Players Invade Cyberpunk-Chapter 736 - 237: The Banner Changes Over the City Walls (Part 2)

"Although there haven't been large-scale conflicts since the Fourth Corporate War, thanks to them, small-scale skirmishes never cease around the world—Latin America, South America, the Pan-African Alliance... everywhere there's someone fighting with their guns, and most of those guns and bullets, eight or nine times out of ten, flow out from here."

"It's safe to say that Night City is the central region of the entire Americas, with countless eyes watching its every move, and one small action can trigger a huge reaction."

"And according to my sources, it's not just you guys looking to get a piece of the pie, but the Internet Supervisor, Soviet Petrochemical, Huang Ban..."

Every name he mentioned could make the ground in Night City tremble three times, let alone when they work together; even if the European Community came, they'd have to think twice about meddling with Dog Town, the center of smuggling.

Moreover, smuggling activities won't disappear just because Dog Town goes down; to eliminate smuggling, smuggling itself has to be unprofitable.

This isn't a problem that can be solved with violence or tariffs; to eradicate smuggling, you'd need price parity across the world or at least make the price differences for the same products between regions lower than the cost of logistics and transportation.

Lin Miao currently can't achieve that, nor can he eliminate smuggling gangs; in any case, the smuggling nature of Dog Town is impossible to erase.

Besides, Lin Miao also needs to smuggle, so how could he cut off this arm?

He'll take all those stolen international firearms and weird cyberware players don't need, and sell them in Dog Town to get operating funds.

"Thanks for the advice, but Mr. Handz, whom exactly do you serve? There's a rumor outside that you have quite some ties with Peizhuo Petrochemical."

Handz was stunned for a moment; he had never heard this rumor before, and hardly anyone knew about his time working at Peizhuo Petrochemical—how did this guy find out?

Handz leaned forward, placing his hands on his knees.

"Me? I'm quite selfish; I only serve myself. As for Peizhuo Petrochemical, it was just an inconspicuous chapter in my long life."

"Then what kind of benefit would make Mr. Handz do a small favor for me?"

"It depends on what you need. In our line, clients state their needs first, then we quote a price."

"I'd like a batch of Dog Town passes."

"A batch...?"

Handz took a sharp breath, wondering if this guy planned on smuggling people in to mess with Hansen?

He absolutely couldn't agree to that. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Lin Miao: "Hansen won't hold his spot long; his death is only a matter of time. This is just a small favor for you."

"This... might be a bit difficult."

"Taiping Continent needs revival, and revival requires peace and stability. Our stance on Dog Town is clear: smuggling is fine, everyone needs a channel to get things done, but no disruptions. The business of the Cleaners and Cubans has crossed the line with me, so they must die. Doing business properly is good for everyone."

Phew...

Upon hearing that Lin Miao and the military tech weren't planning to obliterate Dog Town but merely change the flag atop the city walls, Handz let out a sigh of relief; this was within his range of acceptance.

Business folks like them feared nothing more than maniacs rushing in to cause chaos.

"Can't be too many people, otherwise Hansen will notice me; Ghost Dog is his sharp hound, one that doesn't let go easily once it bites."

"You don't need to act."

Lin Miao placed a USB drive on the table.

"Just stick to the middleman's old rules, find a reliable mercenary team to upload this 'Demonic Puppet' into their list system for me, and you don't have to worry about the rest."

Handz picked up the USB and looked at Lin Miao.

"As per the rules, I need to check the program inside."

"Feel free."

Moments later, Handz pulled the USB from the computer, looking at Lin Miao with renewed gravity.

Looks like the rumor is true; this company has a super hacker helping them from the shadows.

Handz's own hackers considered themselves elite in this field but were first-time in awe of the opponent's tech and admitted inferiority.

This was tantamount to asking a boxer to willingly concede before a match—imagine the gap.

And the program's function was quite simple: control the scanning program to automatically generate a random profile and pass upon detecting a specific target, then delete the record and continue lurking, preventing any trace.

In other words, if this Demonic Puppet is successfully implanted, unless Dog Town changes the entrance check program, Lin Miao could come and go as he pleases, just like hopping on a bus.

Just holding it in his hand, Handz could foresee how much of a headache Hansen would have in the future.

Just imagining it made his own temples throb; Handz had heard of other district gangs' experiences and couldn't help but sympathize with Hansen.

"I can help with this favor, but you must agree to one condition of mine."

"Speak."

"I've heard Hansen recently dug up something underground in Dog Town. I want to know what it is; the more detailed the intel, the better. For Mr. Lin's men, this shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

The underground military tech base on Taiping Continent is a Night City urban legend, but for someone like Handz with a complicated network of connections, it was no secret.

Night City has been built for nearly a hundred years; which district doesn't have a few secrets underground? Even the Watson District's underground affairs were somewhat known to him.

But what exactly was in that experimental base, he wasn't too sure.