Chapter 171: The Hundred Ninja Squad (EXTRA)

ALRIGHT, WE'RE GOING FULL CRAZY HERE!This chapter 171 is an extra, yes, BUT listen up: if you want more extra chapters these days... every 5-star review = 1 extra chapter!Yes, I'm a greedy little goblin starving for stars KJAJAJAKAKABribery works, folks 😌P.S.: Who's your favorite female character? Mine's obviously Lucy 😍

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Breaking into the mansion and wiping out Fujiwara Yoshinaga's security team didn't take Karl much time—about thirty seconds, give or take. However, dealing with the biomechanical guard dog took him a full two minutes.

Not because the thing was particularly strong, even with its built-in machine gun that popped out of its back. The issue was that Karl found it interesting. He wanted to capture it intact and bring it back for Oliver to mess around with, which meant he had to be extra careful. In the end, he had to overclock his neural response system, enduring a sharp jolt of pain through his nerves just to outmaneuver the dog and hack into it with a monowire connection before it could react.

Still, not a bad deal.

He patted the synthetic leather and artificial fur covering the mechanical dog's head—it felt just like the real thing. Satisfied, Karl stood up and glanced over at Kenichiro, who was still scanning Fujiwara Yoshinaga's mind for intel.

"Not done yet, Mr. Kenichiro? Jade's been waiting to gut this bastard."

Karl gestured toward Jade, but the man immediately shook his head.

"No rush, Karl. Take your time, Mr. Kenichiro. I can wait."

At this point, Jade wasn't nervous anymore. If anything, he was still trying to process what had just happened.

Karl had told them he'd go in first to scout and clear the area. Jade had expected some sort of signal—maybe a call for backup, maybe an order to charge in. Instead, what he got was Karl's message: "All clear."

… All clear?

With his Lexington gripped tightly, Jade cautiously stepped into the mansion. What he saw left him stunned—Karl really had cleaned the place out.

All eight of Fujiwara's professional security personnel—the kind that could wipe out an entire gang squad—had gone down without a fight.

Jade had mentally prepared himself for a brutal, drawn-out firefight.

And for what?

The enemies didn't even last a single round against Karl.

Now, standing among the bodies, Jade finally understood why Karl—Night City's infamous merc KK—had such a terrifying reputation.

Meanwhile, Kenichiro remained focused, his optical implants flickering as data streamed through them. He stayed silent for another full minute before finally disconnecting from the half-conscious Fujiwara.

"For this job, I'm adding an extra 100,000 eddies to your end-of-month paycheck."

Karl's monthly salary was around 300,000 eddies.

An extra 100K?

That was a third of his entire earnings.

It even made Karl pause, his hand still resting on the mechanical dog's head.

"This job's worth 100K? Seriously?"

Karl frowned. It hadn't seemed like anything special. If anything, it felt way too easy.

The detective work had some difficulty, sure, but the mansion's security?

Any decent merc crew could have breached it just fine.

"The bonus isn't for the job itself. I found something valuable in his comms data."

Kenichiro turned to Jade and gave him a slight nod.

"You can handle your personal business now. This man has no further use."

With that, Kenichiro started walking toward the main hall, subtly gesturing for Karl to follow.

Jade noticed the exchange but didn't say anything. No need to get involved in things that didn't concern him.

His real concern was right in front of him—the bastard responsible for his friends' deaths.

Karl trailed behind Kenichiro, stepping through the shattered doorway as the older man moved through the living room, pressing various hidden switches and panels.

"So, the detective is locked up in some secret room?"

"She's in the basement. I'm looking for something else."

Kenichiro's expression darkened slightly.

"Something far more important—a piece of evidence proving someone has betrayed Miss Hanako."

"Evidence?"

Karl listened and realized something.

"So, Fujiwara Yoshinaga was involved in that incident?"

"A small fry exiled from his original family, unaware of his own insignificance."

Speaking in slightly awkward but clearly Chinese phrases, Kenichiro pressed a button under the glass table. Under Carl's watchful gaze, the glass table began to rise, revealing an oval-shaped metal pillar emerging from the ground.

On that pillar, there was a recessed slot with a password input panel.

"You already know the password?"

"On the day he lost the family power struggle... Hmph, people like him always cling to past failures. Those who remain trapped in their past defeats will never achieve future success."

Kenichiro spoke in an almost lecturing tone, but instead of entering a password, he simply scanned the input panel with his cybernetic eye. The panel immediately flipped over, revealing a hidden document underneath.

Clearly, such rudimentary security measures were no match for an elite's cybernetic infiltration.

The document was paper-based. Kenichiro reached out and retrieved it.

"Using physical documents to secure leverage, trying to prevent being discarded... A foolish decision. The moment they dared to entertain thoughts of betraying Miss Hanako, survival was never an option for them."

Listening to Kenichiro's overly loyal and particularly emphatic statement, Carl rubbed his arms.

Probably, most likely, he was talking about Fujiwara Yoshinaga and the people behind him who wanted to move against Hanako?

After scanning the document for a while, Kenichiro turned to Carl and unexpectedly handed it to him.

"I can read this?"

A bit surprised, Carl lowered his arms and reached out to take the document. Kenichiro's next words made his expression turn slightly serious.

"Mercenary KK."

Mercenary KK?

That had nothing to do with his work at Dangerous Girls.

Switching to a more professional mindset, Carl nodded.

"Is this a contract?"

"This contract must not leave any trace of connection to your team. The total payout is 320,000 eddies. 200,000 will be your operational budget, while your personal cut is 120,000 eddies. I need you to hire trustworthy mercs to eliminate a target."

Understood. Outsourcing the contract while taking 120,000 eddies as his cut, and using 200,000 as funding to hire the right people.

"Who's the target?"

Karl only cared about that.

200,000 eddies—this wasn't a small job.

"One of the members of the Hundred Ninja Squad."

Hearing Kenichiro's words, Karl's expression turned completely serious.

The Hundred Ninja Squad—he had heard of them.

A legendary unit personally selected by Saburo Arasaka himself, the most elite protection force within Arasaka Corporation.