Chapter 22

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Night City.

Corporate Plaza, Arasaka Tower.

Tang Yu, who was on the morning shift, had just verified his identity information and was about to enter the main gate when he unexpectedly saw a line of corporate vehicles pull up to the temporary parking spot in front of the door.

After the black armored limousine at the head of the convoy came to a stop, secretaries and bodyguards immediately scrambled to open the doors. A middle-aged woman dressed in the standard Arasaka corporate suit stepped out, her powerful and efficient aura immediately becoming apparent.

The employees who had been heading towards Arasaka Tower also stopped and stepped aside to make way, silently watching the middle-aged woman.

The scene attracted a lot of attention.

Tang Yu couldn't help but laugh and say to himself.

"Looks like today is my lucky day..."

The middle-aged woman, who headed for the main entrance as if no one else was around, was none other than Susan Abernathy, the Special Operations Director of Arasaka.

Tang Yu deliberately slowed his pace, crossing the lobby to the public elevators.

The main area of Arasaka Tower's lobby had three main elevators. Although there were also individual or paired elevators in slightly off-center locations, company executives usually only took the main elevators, in keeping with the corporate culture of status and identity.

Tang Yu stepped forward two paces to wait in front of the main area public elevator, along with eight or nine other Arasaka employees who similarly awaited, ceasing their quiet conversation when they saw him.

Since it was the peak of the morning rush, the elevators were busy. About half a minute later, the echo of high heels tapping on the floor came from behind Tang Yu, along with the noise of a crowd.

Two uniformed bodyguards sporting slicked-back hairstyles jogged up to the elevator, donning sunglasses, and stood to the left and right of the middle elevator doors.

The actions of the bodyguards made it clear to everyone waiting for the elevator to make room because they knew that anyone affiliated with Arasaka corporate security was certainly part of the executive level, and no one wanted to catch the attention of their superiors over something as trivial as waiting for an elevator.

The crowd dispersed, yet Tang Yu remained immovable at the center elevator door, treating the bulky bodyguards like air and continuing to wait for the elevator to descend.

Abernathy, in a rush and simultaneously arranging work with her subordinates, wasn't paying attention to the path ahead and almost bumped into the person standing in front of the elevator. Her forehead, otherwise well-maintained, involuntarily creased with several noticeable lines.

"The gentleman in front, could you please make way? Our director is in a hurry for a meeting."

One of the male bodyguards immediately understood his superior's frowning expression, thinking how unobservant someone must be to block the elevator when they knew the company executive director was there and did not make room.

Tang Yu didn't even bother to look back at the situation behind him, dismissively responding: "Does the company have a rule that I must give up my place waiting for the elevator?"

The bodyguard came closer, speaking sternly: "This lady is the Special Operations Director, Ms. Susan Abernathy. She needs to get to the board meeting right away, immediately..."

"Slap!"

Before he could finish, Tang Yu landed a heavy slap on the security officer's face, knocking him to the ground.

The entire lobby was silenced by the sound of the slap, eyes glued to the dramatic scene unfolding before them.

The other three bodyguards immediately went on alert, ready to move in to restrain Tang Yu, but stopped in their tracks after hearing his words.

"Lewis, an H-grade employee of Arasaka, personal bodyguard to the Special Operations Director, is suspected of installing dangerous, unauthorized cyberware modifications that pose a serious security threat to the office environment here at Arasaka Tower. I'd like to ask Director Susan Abernathy what should be done with someone who violates company regulations?"

Tang Yu turned around with a smile to face the middle-aged woman behind him, waiting for her response. He noticed that she was scanning his identity information with her cyber-eye.

Susan Abernathy quickly recognized who the young man was and said coolly, "It's you."

Tang Yu replied politely, "I didn't expect Director Abernathy to remember me. What a coincidence to meet you here at the company. If you're really in a hurry, I see that the elevator has already arrived in the lobby."

With that, Tang Yu pointed towards a side-door elevator not far away, which had already descended to the lobby with its doors wide open. The few Arasaka employees who had just entered, realizing something was amiss, immediately jogged out of the elevator with their drinks, leaving it empty.

Susan Abernathy clearly perceived the challenging tone in his voice. Even though she was inside the Arasaka Tower and constrained by its rules, she couldn't take action against him just yet, not having anything incriminating on Tang Yu at the moment. But to her, with her status, it wasn't worth stooping to the level of an employee like Tang Yu.

In her eyes, Tang Yu was just a loyal hound under Jenkins. Within Arasaka, Tang Yu barely had any factions of his own, entirely brought up by Jenkins. If Jenkins falls, so do Tang Yu's good days.

Susan Abernathy stopped her bodyguards who looked ready to make a move. Her forehead relaxed, and with an air of arrogance, she said, "No problem. Since you got to this elevator first, I'll wait for the next one."

Tang Yu didn't expect this strong-willed director could actually swallow her pride. Based on her reaction, he deduced she must feel confident about having him backed into a corner. Something unusual was definitely afoot, but for now, it was time to provoke the powerful woman and annoy her a bit.

As the elevator reached the lobby, the grey-silver doors slowly opened.

Tang Yu walked into the elevator, then turned to Susan Abernathy and suggested with a friendly tone, "Director Abernathy, please be careful with your bodyguards installing cyberware from unofficial sources. If a virus turns them into cyberpsychos, it's fine if you're the only one injured, but don't implicate your colleagues."

Susan Abernathy's previously smooth forehead showed veins bulging, and she glanced coldly at the bodyguard on the ground, covering her left temple with one hand as her cyber-eye's red light spun.

The bodyguard lying on the floor then stiffened like a machine powering down, blue sparks erupting from the back of his head.

She stared coldly at Tang Yu in the elevator and said, "Thanks for the warning, but you might want to watch yourself, considering you don't even have any basic cyberware implants..."

Just then, the elevator doors closed, cutting off the rest of her words.

Tang Yu dusted his sleeve and had no interest in hearing Susan Abernathy's nonsense. He figured he had sufficiently angered her for now, but he couldn't be distracted by these minor episodes; he needed to check on Maine and the others' progress.

In front of the elevator in the lobby, Susan Abernathy's halted words hung in the air as Tang Yu had already taken the elevator up.

She crossed her arms in front of her, clenched her fists tightly, grinding her teeth, standing motionless until the next elevator arrived, yet she did not enter.

The bodyguard who had suddenly collapsed was quickly dragged away and dealt with discreetly, while the onlooking employees deliberately avoided the area, opting to take other elevators by unspoken agreement.

Sometime later, Susan Abernathy released her hands and entered the elevator expressionlessly.

Inside the elevator, she gave instructions to her secretary.

"Tell that waste of space Carter to get something useful immediately. What's the point of keeping him around if he's no better than a useless person?"

"Also, tell Caitlin to expedite the investigation on that cyberware. I want a progress report today."

"I don't want to see him in the company a second time."

"Do you understand?"