Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 848, Section 58: The Construction Site Under Attack

An hour after Carl and his team took the job, they were at the border of Pacific State near Dogtown, outside a biotechnology construction site.

The NCPD cordon reflected faintly in the night. Carl walked toward the officer in charge of the scene, handed him his consultant badge which was valid within the NCPD. After carefully checking it, the officer looked at Carl's face, saluted, and then waved for the officer to let him through.

Carl led Jack and Oliver across the cordon and into the ruins.

The team is short-handed tonight: V is handling another cyberpsychosis case, and T-BUG is routinely maintaining his prosthetic body. Therefore, this time it's Carl, Jack, and Oliver who are on the job.

The sight that appeared after passing through the blockade made Karl, who had previously infiltrated this place, hold his breath and frown.

The construction site was ravaged beyond recognition, but what was truly chilling was not the scale of the destruction, but its astonishing precision—the attack was clearly concentrated on a few key points: the security center, the data core, and the entrance to the underground laboratory; most of the area outside was almost completely intact.

“Professional-level tactical execution,” Jack whispered. “Like he knew exactly where the target was.”

Carl nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the busy NCPD officers at the construction site, but he didn't see any representatives from the biotechnology company present. Oliver, who also noticed this, spoke with a hint of doubt:
"Such a serious incident has occurred, yet not a single person from the biotechnology field has shown up. Don't they care about this almost blatant provocation?"

“It’s not necessarily that they don’t care,” Carl pondered. “Perhaps they are prioritizing checking the situation at other locations.”

He thought of the scattered storage warehouses. For biotechnology, those warehouses that still contain samples and semi-finished experimental products are probably more important than this destroyed construction site. Rather than dwelling on what has been lost, it is better to preserve what can still be controlled. This is in line with the company's consistent thinking.

Moreover, biotechnology likely suffered significant losses in the attack. Their influence in Night City is far less than that of Arasaka or military technology. Most of their core teams are concentrated at the protein and wheat farms, and even the company's internal security in the city relies mainly on robots. They probably can't spare any more manpower right now.

As Carl was pondering, his gaze was suddenly drawn to several unusual marks on the ground. He crouched down, took out a bag of medical gloves from his pocket, put them on, and gently touched the ground with his fingers—a sticky, slightly glowing residue clung to his fingertips.

It wasn't blood, nor burn marks from an energy weapon, nor any chemical agent he knew of. The substance gleamed with an eerie glow in the dim light, as if it were flowing.

“Unusual traces. Looks like we’ve found something.” Carl said in a low voice, his gaze sweeping around. He noticed similar light trails scattered everywhere, and NCPD personnel were already carefully collecting samples. He looked up at Jack: “Have you ever seen anything like this before?”

Jack shook his head, his expression grave: "Never seen it before."

Although Jack wasn't exactly a material expert, he was a veteran who had grown up on the streets of Night City. He had seen countless strange things since he was a child, and in terms of practical experience, no one in the team had more than him. The fact that even he had no clue about it meant that the origin of this thing was probably extraordinary.

Karl nodded and stood up, his gaze falling on the blasted entrance to the underground laboratory. In the darkness, the glowing traces resembled a faint path winding its way into the depths of the earth.

“Come on,” Carl said, leading the way to the area where no NCPD personnel had yet entered due to the collapse. He put on a mask with gas protection and night vision capabilities, his voice calm and clear: “Let’s see what’s hidden down there.” Just as he was about to step into the ruins, a member of the special operations team guarding the entrance noticed his movement. The man had just finished giving instructions to several NCPD officers, turned around, saw Carl, and immediately stepped forward, giving a crisp salute.

“Mr. Carl, the structure below is extremely unstable and a secondary collapse is very likely. Entering now is extremely dangerous.” His tone was respectful yet resolute, clearly indicating that the NCPD did not intend to expend much effort on this biotechnology attack.

Their presence here is more out of procedural obligation than a genuine desire to emulate the former NCPD—to suffer heavy casualties in order to please the company.

When the company is attacked, they will naturally go to the scene to deal with it out of duty and because of the sponsorship provided by the other party. However, if there is a possibility of causing serious casualties, they will still choose the safest way to act.

Seeing that KK, who was highly respected by their NCPD and related personnel, was about to take a risk, he did not hesitate to dissuade him.

“Don’t worry, I can handle this situation.” Carl reassured the other person calmly, then after a moment’s thought, he held out his hand. “How about this, give me a recording device.”

"With the video recording, you'll be able to report back to the biotechnology company. I'll process the data—erase my image and voice, and replace the identifier with yours, is that alright? Maybe this recording can even help you secure more sponsorship from the biotechnology team."

"Use my identification code?" The special operations team member was momentarily apprehensive, yet also flattered. He clearly understood what Karl's words meant:
Completing the investigation in such a dangerous collapsed area is undoubtedly crucial intelligence that biotechnology values ​​highly. If it is reported in his name, the company will definitely regard it as a major achievement and reward him accordingly. At that time, it would be only natural for him to get a raise and promotion within the NCPD.

Considering that his special operations team was the best-paid team in the NCPD and the team that received the deepest favor from KK, this sudden opportunity made him feel complicated and almost at a loss.

"Isn't this too much trouble for you? Mr. Carl is being far too kind to us."

Thinking this way, the special operations team member really wanted to be worthy of this favor and go down with Karl. To be able to sacrifice for this man would be an honorable and worthwhile thing.

However, considering that the highest-ranking person needed to handle the situation on-site, he could only sigh inwardly at his inability to accompany and assist, while deftly removing his action recorder and identification code and solemnly handing them over.

"Please be careful, Mr. Carl. If there is any accident, please send out a distress signal immediately. We will definitely come right away."

"Don't worry, I will definitely call you for help if anything happens."

Carl smiled at the special operations team member, connected the monomolecular wire to the action recorder, made a series of modifications, and then looked at the collapsed underground entrance.

He called to Jack and Oliver, and they went down into the darkness.

(End of this chapter)