Chapter 173 - 157: Secret Maneuvers

"Given the current situation, I’ll be straightforward. In today’s attack, we have 12 wounded, with only 12 men left who can fight.

There are some Wanderers outside, but we can’t contact them. To be honest, many have left the Tribe to work solo, so I don’t trust them."

Inside the tent, Sol said.

Besides Sol, the Bright Family’s Pan’an was there, along with Navi and Cedric from the Red Ocher Tribe, three from Lille’s side, and the intermediary Dakota.

It’s time to summarize the situation.

Navi said, "We have 16 on our side, but aside from smuggling and petty theft, we have no other experience."

"Do they trust you?"

"Without a doubt."

"That’s good enough, plus you have someone experienced beside you."

But with only 28 people, honestly, it’s a bit too few.

The supply shortage is even worse.

Cedric pointed to a monitor beside him, "The supplies have been counted. As for weapons, we can only guarantee that everyone has a gun—not sure what kind though.

Ammo supplies can basically last for just one or two rounds.

Supplies can last for 4 days—already used sparingly, but how much the intermediary can get us, I don’t know.

The latest supplies have been stuck in Reno for a while, and you all know it. Now, even if they arrive south, they can’t get through."

The Bright Family and the Red Ocher Tribe were among the first pioneers to reach the outskirts of Night City. Most of Adkaduo still operate along the New America-Mexico border. With the internal split within the Tribes, the connections are not as tight as before.

Short on manpower, short on firepower, short on supplies.

Everyone turned their eyes to Lille.

Lille thought for a moment and said, "On our side, one car, one sniper rifle, three people, that’s it."

The previous Achilles and Sadara were destroyed at the Biotechnology Building, not brought out.

However, the raccoon dog’s bullets are down to one, Yinglong’s ammo is all spent, and Jack and V only have a handgun with one or two magazines each.

Besides Lille being in relatively good shape, Jack and V’s strengths are somewhat diminished compared to the Biotechnology Building.

Truly down to nothing.

Dakota said after hearing this, "I still have some regular ammo and hand grenades, but supplies are up to you to deal with.

Since yesterday, the blockade has become stricter, and intermediaries in the city can’t do anything. Now, only company transport teams can haul supplies; everything else gets intercepted."

Lille thought for a moment and said, "But I heard there was a cyberpsycho incident involving Military Technology yesterday."

"Yes, there was a cyberpsycho. So now, some checkpoints are jointly managed by NCPD and Military Technology. Military Technology is determined to deal with Wanderers.

I think their target isn’t just Wanderers."

Clearly, Military Technology suspected that the three of Lille were in the Evil Land, and they considered it very likely.

Initially, they thought the trio would have a higher chance of fleeing Night City, but yesterday’s events seemed to alert them.

From Military Technology’s perspective, generally speaking, no one would be so stubborn—but in reality, these three thieves might actually be that stubborn.

This blockade left Dakota helpless—at this rate, they’d have to find guns in the junkyard.

So everyone relied on Lille to see what ideas he had.

"Actually, I have a way to buy weapons and equipment, and they’re all top-notch, not some trash picked from the junk pile."

"So you’re still planning to get stuff from Dog Town... can you really do it?"

"I’m certain."

"What about transportation?"

"I’ll find someone from the city."

"But you’re in the Evil Land now. How are you going to find someone?" Dakota felt that the more she interacted with Lille, the more questions she had.

This new legend of Night City, whatever he said, the things he did always seemed incomprehensible.

"Find someone from the city"—you can enter the city, yet you’re still hanging around here?

But Lille didn’t explain further, "Anyway, I’ll get the equipment and supplies delivered. You just focus on the work."

Lille took out a Separation Chip from the nape of his neck and plugged it into the computer. The monitor displayed a map of Night City.

"Moore Technology transports a batch of equipment destined for scrapping to the junkyard every Thursday afternoon, high-tech equipment."

The route was clearly marked on the map, located in the western part of Taiping State, southeast of Saint Domingo.

Saint Domingo and the giant junkyard were separated by a massive dam, though if you stood in Saint Domingo, you could still see sewage seeping into the city.

The transport convoy traveled from the top of the dam straight to the junkyard meant for scrapping high-tech equipment.

"We’ll intercept the convoy on the dam," Lille pointed to the dam, "We’re here, crash the convoy straight off."

On the other side of the dam was Saint Domingo, almost a deserted place—coincidentally, it was where Roshan’s Lama Armory was located.

This way, she would be the quickest to access the materials, without needing any prior arrangements.

Sol’s head filled with question marks, "Crash it? I thought we were robbing it, not helping them complete the scrapping task?"

"How to put it... I just need some rare materials from the machines, and those materials won’t be easily damaged."

Now, Lille was no longer the same as when he went to train with Martin. The data stolen from the Biotechnology Building was enough for him to piece together a DNA maintenance machine, requiring those special materials from the original equipment, materials he didn’t know how to manufacture.

Getting equipment without operational software would be great, but those high-tech materials would suffice for his needs.

Everyone exchanged looks.

Ultimately, Pan’an was the first to speak, "So now we need to rob scraps and use scraps to piece together a high-tech device... this plan doesn’t sound reliable at all!"

"But it’s the safest way, as you mentioned, Wanderers’ firepower is insufficient.

According to this plan, we just need to hit the convoy hard and then flee—

Once the attack starts, nearby Military Technology troops will rush over, equipment and supplies will be transported from these poorly defended areas.

Then, we have equipment, we have supplies, but Military Technology thinks we only hijacked a scrap convoy and messed up—

Next, we catch their Chaotic Blade Association lackeys by surprise.

Quickly dismantle their base and seize their equipment and supplies.

Military Technology’s blockade is formidable, but it’s also costly. First, deal with their lackeys and see how long they plan to hold out."

After Lille finished, everyone pondered over the plan. Only Dakota noticed one detail:

On the map, Lille marked the defensive forces near the access points to the city, forces including Military Technology and NCPD.

"...Military Technology will chase us like a dog after a bone, but what about NCPD? Will they allow a vehicle filled with weapons and supplies to get out during this period?"

"They will let it through. I found a familiar contact, any other questions?"

This so-called familiar contact was Regina—the intermediary could get firsthand cyberpsycho information and arrange NCPD internal contracts for Lille, indicating she had substantial connections inside.

In Lille’s orchestrated situation, a little arrangement was enough to get the supplies out—NCPD regular officers were much easier to handle than Military Technology.

Everyone shook their heads.

This plan could be considered... quite good, at least Sol thought so.

Because although he had already decided to fight back, he still didn’t want a direct confrontation with the company.

As for Pan’an, this plan perfectly suited her tastes—rob the company fiercely, kill the Chaotic Blade Association.

Navi lacked experience, and Cedric beside him had even less opinion—he had a grudge with the Chaotic Blade Association.

Seeing no further questions, Lille said to Mitch, "Lastly—I know you still have some doubts about me, we can start simple, from the drones we collected today, starting with that.

Mitch, you help me assemble—everyone else, pack up, start scouting tomorrow, and the action starts the afternoon after tomorrow.

If there’s anything else, you can continue to add."

Mitch raised his hand, "Speaking of which—the Night Wandering Ghost who chased us today seemed quite formidable.

He had a pair of very sophisticated bionic arms, the bionic fibers moved as naturally as real ones, far better than what I have. Shouldn’t we pay attention to this? After all, ordinary people can’t afford such things."

Lille raised an eyebrow, glanced at V, who nodded, "Seems like a leader type, hearing gunshots directly using his subordinates as human shields, kicking one of his men before getting in the car, a clear sign of an insidious bastard."

The Chaotic Blade Association members were mostly bastards, which didn’t explain much.

However, knowing was better than not knowing.

Unexpectedly, Cedric spoke up, "Biodynamic Company seems to have such products, I saw an advertisement. Can you pull up the visual data for me to see that person’s appearance?"

Mitch nodded, retrieving the data from his Prosthetic Eye—he had kept extra vigilance because he felt that the tall, cunning and brutal guy needed to be noted down.

The recorded footage flickered due to Mitch’s condition at that time, but the enemy’s appearance was clear enough.

In the footage, the tall guy kicked Scorpion in the face, causing Scorpion to crash hard onto the ground, making everyone clench their fists.

But Cedric remained unusually calm— or rather, he seemed to be controlling his emotions.

And when that person’s face appeared in Mitch’s Prosthetic Eye—

"Ha, a dog with its tail between its legs..."

Cedric saw a face he would never forget his entire life.

"Bowen Ramiro... the bastard who escaped the Red Ocher Tribe."

He said through gritted teeth, gasping, a mind filled with images of the burning Wanderer Camp and the ubiquitous corpses.

Everyone in the Chaotic Blade Association had a deep blood feud with legitimate Wanderer families.

Lille nodded slightly, "Then you’ll soon have a chance to settle old scores."