Chapter 965 - 18: Underground Shelter (Part 3) (Supplement)

"He’s back, it must be him."

An hour ago, in the City Hall, Ryan and Perares got into a car, both looking serious and quite troubled.

Perares pinched his brow, "You mean, the one in Europe is not a mimic, and the one in Washington... is him too?"

"It definitely is. It can’t be a mimic. No one is that wildly audacious and confident in this era.

You’ve been to Europe; you know how stubborn European thought is, how stable their society is.

Do you really think that some alleged pedophile Central Committee member could make all of Europe take up—more precisely, conjure weapons, and attack the EU government in an organized manner across Europe?"

Indeed, if simple hatred could bring down a massive interest group, the world would be much simpler.

Someone must have broken through the European Barrier, bypassed Interpol and Network Supervision, established a command network among the workers, and actually secured benefits, improved lives, and even provided a visible future for them before the uprising...

Simply put, it’s a job, a sustainable life.

Ryan continued, "There are people everywhere in the European Union burdened with unrepayable loans their whole lives and paying hundreds of types of taxes every month. Changing wallpaper in their house needs reporting, and it might be illegal. Picking up trash on the street and burning it for warmth is definitely illegal. Wouldn’t they want to rebel if you asked them? Each and every one would want to.

In simple terms, they know there are privileges, but do they have another way? Compared to them, our Night City is indeed free. At least no one arrests you for picking up trash and burning it for warmth."

Perares was speechless. He knew the situation, but can you prove your excellence by comparing with the worst?

"...Alright, so what do we do now? The European Union must know it’s him too. He’s now in Night City!

I really can’t believe it, the European Union actually collapsed, and the European Bank clearly stated that more than half of the data is destroyed... Dammit, all past savings are like buying lottery tickets, waiting to see who the European Union will reward..."

Ryan was also helpless, but he maintained his humor, "That’s how the DEAD Lotto used to be played."

Perares remained silent for a moment and said, "If this continues, Night City might really be razed to the ground. Military Technology and Arasaka have already withdrawn, Biotechnology and the EU committee members have deep connections, they’ll definitely do something.

Peizhuo Petrochemical... the Su Federation is almost bound to the EU, and Kantao... luckily, the only conflict we have with Kantao is business."

Logically speaking, business conflict isn’t a minor issue, but unfortunately, now it really is the best news.

Ryan shrugged, "The Su Federation may not help their good friends vent, it could turn around and bite them instead."

"I think we’ve already got enough, Ryan."

"You think it’s useless..."

All the way through the communication, the two drove from the Taiping State’s command outpost into an underground bunker and then took a vehicle inside the bunker all the way to the entrance.

Silence, then speaking, repeated communication, repeatedly making them realize they’re afraid, they’re really afraid of this big brother’s return:

Night City certainly has its predicaments, but the big brother’s return seems to be dragging them clearly into the quagmire called war.

Until the rail car arrived, the shell began to open, then Lille’s voice came from inside:

Indeed, for someone who has stood up to think about kneeling back down, that would be too pathetic.

The two exchanged a glance, said nothing, and still didn’t know what to do, but suddenly reached a consensus:

This city walked out of that kind of quagmire all relying on Lille carrying the burden, whether it’s war or peace, it’s not up to them to make idle talk.

So when the door opened, and Lille saw their appearance, they completely dispelled the thoughts in their minds—

In the grand scheme of things, they had no say, even if they wanted peace, would Lille agree? A flash, and they could be corpses.

But when they saw Lille’s appearance, they were still stunned...

Just looking at the appearance, it was completely different from the man two years ago.

It wasn’t until Lille spoke that they reacted.

"...Quite a smart move, it seems the location is right under the Peizhuo Petrochemical Stadium, the stadium has now become the City Guard Command?"

Lille’s 1.9-meter synthetic body made both Ryan and Perares feel an oppressive presence:

Unlike Jack’s appearance, under Lille’s green coat were enormous cooling and tool systems. To be blunt, when the Illuminati made this body, it was intended to be a mobile signal station.

Even though Lille had greatly reduced his size, even replacing his energy system with an ark reactor, he still appeared enormous and full of power.

Coupled with that metallic face, as well as the exaggerated battle records, it was more suffocating than even something like Adam Hammer.

Ryan wiped the sweat off his brow, "Yes, Hansen suggested we develop the underground parking lot. Now it contains all of the local industrial production lines in this city and the necessary material reserves for emergencies."

Beneath the Peizhuo Petrochemical Stadium is a massive parking lot, with heights reaching several dozen meters.

As Lille accessed the network of this refuge, the vast underground structure was projected clearly in Lille’s eyes—

The already-completed section stands 20 meters tall and covers an area of 120,000 square meters. According to design requirements, it can accommodate at least 30,000 people, and more in crowded conditions.

Although the Peizhuo Petrochemical Company is a corporate dog, they once believed the Peizhuo Petrochemical Stadium would become a stadium of world civilization, and so used Soviet engineering techniques they were proud of on it, making the seismic rating 9.

The walls were equipped with a metal protective layer primarily made of lead. It can be seen that Night City wasn’t wealthy enough, as a lot of recycled metal was mixed in.

The entire underground parking lot is still under construction and part of it has already been put into use:

Though it’s designed as a refuge, in practice, a large number of industrial production facilities have been brought in, including Lizard Serum, drones, and third generation prosthetics production lines—all assets left behind by Lille, all the high-tech controlled by Night City.

The structure initially intended for multidimensional vehicles was repurposed into a basic operational platform, categorized and moved based on needs and uses, which was very convenient.

"...Resources have been invested in important assets in each city area, and trial operations have begun, just that..."

Ryan paused, observing Lille’s expression, but the latter’s face revealed nothing.

So he gritted his teeth and continued:

"Just that the underground bunker’s capacity is limited, not everyone can come in, those gangs and people from various districts... they know of this place’s existence."

This statement actually has two meanings: one is the limited capacity of the underground bunker on the surface, and the other is that resources are limited.

The immense activity platform creaked, and the roaring sound echoed in the vast underground space. Lille could see some activity panels had been converted into flat rooms, where people were working.

Lille said, "Ryan, I remember you used to speak very straightforwardly, why is it that now your words are so cautious?"

Bang—

With a loud bang, the platform came to a halt.

"Let everyone talk, I want to know more detailed information too."