prelude

Jimmy brought Chen Nuo into his Braindance studio as requested, not daring to make any extra moves. Maine's group followed closely behind in their own vehicles and arrived at the destination shortly after.

"How can I help you, Mr. BT?"

Seeing so many people arrive, Jimmy suppressed the last of his schemes and asked proactively and obediently.

To have achieved his current status in Night City, Jimmy did indeed have a few tricks up his sleeve, but only a few.

"It's the famous BT."

Chen Nuo gave Jimmy a pat. It wasn't heavy, but it still made him stagger.

"We need you to cooperate and set up a meeting with Director Tanaka."

Maine answered Jimmy's question.

"That's simple. I'll cooperate fully with you guys."

Jimmy was a sensible man who didn't even need to be threatened, which actually made Maine feel a bit awkward, so he offered a word of reassurance.

"If you cooperate well, we won't do anything to you."

"Is that so? Famous Mr. BT?"

Jimmy turned to look at Chen Nuo. Among the people present, he had his own judgment on who was really calling the shots.

"Of course. Help us, and you're on the same boat as us. What you need to consider is how to keep this boat from capsizing."

Chen Nuo pressed down on Jimmy's somewhat thin shoulder. The man sighed, made a decision in his heart, and then asked.

"What exactly do you want to do?"

"I want the things inside Tanaka's head."

Chen Nuo said as he lightly tapped Jimmy's head.

Preparations officially began. Director Tanaka quickly accepted Jimmy's invitation; it was clear he had a massive addiction to XBDs.

While he was on his way in a Delamain taxi, Jackie was responsible for watching Jimmy.

Although this man seemed honest now, it wasn't yet time to give him full trust.

After some time, Sasha noticed the Delamain taxi arriving at the studio entrance. Once she confirmed it was Director Tanaka, she notified everyone.

"Let's go, it's time for your performance."

Chen Nuo called out to Jimmy. The man stood up, went downstairs, fixed his expression, and got ready to receive the guest.

"Hey, Mr. Tanaka, please come in..."

Jimmy's voice rang out as usual. Director Tanaka didn't notice any flaws and walked into the studio.

The only thing that surprised him slightly was that Jimmy's speed in editing the Braindance was a bit fast this time. Usually, it would take about a month to complete.

Facing the question raised by Director Tanaka, Jimmy had already prepared his response and answered calmly.

"You are as sharp as ever. High-quality material is hard to come by, but that is exactly what makes this work special..."

"I'll be looking forward to it then."

Director Tanaka didn't suspect a thing. He had worked with Jimmy for many years, and the man's professional reputation in the industry was well-established.

"So, can we begin now?"

Jimmy stepped aside and invited Director Tanaka upstairs. Custom-made Braindances like this required on-site editing, as everyone's mental tolerance levels were different.

"Mhm."

Director Tanaka went upstairs familiarly, lay down on the chair dedicated to Braindance editing, and put on the relevant equipment.

However, just as his consciousness was being uploaded to the Braindance space, he felt a slight sting in his neck. Before he could react, he lost consciousness and fell into a faint.

"Well done. Now you can be considered a qualified accomplice."

Chen Nuo patted Jimmy's shoulder and spoke in praise.

Maine's group stepped out from the shadows in the corner and carried the unconscious Director Tanaka to another prepared spot, getting ready for Kiwi to begin the deep-dive operation.

Director Tanaka's personal ICE was not that easy to break through.

However, there was still plenty of time tonight, enough for Kiwi to slowly grind through the other party's neural network defenses.

She had volunteered for this. After all, the more she worked, the more she would earn in the end, and Sasha was happy to let her.

Time ticked by. After nearly an hour, Kiwi walked out of the bathroom. Having overextended her brainpower, she looked somewhat weak and groggy.

But the result was good; the intelligence Faraday wanted was now in hand.

Before sending it out, Maine made a copy first and handed it over to Chen Nuo.

"Next, Director Tanaka is in your hands."

Chen Nuo said to Jimmy.

Killing Director Tanaka to silence him would be simple, but it would definitely alert the enemy. Moreover, he was still a high-level executive of the Arasaka Corporation, and his death would trigger an investigation by Arasaka later.

Given Faraday's character, he certainly wouldn't help Maine's group deal with such a huge mess, nor did he have the capability.

Jimmy proactively offered another solution, not just for Chen Nuo and the others, but for himself.

Following the instructions, Maine put the Braindance editing equipment back on Director Tanaka, while saying with some unease.

"Are you sure this will work?"

"Of course. A normal person would go insane after experiencing a full cycle of a cyberpsychotic's sensory world. No matter how strong Director Tanaka's willpower is, it's just a matter of another round."

Jimmy answered confidently. In this field, he was an expert.

That's right, the method Jimmy proposed was to disguise Director Tanaka's condition as psychosis caused by the illegal use of XBDs.

Similar cases were all too common in Night City.

Even a neurosurgery expert wouldn't be able to see any problem with it.

Furthermore, Director Tanaka himself was a fanatic of XBDs, so suffering this fate would be considered perfectly reasonable.

What's more, Director Tanaka had wiped his own travel records clean. Even if someone wanted to investigate, they would have nowhere to start.

The only flaw might lie with Jimmy himself. After all, if Maine and the others could find out that Director Tanaka was his fan, the Arasaka Corporation naturally could too.

However, since Jimmy could proactively propose this method, he surely had the confidence to deal with it. After all, Jimmy's clients were no ordinary people, and his influence was not small.

At worst, he could just flee Night City and hide for a while. It wouldn't take long for the Arasaka Corporation to forget about a crazed Director Tanaka.

To the Arasaka Corporation, everyone except the Arasaka family was just a dog serving the company.

Jimmy operated the equipment, dragging Director Tanaka's consciousness into the senses of a cyberpsychotic.

The unedited, raw Braindance, after just one round of experience, tortured Director Tanaka into a mental breakdown.

But to be safe, Jimmy let him experience it three more times in an immersive way.

"Abba abba..."

Director Tanaka's eyes were crooked and his neck was tilted, his whole body twitching incessantly. Seeing that he was about to go completely mad, Chen Nuo injected another dose of sedative into his body.

"Del, send a taxi to my location."

Seeing the situation, Chen Nuo called Delamain.

Not long after, the Delamain taxi arrived, and Maine carried Director Tanaka inside.

"After reaching the destination, delete the record of this trip."

"Understood, sir."

The Delamain sub-unit replied to Chen Nuo's request.

By the time the Delamain taxi sent Director Tanaka back to Corpo Plaza, the effects of the sedative had mostly worn off.

Delamain opened the car door, and the awakened Director Tanaka stumbled out, his eyes filled with uncontrollable madness. His bizarre behavior quickly caught the attention of people in the plaza.

Director Tanaka was not without combat cyberware; he even had combat chips installed. If he went on a rampage, it would be lethal for ordinary people.

Fortunately, Corpo Plaza was the place with the most abundant NCPD police force. They quickly subdued Director Tanaka without even needing to deploy MAX-TAC.

Chen Nuo wasn't too clear about the subsequent events, as the TV news report ended there. But judging by the firepower the NCPD unleashed, it would likely be hard to find a whole piece of flesh on Director Tanaka's body.

According to statistics, the police in Night City can empty a magazine in less than two seconds on average. This was one of their few commendable professional skills.

(Tanaka's matter was your doing, right?)

V sent a message; he was also in front of a TV right now.

V had been sleeping soundly when he suddenly received the intelligence Chen Nuo sent regarding the "Cyberskeleton" implant, along with other valuable information from Director Tanaka's brain, and he instantly woke up.

(Isn't that obvious?)

(Beautifully done. It's really a waste for someone like you not to work for the company!)

(Even if you praise me more, I won't give you a discount.)

Setting aside the intelligence value of the "Cyberskeleton" implant, just the other information about the operations department in Tanaka's head was enough to make V pay a heavy price.

(It's not my money anyway.)

V replied nonchalantly and then hastily went offline.

The intelligence Chen Nuo gave was too valuable. He couldn't possibly have time to sleep tonight; he had to pull others in to work overtime with him all night.

At the same time, Maine transferred Faraday's commission fee over.

"Does this count as getting paid by both sides?"

Chen Nuo rubbed his chin. The feeling of having a foot in two camps was quite nice.

"What are you talking about?"

Lucy heard Chen Nuo's muttering from the bathroom and poked her head out to ask.

Chen Nuo immediately felt a bit guilty. Playing both sides wasn't that easy... In a high-level office of the Special Operations Division in the Arasaka Corporation building, Susan's angry curses rang out.

"That damn Tanaka, he didn't go crazy sooner or later, but had to go crazy at this critical moment?!"

The "Cyberskeleton" implant was about to enter the human experimentation phase. As the leader of the project, Tanaka going mad was a troublesome mess for Susan.

Who knows how many people inside Arasaka Corporation were eyeing this cybernetic project, just waiting to snatch the fruits of her labor, and Director Tanaka just happened to give them such an opportunity.

To Susan, it wasn't the most urgent thing now to dwell on whether Director Tanaka's madness was an accident or intentional; too many people were suspects.

Accounts could be settled later, but saving the project was the top priority now. Otherwise, the Counter-Intelligence Department wouldn't be the only one kicking her while she was down.

"Hayden, you go and take over the project in Tanaka's hands immediately."

Susan said to the respectful subordinate manager in front of her. She decided to act first and report later. With the current power of the Special Operations Division in Arasaka, this was achievable.

Company rules and regulations? Put them all aside for now.

"Understood, I'll go right away."

Hayden nodded. This job sounded good, but as an old hand in the company, he was also very aware of the hidden dangers.

If anything went wrong with the project, he, as the project manager who didn't follow procedures, would be the most suitable scapegoat for Susan.

The risks were visible to the naked eye, while the gains might not be much. After all, if he went any higher, he would be bumping into Susan.

But Hayden also knew he had no right to refuse.

Subsequently, he led a tactical squad from the Special Operations Division overnight to forcibly take over the "Cyberskeleton" project.

The whole process went smoothly, without encountering any resistance.

In any case, the support behind Director Tanaka was originally the Special Operations Division, and they had moved before other departments could react.

After analyzing the current situation, Hayden, who didn't know if the news about the "Cyberskeleton" had leaked, decided to move the plan forward and arranged for the tactical squad to transport the experimental implant into Night City.

As for a suitable test subject?

That could be found anytime. The key was to get the critical item under their noses first.

This way, even if Susan failed to retain leadership of the project in the subsequent corporate infighting, as long as the "Cyberskeleton" was in the hands of the Special Operations Division, they would have bargaining chips.

As far as Hayden knew, there was nothing wrong with this decision, but what he didn't know was that two factions had been watching their every move for a long time.

Almost at the same time Hayden laid out the transport plan, Militech and Arasaka's Counter-Intelligence Department already knew about it.

There was no other way. Time was tight, so Hayden naturally couldn't make things completely foolproof.

To seize this time gap, flaws would inevitably be exposed.

With the development of major corporations to this day, which company wouldn't have spies from other companies? They were deeply intertwined with each other.

The place where V's Counter-Intelligence Department had penetrated deepest was actually the Special Operations Division. Being part of the same company naturally made this kind of work much easier.

But that being said, neither Militech nor the Counter-Intelligence Department could directly use the company's forces.

This was the unspoken rule among the major corporations.

Commercial competition between companies had to be kept within a reasonable range. After all, no one wanted to fight another Corporate War. This was also why the Edgerunner community in Night City was so flourishing.

The companies needed them to serve as a buffer between one corporation and another.

Of course, there was another main reason why the two companies were so restrained. That was because the "Cyberskeleton" might be very important to Hayden, and perhaps even to Susan, but for the two mega-corporations, it was just an ordinary project.

Cybernetic projects of a similar level were all over the world.

There was absolutely no need to break the hard-won tacit understanding between the companies for this.

However, adhering to the idea of causing as much trouble for the opponent as possible, Militech still immediately issued a relevant commission to Faraday.

As for whether they could actually seize the "Cyberskeleton," they didn't actually hold much expectation.

After all, seeing the Special Operations Division's stance this time, they were playing for keeps. How could a bunch of rabble possibly stand against them?