Chapter 372 - 344: Energy Wallet

"First, to draw them out, Saint Domingo needs to put on an event, and it has to be big, with lots of people, then hang a banner...

You want to embody the spirit of the United States, to advocate the American way, right?

Now, the community needs confidence, to organize an event like this."

"But... for what purpose?"

"You’re in the midst of civil strife, little brother," Lille replied, "Yes, the mercenaries are the biggest problem, but officially you are dealing with an insurrection. Your boys have hired mercenaries to rebel.

Saint Domingo has to know who the real top dog is, whom to pay, right?"

"Oh... I get it now," said the sergeant, his finger wagging as he had a sudden realization, "Force them to show themselves, but can they even come out?"

They should be able to.

Lille felt that while this looked like a civil conflict, there was a high chance that the mercenaries were trying to take over or push some influence on behalf of others behind the scenes.

Controlling gangs means controlling local residents, which is very helpful for distribution.

For example, if Military Technology has good relations with the Six Street Gang, it can sell products in many places based on this relationship. It’s not that other companies aren’t good; it’s just that a little meddling by the Six Street Gang can cause the cost of sales to skyrocket.

If costs eat up profits, then it’s not worth selling.

Since they’ve thought of starting with the gangs, they would not ignore such an event, because this is the most hardcore and common marketing in the Cyberpunk World.

Corporate wars are fought on this logic: I break your backbone, make others scared to buy from you, make it impossible for others to buy from you. Isn’t that a monopoly?

And quelling the Six Street Gang’s audacity in hosting events is a very good idea.

The people of Saint Domingo are poor and uneducated. If you ask them to compare the merits of different brands, they really can’t, but they truly fear a bluff.

This is like using yourself as bait, a slip-up means goodbye. If there were a choice, the sergeant surely wouldn’t go about it this way, but now Lille is calling the shots.

Lille couldn’t afford to let this assignment drag on. Dangerous, yes, but at least take control of the situation.

Of course, to compel the other side to come out, you need a premise: you have to have enough goods to support the people’s livelihoods.

Lille answered, "They’ll come out. But before that, you need to boost the Six Street Gang’s business. Otherwise, they’ll only listen to you on the surface."

The sergeant touched his mechanical leg, lost in thought.

Though reluctant to admit it, he recognized the merit in Lille’s strategy.

This time, the top priority is to stabilize the mud-legs, as it’s he who’s being challenged, and holding one’s ground is always the first priority.

"... Alright, then let’s do it your way. But I have a question, when did you start doing business too?"

Lille produced a chip, which contained a list of the goods he could currently offer.

"Having some connections after being mixed up in this for so long is normal."

The sergeant was somewhat skeptical.

He only knew that Burger King had a good relationship with Wanderer—one was the Biotechnology Building job where they worked for Wanderer, who provided them cover.

Latter, they went to Evil Land to lay low, but he wasn’t sure exactly how they came back.

As for rumors of Burger King appearing in the Watson industrial area...

Hmm?

It’s quite possible, isn’t it? Or else why wouldn’t Brick accept his weapons offer?

Did Burger King find an arms channel? Is he hooked up with Military Technology?

Speculating further would be pointless; the sergeant began to peruse the list of items, and to his surprise, he found it quite alarming upon inspection.

[Fresh Blood Plasma: Whole blood, fresh, all blood types available.]

[Order: 4500 Euros/bag, 1-month lead time, expedited orders negotiable.]

Blood plasma? The sergeant looked skeptically at Lille: What does this mean, dealing with Scavenger?

Though the Six Street Gang wasn’t considered saintly, Scavenger-like elements were the primary enemies in their "protect the community" mission.

It didn’t seem likely, so he continued examining the list.

[Iron Beetle Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: Military-grade control and power systems, equipped with proprietary 5.7mm intelligent weaponry]

[Order: Limited production capacity, 8000 Euros/unit, ammo sold separately]

"This drone..."

"It’s the one I used at noon."

"Buddy, actually, Military Technology hasn’t been too keen on delivering to me lately. Whenever I inquire, they want to hike the price. Pfft."

Lille nodded with a smile.

It wasn’t him who had cut this route, but he was very much involved.

Selling is about making money. Military Technology’s drones went missing in droves at the border, and with the Six Street Gang almost biting the dust, it is natural to reassess the low-end drone distributors.

After a thorough inspection, the sergeant nodded slightly: "Though it looks a bit rough around the edges... it’s quite cheap. This stuff is not bad."

Continuing down the list, the practicality of these goods was so outstanding that the sergeant almost couldn’t believe it.

In the medical field, Lille sold not only artificial blood plasma but also chlorobilin made using lizard serum, as well as a complete range of first-generation prosthetics, even supporting customization.

Although it was somewhat outdated, that was all the poor ghosts in Saint Domingo could afford, so it wasn’t a problem at all.

He only knew that Lille had two little brothers who dealt in weaponry and probably knew quite a few proficient prosthetic doctors, but he had no idea the product line was so comprehensive!

Looking at it as a whole, there were actually quite a few things he could sell...

At the very least, the area with the highest volume usage—cheap prosthetics and medical consumables—was unlikely to fall into a situation where he had to deal with the Scavengers.

Lille continued, "Moreover, I’ve got arms dealers, flesh dealers, and... car sellers. If you want armed vehicles, I’ve got channels for that, brand new Mackinaw machine gun pickups."

"I own a mod shop myself—but Mackinaw is indeed not bad. Can you make it cheaper?"

"Yes, not only can Mackinaw be cheaper, everything on the list can be a bit cheaper."

The sergeant was startled and did not respond, waiting instead for Lille to make an offer.

Lille’s mechanical hand placed the carrying case he had brought onto the table.

In a previous commission in the Watson District, Jefferson had transferred a huge sum of money to him—

A financial transaction of millions of Euros was undoubtedly a large sum, and European banks immediately bombarded him with a variety of financial management texts.

Although he didn’t know how the mayoral candidate managed to transfer the money instantly, Lille had always been thinking about the issue of saving money.

The first issue was secrecy: The accounts Lille used for receiving funds were given by the Father when he first started working in Night City.

These accounts were divided into six numbers, each registered with the European Banking Union, and in the prosthetic system, they displayed the total amount. The money he received was mostly laundered.

But as for money laundering... in the Cyberpunk World, Lille didn’t think the security of those online laundering methods was particularly high.

In Night City, it was rare for someone to be caught for illegal transfers and money laundering.

Because European banks didn’t care about crime far away in Night City, their tolerance was quite high.

To put it bluntly, it was all a matter of cost. They weren’t going to exhaust their energies investigating illegal activities in Night City. What they wanted was for everyone to use Euros.

But as matters grew increasingly significant, European banks might change their attitude toward Lille due to various issues, which would be problematic.

Lille hoped to use a method other than the Euro for transactions, which was actually riskier than laundering money, but it was better to plan for it sooner rather than later.

The box contained an invention that seemed inconspicuous in the technological chains of two worlds:

Doctor Octopus used graphene batteries on his Octopus Arm, and Lille had already standardized them in the Marvel World.

He took a battery out of the box, which was only about as large as an old-generation mini smartphone, definitely small enough to fit into a wallet.

With an impressive energy density of 500Wh/kg, even a palm-sized battery could store up to 1 kWh of energy and be reused multiple times.

Its inherently sturdy physical structure also made it less likely to be damaged, making it an excellent energy storage device.

Energy equipment with very similar density existed in the Cyberpunk World as well, but it was mostly military use and typically seen only in expensive corporate facilities.

However, these batteries were being produced on a large scale in the Marvel World, and due to a cross-dimensional production mode, the Cyberpunk World also output an equivalent quality of batteries, which led to somewhat of an overproduction.

Lille grabbed one of the batteries and explained to the puzzled sergeant, "I call this an energy wallet. Each one can store 10 kWh of electricity.

If you can fully charge it and then deliver it to a designated delivery point, I can convert them to cash at a price equivalent to the current cost of electricity.

Moreover, if the quantity reaches a certain amount, I can offer a small discount on the total."

"Using batteries instead of Euros for settlement? What’s the angle? Just because the money burns a hole in your pocket? I launder my money clean, you don’t need to worry about that," the sergeant was puzzled.

Is there anything in this world that could replace money?

It was hard for a money-is-everything mindset to understand such a move.

Lille had no intention of explaining.

"Just tell me whether you accept it or not."

Electric energy can always be put into production, and whether it’s generated from fuel oil, alcohol, or nuclear reactors... it’s all the same.

Even though it’s a bit of a loss, this way European banks would definitely be unable to lock down Lille’s power from a single financial system. The difficulty of tracking would increase exponentially, and assessments would be greatly skewed.

Moreover, Lille had deeper thoughts about this system, thoughts he hadn’t had a chance to complete in his previous life.

The sergeant thought for a moment: "Fine, though business isn’t easy, I’ve got plenty on hand... that can be charged."

"Good, I’ll have someone deliver more empty batteries to you, and I’ll also distribute some to the locals at the event."

"..." The sergeant suddenly paused, "Why do I get the feeling... that this is your biggest reason for asking me to host the event?"

"Illusion," Lille shook his head, "Get ready quickly, keep in touch, and that mercenary, I’ve taken care of him."

"Okay, I’ll get people on it right now, time... it’s not good to delay it, how about the night after next. I’ll organize a shooting competition.

Let’s celebrate... what shall we celebrate? Maybe celebrate that idiot Cannoneer’s death..."

"Whatever you want."

Without further concern for the sergeant’s event planning, Lille was ready to return to the Red Shirt Camp to re-equip his gear.

With more powerful weapons circulating in the streets, he too needed to upgrade his equipment.