Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 874. Three Hours

"Andy's here too?"

Hearing that Andy had arrived, Jack, dressed in his Ghosthound uniform, smiled as he sat in the car: "His arrival is actually reassuring. With him leading the NCPD to maintain basic order, at least I don't have to worry about any major chaos."

As he spoke, Jack glanced at Johnny, his meaning crystal clear, but Johnny didn't think anything of it.

Although his initial intentions ensured he wouldn't regret what he did, he didn't forget or remember the consequences of his actions.

This memory is probably much clearer and more vivid than any other memory, whether real or not, that exists in your mind.

"Even on that night at Arasaka Tower, the NCPD was there to maintain order. But compared to then, the NCPD should be able to do a better job now."

Johnny said, turning his gaze to Carl: "Besides, even if I really wanted to do that now, Carl would stop me, wouldn't he?"

"I'd probably slap you to the ground."

Karl turned his head, his tone calm but firm: "I don't think your confrontational spirit was wrong at the time, and I even approve of your initial intention to rebel. I also believe that in the Arasaka Tower incident, your personal thoughts may have only played a small part, but your methods were really not wise."

Is that too extreme?

Not necessarily.

Compared to Sei-nobu's previous ideas, Johnny's approach wasn't even the most radical.

just
"Not everything requires absolute certainty before taking action, but some things you have to bear yourself, rather than using another company's influence to overturn someone else's table before you've fully understood the situation."

Carl said very seriously, "It's not wrong to rely on one company to fight against another, but some things need to be seen clearly before we rush into doing them based on emotional fluctuations and encouragement."

After listening to Carl's words, Johnny paused for a moment, then nodded slightly: "Perhaps I was indeed too young and arrogant in the past."

"What are you saying, old man?"

Ollie chuckled softly, "So now you understand, which is why you chose to start over, right?"

"exactly."

V picked up the conversation, turning his gaze to Johnny: "At least the Johnny I know is the one I know—not the Johnny from over fifty years ago. And the one I know has never understood what compromise is, much less giving up."

"Ha, you lot are quite the smooth talkers," Johnny scoffed. "You're probably just after my meager savings, aren't you? Fine, once this job is over, I'll treat you all to a round of drinks in the afterlife, as a way of thanking the old man for being so amused by your words."

"Go to the afterlife? I bet even Roger would give you a free meal. You make it sound so generous, but if you ask me, you haven't changed a bit when it comes to women," Ollie couldn't help but complain.

As they were talking, Carl suddenly raised his hand and made a 'pause' gesture.

The casual conversation abruptly stopped.

Immediately afterwards, a clear voice came through the communication channel.

"For some reason, Bennett is now in charge of the Hound of the Underworld. I just had T-BUG assist me, and it took some time to hack into his command channel using our existing internal lines."

Carl explained.

Successfully hacking into the command channel of the Hound of the Underworld was no easy feat—if even such core communications could be so easily infiltrated, the confrontation between the Hound of the Underworld and New America would likely have been a foregone conclusion long ago. Carl's success this time was mainly due to a hidden channel he had obtained when he captured that base, combined with T-BUG's precise maneuvers, which allowed him to barely gain access.

"There's some background noise, let me adjust it."

T-BUG's voice came through the squad channel. Taking advantage of this lull, V frowned and said, "Is Bennett in command now? I thought Hansen was coming in person. For an operation of this scale, a direct confrontation with New America, he's not even in charge?"

It's not that V looks down on Bennett.

Although Benny's temperament is volatile and his leadership skills are indeed far inferior to Hansen's, it would be a gross underestimation of this lieutenant colonel who holds the second-highest position after Hansen.

His ability to firmly hold this position, and even to some extent suppress Gago, who was vying with him for the successor position, is not solely due to brute force.

Hansen certainly values ​​loyalty, but loyalty alone without ability is far from enough.

But Bennett being capable is one thing, leading all the Wraiths, including even Gago's supporters, is quite another.

At this critical juncture, the command system was not about to fail. Gago was a smart man and knew that everyone's fate was intertwined, so he wouldn't cause trouble for Bennett. However, the fact that he was "unfamiliar with Gago's faction" was enough to cause big problems.

Even if Gago were willing to temporarily put aside past grievances and assist Bennett as Hansen had previously arranged regarding the succession issue, could such a hasty combination of barely dividing power and cooperating truly unleash the full potential of the Hound of the Underworld?
Hansen couldn't possibly be unaware of this.

But he still made that arrangement.

That is
Does he have more important things to deal with?
Is there anything more important than confronting the new America head-on?

Just as everyone was thinking of this, the voice on Bennett Channel became clear, but the first words were a command tinged with anxiety.

"Has the personnel deployment not been completed yet? Hurry up and send people over! Move! Seventh Group, why aren't you moving?!"

"Lieutenant Colonel Bennett, we don't know if we should transfer him."

"Have the seventh group move 100 meters to the left and guard that intersection. If New America breaks through, I'll hold the commander accountable!"

Clearly, the attacks on New America had left Bennett in a state of utter disarray, and his voice was also mixed with that of Gago.

"Send everyone over there. The colonel's orders are for us to hold our ground. As long as we hold our ground, we'll find a way. Hurry up!"

Bennett wasn't the only one in command; Gago did indeed constantly dispatch personnel to help at crucial moments. However, even with their best efforts—one a lieutenant colonel and the other a finance officer—they were still somewhat lacking in mobilizing personnel for combat. Amidst the constantly ringing alarms, all they could see was the New America advancing.

"We've lost! We've lost! We need reinforcements!"

"Those useless bastards from the Chaotic Blade Society are no good at all. Their firepower is too strong. We're doomed. The outpost has been taken by those bastards from New America. We're retreating!"

"It's chaos, complete chaos! Our people are scattered, we can't find our target!"

The urgent communication notifications kept ringing, but Bennett kept his eyes glued to a screen on his left.

On the screen, a bright red countdown was silently ticking away.

Three hours left!
If we can hold out for these three hours, victory will belong to us, the Netherhounds!
(End of this chapter)