Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 771, Section 185: Icarus
"You all get a good rest today. Tomorrow, the duty of protecting Miss Hua Zi will be given to your team as a reward. But before you rest, I hope you can prepare your team to complete tomorrow's preparations. Don't delay your necessary rest while working."

Upon receiving Oda Santao's words of concern, Akechi was dumbfounded.

They told us to rest, but we had to finish preparing the team before we could rest. They also insisted that we maintain our condition during the rest period and not delay anything.
What's the difference between this and working hard all day, only to have your boss hold a meeting in the middle of the night, which goes on until the early hours of the morning, and then telling you to go home and get some rest, and get up early the next day to prepare for work?
Off work? Off work my ass!
Mingzhi sincerely felt that she was too naive and foolish to leave Baoshiqing with such joy at the thought of going home.

It's almost 10 o'clock now. I need to go back and get ready for tomorrow's guard duty. I'm afraid I'll have to work until the early hours of tomorrow morning, then I'll need to rest and get up early to prepare.
Do you really think you're the company's superman?

Akechi admitted that he was now filled with resentment, but considering that he had overseen the entire process of the mission and submitted the report, he reluctantly accepted the arrangement.

"Have their bodies been collected yet?"

Before leaving Dogtown, under the watchful eyes of the Ghost Hounds, Akechi asked the members of the combat team for a polite farewell, and received their silent nods in return.

The three members of the combat team who died were killed because the Ghost Hound arrived, and their bodies fell into the hands of the Ghost Hound. Before leaving the Gemstone Blue Building, Mingzhi retrieved their remains from Hansen.

Mingzhi led a total of twelve people on the mission, but only nine of them made it out of Dogtown alive. The three who died were all combat personnel, accounting for a quarter of the total.

Frankly speaking, although the deaths were essentially caused by their disobedience, it is still somewhat regrettable that Akechi died in this situation.

Perhaps when he was not being wise, he saw these people in the squad, and none of them would have survived for more than five seconds, but now they were his subordinates.

Even his subordinates, whom he disguised, hated death because he always felt a sense of responsibility—a responsibility to make them rich and to ensure their survival. Under such circumstances, every death left a sense of regret.

“Go back and give them a proper burial. I’ve seen your files. You’re all orphans, right? Since you have no family, cremate them and bury them in Night City.”

As Mingzhi said this, a sense of helplessness suddenly welled up within him.

Because he knew perfectly well that it was just polite talk.

The reason these combatants' bodies had to be retrieved from the Ghost Hounds was because their prosthetic bodies still had value for data collection and recovery. Beyond that, the primary purpose was complete destruction, ensuring that these already restricted individuals wouldn't reveal any information about Arasaka. They were originally intended for cremation, their so-called burial place...
They're just saying nice things.

Akechi suddenly felt a sense of absurdity. They were carrying the remains of their comrades, and those cold bodies would soon be sent back to Arasaka's laboratory to be disassembled and analyzed like discarded parts. He stood here, uttering a grand eulogy, as if he could truly give these tools a final dignity.

sigh.

Just as Akechi was sighing, the combat personnel who had carried their comrade's body onto the vehicles provided by the Ghost Hounds arrived at Akechi's side.

The combatants, who had started with seven men but now numbered only four, bowed deeply to Mingzhi.

"We hope to become Your Excellency's subordinate in the future."

One of the combatants, speaking on behalf of the team, spoke to Mingzhi, his eyes filled with an indescribable fervor. Even though only four combatants remained on the mission, and even though he had just finished moving his comrade's body, he felt a surge of exhilaration. This was a loyalty, like that of the rest of the squad, a loyalty that was truly worthy of their devotion, not one instilled or brainwashed during training.

These are no longer thoughts that have been repeatedly told or lingered in the mind, but rather thoughts that originate from the depths of the heart and truly arise from the emotions of a 'human being'.

The emotion was so intense that after seeing the four combatants do this, the remaining five also stepped forward to Mingzhi and bowed deeply to him.

They all shared the same idea.

Although we only spent one day together, and it was such a short time, it was enough.

There's no reason why it should take more than ten years of getting to know each other to develop feelings, nor is there any reason why it shouldn't take a day for them to understand who truly cares for them and who can make them feel genuine loyalty.

Wisdom is like the sun after the clouds have parted; its mere presence shines upon them, filling them with excitement and exhilaration.

At the same time, they also vaguely sensed some unusual traits.

Akechi is hardly the kind of person who would be considered a standard elite cultivated under the Arasaka system—his almost cowardly act of saving people, his untimely gentleness, and most importantly, his gaze that treats his subordinates as living, breathing human beings rather than tools.

These qualities are as rare as an oasis in the desert, even in Arasaka and in all companies.

His every glance and every word silently overturned the soldiers' perceptions that had been instilled in them for years: that the concern of superiors could not be just numbers on performance reports, that genuine dialogue could exist beyond orders, and that their value as human beings had never truly been taken away, but had been locked under layers of discipline for a long time, until they were awakened by this ray of sunshine.

This clarity was so profound that even when they sensed something strange and amiss about wisdom, they were still willing to utter such words.
It is not loyalty to the beliefs instilled in you, nor loyalty to the ideals instilled in you, nor loyalty to loyalty itself, but loyalty to yourself.

Wise hesitated in response to their request.

He is thinking.

The look in their eyes told Mingzhi that they had realized something.

It must be said that the elite are indeed elite; one can discern the truth simply by making contact with them.

so.
"I will think about it."

Mingzhi did not give a definite answer because he was unsure whether these people would still think that way when their true identities were revealed. He was also unsure whether their treatment would be reduced if they were placed under V's second combat team. If it was reduced, it would feel like a demotion, which he felt bad about.

It was precisely because of this lack of clarity that Mingzhi failed to see the light in their eyes, the light that Icarus shone as he rushed toward the sun.

(End of this chapter)