Chapter 53

"Ha…" Hita shrugged. "After all, our team just formed; it's normal to be under-equipped."

"That time at the Biotechnology Building—you caused such a commotion. Your capabilities truly exceeded my expectations," Mann said, sipping his drink with deliberate meaning.

That night, the military tech subsidiary channel News 54 was hacked by a mysterious Hacker, looping the side effects of the drug "Securicine" for a full hour.

Added to that, the grand mobilization of the joint army formed by Biotechnica and Militech.

Rumors fooled the general public, but couldn't hide from those deliberately digging.

One night passed, and the winds shifted.

Speculators who loved stock trading opened their eyes that morning, ready to flex their muscles in the financial market, only to be blindsided by a barrage of shocking news.

Militech suddenly announced the end of its long-term cooperation with Biotechnica.

Just over a simple drug scandal?

The truth was far more than that.

Was it the cry of the evil dragon that had ruled New America for nearly a century, finally unsheathing its claws to attack the fat lambs of Europe?

No one knew the true answer.

Even the financial titans who once boasted of knowing corporate secrets and possessing reliable insiders fell silent, heads bowed.

How much less could the ordinary masses of Night City, blinded by a single leaf and slow to realize?

They only knew that this European pharmaceutical giant had been severely wounded by a drug scandal and some unknown reason, bleeding profusely.

The most obvious sign was Biotechnica's stock price plummeting, crashing like a cliff.

Whether holding shares or trying to buy the dip, every investor lost everything; many were ruined, even dead.

During that period, the death lottery count exceeded four digits for several consecutive days.

Faced with Biotechnica's decline and Militech's silence, the remaining super-companies in Night City—like Arasaka and Kantō—began stirring.

Rumor had it that Saburo Arasaka in Japan had already set out, planning to personally lead the charge on Night City's bloody, wealth-filled battlefield.

Kantō had already moved; that bloody battle was livestreamed in full—a super Robot that defeated MaxTac? A perfect marketing case.

Foreigners like the Korean Zhang Corporation were no fewer; they watched hungrily, eager to seize the one chance to kick Biotechnica out entirely and fill the vacant seat of Night City's super-giant.

What exactly had happened to Biotechnica to bring it to such a fate?

Now, the answer to this mystery that had tormented countless people stood right before him.

Mann opened his mouth to ask, then hesitated.

First, shallow ties must not invite deep words.

Though he'd once given the other some care in the dump, that was a small price paid out of respect for Rogue—not equivalent to the value of that secret.

Mann had roamed the underworld for years; he believed firmly in equivalence.

Second, knowing secrets you shouldn't know invites fire to burn you.

Though Biotechnica's Night City branch was crippled, it still retained considerable power.

A dying camel is still bigger than a horse.

Biotechnica couldn't touch Hita and his group, but crushing Mann's crew would be no harder than squashing an ant.

Mann hesitated. His own life didn't matter—but what about Dorio, Sasha, Rebecca, Pilar?

As the team's leader, he naturally bore the burden and duty of an elder brother.

So he chose silence, suppressing the searing curiosity burning inside him.

The foolish woman Dorio seemed to think less than he did; in a moment of distraction, she'd already bonded warmly with Hita and the others.

Mann smiled faintly.

Maybe she was pretending to be foolish.

Mann felt his own coarse heart might never understand the clever, ever-shifting mind of a woman.

"Mann?"

"What?"

Dorio's call pulled Mann's wandering mind back.

He blinked, hiding all emotion beneath his signature sunglasses, then turned toward Dorio.

"You've been blowing into an empty bottle for ages…" Dorio groaned, pressing her forehead, both angry and heartbroken at her lover's foolishness.

"Rebecca will definitely mock me mercilessly if she sees me like this…" Mann joked, smiling.

"I wonder how that little girl is doing…" Dorio handed Mann a new chilled beer, sighing softly.

"What do you think of the other two, besides Hita?"

Surprisingly, Dorio possessed a delicate mind utterly unlike her rugged appearance.

Mann knew this well, which was why he'd specifically asked for her impression.

"I feel… they're not quite human…" Fortunately, Dorio often drank with Mann and had a good tolerance; she didn't shout, only leaned close to his ear and whispered.

Mann was startled by Dorio's serious expression and her speculation, wondering if he'd taken too many pills and was hallucinating.

"Not human? Are they ghosts?"

Mann gripped the cold bottle, shivering slightly.

Though unwilling to admit it, this nine-foot-tall giant had a secret weakness.

He was terrified of sneaky, shadowy spirits.

In short—he was afraid of ghosts.

Every time they walked home, the mischievous Dorio would spin ghost stories, whispering them all the way to keep Mann frightened.

"Look at you, such a coward…" Dorio saw his embarrassed look and rolled her eyes.

"It's your words that were ambiguous!"

He must've drunk too much, Mann thought, arguing with Dorio while sheepishly scratching his head.

"So what does it even mean?" Mann, unable to bear the silence after his girlfriend finished speaking, grabbed her arm and demanded an explanation.

"Yahweh... though he has the manners of a gentleman, his sense of boundaries is too obvious—every movement unconsciously reveals a sense of superiority."

"Lucy... I feel she's similar to Yahweh. Talking to her is like speaking through a thick pane of glass... Her gaze at people is like an audience seated below, curiously watching a play on stage."

"Could you just be overthinking it?"

"Maybe... but they're all no ordinary people." Dorio shook her head and let out a soft sigh.

"At least... they're not enemies." Mann, still shaken, rubbed his arm.

"Everyone says Rogue has a sharp eye, yet you still didn't believe it... We've been around Night City for so long, and the number of missions we've taken in the Afterlife can be counted on one hand... That little girl Hita has been hanging around Afterlife nightclubs since she debuted."

"The Queen of the Afterlife doesn't run a charity. Anyone she takes notice of must have something extraordinary."

"Like Johnny Silverhand?" Mann paused, then asked softly.

"People like them are destined to stir up storms, becoming true legends—eternal, alive in the stories passed down from generation to generation..." Dorio stole a glance at Hita and the other two laughing together, her tone filled with awe.

"At least, we were lucky enough to witness it."