Chapter 651 - 622 City Hall Staff Meeting

[Contact: Burger King]

[Ryan: How would I know how Scavenger got onto the banner of humanitarian aid? His company is a shell corporation registered in Europe, it uses Euros, it’s beyond my control.]

[Ryan: Besides, boss, have you considered whether I might have cut off Hansen’s retreat? First of all, I can’t handle Scavenger, and secondly, Hansen still has heavy armaments at his disposal, I really wouldn’t dare make a move.]

[Ryan: You’re right.]

The NCPD had already reached the outskirts of Dog Town, so whatever Burger King said was definitely correct.

Sometimes Ryan felt like he was dreaming: in less than a week, not only had Burger King been in for less than a week, but the flags of NCPD had also been raised again in Taiping State.

To be precise, the NCPD flags were raised the day after the nuclear blast.

It didn’t matter who currently manned the NCPD Taiping State branch; the point was, they had made it inside. The fiercely wicked locals seemed to have turned into sewer rats, scattering wherever Burger King’s NCPD went. Forget fighting back, they didn’t even dare to show their faces.

Even Ryan, familiar with the temperament of Night City, felt shocked:

Damn, it takes a villain to grind down another villain.

"...Our NCPD has completely taken over Dog Town, you all know that."

After ending the call, Ryan lit up a cigar.

There were only four people in the office: him, Perares, NCPD Chief Colridge, and Terrorist Mobile Team Commander Max Hammerman.

To outsiders, NCPD Chief Colridge might seem like a deeply calculating, silent-type guy; he was the first to raise his hand: "Mayor, the Taiping State branch isn’t under my jurisdiction, can I stop discussing this?"

"Heh," Ryan exhaled a smoke ring, "You might not speak, but you need to listen."

Night City was an independent city, but its armed forces consisted only of the NCPD and the Terrorist Mobile Team, with no military.

If push came to shove, the highest-ranked officers of the NCPD and the Terrorist Mobile Team could be considered paramilitary police, but they were still a far cry from the kind of troops that could go out and wage war.

If something went wrong, they’d be up for it, but they were sure to break upon impact—Colridge looked troubled, but there was nothing he could do; he had to listen to the mayor.

Max Hammerman smiled wryly, "Hm... The NCPD expands overnight, spends a lot of money on contractors... all locals of Night City at that, Ryan, I’m only in charge of cyberpsychosis and urban anomalies, don’t think I’ll help you fight, I have no political leanings."

The Terrorist Mobile Team and the local gangs had been archenemies for decades.

Hammerman, a super old-timer nearing a century old, seemed to speak normally without stuttering, but he actually had serious problems in his head—Ryan, of course, didn’t count on him.

"Phew—" Taking another drag of his cigar, Ryan said, "It’s fine, you don’t have to worry about this, I just pulled you in for a routine meeting."

Perares said, "Ye Group has had a strong reaction, they’ve recently reduced contact with us, and in the worst case, they might opt for Hot."

"That’s a problem, I can’t get in touch with Hot anymore, either he’s dead or he might already be in Arasaka’s VIP room talking with Arasaka Saburo by now."

"What do we do?"

"I don’t know." Ryan shrugged.

Not just Ye Group, all companies had reduced contact and negotiation with them. Politicians are very sensitive to changes in attitude, and both Perares and Ryan could sense the companies’ changing stance towards Night City and towards their "Burger King" regime.

Just a few days ago, they were excited about the relaunch of the Taiping State development plan. Now, seeing Taiping State’s contractors and gang members with their imposing auras blatantly displayed, anyone could tell that something was off with Ryan and Perares.

However, neither Ryan nor Perares could turn back: the former had been tacitly marked for assassination by corporations, it was useless to speak out; the latter had been brainwashed by a covert corporate AI, no one would believe him if he spoke out.

After a short silence, Ryan spoke in a seemingly relaxed tone, "But now we’re truly free, let’s raise some taxes on the companies tomorrow."

Perares’s vision darkened, "You’re talking about this now?"

"What else can we do now? We give them something to do and talk about whether or not they’ll pay later. I guess they’ll just silently cough up the money, considering it our last meal."

Hammerman suddenly laughed, sitting in his wheelchair as he left the room, and no one stopped him.

"Terrorist Mobile Team... Sigh, the old guys really know how to live, and we’ve still got headaches ahead of us...

Perares, I plan to allocate some funds to transport humanitarian supplies to Dog Town, under the name of the NCPD. Handle it for me, will you? I’m afraid anyone else might let the money go to waste."

Colridge scratched his head awkwardly, and Ryan said to him, "I’m not being ironic, you know full well what NCPD is like. If anything goes wrong with these supplies, you’re dead for certain. I’m saving your life.

The NCPD will just continue with normal rectifications, with no major projects for the time being."

"Alright, Mayor. You call the shots."

"I call the shots... Heh." Ryan shook his head, "Alright then, we might as well just lump our money together and give it all to the big boss, since we have no other choice."

Perares hesitated, as if torn over whether to speak—on one hand he did indeed have questions, on the other, he feared that this thought might have been influenced by the Ye Group behind the scenes.

He even had a terrifying thought: what if someone here was also trying to brain-control him?

This illusion and sense of fear tormented him daily like psychological trauma.

But after a long thought, recalling what Lille had said to him, he still spoke, "Do you think... is this really safe for the citizens? I mean, no one wants to be dragged into a war, and no one wants City Hall to foot the bill for...

What I mean is, don’t you find it a bit undemocratic, uh, I don’t know how to put it."

Ryan laughed, a laugh filled with scorn, "The citizens of Night City? Buddy, I know you want to save all beings, but if they really pursued freedom, really chased after their ideals...

Sigh, I’ll just say it straight, those of us who’ve climbed up from the bottom, we are the true citizens of Night City. The rest, they are merely self-indulgent, accidental waste born into this world.

If you want to realize your ideals, you have to become strong first. If you can’t even make up your mind to become strong and give up halfway for drugs and gambling, then whine about capital and the world, I only find these people laughable, pure daydreamers."

Perares frowned, "This attitude of yours... not everyone has our kind of luck..."

"Right," Ryan shrugged, "Right, but unfairness is everywhere, this world is inherently unfair. Those who self-indulge because of that shouldn’t bother talking about ideals and a harmonious world. They can’t even save themselves.

You need to understand that although Night City is rife with violent crimes, the leading cause of death here isn’t shootings."

Ryan finished his cigar, and the implant in his lungs started to alarm due to this high-speed smoking habit.

"...This city, this world, its people, their biggest issue isn’t that external forces are too strong and suppress their freedom. It’s that too many choose self-indulgence and decadence, thus letting the strong dominate them.

There are no aliens oppressing us, so society collapses inward on itself, my friend: The current state of world order is a result of people’s own doing, not because there’s no powerful Saint to save them. Now do you see why I used to look down on the former you?"

Perares sat still in shock. Once full of ideals, he had thought he could save Night City—a city that only turned out this way because it lacked someone to save it.

"So... are you saying the world deserves to get worse?"

"Not necessarily... That’s why I say the world is complicated, I’m complicated too. I think that maybe at a certain point of contradiction, some... very powerful individuals will emerge to put an end to the downward spiral, turning the declining trend upward, igniting the better side in people’s hearts.

But first—the first spark should be a resolute will to resist, not a pile of support for the weak doled out unconditionally...

Do you know? I used to harbor the idea of saving all beings. I kept hoping that people would storm City Hall demanding an increase in welfare to guarantee their livelihood. I swear, if anyone actually did that, I would have started a discussion, but it never happened.

Or rather, those who come demanding more security at City Hall are never the ones you think need saving, so they’re not the ones who get it.

Alright, go get to work. Our submissive citizens don’t have any objections to decisions; they would come to City Hall and say it to my face if they did.

I’ve got to go too, since our big boss has also assigned me tasks..."