Chapter 590 - 561: Moon Surface Call

Hacking into the power distribution station of Military Technology was scary enough in itself.

Everyone liked to talk smack about the corporation now and then, but when it came down to it, they would rather stay far away, let alone actively mess with Military Technology, a giant corporation that relied on security services for its livelihood.

But... it had to be said that working for Burger King seemed to always involve poking the company’s bum.

Qi Wei didn’t care anymore; as long as the work for Lille paid well. Although it was dangerous, in most cases, it only sounded dangerous, and if there were any problems, they would ultimately be directed at them.

But Lucy, as soon as she heard it was the company’s, she didn’t want to do the work—

The girl very reluctantly sent Lille a message:

[Lucy: That’s Military Technology! Not some database you picked up on the side of the road!]

[Lille: I know.]

Bang!

Suddenly black smoke billowed out from the power distribution station, the backup defense drone hangar shut down on the spot, and the communication antenna on top began to move.

Actually, Lille could have managed the hacking without Lucy, as he could almost be considered an insider in Military Technology, especially with the equipment along the Northern California border—it was like going back home:

The breach they had left on the boundary wall was still there; Adkaduo and Military Technology had set up camp there, with Adkaduo on the construction site and Military Technology in the security camp.

Lille was all too familiar with the technology that Military Technology had invested in Night City, from the hardware to the software, and even to the human resources.

However, having a hacker serve as a bridge was like the motherboard not getting enough power; for Qi Wei, it was no small burden, so when black smoke emerged from the power distribution station, Qi Wei also let out a muffled grunt—

[Qi Wei: ...I want a raise.]

[Lille: Sure thing.]

While Lucy was still being sulky, Lille indeed captured something.

The communications target of this agent was quite far, too far, so he had come here—

He "borrowed" the communication antenna from Military Technology and contacted his real organization:

[Peter Fieldhammer: Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?]

[Peter Fieldhammer: Moon? Do you copy?]

[Peter Fieldhammer: Agent Peter Fieldhammer reporting!]

Communications target: Moon.

Blais had made it clear to Lille about the special aspects of this agent when commissioning David: professional and with an unknown employer, but definitely not some ordinary gang.

Ordinary gangs don’t get involved in political struggles; what they want is to make money, to survive.

Considering the signs of assault observed on the scene, Lille had actually had a hunch about this already; he needed more information.

Continuing to hack with one mind was asking for trouble, like a computing device with insufficient power supply, prone to overload, overheating, even burning out.

So Lille synced this information onto both Lucy’s and David’s systems—

[Lille: Looks like we have a Moon guest. I’ve heard you guys have been wanting to go to the Moon, so this might be a bit... cruel for you, but I guess you’ll be interested.]

The Moon was the perfect ideal in the minds of young people like Lucy and David.

Having them do this job felt like shattering the beautiful illusions of youth, but Lille needed a second hacker to trace the data.

Besides... disenchanting the youth with their "ideals" wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Lucy and David were completely stunned: the Moon was their perfect ideal, and agents... were messy and disgusting things; combining the two gave a strange feeling.

[David: Brother, Moon agents...]

[Lille: It’s exactly what it sounds like, Moon agents. Are you guys in or out?]

Lucy gritted her teeth and opened up all communication protocols, plugging her personal link into the car.

She wanted to go to the Moon so badly that she didn’t even want to take this job. She didn’t want to hear these hints before even getting there:

The Moon was just as troubled, with agents and corporations, and perhaps others just like her... people.

But Lille really had her number with this line of thought, suggesting in so many words: You should take this job, listen to the news from the Moon, those stories beyond the orbital airlines’ advertisements.

As for David, no need to mention him; he hadn’t thought that much:

To be honest, Lille always offered them a generous price, but it wasn’t just burning money. They were just a bit short of the funds needed to go to the Moon, so they took any job they could.

Therefore, under David’s encouraging gaze, Lucy began the hacking operation.

[Peter Fieldhammer: I have secret intelligence about mayoral candidate Wilton Hot!]

[EM Moon SSB Officer #245: This is Moon Base, loud and clear.]

[EM Moon SSB Officer #245: We have never heard of an agent named Peter Fieldhammer. How did you find this channel?]

[Peter Fieldhammer: I know why Hot is working with Arasaka, I know everything!]

[Peter Fieldhammer: Get me out of here! Just get me out, and the intelligence is yours!]

[EM Moon SSB Officer #245: Please do not occupy this channel’s bandwidth, we do not collaborate with civilians.]

[Peter Fieldhammer: But I am an agent, I have intelligence!]

[EM Moon SSB Officer #245: I’m warning you to release the channel, otherwise, I will have to give the order, and you will be in danger.]

[Peter Fieldhammer: Let me send you the intelligence!]

[EM Moon SSB Officer #245: 3 seconds until I give the order.]

[EM Moon SSB Officer #245: 2 seconds.]

[Peter Fieldhammer: Please, just wait!]

[EM Moon SSB Officer #245: 1 second.]

Hack complete.

This segment of information was communicated by Peter Fieldhammer hacking into a military technology antenna and establishing a connection with a certain unit on the Moon.

But for some reason, the Moon base did not acknowledge the identity of this agent, and carried out an orbital strike against him—

The accuracy was very high, the speed was fast, and it was done in a way that left no trace, almost no evidence left behind.

This message was obviously not supposed to appear in the information traceback list, but Peter Fieldhammer obviously had all his hopes on his Moon homeland hearing him out. After his death, there was no time to deal with the information, and all he could do was wait for the new data from the military technology signal stations to overwrite what was theoretically labeled as buffered data.

Before the overwriting was completed, if someone actively sought to retrieve this data, they would be able to see what they said.

That is to say, this Peter was indeed an agent investigating Hot, and it seemed he had obtained some significant results...

[Lille: There are no traces of Arasaka around?]

[Pan’an: None, not even tire tracks. I have no idea how this guy got here.]

[Lille: Then let’s pull out.]

...

Adkaduo came and went, and the paralyzed military technology communication station returned to normal after their car left. The maintenance personnel could only find some voltage instability in the equipment and some burn marks on the circuitry.

However, on a crazy night like last night, a nuclear electromagnetic pulse also affected the wireless power grid that existed above Evil Land, so it wasn’t impossible.

The weather in Evil Land was very clear today. Driving a powerful Mackinaw, equipped with a series of brand-new signal devices and drones leading the way, Adkaduo’s searching capabilities could actually rival the daily patrol teams of Military Technology.

But they could only find Peter Fieldhammer’s body by following the impact outside of the orbit.

In fact, they missed more than just Peter Fieldhammer.

The sun shone on the earth, and a small squad of corporate agents mysteriously appeared out of thin air.

[Ninja: Lord Sanlang, the target was killed by an orbital strike. Adkaduo might retrieve information from the equipment he used. Should we attack?]

All biological information from everyone who appeared on the scene was recorded by the ninja and passed on to their immediate superior—Arasaka Saburo.

Relying on the world’s most top-tier intelligence network, San Lang could obtain all the case information possibly related to these people, as well as all the personal information and behaviors they had exposed on the network—

If he wanted to see it.

Although they failed to kill the Moon agent before he sent out the information and even failed to find the body before the group from Adkaduo, he now indeed saw something interesting.

[Arasaka Saburo: Do not attack, keep an eye on the white-haired girl.]

Lucy was the only one with white hair in David’s Team.