Chapter 63: Counterattack!

Roland stepped down from the AV, moving slowly until he stood before the lone survivor.

A faint glimmer shifted in his eyes. In the next second, Lissandra tapped into the computational power of Jhin’s body and pulled up the man’s identity.

“Hmm… Quell. Nice name. Let’s see—Corporate Security, Luvena Tech? Tsk, tsk…”

Roland crouched in front of him, shaking his head as he looked Quell over.

Hearing Roland speak his name, Quell’s eyes regained a hint of focus, but terror quickly overtook them.

“Y-you… what do you want?”

“Quell, you know me. I keep my promises. Tell me everything you know about Luvena Tech, then testify and identify them for me.
Do that, and I guarantee your safety. I’ll even pay you.
If you refuse, then our conversation ends here.”

As he finished, the nearby Guard Unit stepped forward. Unit One was still smeared with blood, the scent of smoke clinging to its frame. Under the desert sun, the pressure it radiated was overwhelming.

Quell swallowed hard. His lips were dry, cold sweat sliding down his temples as he looked around.

A deathly silent battlefield. Severed limbs. Blood pooled for no clear reason. Burned-out husks of vehicles lying in the sand.

To be honest, he didn’t know Roland—not really. He didn’t know whether the man kept his word.
But he did know one thing: if he refused, he was absolutely going to die here.

Then Roland straightened, and Unit One slowly raised its gun. The sight of his teammates’ mutilated bodies flashed in Quell’s mind.

He broke instantly.
“Wait! I’ll do it! I’ll do everything you said!!”

“Good. Thank you for cooperating, Quell.”

Roland smiled, tilted his head, and signaled to Unit Two.

Ssss—

“Ugh—ah!!”

Quell’s eyes bulged as the serum hit his bloodstream, letting out a sound he couldn’t even describe. He stared at Roland in shock.

“Wh-what is that?”

“The final version of our medical serum. Not yet released to the public. Consider yourself lucky.”

Roland glanced at him, then said, “Get him onto the AV.”

...

“Mm… ah. Looks like your boss Brown finally couldn’t sit still. Shame—I'd planned on giving him a way out. Never thought he’d pull something like this. Truly disappointing.”

Roland pressed a hand to his chest, putting on an exaggerated display of heartbreak before quickly returning to normal.

“Alright. Now tell me where your Corporate Security base is, and get ready for tomorrow’s identification. You’ll accuse Brown, CEO of Luvena Tech, of hiring killers.”

“Will… that actually work?”

Quell leaned forward, confused. In his mind, hiring assassins or sending underlings to eliminate competitors was standard practice in Night City.
No one ever got arrested for it…

“That’s not your concern. Just do what I tell you.”

Roland smiled, not addressing the question.

Night City’s law enforcement was notoriously chaotic. After Night Corp’s founder Richard died, the city government fell under heavy corporate influence, and the NCPD shifted priorities to protecting city council members.

The situation was exactly what one would expect.

But that only applied to ordinary people. For corporations, the NCPD was something else entirely—

A tool to be used.

And right now? Roland intended to use it. Give the higher-ups a convenient piece of leverage, and give certain people an explanation before his next move drew too much attention.

The message was simple:
See? He struck first.

...

Bang!

The HP-1 on the desk rattled.

Brown’s face turned beet-red as he glared at his secretary. “You’re telling me… that squad of mine failed?!”

“Y-yes… sir. We’ve completely lost contact.”

The secretary nodded timidly, afraid to meet his eyes.

“Fuck! Do you have any idea how much effort I put into this operation?! Do you?!”

Brown hurled the file in his hand at her. His chest rose and fell erratically—he was furious.

He’d invested heavily, hiring numerous people to keep tabs on PROJECT, especially Roland. For days, they’d gotten nothing.
Finally, they had an opening—and now it had failed?!

Failure was one thing, but losing an entire well-armed squad?!

They didn’t have any Sandevistan-compatible hosts, sure, but their firepower alone wasn’t something you could take lightly.

Brown snapped, needing someone to vent at.

The secretary trembled with frustration. It was the security team and Brown’s own decision—what did this have to do with her?!

Suddenly, a call came in. Already furious, Brown nearly hung up on instinct—until he saw the name.

His anger vanished instantly. He signaled the secretary to leave before answering.

The moment the call connected, he was hit with furious accusations.

“What the hell are you doing?! We gave you support and investment to get results—not to create problems!!”

Brown blinked in confusion. “Mr. Fuda, what… what happened?”

Fuda let out a cold laugh. “Turn on WNS News. As of this moment, your company has nothing to do with us.”

And he hung up.

“M-Mr. Fuda…”

Stunned, Brown scrambled to turn on the TV and switched to WNS.

“According to sources, Brown, CEO of Luvena Tech, is suspected of orchestrating an attack on Mr. Roland, CEO of PROJECT Corporation. Mr. Roland has officially filed a lawsuit, and we strongly condemn this behavior.

We also urge viewers to avoid purchasing stock from such companies. Notably, Luvena Tech is a subsidiary of Militech. Combined with its previous conflict with PROJECT Corporation, it raises suspicion that this may be yet another Militech conspiracy…”

Brown trembled as he watched, finally understanding why he’d been abandoned.

It wasn’t because he failed to assassinate Roland—it was because his failure handed Arasaka the perfect excuse to publicly attack Militech’s reputation.
And with Militech’s situation worsening, he had become expendable.

Arasaka wouldn’t take major action—after all, they still needed Militech to start the war. But taking a bit of “interest” for the earlier bombing? That they would do.

“Roland!!!!”