Chapter 171: PROJECT’s Movements
“Looks like things aren’t going very well on the Colorado side…”
Roland studied the intelligence report in his hand, then turned to Lissandra.
Lissandra immediately realized there was more work to be done.
“Give the order.”
“Mm. Stir up some trouble for Militech. Make some strategic adjustments to the intelligence you feed them—don’t let their operations go too smoothly. The longer they’re bogged down, the better it is for us.”
“I understand.”
Lissandra nodded.
“Samuel, how are the satellite preparations coming along?”
Roland turned to the elderly man beside him. His hair and neatly trimmed beard were both gray, yet his eyes were sharp and full of energy. He was another key scientific talent from PROJECT—an extremely valuable asset.
“The progress is very encouraging. We won’t be long from launching the first satellite. As long as you’ve handled things on your end, there won’t be any problems.”
“Good. Lissandra has already taken care of that side. You don’t need to worry—just focus on the research progress.”
Samuel nodded. “Understood. As for the energy issue you asked about—some of the materials differ slightly from those in this world, but I’ve already identified suitable substitutes. It will just take some more time.”
“Thanks for the hard work. The energy side will need extra attention from you. You can also talk with Mudor—he’s one of PROJECT’s participants and should have insights into the energy systems used by the Modifiers.”
Roland gave a slight nod as he spoke.
Right now, the key bottleneck he needed to break through was PROJECT’s energy technology. Since he had already exchanged for their energy specialist, it would be a waste not to push development in that direction. Once the energy problem was fully solved, he could start producing true war machines in the strictest sense.
What Roland was actually more interested in, however, were some of the black technologies from the PROJECT universe. But… certain things simply couldn’t be reproduced in the cyberpunk world due to missing materials. Those could only be obtained through system exchanges—and even then, in very limited quantities.
“Chris, I’ll be relying on you for the next battle. The PROJECT squad will operate under your command as well. I have only one requirement—win cleanly. This will be our first battle in this world.”
Roland spoke to the burly man in front of him, half of whose head had been replaced by machinery.
“I am willing to serve as the vanguard.”
Chris lowered his head slightly and performed the highest salute of the PROJECT world.
He was an exchanged high-level combatant, capable of serving as both a frontline fighter and a commander. His primary role was command, but his individual combat ability was far from weak.
Given enough time, he could even trade blows with a Judgment for a while—though that had cost Roland a considerable amount of essence.
After leaving, Chris immediately issued mobilization orders through Astat. The armed forces and mechanical units cultivated in Agas City responded at once.
Kiwi and the others also received corporate orders, temporarily placing their squad under Chris’s command.
As for Zed and Jhin, they were simply notified—they still had their own missions to focus on.
Roland, meanwhile, was quite interested in Michiko Arasaka, who was still in Night City—especially her bodyguard, Kenichi Zato. If possible, he wanted to get his hands on him first.
As for how… based on Roland’s understanding, there was probably only one option: force.
Whether eliminating him directly or taking Michiko Arasaka hostage, both were viable choices.
As for whether kidnapping Michiko Arasaka would draw special attention from Arasaka…
Based on Roland's understanding of the relationships involved, Saburo Arasaka would likely welcome her demise… though for the sake of appearances, he might still take action. So if it could be avoided, it would be better not to move against her.
Worth mentioning: in the game, Michiko Arasaka is portrayed as an older woman, but in the official setting materials, her appearance is quite different.
Also worth noting—Adam Smasher has a rather ambiguous relationship with Miss Michiko, and Adam Smasher actually has several different bodies. When going on dates with her, he switches to one resembling a young, blond Elvis Presley.
It’s said that he even has a face considered the most handsome in the world—of course, entirely artificial.
And Adam Smasher would never say to Michiko Arasaka the line he said to Evelyn in the game, because if he did, he’d probably be run over by a main battle tank…
...
In a region of Nevada near Southern California, a city called Elor received an email from an unknown sender.
The message roughly stated that PROJECT Corporation would be launching a war against their city.
The mayor of Elor’s first reaction was disbelief. In his view, aside from a few major bullies, what corporation actually had the qualifications to wage a true, government-level war?
However, after reading the contents in detail, his expression immediately turned grim.
The email laid out, with great specificity, the agreements reached between Militech and PROJECT. At that point, the mayor of Elor couldn’t help but believe it. Without hesitation, he requested assistance from higher authorities.
To ensure the matter was taken seriously, he forwarded the email along as well.
The Nevada state government dispatched troops as soon as the message was received.
In their eyes, this wasn’t a battle against PROJECT Corporation—it was a battle against New United States. Even if it was carried out in PROJECT Corporation’s name, they simply didn’t believe a corporation that had only been around for such a short time could possess any truly powerful armed forces.
They were convinced it must be relying on support from New United States to wage war, subconsciously treating PROJECT as a proxy.
As a result, they adopted tactics meant to counter New United States forces. Having fought them for so long, they were already very familiar with their methods and felt little concern.
What they didn’t know was that the enemy they were about to face was a battle-hardened veteran commander from another world—someone who had led PROJECT Corporation through countless wars.
And the force under his command was a mechanical army, with barely any humans among them.
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