Chapter 176 - 160: Commission: Blind the Sky

Watson District.

YAIBA TV building, a small 13-story office tower.

It seemed like a media work studio, but it was actually the base of Regina Jones, a fixer. The rooftop was filled with various high-frequency communication devices that were ostensibly controlled equipment in today’s monitored network. However, she managed to get legal permits for them.

All thanks to her mysterious sponsor.

"The idiots from the Burger King cartel want to smuggle something? How are they going to bypass Military Technology?"

"Specifically, their agent didn’t say. He only mentioned that at the crucial moment the Military Technology personnel would be distracted—I think Military Technology suspects him in the recent chase with the cyberpsychos.

He plans to use this perception to pull something big, but I can’t figure out what."

"Hmm... brave move, I like it—those idiots from the Burger King cartel, no doubt it’s you guys."

Despite the processed voice, the mysterious sponsor’s admiration was evident.

If the voice wasn’t processed, Regina would have realized that the mysterious person wasn’t just admiring. There was a hint of excitement too.

"What does he need?"

"An NCPD special pass. Once the Military Technology personnel leave the checkpoint, they pass through unnoticed."

"Easy enough, the NCPD issues a stack of those every day to handle confiscated contraband... you know what to do, right?"

"I do—though I don’t understand why you care so much about this? It doesn’t seem related to the cyberpsychos."

"Cyberpsychos are a reflection of society’s pathology on individuals. If someone can defeat a cyberpsycho repeatedly... maybe it signifies something important."

Regina wasn’t entirely sure what he meant—if that’s the case, what does the Terrorist Mobile Team signify?

But on second thought... without the Terrorist Mobile Team, the situation might be worse.

"Anyway, I permit you to leverage the NCPD connections to help the idiots from the Burger King cartel run another operation."

Regina had a strange expression—

"... why do you keep saying that name?"

"I like it."

Click, the communication was cut off.

Regina scratched her head. This mysterious sponsor had provided a lot of help in securing NCPD’s involvement and in challenging Channel 54.

But the true identity and intentions of the other party were always elusive.

At least the other sponsor wasn’t so enigmatic—

Regina picked up her phone.

Caller: Kantao Representative.

Kantao Representative A: Who took the cyberpsycho at the highway exit?

Regina: Consider it a favor repaid, okay?

Kantao Representative A: ... looks like it was him. Consider half a favor repaid. The remaining half can be repaid in this operation.

Regina: You need to tell me first, I don’t betray my mercenaries.

Kantao Representative A: He has a prototype of our Si Anweisitan. We need the operational data from it. He’ll be happy to give it to us.

Regina: I can pass the message.

Kantao Representative A: It’s settled then.

The Kantao representative hung up immediately.

In their long cooperation, Regina’s impression of them was clear: they respected boundaries and never pried. They offered straightforward transactions.

And the second impression: they never lost.

This might sound strange... in Night City, where scheming is the norm, and gambles have winners and losers.

Kantao always focused on their specific objectives, never overstepping, and overall, they always profited.

A strange feeling.

Their favors were the hardest to repay, indicating just how much they valued Burger King.

After pondering for a while, Regina instructed her team: "We need an NCPD special pass, ASAP."

...

Evil Land, Red Ochre—Bright Family Camp.

The Wanderers had roamed the Evil Land for years, with good resilience. After a day of rest, everyone felt much better.

Most of the injured were awake and driving seemed possible, except for the still-unconscious Scorpion.

In the tech workshop, Mitch took a deep breath and looked at Lille: "I haven’t used the features of this prosthetic arm in years... hope it still works fine."

Lille nodded and signaled to start.

They began assembling the drone wreckage in front of them.

Lille was using a tech expert glove, which, given enough energy and materials, could function as both a welding torch and a high-temperature cutter.

Mitch’s arm was a mechanical repair prosthetic he had installed while serving in the Military Technology Forces.

[Military Technology Armored Transport Soldier Arm (Model Unknown)]

[Description: Enhances arm strength and comes with pilot programs and vehicle interfaces, ensuring one-handed driving in extreme scenarios.

To prevent unexpected situations, the prosthetic is equipped with repair preset programs. It can connect to a prosthetic eye to automatically diagnose mechanical status and generate repair suggestions.

Compatible with all Military Technology combat equipment in combat sequences.]

The arm itself had an integrated computer—though after the Unified War, prosthetics had these features disabled.

If Mitch hadn’t escaped in time, they’d have dismantled it for sure.

Later, with the help of Wanderer family hackers and tech experts, he unlocked the software lock—hoping Military Technology’s equipment hadn’t changed significantly in these seven years.

The remaining energy and materials of the Adkaduo family weren’t enough for a second attempt.

As Mitch identified the parts on the table, system labels appeared in Lille’s mind:

[Current Task: Drone Design and Manufacturing]

[Assist Development Mode Activated]

[Loading Available Modules:]

[Military Technology Drone Hover Engine, Military Technology Drone Sensor Module...]

There were seven drones in total, with six having core components relatively intact despite Pan’an’s ground-to-air missile destroying one.

During the electromagnetic short-circuit transmission, Lille targeted different drone modules, specifically preserving the hover engines’ mechanical structure.

Having hacked many drones, Lille’s head was filled with ideas.

Due to supply constraints, their drones couldn’t have weapons—targeting modules in drones were usually very inefficient.

So, they focused mainly on support.

[Design Template One: Bumblebee Drone]

[Description: Recon drone, constructs battlefield maps using cross-dimensional honeycomb networks and extends communications signals.]

[Design Template Two: Griffin Drone]

[Description: Weapon modules removed, weight reduced to increase agility, leaving space for radar and other communication components.]

Lille quickly generated the design schematics in his mind and transmitted the structural diagrams to Mitch’s system.

They worked in perfect harmony, their prosthetics software coordinating seamlessly—

After a morning of adjustments, three drones reflecting the distinctive Wanderer style started up...

Unlike the brand-new shells of military drones, their surfaces were pitted, with visible welding marks—

But they could fly.

Sizzle.

The engine emitted a spark, and Lille adjusted the power, making the three drones rise slowly—

The surroundings became fully visible, and they networked visually with Mitch’s own drone, mapping a tactical 3D map in the combat channel.

[First Successful Drone Assembly]

[Reward Technology Points: 300]

[Current Technology Points: 790]

As the tactical coordination signals appeared in everyone’s prosthetic eyes, the Adkaduos cheered in unison—

"Awesome!"

"Now we can see everything clearly. Even my grandma could hit someone!"

"When’s our next company raid? I can’t fucking wait!"

Successfully assembling the drones meant a lot—it directly signified they had finally seized something useful from the corporation!

The series of failures had severely harmed morale, even such once-routine tasks now felt invigorating.

Lille put down the glove, knowing full well this was a do-or-die effort—

The batteries they brought from the Adkaduo camp had little remaining charge, and the supplies of ethanol and gasoline were nearly depleted.

Mitch sat down on a chair, sipping a drink: "You’re... pretty impressive, the prosthetic only told me how to identify and repair part issues, but assembling a new drone from spare parts, this is my first time doing it.

With this skill, we should try our luck at the junkyard."

"No way, junkyards are dirty and smelly—have some dignity, Mitch?"

Lille laughed and looked outside.

Through the canyon crevices, the sky was still visible from the camp—

This place was quite good, not just hidden but also provided shade, fulfilling these conditions without making them live like cavemen in a den.

Just a bit poor.

At this moment, Sol hurried into the workshop:

"Dakota’s signal is down, probably Military Technology’s doing."

Just when they were preparing to act under the radar, Dakota was contacting other Wanderers outside, trying to consolidate their forces.

But clearly, frequent communications had attracted Military Technology’s attention, making their situation increasingly difficult.

Lille remained unfazed: "Stick to the plan, bring everyone together. We’ll do another rehearsal."

Meanwhile, Marvel World had finished regrouping after completing the operation at Company Square, which had also burned a large number of computers there.

[Information Technology Lab Update:]

[NYPD Contract Completed, Final Payment Received]

[First Batch of Commercial Chips Production Completed]

[Server Purchase Completed, Enhanced Computing Power, Increased Cross-Dimensional Data Transmission Bandwidth]

After a long period, the foundry delivered the first batch of computers equipped with Lille-designed chips—

These chips had a modest process technology but a novel architecture suitable for bridging with cyber components.

This would enhance Lille’s IT capabilities, providing safer IT support for the entire operation.

The counterattack began.