Samsara Space: They're all begging me to heal them one more time.

Arasaka Tower, 50th floor, Special Operations Logistics Department.

This is the treasure trove where the Arasaka Company stores top-tier military supplies. Even Yoriyuki's personal guards need three levels of approval to move a single screw.

But today, this place has been transformed into a "self-service supermarket".

"Hey! You over there! Don't look at me like that!"

Ah Qiang sat on a specially made modification platform, directing several robotic arms to drastically modify his M-134 Vulcan cannon, while loudly yelling at the sweating logistics department supervisor next to him:

"I need the latest Smart Link fire control chip from Comtasia, not this outdated aiming assistance system!"

"My bullets have eyes, understand? They have eyes!"

"But...but sir..."

The department head wiped his sweat, looking at the heavy machine gun that had been modified beyond recognition. "Smart weapons usually use miniature rockets. The caliber of your kinetic energy cannon... if we forcibly add intelligent guidance, the ammunition cost will be astronomical..."

"Money? You're talking to me about money?"

Ah Qiang pointed to the red and black badge on his chest that symbolized "supreme authority," his face radiating the arrogance of a nouveau riche:

"This is called a 'strategic investment'! Mr. Lai Xuan said that in order to protect the peace of Night City and to fight against those evil electronic demons, there's no budget limit! Replace all the bullets with depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds! And add electromagnetic accelerator rails!"

"Also, take two sets of the leg servo motors from this 'Dai-Oni' power armor. I want to install them on my mechanical legs."

"What? This is a spare for Adam Hammer? He doesn't need these legs, but I do!"

Watching Ah Qiang act like a bandit entering the city, shoving all sorts of conceptual equipment he'd only ever seen in PowerPoint presentations onto himself, the supervisor's heart bled.

You call this an ally? This is nothing short of a bunch of bandits draped in holy light!

In another corner of the warehouse, the scene was even more bizarre.

"Graphene superconducting coils... 50 sets packaged together."

"Nanogel culture medium...give me two tons."

"Copying 'Cyborg Neural Rejection: The Ultimate Solution (Top Secret)' from the Arasaka Database..."

Li Mo pushed up his glasses, his smile utterly depraved, like a mouse that had been put into a rice jar.

Although he didn't make a fuss, Li Mo was much more ruthless than A-Qiang. He was frantically using Arasaka's supercomputer to crack and download the blueprints for the technology that cost D-level or even C-level side quests in the train shop.

"Li Mo, take it easy."

Ah Chong tried out the newly upgraded [M-134·Smart Storm], watching the faint blue light emanating from the muzzle, and patted the gun body with satisfaction. "Don't crash Arasaka's server, we still have to stay here for a month."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Li Mo unplugged the data cable, looked at the hard drive in his hand filled with several terabytes of top-secret data, and revealed a simple, farmer-like satisfied smile.

"With these devices and materials, plus the president's divine magic... we'll be able to create something that will drive the entire Night City mad."

"Let's go, the chairman is still downstairs waiting for us to start work."

The two exchanged a smile, then casually signed "Arasaka Yoriyuki" on the long bill that the department head trembled as he handed it to them.

……

A hidden area on the lower level of Arasaka Tower.

This place was originally a secret laboratory used by Yoriyuki Arasaka to develop illegal prosthetic bodies, but it has now been taken over by the fully armed "Heaven's Armed Forces" squad.

Several senior researchers from Arasaka, dressed in white lab coats, stood trembling in a corner, looking at the group of people in the center of the laboratory with eyes that seemed to regard them as madmen.

"No...this isn't scientific!"

One of the lead researchers, who was wearing thick-rimmed glasses, finally broke down and cried out:

"What did you throw into the high-purity 'dopamine-β synthesizer'? Poisonous mushrooms? Old shoe heels? Lizard tails?! This will cause a violent chemical rejection reaction, even an explosion!"

"Shut up, you bumpkin."

Without turning his head, Li Mo held a glass rod in his hand and carefully stirred the liquid in the crucible that was emitting a strange purple smoke.

"This is unscientific, but it's very theological."

He pushed up his tactical glasses on the bridge of his nose, the lenses flashing with alchemical data streams that only he could understand:

"This is called a 'magic neutralizer.' While your synthetic potions can stimulate the nerves, they lack an 'anchoring' effect on the soul. In other words, they only affect the body, not the heart."

At this point, Li Mo had completely entered the state of a "mad scientist".

With his left hand, he flipped through the thick "Agnus's Alchemy Manuscript," while with his right hand, he skillfully operated the fully automatic centrifuge.

On the experimental table behind him were cheap magical materials acquired from the train trading area: basic magic stone powder, tranquilizing flower extract, and several large barrels of "holy water concentrate" that looked like industrial wastewater.

"President," Li Mo turned around and looked at Zhang Yuan, who was sitting to the side supervising the work.

"The base for the first batch of samples has been prepared. Combining the nerve-blocking technology of this world, the efficacy is three times stronger than what we could make by hand in space, and the cost... is outrageously low."

"very good."

Zhang Yuan was toying with a newly made product in his hand—an injectable that emitted a faint golden glow.

In the dim laboratory light, the potion appeared both sacred and eerie.

"How much does it cost?" Zhang Yuan asked.

"Including the equipment and raw materials provided free of charge by Arasaka, just considering the magical materials we put in..." Li Mo tapped a few times on the terminal, "Each unit is worth about 10 reward points. If we mass-produce them, we can reduce that to 5 points."

"5 points..."

A cold, capitalist-like smile curled at the corner of Zhang Yuan's mouth beneath the mask.

"In the train's interior, 5 reward points can't even buy a roll of bandages. But here..."

He looked at the holographic screen on the laboratory wall, which was displaying news from Night City:

[Breaking News: Another "Electronic Demon" Attacks People in Watson District! Terrorist SWAT Team Suffers Heavy Casualties!]

[NCPD urges citizens to reduce the frequency of prosthetic body use...]

Zhang Yuan stood up, his platinum cloak sweeping across the cold metal table behind him.

"Li Mo, I need you to set up a fully automated 'enchanting production line'. I can't possibly cast [Purify] on thousands of bottles every day; that would be too low-class and exhausting."

"Understood." Li Mo pointed to the huge culture tank in the center of the laboratory. "I have already designed the 'Magic Booster Pump'."

"The guild leader only needs to inject a full-power 'purification' into this core crystal once a day, and it will automatically dilute the magic and infuse it into every potion that flows through it through the siphon effect."

"Although the effect is only 10% of the original skill, it is enough to suppress ordinary citizens who have not yet fully mutated."

"This is called assembly line theology."