Chapter 964 - 17: Underground Shelter (Part 2)

This answer is really too easy to guess:

Underground space engineering consumes a lot of manpower and resources. Even companies have to weigh it carefully.

Does Rebirth Nightclub make money? It does make money, enough for Rogel to earn a fortune, buy one of the few globally limited supercars, live in the most luxurious villa in Night City, and enjoy the world’s finest wines.

But underground engineering is another matter entirely, and it’s not something she can afford. Furthermore, there’s no need for Rebirth to expand downwards.

The architectural space information Lille hacked from the Rebirth Nightclub network also indicated that this expansion was definitely beyond Rogel’s capabilities. From every perspective, it was unnecessary...

So the reason for the expansion could only be because of V and Jack. However, those two can’t possibly think of this: why would they need such a huge underground space?

This can only mean one thing: Night City officials were heavily involved in this matter. As for requesting it here, it’s just a small whim of Night City’s boss—

Or perhaps a little tribute from others to Night City’s boss. V and Jack like it here, so they’ve reserved a special passage for them.

Lille could guess this so quickly for another important reason:

He understood underground engineering too well; it’s the most effective way to survive a nuclear blast.

Like V and Jack, always dreaming of high-rise buildings, always dreaming of climbing to a place where no one can block the sunlight, which is also what most people in this world think.

In his past life, however, Lille spent a long time digging downward in an atmosphere of fear...

Solid and thick land is the most effective way to resist nuclear blasts.

Underneath Rebirth Nightclub, there is a passage and a small rail car. This rail car belongs to a separate subway system, spanning the main sections of the main district. Though its carrying capacity isn’t strong, it primarily provides a route to reach destinations for some important people and emergency situations:

"...The underground shelter plan was proposed by Hansen. He said the company might recklessly drop something over Night City one day, so we need to be prepared for that."

V said while glancing at Lille: "Do you think it will happen?"

Rogel also looked at Lille. If Hansen hadn’t mentioned it, she would have subconsciously found it hard to consider this issue first, but once Hansen said it, they felt like it was indeed true.

Still, she wanted to know the big brother’s view.

Lille nodded slightly: "When the Su Federation used nuclear bombs to flatten the Middle East, it proved that Su Petrochemical had the capability to end disputes in such a manner when tired of endless wars, and they would indeed do so.

New America is much worse than the Su Federation, but Military Technology has very mature techniques in military armaments. Of course, they also have the ability to overload the air defense systems with a saturation deployment of nuclear bombs to flatten Night City in a short time.

The scale of Night City is relatively small, so it’s hard to cause a profound impact like in the Middle East, but the difficulty in achieving nuclear flattening is also reduced.

If necessary, taking down Night City with the aim of destruction rather than control is certainly an option."

Therefore, the construction of an underground shelter city is essential, which has to be considered in warfare thinking.

Hearing this answer made everyone feel heavier: hearing Lille’s judgment made it feel somewhat different.

The sounds outside the rail car were blocked by a thick panel, but Lille could still imagine that this transportation passage wasn’t spacious, belonging to big brother privileges.

V and Jack each found a seat and sat down, skillfully taking out food and drinks from the drawer beside them, evidently

Lille said: "It seems Night City has been doing quite well these past two years, with underground shelters, the Taiping State reconstruction, and the renovation of multiple districts...better than I imagined. At least I didn’t return to face a bunch of idiots waiting for me to execute them."

Rogel opened her mouth, thinking it was fortunate she hadn’t acted too aggressively just now. It seemed her "Danger Perception" ability still worked.

This small detail was too apparent in Johnny’s eyes, and he opened his mouth wide:

[Johnny: Damn, fearless Rogel is actually afraid of you...do you know when we went to take down Arasaka Tower, she only cursed non-stop, she wasn’t even afraid of death, why would she fear you?]

No one paid attention to Johnny’s little shock, Rogel replied:

"So the affairs in Europe and Washington are indeed controlled by you...how did you attack the capitals of two countries within a day? I’d like to know what’s happening in Europe now, most of my accounts are frozen. I guess this impact will soon spread globally.

And the US Dollar crashed following your blow...the world is in chaos, this is no longer about trading a few big players, you’re igniting wars, soon Night City will have a hard time."

Rogel’s words seemed to imply that Lille’s operations would plunge the entire world into more thorough chaos.

Moreover, now the issue with Burger King isn’t just about taking down the aircraft carrier, having high technology, and being a thorn in the eyes of companies.

If previously he was powerful yet at least didn’t have much enmity with other companies, now he’s offended all the major players in Europe, America, Asia, and even destabilized the world finance.

Rogel didn’t mind about the money, but she’s human too, facing an unprecedented situation, she would also be uneasy.

Lille sneered:

"For over a hundred years, companies have been waging wars, but I cannot? Hansen did well, Ryan and Perares did nicely too, judging by your attitude, I suppose these gang leaders are itching..."

Whether it was Rogel’s illusion or not, the returned Lille seemed to have become much more assertive than before.

However, she said boldly: "No one wants to die for no reason..."

"And no one wants to be slowly cut to death with a blunt knife daily. Besides, this is no blunt knife—"

Thunk.

The rail car came to a slow stop. Apparently, this system wasn’t designed for comfort but focused on reliability. The sound of mechanical components colliding was very clear at the moment of stopping, this system isn’t complicated and utilized a lot of mechanical structures.

And it wasn’t controlled by Rebirth’s network. Rebirth couldn’t access here; it could be opened purely because V sent an email to City Hall when entering the city.

Lille said to Rogel, word by word: "Have you forgotten what Night City was like before this?

Companies threw viruses into the water source, selling their expired vaccines and medicines, luring wanderers for human experiments, and silencing those who luckily survived the experiments...

All who knew the truth would be killed for anti-corporate terrorism and anti-capitalism crimes, NCPD wouldn’t say a word on this matter.

Night City Hall collected various consumption tax, head tax, land tax...

But the weapons bought with those taxes would never be aimed at companies. If a company dog kidnapped a child and dragged him into an alley by the roadside, nothing would happen to the company dog, but the child’s parents would need to worry for their safety. If they wanted to survive, they would have to learn to shut up.

There are always two kinds of spectators: hypocrites who curse company dogs but continue working for companies, and scumbags who sarcastically say children should cooperate with company dogs to make money...

People’s backbones, dignity, and courage are just like that child, either killed or forced to grow into those two kinds—"

Lille’s eyes were unlike ordinary Prosthetic Eyes. In dim lighting, tiny flickering glows could be seen, a kind of visual enhancement technology.

In Rogel’s eyes, this glow seemed very...intimidating.

"Like you, Rogel, when you and Johnny Silverhand blew up Arasaka Tower, what were you feeling?

When you acted as the Queen of Rebirth in Rebirth Nightclub, covering for companies, what was your mood?

Standing up yet always thinking about kneeling down again, that’s a bit degrading, wouldn’t you say?

You can’t say that because a company sees you as a useful stray dog and gives you a big bone with meat, you delude yourself into thinking you’re respected by companies."

Rogel was filled with anger from the scolding, but whether it was an illusion or not, she suddenly saw that familiar vagrant, wearing that old ragged jacket, leaning against the wall, staring at her!

Johnny?

Bam—

The sliding door opened, and Ryan and Perares stood outside the door, respectfully. The former was even wearing a beaming smile:

"I knew you were still alive! The legend of Night City!"