Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 817 27. Digital Saburo?

"Your Excellency Karl, I have some new matters that require your attention."

In the electronic voice coming from the phone, Goro Akechi's voice sounded rough, as if it had been sanded, carrying a strange weariness and a forced sense of excitement.

Carl looked away from the morning light seeping through the gap in the curtains, glanced at the time—seven o'clock in the morning, an awkward moment between the end of the night shift and the start of the morning shift.

However, judging from Arasaka's situation, this was definitely not the time when Akechi had just started work. Judging from the undisguised fatigue in the voice on the other end of the communication, he must have just finished working all night.

Is there an emergency?

Carl remembered his conversation with Akechi. Akechi Goro had clearly stated that he would handle non-core matters, which meant that important matters needed to be handled by Carl.

It now appears that he has encountered a situation that is difficult for him to handle based on his personal judgment.

"I see."

Carl quickly got out of bed: "Switch to the covert channel and continue. This regular channel is at risk of being monitored. Although I have deleted our communication records during the communication, it is still possible that someone with ulterior motives will notice. Hang up first and call back in half a minute."

On the other end of the phone, Goro Akechi was visibly taken aback: "It was my oversight to overlook this possibility, Mr. Karl. It seems that my overtime work caused some unnecessary mental lapses. I'll hang up immediately and contact you again in half a minute."

"I'm waiting for your message."

Looking at the interrupted call screen, Carl slowly exhaled.

Then, a slow sense of time came.

Half a minute.
Getting dressed and washing up is more than enough.

I got out of bed, got dressed, went to the bathroom, and washed up.

Half a minute later, when Goro Akechi's communication came through again, Karl was already sitting upright in an armchair, drinking milk he had taken from the small refrigerator in the room.

“Now we’re switching to the covert channel.” Carl swallowed a mouthful of cold milk. “Tell me specifically, what is it that you find difficult to handle and that I have to solve?”

In Karl's memory, Goro Akechi was an excellent subordinate. These days, Akechi had hardly bothered him with official business, and he handled everything perfectly.

To be honest, Carl felt that in handling company affairs, Mingzhi, an elite who had come from the company, was definitely more capable than him, who slacked off all day. For Mingzhi to take the initiative to seek instructions, he must have encountered a rather tricky problem.

Wise communication avoids unnecessary pleasantries and gets straight to the point:

"I've been contacted by the higher-ups in the Pheasant Faction."

'A high-ranking member of the Pheasant Faction.'

Carl immediately realized the seriousness of the situation.

Akechi was clearly referring to the Pheasant Faction in Japan. In North America, since Hanako Arasaka was imprisoned in a surprise attack by Seiichi Arasaka, the remaining Pheasant Faction members were only a few people temporarily retained by Seiichi Arasaka for political reasons. These survivors were under close surveillance all day long and could barely protect themselves, let alone take any substantial action.

Among these surviving members, Akechi was already among the highest-ranking. According to the factional structure, he was always the one who took the initiative to contact others, and there was no reason for others to contact him. Since he mentioned the 'higher-ups,' he must be referring to those people in Japan.

What exactly did they say?

Carl's fingers swiped rapidly across the phone's screen, adding several layers of protection. This way, even if someone managed to breach the firewall, he could instantly cut off the connection and completely erase all communication records before the data was compromised.

Mingzhi's voice was noticeably lowered: "It's about Miss Hanako. The Pheasant Faction's higher-ups are extremely dissatisfied with Lord Sei-nobu's behavior towards the CEO, but at the high-level meeting, they were unable to shake Lord Sei-nobu's already dominant position."

The rustling sound of papers turning over came from the communicator, clearly indicating that Mingzhi was reviewing a more confidential manuscript.

"So they decided to take a different approach and planned to rescue Miss Hanako from Lord Sei-nobu."

"Should we rescue Hanako Arasaka?"

Carl opened the refrigerator, took out a packaged cream bread, tore open the packaging, and started eating.

Even after suffering successive blows such as the death of Saburo Arasaka and the imprisonment of Hanako Arasaka, the Pheasant Faction remains a force to be reckoned with within the Arasaka Group. This faction, representing the conservative forces, is deeply entrenched within Arasaka, like an old tree with sprawling roots, and is by no means easy to uproot.

Even the humblest cockroach will struggle desperately when faced with annihilation, let alone this group of conservatives who have long enjoyed privileges and high status? In a desperate situation where their living space is being squeezed step by step, their resistance is almost inevitable.

But the key issue is that they do have some cards up their sleeves, but whatever cards they have left, it has to be played by their master, Hanako Arakawa.

The Arasaka Corporation is essentially a family dynasty.

While it cannot be said that board members have no power, their power is like that of ministers in ancient dynasties—before the imperial power is completely suppressed, the only thing these 'courts' can do is choose the heir to the throne they support and bet all their chips on this choice.

If Arasaka Seigen were to actually kill Arasaka Hanako, these conservatives might really fight to the death at any cost.

But now that Hua Zi is only under house arrest, they are caught in a dilemma – they can't sit idly by and watch Sei Xuan gradually erode their power, but they dare not make any rash moves that could endanger Hua Zi's life.

In this precarious situation, the idea of ​​rescuing Arasaka Hanako was the most natural choice, like a trapped beast that, knowing the hope was slim, still grasped at the last straw.

Who are the personnel that can still be mobilized in North America today?
The answer is obvious—the only wise course is to use the device even knowing that it might be under close surveillance by Sei-nobu's people.

Even though they knew perfectly well that this might be a trap carefully laid by Sei-nobu, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and step into it.

"What's their plan?"

Carl realized that it was indeed up to him to act wisely in this matter.

A wise voice came through the encrypted channel: "In the initial stage, the higher-ups tried to secretly contact Goro Takemura. They held onto a sliver of hope that this once most loyal bodyguard of Lord Saburo might only be temporarily submitting to the power of Nobuyuki Arasaka. After all, given Takemura's loyalty to Lord Saburo, he might still remember their past relationship." The sound of papers being turned could be heard through the communicator.

"But reality hit them hard. Takemura not only refused outright, but also issued a stern warning. He claimed that his duty had never changed—in the past and still now, to protect the head of the Arasaka family. And now, this head of the family is undoubtedly Arasaka Seigen. He will eliminate anything that threatens the head of the family."

Mingzhi continued
"Then Sei-nobu seized on this matter and, under the pretext of purging internal forces, eliminated several high-ranking officials involved in the liaison at the board meeting. After paying such a heavy price, the Pheasant Faction now only has its last trump card left."

"The last trump card?" Karl unconsciously sat up straight.

“The 100-man ninja group.” Akechi’s voice was even lower. “Aside from the ten elites who must remain at the Arasaka residence on the main island, the remaining ninety selected to maintain their numbers have infiltrated North America in batches through various covert channels in the past week.”

It's actually a group of 100 ninjas!
Karl had come into contact with this group of ninjas, who were the strongest guards around Saburo Arasaka when he was still alive. It was precisely because of this contact that he was able to understand the abilities of the 100 Ninjas.

Even Chiyome, who underwent rigorous training by the organization, failed to qualify for the final selection.

Admittedly, the selection system does have restrictions based on background, but even with Chiyome's strength, she was not exempted. This alone is enough to prove that even if Chiyome were placed under the standards of the '100 Ninjas', she would only barely reach the baseline, far from enough to make those cold-blooded examiners make an exception.

The organization's selection mechanism is so strict as to be almost distorted—ability, lineage, and loyalty are all indispensable criteria, and if any one of them is flawed, the candidate will be ruthlessly eliminated immediately.

The members who ultimately pass such a brutal selection process are all monsters who have crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood; they are truly capable of turning the tide of battle single-handedly.

Now, ninety such individuals have arrived at once, and they have all successfully infiltrated North America.
It seems that the pheasant faction's leaders are indeed fighting to the death this time.

But while Karl was surprised, he noticed something strange: with Hanako Arasaka imprisoned and communication strictly restricted, who else had the authority to mobilize the 100-person ninja squad?
The loyalty mechanism of the 100 Ninjas has never been questioned—when Saburo Arasaka was alive, they only obeyed Saburo's orders, and would never hesitate to wield their swords against their own family members.

After Saburo's death, this loyalty was completely transferred to Hanako Arasaka. Now that Hanako is imprisoned, how can those high-ranking officials command these cold-blooded killing machines?
Could it be that the 100 Ninjas themselves agreed with the higher-ups' plan to 'rescue Hanako Arasaka'? So they weren't ordered around, but rather proactively reached some kind of temporary cooperation with the higher-ups?

This speculation could indeed explain the unusual behavior of the 100 Ninjas—after all, rescuing their master is in line with their core principle of loyalty—but according to his understanding, the 100 Ninjas should not have this ability.

The members of the 100 Ninjas are like meticulously programmed killing machines; their modus operandi is entirely based on a cycle of 'waiting for instructions - executing instructions'.

Their individual will was eliminated during training, ensuring their loyalty and obedience to orders.

What that old man Saburo Arasaka was most proud of during his lifetime was transforming these living people into killing tools that were more reliable than machines, wasn't it? Those members who survived through inhuman training should not have the ability or intention to think and make decisions independently. Those who had such autonomy were either eliminated by Saburo Arasaka or taken to his side as personal guards long ago.

Unless there are problems behind this operation, such as Hua Zi having pre-planned the decision before being imprisoned, but the fact that she was taken into custody quite suddenly is a possibility that cannot be ruled out, but is extremely unlikely.

Of the 100 ninjas, only Arasaka Hanako and Arasaka Saburo have the authority to command them. Hanako is unlikely to be the one in command, so it's Saburo.
How can a dead man command the living?

Karl wouldn't mind killing Saburo Arasaka again; after all, not everyone in the world has the chance to deal with that old bastard twice. But the dead can't be brought back to life.
Johnny.

Carl suddenly realized a terrible possibility.

Relic—the device that can digitally preserve human consciousness.

Saburo Arasaka did indeed disdain this 'incomplete' method of resurrection during his lifetime; he pursued perfect immortality, which is why this technology remained in the experimental stage and needed continuous improvement.

But given that old fox's cautious nature, how could he not have left a backup plan?
If this old monster is indeed dead, his consciousness—the 'digital soul' that carries all his memories and thoughts—still exists, and may even have awakened. This being, which is essentially a perfect replica of Saburo Arasaka, has issued orders to the 100 Ninjas.
Would those rigid and absolutely loyal killing machines acknowledge this 'Digital Saburo'?

Too careless.

Both he and Lai Xuan were too careless.

Despite the existence of this possibility, the old monster lowered his guard because of the imperfect immortality. He might not want to live in that form, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't prepare a backup.

For someone like Saburo Arasaka, when faced with a life-or-death decision, even if he exists as data, he would probably accept it without hesitation as long as it allows the existence of 'Saburo Arasaka' to continue.

After all, for that paranoid tyrant, what mattered was never the form of life, but the fact that 'Saburo Arasaka must exist forever, and Saburo Arasaka's will must endure forever' itself.

Karl's brain raced with this sudden information and speculation. His thoughts cut precisely along the lines of logic like a sharp blade, and every possibility clearly emerged in his mind, only to be examined one by one by his rigorous judgment criteria.

If that's really the case, then it's not too late yet.

It's never too late to mend the fence after the sheep are lost.

"I understand the Pheasant Faction's thinking, and I will personally and wisely assist the 100-Ninja Group."

I have to work overtime.

This time, however, it was a proactive and enthusiastic overtime work.

Carl felt it was acceptable.

After all, it would be quite disgusting if that old thing that looks like a cockroach crawled out of its grave and ran around everywhere.

'You'd better be alive again, Saburo Arasaka.'

That way, I can kill you again.

If this isn't enough, then I'll kill again.

Once again, and again.

Even if you're a weed, I'll still uproot you completely.

(End of this chapter)