Chapter 970 - 23: Skyrend Project (Part 1) (Double-Length)

So it’s a vicious circle, and a sinister one at that.

Honestly, even if you understand these issues, it’s hard to judge whether producing such weapons is right or wrong. After all, they do need stronger weapons for self-preservation.

But then again, self-preservation is, to a large extent, an important part of this vicious circle...

People fear failure, internally fearing the threats from their superiors, superiors fear threats from society, society fears external threats...

It’s hard to trace how this logic was established.

Now the people in the command room are the same, unable to resist Lille’s will, they can’t do it from their ability, and they admit they need such weapons for self-preservation from their mindset.

On one hand, it’s because they can’t defeat Lille; on the other hand, they are like those who destroy the opponent first for fear of being destroyed—

For self-preservation, they must obtain a weapon of mass destruction.

And precisely because of the endless demands for self-preservation, people fall into a vicious circle of mutual fighting...

If I’m going to die, why shouldn’t I drag the whole world down with me?

No one can refute this logic. If mere talk could make people sacrifice themselves, what would this world become?

Minds are confused, simply don’t want to think about it.

Anyway, all decisions now rest with Burger King.

"We need to produce this weapon, I’ll handle the weapons-grade nuclear fuel, we need at least ten missiles of this kind to deal with the pressure from New America—"

Hansen grinned: "I’ve been wanting to ask this question since just now: Did you bomb the New Space Army Base?"

V proudly responded: "Of course, that’s what we went there to do!"

Lille nodded too: "The news showed a rocket explosion; there was a space plane there."

Hansen felt increasingly absurd but also relieved: it’s absurd to think three people could penetrate New America’s Space Army Base, trigger a space plane explosion, and destroy the military base; it’s almost a fairy tale.

Past legends, like Waylan Old Snake, Morgan Black Hand, Johnny Silverhand...

These people are revered as legends in the mercenary world, but in the eyes of the military, they’re just tricky mercenaries; on the battlefield, a platoon could turn them into mice scurrying around.

Sounds disproportionate, but armies are endlessly endless, not to mention modern militaries, where combat robots account for a large proportion, they crush lives with iron, that’s war.

Hansen nodded: "I have no objection, if the explosion occurred at the Pentagon, it would be even better."

The others said nothing; honestly, soldiers are more accepting—perhaps Hansen still has many ideas, but he knows obeying orders at such times is enough.

"I have all the drawings ready, I need the third generation prosthetics from the Prosthetics Factory for manual forging, production methods will match with prosthetics through AI, integrated into readable skill chips to lead production."

Wandering AI, self-aware AI, any AI from an old era is a resource companies in this era compete for.

Lark knows, Hansen knows, Ryan and Perares also know, but from Lille’s mouth it becomes "AIs"...

This is too insane! They have support from more than one AI!

Munemasa started inputting production information, Small Octopus quickly matched production needs and methods into existing prosthetic technology, compiling usable skill chips, then transmitting them to the Prosthetic Laboratory affiliated with Vortex Gang and Fiona at Watson District.

"...I’d like to say something." Ryan raised his hand, "There are some discrepancies between Vortex Gang and Fiona..."

Lille turned his head: "I’ll solve this, give me the list of troublemakers."

"Uh...what troublemakers?" Ryan was confused.

Lille’s emotionless voice replied quickly: "Since you asked, it means someone will interfere with production, anyone you think might interfere with production can be considered a troublemaker."

"Then what?"

"Then? Prosthetic technology requires subjects, finding volunteers is hard for radical experimental methods, pin a charge on them, I’ll handle the arrest."

Ryan silently noted this down in his memo, while Perares took a deep breath: "But... sigh never mind, gang culture is like a flood beast, it indeed should be curbed."

In just these few seconds, another AI, Illuminati, calculated the impact of this engineering on Night City based on production technology and needs.

[Illuminati: This is just the beginning, although we saved a lot on major development costs and time, producing this weapon still requires many resources.]

[Illuminati: We need many workers, considering the importance of this project, I think these workers shouldn’t just know how to use skill chips, they need to learn a lot of related engineering knowledge, most importantly, their mindset must be anti-company with a strong belief.]

[Illuminati: I can screen suitable candidates through courses, but I estimate that the probability of finding people tough enough to meet the requirements in the population doesn’t exceed 5%.]

[Illuminati: Most people in Night City are selfish, hypocritical, a larger-scale education system reform is more beneficial for quickly meeting personnel needs.]

[Illuminati: Here are some suggestions...]

This so-called reform is essentially getting more people to receive education.

The low literacy rate in North America has its reasons; schooling in this world costs a lot, there isn’t compulsory education, and teachers have to pay for teaching materials in class.