Players Invade Cyberpunk-Chapter 722 - 232: Taiping Continent Handover Ceremony_3

Who else could it be?

It must be Kurt Hansen himself.

To make those spectators and instigators more satisfied, he brazenly pointed directly at Kurt Hansen on the Gemstone Cyan building.

Seeing that Lin Miao could sense his gaze from such a distance, Hansen pressed down the binoculars, his eyes cold.

"Overbearing, seeking death!"

Gago also shared his thoughts,

"Just entered the Taiping Continent and started shooting to demonstrate power. This isn't someone we expected to be dealt with by the twenty-eight split we calculated before."

Lin Miao's entrance into Taiping Continent, and the motives of the city council and those companies in agreeing to it, were clear to both Hansen and Gago—they wanted to play a game of the sandpiper and the clam fighting while the fisherman reaps the benefits.

Now, people on the market see Lin Miao as a dagger of military technology plunged into Taiping Continent, meant to expand territories, with Hansen and Huang Ban being the number one and two enemies of military technology. Troubling them is only normal. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Some people want to use Lin Miao as a blade to cut down some companies that have been too high-profile in recent years. Some want Lin Miao and Hansen to fight to the death. Some want a new leader to reshuffle and allocate benefits in Taiping Continent, so his entry is beneficial to everyone without any downside.

Lin Miao knows, and naturally, Hansen knows.

He really doesn't want to clash with Lin Miao. Being the boss of Dog Town looks comfortable, but only by sitting in the position does one realize the risks are so high, a slight mistake can get you crushed to pieces by those big companies.

All these years, he has been cautiously managing Dog Town, turning it into the largest black market in North America, so much so that any resources inconvenient for major companies to handle openly could be transported from here, tying his interests to theirs, with Hansen taking a commission from the transactions—everybody gets what they need.

But what he didn't expect was that as more and more people joined, the companies' greed became endless, with everyone wanting a larger slice of the Dog Town pie. Moreover, due to the mixed nature of the black market, with all sorts of people involved, too many undesirable elements slipped in: the Voodoo Gang, internet monitors, Special Intelligence Bureau agents, intermediaries like the ever-growing Handz. Lately, Hansen feels on the verge of losing control over Dog Town.

After all, a black market thrives in an untraceably chaotic state. Can Hansen still conduct a population audit?

And now, the blade of military technology from Horizon Corporation has already pierced the gates of his Dog Town.

Hansen frowned, pondering silently before saying to Gago,

"No rush, let's play along with him, so I can see what kind of person this recent big shot in Night City really is."

Ambition is natural for humans; he doesn't believe Lin Miao would willingly be a lackey for military technology.

————

This handover ceremony undoubtedly excites the players greatly because it means they can vent all their evil desires in broad daylight in Taiping Continent, doing whatever they want (referring to beating gangsters and confiscating unjust assets).

Even though Lin Miao had previously set up a bounty system for them, they often found it hard to act against some individuals directly. Not every criminal hideout was straightforward, nor was every criminal insanely vicious with a forehead full of bounties. They often had to bait them first, making these guys reveal their health bars and change to red names before moving in to pummel them.

And now the players have law enforcement authority.

A legend is one thing, but this is officially certified by Night City, a license to kill on par with the NCPD's law enforcement authority.

Of course, Lin Miao wouldn't simply allow players to run amok, turning Taiping Continent into Los Santos and racking up five-star ratings.

Besides establishing a regular police force separate from the players, he also needs to set up the [Skynet System] in every nook and cranny of Taiping Continent, spreading the surveillance system throughout.

From the skyscrapers above ground to the sewer networks below, everything will be thoroughly checked.

This is solely to crack down on the Cleaners.

Lin Miao wants to uproot this jackal gang from Taiping Continent, cutting off their channels for smuggling low-end cyberware from Dog Town en masse.

Maybe other cities will still have Cleaners or similar gangs, but losing Night City as the largest export channel will inevitably severely impact their existence.

However, Lin Miao's goal is not directly against the Cleaners themselves but their colossal backer.

He had been to Europe, though only for a few days, allowing for limited assessments. Yet, even in those few days, he caught glimpses of shadows.

European Community

This nominally pan-European union, a theoretically impossible alliance, in 2076 the world's strongest monolithic corner, is not as invincible as outsiders might think.

Or rather, to the companies, the European banking group holding the power to print money is indeed an unassailable giant.

But to the nations, the European Community is not undefeatable.

A group brought together by interests ultimately breaks apart over interests as well.

At least, as one of the original founders of the European Community, the Third Germany, emerging from the East-West merger, Volker Moer tried to incite nationalism a second time after coming to power in 2000, aiming to blitz France and unify all of Europe. Yet he forgot that the Third Germany in that era was only prompted into action by desperation, which allowed the mustachioed one to succeed.

Now, people have a good life, living like lords, so why stick their neck out for you?

Thus, he was kicked out by the German people.

So then...

Is there a country within the European Community that doesn't have it so good and could replace the Third Germany to split the EU?

Yeah, brother, of course, there is.

A certain nation that betrayed glory and dreams is now relying on the import of cheap, low-end cyberware from North America for sustenance.

If Lin Miao cuts off its tentacles, would it choose to cross the ocean to trouble Lin Miao?

Or would it set its sights on the Promised Land, so close yet flowing with milk and honey?

Lin Miao doesn't think old animosities are easily forgotten. Having opposed each other for half a century, can they just drop it? It's not so easily spoken for.