Infinity, progressing from Arasaka

Since Vera's usual ordering area, Night City in North America, is already considered one of the worst crime zones in the world, no extra money is required.

Cape Town is much safer than Night City.

hum...bum...

Taking off her smart sunglasses, Vera rested her chin on her hand and observed the unfamiliar city through the variable glass of the hovercar.

Everywhere you look, there are towering skyscrapers crisscrossing the landscape.

In terms of overall urban planning, while it can't compare to Tokyo, it's much more organized than Night City.

The municipal center is a bit small, and the quality, density, and height of the buildings are also unsatisfactory, unable to completely block out the city's sky, but it does look quite pleasing to the eye.

This is one of the benefits of having fewer large corporations set up operations here.

Like Night City, almost all the world's leading companies have set up dedicated branches or even built office buildings there.

While the investment from large corporations has certainly made the financial sector and the city more prosperous, with skyscrapers everywhere and various new facilities springing up, the chaotic mix of forces has made it impossible to see any hope of solving the security problems in Night City.

If Night City is a chaotic mess of powerful factions vying for dominance, and Tokyo is a single, absolute power with numerous Japanese companies submitting and paying tribute, then Cape Town is a superpower with a few strong contenders.

Although Arasaka holds a dominant position, other companies can still benefit.

Furthermore, due to the limited presence of other major competitors or insufficient local resources, they were forced to abide by the covenant rules established by Arasaka. In this city, Vera sensed a long-lost atmosphere of normal competition, and there was none of that ridiculous gang warfare.

It has a slight hint of what a normal city feels like.

Africa, a country with advanced technology, bustling cities, and good public security?

Wow, what a magical experience.

Come to think of it, aside from another perspective from afar, she had never actually been to Africa.

Night City's North American headquarters is responsible for the west coast of North America and the eastern Pacific Rim. Her furthest field assignment was a bodyguard service in the Indian subcontinent. Other than that, she has mainly worked in North and South America, Australia, and the Japanese archipelago.

Vera is feeling incredibly strange right now.

On one side is Africa in 1998, the timeline of Resident Evil, which is definitely not prosperous. On the other side, when she arrives in West Africa and reorganizes the Umbrella Africa Research Center, she gets a good taste of the simple and honest folk customs there, the exaggerated mosquito plague, and, well, zebras and lions are even baring their teeth at her on the roadside.

After getting off the plane, she looked left and right, but didn't see a single mosquito.

From the sky, the streets are safe and the locals are very law-abiding. They look like quails in the face of the Arasaka police officers who have signed a police service contract with the city government and taken over the policing duties in Cape Town.

Before long, the hovercar drove into the rooftop helipad of a high-end restaurant building not far from Cape Town’s municipal center. Click! The door opened, and the onboard AI politely offered Vera a blessing.

"Welcome to Cape Town, Ms. Vera Adelheid Russell."

While waiting on the tarmac, the receptionist wearing a silver mask immediately bowed and said, "Your room has been prepared; it's the Lapis Lazuli Suite on the 36th floor."

"Okay, lead the way. I need to wash up and rest."

Stepping onto the silky red carpet, Vera naturally handed her suitcase to the waiter, indicating that he should lead the way.

Vera moved smoothly through elevators, through magnificent halls, through doors adorned with plant landscapes, and through corridors decorated with constant temperature and light in a dark gold style. With the help of well-trained and friendly service staff, she arrived at her suite without any trouble.

"Wishing you a pleasant study trip to Cape Town. Ms. Russell."

"Thank you."

Vera glanced at the 'tourists' who seemed to be talking at the end of the corridor out of the corner of her eye, ignored them, and with a half-smile on her lips, took the suitcase and walked in.

It seems they attach great importance to this.

Vera thought to herself.

The only thing she couldn't be sure of now was whether this surveillance was a final test for a promotion to a higher position, to see if she was loyal to Arasaka and whether she would betray the enemy; or whether it was because her submission of the Stairway to the Sun project had attracted the protection of certain people.

Or perhaps both.

Vera hopes for both.

I hope you can accompany me on this arduous journey into the heart of Africa tomorrow.

With the idea of ​​getting extra bodyguards, Vera shifted her attention to her home, where she might stay for half a month.

Standard double room/suite.

The spacious, one-way adjustable polarized floor-to-ceiling windows, the exquisite black marble paneling, the silk ornaments hanging on the walls, the cool color scheme, and the sofa in the reception area with several unopened sets of new clothes, ranging from formal corporate suits to casual travel wear.

Cape Town had a lot of experience in hosting guests and had done their homework. The arrangements perfectly suited Vera's figure and style of dress, and she was clearly not an isolated case.

Since the extreme and intensifying of education in the last century, the value of students from top universities has been constantly rising. Apart from those who rely on their family background, it is not uncommon for corporate executives like Vera to pursue further education for promotion.

Without giving the issue much thought, Vera checked the room, went into the bathroom, took a quick shower, and changed into a clean bathrobe.

beep--

"I am Vera Adelhaid, from Night City Security Department, a student on a study tour from East University. Yes, I have a project that will most likely require me to go deep into Southern Africa, and even the Central African Republic. I need to call upon two rapid reaction teams..."

Vera contacted the Cape Town branch's security department and stated her purpose directly and without any concealment.

"Um... thank you, but I can't let you spend money. It's better to keep public and private matters separate. Subscribe to the security service as a private service and put it on my tab... No, no, you're too kind, it's no problem. The funds from Tokyo University and Dangerous Girl... um, thank you for your help."

Vera easily finalized the entourage for tomorrow, hung up the phone, and flopped onto the big bed.

Having a powerful backer certainly makes things easier.

She had reason to believe that even if she emphasized the separation of public and private matters, her colleagues in the Cape Town branch would try their best to curry favor with her by offering them internal discounts.

So, power...

It truly is one of the most fascinating and wondrous things in the world.

A legendary figure in the afterlife? A cyber mercenary? Whoever wants to be one can be one!

With a light smile on her lips, Vera closed her eyes. She had already made her move. She was very curious about how many agents would be planted in those two rapid reaction teams.

Tomorrow morning, we will explore the ruins of an ancient Bantu-speaking tribe.

bang.

Turn off the lights.

...

The hotel's lower and middle floors.

A basic multi-bed room that also arrived in Cape Town today and checked in.

On the small long table, a large pile of strange documents and equipment were laid out. An agent dressed in casual clothes, disguised as a traveler, operated a laptop. On the screen, the entire process of Vera from getting off the plane to checking into the hotel was being replayed. Several devices for listening to communication signals and instruments for checking communication network frequencies had already begun to work.

"Report, this is 'Hotel One,' early morning South African time. The target has successfully arrived in Cape Town, checked into the hotel, and is currently asleep. Everything is normal. No frequency anomalies; the cybersecurity team has not detected any unusual communication beams."

"Huh? Report, latest intelligence: the target has contacted the Cape Town branch security department and deployed two rapid response teams..."

"Place people in there? Yes! I understand."

Meanwhile, across the ocean, in the Arasaka Manor in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, Yoriyuki Arasaka, having installed a voice changer, picked up a network terminal with a hidden IP address in his private room, his face grim.

"Has the news leaked out? She's already arrived in Africa. After reviewing her information and past achievements, do they still think this is impossible?"

“Just ask them, once the new drug is successfully developed, the ‘rejuvenating drug’ that temporarily eliminates concerns about drug resistance will allow Sanlang to extend his lifespan once again! Is this what they want to see? I have no time left; any possibility must be nipped in the bud!”

...

10am the next day.

Taking a bite of the hot dog, chewing and savoring the simple breakfast of wheat bread aroma, animal fat fragrance and spicy kick, Vera, dressed in travel attire, carrying a suitcase in one hand, wearing sunglasses and a sand-proof scarf, strolled like an innocent aristocratic lady as she boarded the hovercar and left the hotel, passing through Table Mountain and flying to the northernmost part of Cape Town.

hum...bum...

AI: [Director Russell has arrived at the border post in the northern suburbs of Cape Town.]

Click.

As Vera stepped out of the car, she was met with intense heat and dryness.

The oncoming air currents were from the African desert, carrying the roughness and dryness of sand, blowing across her cheeks.

"The environment is really harsh."

Beyond the border post, what Vera saw was almost no sign of life, except for the occasional cactus and a few tenacious shrubs. There were no snarling African animals, and the former forests and wetlands had vanished, leaving only desolation, endless emptiness, and barrenness.

All of these are caused by human factors.

Here, without the obstruction of bustling city buildings and Table Mountain that cuts across the city, she can see the vast industrial park that stretches to the Atlantic Ocean at the horizon of the city's suburbs.

Rampant resource extraction, shocking pollution, and endless factory workshops with black smoke billowing from chimneys, twisting and struggling like black tornadoes, turning the sky over there into a chaotic mess.

"Director Russell."

After waiting for a long time, the commander of the Arasaka Rapid Response Team, consisting of a Chevrolet Emperor 620 and a Military Beacon armored transport vehicle, stepped forward and bowed.

Vera nodded, showing no particular sentimentality, and simply glanced at it.

"Let's go!" she waved.

It's more important to realize her Arasaka version of the Stairway to the Sun project.

------

Chapter 051 Vera and Her Sun Steps Flower (5K)

The desolate African wilderness...

"Pooh!"

Hot wind howled past, and on the barren, sparsely vegetated hillside, several furtive figures wearing one-piece heat-insulating linings and desert camouflage combat suits plucked the sand off their earmuffs and windproof scarves and peeked out from their hiding places.

"How many ruins is this now?"

One of them put down a multi-functional tactical telescope connected to a visual prosthetic device, capable of analyzing target intelligence and magnifying scene images; his pupils flashed with orange-red light.

"The sixth one. Heading north from Cape Town, crossing the Northern Cape Province, and only stopping to rest in Johannesburg and Pretoria (cities in South Africa), what was she after? Was this really a study tour, taking her spiritual practice so seriously?"

The other person spat out a mouthful of sand.