Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 151 V's Suspension (Third Update)
The workshop's heavy metal door slowly closed after David and Mann's team left, briefly isolating them from the outside world's disturbances.

However, the core processing power within Chen Yu's massive body did not cease operating despite the apparent silence. His apparent indifference to David's kidnapping was merely an outward manifestation of efficiency considerations.

In his logical judgment, a prospective apprentice who has not yet proven his worth, and a low-level conflict arising from an internal struggle within a local company, are not enough to interrupt his in-depth analysis of Bartholomew's neural structure model.

But that doesn’t mean he was completely unaware of it.

On the contrary, from the moment David stepped into the "Quiet Water" clinic and the biosignals transmitted by his personal monitoring subroutine showed abnormal fluctuations, Chen Yu's attention had already been diverted to an independent thread, like a silent ghost, infiltrating the intricate digital network of Night City.

He did not leave the control panel; the crimson optical lens remained locked on the microscopic structure of Bartholomew's cerebral cortex.

However, several slender mechanical tentacles have quietly connected to the reinforced data interface within the workshop.

His consciousness, or rather, part of his highly developed logical processing core, has been transformed into an invisible data stream and integrated into the city's vast information network.

His "vision" first took over the municipal surveillance cameras around the clinic.

The pixelated images were reassembled and optimized in his processing core, presenting a clear, real-time video: David walks into the clinic, Rebecca and Lucy wait anxiously outside, and the unmarked black van drives away through the back door...

These visual cues corroborated the physiological data transmitted back by the monitoring subroutine implanted in David's body, quickly constructing the basic outline of the incident—a precise corporate kidnapping.

Then, his sensory tentacles spread along the data cables.

He easily bypassed the seemingly formidable network defenses of the Arasaka Seventh Logistics Zone.

These firewalls, which are top-notch by local standards, are as fragile as paper in the face of his data processing protocols, which are 30,000 years ahead of our time.

He "saw" the internal structure diagrams of the underground laboratory and "heard" Tanaka's encrypted communications with his subordinates about the "Prosthetic Kong" project and David.

He even accessed the laboratory's real-time monitoring and saw footage of David strapped to a medical bed with various monitoring devices attached to his body.

As Mann's team launched their operation based on the clues, intercepted Tanaka, and engaged in a firefight with the Arasaka security forces, Chen Yu's surveillance network also expanded.

He simultaneously accessed and controlled multiple monitoring nodes, civilian communication base stations, and even the passive sensor data streams of several NCPD airborne vehicles patrolling the nearby airspace.

In his consciousness space, these multi-source information flows are efficiently integrated to form a three-dimensional, near-real-time battlefield situation map.

He "saw" the Mann squad's precise counterattack from their cover, "saw" the tactical movements of the Arasaka security forces, and "heard" the commands and shouts in the encrypted communication channels between the two sides.

All of this was like a struggle between ants in a glass box, with every detail being calmly recorded and analyzed.

When Jenkins accessed Mann's team's communications through an intermediary, Chen Yu naturally "listened in" to the entire process.

He was not surprised by Jenkins' compromise.

The company's logic is to maximize profits and minimize losses. After assessing the potential losses from Mann's team (or rather, the vague threat they represented) versus the value of a technical director and a failed project, choosing to exchange them was the option that maximized profits.

However, Chen Yu's core approach almost instantly deduced the chain reaction that Jenkins' move might trigger.

He immediately allocated some computing power to strengthen the monitoring of the encrypted communication channels within Arasaka, focusing on the high-frequency data exchange between the Japanese headquarters and the Night City branch.

Sure enough, shortly after the hostage exchange was completed, an encrypted data stream marked "Highest Priority/Direct Order from Headquarters" was sent directly to the receiver at the top of the Night City's Aragaka Tower.

Chen Yu's intrusion program, like a persistent infection, silently attached itself to this data stream, synchronously decoding the information within.

The data packet did not contain direct orders, but rather a series of stern interrogations: regarding the Night City branch's recent string of "weak" performances, the counterintelligence department's "passivity" and "incompetence" in handling "external threats," and an assessment of Jenkins' personal leadership abilities...

The wording was cold, filled with displeasure from a higher authority.

Chen Yu calmly "watched" all of this. He saw Jenkins' attempts to defend himself and salvage the situation, but these messages seemed to have vanished without a trace.

Immediately following was another order from headquarters, even more concise and more deadly.

The document stated that Jenkins was relieved of all duties as Director of the Counterintelligence Department of Arasaka Yorujo and was required to return to Tokyo immediately for a review and internal investigation.

"The liquidation process has been initiated." Chen Yu's synthesized voice whispered in the empty workshop, as if recording an objective fact.

His surveillance network captured a brief, unusual fluctuation in the vital signs monitoring equipment in Jenkins' office when he was formally notified of his dismissal—a physiological reaction of fear and despair.

Subsequent developments were like pressing the accelerator button.

Chen Yu "saw" Jenkins leave Arasaka Tower under the "escort" of several "internal auditors" specially dispatched by headquarters.

His surveillance even tracked the unmarked limousine carrying Jenkins as it headed towards the port.

The surveillance cameras along the way were temporarily blocked for a few minutes by some kind of permission, but when the signal was restored, Jenkins' vital signs had been permanently removed from Chen Yu's monitoring list.

Based on the location where the vehicle was parked and the subsequent departure of a small cargo ship belonging to Arasaka, the conclusion is self-evident—Jenkins' body has been sunk to the cold seabed of Night City.

Almost simultaneously, another liquidation order was issued, targeting Valerie, Jenkins' right-hand woman.

Chen Yu's surveillance network captured Valerie's flight arriving at Night City Airport.

The moment she passed through customs and stepped into the arrival hall, her personal terminal screen suddenly turned red and locked, and all of Arasaka's permissions were remotely and forcibly revoked.

In the surveillance footage, Valerie paused, her expression freezing instantly.

She almost immediately regained her composure, but Chen Yu, through the micro-expression analysis module, captured the sudden contraction of her pupils and the slight acceleration of the pulsation of her neck blood vessels, revealing the turmoil in her heart.

She was unable to leave the arrival hall.

Two company security guards, disguised as airport pick-up personnel, quickly approached and blocked her path.

One of them whispered, "Ms. Valerie, it's a company order; please cooperate with the handover."

Chen Yu simultaneously intercepted the instructions in their encrypted headsets: "Target confirmed. Execute the 'resignation' agreement and deactivate all registered implants. Forcibly remove them; if they resist, eliminate them."

In the instant her primary combat prosthetic was remotely severed, Valerie, with the slight advantage provided by her unregistered backup implant and her extensive combat experience, launched a sudden counterattack as her opponent reached out to grab her.

She swiftly pulled a small, concealed stun gun from inside her trench coat.

The battle erupted on the edge of the crowded streets, brief yet deadly.

In the surveillance footage, only figures can be seen moving quickly past each other.

A sudden gunshot rang out, drowning out the noise—a security guard had fired at close range.

The bullet struck Valerie's left arm precisely, the immense kinetic energy instantly severing it.

Valerie groaned, her face pale, but she didn't stop.

Taking advantage of the brief lull after the shooting and the panic of the surrounding crowd, she endured the excruciating pain and used a stun gun to subdue the security guard who fired the shot, and then pushed another person aside.

Without lingering, she immediately triggered the nearby manual fire alarm. Amidst the piercing ringing, clutching her severed arm, she staggered into the chaotic crowd and quickly slipped into a "staff-only" maintenance passage, escaping the main surveillance view.

(End of this chapter)