[Check Out My P4treon For +30 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!! And get chapters before publishing them here for free on my p4treon][https://p4treon.com/talkfictome]
===
The party at the Afterlife was held as scheduled.
In this extremely extravagant banquet hall, high-society figures from all walks of life could be seen.
People like Night City's mayoral candidate Weldon Holt, famous hosts Ruth Dzeng and Josh Kavorkin, the Commissioner of the NCP, and executives from major mega-corporations.
Colonel Hansen provided a platform for these people to conduct transactions.
As they clinked glasses, the lives of a vast number of citizens were affected, though almost none of it was positive.
The opening performance was handled by Night City's top-tier stars.
Although Kael couldn't appreciate the somewhat stream-of-consciousness stage performance, to be fair, the light show was still very magnificent, like a cyber angel spreading its wings.
Besides the performance, the "Afterlife" also provided various entertainment services to satisfy all kinds of needs.
Kael sat at the card table, fiddling with the commemorative chips in his hand. The virtual chips in front of him were almost piled into a small mountain, and the beautiful dealer responsible for the service had hands that were trembling slightly as she dealt the cards.
If Kael continued to play like this, she was afraid Colonel Hansen would dismantle her and sell her for parts.
Millions of chips were enough to buy several lifetimes of her.
Yet Kael still went all-in without even blinking.
The beautiful dealer no longer dared to look, but the system on the gambling table continued to operate as usual.
The result was the same as before; Kael won again.
"I say, young man~ You've been sitting here for over a dozen rounds and haven't lost once. Is there some secret to winning?"
A red-haired beauty who had been watching from the side for a while leaned in close, curiously sizing up Kael, trying to see something from his face.
"Of course."
Kael's gaze fell on the woman's face.
Her black lipstick was exceptionally alluring under the hazy lights.
This was a woman of great charm, not just pure beauty, but a feminine allure that radiated from the inside out.
"What is it?"
The woman leaned in even closer, her distance well-controlled, allowing one to smell the somewhat heavy perfume, just the right amount of ambiguity.
While it wasn't very fresh, it wasn't offensive either.
"I hacked the system of this gambling table."
Kael spoke frankly.
"??"
The woman was stunned for a moment; she had originally suspected as much.
As a veteran Netrunner, she naturally had such abilities, but this kind of behavior would inevitably leave traces of information. If caught, dying would be a luxury; cheating is the ultimate taboo in a casino.
The woman had thought he was some reckless greenhorn who didn't know the value of his life, but she hadn't expected Kael to admit it so easily. The situation seemed to have become more interesting, and she couldn't help but chuckle.
"You really are bold and interesting. Aren't you afraid Hansen will come looking for trouble?"
"I'm just taking some of his money, not his life. Why would he come looking for trouble with me?"
Kael said casually, his indifferent and unbridled attitude almost written plainly on his face.
The woman's expression became serious. She looked Kael up and down, seemingly realizing something, and reached out her hand solemnly.
"I'm Aurore."
She then pointed to her side at a similarly young red-haired man; one could tell they were related by the contours of his features.
"This is Aymeric, my brother."
"Just call me BT."
Kael took Aurore's soft hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Famous Mr. BT, I assume your goal tonight isn't us siblings, is it?"
The smile on Aurore's face was a bit strained.
As a veteran Netrunner who had always operated in the gray zone, she had naturally heard of BT's name. Her brain, which had been under the assault of hormones, suddenly cleared up.
If she could, Aurore really wanted to go back three minutes and slap her impulsive self. Why did she have to join in on the fun?
"No one hires me for work anymore."
Kael lamented. He hadn't heard that prefix in a long time and actually missed it a bit.
"...Hehe."
Aurore laughed along, feeling as if ten thousand ants were crawling on her. She desperately wanted to get away from here, but her body could only stay pinned in place.
"But you're not wrong."
Kael reached out and pushed the virtual chips in front of him toward Aurore, continuing as she looked on in confusion.
"I am indeed here for you two. I want the Access Codes for the Neural Matrix. These chips will serve as payment; I'm sure they're more than enough."
"..."
Aurore was momentarily speechless.
No, using Hansen's money to poach his own people—is this how Night City's most legendary edgerunner has always done things?
She really felt like she had learned something new.
"Mr. BT, you know I can't do that. Hansen will kill us."
Aurore said with difficulty.
The price Kael offered wasn't low, but the problem was that they had already taken a deposit from Colonel Hansen.
That man was not someone easy to negotiate with.
Although she didn't know where Kael got the information, now was not the time to consider that. She had to stall for as much time as possible before Colonel Hansen arrived.
The two of them couldn't afford to offend either side.
"Are you waiting for Hansen?"
Kael reached out and lifted Aurore's chin, staring into those uneasy eyes, and continued with a smile.
"He still has two minutes before he can get here. I'll only give you one minute to consider. If you exceed the time, then I'm sorry, I'll have to take them myself."
"..."
All color had drained from Aurore's face, and the heavy pressure made it hard for her to breathe.
But under Kael's gaze, those gold-based eyes gradually began to moisten and become hazy, and her slightly parted lips subconsciously exhaled warm, thick breath.
Clearly, as a Netrunner, setting aside her skills for a moment, her core heat dissipation capability left much to be desired.
It was understandable; most Netrunners rely on netrunning chairs for heat dissipation. Someone like Songbird is an extreme exception.
This French Netrunner actually had a bit of an M-attribute in her soul, with a somewhat different romantic pursuit.
Kael saw through it at a glance, his thumb gently playing with her lip as if toying with a pet.
Her brother, Aymeric, didn't speak. Aurore was the one who made the decisions for the siblings.
...
Colonel Hansen rushed over the moment he received the news, but he was still a step too late. Seeing Aurore kneeling at Kael's feet as if she had been broken, he realized the worst-case scenario had already occurred.
"BT! How dare you in my territory..."
The anger in Colonel Hansen's heart was uncontrollable, his voice trembling.
However, before he could finish the rest of his words, he swallowed them back down under Kael's calm gaze.
"Let's talk about our next cooperation, Colonel Hansen."
Kael said with a smile.
To use the Neural Matrix, one had to obtain the Access Codes.
This was also the reason Colonel Hansen found the Aurore siblings.
They used to work for Militech and were deeply involved in the "Cynosure" project; they were among the few who knew the Access Codes.
And now, there was one more: Kael.
As for the Access Codes in the Aurore siblings' heads, they had just been forcibly deleted by him.
The action was a bit rough and simple, but looking at Aurore, she seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.
"BT! Have you always been this overbearing in your actions?"
Colonel Hansen suppressed his anger and sat down next to Kael. He didn't have the capital to flip the table in front of the other man, so he could only use words to vent his emotions slightly.
"That's not true."
Kael said as he poured a glass of wine for Colonel Hansen.
It was only after crushing the Biotech Corporation and finding that there wasn't a single worthy opponent in this world that he updated his version.
Of course, there was no need to explain this to the other man.
Colonel Hansen looked at the full glass of strong liquor. After a short hesitation, he picked it up and drank it in one go.
He knew he had no choice in front of Kael.
The gap in strength and status was too large.
Since things had come to this, Colonel Hansen could only try to comfort himself and listen to Kael's conditions first.
"I will share a copy of the cracked Cynosure technology with you."
Hearing Kael's words, Colonel Hansen's expression improved significantly, and he was even a bit surprised.
He hadn't expected the founder of the Water Plant to be quite decent.
According to the way other global mega-corporations did things, being left with some soup to drink would be considered good.
Colonel Hansen had originally prepared for the worst, but he hadn't expected to still be able to eat some bone.
"But I'm taking Songbird with me."
Kael's next sentence caused Colonel Hansen to overturn the evaluation he had just given.
Damn it!
The Blackwall technology used by Songbird was no less valuable than the Cynosure technology.
The combination of the two was the true weapon that could deter mega-corporations.
"No!"
Colonel Hansen refused subconsciously.
Just as he finished speaking, the sky outside the Afterlife lit up.
Piercing white light shone through the large panes of glass, making the entire luxurious top-floor space as bright as day.
Looking closely, the outside of the Afterlife had been surrounded by thousands of Swarm Drones at some unknown time.
They had been in stealth mode before and only now revealed themselves.
The white light illuminating the "Afterlife" was converging from them.
The faces of all the guests present turned pale. They had seen these Swarm Drones in the video clips leaked from the war between the Water Plant and the Biotech Corporation.
In the distant sky, one could vaguely see the Near-Earth Orbit War Satellite known as the Titan Fortress.
The Titans deployed from there were unforgettable; in less than a minute, they had completely destroyed the "Basilisk" armored company of the Biotech Corporation.
At the same time, the security system within the "Afterlife" was breached and completely paralyzed.
An unsettling crimson occupied all information channels.
As the head of the Water Plant's information security department, Alt, taking over the network of a small local warlord was simply too easy.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that just now. I'll give you one more chance to speak."
Kael looked at Colonel Hansen quietly and said.
Having developed to this stage, there was almost nothing left that required him to act personally.
"...I agree."
Colonel Hansen's voice was bitter.
As the words fell, everything returned to how it was.
The brilliant lights were relit, and the moving music continued to play.
The singing and dancing continued; in a daze, it felt as if nothing had happened.
Those who could climb to the upper levels in an environment like Night City were all big-hearted players.
Since a real fight didn't break out—and even if it did, it couldn't have been aimed at them.
Well, even if they were really caught in the crossfire, they'd just consider themselves unlucky.
To put it bluntly, even Colonel Hansen wasn't worthy of a display of that level.
For a local warlord like this, having the current V handle it would be considered an honor.
One must know that Dogtown is just a part of Pacifica, with a total population not even exceeding ten thousand. Its sphere of influence in Night City isn't even as large as some major gangs.
In this case, how many Wraiths could there be?
At most, it was the scale of a medium-sized gang.
It was only because of the legacy assets from Militech, combined with Colonel Hansen's military management skills, that the overall combat capability of the Wraiths was much higher than that of gangs of the same size.
But if it weren't for the fact that both Night City and the NUSA needed a place like Dogtown to act as a buffer and for smuggling arms, any mega-corp department could have dealt with Colonel Hansen.
The Wraiths' front-line combat capability was indeed outstanding, but other aspects were very weak compared to mega-corporations.
This was also why Colonel Hansen didn't hesitate to shell President Myers to get his hands on Songbird and "Cynosure"; he was looking for a life-saving talisman for himself.
"Happy cooperation. Cheers."
Kael raised his glass in a gesture and then got up to leave.
Colonel Hansen didn't speak, silently drinking the liquor once more.
Songbird watched everything that had just happened from not far away. From her expression, she clearly hadn't quite recovered yet.
How could she have imagined that Kael would make such a huge scene for her?
It was estimated that the intelligence departments of the various mega-corporations would have to give themselves heavy doses of boosters and work through several all-nighters.
To be honest, doing this was a bit over the top.
But Kael also had something to say: when the peace treaty was signed between Night City and the NUSA, they didn't include him.
Who could have thought that in just a few short years, a Water Plant would emerge in Night City?
"By the way, Miss Aurore, remember to come to my room tonight for your extra reward."
Kael paused and winked at Aurore.
Hearing this, Aurore subconsciously bit her lip, looking at Kael with moist eyes, already starting to get a bit impatient.
This French woman was quite bold, actually daring to bargain with Kael. Since that was the case, he would just have to sacrifice his "little brother" and let Aurore have a taste.
"Do you want to come along? Miss Song?"
Kael turned and asked Songbird.
Songbird rolled her eyes, knowing Kael was teasing her. To increase heat dissipation space, some organs had long been removed. Sasha calling her a human radiator wasn't wrong at all.
However, once she broke free from her cage and cured herself, it wasn't impossible for Songbird to install a high-end one.
Not having the physiological need didn't mean the mental need wasn't there.
----------
Early access to over 30 chapters.
P@t: TalkFicToMe