Players Invade Cyberpunk-Chapter 798 - 258: Defeating Prometheus

"Mom, are you going to Cuba!?"

David looked at Gloria in shock, thinking that his ears must have been overloaded and burnt out by the Mewtwo.

But... where is Cuba?

Until today, David didn't even know there was a place called Cuba. Huangshan Academy's history classes only covered various economic cases and the history of Huang Ban's rise, not even mentioning the Cuban Missile Crisis.

He quickly pulled up a map on the city network, searching for the place called Cuba.

Oh my, it's not the name of a city, and it's not even in California, let alone within the United States.

That place is as distant from the United States as a rabbit's severed tail, across the sea from Florida, how could it be so far?

"Yes, I have to be on a business trip for a while. It's a very important task for me..."

Gloria looked at David with some reluctance. She didn't know when she would be able to return, perhaps not even in time for David's coming-of-age ceremony.

But what Gloria couldn't anticipate was that David's reaction to hearing the name Cuba wasn't reluctance, but excitement.

"I want to go to Cuba too! I'll go with you."

"You still have to study...."

"I've completed all the courses at school, and it's almost time for my internship. I can apply to my mentor for an early internship assignment."

Gloria clearly underestimated David's diligence at school. Since last year, after Lin Miao had a talk with David and the family got out of financial troubles, David, who was already hardworking, plunged even more into his studies. In half a year, he became known throughout Huangshan Academy as an outstanding student... or perhaps, the formerly outstanding civilian student.

The discriminatory voices against David in school still existed, and many people had used foul language towards him, but David fought back with his fists.

Some wanted to use their family's influence to teach this reckless kid a lesson, but after the fire in Watson District, all they got was a slap from their family.

Offending David was equivalent to offending Gloria, and offending Gloria was equivalent to offending Lin Miao, which further meant offending those insane mercenaries who wouldn't spare even a cockroach if they threatened to kill your entire family.

So his situation had improved significantly compared to before.

Faced with her son's request, Gloria refused David without a second thought.

"No way! Even if it's for an internship, I would arrange for Mr. Lin to place you at ERO or the Stone Ridge Mountain industrial base."

What kind of place is Cuba?

Gloria had already done her homework this week, learning that it was a devil's land with one drug factory after another, chaotic wars between warlords, hundreds of conflicts over fifty years resulting in nearly six million deaths. Compared to that place, Night City could be considered virtuous, and the deceased Zhengfa Chengtailang could go there and receive an outstanding youth achievement award.

Even Lin Miao himself had recently experienced multiple assassination attempts by local drug dealers, one after another, leaving her uncertain if she would return alive from this trip.

How could a mother take her son to a place like that to execute a task, does she look crazy?

Yet, who was David?

A young man who admired Night City mercenaries famous worldwide, rebelliousness flowed in his veins. You tell him not to do something, and he just might do it?

Refused by his mom, David was well-prepared mentally and didn't argue further. He had already made up his mind, actions are always more effective than words.

————

Regret.

This word accompanies most people of this era throughout their lives. They desperately climb upwards just to have fewer regrets.

But in reality, even if you stand at the pinnacle of a nation's power, regrets still exist.

This was something Rosalind Miles deeply understood.

Unlike the previous two presidents of New America, before her presidency, she was an executive director in military technology. During her campaign, everyone expected Miles to become a spokesperson for military technology interests, turning Elizabeth Criss's decades-long efforts to ashes.

Yet, something shocking happened to everyone.

In her first move as president, Miles initiated a power struggle with military technology.

Although today's New America isn't a two-party system, the New America government and military technology form a kind of alternative two-party system, each controlling parts of the collective power.

As the president of a nation, could Miles endure this?

When is a president's power at its greatest?

The answer is during wartime.

Realizing that consolidating power from military technology was impossible under normal circumstances, Miles did not hesitate to launch a unification war, rallying most of New America's power under her command with the slogan to reunite the United States of America, advancing towards the lands of the Western Free States.

Ultimately, it was proven that the Free States, ruled by corporations, were no match for the violent onslaught of a national institution; they crumbled easily, facing little to no notable resistance as they advanced, with enthusiastic support from the people wherever they went.

However, New America, having been on the decline for over eighty years, was no longer the global beacon it once was, with its military technology on par with third-rate countries like Myanmar and Bangladesh.

At the final hurdle, the most crucial one—Night City, they stumbled.

Even though Southern California sided with New America, facing the resurgent Huang Ban returning to North American soil, especially when they brought even the Kujira to the coastline, Miles had no choice but to pause and negotiate.