Chapter 268 - 249 A Bright Future

The ownership transfer of Red Shirt Mental Hospital posed no difficulty.

The enforcement power of the NCPD in this city was somewhat fluctuating.

If they couldn’t catch someone, like Jotaro, it wouldn’t matter even if Jotaro killed a cop.

But with strong backing, dealing with a small capital like Red Shirt Mental Hospital...

Took just two and a half hours to complete the treacherous business war.

First, Reaver summoned the hospital director in the name of the NCPD; small hospitals in gray zones were very concerned about gang and NCPD matters.

They would choose based on the situation who to give their money to—looking at which side represented the higher authority.

So, it took him 40 minutes to rush from his upscale residence in Haywood to a remote clinic in Saint Domingo, and just 10 seconds after sitting down, he heard Reaver begin reading the arrest warrant.

He jumped up from the chair in 20 seconds, lost his life in 25 seconds, and left the office in 30 seconds.

At the 42-minute mark, he was sent to the morgue, cremated at the 45-minute mark, and the NCPD began asset inspection and recovery at the 50-minute mark.

At the 60-minute mark, the director initiated a board meeting to discuss urgent matters; three minor bosses were burned to death in their remote conferencing devices, one of whom was even a small Scavenger leader.

Of course, their electronic signatures could still be used; their signatures would live on as cyber ghosts in the servers of Red Shirt Mental Hospital forever.

At the 93-minute mark, nearby Scavengers arrived, and the battle was over in less than ten minutes.

According to Scavenger intelligence, the Adakado clan began clearing out nearby Scavenger strongholds.

Eight minutes earlier than expected, they secured the area surrounding Red Shirt Mental Hospital. This area now belonged to Adakado.

According to Lille’s plan, this place would be transformed into a secure facility disguised as a hospital, serving as a transit point between Evil Land and Night City.

Then... starting from here, they would fully open up the land transport routes connecting Night City, New America, the New Mexico border, and Mexico.

Once the channels were established, they could slowly start dealing in blood, prosthetics, firearms, and even security services.

"... There are many mentally ill patients here; it looks incredibly tragic. Are all hospitals in Night City like this?"

On the hospital rooftop, Pan’an walked out with people, still carrying a scent of blood on her, her brows furrowed.

The Wanderers had never seen such a scene before? The place called a hospital, in reality, specialized in torturing patients.

"Some companies buy this kind of health insurance for their employees to save and scam money, and some people do it to squeeze some value from the mentally ill."

"But it doesn’t matter; this won’t be a psychiatric hospital anymore."

Red Shirt Mental Hospital covered a considerable area; besides the main building, there was an abandoned parking lot at the back.

Surrounded by low-rise standalone small buildings, unfinished construction projects were everywhere, and the famous through-city expressway broke off here.

Homeless people were all over.

This place was so remote that even the Six Street Gang seldom came; now that Lille had taken over, it was even less likely they would come around.

Except for the notoriety of Horror Burger King, Adakado, unlike the city’s gangs, had their base in Evil Land, making them tough to confront directly.

Local gangs steered clear, intermediaries like the Old Captain supported, local merchants cooperated amicably, and the NCPD was powerless to govern, with some minor relations.

Once the capable Adakado men familiarized themselves with these processes, and Lille’s technology was implemented...

The prospects were very bright.

Lille pointed to these places, saying: "Once we have the money, we can even do some minor repairs to that unfinished building and make a more respectable base."

The group looked in the direction Lille pointed; it was an unfinished skyscraper, a few floors high, nothing but steel frames.

Although the area was still desolate, watching their tribe members moving in and out of the hospital, sorting and counting facilities...

They could actually imagine that scene.

Pan’an’s gaze toward Lille was somewhat... complex.

"Sol always says we will build a new home in Night City, but compared to you, what he says is like an insurance policy sold by a company—absolute crap."

"Why are you helping us? Someone like you should have many choices."

"Once you’ve stayed in Night City long enough, you’ll know that this city seems to give you many choices; some look like crap, some seem mildly interesting."

"But essentially, they are all crap—I prefer to create my own option."

"Once I pass on the chip’s driver, you guys start trying to produce artificial blood, and I will explain everything."

"Let’s call it a day; stay vigilant, Night City isn’t much safer than Evil Land."

Lille finished speaking and walked towards the stairs—

Before shifting focus to another world, there was one last thing to complete.

Lille got into the Mackinaw.

"It’s done—let’s head home, then I’ll do some accounting for you guys."

"First, the Mackinaw needs repair—this time Thunder Company chose to repair it for free for us, and they covered the fuel costs too."

"They will also send over some vehicle modification parts for free."

"Smart move on their part." V gave a look of approval.

"Next, our prosthetic modifications; I need to replace two sets of new cooling fins; this is relatively cheap, 20,000 bucks;

Jack needs part of his subdermal armor replaced, all in all, 20,000 bucks.

And you... lots of small projects, you need synthetic blood dialysis replacement, electrolyte replacement, bio-interface lubricant reapplication...

Quite a lot, adding up to about 90,000 bucks.

Altogether, it comes to 130,000 bucks."

"That much?" Jack gave a startled look, "Are you sure?"

"I’m sure, I handle the tech, trust me, I use the best." Lille said, emphasizing with a nod, "Next, we need to replenish ammo, grenades, medical supplies, all about 20,000 bucks.

Then there are consumable equipment items, things like temporary welders, connectors... quite a lot, adding up to 40,000 bucks."

V, who was driving, cast a doubtful glance: "Doesn’t feel right, but I can’t pinpoint it, so we only earned that little over this run?"

Lille said irritably: "Then why don’t you do the thinking? Check this out—Kantao’s box, cyber control’s box, and a large supply from military sciences!"

"Anyway... you better not be up to something shady; how much does each person get?"

"Of course not—each person gets roughly 40,000 bucks."

Of course, there were no shady tricks.

However, V didn’t have a major problem; the larger one was that Lille had to consider repair plans through Kantao’s equipment, combining it with the available technology.

So Lille counted the team repair project on V’s tab, as all three of them needed to replace their respective biochemical maintenance materials.

As for the so-called equipment replenishment, the main expenditure was the upgrade and repair of mechanical arms.

But if counted that way... it made V seem at a disadvantage, with Lille taking all the benefits.

It’s for team harmony!

Lille glanced at V guiltily—just as V spotted him!

"You son of a bitch, I knew you had something up your sleeve!"

V steered single-handedly, hooking Lille by the neck with one hand, and Lille struggled in terror: "I didn’t! Let me go—you know how to drive properly!!!"

Lille was yanked, causing the entire car to swerve on the road!

The spinal column lights on his back flickered:

[Little Octopus: Boss, I think you could just tell the truth.]

[Lille: You know nothing. If I tell the truth, the money will end up being my debt!]

[Lille: But these are clearly team expenses, you don’t understand... eek!]

"You definitely embezzled funds; I see you must have used the most money. This time, consider the money as interest repayment—work hard to repay it!"

[Lille: You see, she even charges me interest!]

[Little Octopus: Boss, I think you brought this on yourself...]

[Little Octopus: V is such a great person!]

[Lille: You’re siding with her now?!]

Jack gave a chuckle, sat back in the rear seat, and took out two gift boxes from his pocket.

One for his mom and one for Misty.

Then... he was going on a date!