Players Invade Cyberpunk-Chapter 848 - 274: For a Company, Only Money Matters—Nothing Else Is Important_2

Lin Miao didn't say anything, just shot a sarcastic glance at Handz. Not everyone has the courage to bet ahead of time, especially since this guy previously hoped the Cubans would kill him. Even if you lent him the guts, he wouldn't dare to agree now.

He turned to Reyes and said,

"How did you mess things up in Santo Domingo so much that you let the Sixth Street Gang of terrorists rule the streets and harm citizens for decades?"

"Why are you talking as if you've already won?"

V was gripping the steering wheel, having heard everything Lin Miao said to several intermediaries.

What V couldn't understand is how Lin Miao dared to stir such chaos in all of Night City and wasn't afraid of the corporations settling scores.

Even refusing to spare the Sixth Street Gang, knowing that Military Science backs them in Night City. If he moves against the Sixth Street Gang, Military Science might turn hostile, and then who will back him?

Just a minor player like Kangtao?

The other side would have to be insane to protect him.

Lin Miao retorted, "So V, you've worked in Huang Ban, what do you think these companies value the most?"

"Companies? What else could it be?"

Looking back now, V realized she never found joy in working.

"Isn't it just power and money?"

"You're right, V, the focus between companies and governments differs. Companies vie for power to make more money, while governments chase funds to climb higher and gain more control. For these goals, both sides are willing to pay any worthwhile price."

"In other words, as long as the money is right, groups like the Tiger Claw Gang, Sixth Street Gang, and Vortex Gang are essentially unimportant to them."

"Are you trying to buy Huang Ban with money? Make them abandon the Tiger Claw Gang?"

V seemed to hear an enormous joke, laughing heartily in the driver's seat.

What is Huang Ban?

A multinational giant with a market cap near a trillion Orokin, Lin Miao's Horizon Corporation, despite a promising future, now merely achieves monthly flows in the billions and just broke the ten-digit market cap mark. Selling Horizon Corporation to Huang Ban wouldn't even make Mizuki agree to withdraw from the Tiger Claw Gang.

Moreover, Mizuki's decision isn't final; Huang Ban's headquarters would need Huang Ban Sanlang's agreement.

"Did I say to make them abandon the Tiger Claw Gang?"

Lin Miao asked.

"Under Okada Wako's leadership, the Tiger Claw Gang is thriving, after all. The ones dying are just a bunch of Night City marauding high-ups."

"...What kind of price did you pay?"

V didn't even look at the road; she just stared seriously at Lin Miao in the passenger seat.

"You wouldn't have gone to sell your ass to Mizuki, right?"

Lin Miao rolled his eyes.

"If my ass were worth that much, I'd sell it ten times a day without repetition."

He explained leisurely,

"These gangs, in the end, are nothing more than black gloves left by corporate conglomerates to control the lower classes, while also handling some inconvenient tasks. In exchange, the gangs profit from gambling, drugs, and prostitution."

"But in the face of real interests, what do a few gangs amount to? The right price, and Huang Ban Sanlang might even make his daughter sell herself."

"I've already agreed on technology exchanges with New America, Military Science, Kangtao, and the Ye family, releasing water purification technology to several companies, while keeping core parts secret. How long do you think Huang Ban will stay complacent?"

Even though Lin Miao and the players like to jokingly call Huang Ban Sanlang the Emperor of Neon, Huang Ban is not unrivaled in Neon; the Far East Co-prosperity Sphere, composed of Mitsubishi, Honda, and other Japanese companies, is there to challenge them.

Moreover, though Military Science and Huang Ban appear to be bitter enemies, both sides are well aware internally.

Why do they fight fiercely?

Isn't it because the major portions are consumed by the European Community and Pan-African Alliance, leaving insufficient leftovers for the two to share, prompting fierce battles?

It's all about money.

"I've signed new agreements with several companies, letting them take the lion's share of the neural modulator market, while I just collect patent fees. In return, I demand they reign in their gangs and help me acquire the NCPD."

"Also, I've prepared a proposal for the Sea Area Plan, intending to build a thorium reactor on the Taiping Continent for power supply and use water purification technology in Night City's offshore area to carve out a clean water zone for a resort. This is unique globally, and by then, partnering to profit in Taiping Continent is far more lucrative than fixating on gang scraps."

"If I perish, they gain nothing."

Without ample certainty, how could Lin Miao possibly lose his head and promise players a city-wide gang purge?

There are no eternal brothers in this world, only eternal interests; when the money is right, there's nothing you can't negotiate.

"Including Huang Ban?"

"Including Huang Ban."

"Then is Huang Ban still sending Adam's Hammer to Yunding?"

The car's radio and news were playing; V couldn't help but know.

Lin Miao smiled and said,

"You've got to keep face, after all. Unlike the Vortex Gang or the Sixth Street Gang, the Tiger Claw Gang isn't a group of proletarian thugs; they have considerable assets publicly. Their leaders won't sit idly by, holding plenty of blackmail against Huang Ban. If aware Huang Ban sold them out, they'd surely divulge, so better to use my hand to finish them all, then send Adam's Hammer over to make a show, handle this beautifully, and let no one have a word to say."

Gangs fight tooth and nail, but it's all about the naked exchange of interests, leaving just the cannon fodder below to genuinely sacrifice their lives.

The tremendous pressures many envisaged Lin Miao would endure from all sides never really existed from the start.

The war was over when it began.

For this, V only found it dull.