Chapter 37: Saburo's Mission

Chapter 37: Saburo's Mission

"What are you yelling about? Can't you see I'm trying to figure this out!" Wu Dong shouted irritably.

According to reports from his underlings, Royce and Dum most likely escaped on their own, leaving behind the corpses of some other thugs at the crime scene.

As for whether Lucius would pin the blame on the Triad as his would-be assassins, it was hard to say.

"Those cyber-crazies from Maelstrom really are useless! They only ever screw things up!"

Wu Dong gritted his teeth in frustration, wishing he could settle accounts with Royce and Dum immediately.

Whether it was to silence them or burn bridges, all he cared about now was protecting himself and avoiding any fallout.

Originally, Wu Dong had a deal with Congressman Weldon Holt: if they got rid of Lucius, the Tiger Claws would be allowed to do as they pleased in Watson—so long as corporate interests weren't harmed.

But not only had they failed to kill Lucius, the incident had allowed LA Corporation to seize the opportunity and smoothly take over Watson.

The strongest Chinese corporation in Night City joining forces with its largest Chinese gang—just imagining the scenario was terrifying.

"This... this is going to be hard to fix."

After racking his brain for a long time, Wu Dong still couldn't come up with a solution. At this point, if the Tiger Claws managed to avoid being implicated, it would already be a win.

"Haha, maybe if you led a team to kill that fat pig Lucius now, you'd still make it in time," sneered Seiho Jotaro coldly.

Jotaro, who ran illegal operations like Phoenix Casino in Kabuki, had lost everything overnight. His Black Braindance production workshops—of which he had over a dozen—were now completely gone. He had been knocked back to square one.

"Hiring Maelstrom to assassinate Lucius and pinning it on the Triad? That kind of dumb idea could only come from you. You're such a genius, Wu Dong!"

At this moment, Jotaro wanted nothing more than to kick Wu Dong while he was down and criticize him from head to toe.

"Shut up, you bastard!"

Infuriated by Jotaro's relentless insults, Wu Dong furiously drew his handgun and pressed it tightly against Jotaro's chin.

"Say one more word of nonsense, and I'll blow your head off. Try me if you don't believe it!"

Feeling the cold barrel of the gun against his skin, Jotaro immediately shut his mouth and desperately signaled to Satō Hiromi with his eyes.

He was genuinely afraid Wu Dong would pull the trigger on impulse.

But throughout their quarrel, Satō Hiromi remained calm and detached, as if the entire matter had nothing to do with him.

Finally, Satō Hiromi set down his teacup and spoke to the two men. "Are you done bickering? If you really want to start shooting, take it outside. Don't mess up my couch."

"Boss, do you have any ideas?"

Wu Dong put away his gun and looked at Satō Hiromi expectantly.

At this point, their only hope rested on this Tiger Claw leader. Otherwise, they'd have no choice but to leave Night City and lay low in Tokyo for a while.

"No."

Satō Hiromi shook his head. "This situation is beyond salvageable. Not even Arasaka's people could take back Kabuki now."

This wasn't mere exaggeration. In reality, Arasaka's influence in Night City was somewhat limited since it wasn't the only megacorporation in town.

If Arasaka tried to strong-arm Lucius and demand the territory back, they'd likely face sanctions from the Night Corporation and other companies.

Currently, LA Corporation had taken root in Watson and was even investing in a new development project there. This was clearly a situation the Night Corporation would be happy to see.

"We've done our homework on LA Corporation. Li Ang can't possibly be from Militech. The company's background is most likely tied to Far East Huaxia."

Satō Hiromi turned off the television, his expression serious and his tone grim. "Arasaka's infiltrators in Militech have confirmed it: Militech has no information whatsoever on LA Corporation."

Hearing this, Wu Dong and Jotaro were both stunned.

A new company that had risen so quickly in Watson in just a few months and wasn't backed by any megacorporation? It was almost unbelievable.

"We should've realized earlier. LA Corporation is a national-level venture backed by Huaxia itself. We'll never reclaim Kabuki now."

Jotaro's face turned ashen.

Corporate warfare was not something a small-time gangster like him could meddle in.

It was time to cut their losses and run while they still could.

If LA Corporation discovered that the Tiger Claws were behind the assassination attempt on Congressman Lucius, they'd be utterly doomed.

"Boss, let's buy tickets to Tokyo now and get out of this mess before LA Corporation comes after us!"

Jotaro got up, ready to book flights.

"Calm down."

Before Jotaro could recover from his panic, Satō Hiromi spoke again, unhurriedly.

"The company has a new mission for us now."

"If we pull this off, losing Kabuki and failing to kill Lucius will be nothing more than a minor inconvenience."

Hearing this, Wu Dong's eyes lit up. He'd known his boss wouldn't just sit there waiting for doom to arrive.

Apparently, Satō Hiromi had already received directives from within the company.

Jotaro, too, grew excited at the prospect of not having to flee Night City. "What's the mission? Is it difficult?"

"It's not exactly easy, but it's not impossible either."

Satō Hiromi teased, leaving Jotaro anxiously pressing for details.

"Boss, don't mess with us. Just tell us about the mission already!"

Meanwhile, Wu Dong was deep in thought.

For the mission to earn them enough merit to offset losing Kabuki and botching the assassination, it had to be incredibly high stakes.

Potentially life-threatening.

"This mission was personally assigned by Lord Saburo. Failure is not an option. Otherwise, we'll end up as laborers in Chiba City for the rest of our lives."

Even though both Wu Dong and Jotaro had mentally prepared themselves, the mention of "Lord Saburo" left them both utterly frozen.

The "Lord Saburo" Satō Hiromi referred to was none other than Saburo Arasaka, the founder of Arasaka Corporation—a man who held the fate of millions in his hands.

"L-Lord Saburo? Are you sure?"

Wu Dong was dumbfounded, while Jotaro was too stunned to move. They couldn't believe they were being given the honor of working for Saburo Arasaka himself.

To the Tiger Claw leaders, Saburo Arasaka was like an emperor—aloof and untouchable. His every move had global implications.