Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 742, Section 156: The Strange Hansen
"My wrist should be fine, right? My medical skills are pretty good now. You guys don't know how tough it was when I first performed surgery. They practically lifted my head off. I was so nervous back then that my hands were shaking. You guys are lucky to be here at this time."

After Carl inquired about the patient's post-operative condition, he saw Kenichi Shiro, who had been in the slide room discussing matters with the slide, come out.

"Mr. Kenichi Shiro, how did the conversation go?"

"The slider will soon be moving its base."

"Relocating the base. Oh, to keep out the SIA, right?"

After a moment of confusion, Carl understood. Once Slippery decided, or rather had no choice but to side with Arasaka, his stance had changed. However, the new American members, led by the FIA, might come after Slippery later. So, to avoid encountering them and being discovered, Slippery had to move to a new place and hide for at least the next two days.

He never thought New America would really let him go. He had already prepared his next base. Now this base was deliberately exposed, waiting for people to come to him. It didn't matter who came to him. He just needed to make sure he was still useful and could be protected by one of them to survive.

"He's a cunning and clever fellow."

Kenichi Shiro commented on the slider: "It knows how to judge moderation very well."

"After all, he managed to break free from the atmosphere of the Voodoo Gang, build his own group of people, and thrive in Dogtown. It would be strange to call him an idiot."

Carl wasn't surprised; to be honest, from a personal perspective, he actually had a pretty good impression of the slider.

After all, he managed to break away from the Voodoo Cult, a place that Karl instinctively loathed and had a cult-like nature. Although he wasn't exactly a good person, he was certainly someone with some principles. In Night City today, such a smart person couldn't possibly be considered one of the worst.

If it were when Carl first arrived in Night City, he definitely wouldn't have been very friendly to Slider. But perhaps because he's been in Night City for so long, his moral standards have lowered a bit, and Carl now thinks Slider is somewhat acceptable.

Of course, it's only passable.

If something truly disgusts Karl, like the Voodoo Cult, then Karl wouldn't mind completely 'eradicating' the remnants of the Voodoo Cult.

"Speak of it."

Karl stared at the wound on Kenichi Shiro's shoulder that he had made, which was now bandaged and treated: "Mr. Kenichi Shiro, your state just now was obviously not what you should be like normally. I didn't even recognize you. If it weren't for the fact that your movements when you infiltrated were so different from your usual self, I wouldn't have failed to recognize you."

"I use some special medications to maintain my current condition."

Kenichi Shiro followed Karl's gaze and looked at his shoulder, where the tingling sensation of the wound healing felt like ants crawling. "I didn't expect you to gain my trust and be sent here so quickly, so I planned to do it myself. But now that you're here, I don't plan to continue using those injections."

"This kind of thing must be quite a burden, right?"

When Karl spoke with some concern, Kenichi Shiro merely glanced at him sideways, the meaning of which was already written in his eyes.

'Do you even need to tell me? If it weren't so difficult, wouldn't I be getting injections every day?'

"Well, don't mind it too much, I was just asking out of curiosity."

Karl understood the meaning in Kenichi Shiro's eyes and wisely chose to end the topic.

He actually had another meaning when he asked this question: so this is what Kenichi Shiro's peak condition is like, which is pretty much what he imagined.

It means that the imagination is about the same.
This was not unexpected by Carl.

"It's so good that you recognized me. You've escaped with your life, Mr. Kenichi Shiro." These were words spoken entirely from the heart, without a trace of sarcasm or irony, and were just ordinary words, yet they did not cause the slightest change in Kenichi Shiro's expression.

After a long pause, he finally nodded slightly.

"After all, I'm getting old."

"Indeed, the peak brought by the drug is only a temporary peak. There is still a period of readjustment. If it were really at your peak, Mr. Kenichi Shiro, I would probably have lost half my life."

"When my body was at its peak, my experience and consciousness had not yet reached their peak. When the latter reached their peak, my body weakened. The peak you mentioned had a period of readjustment. The so-called golden age is just a paradox."

Kenichi Shiro shook his head. He didn't think he was inferior to Karl. Karl had already surpassed him. What was so special about that? After losing face and even having his last words known to Karl, his attitude towards Karl had changed somewhat.

Or rather, it truly revealed the appreciation that was originally in one's heart, mixed with the complex emotions that were already on the surface.

Now, Kenichi Shiro looked at Karl and had put aside his slight displeasure, officially acknowledging him.

Unaware of the subtle yet dramatic change in Kenichi Shiro's mindset, Karl remained as curious as ever.

"Oh right, I haven't asked yet, Mr. Kenichi Shiro. Besides having Slide assist in the upcoming operation, what else did you talk to Slide about? If there's anything related, I can use it to deal with my own affairs."

"The news should soon spread throughout Dogtown."

Speaking of this, Kenichi Shiro's eyes changed slightly: "Hansen plans to hold a banquet and decide on his successor at the banquet."

"At a time like this?"

Having attended Hansen's Banquet twice—once openly and once in disguise—Karl's impression of the banquet was probably that the cold cuts were quite delicious, but nothing else particularly stood out.

At this critical moment—with the presidential plane crash isolating Dogtown from the outside world and most of the Ghosthounds being deployed to search the outskirts—Hansen chose to hold a banquet to select a successor.

and many more.

Security empty?

"Hansen, is this a trap to lure you into?"

Carl frowned. Who could Hansen lure into the trap? Naturally, it would be someone he couldn't find in Dogtown right now. But what did he have to rely on to ensure that someone would come?

However, the choice was to 'invite' someone over.
Is Hansen wavering in his stance, failing to reach an agreement with those who oppose Miles, or is he sensing the unfavorable situation and trying to play both sides?

With so little information, Karl is completely confused about the situation.

Even if Hansen had a nuclear bomb that could destroy Dogtown and Night City as a threat, it shouldn't be enough to make people come to him for talks, right?

It can't be that Hansen now holds some leverage that could throw the entire new America and military technology into chaos.

(End of this chapter)