Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 692, Section 106: Supervisory Power

“Mr. Akechi, wasn’t the last time we met at the Kyoto conference?” The middle-aged man raised his hand to straighten his tie. “It’s been quite a while since then.”

At 7:10, Mingzhi had just stepped out of the elevator on the maintenance floor when a figure approached him before the metal doors had fully closed.

The middle-aged man, dressed in Arasaka's standard uniform with his hair meticulously combed back, greeted him with a familiar voice carrying a sense of closeness cultivated over the years: "Akechi-kun."

A wise gaze lingered for a moment on that asymmetrical face—the middle-aged man had a dark red prosthetic eye in his right eye, while his left eye retained the cloudy texture characteristic of a biological eyeball.

He lowered his chin slightly: "To be precise, it was the new product launch two years ago." He paused for a moment before adding, "Mr. Yamashita."

Two years ago, the prosthetic eye at the foot of the mountain flickered for a moment, a ring of light shimmering around the iris. As the pupil refocused, his face adopted a carefully calculated, warm expression: "I didn't expect Mr. Akechi to even remember the specific year. Truly..."

His Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he swallowed the rest of his polite remark.

"Isn't that surprising, Mr. Yamashita?"

The wise voice was as calm as a stagnant pool, sparing even the slightest variation in tone.

His gaze pierced straight down the mountain, devoid of mockery or anger, yet strangely reminiscent of the cold glint of a scalpel before slicing through skin.

“There’s no need to probe with such basic information,” he continued, each word as if precisely weighed. “If there really is a hidden spy, your level of questioning isn’t even a tickle.”

Mingzhi tilted his head slightly, and the morning light of the city outside the window shone in, cutting a sharp reflection on the lenses of his rimless glasses, which just happened to obscure his eyes.

“I’m in charge of this personnel screening – this is an order from above.”

He deliberately emphasized the word "upper level," his voice filled with a sense of threat directed at those below the mountain.

An invisible pressure seemed to spread quietly down the mountain, as if some of the air had been sucked away.

"I don't think there's anything good going on here, but Mr. Yamashita, you've come to talk to me with the intention of testing me."

Wise's eyes slowly narrowed, like a cheetah that had been poised to pounce finally revealing its fangs.

"Does Mr. Yamashita intend to go against the orders of those above?" His voice remained calm, yet carried a chilling danger. "Or do you think I am not competent enough and intend to redefine my responsibilities?"

The last few words were almost squeezed out from between the teeth, carrying a kind of cold, metallic texture.

Upon hearing Akechi's words, Yamashita's prosthetic eye flickered, and a clear look of panic appeared on his face. However, he quickly suppressed this look, revealing an expression that could be described as either ingratiating or submissive.

"I have never doubted your abilities or your commitment to fulfilling your duties, Mr. Akechi. I was just too excited because it had been so long since we last met."

He spoke extremely slowly, each syllable carefully crafted between his lips and teeth, avoiding both obsequiousness and harshness. Yamashita lowered his head slightly, his neck curving into a perfectly measured arc—a posture that Arasaka's middle-level managers excelled at: demonstrating obedience without sacrificing dignity.

"I think Mr. Akechi probably won't mind my greeting, which comes out of surprise."

The words from the foot of the mountain carried a sense of pleading, and Mingzhi stared at him intently for a few moments, knowing that this cunning fellow had already shown a plausible act of submission, and then turned his head away, no longer paying attention to him.

In the aragaki, people like Yamashita are like cockroaches in a ventilation duct—they can never be eradicated.

They constantly glance at their colleagues' weaknesses, ready to pounce and tear them apart when they make a mistake. But sadly, this level of probing doesn't even qualify as a 'conspiracy'—it's merely an instinct for workplace survival at best.

It is foreseeable that such struggles will never cease in Arasaka, except for those who dare not target the top-level personnel. And Akechi is well aware that without solid evidence, even he cannot easily deal with a peer.

After all, in Arasaka, position is a talisman, and these middle managers are nothing more than pawns on a chessboard that can be exchanged with each other.

Mingzhi was appointed as the person in charge of this inspection only because of his past excellent performance. This does not mean that he has gained higher authority. It is just that the higher-ups have slightly let go of some power to him.

This temporary supervisory power is like a rented pistol with limited ammunition. It must be used at the most critical moment. Wise must use this limited ammunition to hit the target beautifully and accurately. Yamashita is not qualified yet.

"I hope so. You should learn how to greet people properly from now on."

After uttering those rather sarcastic words, Akechi walked past Yamashita. Yamashita, who had been showing deference to Akechi, his peer, out of apology, heard Akechi's words but his actions and expression remained unchanged; only his prosthetic eye flickered.

At this moment, the man down on the mountain was actually filled with a kind of contemptuous joy.

'Pathetic Mingzhi, do you think I'm testing you out of jealousy for your power? The elites from headquarters, in the end, are no match for those of us who have been in Night City for so long. You actually think you're the one trusted by the higher-ups, that I, Yamashita, am the most trusted person!'

Yamashita's single prosthetic eye wasn't blinking constantly because of emotions. Yamashita could never have left such an obvious workplace weakness. The reason that prosthetic eye blinked occasionally was because it was transmitting the scene that Yamashita was seeing to another person. And who else could be qualified to receive the scene that Yamashita was seeing?
'It seems the elites still don't understand who truly holds the power of oversight and who is more trusted.'

As he straightened up from his slight bow at the foot of the mountain, Mingzhi glanced at him from an angle where his gaze was not focused.

'Is that prosthetic eye transmitting images in real time? Looks like I need to be more careful.'

The appointment of Mingzhi as the person in charge by the higher-ups is not a delegation of power at all, but rather a poisoned bait to lure everyone into taking the bait.

Perhaps, apart from myself and Yamashita who arrived first, everyone else also carries the authority to monitor. Under such circumstances, I need to be more careful in my actions.

As people waited patiently, more and more arrived, each with a scrutinizing and observing look in their eyes when they looked at the others.

(End of this chapter)