Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 694, Section 108: Spy!

How can you identify a traitor?
For many people, there are always various methods, such as detecting physiological fluctuations during speech, as well as inappropriate language, and those who are more suspicious will compare various materials to conduct a two-pronged approach.

However, for Oda Santau, the method to identify a traitor was quite simple.

As the mantis blade flashed and slashed towards him, Mingzhi did not move at all.

Even as that cold light drew near, threatening to take his life in an instant, he remained motionless.

This wasn't a case of being slow to react; it was simply because Mingzhi had already realized in a flash that the mantis knife's true target wasn't him. He froze like a statue based on his split-second judgment, not even the hem of his clothes trembling slightly.

The cold light of the mantis knife tore through the stagnant air, piercing straight towards the man in the suit beside Mingzhi.

Akechi and the man in the suit were of similar status in Arasaka, but their fates were now completely different.

Just as Oda Santao's blade was about to pierce the man's chest, this seemingly ordinary middle-aged man suddenly sprang into action!

He was around forty years old, with granite-like muscles bulging beneath his well-fitting suit. When the knife tip was only three inches from his heart, his hands, adorned with platinum cufflinks, twisted at an odd angle, revealing bulging veins on his forearms like writhing dragons.

The moment the suit fabric ripped open, what was revealed was not the expected flesh and blood, but matte mechanical joints—it turned out that the muscular physique was actually a sophisticated bionic component.

The man's retreating left foot created spiderweb-like cracks in the marble floor tiles, and his right hand's mechanical knuckles 'click' as he flicked out a dagger, fiercely blocking the trajectory of the mantis knife's slash!
The air in the conference room seemed to freeze for a moment.

Everyone stared wide-eyed, their pupils contracting violently in horror, and even their breath caught in their throats for a moment.

No one could have predicted that someone of Oda Sandayu's stature would attack without saying a word upon arrival. Even more unexpectedly, among this group of seemingly ordinary administrative staff, there was actually a master who could withstand Oda Sandayu's sudden attack head-on!

You should know that he was Oda Santao – the top combat personnel of the Arasaka Company.

Even in the company's most elite action team, very few people can react to his sudden attack, let alone parry it with such precision.

The middle-aged man in the suit not only sensed the danger immediately, but also completed a series of smooth and fluid movements of drawing his knife and parrying at the critical moment.

Although the others present were caught off guard by this sudden turn of events, as elites of Arasaka, their minds were still racing.

Among these people were core members transferred from the Tokyo headquarters and capable officers selected from the North American branch, but without exception, they were selected for this escort mission based on their absolute loyalty rather than their combat ability.

After all, this operation appeared to be just a routine maintenance of the prosthetic body; who would have thought it would require a real fight?
Even if a few of these personnel from counterintelligence departments have received basic combat training, it is merely an auxiliary means to deal with emergencies.

Their cybernetic modifications are far from meeting the standards of professional combat personnel, let alone being able to contend with a killing machine of the caliber of Oda Santao.

In other words, there shouldn't be anyone in this conference room capable of withstanding a direct hit from Oda Santao.
unless
This person's identity is far more complex than it appears on the surface!
Traitor, spy, Sei Nobu's mole, or a pawn planted by Michiko?

Countless possibilities exploded in the neural synapses of the elites present, and everyone's access chamber was operating at high speed.

Some have even secretly activated the friend-or-foe identification system of the subcutaneous implanted prosthetic body, with scarlet threat assessment data flashing on their retina.

Just as this storm of thought was about to erupt, Oda Santao's cold laugh cut through all the speculation like an ice blade.

“A wolfhound of military technology,” his prosthetic eye flashed a dangerous red light, “thinking it can fool us with a mere layer of skin?”

This statement exploded in the conference room like an electromagnetic pulse bomb.

Military technology! It's actually military technology! Several elites from the North American branch almost simultaneously took a half step back, their shoes grinding into a tight arc on the floor—these personnel, who had been dealing with the front lines of military technology for many years, were all too familiar with that smell, like tasting the rust on their tongues before smelling the gunpowder.

Their muscle memory is faster than their thoughts; their retreat is not a sign of weakness, but rather a compressed spring, creating space for the inevitable bloody confrontation to take place.

They couldn't cause Oda Santau any unnecessary trouble, or rather, in this situation, their approach might lead to accidental injury.

Oda Santau wouldn't care about the lives of people of their rank.

In contrast, the people at the Tokyo headquarters were a step behind.

Although they have fought against military technology spies around the world, they lack the meat grinder-like experience of the North American front.

When the North American elites had already wisely retreated, they reflexively reached for their waists—a move that seemed utterly ridiculous to North Americans.

The naive Tokyoites' basic self-defense weapons are as laughable as children's toy guns in the face of military-grade cybernetic bodies with military technology.

This is the Americas, the heartland of military technology. Unlike military technology personnel in other places, those here are not hindered by local companies. Their elite status and level of military-grade cybernetic weaponry are the highest.

The man in the suit finally dropped his disguise.

The bionic skin on his left cheek was peeling off, revealing the heavy subcutaneous armor underneath, and the sleeve of his suit on his right arm was being ripped apart by his swollen arm.

The arm holding the dagger revealed its true form: a prosthetic hand filled with mechanical components. At this moment, the thick prosthetic hand expanded as the mechanical components changed, allowing him to block Oda Santao's slash with just one hand and the dagger.

He did not respond to Oda Santao's words.

Even if he were a military technology personnel, he wouldn't be able to respond at this moment. As a spy, his identity code would have been erased long ago.

The lesson learned from the death of Saburo Arasaka, where military technology personnel identification codes and dismissed personnel were left at the scene, was so profound that after the rectification, every military technology spy, except for ensuring that the most core identification code could identify them as one of their own, had all other identification codes and identities erased.

Unless a hacker with access to the core database digs it out again, their identities will only be known to themselves and their contacts.

The man in the suit was also wondering about this.

His infiltration should have been quite perfect, with only minor flaws. Why was he exposed? Could it be that as a top-notch guard, Oda Sandayu was so perceptive that he could sense something was wrong with him with just a glance?
My body has been perfectly modified. Unless directly connected, even with the current security scanning of the Arasaka Tower, it shouldn't be able to detect my prosthetic body.
The military technology spy was completely baffled, but Oda Santao knew exactly why he knew this person was a spy.

After receiving the personnel list in the early morning, a highly skilled individual identified a person whose unusual physique and behavior were observed in the surveillance footage and submitted him as a suspect.

His belly was only a few centimeters protruding, perhaps just a slight deviation from his usual size due to overeating today. His gait was slightly out of sync with his usual steps, but that was enough for Oda Santau to test him.

Unexpectedly, they caught a big fish.

Oda Santau's mantis blade flashed and slashed as he secretly marveled at the sight.

This time, those old guys at the Tokyo headquarters really did send an outstanding individual.

I originally thought they were just useless people who held their positions without doing any work, relying on past relationships with Lord Saburo. I never expected that their ability to discover talent would actually reach some of the level Lord Saburo was in his lifetime.

wise
I've remembered it.

(End of this chapter)