Chapter 49

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Maine was settling the payment with Kiwi, Pilar, and Rebecca for their most recent job.

This routine activity was usually done after the mission, when everyone would gather in the small square in front of the TURGO convenience store to celebrate with drinks.

But today, Maine had cyberware implantation matters to deal with, and everyone had sustained injuries to varying degrees, so he decided to pay them their dues first so they could tend to their wounds.

Rebecca, seeing that Maine was going to handle things alone with Tang Yu, seemed wary of Tang Yu. She volunteered, "Maine, that guy doesn't seem reliable at all. It's too dangerous for you to go alone. I'm not badly hurt; I'll go with you, just to keep an eye on him."

Maine confidently declined with a smile, "No need. Even if Mr. Tang wanted to do something, he wouldn't do it now, because I'm still of use to him. Don't worry about it, Rebecca."

After saying this, he handed Rebecca ten thousand eurodollars, acknowledging her considerable efforts in the recent fight.

Not until he had briefed everyone who gathered around him did Maine finally turn his attention to Lucy, who was smoking alone some distance away.

"Lucy."

Lucy didn't look up when she heard Maine call. Instead, she got up and walked toward the exit of the factory, saying, "I didn't help much this time. I'll pass on the payment."

As she passed by the aero-car, Lucy deliberately slowed her pace. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tang Yu sitting in the luxurious leather seats of the vehicle, looking comfortable as though he was on a call with his superiors.

However, she didn't attempt to eavesdrop on the conversation this time. Their collaborative mission had ended, which meant that her dealings with Tang Yu were now fully settled.

What took her by surprise was that during the moment Maine and the others were in grave danger, Tang Yu didn't choose to ignore their plight. Instead, he personally led the Arasaka elite squad to rescue them.

In fact, she had been ready to fight. If Tang Yu had refused to rescue Maine and the others, she might have had to resolve it in her own way.

Not just for the team, but for her own protection as well.

Damage to one is a threat to all.

If Maine and the rest had truly fallen at the hands of military-grade tech, she, as a direct participant in the operation, would likely have not escaped unscathed.

While Tang Yu was a high-ranking official within the Arasaka Corporation, he was an unmodified human and negotiating with military-grade tech face-to-face was extremely risky.

Militech might not listen to him, but he managed to succeed.

Not only did he not fire a single shot, but he also managed to drive away the Militech and save Maine and the group.

Lucy gave one last glance at Tang Yu in the car on the phone, withdrew her gaze, and continued walking out of the factory, exhaling a ring of smoke while muttering to herself.

"It's indeed good news..."

At that moment.

Tang Yu, who was on the phone in the car, was reporting the situation on the ground to Arthur Jenkins.

Although he mentioned the presence of military-grade tech operatives, he deliberately omitted their aggressive actions, attributing them to the Maelstrom gang instead.

Since the Arasaka elite squad was present at the scene, the fact that military-grade tech had made an appearance could not be concealed.

When Tang Yu and the Arasaka elite squad arrived, the signals were already jammed, and the fierce battle had ended.

As long as the Militech didn't admit to any engagement, Arasaka wouldn't have concrete evidence.

He also attributed Caitlin's death to mission failure, claiming she was driven insane by Maelstrom and was killed on the spot in a fit of madness.

After all, her body had been blown to bits, leaving nothing substantial to investigate.

In the end, he concealed that they had intercepted the cyberware target from Dum Dum's team, and reported the rest of the events as they actually occurred in a summarized form. Jenkins was satisfied after listening to the call, and his tone was not as anxious as before; instead, he seemed somewhat excited.

"Tang, you did great this time!"

"You won't miss a penny of your attendance bonus, and I believe it will be a pleasant surprise for you!"

"Our counterintelligence department has won a grand victory!"

"Susan Abernathy must be mourning with a long face, busy trying to find the higher-ups to explain and shift the blame."

"That scoundrel Abernathy's behavior is all too familiar to me. When faced with problems or trouble, she always passes the responsibility onto others and certainly won't sacrifice even a feather of her own."

Tang Yu added, "Although our department didn't suffer any losses this time, it did prove one thing: There indeed are people within our department colluding with Abernathy's side. Carter Smith must have been taken care of by the special agent she sent."

Jenkins wholeheartedly agreed, "You're absolutely right. Carter Smith's corporate account has already been canceled, and Arasaka's special force has deemed him cyberpsycho uncontrollable and eliminated him on the spot."

"If he were still alive, he might have the chance to point out the scoundrel's crimes."

"I must say, that scoundrel's methods are truly ruthless."

Tang Yu: "That's true. The Special Operations Department indeed made a big mistake, but without a key witness, it's hard to give Abernathy a death sentence."

Jenkins sounded quite helpless, "Managing to make her back off and retract her claws is already good enough; her supporter hasn't fallen from power yet."

"And you know, the Arasaka Board takes a defensive stance on Militech in Night City."

"With the Militech involved, there's a good chance the board won't delve too deeply."

"Toppling her won't be easy, unless..."

Tang Yu knew what Jenkins was implying, but he didn't pick up the topic. He wasn't ready to risk his life by arranging someone to assassinate Susan Abernathy.

Not to mention Abernathy's personal armed guards from Arasaka, just the myriad of life-saving measures would make it hard to find an opportunity to strike.

Susan Abernathy indeed deserved to die, but now was not the time for Tang Yu to take action.

Of course, if Jenkins found someone else to do the deed, he wouldn't stop them.

If it were successful, Tang Yu would be happy to reap the rewards.

"Now that such a big incident has happened, I believe there will be some drama to watch in tomorrow's senior meeting, at the very least at the executive level."

Jenkins nodded and said, "Yes, even the CEO will find it hard to suppress this matter; it will surely come up for discussion at the board meeting."

"I'm quite curious to see how Director Abernathy will defend herself. The only regret is that the cyberware was taken away by the Maelstrom gang."

"If I had the cyberware, Tanaka's side would probably be even more dissatisfied with her. I can already imagine how the directors would evaluate her."

"They would at least comment that she's good for nothing but spoiling everything. Hahaha."

Hearing Jenkins' somewhat proud and hearty laughter, Tang Yu could feel how much he had been oppressed by Abernathy.

During his absence from Arasaka Tower, it seemed that Jenkins had been ruthlessly scolded by Susan Abernathy.

Knowing her furious temper, it must be unbearable to be looked down upon by her once she gained power.

Seeing his old boss finally having a moment of joy, Tang Yu decided to give Jenkins another pleasant surprise.

"Mr. Jenkins, the cyberware may indeed have been stolen by the Maelstrom gang and not in our hands, but that doesn't mean we don't have the operational data of the cyberware."

Jenkins: "???"