127: Chapter 126 Walking into a Trap?

Two holographic files were projected side-by-side on the coffee table.

On the left was the one sent by Hands—the commission payment, accompanied by a brief piece of encrypted intel.

On the right was the one from Michiko—the fulfillment of the transaction terms, also an encrypted intelligence report.

The two files differed in format, phrasing, and encryption protocols, but the highlighted coordinates pointed to the same location: the top floor of Heavy Hearts in Dogtown. The positioning accuracy was within ten meters, and the timestamp of the final marking was early this morning.

V cross-referenced the two pieces of intel.

She swiped her finger across the holographic panel, overlapping the two coordinates. The comparison result flashed on the screen—a perfect match, with a margin of error of less than ten centimeters.

"Confirmed. Songbird is currently on the top floor of Heavy Hearts. The two intelligence sources are independent, and the cross-reference passed. Plus, the Cassel siblings will be arriving in Dogtown soon."

"And who the hell is this?" Jackie sat up from the couch to look.

V enlarged one of the files.

The screen displayed two photos and a page of a resume.

The faces in the two photos were extremely similar—both had red hair, both had lean builds, and both had the same slightly neurotic, sharp gaze.

The consolidated information listed their codename as "Skylight," and the resume section was filled with records of various high-risk missions; the last entry noted that Aurore had served time in a VIP cell at the "La Santé" prison.

"This person..." V stared at the red-haired woman's face on the screen, her finger hovering in mid-air. "I think I've seen her somewhere before."

"Frankfurt." Lin Yi didn't look up, his fingers continuing to scroll through the detailed dossiers of the Cassel siblings on the terminal. "When we went to Europe for vacation last time, we happened to see her on the street. You asked me back then if I knew her, and I said she just looked familiar."

V remembered.

The red-haired woman was standing on the cobblestone street in the old town of Frankfurt, with a rented high-performance sports car parked beside her, talking to a man in a suit.

She had only glanced at her casually at the time and didn't pay it any mind.

After all, who would bother tracking down the identity of a passerby while on vacation?

"These two siblings have quite the reputation in Cyberspace."

Lin Yi projected their complete files onto the holographic panel, his finger tapping on a highlighted record line. "They were active in Cyberspace under the codename 'Skylight,' and later worked for Militech on the 'Zenith Project'."

"That project was nominally for developing a new type of network defense system, but according to the intelligence we possess, it was actually a technical precursor for Little Beidou."

"In other words, the achievement that is Songbird is inextricably linked to the contributions the Cassel siblings made back then."

"Later, the two went solo. According to Michiko's intel, the encrypted container for Little Beidou that is currently in Hansen's Hands was brought over by them from Militech."

Jackie frowned. "They were at Militech? Why would they come to a godforsaken place like Dogtown? Why not go to other big corporations?"

"Because of the thrill." Lin Yi flipped to the next page of the file, which recorded the words and actions of the Cassel siblings, all left behind during interviews with various underground media outlets.

"They've said themselves that they don't like being constrained by any organization."

"After Militech's 'Zenith Project' ended, the two felt it was too boring and quit on their own."

"Afterward, they traveled across several continents, specifically picking high-risk hacking jobs. People like this only care about whether the job is exciting enough. The encrypted container for Little Beidou in Hansen's Hands—if that thing were to surface, it would make enough noise. To avoid being held accountable by Militech, they came here."

"Dogtown, a place where the law doesn't reach as long as you're under Hansen, suits their tastes perfectly, and they have the protection of Hansen's Wraiths."

Jackie realized, leaning back into the sofa, his Gorilla Arms tapping a dull sound against the armrest. "No wonder. Pursuing freedom and thrills to this extent is one way to live, I guess."

V turned off the holographic panel and looked at the two intelligence chips on the coffee table.

"The situation right now is this: Songbird is by Hansen's side, being controlled, and she needs an external force to break the deadlock."

"Hansen has that encrypted container, the one the Cassel siblings brought."

"Militech is looking for Songbird, Reed is looking for Songbird, and Netwatch might also be eyeing this."

"Everyone is circling around Heavy Hearts. And we currently have Michiko's deal, Hansen's business, and Hands's intel—"

Her words were interrupted by a communication request that suddenly popped up on the terminal.

It was a completely unknown ID; the sender had no identity markers, only a moniker: Songbird.

Lin Yi and V exchanged a look. She pressed the answer button.

"Is this V?" A woman's voice—young, with a steady pace, but carrying a deeply suppressed yet unmistakable tension. "I have a big job here. Want in?"

V didn't answer immediately.

She first looked at Lin Yi, then replied: "What kind of big job? Tell me about it."

"Hansen has a confidential container for Little Beidou, and the things inside are worth a fortune."

"I think if we can get our Hands on it, not only will we be able to screw Hansen over, but it will also elevate your squad's reputation to the next level." Songbird—the tension and urgency in her voice were mixed together. "I can't say too much right now, but if you're interested—"

"We're corpo dogs now." Jackie interjected, his voice very low, but Songbird evidently didn't hear it.

Before he could finish, V stopped him with a subtle look.

Jackie swallowed the rest of his sentence and mouthed "What's going on?" to Lin Yi.

Lin Yi looked at V and gave a nod.

No need to say too much—he was telling V to take the job.

Songbird reaching out to them voluntarily meant that Hansen's control over her wasn't as tight as they had imagined, and it also meant that when Songbird was looking for an external force to break the deadlock, she hadn't found their identities as "Deputy Minister and Minister of Arasaka Security," but rather as "the top-tier mercenary squad that wreaked havoc at Konpeki Plaza and wiped out the Voodoo Boys."

This information gap came at exactly the right time.

V made a gesture, indicating that they were thinking the same thing.

She continued, "Fine, we'll take it."

"Good. Tomorrow night is Hansen's banquet; you still have some time to prepare." Songbird's voice relaxed significantly, as if she had finally let out a breath she'd been holding for a long time. "After the banquet starts, I will try to find a chance to contact you, and we'll make the next plan then."

"No problem." V said, and the communication hung up.

The terminal screen went dark, with Songbird's contact info remaining in the call log.

Jackie leaned back on the sofa, his thick arms crossed over his chest, his brows knitted together. "Wait, isn't this chick irrelevant to our mission? Why bother with her? It's a waste of time."

"Look, Jackie, have you really forgotten, or are you just playing dumb?" V turned to look at him. "According to the information we've obtained so far, this Songbird is the experimental product of Militech restarting the 'Little Beidou' project. Her brain contains the residual data left behind from a full connection to the Blackwall Protocol, and her body has been modified into a living gateway to the Blackwall."

"She herself is the most direct and lethal piece of evidence. The agreement Michiko put together is enough to make Myers step down, but adding Songbird's existence could finish Militech off entirely. A written piece of evidence plus a living witness is better than either one alone."

Lin Yi picked up the thread.

He forwarded several newly popped-up internal department notices from the terminal to the screen in front of Jackie.

"Furthermore, because the company has been in absolute chaos lately, the Security Department has just finished reorganization. All internal announcements regarding departmental structural adjustments and personnel changes haven't concluded yet, and public disclosure won't complete the process until after the next board meeting."

"Right now, if anyone on the outside checks our identities, what pops up is still the archived record from three months ago—street mercenaries. No titles of Minister or Deputy Minister of Arasaka Security, no corporate employee status markers, and even our insurance goes through a different channel than official Arasaka employees."

Jackie lifted his gaze from the screen, looked at Lin Yi and then at V, his chin dropping slightly. "So that chick thinks we're still working as mercenaries?"

"No wonder she dares to do this. She still thinks we're the same mercenary squad from before that took any job, not knowing we're wearing Arasaka ID badges now."

"Right." V continued.

She leaned against the sofa armrest, one leg crossed over the other, her fingers tapping lightly on the armrest. "She doesn't know we're corporate people now, doesn't know we have a deal with Michiko, and certainly doesn't know that we were planning to take down Little Beidou anyway."

"She came to us on her own initiative, thinking she's hired a team of high-level mercenaries to help her."

"We can utilize this—without revealing our identities, we'll take the job first and establish a connection with Songbird right under Hansen's nose. During the banquet tomorrow night, she should find a chance to contact us again."

"She's certainly got guts. Being kept by Hansen and still daring to reach out to mercenaries on the outside. A Militech-trained agent is definitely no pushover." Jackie rubbed his knuckles.

"She's trapped, but not immobilized." Lin Yi projected the information about Songbird from both Hands's and Michiko's intel side-by-side on the screen—her movement trajectory over the past two days, the density of her communication records, and several time windows marked as "suspected outings"—from the data, it appeared Hansen's control over her was more of a house arrest, not a complete severance of communication.

Perhaps he figured that since Songbird had betrayed Myers, she was isolated, helpless, and wouldn't dare stir up trouble on his turf, underestimating her ability to find ways to break out of a desperate situation.

Lin Yi looked at those data points, and an idea surfaced in his mind.

"Actually, it's more than that."

Lin Yi said, "Myers wants Songbird to destroy evidence—dead or alive, the person is secondary; silencing her is the goal."

"Hansen wants to extract the technical value of Little Beidou from her—the container is just the beginning; Songbird herself is the key."

"Michiko doesn't care about a doomed Songbird."

"And now, Songbird has come to us herself, thinking she's hired a team of high-level mercenaries to help her break the deadlock."

V lifted her gaze to look at him. "She wants to survive."

"Right. She wants to survive. And we happen to need her alive." Lin Yi said.

"Tomorrow night's banquet is the best opportunity."

"Hansen will focus his attention on entertaining the various guests, the Cassel siblings might show up, and Songbird will find a chance to contact us again."

Lin Yi put away the terminal that was spread out on the coffee table. "Attend the banquet as usual first; after making contact with Songbird at the banquet, we'll see how to proceed from there."