime and his compatriots donât know when theyâll develop new technologies.
Things werenât great for Lille: after escaping Night City, only a month had passed in the Marvel World and Transformers World.
But another world has already gone a year...
Whenâs the next time?
When we go back next time, what will the world be like?
Lille stepped forward, four octopus arms transformed and extended from behind, donned heat-resistant gloves off the ground, probing into the molten equipment, pulling out remnants that could be used to collect data.
"...I need better technology... better... energy."
Seeing Lilleâs demeanor, Johnny toned down his excitement, his image flashed before Lille.
[Johnny: I must say, I never expected youâd have a group of such crazy friends.]
[Johnny: Looking at myself, back when I went to blow up Arasaka Tower, Kerry was begging me not to go to my death like a wuss, and Rogel was cursing me like an angry wife, calling me an idiot. Only Murphy was a real friend, but I suspect she just wanted to test her skills.]
[Johnny: Thinking about it, if I said weâre going to bomb Arasakaâs carrier, in the end, thereâd only be one person from our crew whoâd show up...]
[Johnny: That would be Shai Yituo, that block of metal... But heâs not stupid either, who knows what heâd think?]
[Johnny: But saying all this doesnât mean much.]
Buzzâ
Johnnyâs image suddenly flickered before Lille, arms crossed, gazing at the molten tower:
[Johnny: Iâll help you get back, Little Lille, this world needs talent like you.]
[Johnny: Letâs go back and burn the world to ashes.]
The wind blew through the wilderness, flames began to fade.
Lille glanced at Johnny: "Who asked you?"
[Johnny: Hmph...]
[Johnny: Do you regret not collaborating with the Decepticons? If you had chosen to cooperate, you might already be back.]
"Whatâs the point of going back as a person with a completely different mindset and spirit? Things are tough, the first choice should be to become stronger, not compromise."
[Johnny: So what are you planning to do now?]
[Johnny: According to what I know, this worldâs in chaos because of oil and the presidential election?]
[Johnny: But isnât the thing that lets us warp back the same stuff? If you plan to use it to get back, wouldnât you need to get hold of that stuff?]
After Johnny finished, Lille fell into silence.
If in the future he found out that every time he almost obtained the energy to replace high-energy concentrated oil, what would he do?
Even looking at it from another angle, every time he travels now itâs uncontrolled, because the Rocksen Group is conducting another oil refining test somewhere on Earth, allowing him a short opportunity to reach a new world...
In a sense, if he canât manage to get new energy, he would always be hoping Rocksen continues the experiments, so he can find new opportunities...
Which is contrary to his idea: the more high-energy concentrated oil Rocksen synthesizes, the stronger they become.
Lille didnât answer Johnny because he only has opportunities, not omniscience.
What lies ahead is beyond his grasp.
Johnny shrugged, vanished from Lilleâs view.
[Johnny: Anyway, Iâm backing you, buddy.]
A new message appeared within Lilleâs view:
[Christopher: Your Majesty, the reconnaissance drone just detected large-scale military mobilizations in surrounding countries.]
[Unstable energy eruption countdown: 24 hours]
...
Houston Oil Refinery Matrix.
The setback of Stark Group and Jarvisâs disappearance led to a complete shutdown here.
"Damn hypocrites!"
Dalio smashed the desk angrily: although it will take time to fully restore production and communication connections, they have already restored the operation of communication and spy satellites.
And the satellites show that just moments ago, an explosion featuring an energy wave pattern incredibly familiar erupted in Latovia!
It was Lille, that broke king from the pathetic world who stole the fuel sent by him to Latoviaâs duke, tinkering with the use of high-energy concentrated oil himself!
Despite from the energy level perspective, the explosionâs condition is similar to Rocksenâs first anomaly discovery twenty years ago, but the Rocksen Group took decades to discover its uses!
That brat even dares to say he wants to lead Mei Country to a completely different future?!
The satelliteâs restoration led to partial communication repair, Dalio immediately reached for the satellite phone:
[Dalio: When on earth can you launch the attack? Itâs freakinâ Latovia!]
[Alexander: Dr. Zola is already rebooting... Our technicians say thereâs still lingering impact on the current networks...]
[Dalio: Iâm asking: when can your forces march into Latovia?!]
[Alexander: ...Weâre planning to gather troops in Sokovia.]
[Dalio: Excellent!]
Boom!
All-day rumbling resounded across the sky.
The oil refining array restarted.
However, unlike the unmanned production designed by Jarvis, the drone count dropped dramatically here, replaced largely by Cyber Technology Companyâs workers with prosthetics capable of forced control and monitoring occupying most positions.
If Lille and Johnny were here, theyâd find that buildings, almost identical to Elliotâs apartments, rose on the arrayâs edge...
Implanted prosthetics and fully armed soldiers ensure order here.
Efficiency dropped significantly compared to unmanned production, but a larger scale compensates for the production decline.
Dalio squinting, gazing at his exclusive industrial empire...
Now he just needs to defeat that hypocrite to expand this empire globally.
[Dalio: I want you to increase the stakes, a new batch of arms is available to you, donât let me down again!]
Last time he thought Lille was out of resources, a dozen to twenty Rhino Mechas and Death Warriors should suffice.
This time... an entire army will go.
Hydra proved incompetent, so this time, heâll shell out for another organization to step in.
Thinking of this, he began drafting the message.
[Recipient: Red House]