Chapter 249 - 231: Intensification (Thanks to Honorary Father Frozen’s Silver Alliance)

Phoenix Nightclub.

Jotaro took a deep hit from a drug called "Shimmer."

Akihara supported his boss Saito, leaning against the wall, standing at the nightclub entrance.

"... You, ’Evil Ghost’ of the Tiger Claw Gang, you’re telling me you couldn’t kidnap an ordinary person?"

"We tried our best. The enemy was strong," Akihara shook his head. "They also had a powerful armored vehicle."

Jotaro’s forehead veins bulged. He laughed, a disconcerting laugh:

"Legendary Mackinaw, huh? Are you seriously telling me Mackinaw is invincible? If that car is so amazing, why doesn’t the Terrorist Mobile Team use one?"

"I didn’t lie, nor did I slack off. Please save Saito."

Akihara placed Saito beside him, prostrating himself on the ground.

"Save him?"

Jotaro took a rifle from one of his subordinates and sprayed bullets!

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat——

Bullets tore through Saito’s already battered body, sending flesh, cybernetic remnants, and unknown fluids flying.

Hearing the gunfire, Akihara lifted his head, saw his brother’s mangled body, and froze.

The blade swung, stirring a whirlwind!

The samurai sword nearly reached Jotaro’s throat in an instant!

But Jotaro remained unfazed, icy-faced, holding up a phone in his left hand. The phone displayed footage of a woman tied to a chair.

"Julia, right? A bitch.

Did you really think the boss didn’t know you were planning to betray the gang?

If I hadn’t told the boss to keep this bitch, you’d be meeting King Yan already!"

Jotaro kicked Akihara in the stomach, causing his wound to burst, blood gushing out.

"Fuck you! You talk big, but when it comes to action, you’re as useless as a dog," he cursed.

Blow after blow, the already battle-worn Akihara’s joints deformed, unable to bear the force, collapsing to his knees.

He knelt in Saito’s blood puddle, eyes wide open in a daze --

His mind buzzing in chaos.

Jotaro let out his anger, taking a paper from a subordinate to wipe blood from his hands and face, then threw it at Akihara’s face.

"Waste! One last chance for you: go inside now, get new prosthetics, all top-notch Arasaka gear --

Go kill them, and you can see your little girlfriend. Otherwise, I’ll make you watch ’Torture Compilation Volume 12’ right now!"

Finished speaking, Jotaro left the Phoenix.

Entering a stretch limo, Jotaro asked his deputy Ueno, "That soldier didn’t cooperate?"

"He said he wouldn’t accept those terms."

"Then tell him we give up, let him come to Phoenix to pick up his daughter -- hang the body at the door, separated.

I’ve heard old soldiers easily succumb to cyberpsychosis, provoke him a bit.

If it doesn’t work... well, just blow the place up, the explosives are ready?"

"All set."

"Good, let’s go then, just in time for some fun at Cloud Peak -- damn, being eyed by maniacs."

Jotaro said as he made a phone call.

[Contact: Chief]

[Jotaro: Chief, I’m wrapping things up here, can you arrange...]

[Chief: Jotaro.]

[Chief: This thing, I’m very unhappy. You know, election year is coming up, winning is the most important thing for us]

[Chief: You’ve caused such a mess.]

[Jotaro: Sigh, Chief, can’t say that, isn’t the trouble from your own department...]

[Chief: Enough, stop calling me Chief, I’m only the Deputy Chief!]

[Chief: Handle your own affairs, I’ll send people to lock down the Skyscraper.]

[Jotaro: Absolutely.]

[Jotaro: By the way Chief, that desert cook, really is...]

[Chief: Yes, but not that formidable. The Company Square incident was pure luck; the Lizard Man saved his life.]

[Jotaro: Why call him desert cook?]

[Chief: Because he used to be a cook in Evil Land, that’s all.]

What the hell?

Hanging up, Jotaro’s face grew stern.

A cook in Evil Land, who would believe that crap?

The key is... it’s the first time that useless Deputy Chief admitted to being just a deputy.

This must be serious.

So exaggerated?

Just thinking that, Jotaro received a rare message.

[Contact: Arms Supplier]

[Arms Supplier: We are offering you free aid.]

[Arms Supplier: But you must follow our strategic actions. First, return to Cloud Peak and open the network domain for our hackers.]

[Jotaro: Not possible, Cloud Peak isn’t solely my property.]

[Arms Supplier: Find a solution yourself. Do it well, and we’ll compensate you for your losses.]

[Arms Supplier: You have one minute to consider. Refuse, and we’ll immediately withdraw all support for the Tiger Claw Gang.]

[Jotaro: Is that a choice! I’ll do it!]>

[Arms Supplier: Good dog, you’ll be rewarded.]

[Arms Supplier: First, people have infiltrated your informant’s home.]

[Arms Supplier: Lead an assault on them.]

"You’re the damn dog." Jotaro muttered.

Now he had to turn traitor within the Tiger Claw Gang.

But who doesn’t use drones these days?

"Ueno-san, take some men to a location, kill them. You have drones to use."

...

Meiquan District Prosthetic Clinic, David and the others were lying on surgical beds undergoing treatment.

This time, they weren’t getting new prosthetics, mainly treatment and repairs.

However, in their minds, Lille was linking into their prosthetic systems for a drive check.

In cyberspace, connecting to the human system, the data displayed was strange; the more outdated and chaotic the drive, the more bizarre the shapes.

[Lille: Your drives... are all pirated, and they’ve got such poor compatibility?]

[Lille: David’s is a bit better, Mann, your problem is more complex than I thought. Why use a gorilla arm drive for a standard bionic arm?]

[Lille: Do you know this affects your aim?]

[Mann: Uh... but I had my prosthetic doctor modify it. He said it’s still usable and can be overclocked.]

[Lille: That quack? He knows shit about tech. Don’t overclock if you don’t understand; it causes cyberpsychosis.]

Lille began adjusting the drives.

Then Little Octopus jumped out of his body, pointing its tentacles at David and the others’ prosthetics.

[ÅäµÄ: Bro, can I adjust this? After digesting that data, I feel I’m quite good at this :D.]

[Lille: Give it a try then.]

Lille thought, worth a try.

Why Octopus suddenly had this idea, probably due to the previous Super Dream technology giving him more cybernetic prosthetic data, boosting his confidence.

In cyberspace, Lille opened up some computing power to Little Octopus again.

Of course, given past experience, Lille was cautious, releasing the computing power in stages this time.

He watched Little Octopus gradually grow, its tentacles becoming mechanical arms.

[Symbiotic AI Tendencies Activated: Prosthetic Drive Optimization]

[Description: This AI is designed to assist prosthetic movement, using artificial neural network algorithms to optimize the drives.

Gather more cyber-implant operation, brainwave decoding data to enhance this function.]

[Note: This AI can be directly embedded in prosthetics to assist operation.]

Lille and Octopus worked together on the modifications...

It was indeed magical; however, some areas still needed minor corrections to align with human logic and to rectify genuine errors.

Little Octopus was still in the model training phase, requiring constant adjustments.

Assigning the major corrections to Little Octopus, Lille began sending the gathered intel to Mann Team and the two cops.

[Lille: Here’s the situation.]

[The kidnapping is being done by someone named Lee Jeahyun, who not only snatches people off the street, but also lures newcomers to Night City.]

[The kidnapped are placed in containers near the Geisha District, waiting for pickup.]

[Some get sent to Phoenix Nightclub for selling or filming, others to Cloud Peak.]

[Phoenix is on Ellen Street, Cloud Peak... unclear, but I suspect it’s in the H8 Skyscraper.]

[Since we’ve come this far, we should hit both places.]

[Bad news though, NCPD just sent people to H8 Skyscraper for lockdown. Seems the officials are making moves.]

[We need to act fast, or we’ll lose the lead.]

Little Octopus upgraded the drives quickly, finishing everyone’s in no time.

Mann’s upgrade was most noticeable. His prosthetic system’s memory usage dropped significantly, and the subtle resistance vanished.

Flexing his arm, Mann raised his rifle, noticing steady aim.

"This is... impressive."

Rebecca and Pila also tested their guns, noticing quicker reactions.

The group geared up and left the prosthetic clinic, ready to move.

[Lille: If all’s good, head to Phoenix first for reconnaissance.]

[Reaver: What about you?]

[Lille: Got flies outside the window, need to handle them, then find something for the officials to deal with.]

Lille donned his gear, assembling a raccoon dog sniper rifle, parts from a case, ready to use.

The three hunkered down in Ivan’s place, watching drones speeding their way from afar.

Lille finished assembling and handed the rifle to V: "I have a feeling, tonight, Night City’s gonna flip again."

V took the rifle: "When isn’t it? Once we’re done here, we smash NCPD’s lines!"

Jack hid behind the window, surrounded by steel pipes: "Isn’t that too much? There are good cops too."

"No worries, only the bad ones will stay."

With that, Lille messaged an informant:

[Contact: Regina]

[Lille: I have an urgent job, I’ve got files on NCPD corruption and ties to the Tiger Claw Gang, copied from their database.]

[File Transfer]

[Regina: How did you get these? Are they legit?]

[Lille: See for yourself. News should show NCPD locking down H8 Skyscraper.]

[Regina: Those bastards.]

[Lille: I know you have media connections, get this out.]

[Regina: Anything else?]

[Lille: Warn NCPD, in my name, not to guard H8 Skyscraper over this.]

[Lille: I’ll be there soon.]

[Regina: You’re audacious—this one’s on the house, be careful sneaking in.]

"Audacious?" Lille locked onto the incoming drones via CCTV, "This is just the beginning."

By the window, V and Jack aimed, one with a sniper rifle, the other with a steel pipe, targeting the drone swarm—

Watson District was destined for unrest tonight.

They watched the drones’ direction—coincidentally, toward Company Square.

A train emerged from the downtown tracks, passing over shantytown tracks.

V pulled the trigger.

The bullet charged and accelerated, firing through the ramshackle district—

At one point keeping pace with the train, then overtaking it, heading in different directions, striking the drones!

Boom!

Firelight burst!