"But unfortunately, as of now, neither the NCPD nor the Night City Government can solve these two issues, or perhaps they don't want to."

Placid caught the implication in Lin Miao's words, and asked expressionlessly,

"Do you want to take over Taiping Continent, with Kurt Hansen's consent?"

Lin Miao retorted, "A man who will die sooner or later, why do I need his consent?"

Placid's heart skipped a beat.

Is Hansen going to die?

His first reaction was disbelief.

Kurt Hansen holds almost all the smuggling routes in Night City. Not to mention globally, just in Night City, how many people are making money off this route?

If someone tries to ruin it, the people on the sidelines would be the first to jump up and hammer them to death; the entangled interests are so deep, he doesn't even dare to think about it.

But suddenly a thought flashed through his mind

[What if?]

If it's just Lin Miao saying it, he'd surely think the guy is talking nonsense, but Lin Miao just mentioned he discussed Taiping Continent with the members of the council. What if behind him are the Night City Government and possibly military technology wanting to remove Hansen?

That's entirely within the realm of possibility.

Back during the Unification War, all development projects on Taiping Continent were abandoned, countless companies lost their shirts in there.

After the war ended, New America withdrew its troops, leaving a huge mess that still stinks up Taiping Continent today, polluting its commercial value.

The city government has every motivation to root out Dog Town.

And military technology?

That goes without saying. Hansen is the number one headache for military technology and New America in Night City.

But Placid still pretended not to understand, furrowing his brow and asked, "What do you mean by telling me this?"

"Nothing much." Lin Miao clapped his hands, "I've already informed my people to release yours, Placid, you can leave now."

"But before you go, take a look on your way back, look at this street outside, then go back and see the living conditions of the Haitians, and then think hard about your future."

"Is it for those few immersed in cyberspace, or for every compatriot who can't fill their stomachs in reality."

Placid gave Lin Miao a deep look.

He hadn't thought of taking the opportunity to hack into the other's consciousness and extort Kanbar's release, but Lin Miao's casual chatter and the innocuous reaction of the ocular scan plugin made him dare not act rashly.

Not until he turned to leave the office did Lin Miao let out a long breath.

"Phew… Dammit, I'm exhausted."

He had just been discussing things with Gloria on ERO when suddenly some hackers came looking for trouble.

If they were regular hackers, Lucy would have handled them, but of course, they were from the Voodoo Gang.

Not only the Voodoo Gang, but led by someone named Placid, and coincidentally, it's the big guy players saw the other day.

He hurried back from ERO, thinking over his words and what he could leverage all the way.

As for how effective it might be, that could only depend on how dire the situation in Taiping Continent is, and whether Placid's previous words during his argument with Brigitte were genuinely intended or merely diplomatic.

...

The boss of this company is relatively trustworthy, at least when Placid was going downstairs, Jabba and Kanbar had already been ushered into the first-floor bar by a bunch of mercenaries.

Kanbar had also woken up, evidently spared by the hacker.

But why does his expression seem off?

"Placid... I... meow... it's okay now, meow."

Kanbar's face twisted, his Haitian accent perfect, except that he always inserted a few

meow～～

A dignified man, speaking in a campy tone with meows, as funny as it gets.

"I want to puke, meow."

"Haha Ciallo～(∠・▽<)⌒☆ meow."

"Is this the legendary... Black Cat, Kuroneko?"

"Shut up!!! Kuroneko was the 163rd girl I liked in my life, say it again and I'll kill you!"

"Hehe, this is a buru, step up and SOLO if you can. I'll erase your fantasy."

"who cares who!"

The mercenaries pulling him inside the place had different expressions, either joining in or inexplicably starting some on-stage SOLO.

"Sorry... meow, need to go back and scan the Demonic Puppet, meow."

Kanbar's dark face twisted into a knot, it was clear he tried hard not to say this line.

Damn woman, clearly not so skilled, but the Demonic Puppet was immensely disgusting.

Placid's cheek twitched, hearing the square-round meows out of him, it made him feel a bit queasy.

"Let's go, talk when we're back."

And the one responsible, Hu Lang, only bounced out after the Voodoo Gang trio had left the bar.

"Demonic Puppet stage one successfully developed, meow."

"Quack, boss!!!"

As soon as Hu Lang came out, the Sword Saint quartet shouted and crowded around, taking off their HyperDream headbands.

If Hu Lang hadn't joined the fight in time, they would have been seconds away from becoming roadkill.

"Get away from me, meow, four whimpering men are the most disgusting."

Frightened, Hu Lang climbed onto the shoulder of Dangerous Wanderer like an alarmed cat.

"Get any closer and I'll unleash phase two meow-meow Demonic Puppet on you!"

After returning from Taiping Continent the other day, Hu Lang and Pandora were under Lucy's guidance to develop their own Demonic Puppet based on the Voodoo Gang's. Today, they were finally testing it out, and it was a hit.

"Boss, could I switch to becoming a hacker now, I'd pay anything for it!"

"Take me with you, I'm begging!"

"I..."

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