Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 746, 160. Aguilar
"This banquet isn't so easy to get into."

As the local member of the squad responsible for infiltrating, Slide was tasked with helping the Wise Squad enter Hansen's Banquet, but he found himself struggling with how to get in.

Hansen's act of holding a banquet to announce his successor was essentially a declaration to all parties who possessed intelligence that he held leverage over the new United States—the highest bidder wins. However, to get to the negotiating table, one needed a basic skill: the ability to stand before Hansen.

Even Hansen, who deliberately deployed a large number of people and relaxed security at the banquet, couldn't sneak in. So why should he believe that the company behind you can close this deal? Let alone actually provide him with protection afterward?
Those seemingly lax patrol routes are actually covered with electronic sentries, and the guest list has been verified multiple times. Hansen is selecting people who are qualified enough. If they can't even pass this entry test, then all their boasts about power and leverage will become a joke.

Moreover, while the banquet appeared to have relaxed security due to a shortage of manpower, according to the intelligence currently gathered by the slide bar, although the number of personnel has decreased, the related machinery and security equipment have increased rather than decreased, with the quantity directly doubling.

It could even be said that, in terms of the current level of security, the security forces deployed by the Ghost Hound for this banquet far exceed any previous one. This is the most stringent level of security ever seen in all of Hansen's banquets.

"This level of defense is something even Arasaka Tower couldn't match," Slide exclaimed, looking at the defenses he had detected.

"That's not the case. If Arasaka Tower were to activate the emergency defense protocol, Adam Hammer, as the security chief, would be the first to jump out. I don't think the precautions Hansen has taken are comparable to those of Adam Hammer."

Karl was quite familiar with the security of Arasaka Tower, so he didn't express as much emotion as Slider. After all, no matter how tight Hansen's Ghost Hounds' defenses were, they were nothing compared to Arasaka Tower's heavyweight security force, Adam's Hammer.

Although the Ghost Hounds are currently on high alert, the real challenge is not breaking through their defenses, but rather preventing other companies' personnel from getting there first. They must ensure that they have enough leverage to reach an agreement with Hansen before their competitors.

"Facial recognition equipment has been installed at the entrance, and staff members are even personally touching and recognizing the faces of the individuals."

The slider observed the defenses projected onto the device in its hand and couldn't help but glance up at Karl: "It seems to be a setup specifically to guard against people who can change their appearance."

"Is this the latest facial recognition device? Has Hansen managed to get his hands on it? He even had a specialist handle it. He's really being careful."

Amid Carl's slightly surprised expression as he looked at the device, Kenichi Shiro spoke up: "Ever since you became famous, major companies have dug up their long-dormant facial alteration technology and started studying it again. Before you appeared, agents would simply change their faces to disguise themselves—after all, no one would be stupid enough to put a prosthetic body on their face that could be scanned out."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "But you, on the contrary, managed to make a name for yourself with temporary face-changing technology. Now every company is developing its own face-changing technology, and naturally, the defenses have also been upgraded."

So, does that mean I'm someone who started a trend?

"Whether it's trendy or not, I don't know. At most, you're a negative example. This system is designed to prevent temporary face-changing—those who permanently change their faces can still sneak in."

“No wonder Arasaka Tower only activates facial change detection at high-level banquets.” Karl stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Even if lower-level personnel temporarily change their faces, they can’t cause any trouble. Anyway, they don’t have the authority to enter the core area, and it’s not worth it to use expensive disguise chips to fool a few security guards. Only those high-level personnel who have access to classified information have the value of temporarily changing their faces.”

Carl chuckled: "So, Hansen is now guarding against 'distinguished guests' like us?"

“So there’s no hope of infiltrating head-on, unless you can tolerate getting plastic surgery and then having them scan your face for ages. And based on my understanding of your personality,” Kenichi Shiro looked at Karl: “You probably wouldn’t be too happy about that, since you still need this face to deceive people.”

“Your words are a bit harsh, Mr. Kenichi Shiro. What do you mean I lie with this face? I have never done such a thing. If I lied, it was always with a disguised appearance, and I would really feel guilty for lying.”

Karl rested his hand on his chin, clenching it into a fist, and thought to himself, "It seems we need to find a different way to get in. The first two times we were guests and went in openly and honestly, but this time we'll have to come uninvited."

As he pondered, Carl suddenly thought of something: "Wait a minute, isn't Bennett secretly trying to curry favor with Arasaka? Perhaps we can use this as a starting point—first try to infiltrate through him, and if that doesn't work, we can simply help him get rid of Hansen and make him the new king of Dogtown. Since he's actively siding with Arasaka, he must have had this ambition for a long time, he just lacks a suitable opportunity and a powerful backer."

“This plan is too risky.” Kenichi Shiro shook his head. “First, we must get what Hansen has. Second, even if Bennett is stupid, he can see that we are using him. Even if he agrees to cooperate, he may be eliminated by Hansen before he can get Arasaka’s official support.”
More importantly, we're not even sure if Bennett really wanted to get rid of Hansen—his secret alliance with Arasaka was purely because of the newcomer, Gagzab, whose influence within the Ghosthounds had become equal to his own. Perhaps Bennett simply wanted to use Arasaka to eliminate Gagzab.

Kenichi Shiro frowned and continued, "Moreover, he might actually retain some kind of twisted loyalty to Hansen. Although it's unclear how much this loyalty is worth, if he's truly devoted to us, our hasty contact might alert him and allow Hansen to prepare for our infiltration."

"Being a guest won't work, and neither will taking the insider route."

Carl was now genuinely facing a dilemma, given his rather mediocre infiltration skills: "How about we just storm in head-on, hold a knife to Hansen's neck, and ask him for his price?"

"That's a simple and easy way."

Kenichi Shiro thought about it for a moment and surprisingly didn't take Karl's idea as a joke: "It can be considered as an alternative."

Should we charge straight in, given how heavily fortified they are?
I was stunned to hear that they actually considered charging in as a backup plan, but then I thought about the two men's strength and realized it wasn't so unbelievable, especially since one of them was the legendary KK.
Wait a moment.

While thinking about legends, the slider suddenly remembered a rumor.

Rumor has it that Hansen was able to establish himself in Dogtown so quickly because he had many supporters, one of the most powerful of whom was the Cuban crime syndicate. This group, which was born in Cuba, once known as America's backyard, has now turned North America into its own backyard since the collapse of the old United States. If it were them, they could meet Hansen without going through any procedures.

"I've thought of a way."

The slider suddenly opened, causing Karl and Kenichi Shiro to look at him.

Do you know Aguilar?

(End of this chapter)