"A violent explosion occurred yesterday afternoon in the Free State on the West Coast,"
"Sources revealed the explosion was caused by a chemical agent leak."
"The incident site is close to Night City. Tourists planning to visit are advised to prepare accordingly."
—Liberty Times
As night fell, Washington City on the East Coast came alive with towering skyscrapers and vibrant neon lights—so reminiscent of Night City at first glance.
Many buildings lit up with ticker-style broadcasts of the Free State explosion.
Looking up at one of the screens, a Black man with red-and-green dreadlocks pulled up his hood and turned to leave.
Far in the distance ahead of him loomed a massive industrial park—so large, it rivaled half of Washington in area.
Despite being labeled an "industrial park," the place pulsed with light. It even had commercial streets. People in military tech uniforms walked alongside intelligent AIs, all working busily.
This was the headquarters of Militech.
The home base of a mega-corporation boasting assets totaling €1.2 trillion.
Thirty minutes later, the hooded man arrived at the edge of the compound.
The outer fence towered over ten meters high, topped with live electric wiring and covered in cameras. The man smiled.
A blue flash shimmered in his eyes, and one by one, the cameras turned away.
Confirming the coast was clear, he launched himself over the wall with ease—a feat even most cybernetic-enhanced humans couldn't manage.
But his entry didn't go unnoticed.
A patrolling guard happened upon him immediately.
"You are—?!"
The guard reached for his weapon and attempted to alert security.
In the blink of an eye, the intruder appeared right before him and snapped his neck.
But that wasn't the worst of it.
Dark, red-veined tendrils surged from the intruder's body, drilling into the fallen guard's corpse.
Moments later, all went black for the guard.
When the transformation finished, the mysterious man had vanished. In his place stood the now-revived "guard."
Dazed at first, the possessed guard looked around... then headed straight for the main Militech building.
In the top-floor conference room of that very building, a burly middle-aged man exploded in rage before a panel of virtual projections.
"This is your idea of top-tier security?! You said not even a mosquito could get in!"
He slammed the table, voice booming.
"Look at this! They drove a floating car in and blew the entire facility sky-high!"
The panel members exchanged glances, clearly shaken.
Eventually, a blue-haired woman in her forties stood up.
"We were on alert... But the hacker was extremely skilled. They infiltrated the surface network without triggering any alarms."
"That's an excuse!" the man shouted, cutting her off.
His expression darkened. "Do you have any idea how critical Kansas was to our entire operation?"
"Yes... yes, I do..." the woman muttered, unable to meet his gaze.
"Then why the hell didn't you increase the security?" he roared, kicking an expensive chair across the room.
"That was our trump card against Kangtao and those yellow-skinned monkeys!"
He pounded the desk.
"Kangtao's AI weapons and cutting-edge drone algorithms from the East were bad enough—but now? It's all gone!"
"The entire f*****g assembly line... incinerated!"
The room fell into dead silence. No one dared offer a word of comfort.
This man was Donald Lundy, the top executive currently running Militech.
Behind the scenes, of course, it was common knowledge that after the Fourth Corporate War, Militech had become deeply intertwined with U.S. state power.
In many ways, Militech was both a private mega-corporation and an unofficial state weapon.
A creature of pure capitalism.
After a moment of heavy breathing, Donald's fury settled.
"We need to draft a new assembly line proposal and handle the PR fallout immediately," he ordered.
"I better not see our stock price drop tomorrow morning."
"And another thing—when I say we're having a meeting, I mean in-person, in the damn conference room. I'm sick of talking to blue-glow holograms."
His eyes narrowed.
"You ever notice that Kangtao's people show up in person for meetings? Maybe that's why they're still one step ahead."
Having said his piece, Donald sank into his chair, massaging his temples.
Time to report to his superiors.
Thankfully, he still had one card to play—the footage from the Kansas site, which included images of a man named Charlie Lin.
He hoped it would be enough to avoid blame.
Straightening his suit, Donald exhaled deeply and launched a new secure conference session.
His projection appeared inside a dark, windowless meeting room.
Seated inside were five elderly white men.
One spoke calmly: "Donald, I hope you have a good explanation."
His tone was completely flat—no anger, no emotion. The kind that made your skin crawl.
Donald bowed slightly. "We've completed a preliminary investigation…"
He recounted the latest intel from his subordinates.
"And while the breach only affected the surface network, our internal ICE should've been impenetrable. Which leads us to suspect the hacker might be Otto Cunningham."
"This cyber ghost was working with Kangtao to build a digital ghost town in Xianggang."
"Hm. If it's Otto Cunningham, that would explain it," another elder mused.
Donald exhaled quietly, relieved.
But it was short-lived.
"Don't celebrate just yet," the old man said, his steely eyes locking onto Donald's.
"If you don't offer us something worth protecting... there are plenty waiting to take your chair."
Donald's heart stopped.
Without hesitation, he opened his personal network and began uploading the footage from Kansas.
"I have something special—this man may be the key. Please, take a look—"
SHNK!
Before he could finish, a long blade appeared out of nowhere and stabbed directly into Donald's brain.
The data upload halted immediately.
Free trail is available 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Advance chapter in PATREON
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