Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 641, Section 55: Interest
"You have no idea how Saburo Arasaka died?"

Carl noticed that Anders Hermann seemed to have misunderstood. He could have used the opportunity to extract information, but then he thought that such a roundabout approach might not yield any valuable information, so he simply cut the subject decisively:

"That's not why I came here."

"Not for this?"

Anders Hermann's pupils suddenly contracted.

In his mind, what else could it be but that shocking murder case that rocked Night City that would bring him to the door by the infamous KK? His mind, honed by the company's elite training, began to operate at full speed, and the muscles beneath his suit involuntarily tensed.

“Since it wasn’t Arasaka Sei-nobu who sent them to silence us,” his Adam’s apple bobbed, his speech becoming increasingly rapid, “it wasn’t those hyenas hidden within the company who were investigating whether Relic was related to Saburo’s death.” Anders-Hermann’s words deliberately revealed the situation, continuously relaying recent events to Carl.

After revealing his guesses about the two possible personnel directions, he suddenly leaned forward and cautiously asked, "Could it be... you're here to recruit me on behalf of a company?" This tentative question contained a barely perceptible tremor of expectation and a sense of relief at surviving a close call.

"Representing a company."

Carl thought for a moment and said, "I can only say that I am here on behalf of someone."

“Oh, I see. I can’t reveal anything until things are successful and I’m taken away, right? I understand, I understand. That’s how competition between companies works. I do have the value to make Arasaka launch a small-scale raid.”

Anders Hermann could tell that Carl wasn't lying, and his initial anxiety suddenly eased considerably.

As long as someone needs you, you still have value, you won't die, and you can survive.

But who exactly is behind it all?
"Just need me." He pressed his tongue against his palate, crushing the words into a breathy sound. The value of a person, the currency that could be exchanged in Night City, was now jingling as it fell into his dilapidated life account.

Military technology? Comto? Biotechnology? Each name unleashed a data storm within his neural chip.

He suddenly remembered the day Saburo Arasaka died, when he heard electromagnetic noise from the encrypted frequency band.

At the time, the personnel department of Military Technology took advantage of the chaos in Arasaka and sent out recruitment notices to most of them. If it really was them... Anders unconsciously pressed his tongue against his palate—in his head, there were still three sets of Arasaka firewall keys that had not yet been formatted. If it was Military Technology, Arasaka's mortal enemy, they would really like this greeting gift.

But there's also the possibility of other companies.
Anders Hermann looked at Karl's face and suddenly a possibility occurred to him.

One piece of information he knew about Carl was that Carl was likely the son of the former Commissioner of the Council of Contau. The information stated that Carl may have come to Night City alone after the death of his family. However, although the information was detailed, there were too many suspicious points. It was as if someone in a high position had deliberately disguised himself.

It's highly unlikely that Arasaka would disguise Karl's identity. Given Arasaka's intelligence capabilities, the fact that he could obtain such seemingly disguised yet flawless identity information suggests that there's no other possibility than that another company is covering up this identity.

Moreover, Carl's rapid rise in the city was also quite unusual. As far as Anders Herman knew, when Carl first appeared in Night City, he and Oliver, who later became his companion, took down a group of Vortex gang members with pistols. For a corporate executive, who should have been living a life of luxury, this seemed too much of a fighting ability.

If all of this was actually a disguise by Kangtao, and KK had always been Kangtao's man from the beginning, an elite personnel specially trained by Kangtao, only operating in Night City as a mercenary for some purpose, then that would make sense. Anders-Hermann considered Karl's identity from a corporate perspective, and then suddenly spoke in Chinese: "You seem to be quite knowledgeable about tea?"

Anders Herman's Adam's apple bobbed, and the miniature translator hidden under his tongue began to heat up. When the Chinese phrase slid from between his lips and teeth, he deliberately pronounced the last syllable of 'tea leaves' with a special accent—a special pronunciation taught to him by a female spy from Contau, which was said to trigger voiceprint authentication in the other person's cochlear implant.

After he left Arasaka, Kangtao immediately sent someone to contact him and told him that if he was interested, Kangtao would send someone to meet with him for a formal onboarding.

The onboarding process involved such a probing conversation, but Anders Herman was caught by the Badlands Wanderers as soon as he left the city, and he didn't have the chance to make contact. Anders Herman is now beginning to suspect that KK might be his contact.

Upon hearing Anders Hermann's words, Karl's hand rested slightly on his waist.

Seeing Karl's right hand resting on his tactical waist pack, a gesture that made the hairs on the back of Anders' neck stand on end.

Are they preparing to extract Kangtao's neural contract chip? Or have they discovered a mistake in the code and are trying to silence them?

He stopped breathing for a second, then heard Karl's reply.

"There is some truth to that, but what are you talking about now? Are you testing something?"

Upon hearing Carl's words, Anders Hermann realized what was happening.

Not Kangtao?

The suspicion surrounding biotechnology is rapidly rising. According to the financial report I secretly peeked at last week, they are secretly acquiring a neural programming lab. Could it be biotechnology?
He noticed that Karl's clothes were wet and smelled acidic. Could this be the color of the latest biotech sedative?

If it's biotechnology, then the "welcome gift" I give to the company should be the technology I've developed through years of biological research. Perhaps I could prepare that in advance.
"To survive"—this thought burned away all logical circuits like wildfire.

Anders Hermann's pupils trembled rapidly in the darkness, and his lips, now freed from restraint, twisted into a grotesque arc, as if countless possibilities were being squeezed out from between his teeth.

Carl observed the scene with his knuckles against his chin. He had to admit, Anders Herman was quite amusing. Carl looked at him as if he were watching a white rat trapped in a maze, searching for food at the exit, its brain cells crackling and burning inside its skull.

However, this is fine; let him think about it first.

I only released his mouth out of curiosity and because it was under control. Compared to worrying that his heart would race and he would die from excessive tension because his mouth was blocked and he would overthink, perhaps the situation is better now.
Carl was quite looking forward to seeing how Anders Herman would feel after going around in circles and finally finding out that he was still meeting Arasaka.

However, his words did give me some information.

Judging from his probing words...
Kangtao, are you currently very interested in the talents within Arasaka?

(End of this chapter)