Chapter 42: Trauma Team!

Chapter 42: Trauma Team!

Seeing Johnny Silverhand's strong stress reaction, Meredith didn't seem annoyed. Instead, she sneered twice and said,

"Your little girlfriend, Alt Cunningham, has been kidnapped. Haven't you noticed anything at all?"

Hearing this, Johnny's already tense nerves tightened further. He stared at her face intently and said,

"What did you do to her?"

"It's not us. It's your little girlfriend Alt who has been taken by Arasaka Corporation. If we didn't come to inform you, you probably wouldn't have realized she was missing for half a year."

Meredith cast a disdainful glance at the red-haired woman trembling under a blanket on the floor, then sneered at Johnny with contempt.

Clearly, she despised men like Johnny who couldn't control themselves. A man with a girlfriend who still sought new flings disgusted her.

"Aren't you always fighting corporations and opposing the system as your life's mission? Here's your chance to blow up Arasaka Tower. Are you in or not?"

"Heh! You think I'm some clueless idiot? Let me be clear— I don't lack girlfriends. Women lining up to sleep with me would stretch all the way out of the city."

"As for that woman Alt Cunningham, I couldn't care less. Don't think you can use her to threaten me."

Feigning calm, Johnny refused to let Meredith use Alt against him. He knew too well how easily this kind of thing could turn him into someone else's pawn.

"You don't have to play tough with me. If you're too scared to save Alt, that's fine." Meredith smirked and added,

"I know you've got connections with Li Ang, the CEO of LA Corporation. Right now, we need the services of Morgan Blackhand, who's working under him. Convince Li Ang to lend us Morgan, and we'll consider this even."

"We'll also rescue Alt Cunningham and let her know her rocker boyfriend is just a coward, spineless and useless."

After finishing, Meredith tossed Johnny's discharge certificate and some old military records in front of him.

"Oh, almost forgot. You're a deserter anyway, so it's not surprising you lack courage. Here's the discharge certificate signed by President kress. Once this is over, at least you can get rid of some of the disgrace."

Looking at the pile of certificates and records, Johnny recalled the bullets and bloodshed on the Central American battlefield and his fallen comrades. Furious, he pulled the trigger and riddled the discharge certificate with holes.

"Fuck you! I don't need this crap. I'll rescue Alt myself without your damn Militech meddling."

After hesitating for a moment, Johnny seemed to weigh the pros and cons. Eventually, he spoke,

"By the way, I don't know any Li Ang from LA Corporation. If you want someone, find them yourself. Don't fucking bother me!"

But before Johnny could finish, Meredith pulled out a tablet showing emails Johnny had sent to Li Ang.

It was clear she had already hacked into his personal information and stolen the data from his private inbox.

"Oh, come on. Busy as you are, you still find time to email Li Ang? If you two aren't close, he'd have blocked you ages ago."

"Shit…"

Johnny cursed weakly, fully aware of Militech's ruthless tactics.

"You can intercept my emails with Li Ang, but you can't hack into his system?" Johnny sneered.

"LA Corporation's headquarters is protected by AI defenses. Regular ICE intrusion methods don't work. Otherwise, we wouldn't be wasting our time with you," Meredith admitted bluntly.

Months ago, Militech had started monitoring LA Corporation in Little China. After two to three months of investigation, they confirmed that LA Corporation was a small independent company with no backing from major corporations or Far East entities.

The only known detail was that its CEO, Li Ang, was of pure Chinese descent with no cybernetic implants.

Initially, Militech hackers tried infiltrating LA Corporation's systems to steal kinetic and weapons technology. Unfortunately, not only did they fail, but their hackers were brain-fried by LA Corporation's AI defense system, White Queen.

Realizing their miscalculation, Militech began suspecting LA Corporation might be a weapon-manufacturing front for rogue AIs from beyond the Blackwall.

Whatever the truth, Militech had no intention of provoking a new, unpredictable enemy further.

"Get out. I'll handle this myself," Johnny said weakly.

Meredith nodded and left the Afterlife club, leaving behind a parting, "Suit yourself."

Once Militech and the red-haired woman were gone, Johnny slumped into a chair and dialed a mysterious number.

After a beep, a slightly impatient female voice answered,

"Johnny? What do you want?"

"Rogue, I need your help. It's urgent. We need to meet right now."

---

Corporate Plaza.

Rain carried yellow dust from the Badlands, falling through the intersections of skyscrapers and skyrails, refracting against neon advertisements. By the time it reached the streets below, it disappeared into the dust and heatwaves.

The overcast drizzle spread quickly, while omnipresent holographic ads glowed like digital phantoms. Neon signs crowded together like a hand of cards in a casino.

High above the plaza, a pristine Atlas AV hovered toward the top floors of Trauma Team's headquarters.

Ten minutes later, Li Ang and the rest of Maine's team disembarked, welcomed inside with VIP treatment by Trauma Team personnel.

"Mr. Li Ang, it's an honor to meet you!"

The speaker was Nadia La, a senior executive and the highest-ranking Trauma Team manager in Night City.

"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Nadia," Li Ang said, shaking hands with the elegant and professional manager.

This marked the first official meeting between LA Corporation and Trauma Team. Li Ang had been invited by the company's management to discuss potential business collaborations for mutual benefit.

As an internationally renowned giant in medical services, Trauma Team's sole operational focus was profit.