111

"Jack, Goro, where are you now?" Lin Carter's cold voice crackled through the comms.

Jack responded instinctively, "Not too far from the weapons control platform. They don't seem to have caught on yet."

"I remember you brought a detonator. Their military warehouse is near your position—plant it there."

Jack's face lit up with excitement. "Oh man, you're about to see some serious fireworks!"

Takemura Goro shook his head with a weary smile. He knew these two well—nothing thrilled them more than making a spectacle out of things. But he had no objections. Militech getting blown up had nothing to do with him.

While Jack was busy, Lin Carter wasn't idle either.

He strapped on all the high-explosive grenades and detonators he could carry. The primary detonator, he placed in the nearby energy storage facility.

Once everything was in place, Lin Carter returned to Kansas Stevenson's room before making his way to the rendezvous point.

Meanwhile, Jack and Goro stirred up quite a commotion. The facility's defense forces, which had been blinded by Shockwave's hacking, finally reacted and scrambled to form a defense.

But it was too late.

The hovering vehicle piloted by Shockwave descended. Lin Carter, with an unconscious Kansas in tow, arrived just as Jack and Goro did.

As soon as they shut the doors, the team sped away. If they had lingered a moment longer, the anti-aircraft platform would have come back online, and not even Shockwave could withstand the incoming bombardment.

Everything had gone according to plan.

Watching the Militech facility shrink in the distance, a smirk formed on Lin Carter's face.

"Shockwave, activate the detonator."

"Roger that."

Beep. Beep. Beep.

In a seemingly insignificant corner of the facility, a tiny detonator armed itself.

A second later—

BOOM!

BOOM...!

BOOOOM!!!

The detonator ignited the energy storage and military warehouse.

These two areas alone exploding?

It was catastrophic for the entire facility—and everything surrounding it.

BOOOOOOOM!!!!

Thunderous shockwaves tore through the air.

A white-hot explosion illuminated the sky like a second sun.

Then, a towering mushroom cloud rose into the heavens.

The sheer force of the blast ripped apart the clouds above.

The powerful shockwave buffeted their vehicle, making it shake.

Everyone in the car stared at the inferno behind them, stunned into silence.

They couldn't believe it.

They had done that.

Lin Carter, however, simply smirked.

He wasn't the type to tolerate threats.

If they wanted to play rough, he'd collect interest first.

As for the main event?

He had all the time in the world.

A Call from Kang Tao

Before they even reached Night City, Lin Carter's comm buzzed.

Ling Sarah and Ethan Han were on the other end.

"Lin, I heard you pulled it off—and judging by the noise, you made quite a mess."

"What, is this a problem for Kang Tao?" Lin Carter asked nonchalantly.

Ling Sarah chuckled. "Hardly. We'd love it if you blew up Militech's headquarters while you were at it.

"Our relationship with them is already rock-bottom—it can't get any worse.

"I bet the higher-ups are thrilled right now."

Lin Carter quipped, "You guys are pretty easy to please. That's all it takes to make you happy?"

"If I really did blow up Militech HQ, would you set off fireworks?"

"If you manage that, we'll throw a full-blown celebration!" Ling Sarah laughed.

She seemed genuinely pleased with Lin Carter's success.

"Alright, let's get down to business."

She sent over coordinates—not far from the G8 Skyscraper in Cyber Night City.

"This is one of our hidden strongholds. Bring Kansas there—we'll meet you."

Lin Carter nodded. "Got it. See you soon."

After hanging up, he directed Shockwave to head for Cyber Night City at top speed.

As they passed through the North Oak District, Lin Carter instructed V, Jack, and Goro Takemura to get out.

Where he was going next was deep in Kang Tao territory.

And while Kang Tao had been friendly so far…

It never hurt to be cautious.

The Meeting with Kang Tao

Arriving at the designated location, Lin Carter stepped out with Lin Ember and their bound, unconscious hostage—Kansas Stevenson.

An elevator took them to a secure floor.

As soon as the doors slid open, he spotted Ling Sarah, already waiting.

"Mom!"

Lin Ember grinned and ran to her.

Lin Carter smirked. "Ms. Ling, good to see you again." He unceremoniously dumped Kansas onto the floor.

Ling Sarah barely glanced at him before turning back to Lin Carter with a smile.

"We're all on the same team now, so just call me Sarah."

"'Ms. Ling' sounds way too formal."

Lin Carter shrugged. "Whatever makes you happy."

She handed him several official documents—along with a 100-million-euro commission.

"The payment has been transferred. These documents confirm your 0.5% stake in Kang Tao, along with the property deed for your new villa."

"The rest includes application forms for insider access and a breakdown of your new benefits package."

Lin Carter skimmed through them. Nothing seemed off.

"Everything takes effect immediately upon linking to your personal network," Ling Sarah added. "Which means, technically, we're colleagues now."

Lin Carter waved dismissively. "Oh no, don't start with that. I'm not part of Kang Tao. Just here for the perks."

"Whatever you say." Ling Sarah's knowing smile remained.

Johnny Silverhand suddenly appeared beside Lin Carter, grinning.

"Well, well. Ain't this something?

"You wanted to burn down the corpos, but somehow you've joined them."

Lin Carter didn't miss a beat.

"Yeah, Johnny. I wrecked their shit and got paid for it.

"But some people tried to wreck the corpos—and ended up a data ghost."

Johnny's grin vanished.

His eye twitched.

Then, without a word, he disappeared.

Lin Carter smirked. Too easy.

Turning back to Ling Sarah, he gestured at Kansas.

"So, what's the plan for him?"

"We'll interrogate him first—to see how much he leaked," she replied, her expression cool.

"After that… it doesn't really matter. The board doesn't want him alive, anyway."

"Well, that makes things simpler," Lin Carter said.

He forwarded Shockwave's intercepted messages to Ling Sarah.

"So, basically, he didn't leak much?" She glanced over them, a flash of satisfaction in her eyes.

"Looks like it."

"In that case…" Her warm smile vanished.

She looked down at Kansas.

"When I report back to HQ…

"He's yours to deal with."

Free trail is available 🎉🎉🎉🎉

Advance chapter in PATREON

patreon.com/Achilles_Stein

patreon.com/Achilles_Stein