Chapter 51: Cooperation

Kuroda was momentarily surprised that the other party could call him by name so directly, but he quickly steadied his emotions and expression.
He shifted his gaze to Roland and said, “I’m curious, Mr. Roland. Where exactly did you learn my name? If I remember correctly, I’m not the one assigned to handle communications with you in this area.”

“I think you already know the answer, Mr. Kuroda. Since you’ve come looking for me, it means you’ve already reached certain conclusions, hasn’t it?”
Roland looked him straight in the eyes, as though he had already seen through Kuroda’s thoughts.

“So you’re admitting Jhin is working for you?”
Kuroda narrowed his eyes as he studied Roland.

“No, no. You’re giving me too much credit. Jhin and I aren’t in a superior–subordinate relationship. We’re partners. Or, more accurately, I’m cooperating with an organization, and Jhin is one of the operatives they sent.”
Roland waved his hand lightly to dismiss the misunderstanding, then rested both hands on his knees and leaned forward slightly.

Hearing this, Kuroda’s pupils moved subtly. He nodded, more convinced of his earlier suspicions.

“In that case, Mr. Kuroda, I assume your visit today is about the pressure we’re facing from Biotechnica and Militech? Is Arasaka planning to step in on our behalf?”

“There is such an intention. But from the current situation, I imagine you’ve already come up with a countermeasure, Mr. Roland?”
“More or less. Still, we need a bit of help from Arasaka.”

“Oh? Let’s hear it.”
Kuroda raised an eyebrow, genuinely intrigued. He had expected Roland’s backers to already be preparing to intervene—this level of restraint surprised him.

“We’ll soon have some black material on Biotechnica—enough to hit their market value. But we lack media influence. We need WNS under Arasaka to amplify the story.”
Roland smiled openly. Mutual leverage—simple enough.

“I see. That’s easy to arrange. But that’s not the only reason I came. There’s something more important. To be frank, we’re very interested in your cyberware modification technology.”

“Cyberware modifications? You mean something like Jhin’s?”

“Exactly. I know the cyberware on Jhin isn’t available anywhere on the market—not even the materials match. And I’m curious: how did you achieve such a high degree of modification while still keeping Jhin fully lucid?”
A spark of excitement lit up Kuroda’s eyes. As a researcher, brand-new technology like this thrilled him.

Roland’s expression shifted with understanding. “That’s an internal top-secret matter. And as for Jhin’s situation… to be blunt, it can’t be replicated. It was a one-off event.”

“A one-off event?”
Kuroda froze, immediately thinking of Adam Smasher—another case created by an accident.

“Yes. His initial cyberware level was quite low. He upgraded only to stay alive. Through various methods, he kept advancing himself until he became what he is now. You could say most of it was his own work.”

“Ah… one of those special cases.”
Kuroda nodded, his enthusiasm dimming slightly.

“Still, I assume you have cyberware technology you haven’t revealed yet?”
Roland didn’t answer verbally. He simply smiled, rolled up his sleeve, and tapped his arm. An exoskeletal mechanical arm unfolded like armor.

Kuroda’s eyes hardened instantly. A simple exoskeletal arm wouldn’t impress him, but this one was unusually thin and light, and clearly contained advanced technology he couldn’t identify at a glance.

“This arm can integrate with any prosthetic hand on the market with only minor adjustments. It also provides significant strength augmentation. On top of that, you can add a layer of Power Armor or Exoskeleton Armor to it.”
Kuroda narrowed his eyes, thoughts racing. He immediately envisioned battlefield deployment. Most modern Power Armor and Exoskeletons placed heavy physical requirements on the user. Only high-tier cyberware users could operate them, and the more advanced the armor, the stronger the user needed to be.

But if this mechanical arm had other components in the same series, then the threshold for using such equipment could be drastically lowered.

That realization tempted him greatly. Yet rationality held him back—whether or not Roland had additional armed support, even dealing with that single Jhin was already an unsolvable problem.

“Let’s talk cooperation, Mr. Roland. I believe you know what we’re planning next.”

“Yes. Myers is preparing to launch the Unification War. You intend to profit from it—help Night City become independent and bring it back under your control, right?”
Roland nodded without hesitation.

“As expected of you, Mr. Roland. Yes, that’s our plan. So we hope the people behind you can help us achieve this goal. In return, we’ll give them the Night City interests they want.”
Kuroda nodded firmly, meeting Roland’s eyes.

“I’m curious—what gives you the authority to negotiate something like this with me?”
Roland narrowed his eyes slightly. The man’s identity didn’t match the image he had initially painted.

Kuroda smiled. “I am Lord Saburo’s trusted adjutant. Rest assured, everything we’re discussing has been approved by Lord Saburo.”

Roland’s pupils contracted sharply. Saburo Arasaka—one of the most powerful individuals in the world. Roland knew their paths would cross sooner or later, perhaps even as adversaries… but he hadn’t expected to encounter his people so soon.

“Mr. Roland?” Kuroda asked when he noticed Roland drifting into thought.

“Oh, I was just thinking… In any case, we don’t intend to go public or take direct action yet. For now, we can only provide technical support.”
Roland collected himself and replied.

“That’s sufficient. In that case, we’ll provide PROJECT with certain resources and support.”
Kuroda’s expression brightened.

“Then, as a gesture of sincerity…”
Roland nodded and immediately sent the mechanical arm blueprints to Kuroda’s inbox. The sudden notification startled Kuroda, who urgently contacted Arasaka’s netrunners to encrypt the message.

“I’ll send the remaining blueprints once our cooperation deepens. That’s all for now. I’ll take my leave.”
Roland opened the car door, rose to his feet, and vanished in an instant.

Sandevistan?! No… that wasn’t it…
Kuroda narrowed his eyes at the empty space where Roland had stood. It seemed the man had even more powerful hidden Cyberware—perhaps he too was one of those special individuals?

It felt highly likely. Otherwise, why would someone like him serve as their public face?

A corp holding this many schematics could never be a small player. But who were they?

A theory formed in Kuroda’s mind, though he didn’t report it—just a suspicion for now. He simply instructed his netrunners to strengthen surveillance over PROJECT.