Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 182 The Untamed Dragon (Fifth Update)
On the night of his graduation from the University of Tokyo in 2016, Saburo Arasaka held a cold "coming-of-age ceremony" for Rai Nishiki in his study.

It was not just a display of business empire and financial reports, but a systematic unveiling of the true nature of the power dynamics within the Arasaka Empire.

What Lai Xuan saw was a dark core far beyond imagination: meticulously planned political assassination files, financial attack plans capable of upending the economies of small countries, comprehensive surveillance reports on competitors and even government officials, and the tens of thousands of lives marked as "acceptable losses".

Power is no longer an abstract concept, but has been transformed into cold data and blood-stained commands.

At that moment, the last trace of attachment and illusion that Lai Xuan had for his family bloodline was completely crushed, replaced by a cold disgust and an almost physiological nausea.

He could not stay in this all-consuming system for another second.

He chose the most direct and primal form of rebellion—running away from home, disappearing into the shadows of Tokyo's neon-lit cityscape, and forming a biker gang called "Steel Dragon."

They vented their powerless anger by vandalizing Arasaka's billboards with graffiti, attacking Arasaka's transport fleets with steel pipes, and damaging low-level company facilities.

During that period, resources were scarce and crises were lurking everywhere, but Lai Xuan felt an unprecedented sense of "being alive".

He and his disgruntled colleagues, exploited by the company, squeezed into a small safe house, sharing meager meals and discussing a vague but, in his view, incredibly lofty goal—to break free from the company's shackles.

This was a naive idealism, but it was also the first time he acted according to his own will, filled with tragic sincerity.

However, his half-brother, Arasaka Takashi, viewed Yoriyuki's actions as an unforgivable stain on the family's honor.

This "prince," who is fanatical about maintaining the purity and absolute authority of the Arasaka family, vows to personally eliminate the "stains" and "traitors" of the family.

Without his father's explicit authorization, but relying on his position and influence within the group, Arasaka Kei mobilized the elite security forces directly under headquarters and issued an "extermination order" against the "Steel Dragon".

The order was cold and efficient; its purpose was not arrest, but complete physical elimination.

The company soldiers, equipped with top-of-the-line weapons and cybernetic bodies, rolled over with precision like a relentless torrent of steel.

Resistance is futile.

The companions who once shared drinks and talked about ideals were torn to shreds like paper in front of professional killing machines, lying in dirty back alleys and beside the burning wreckage of vehicles.

Their sacrifice was not a grand martyrdom, but rather a ruthless family purge targeting them personally.

This scene became a nightmare that Lai Xuan could not escape for the next fifty years. Every quiet night, those young and angry faces would flash before his eyes, and his brother Arasaka Kei's cold face was the footnote to all this tragedy.

This one-sided massacre brought him to his senses.

He realized that relying on passion and street violence to fight against a corporate empire that had highly systematized and sophisticated violence was tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock.

Individual or small group resistance is meaningless in the face of the institutionalized cruelty represented by Kei Arasaka.

To truly shake this behemoth, he needs greater strength, more profound strategies, and... longer patience.

He left Japan and wandered the world, seeking the power and methods to truly shake Araka's foundation.

He came into contact with all sorts of resistance organizations, observed the advantages and disadvantages of different systems, and ultimately, the outbreak of the Fourth Corporate War gave him crucial insights.

He saw that the two behemoths, Arakawa and Military Technology, were forced to be "nationalized" at one point due to the depletion of the war and the intervention of state power. Although this was only a temporary phenomenon, it gave him hope—only by letting the companies destroy each other could this deformed system be fundamentally destroyed.

Since it cannot be destroyed from the outside, let's detonate it from the inside.

He made the most difficult and resolute decision of his life—to return to his family, to the side of the father he hated, and to play the role of a "prodigal son who has returned home" heir.

He endured inner turmoil for fifty years, lying low under the all-knowing yet calculating gaze of Saburo Arasaka and the complex and enigmatic "care" of his sister, Hanako. He knew better than anyone the true purpose of his father's acceptance of his return.

The Relic chip, the "download" terminal of the Soul Killer technology, was not only the key to his father's pursuit of digital immortality, but also a magnificent coffin prepared for him—Arasaka Yorinobu, this "rebellious son" with pure Arasaka blood flowing through his veins.

His body will be the perfect vessel for Saburo Arasaka's consciousness to reincarnate. And his beloved younger sister, Hanako, is the most loyal executor and mastermind behind this horrific plan.

This realization gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake, but it also strengthened his resolve.

Originally, his plan had entered its final stage.

With Relic's technology mature, he is preparing to steal the chip and use it as bait to meticulously plan a conflict that could ignite the Fifth Corporate War, dragging Arasaka, military technology, and all the giants coveting this technology into an abyss of no return.

He wants to rebuild a new world without corporate rule on the ruins of the company, a more equitable and life-respecting world that his teacher, Yu Zhong, once described to him.

Now, the sudden fall of the Night City's Arasaka Tower has disrupted his plans, but has also unexpectedly accelerated the process.

Military technology and the new America’s active preparations for war, the father’s decision to send the Moby-Dick in a fit of rage, the European banks’ ulterior motives, the internal strife in Contau… all these factors, as if manipulated by an invisible hand, are rapidly gliding toward the full-blown conflict he anticipates.

"The situation is developing faster than expected..." Lai Xuan stared at the surging waves outside the window, calmly analyzing the situation in his mind. "Military technology wants to take the opportunity to unify the country, my father wants bloody revenge, European banks want to profit from the chaos, and there is instability within Kangtao..."

"Very well, chaos is the ladder, the best catalyst for burying the old order."

His goal was never to help Arasaka win the war; on the contrary, he wanted to ensure that the war was brutal enough that all the participating parties were severely weakened, or even perished together.

He needs to deliver a fatal blow to Arasaka from behind at a crucial moment, while also finding a way to intensify the conflicts between other companies and let the war spread indefinitely.

"Hansen's hounds...have they switched sides to New America again?" He recalled the latest intelligence he had just received, about the force that had been sent to the outskirts of the ruined town, "and that 'sage' who destroyed the shrine...an unknown variable, but perhaps also a weapon to break the balance."

His mind raced as he considered how to utilize these emerging forces.

The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend, but he is definitely someone I can use.

What he needs to do is not to unite with anyone, but to ensure that everyone is mired in the quagmire and unable to extricate themselves.

An officer entered the observation room and saluted respectfully: "Lord Lai Xuan, Advisor Gao Shan requests your presence in the operations briefing room. The final landing operation plan is about to be finalized."

Lai Xuan turned around, and all the emotions belonging to a "revolutionary" on his face instantly disappeared, replaced by a cold indifference that was consistent with his identity, carrying a hint of suppressed anger and resolute indifference.

"I understand," he replied calmly, his voice steady and devoid of any emotion.

He stepped out of the observation room and walked towards the conference room where more killings and destruction were being planned.

Every step he took felt like stepping on the bones of his former comrades, and on the culmination of his own fifty years of forbearance.

The flame within him never went out; instead, it burned even more intensely and purely during the long period of repression.

This vengeful ship, named "White Whale," carries not only Saburo Arasaka's rage, but also the ultimate ideal of a revolutionary determined to perish with the entire old world.

Yoriyuki Arasaka, the traitor of this surname, will personally ignite the fuse and watch everything he despises transform into the cornerstone of his ideal new world in the flames of the Fifth Corporate War.

He didn't care whether he could survive in the ruins; he only cared that the era in which the company controlled everything and treated human life like dirt had to end.

(End of this chapter)