Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 142 Tanaka’s temptation (first update)
Night City, as always, breathes life into the neon lights and sin.

Rumors about the abandoned town and Mann's squad circulated only within a small, exclusive circle.

For most people struggling to survive in the city, Mann's team was simply a street mercenary group that had both good luck and skill, and had successfully survived corporate conflicts and established itself.

Their stories are footnotes to street legends, but they are far from enough to shake the foundations of the city.

To senior executives of large companies who are truly aware of some of the inside information, this small team and its backers are more like an unstable factor that needs to be carefully observed rather than confronted directly.

However, a company is a huge, multi-headed monster, and the caution of one department does not mean that other departments will follow the same logic.

There will always be people who are driven by self-interest or blinded by arrogance, and try to touch those dangers that they think they can control.

Technical Department, Yorushiro Branch, Arasaka Corporation.

This area has a completely different atmosphere from the counterintelligence department.

It had less of the air of intrigue and more of the distinctive smell of a laboratory, a mixture of disinfectant, coolant, and ozone.

Here, data, performance, and breakthroughs are the only criteria for measuring value.

Tanaka, the head of the technical department, was standing in front of an observation window that was surrounded by layers of barriers, looking down at the mess in the test field with a gloomy expression.

In the center of the field, a test subject, his body contorted and his implants overloaded and smoking, had just been subdued by a high-voltage stun gun. He collapsed to the ground, convulsing and uttering meaningless roars.

“Another piece of junk.” The project manager beside Tanaka reported in a low voice, his frustration barely concealed. “Number K-7, neural load exceeds the threshold of 230%, limbic system completely collapses, exhibiting extremely strong aggression…”

It has been confirmed that the condition has evolved into irreversible cyberpsychosis. It is recommended that... it be destroyed.

Tanaka did not respond immediately.

He was dressed in a meticulously dark corporate uniform, his hair neatly combed, but the dark circles under his eyes and his tightly pursed lips betrayed his stress.

The "Prosthetic Body King Kong" project, which he is in charge of, is one of the key projects that the technology department has recently invested the most resources in.

The design concept of this prototype prosthetic body is extremely radical, aiming to create a single-soldier combat platform that surpasses existing power armor.

Its core technology originates from the "Big Demon" heavy mech that Adam Hammer piloted during the company's wartime period, but it applies a brand-new, still immature gravity control technology in an attempt to miniaturize it and integrate it into a single soldier's prosthetic body.

In theory, the user will gain output comparable to heavy firepower and unimaginable mobility.

However, there is a huge gap between theory and reality.

The strain that prosthetic bodies place on the user's nervous system is devastating.

To date, without exception, all volunteers or "recruited" test subjects have suffered mental breakdowns during testing. The best outcome is becoming a vegetable, and the worst outcome is becoming a cyber madman who must be eliminated, like the one just mentioned.

The huge investment has yielded no returns, and the inquiries from headquarters have become increasingly harsh.

Tanaka felt like he was sitting on a powder keg about to explode.

“Adam Hammer? He was the perfect tester!” Tanaka said through gritted teeth.

The person in charge gave a wry smile: "Supervisor, you know. Mr. Heavy Hammer is now Young Master Lai Xuan's personal bodyguard. His schedule is very full, and... the security department will not agree to let the company's 'symbol' take such a risk. Especially since the project's success rate... is currently zero."

Tanaka fell silent. He was well aware of this.

Using Adam Hammer? Unless he doesn't want to continue working in Arasaka.

That cold killing machine was also an important asset of the company, not an experimental subject that a technical department head could arbitrarily use.

He needs new, suitable test subjects.

The requirements were extremely stringent: an exceptionally high degree of prosthetic adaptability, a sufficiently robust nervous system, and… ideally, someone with no other options and easy to control. Just then, his personal terminal vibrated slightly; a daily report from the Arasaka Academy's internal system caught his attention.

The report briefly mentioned the aftermath of a student conflict, but he recognized a familiar name—his son, who had been beaten by a former student named David Martinez at school.

Such a trivial matter would not normally have attracted his attention, but perhaps out of annoyance, or perhaps out of some inexplicable impulse, he casually opened David Martinez's file.

The file is quite ordinary: a single-parent family, the mother is an emergency medical technician at Night City Medical Center, the family is poor, and he was admitted to school on a scholarship based on his academic performance.

But what caught Tanaka's attention was an almost overlooked implant adaptability assessment report tucked away in the corner of the archive.

The data above indicates that David Martinez has an extremely high affinity for neural implants, with potential assessments far exceeding those of ordinary people, and even approaching the baseline level of some military-grade enhanced soldiers.

A sharp glint suddenly flashed in Tanaka's tired eyes.

Tanaka's tired eyes were fixed on the unremarkable name on the file screen—David Martinez.

This was just a symbol in his son's school conflict report not long ago, but now its associated implant adaptability assessment data is like a blinding ray of light, piercing through the gloom that has plagued him for days.

Extremely high adaptability of prosthetics, far exceeding the neurological endurance potential of ordinary people, is the very foundation that the Prosthetic King Kong project has been dreaming of.

A student forced to drop out of Arasaka Academy due to family misfortune, a poor boy whose mother is seriously injured and bedridden and urgently needs astronomical medical expenses, a street kid with no powerful background except for his connection with the recently famous Mann Squad...

It was as if fate had tailor-made an experiment for him!
A rough outline of a plan instantly took shape in his mind.

Using force to arrest them directly? The risk is too high.

After all, Mann's team had just had a conflict with the company and escaped unscathed. Jenkins from the Counterintelligence Department also seemed to be wary of the forces behind them. Taking a direct approach could easily cause unnecessary trouble, or even alert the enemy and ruin his chance to obtain the perfect test subject.

But what if we could get the target to walk into the cage on its own?

Taking advantage of his urgent needs and desperate situation, they induced him to "voluntarily" sign an agreement to dedicate himself to the company's scientific research.

This is undoubtedly the cleanest and safest way.

With this in mind, Tanaka immediately took action.

He invoked the authority of the head of the technology department, quietly bypassing the regular procedures, and silently restored David Martinez's enrollment status in the Arasaka Academy's student registration system.

He then carefully crafted an email, which he sent in his own name—or more precisely, under the guise of "a deeply remorseful father of a classmate"—to the mailing address David had registered.

In this carefully worded email, Tanaka first expressed his deep unease and apology for his son's past bullying behavior at school in a somber and sincere tone, attributing it to his own dereliction of duty as a father to neglect his son's upbringing.

He then changed the subject, claiming that he had learned through various channels about David's difficult situation of being forced to drop out of school due to his mother's serious injury, and expressed his deep sympathy and regret for it.

To make amends for his son's past mistakes and to give this promising young man a chance, he used his connections to help David regain his enrollment at Arasaka Academy.

At the very end of the email, he revealed his true intentions and threw out the real bait.

He enthusiastically introduced a little-known "Young Talent Support Program" within the Arasaka Technology Department, claiming that the program aims to discover and cultivate talented young people, offering opportunities including but not limited to full scholarships, access to Arasaka's top medical resource network, and even participation in early research and testing of certain cutting-edge technologies.

He emphasized the preciousness and bright prospects of this opportunity and sincerely invited David to Arasaka Tower for an in-depth face-to-face discussion to explore the possibility that could change the fate of David and his mother.

The email sent successfully notification lit up. Tanaka leaned back in his comfortable office chair, a cold smile creeping onto his lips.

He could almost see the desperate boy, misled by this seemingly timely "opportunity," step by step walking into the trap he had carefully laid.

He believed that such a condition would be irresistible to a boy in dire straits.

Once David steps into Arasaka Tower and signs that carefully crafted "volunteer agreement," the rest is out of his hands.

(End of this chapter)