Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 780, Section 194: Meeting Participants
After the first new American representative entered and took his seat, eleven seats remained empty in the conference room.

A wise look swept over the empty seats as he secretly made his plans.

Aside from the two core seats reserved in the very center for Arakasaka Seijin and Rosalind Miles, the remaining nine seats, if allocated equally between the two sides, should rightfully be five for Arakasaka and four for military technology.

The locations of the five Ara-saka.
After thinking for a moment, Mingzhi roughly guessed who would be coming.

First, there are definitely the three members of the Arasaka family: Haruko, Hanako, and Michiko. Of the remaining two seats, one undoubtedly belongs to Vice President Kenichi Shiro, and as for the last position...
Akechi's memory flashes back to the Arasaka Tower meeting a year ago.

At that time, Kenichi Shiro had introduced the old man in the white suit to him during a communication break, and made no attempt to hide his feelings by calling him a cunning "old dog".

He was an old-fashioned figure who seemed to have risen through the ranks based on seniority, but he climbed step by step to a high-level position in the fierce factional struggles of the Arasaka Group.

Even now, Akechi can still clearly recall the old man surnamed Sanada—his cloudy yet shrewd eyes, the cunning and shrewdness in his words, and how he always managed to precisely set up fatal traps for his colleagues when he appeared most innocent and unaware.

The downfall of the previous vice president was the result of the behind-the-scenes machinations of this seemingly honest and harmless old man who appeared to have risen to a high position simply by accumulating seniority.

If Sanada's rank were placed within the Arasaka global system, it would indeed be insufficient to rank him among the top five.

But within the power structure of this North American branch, he was undoubtedly among the top five—therefore, when the last senior executive position for the Arasaka North America meeting became vacant, that chair was destined to fall into his hands.

The moment the thought flashed through Akechi's mind, the elevator doors slowly opened, and the Vice President Sanada, whom he had just been pondering, stepped out of the elevator.

As expected.

In the Arakawa district of North America, apart from the members of the Arakawa main family and Kenichi Shiro, only this old man is qualified to sit at the negotiating table today.

Sanada's cloudy prosthetic eyes slowly swept across the venue, pausing briefly at the seat of the new American delegation—puzzlingly, he should have replaced them with more advanced prosthetic eyes long ago, yet he still kept these outdated models.

The old man wore a gentle, almost benevolent smile as he walked unsteadily to his seat and slowly sat down opposite the new American representative. His demeanor was that of a retired, unassuming employee, and no one could tell that he was the mastermind behind the former vice president's 'forced resignation'.

'A cunning old dog.'

Kenichi Shiro's assessment is truly insightful.

He watched the subtle changes in Sanada's posture after he sat down—the old man seemed to lean casually against the back of the chair, but his spine straightened up slightly without anyone noticing.

This posture suddenly reminded Mingzhi of the scene in "Water Margin" where the heroes of Liangshan were ranked.

Although Sanada was seated closest to the new US president in terms of seating arrangement—which should normally be the outermost seat in Arasaka's delegation—the old man clearly had a satisfied look on his face.

Just like the people in Liangshan who were ranked, even if you were ranked last among the Heavenly Stars and Earthly Fiends, it was still better than being a nobody whose name couldn't even be mentioned.

The Arasaka personnel list is now finalized—the four core members of the Arasaka family, plus Kenichi Shiro and the Vice President Sanada. Meanwhile, on the New America side, besides Rosalind and the stranger, there are four vacant positions.
Who could it be?
High-ranking military officers? Elite political figures?
Mingzhi quickly sifted through possible faces in his mind, but none of them were likely people he knew.

He didn't even consider Li De—not because he'd forgotten him, but because Li De was simply not qualified for the negotiating table. Although Li De was indeed very capable and loyal to the new America and even the president, he was ultimately just a secret agent. In the eyes of some high-ranking officials, he was a pawn that could be discarded at any time and had no right to be at the table.

Not only was Li De not qualified to sit at the table, but perhaps I wasn't qualified either, if it weren't for my status.

A thought inexplicably popped into Mingzhi's mind.

Given the practices of Shin-America and Arasaka's upper management, if you don't have connections or that person isn't using that identity, you'll likely be seen as a stray dog ​​on the street, and people will wonder how you managed to bring such a person to a meeting.
These high-ranking figures never disappoint when it comes to putting on airs.

As Akechi thought this, he completely overlooked the deterrent power of his other identity within Arakawa—the one who personally crushed the former vice president, the legendary KK.

No one dared to say anything like "street dog" to his face.

In fact, no one dared to think that way.

"drop--"

The elevator's notification sounded again, and the metal doors slid open to both sides. This time, four figures stepped out simultaneously—their uniforms clearly indicated they were not Arasaka's people.

'The remaining four members of the new American delegation have arrived,' Akechi thought to himself.

His gaze unconsciously swept over the group of people, but in an instant he caught a sharp gaze fixed on him.

She was a strikingly beautiful woman, tall and slender, standing as straight as a military saber. Her cold face was expressionless, but her eyes, like a scanner, dissected Mingzhi from head to toe.

The woman's hair was meticulously tied back, and the high collar of her dress accentuated the sharpness of her jawline. While the other representatives were still observing their surroundings, she had already pinpointed the most dangerous potential threat on the floor—and at that moment, her gaze was like the laser sight of a gun, firmly fixed on Mingzhi's brow.

Under the woman's sharp gaze, Mingzhi silently looked away.
'Blanca.'

She came anyway.

But thinking about it, it doesn't seem to be too surprising.

Blanca was a minister back in 75, and then in 76 she was promoted to director who could sit at the local conference table. Considering her contributions to the rescue of the new US president, her current position has probably been promoted again.

After all, there are supporters of the new US president in the military technology sector, and their influence is considerable, having reached a certain scale. Otherwise, Rosalind Myers wouldn't have had the idea of ​​having the new US swallow up the military technology sector.

Blanca is able to attend the meeting today because of her loyalty in sending out the rescue team yesterday. In addition, the loyalty of my own people in Night City cannot be confirmed, so I sent her here as one of the representatives.
Mingzhi was unaware of the specifics, but even though he hadn't revealed his identity to Blanca, the glance she gave him just now gave him the feeling that Blanca had already discovered his true identity.

'It's probably just my imagination; Blanca shouldn't be as perceptive as Mashi.'

Mingzhi thought this way, though he wasn't sure if he was just trying to comfort himself.

(End of this chapter)