Chapter 213 - 214
Chapter 213: Unexpected Windfall
“That Twelve Angel has finally made it to Night City. Honestly…”
Roland rubbed his forehead with a weary sigh. One of the main reasons he’d stayed in Night City instead of heading to Nevada to handle other matters was precisely to wait for this person.
Yet that slippery bastard had crawled along the entire way. He’d waited so long the flowers were practically withering. Meanwhile, the Highriders’ people would be able to reach Night City in just one more day.
And this was already the second person they’d sent out…
“Did he submit an appointment request with us?”
Roland turned to Kiwi and asked.
“Yes. The appointment is for today, and… he should arrive in about half an hour.”
“Alright, I know.”
Roland nodded.
But just then, a piercing explosive screech suddenly rang out above the building. The sound resonated through the glass on several nearby floors, and in an instant, every window shattered, raining shards across the ground.
The sudden incident triggered alarms throughout the PROJECT Corporation building. Security robots hidden around Roland immediately emerged from all directions.
In a heartbeat, they were fully armed, their weapons trained on a silver-white figure hovering in the air.
Jamil took in the scene before him, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. He raised both hands and slowly descended, landing in front of Roland. The combat cyberware across his body still emitted a faint blue glow.
“I’ve been hearing your corporation’s name everywhere lately. Now that I finally see it for myself… you really are something else.”
As he spoke, Jamil swept his gaze over the surrounding security robots, his vigilance rising. Several of them radiated a distinct sense of danger.
“So you’re the legendary Twelve Angel. But judging from this way of saying hello… you don’t seem all that friendly.”
Roland narrowed his eyes and stared at Jamil coldly.
At his signal, the security robots slowly raised their weapons. Several of them made the hairs on Jamil’s neck stand on end, and he immediately locked onto the source of the threat.
One weapon’s barrel glowed with a hazy blue light. Its muzzle was unlike that of kinetic or electromagnetic weapons—clearly an energy weapon.
“Haha, nothing like that,” Jamil laughed, waving his hand. “I was just testing the equipment on my body. Still, I was rude. Please accept my apologies.”
He chuckled and gently lowered himself to the ground.
Roland remained silent as he watched Jamil. He understood exactly what the man was doing—probing the strength of the security around him. If they posed no real threat, Roland had no doubt Jamil would make a move.
There was also the possibility he was trying to intimidate them. But… he’d already shoved his face right up to theirs. Not responding at all would feel unreasonable.
And just so happened, this guy didn’t know that something had already returned…
Close the door—let Maine loose!
“ROAR!!!”
A deafening roar exploded through the PROJECT building. In the next instant, a figure tore down the corridor at blinding speed, leaving deep, horrifying claw marks behind as blue electrical arcs danced across its body.
As its speed climbed higher and higher, Apocalypse’s massive form streaked in like a bolt of blue lightning, arriving in an instant. Without the slightest hesitation, it locked onto Jamil, who had just touched down.
The moment Jamil saw Apocalypse, his expression changed drastically. He activated the cyberware in his legs, executing a backward evasive jump and triggering Sandevistan, vanishing from his original position in an instant.
Boom!
As expected, Apocalypse’s attack slammed into the ground the very next second, blasting out a massive crater.
Back in the air, Jamil’s heart was pounding wildly.
Wasn’t this beast supposed to be out of Night City?!
“Heh. Your little stunt triggered Apocalypse’s internal safety response. No offense intended,” Roland said with a cheerful smile as he walked over.
Apocalypse, meanwhile, stared coldly at Jamil in the air.
Jamil let out an awkward laugh. “No problem, no problem. I didn’t take it to heart.”
Seeing him back down, Roland waved his hand, signaling Maine to disengage carnage mode.
Soon, the blue glow surrounding Apocalypse slowly faded. It straightened up like a human, then crossed its arms and stood off to the side.
Jamil cautiously descended nearby, though his eyes kept flicking toward Maine, clearly worried the man might suddenly snap and finish him off.
“Well,” Roland spread his hands, “this doesn’t look like a great place for a conversation. How about we move somewhere else and talk?”
“No problem. Your call,” Jamil nodded without objection.
...
Before long, the two arrived in a conference room, with Maine following them inside.
After they all sat down, Jamil glanced at Maine beside him, his mouth twitching slightly. “Mr. Vimers, do you think maybe…”
He trailed off, looking at Maine.
“Haha, of course, of course,” Roland laughed, gesturing for Maine to wait outside by the door.
Only after Maine left did Jamil finally let out a breath and relax, turning his full attention back to Roland.
“My name is Jamil. My title is Swift Angel. I rank somewhere in the middle among the Twelve Angels. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Vimers.”
“Jamil… hmm. Before we get into anything else, let’s talk about the damage to our corporation facilities.”
“That’s easy enough. We’ll take responsibility for it,” Jamil said, nodding.
“Then it seems we have the basis for cooperation,” Roland replied. “So what exactly does the European Space Agency want from us?”
As he spoke, a faint orange glow surfaced in Roland’s eyes as he scanned Jamil’s combat data and cyberware.
Jamil did the same in return—and the moment he saw the numbers on the panel, his heart skipped a beat.
Damn it, his stats are higher than mine?! Are you the boss, or the bodyguard?!
At that moment, Jamil completely abandoned any thoughts of taking the technology by force. If things came to blows… he probably wouldn’t win.
“Although my orders were to obtain your technology and all related blueprints,” Jamil said slowly, “it’s clear that isn’t realistic. So… I’d like to propose a deal with you, Mr. Vimers.”
“Oh?”
Roland’s interest was immediately piqued. He’d been expecting things to fall apart—but now it seemed… this man wasn’t exactly the obedient type either.
...
Chapter 214: Negotiations Concluded
“Go on. I’ll decide whether to agree after I hear your terms.”
Roland narrowed his eyes as he looked at Jamil, waiting for his final answer.
“I’m certain you won’t refuse this proposal,” Jamil said with a confident smile.
“I want you to custom-build a complete set of weapons and Cyberware for me—entirely based on energy technology. Naturally, I want the most cutting-edge version you have.”
“Oh?” Roland looked at him in mild surprise, but quickly understood the reason behind the request. “Looks like the Twelve Angels aren’t exactly peaceful on the inside.”
“No, no, no. We’re quite harmonious internally—there’s just a bit of competition, that’s all.”
Jamil waved his hand with a smile. As for how much of that ‘harmony’ was real, that was another matter.
“Well then, if I refuse again, I’d be the one lacking goodwill,” Roland said with a genial smile. “We can agree to your request. But tell me—what kind of benefits does this bring us?”
“Hm… let me think. First, you keep all your core technology. The agreement would only require you to sell us a certain quantity of energy weapons and high-grade Cyberware. However…”
Jamil paused, watching Roland closely. “Your stable electromagnetic technology should be something you’re willing to sell us as well, right?”
The terms were exactly what Roland had expected, so—
“We’ll take the deal. As for the specifics and quantities, you can work those out with my subordinates.”
“Of course.”
Once Roland agreed, a brilliant smile immediately spread across Jamil’s face.
“By the way, if my information is correct, people from the Highriders should be arriving in Night City tomorrow. Will you be handling them yourselves, or will you leave it to us to decide?”
Roland smiled as he spoke, casually tossing a difficult problem back at Jamil.
In truth, Roland didn’t mind dealing with the Highriders. With the European Space Agency already involved, the Highriders wouldn’t make overly unreasonable demands. It would simply mean earning a bit more money.
But for the European Space Agency, things were different. They had gone to considerable lengths precisely to get ahead of the Highriders.
“Leave that matter to us, Mr. Vimers. You’re free to focus on your own affairs,” Jamil replied after only brief consideration.
As for whether intercepting the Highriders would cause the upper echelons to tear into each other—that wasn’t his problem. He was just an ordinary member of the Twelve Angels.
“How long will it take to prepare my equipment?” Jamil asked.
“Hm… You’ll need to speak with our scientist, Mudor. He’ll collect your data and customize everything for you. It should take about half a month.”
“Understood. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
Jamil nodded, then activated his thrusters and departed.
Roland waved him off. For benefactors like this, the more the merrier.
The fact that Jamil dared to have him build Cyberware at all meant he was extremely confident in the European Space Agency’s netrunning capabilities. Since they were that confident, how could Roland not return the favor by slipping in a few backdoors? Right?
“I thought I’d be offending another faction,” Roland muttered with a chuckle, “but instead, I avoided that entirely—and even gained a high-level combat asset hidden inside their organization…”
The Twelve Angels had excellent potential. Roland intended to let Mudor really go all out this time. After all, they would soon be his own people. He couldn’t afford to treat this lightly.
After leaving, Jamil immediately began negotiations with his superiors.
At first, they were unhappy that he hadn’t obtained the source of the technology. But after listening to his explanation, they found it oddly persuasive.
Simply put, the other side would never willingly hand over that kind of technology. If things escalated into mutual destruction, neither side would gain anything, while their own strength would be heavily depleted—a completely losing trade.
It was far better to let Jamil secure a deal, obtain the other party’s top-tier products, and then conduct research on them. Through reverse engineering, they could derive foundational weapon technology at a far lower cost in resources.
After hearing Jamil’s argument, the European Space Agency’s upper management split into two camps. In the end, they decided to try Jamil’s approach first and reconsider if it failed.
As for intercepting the Highriders, they had no objections at all. Having already reached a cooperation agreement with PROJECT Corporation, they naturally considered it theirs. This time, they wouldn’t let the Highriders interfere.
With the orbital launcher incident as a cautionary tale, the European Space Agency’s vigilance toward the Highriders had reached an extreme level.
They were also fully aware of Jamil’s personal ambitions—he wanted to use this opportunity to enhance his own strength, status, and influence.
They welcomed it. After all, no matter what, he would remain a top-tier combat asset on their side. They would be more than happy if the strongest member of the Twelve Angels became even stronger.
That said, they still issued a warning. After all, this did brush up against the European Space Agency’s interests.
...
“Hm… the threat from above seems to be dealt with for now,” Roland murmured. “What’s left is handling the New United States in front of us, and quickly swallowing up Nevada’s territory…”
Nearly a third of Nevada had already fallen under their control without anyone noticing. The state government remained completely unaware, believing everything was proceeding as normal.
Roland had no intention of bringing this into the open. Operating as Nevada’s unseen ruler was far safer, and far less likely to make him a target.
“Lissandra, how’s the underground project coming along?”
“The modifications in Elor City, Mog City, and Gallas City… are complete,” Lissandra replied. “Once the final city is finished, we can connect them all and begin installing the internal mechanical systems.”
Roland nodded in satisfaction. These cities were close together and located on favorable terrain. Once the upgrades were complete, they could serve as surface bases connected via shafts to the underground complex below.
And what was that underground complex for?
The answer was simple: manufacturing colossal war machines. Sky Carriers, massive combat mecha, even space battleships—all of them were produced in these gigantic facilities in the PROJECT world.
Once the underground base was fully operational and those colossal war machines rolled out, they could finally step into the open.
As for the Super Body…
With these weapons, they could turn hostile without hesitation. Roland couldn’t imagine anything capable of withstanding an invasion by the Super Body—just as his own words had declared:
If technology is your god, then kneel.
Kneel before me.
Author's Note
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