"In Night City's mercenary circles, there's a saying."

"If a fixer seems suspicious and his words are vague, then the job he's offering must have issues."

"Often hiding some deep transaction he doesn't want you to know about, wanting to use your life to achieve his unspeakable secret."

"Unspeakable secret..."

Lin Miao chewed over the words repeatedly, but he couldn't quite grasp what Huang Ban Lai Xuan's secret was.

Eliminate rivals?

Strengthen control over the company?

Or create a fake enemy?

Or simply a second-generation heir eager to make a name for himself.

History has proven more than once that when Huang Ban and Military Technology clash, the European Community is the only one to benefit. Thus, although they are openly at odds, they've consciously limited conflicts to small scales over the years.

A thought suddenly popped into his head.

If we kill this guy, Huang Ban Sanlang should be angry, right?

But such things can only be thoughts. If you kill an extremist leader, there's a high chance the next person up will be even more extreme, and even some wavering centrists might become radicalized. This isn't a good plan.

Lin Miao changed the subject.

"Lucy... How would you make a rather united organization fight among themselves, tear each other apart, or even go to war?"

This sounds like what a villain planning to sow discord among the protagonist team would say.

Lucy was a bit stunned as she didn't expect Lin Miao to ask her such a question, feeling somewhat embarrassed. She didn't want to become a cunning woman scheming in the shadows.

"It's common for mercenary teams in Night City to break apart due to uneven reward distribution."

Lin Miao continued, "What if this organization isn't lacking money?"

"How is that possible?"

Lucy released her hand and sat beside Lin Miao, propping her face with her hand.

"Do you think you have more money than you need?"

"...No."

Horizon Corporation's cash flow can't keep up with expansion demands; every day's spending is astronomical, and there's never enough money.

"There you have it."

Lucy jabbed her finger onto Lin Miao's head, scolding him with gritted teeth.

"Even I'd be mad if you got close to other women, you scoundrel."

Lin Miao, knowing his fault, could only let her poke his head, swaying slightly.

Uneven distribution of spoils...

How to make the European Community split the spoils unevenly?

The revelation of Soviet Petrochemical's smuggling cheap prosthetics did cause a stir in Europe but was quickly suppressed.

Because Soviet Petrochemical is an indispensable part of the European Community's internal cycle, representing energy and military, Germany represents industrial technology, France is the head of the Pan-African Alliance, and Britain stirs things up with mischief...

To further widen their rift, their economic ties must be disrupted.

Smuggling prosthetics alone is far from enough.

"Hmm..."

Energy... Chun Er...

Perhaps Soviet Petrochemical is the best breakthrough point.

Although the cyber world's technological level far surpasses reality, reality's technical routes can still thrive in the cyber world.

Who ever said that new energy couldn't thrive in the cyber world?

————

Ah!!!

When several tons of gold were transported back to the base, Olivia's jaw almost dropped to the floor, stammering in disbelief.

"This... this... this... this can't be real, can it?"

The high-purity gold's luster nearly dazzled everyone in the room.

No one wanted to believe it was real. Initially, they only planned to quietly take back the money they gave away. Instead, they didn't achieve that, but returned with gold worth a hundred times more.

Robbery proved to be more lucrative than drug dealing, taking just one night.

David looked at the master with stars in his eyes, marveling at the legendary mercenary who could earn tons of gold in one job. Insane!

But the master nonchalantly brushed his hair aside and said.

"I admit there was an element of gambling, but I gambled correctly. When we snuck into the estate, we happened upon the guy opening his vault. This pile of gold was literally right before us—I couldn't ignore what might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"But keep it low-key, keep it low-key, don't let this slip out."

The people inside weren't fools; they knew what the outcome of such a gold theft would be—soon, the whole of Havana would be locked down, and door-to-door searches would begin.

Valuable, yet extremely volatile.

One member of the team marveled.

"How much is this gold worth?"

"Not much, only around ten billion RMB."

On the way back, the master had already estimated with the exchange rate here.

Though gold is precious in chaotic times, mining technology in this era isn't comparable to the past, and the production cancels out its value growth rate.

Currently, 1G of gold is only about 60 Orokin.

Even the master couldn't help but get a bit emotional.

"Ten billion, ten billion—can't spend it all in a lifetime."

Such a sum is life-changing in any era, only it's all within a game.

Olivia was on the verge of madness.

She gambled on thousands of brothers for a chance at Huang Ban's military equipment, fought with these lunatics for two days and nights, and ended up losing herself.

Yet these guys stole gold overnight, worth far more than that equipment's market value. It's enough to drive one insane.

But the slight resentment was quickly washed away by wealth. She stepped forward to pick up a gold brick.

"Now we take this gold out of Cuba, sell it, and enjoy life in Europe! So much money, I'd never spend it all..."

But her fantasy was easily shattered by the master.

"What do you mean? What does this money have to do with you?"

"..."

Olivia's face was contorted with anger.

"Hey! I contributed, didn't I? Without me, would you have connected with this guy?"

Her villa!

Her mansion!

Her pool!

Did they really think the Chaotic Blade Association enjoyed blowing wind and eating sand in barren lands?

Of course, the master wanted to spend this money on personal pleasure; there are no saints in this world, but unfortunately, they couldn't.

The silent Killer Demon stepped forward, lifted a gold brick, and pondered.

"These were plundered by drug lords through drugs and violence from people worldwide. Behind every piece of gold is the downfall of countless families..." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Their purpose shouldn't be personal enjoyment, but for more important matters."

Killer Demon, along with Gloria, knew they came for the drug factories and aimed to completely overthrow the drug lords' operations and change production lines to pharmaceuticals, a venture bound to be costly.

The drug lords' amassed funds over the years became their best initial capital source.

Britain completed its industrialization through global plunder. Their plunder of drug dealers is more righteous than Britain.

Olivia couldn't comprehend their thinking!

Such a huge sum, yet they claim it shouldn't be for personal enjoyment?

Are they monks from nowhere?

Then, as if she had another thought.

"You mean... we have to go again tomorrow?"

"Of course, if we don't go now, isn't that just showing guilt?"

The master finally removed his black hoodie.

"So not only should we go, we should go boldly and confidently, with style."

"March out like a day's travel per thousand miles, move like the wind."

Now, having suddenly lost such a huge sum, the other side surely has a strong need for funds, and the Chaotic Blade Association is his best and fastest sales channel.

Whether he likes it or not, there are no better options in the short term.

After emptying the pot, then watch other people's bowls.

In Olivia's ears, it was akin to playing with someone's wife right in front of them, and asking them to make sure the door was closed before they left—it was shameless.

Yuck!

Disgusting!

I even kept the lights off!