Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 143 Tanaka's Intrigue (Second Update)

While Tanaka was weaving a trap inside the Arasaka Tower, deep within the abandoned town stronghold, David Martinez was undergoing a completely different "transformation."

He was completely immersed in the binary language basics training with the servo skull, and external information, including Tanaka's seemingly tempting email, was temporarily isolated from the barrier built by his concentration.

Several days of intensive training have yielded initial results.

On this day, after a phased recognition test, the light from the suspended servo skull eye socket changed from a warning yellow to a stable blue.

"The interim assessment has been passed. The basic logic unit recognition rate is 82%, and the error rate is below the preset threshold, reaching the standard of 'preliminary understanding of binary language'."

David slumped to the ground, drenched in sweat, but his eyes gleamed with a solid sense of accomplishment earned through extreme hard work.

Just then, Chen Yu's heavy, rhythmic footsteps came from the direction of the workshop.

A massive, dark red figure appeared at the entrance to the passage, and a crimson optical lens swept across it.

David immediately struggled to his feet and bowed respectfully: "Boss."

Chen Yu walked up to him, her gaze falling on the servo skull responsible for teaching.

The servo skull quickly transmits David's learning data and interim evaluation results.

Chen Yu nodded slightly, a subtle gesture that made his massive frame less purely mechanical and more like that of an instructor. He no longer used his mechanical finger to point, but instead sent a new data packet to David's terminal via more conventional wireless transmission.

"Progress is acceptable." His steady synthesized voice sounded again. "In the next stage, you need to understand the code of life itself. The data package contains an outline of basic biology and neuroanatomy."

He paused briefly, and the crimson optical lens seemed to scan a certain direction of the stronghold.

"Theory needs practice. Starting today, spend some time each day assisting Glenn with his work. Observe, record, and understand the underlying logic of conventional prosthetic implants and neural connections. Pay attention to identifying the inefficient and erroneous parts—this will be crucial for your future hands-on experience."

“Yes, boss,” David replied without hesitation. He understood that this was knowledge as essential as binary language, a necessary step on the path to healing his mother.

Chen Yu said nothing more, turned around and walked steadily back into the depths of the workshop.

David looked at the data package titled "Basic Life System Architecture and Common Fault Analysis" and took a deep breath. His learning journey had officially begun, transitioning from the world of pure logic into the field of life sciences.
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Inside the Arasaka Tower, Tanaka, the head of the technical department, was running out of patience with the passage of time.

Several days passed, and the grateful reply he had anticipated from David Martinez did not arrive.

The emails seemed to disappear without a trace. This feeling of being completely ignored angered the usually arrogant Tanaka, and was also mixed with a sense of unease that his plans were slipping out of control.

"You ungrateful brat!" He paced irritably in the office.

The failure of appeasement meant that the experimental subject he considered perfect did not act according to the script he had set.

This forced him to reassess the situation and devise a more direct strategy.

He retrieved David's file again and, using his authority as the head of the technology department, conducted a more in-depth search for recent relevant information through internal channels.

Further information confirms that David Martinez is currently closely associated with Mann's team and is based in an abandoned town outpost outside the city.

His mother Gloria's condition has not improved and continues to consume huge amounts of medical resources.

It is worth noting that David himself has been very inactive recently, seemingly conducting some kind of closed "training" within the base, the specifics of which are unknown.

Mann's squad... Tanaka frowned.

This team has indeed been making quite a splash lately, and it's said they have some shady dealings with Director Jenkins of the Counterintelligence Department.

Directly using force to storm the abandoned town and arrest the person? That would be too drastic, easily triggering an uncontrollable armed conflict. Not only would it anger Jenkins, but it could also alert him, causing him to lose this valuable experimental subject forever. This would be far from a wise move.

But to ask him to give up now? Absolutely not.

The success of the Cybertronian Project is crucial to his future prospects and his position within Arasaka.

"Since you refuse to walk into the cage willingly, I'll just have to set a trap for you to jump in yourself," Tanaka muttered sinisterly. The arrogance of the company executive and his desire for the project's success overshadowed any underlying concerns.

He always believed that Mann's squad was just a group of relatively capable street mercenaries, and it was impossible for them to completely break ties with the behemoth Arasaka for the sake of an insignificant rookie.

If handled properly and with integrity, creating a fait accompli will ultimately leave the other party with no choice but to accept the bitter outcome.

A more insidious and operational plan gradually took shape in his mind.

He learned that Gloria Martinez's ongoing treatment relied on a special neuroregeneration drug, which was extremely expensive and strictly regulated, with limited distribution channels, mainly controlled by a few cutting-edge medical centers closely associated with Arasaka.

David has been trying to obtain it through various channels, but clearly with little progress.

Tanaka decided to make precise use of this pain point.

He launched a pre-prepared, seemingly independent "charitable medical foundation" disguised as a project.

This fictitious foundation claims its mission is to aid impoverished families suffering severe nerve damage from accidents, offering full medical assistance, including the crucial nerve regeneration drug, all in a highly deceptive manner.

Next, he contacted a drug broker with some reputation and decent credibility in the Night City underworld, who had no overt connection with Arasaka, through multiple layers of encrypted links and anonymous accounts.

Tanaka, posing as an anonymous donor, assigned the task to the broker: to contact David Martinez, inform him of this "once-in-a-lifetime charitable opportunity," and claim that the foundation needed to conduct a "final, face-to-face assessment" of Gloria's situation to determine eligibility for assistance and specific plans.

The assessment site was set in a seemingly ordinary, heavily guarded private medical clinic in the Charter Hill area.

Once the deal is done, the broker will receive an extremely large reward of untraceable origin.

That clinic had actually been secretly controlled by Tanaka through a complex network of shell companies, and a highly skilled and loyal internal operations team disguised as the clinic's security guards was stationed inside.

The entire space is under strict monitoring and control.

The moment David and his mother stepped into that place, they would be trapped in an inescapable snare.

They would isolate David from others under the pretext of "complicated procedures" or "the need for several key auxiliary checks," and then quickly arrest and transfer him to a secret laboratory under the Arasaka Technical Department that was completely isolated from the outside world.

The entire operation will be disguised as a routine kidnapping incident targeting patients at a medical facility, and on the surface, it will have no connection to Arasaka.

As for the possible investigation and reaction from Mann's squad afterward? Tanaka has already devised several versions of the story.

He could deny everything, or even turn around and accuse the other party of inadequate supervision, or imply that David was involved in other troubles.

In Night City, countless people disappear silently every day, so what's one more David Martinez?
By the time Mann's team uncovers the truth, the experiment will likely have already obtained crucial data, and the damage will have been done.

With the plan finalized, Tanaka sat back in his office chair, a cold, confident smile on his face.

He could almost see David Martinez imprisoned on the test bench, connected to the prototype of the cybernetic robot, and the bottleneck that had plagued his project for so long was about to be broken through on this perfect test subject.

"Soon, kid, you'll pay for ignoring Arasaka's good intentions," he muttered to himself, then pressed the communication button and began methodically deploying this more dangerous plot against David.

The shadows of the city crept in silently, and an invisible net was being cast over the abandoned town.

(End of this chapter)