Chapter 194 – "A Caged Bird"
📢 [NetSignal – Encrypted Broadcast from the Undernet]
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🟦💿 TOP 30 POWER STONE LEGENDS 💿🟦🦾 CYBERPUNK: 2077 COMM-LINE TRANSMISSION 🦾>> SYSTEM STATUS: POWER CORE ONLINE>> SOURCE: USER BACKBONE NETWORK>> SIGNAL BOOST DETECTED – 30 TOP OPERATIVES IDENTIFIED>> INITIATING TRIBUTE...
💥 In the neon-soaked alleys of Night City, only the toughest stand out. These 30 cyber-souls didn't just survive — they charged the grid with raw energy. Because of them, this story keeps pulsing, page after page.
🔌 TOP 30 POWER STONE OPERATIVES 🔌⚡ DevilsArray⚡ DaoistahH8hp⚡ Indarius⚡ lomp⚡ INDRA32⚡ Roach_mobile⚡ SaintWeetard⚡ Drwall⚡ Demiurge_Ohara⚡ Cryotivity⚡ Alex_IK⚡ Koo_Znack⚡ KnuckledBehemoth⚡ AshGraveborn⚡ Demitri_9896⚡ Osiris_Dawns⚡ Derpy_Bird⚡ SaidElMane⚡ Renegade_Lemur⚡ Overshotfir979⚡ aayojibear⚡ Phavalve⚡ Descentofpotential⚡ leokratos⚡ Ain388⚡ Chirag_Mangla⚡ Edermask221⚡ Datboi9968⚡ Burning_Toast
🛠️ These legends aren't just names on a list — they're the chrome under the skin, the data behind the blade, the ones who power this ride through the underbelly of the future.
📡 So if you're jacked in and reading this... know that you're running on the pulse they provided.
From the Afterlife to Watson, from Pacifica to Arasaka Tower — your support echoes through every neon-lit street.
See you in the next chapter, chooms.📍 Transmission End 📍
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"Mr. Kenichiro, is it safe to leave my car downstairs?"
"This place is secure."
Kenichiro glanced at Karl, who had arrived as requested. His eyes swept briefly over the two mercs behind him.
"But you shouldn't have brought outsiders."
"You're the one who said this couldn't be handled over comms—that it had to be face-to-face. You sounded urgent, so I had my friends give me a lift."
Karl nodded toward Oliver and Jack, then turned back.
"Besides, you know who they are. They're already involved in this. And according to your own rule—that only those directly involved can participate—they qualify. So, can we talk or not?"
"If they can keep their mouths shut."
Kenichiro let it go. While Karl still rubbed him the wrong way, he trusted him—and by extension, his team. Skill mattered more than manners.
The more capable hands, the better.
"I called you here about the ninja who's been doing the hunting."
"Thought so."
Karl nodded.
"When I mentioned it over comms, I could hear your breath catch for just a second."
"An unnecessary observation."
Kenichiro didn't take the bait. He simply handed Karl a datachip.
"Everything we know about her is on this."
Her?
"Aren't they part of Arasaka's Lone Wolf Hundred?"
That elite black-ops unit—detailed files on its members were locked behind the highest levels of Arasaka clearance. Even Hanako Arasaka, when issuing a hit on a former assassin involved in a plot against her, had only passed along minimal intel.
Karl had assumed whoever was capable of tracking one of them must be just as elite.
Apparently not.
"She's just a regular Arasaka ninja?"
"If you underestimate her, you'll die."
"She, huh?"
When Karl accepted the chip, he caught the nuance in Kenichiro's Japanese—a clear use of the feminine third-person.
"A kunoichi."
He muttered the word under his breath, then glanced at Oliver, who—without a Japanese translator implant—was clueless.
The glance was instinct. Oliver was obsessed with ninja flicks. Karl used to think he was watching trashy content. Turned out this time, it was legit.
"Yeah. A kunoichi."
Kenichiro continued, voice flat but serious. "She didn't make the Lone Wolf Hundred—not because she lacked skill, but because of her bloodline. In terms of power… even I feel uneasy facing her."
Karl raised a brow.
Yeah, right.
That was classic Kenichiro: downplaying himself to make sure Karl understood the threat.
Truth was, for someone like Kenichiro to feel fear? That list was probably two names long—and this woman wasn't on it.
"I'll be careful."
Karl took the chip, automatically moving to stash it in his pocket—only for Kenichiro to stop him with a frown.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Taking it back to view on my rig?"
Kenichiro scowled.
"Your systems could be compromised. Taking this off-site is a risk. Review it here."
"Seriously?"
Karl stared at the chip, hesitating.
He wasn't fond of jacking random chips on the spot.
But…
It was fine.
He trusted Kenichiro enough. Plus, Oliver and Jack were right there, and T-BUG was monitoring remotely. If things went south, he wouldn't be alone.
Karl slotted the chip and began scanning the incoming data.
Codename: Chiyome.
He blinked.
Chiyome…
He knew the reference. Mochizuki Chiyome—a shrine maiden turned legendary ninja during Japan's Sengoku era. Classic Arasaka. Recycled, romanticized names.
Age: 25. Taken in by Arasaka at age 3. Began training at age 5. Twenty years of experience. Mastery of the five shinobi disciplines: cuisine, scent, poison, chi, and physical combat. Top of her class. Taken as Kenichiro's personal disciple at age 12.
Karl froze.
"Wait… she's your student?"
He looked up, stunned.
"So this ninja—this assassin—is one of yours?"
"Even teacher and student can differ in ideology and loyalty."
Kenichiro didn't deny it.
"Her allegiance lies with Lady Hanako's mother."
Arasaka Michiko.
So that's who it was.
At least for now, that made her... an ally?
Karl processed it quickly.
The target ninja had taken part in the plot to assassinate Hanako Arasaka.
The one hunting him—Chiyome—was loyal to Michiko Arasaka, Hanako's mother.
Was this a mother seeking justice for her daughter?
Or a cleanup operation?
No—likely the first.
Karl dismissed the latter. Michiko only had one child: Hanako. And Hanako had shown no signs of ambition or betrayal. If anything, she wanted to step away from it all peacefully.
There was no internal power struggle—no deathmatch between heirs.
This wasn't Saburo versus Yorinobu.
After finishing the file, Karl looked at Kenichiro.
"So what do you want us to do?"
"Stop her."
Kenichiro's tone was colder now.
"Even if she's acting under Lady Michiko's indirect approval, we can't allow her to complete the mission."
"Why not? A mother avenging her daughter—what's wrong with that?"
"This is a noh play. Everyone knows it's fake, but we all perform anyway to maintain the illusion."
Kenichiro's eyes narrowed.
"Revenge must come from us—or from those we approve. Because Lady Hanako is no longer a caged bird trapped in Kyoto."
Karl understood the subtext.
This wasn't about vengeance.
It was about respect.
Arasaka's upper echelons needed to understand—Hanako wasn't some passive doll.
She was her own person now.
.
.
.
📢 Chooms, Listen Up! 📢
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