In this cyberpunk era, why are you still playing the traditional villain?

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"You can't say that."

Xie Qingyan's beautiful eyes sparkled. "The 'Forgotten Ones' have also gone through several generations of change; people today are not necessarily people of the past. Completely denying their existence is unacceptable."

"If we were to refuse outright, pushing them too far wouldn't benefit anyone, right?"

That's true.

When a person's survival becomes the most important thing, all he can usually do is submit.

But when the survival of a group of people becomes the most important thing, they may well fight to the death for it.

However, the "Forgotten Ones" are not entirely pushovers; otherwise, they wouldn't have been spared until now... Xie Qingyan's considerations are not without merit.

"I think so too, we can get in touch first."

Long Tianding agreed, "Of course, it depends on what they can offer... Governor Yue, have they discussed this with you?"

"Oh dear, the people who sent the letter didn't go into too much detail. They only mentioned that it could provide unexpected benefits to Night City."

Yue Chizheng said with a forced smile, "Perhaps it really is as Chairman Xie and Chairman Long said, that we should make contact first."

No one reveals all their cards right away, especially a vulnerable group like the "Forgotten," who treads on thin ice when it comes to such matters.

"Then let's make contact."

Qi Maoyang smiled and said, "I have no objection to whatever decision you make. My father must think the same way... What about Chairman Xu? Chairman Xu hasn't said anything yet. What do you think?"

"I?"

Hearing Qi Maoyang's reminder, Xu Shi seemed to come back to his senses. "Make contact, of course we should make contact. Qingyan is right. Let's see what they can offer before making a decision."

"but."

He then changed the subject, "I think this matter concerns the entire City of Night Sin, so it doesn't seem quite appropriate for us to discuss it here alone."

"Why don't we let everyone in the city express their opinions?"

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 112 The venue was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Upon hearing Xu Shi's words, everyone's eyes immediately turned to him.

"Hmm? You mean... spread this throughout the entire city?"

Wen Shengkui was the first to react, squinting his eyes as he asked.

"Yes."

Xu Shi smiled and nodded. "The Forsaken are indeed a large group. Regardless of the outcome of our contact with them, it will have some impact on Nightsin City."

"So I think we should at least give city dwellers a heads-up, otherwise it doesn't seem quite right, right?"

Those who sit at this table are all shrewd people, and they quickly understood his subtext.

Contact with the "Forgotten Ones" is inevitable; it's impossible to simply refuse them outright, as He Jiayuan claims.

Whether or not they accept it is another matter, but since the other party has taken the initiative to come to us, especially when they are in a situation of having no other choice, it has already established the difference in status between the two sides.

It would be unreasonable not to squeeze their value out of them; the only difference is how much can be squeezed out.

Therefore, creating a public opinion environment unfavorable to the "Forgotten" can further widen this status gap, thereby allowing the City of Nightsin to seize more benefits.

What's that saying again? "When a criminal reaches this point, regardless of the crime, they should first be given a hundred lashes as a warning?"

That’s probably what it means.

"I agree."

Xie Qingyan nodded slightly.

The others followed suit, nodding in agreement.

Even He Jiayuan of "Shark Tooth" didn't object. It turned out that what he said earlier was just an angry outburst. No matter how old and senile one is, one shouldn't be so arbitrary...

"Then I'll leave it to Young Master Qi?"

Seeing that everyone was in agreement, Xu Shi looked at Qi Maoyang and said, "You guys are experts in this field."

"...Okay, no problem."

Qi Maoyang paused upon hearing this, then nodded with an awkward smile.

Actually, he was somewhat reluctant.

It's not that he disagreed with Xu Shi's approach; there was nothing wrong with the other party's considerations.

The problem is that this arrangement essentially made him the one who publicly played the bad cop.

This completely contradicts his desire to go with the flow—"Imaginary Number" has always been ranked low among the six major conglomerates and has never been interested in being a leader. Whenever something like this happens, he just follows along and gets some benefits.

In the past, when other conglomerates were openly and covertly competing, they always remained neutral and accepted all comers. They would often not change anything anyone wanted to publish, as they were only responsible for reporting.

In a sense, "imaginary numbers" are quite similar to "Dragon City" in this respect, except that they use a softer approach.

But now it's unlikely you can stay out of it. You're positioned as a mouthpiece, so if you don't do it, who will? The other five are watching, so how can you refuse?

However, this means that no matter how things develop, there will definitely be more misunderstanding between "Imaginary Numbers" and "The Forgotten Ones" than between other groups, which is not a good thing.

Thinking of this, Qi Maoyang couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The main reason was that this idea was proposed by Xu Shi. This guy had just poached his long-time partner, the "Long Knife Gang," not long ago, and now he's pulled this stunt again.

The impact wasn't too great, but it was definitely uncomfortable.

However, before he could figure out how to complain, he heard Xu Shi speak again.

"Of course, doing it this way will definitely put 'imaginary numbers' at a disadvantage."

He looked at Qi Maoyang and said with a smile, "But our six families are united in our hatred of the enemy, and those who carry firewood for the masses should not be left to freeze to death in the wind and snow... So my suggestion is that if there are any benefits in the future, we should give more to the 'imaginary' group. What do you think?"

"Anyway, I have a batch of new weapons and equipment here. If Young Master Qi is interested, I can offer you a discounted price?"

Qi Maoyang was stunned, clearly not expecting him to say that.

"That's simple. 'Kurl Pen' and 'Imaginary Number' have already collaborated quite a bit. We can discuss the remaining projects that haven't been finalized yet."

Grandpa Wen chimed in, "Of course, don't let Qi boy come and talk to me, let your father come."

With the grandfather and grandson having already expressed their opinions, no one else could say anything.

That's the logic. Conglomerates run into each other all the time, so they can't afford to make things too tense and push someone out as a target without any reciprocation.

"...Actually, there's no need to be so polite. We're in the media, so it's our duty to deal with this kind of thing."

Having said that, Qi Maoyang felt a little better and replied with a smile and polite words.

"Really? Then let's forget about it?"

Xu Shi joked.

"No, no, no."

Qi Maoyang couldn't possibly let it go, so he quickly waved his hand to dissuade him, abandoning all polite words, "If I really work for everyone for free, my old man will scold me to death."

He was also quite moved.

He realized that while it was true that he had been pushed to pave the way, Xu Shi's actions were undoubtedly an attempt to ease tensions with him regarding the previous "long knife gang" incident.

All things considered, the "imaginary number" is definitely not at a loss. After all, it's unknown what kind of deal they can make with the "Forgotten Ones," but the benefits that the other five parties share with him are real and very likely more than he could have received on his own.

Is he being generous with other people's money? But it's not like they gave nothing at all... But in this way, "Snake Ring" does have to give up a lot less.

This was handled quite well, at least from Qi Maoyang's perspective.

The previous unpleasantness has now largely dissipated.

Others were equally indifferent; in fact, the kickbacks for the "imaginary number" were divided into five parts, and no one would give too much.

Moreover, in this way, "imaginary numbers" have taken a step back on the issue of "the forgotten ones." No matter how big the cake is in the end, five people sharing it will get more than six people sharing it.

In this back and forth, no one loses out.

Thinking this, everyone laughed, and the room was instantly filled with a joyful atmosphere.

"So it's settled then? I'll have to trouble Young Master Qi to take care of things."

Xu Shi also smiled happily, "As for the negotiations with the 'Forgotten Ones,' shall we leave that to Governor Yue?"

"Hey, good."

Yue Chizheng readily agreed.

He had no place in the plans of the six major conglomerates, and he never received any of the profits or concessions, but he was always the one who did the hard and tiring work... To put it bluntly, he was just a subordinate to others as the governor, occasionally playing the role of a front man.

But he was used to it; hadn't he been doing it this way all these years? Besides, as long as the six major conglomerates had something to eat, he would certainly benefit from it.

The old man sighed, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

After a few more casual remarks, the meeting was considered over.

The next morning, the headlines of major forums were all filled with the news that "The Forgotten Ones" wanted to return.

"...WDNMD! How can this be?"

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 113 Stinky, here comes the City of Night Sin to beg for food?

Q: What's worse than being woken up by an alarm clock on a weekday morning?

Answer: On a weekday morning, when I'm woken up by my alarm clock, I see a news story that's enough to give me a stroke.

"Are the 'Forgotten' returning? Has the city hall shown a willingness to accept them?"

"What's that Gouba? I've never even heard of it!"

As mentioned, many ordinary citizens of Night City have never even heard of such a group.

So there are people living outside the city? Really?