Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 825, Section 35: Immortality
With the desperate cover and sacrifice of the Pheasant Faction members, Oda Santao drove the vehicle, carrying Akechi and Arasaka Hanako, and quickly left Kitakata Ward.

Using the stealth techniques of the faction's hackers, they infiltrated this unmonitored, treacherous area. After setting up necessary measures and disguises to evade satellite surveillance, Akechi discovered an underground laboratory belonging to Arasaka, which was larger and had more personnel than the biotechnology laboratory he had seen a few days earlier.

The area was filled with members of the Pheasant Faction, people who had not been mobilized even for matters as important as rescuing Arasaka Hanako, and were unknown even to other high-ranking members of the Pheasant Faction.

In other words, the mission these people are carrying out is more important than Hanako Arasaka's life or death—they are the ones who truly determine the fate of the Pheasant Faction.

Akechi stood on the basement floor of the laboratory, looking down through the glass. In his view, people in white coats were moving around the laboratory. Many of them noticed Arasaka Hanako's arrival, but they didn't even have time to look up and greet her respectfully, as they were all too busy to do so.

“Miss Hua, these personnel weren’t mobilized at all during the previous rescue operation,” Mingzhi asked in a low voice. “Who exactly are they?”

"They are the core experimental team of Arakawa."

Hanako Arasaka's voice was as calm as if she were discussing the weather, but what she said next caused Akechi's pupils to suddenly contract—

"What they are doing is a cloning experiment of KK."

The answer to the important secret has been revealed.

The connection between biological experiments and KK has also been clarified.

The experiment currently underway is indeed very relevant to both, as both are indispensable.

"Regarding KK's cloning experiments?!"

Akechi's slightly raised voice did not surprise Hanako Arasaka, because even she was speechless with surprise when she heard about the experiment, let alone Akechi, who had previously held a low-ranking position.

Hanako Arakawa slowly said, "That's right, it's the cloning experiment of that legendary mercenary KK."

"But this."

Akechi's gaze was fixed on the activity in the lower-level laboratory. A few seconds later, he abruptly turned to Hanako Arasaka. This action should have been offensive, but driven by shock, it seemed perfectly natural.

"As far as I know, although mercenary KK is outstanding in strength and has excellent combat rating, he was just an ordinary mercenary when he first started out. His growth has a clear trajectory to follow - just like the legendary mercenaries of the past, unique but logical."

If the sole pursuit is combat power, the cost-effectiveness of such replication experiments seems rather unsuitable.

“I understand your confusion, wise.” Arakawa Hanako’s fingertips tapped lightly on the glass curtain wall in front of her. “As a former outsider, your doubts are very reasonable, after all, you have never entered the real core before;

KK's growth trajectory is indeed impossible to replicate, just like all those legendary mercenaries. If the goal is simply to recreate a mercenary...

She suddenly turned around, the cold light of the laboratory freezing in her eyes: "Then it really is like we're trading a flat continent for a solitary peak on the sea."

The glass curtain wall reflected her suddenly dilated pupils: "But that's the crux of the problem—do you really understand KK's uniqueness?"

KK's unique characteristics.
Mingzhi vaguely sensed something was amiss.

Karl, the other side of Akechi, was naturally aware of his own special nature and had learned about it from the possibility of a wandering AI. He was prepared for this, but he didn't have the habit of thoroughly examining his own body as an experimental subject, so he wasn't clear on the specifics of what he meant by "special." Now, it seemed he had found some answer. However, the answer Akechi later received from Hanako Arasaka was quite different from what he had imagined; it was on another level.

“KK’s body is very special.” Hua Zi’s fingertips lightly traced the glass curtain wall, leaving a fleeting trail of mist. “At the previous Arasaka banquet, he captured a stray AI, which was later handed over to my father.”

Her voice suddenly lowered, as if repeating some taboo:

"The roaming AI approached my father, offering some secret in exchange for freedom and a deal. After a secret conversation with no records, ending with a dialogue where even my father's personal diary had been erased, my father released the AI. But before reaching a deal, it revealed a secret to my father—a secret that had only been told to Saburo Arasaka."

"Master Xiangsaburo?"

“That’s right. Something that changed my father’s mind and made him reassess KK’s value. My father even considered that if KK was smart enough not to join forces with my brother, then perhaps even betrothing Haruko to him wouldn’t be an impossible thing.”

"We'll betroth Haruko to KK."

When saying "Haruko" and "Miss," Akechi paused slightly, as if he was considering his words or was not used to adding another title to Haruko's name. However, this slight pause, as if it was a sign of lingering shock, did not go unnoticed by Arakawa Hanako.

She continued talking about something more important about KK: "That's right, although no one knows what was discussed in that secret conversation anymore, since even my father's personal diary was deliberately deleted and destroyed, my father told me what the secret was afterward."

Hanako Arakawa gazed at the scene below: "KK's body can bear anything."

"Can KK's body bear anything?"

Mingzhi listened to these unusually familiar words and understood some of them, but he was not entirely sure of his guess.

“That’s right. His body is extremely special. In the assessment, it was almost perfect for Relic. In other words, as long as it’s his body, anyone’s personality data can be ‘completely’ reborn by entering his body through the Relic chip. Moreover, the degree of compatibility is even greater than that of clones.”

Does this mean...?

"That's right. In other words, as long as you get KK's body, anyone can be reborn and obtain a 'perfect' and 'flawless' life through Relic. This life is a true second life without any flaws or problems."

Hanako Arakawa revealed the truth to Akechi.

This is Saburo Arasaka's true purpose, or rather, the real secret behind the Pheasant Faction's current actions.

KK's body.

Relic.

A perfect rebirth.

eternal life.

This is an experiment on immortality.

(End of this chapter)