Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 901, Section 111: The New King
Dogtown is no longer the Dogtown it used to be.

With the arrival of the NCPD and the departure of the new American personnel, Dogtown has a new king.

This is a very special king, unlike Kurt Hansen.

"I can't keep going like this."

Carl silently pressed his temples with both hands: "Why is there so much work to do? I feel like I have to do everything. Can I just not do anything?"

"Don't say things like 'I want to give up' when there are too many problems."

Jack, who had already arrived at the center of the stadium, said, "The remaining members of the former Ghosthound squad will be here soon. They all want to see you, as well as your group of former Pheasant Faction members. Only we can handle this. You don't want other companies to reach out to you at the most critical moment, do you?"

Jack's words made Carl sigh.

“I understand. I need to get things in order immediately, at least to the point where I can prevent the company from getting too much control over Dogtown, just like Kurt Hansen did. But there’s just too much to do.”

Carl glanced to the side. He was no longer next to the reactor, which he had sealed off again. He was now in the command room where Hansen had been. It was quite spacious and looked like it had originally been a special grandstand in the stadium.

After thinking for a moment, Carl looked at T-BUG who was rushing over.

"Did Hanz inform me that I allow him to take advantage of things at this time? This was agreed upon from the beginning, but he also needs to do corresponding work so I can see that he is actually doing the work. I need to see him soon—just tell him that, is that okay, T-BUG?"

"Ah."

T-BUG nodded: "Hanz is a smart man. He knows how much profit is involved, and he knows even better what he needs to give up to get that profit. I feel that if you use this to inform him, he will probably be smart enough to come over in no time."

"These middlemen have an eye for this stuff, like bears eyeing honey. Their noses are incredibly sensitive. No need to notify T-BUG, Hanz is almost here."

Oliver said, glancing at their temporary communication channel with Hanz, and discovered that Hanz was reacting even faster than they had expected, and was already close to the stadium.

Judging from the timeline, Hans had already set off even as Carl began appearing on screen, informing the Hound of the Underworld and New America.

"What a quick response."

After telling his companions what had happened, Oliver couldn't help but say, "I don't know whether to praise his intelligence or his initiative."

"Hans, NCPD, former Ghosthound, former Pheasant Faction members, and negotiators that New America will definitely send, as well as people from various companies and the arms trade association."

V counted on the side: "Shouldn't we contact Adcardo and the Sixth Street gang as well?"

"What we're doing pretty much requires their help."

Johnny, smoking on the dog's body, said, "We can also ask Roger. Although that guy is ruthless, he's very experienced in handling things. I can keep an eye on things, but it will take up some of my resources."

“That’s alright. After all, we don’t intend to let Dogtown remain closed off like it was during Hansen’s time. Sooner or later, we’ll have to integrate it into the Pacific State, and we can’t do without external help anyway.” Karl saw things very clearly. Although they could easily take over the interests of Dogtown with their current capabilities, in the end, that would just be taking over Dogtown. If they wanted Dogtown to integrate into the Pacific State and even develop further, they would still need some external support.

The King of Dogtown is just a king who rules over a small place. The squad that Miles has assembled under such difficult circumstances has forced Hansen to consider using nuclear weapons and relying on international reputation to strike at Miles. To be honest, his development potential is just so-so.

After all these years of hard work, Hansen has only managed to become the king of Dogtown. Perhaps it was this limitation that made him realize his inability to expand further that fueled his ambition to take action against Rosalind Miles.

After all, for an ambitious person who hopes to go further, such a predictable development and future is too frustrating. Rather than that, it's better to take a gamble.

It's like taking a gamble when you defected from the new America in the past.

Hansen won his gamble back then, becoming the king of Dogtown by choosing to be a big fish in a small pond over a small fish in a big pond. But now he's just lost his gamble.

Unlike Hansen, who was constrained by his past identity and the hostility of the new America and struggled to develop independently, Carl was able to bring development to Dogtown.

This isn't about Hansen being far inferior to Carl in terms of being the administrator of Dogtown. After all, Hansen's leadership skills are indeed outstanding, having transformed a small town on the outskirts of Pacific State into the prosperous Dogtown it is today.

The reason he can't compare to Karl is simply because their styles of doing things and their networks are different.

Hansen sought a kingdom that would be absolutely subservient to him alone.

Through screens and broadcasts throughout Dogtown, he constantly proclaimed himself, portraying himself as an eternally wise and great 'king,' a symbol demanding unconditional loyalty from everyone.

What he wanted was unquestionable absolute power, and therefore he refused to allow any external forces to penetrate his foundations—that would shake his 'dictatorship' and tarnish his 'specialness' and irreplaceability.

To some extent, Hansen harbored concerns about 'development' itself.

He preferred to hold onto his existing base and proceed cautiously, so much so that even now, he has not been able to fully control Dogtown—forces such as the Cleaners are still constantly harassing his Ghosthounds.

However, this cautious ruler also displayed astonishing audacity in some ways, daring to gamble everything and take a desperate gamble on the fate of Dogtown.

Perhaps that's why he's become so insane. Even if he didn't get involved in presidential-related matters, he would probably be eliminated by his subordinates or other forces one day.

Because Hansen could no longer hear anyone, and had become somewhat of an eyesore to everyone.

Carl is not Hansen, and he never will be Hansen.

It's certainly admirable to have absolute adoration for one's own personal kingdom, but...
Karl, unfortunately, was a lazy person who found it difficult to make progress without help.

He would rather have his friends and acquaintances help him, to make things easier for himself, and to get everyone in Dogtown involved so that Dogtown could become a better place.

The new king of Dogtown will make Dogtown the Dogtown of Taiping State, and Taiping State the Taiping State of Night City.

(End of this chapter)