2077: V really knows how awesome he is

V thought for a moment and said, "Let's resolve this through diplomatic channels, Stock."

“Understood.” Meredith Stock immediately understood V’s meaning: “Using military families as an example, she’s really messed with military technology.”

Chapter 56 Dual-Headed Politics

Kurt Hansen survived, which is undoubtedly a medical miracle, considering that the shrapnel and bullets removed from his body weighed more than 5 kilograms.

But the Dogtown boss believed he was simply lucky to survive. Although he was still very weak after surviving, he had already started bragging.

"I've seen it all! I was stabbed more than a dozen times during the unification war and I'm still alive and kicking! Arasaka couldn't kill me 8 years ago, and he can't now! Hahaha... cough cough cough."

"Yes, yes, you're the best. Take a break." V handed over a washed apple.

"Holy crap, an apple!" Kurt Hansen exclaimed. "This thing is incredibly rare; it's the first time I've ever seen a real one. V, you're really good to your brother!"

"Don't thank me, this is from Xu Ling." V crossed his legs.

"Xu Ling, where did that little girl get the apples? Isn't she so poor that she has to mooch off you when she drinks?"

"They said it was airlifted from China. Kangtao has a subsidiary that specializes in growing fruits and vegetables and raising livestock. They don't sell to others; they supply Kangtao's senior executives with what they call 'special supply products.'"

"Damn, Kang Tao's treatment is really good. That little girl Xu Ling must have eaten a lot of real meat." Kurt Hansen looked on with envy, jealousy and hatred, and ate the apple clean as if it were his father's murderer, not even leaving the apple core behind.

"It's delicious, sweet and sour, much purer than industrially synthesized fruit flavorings," Kurt Hansen exclaimed. "It's so good to be alive."

V nodded; she wholeheartedly agreed with this point.

Kurt Hansen then suddenly said, "V, I need money."

"Okay, I'll transfer 50 million to you first. Ask me if it's not enough."

Kurt Hansen was taken aback: "Aren't you going to ask me why I need the money?"

V shrugged: "What else can you do? You just need to give the brothers of the Netherhounds compensation, right? Although I also give them compensation, that's the rule for me, and yours is just a token of my appreciation. Even though it's a bit much, the Netherhounds deserve it. And nobody ever complains about having too much money."

"Damn, if I weren't bedridden, I would have kowtowed to you right now. V, I'm not kidding, I wish I had met you sooner." The Dogtown boss, who had escaped death without flinching, now had tears in his eyes.

“V, I want to ask you for a favor. I will rebuild the Ghost Hounds. You have to promise me that you will accept this force as an official armed force of Arasaka 2077, the kind that wears uniforms and pays salaries.”

"Huh?" V was a little surprised: "Aren't you afraid I'll take your power?"

The Dogtown boss smiled and said, "I'm at ease letting you seize power."

V felt a jolt in his heart; this was probably what it felt like to be affirmed.

"Alright, I'll wait for the punks to clock in. Or should I give you some more money? It's not easy to find people in Night City these days."

That's the truth. The destruction brought sadness and pain, but the reconstruction work also brought opportunities and jobs.

The redevelopment of the Santo Domingo and Heywood districts proceeded simultaneously, with countless large-scale projects underway. Three mega-skyscrapers were planned, along with numerous other structures such as commercial centers, sports plazas, schools, and hospitals. Even in Heywood, due to its unique cultural atmosphere, two churches were slated for construction, with the statue of the Virgin Mary intended to be modeled after V, though this was resolutely rejected by V herself.

Although Watson District and Westbrook were not severely damaged, they took the opportunity to redevelop the area, including demolishing some old areas, cleaning up the river, and adding an automatic dredging system.

The biggest change is in Taiping State. As V said, Taiping State will be reborn as the research center of Night City. Countless large-scale research facilities, both above and below ground, have begun to be built. More than 300 million people work here every day, accounting for almost half of Night City's population.

The increase in employment opportunities stabilized society, and employers had to raise wages to recruit enough staff. Except for the truly vicious idiots, most gang members returned to normal social production, which further reduced the crime rate, but also made the plan to reorganize the Ghost Hound more difficult.

People used to join the army because they couldn't survive. Now that they can survive, why would they risk their lives?

V figured the Dogtown boss would have to pay a higher price to recruit enough people, so he planned to allocate him some more money.

But Kurt Hansen refused.

"No need, 5000 million is enough."

"Isn't that meant to subsidize the brothers?"

“I don’t need that much,” Kurt Hansen said. “Most of the Ghost Hounds’ families are in New America, and I can’t give them the money there. The compensation I’m talking about mainly refers to the brothers I recruited in Night City. There are only about 300 of them. 50,000 each, 20 million at most, that’s enough for me to recruit more people.”

Since that was the case, V didn't say anything more. She asked another question: "Are your family members also in New America?"

"Yes, my wife and my son. When I went to war, that kid was only 6 years old. Now he's 14. If we were in Night City, I would definitely take that kid to Cloud Peak and find the most expensive girl to deflower him!"

Kurt Hansen wore a loving father's expression, radiating the sacred glow of "I'm choosing a prestigious school for my son."

V was surprised that the Dogtown boss was such a good father. He said seriously, "I will find a way to bring them back, your family, and the families of all the Ghosthounds."

“I’ve heard about it.” Kurt Hansen also became serious. “V, you don’t need to do this. Those people are dead, and I… I’ve long forgotten my family. Night City has only just stabilized; it should rest, not start another conflict.”

V shook his head: "I'm sorry, Hansen, you've probably misunderstood. I'm not a saint, not as great as you think. I'm not doing this simply for you and the Ghost Hound, but to deter the villains once again."

"We won the last major battle, and Night City demonstrated its true strength. Other companies and forces have found that armed intervention is not feasible, so they will naturally change their methods. The future Night City will definitely attract a lot of talent. If everyone is like Miles and detains these people's families, how can Night City continue to operate? Don't test human nature, because human nature cannot withstand the test. We are united by various emotions, so we understand the power of emotions even more."

"So this is still a war, to take you and your family back from Miles, and to show the world that Night City is not afraid of open battle or covert threats. We can protect everyone, whether they are Night City residents or their families!"

“Wow, V, your success is definitely not without reason. I can’t see that far ahead, so I can only be the boss of Dogtown, while you are the emperor of Night City.” Kurt Hansen was convinced and quickly adjusted his mindset, and began to help V with his strategy: “Since Miles is going to use a soft approach, then we can’t use a hard approach, otherwise winning will be useless.”

V nodded: "I'm prepared to start through diplomatic channels."

“Then I suggest you go down the path of military technology,” Kurt Hansen asked. “Are you familiar with the relationship between the new America and military technology?”

“Stock told me some things, but I’d like to hear your thoughts as well.”

“I see. Let me think.” Kurt Hansen touched his bald head. “Let’s start from 81 years ago.”

"Military Technology was founded in 1996, initially focusing on weapons manufacturing and military contracting. During the Fourth Corporate War from 2021 to 2023, then-President Elizabeth Kress nationalized Military Technology and used its assets to strengthen the crumbling U.S. military. This move made Military Technology a 'weapon arm' of the new U.S. government, greatly enhancing its legitimacy and allowing the new U.S. to be revived with the help of this giant corporation, stabilizing the domestic situation."

Kurt Hansen asked, "Do you know what Elizabeth Kress did before she became president?"

V replied: "CEO of military technology."

“That’s right,” Kurt Hansen continued. “At the time, military technology was at its limit and bottleneck in its expansion. Elizabeth Kress made a decisive move, resigning as CEO to run for president. With the financial support of military technology, she easily became the new president of the United States, nationalized military technology, and used policies and systems to pave the way for military technology to break free from its constraints and begin to expand again.”

"In return, the powerful military force of military technology helped the new United States stabilize its dilapidated domestic situation. The two sides achieved deep integration through personnel exchanges, shared interests, and resource sharing. The new United States took the lead at the legal and strategic levels, directing military technology to conquer the world and becoming dominant throughout North America. Many people in military technology regard Elizabeth Kress as an idol and role model because she not only opened up new prospects for the development of military technology, but also transitioned from business to politics, allowing her life to reach new heights."

"Rosalind Miles was one of them. In 2065, she followed Elizabeth Kress's example and resigned as CEO of Military Technology to become the new President of the United States. Military Technology contributed a lot to this process, and the company's senior management thought that Miles would create another 'Elizabeth era' and take Military Technology to new heights. However, they soon discovered that Miles had her own ambitions. She only wanted to 'go higher' for herself and did not care about the interests of Military Technology."

"Sixty percent of military technology orders came from the new United States. Myers used this as leverage to enact a series of laws and regulations to strengthen control over military technology. The most crucial one was that military technology must cooperate with the military operations of the new United States. Not long after that, Myers suddenly launched a 'war of unification,' forcibly binding military technology to his war machine."

"Although annoyed, military technology still chose to help Miles. After all, the stronger the new United States is, the more benefits military technology will receive. The two sides have long been in a state of mutual benefit and mutual loss. With the help of military technology, Miles began to annex the western free states one after another, until the Night City senator asked Arasaka for help. Arasaka Saburo decisively took action and sent the Moby Whale to Del Coronado Bay, which forced him to stop."

“Miles wanted to fight, so she sent me. But the military technology side made an assessment and concluded that the military operation to retake Night City was likely to accidentally escalate into a fifth corporate war with Arasaka, which was not in the company’s interest, so they demanded a ceasefire.”

"After a lot of wrangling between New America and military technology, Miles thought she could control this beast like Elizabeth Kress did. But she forgot one thing: Elizabeth Kress was focused on military technology, with New America just an afterthought. But Miles was purely looking out for herself, planning to use military technology and New America as bricks to pave her own path."

"So the military technology rejected the plan to attack Night City and, in an almost overbearing manner, demanded that Miles immediately cease fire, forcing her to sign the Treaty of Alvin, thus ending this inexplicable war of unification."

This was the first time V had heard the whole story. She nodded and said, "It was from this incident that the conflict between the new America and military technology began?"

Kurt Hansen grinned: "The new America and military technology are not in conflict; the conflict lies between Miles and military technology. After this incident, military technology has finally seen through Miles's true colors. She is ambitious but lacks strategy, wants to rise to the top in one step but only cares about immediate interests, and will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. She loves to use underhanded tricks and harm others, and her vision is too narrow and her perspective too limited. She thinks she is shrewd but is actually full of loopholes. One day, her short-sighted calculations will backfire on her."

“Since then, military technology has kept its distance from Miles. It will only act when there is a benefit to it, and will not acknowledge him when there is no benefit. They even tried to win over members of Congress in the White House to secretly weaken Miles’ power. From 2069 to now, eight years have passed. Through its powerful military force and economic strength, military technology has completely broken free from being controlled and has instead risen above Miles, taking the initiative.”

"Now that we've talked about this, have you figured anything out?"

“First of all, Miles completely squandered a winning hand.” V crossed his arms. “Secondly, the new America and military technology are a symbiotic ‘duopoly’, where there is no primary or secondary relationship, but rather whoever is stronger holds the dominant position.”

“Yes, just like a two-headed dragon. The stronger one dominates, while the weaker one can only be dominated.” Kurt Hansen was convinced: “V, your analogy is excellent!”

I was talking about dual-headed politics, not dual-headed... whatever, it means the same thing.

"Military technology is dominant now, right?"

"That's right, so contact the military technology department and let them put pressure on Miles—that's the most effective way. Don't worry about them not agreeing; they're even more eager to get rid of that old hag than you are!"

“Actually, I’ve already gone there, and the result is even more gratifying than you think.” Meredith Stock just happened to push the door open and said something surprising: “The military technology side is furious about Miles’s detention of military personnel’s family members and plans to use this as a reason to have the White House impeach and remove Miles from office.”

"Holy crap!" Kurt Hansen was overjoyed. "Military technology is planning to change the president!"

Since the president isn't from our side, let's replace him with one from our side.

To reiterate, military technology has no conflict with the new America; their conflict lies with Myers. Military technology cannot be separated from the new America, but separating it from Myers is perfectly feasible.

V smiled too. She had been so badly wronged by that old hag Miles in her past life, but now that she heard such good news, she couldn't suppress the smile on her face despite her 20-year-old composure.

"Is that so? Then we'll have to lend a hand."

"Help whom?"

"Of course we'll help Miles! Being stuck in this limbo is so frustrating. The sooner he's out of this situation, the better. Don't you guys agree?"

“Yes, yes, yes!” Kurt Hansen nodded eagerly. “So what do we do?”

"Simple, gather some dirt on Miles and release it, then sit back and watch the military technology operation."

Where did the dirt come from?

V smiled: "Do you remember Alex and Reed?"

Chapter 57 Prison Turmoil (Part 1)

Night City originally had no prison, not because the place was particularly blessed with outstanding people, but because there were too few surviving prisoners. Under normal circumstances, lawbreakers would be killed on the spot by the NCPD, and the few unlucky ones who did manage to survive wouldn't be enough to supply Night City's various medical institutions for even a few days.

In this situation, prisons are naturally unnecessary.

But with the emergence of V, Night City has completely changed. People can survive even without committing crimes, and many even turn themselves in to cut ties with the past, sacrificing their current freedom in exchange for the future.

Under these circumstances, a prison of moderate size was built on the barren land.

Badlands. If you feel Night City is unsafe, then you might as well go to the Badlands and see.

This vast area borders the eastern and southern parts of Night City and is actually composed of eight distinctive plots of land, each with its own unique character.

To the south are biotechnology protein farms and the Contau solar power station on Jackson Plain. Not far from them is Laguna Bend, an artificial lake created by the Badlands Dam, a multi-million euro industrial marvel that stores 200 million liters of toxic chemical waste and submerged hundreds of homes. But if you arrive at sunset, you'll witness the Badlands' most unique landscape: the sunset and the toxic waste create a palpable sense of desolation, as if the end of the world has truly arrived. If you want to experience despair even more deeply, you can take a swim in the lake.

To the east lie the Sunset Motel, the Sunshine Motel, Red Peak Trailer Park, the Stone Ridge Plain, and the Sonora Desert stretching eastward. This desert is Night City's landfill, perpetually reeking of a foul stench that can be smelled even from within the city. Severely polluted and eroded by chemicals and acid rain, nothing can grow on its soil.

Anyone passing through this area must act quickly, and if they're smart, it's best to bring an armed escort to avoid encountering the Night Wanderers. This gang is made up of exiled wanderers; you can think of them as vultures, but at least vultures know to wait until their prey is dead before striking, while the Night Wanderers will personally kill their prey.

It's said that everyone should visit the Badlands at least once in their lifetime. This sounds like something a ghost would say, but it's actually true. Just like tourist attraction advertisements, it's all just local lore, like those ghosts trying to lure you in and rip you off.

V's attention had been focused on Night City, and he hadn't paid much attention to the Badlands.

But as the city's security improved day by day, those bad guys who couldn't make it there had no choice but to move to the wasteland, which made the Night Wanderers' power grow stronger and stronger.

After the great battle with Arasaka, the Night Wanderers began to brazenly harass the area around Night City. V was in Europe at the time, so he ordered Arasaka 2077 to provide equipment support and let NCPD handle the matter.

Her original plan was for the NCPD to patrol and deter the Nightwalkers, and then deal with the Badlands issue after she returned. But unexpectedly, the NCPD took the initiative and used the Sunset Motel as a base to push back and defeat the Nightwalkers, who were forced to scatter and avoid being wiped out.

Because they were unfamiliar with the terrain of Badlands, the NCPD did not rush into pursuit. Instead, they set up outposts, installed surveillance cameras on the roads, and increased patrols and security points, steadily bringing the outskirts of Night City under the control of the NCPD.

V was very surprised to hear this news. The NCPD is seriously corrupt, and the officers are so corrupt that they are practically a licensed gang. How could they do things so well? Who is leading this team, and who is that person’s subordinate?

Carter presented V with the information about the squad leader, and V suddenly understood.

Because the captain's name is "River Ward".

V had dealt with this man in her past life. He was idealistic, responsible, righteous, caring for his family, loved life, and had a strong sense of duty. He was good in every way, except for his lust for his own body.

Although V rejected River Ward's confession on the water tower and even made up stories about three ex-boyfriends on the spot, to be fair, River Ward embodied all the virtues of a man: a good family man and a capable fighter. He thought there was no brighter future than becoming an NCPD detective, but in the past Night City, sticking to one's ideals was much harder than getting a police rank.

River Ward struggles daily with a moral dilemma: either uphold his principles or betray his conscience. In his past life, he chose the latter, which is why he was fired by the NCPD and is supposedly going to become a chef.

Now that he has V, he probably won't need to change careers.

“We should groom River Ward to be the next director of the NCPD.”

"Yes," Carter replied. This was a trivial matter; V didn't need to get involved. As the head of counterintelligence, Carter simply informing the city government was already a great favor.

So River Ward was suddenly given a big responsibility, his position was promoted, his salary increased, and he rented a house to bring his sister's family from Red Peak Trailer Park to the city, inadvertently preventing his nephew from being kidnapped.

“Thank you so much, River.” Sister Joss Ward treated her brother to dinner at their new house. “I’ll go look for a job tomorrow and pay you back the rent as soon as possible.”

“Don’t rush it. I got a promotion recently, and my salary increased quite a bit,” River Ward said while drinking his beer. “But finding a job is still necessary. After all, Randy and the others still need to go to school. Compulsory education is tuition-free, and the learning chips are provided by the school. But upgrading the software and replacing the neural interface with a better one is also essential. We need to prepare for it. But don’t worry, Night City is in great need of rebuilding. You’ll definitely find a suitable job soon, sis.”

"Yes. I never even dared to dream of living like this before. We can actually live in the city, and Randy and the others can get an education. By the way, isn't there something called health insurance? It only costs a few dozen euros a month, and it cuts the cost in half for medical treatment and replacement of prosthetics?"

"Although it's not suitable for every disease, and the prosthetic body must be a specific model, yes, there is indeed medical insurance, and it has truly saved many lives!"

The older sister immediately became even more determined: "Then I must buy it, even if I have to sell everything I own! If one job isn't enough, I'll take on two!"

"Haha, it's not that exaggerated. The salary level in Night City is quite high now. Randy and the others also have child allowances. It's a bit difficult for you to buy the highest-end items for the whole family with your salary, but mid-range items are definitely no problem. Take it slow, sister. The future will be better and better."

"Yes, the future will be better and better. I never dared to think about the future before, but thanks to President V, we poor people have also seen hope."

"President V is truly remarkable; even the scoundrels within the NCPD have decreased significantly. Sister, perhaps one day I can truly realize my dream, and I can truly become a police officer to protect you, protect Randy and the others, and protect every household in Night City!"

"You will, River, you definitely will!" His sister picked up her beer. "I wish you all the best in achieving your dreams!"

Rivers picked up the can and clinked glasses: "Wishing President V continued good health!"