In other words, this was essentially a war-performance loan that Horizon Corporation would be paying back in installments with its record in Cuba.

And even if Lin Miao really managed to take Cuba, he'd be treated as a long-term threat by the European Community in the future.

A little brother with teeth is a little brother; otherwise he's just cannon fodder. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

After thinking for a while, he finally said,

"I have to go back and apply to the President and Congress for these things. The specifics will still depend on their vote."

After he finished, he picked the list up again and looked it over twice, then noticed a few more strange items.

"Why are all the applications here for cargo transport only? Where's the application for aircraft to transport soldiers?"

Was Horizon Corporation's Soldiers supposed to swim to Cuba?

"Reporting to the Secretary of Defense, I've already made arrangements for my people. They just need to squeeze into the cargo hold together with the weapons and equipment, that's all."

?

What do you mean "just squeeze into the cargo containers in the hold and it'll be fine"?

You think you're shipping livestock?

Even the mold that's never treated Marines like human beings understands you don't cram amphibious, dual-purpose, bipedal pack animals into the cargo hold like that.

You really aren't afraid of triggering a mutiny, huh?

Soldiers treated like that are supposed to have combat effectiveness?

The list had the Secretary of Defense's face covered in black lines; he really couldn't figure out how a leader like Lin Miao, who didn't treat people as people, had managed to raise a unit that could eat Netherworld Dogs and the Chaotic Blade Association alive.

Lin Miao's plan was, of course, all about saving money.

Log the players off, stuff their bodies into containers, then dump them out when the ship arrives, let them log back in—most games don't even load that part anyway, at most you get a cutscene.

Either the plane gets shot down in midair and plunges to the ground, or the ship wrecks and sinks.

By the time you can control your character again, you're either waking up hugging a plank on the beach, or already surrounded by enemies.

And by renting one less transport plane, he could save enough money to buy more armaments and industrial aid, right?

Let the players suffer; I'll take the blame.

When he heard about Lin Miao's plan, the Secretary of Defense completely unloaded on him.

We mold have never treated Soldiers like people, but that's always after they retire. How do you still manage to be even more inhuman than us?

And you're in the middle of a war!

Even the mold couldn't watch Lin Miao's operation anymore, and flat-out stated that they could not cut the transport-plane economy-class budget.

You're broke, right? I'll help you upgrade their seats. New America won't stand by and watch its little brother's Soldiers be treated this badly.

Come on, hand me your phone.

As the saying goes, experts exchange blows, but stop short of the kill.

After some back-and-forth, Lin Miao reluctantly agreed to put a portion of the players on airlifted near-shore landing craft as the vanguard, launching the first wave of attacks after the bombing to open a window for follow-up airlifts.

And for this war, New America would send a batch of military advisors to provide operational guidance.

That was certainly a good thing. Even though the players had an external brain—the "official forum"—plus their own command system and war AI, advice from contemporary professionals was still very important.

And Cuba would surely have learned of New America's intentions by now; with negotiations failed, they would inevitably start preparing for war.

And so time ticked toward the key nodes of both sides' plans, second by second, and even the citizens of Night City could feel the tension in the air growing ever since Horizon Corporation had been bombed that day.

Meanwhile, over in Cuba—

Knowing this affair couldn't end peacefully, they naturally sped up purchases of European Community military equipment. Massive capital outflows inevitably stoked the drug lords' hunger for money.

On the very day relations with New America completely broke down, Gloria and the others, posing as the Chaotic Blade Association, wrapped up their preliminary agreement and, under the eager gazes of the drug lords, boarded a Hovercar and departed Cuba.

Right now the drug lords planned to cozy up to the Chaotic Blade Association and, once the fighting started, have these Chaotic Blade friends stir up serious trouble for Horizon Corporation or New America in North America, tipping the scales of victory in their favor.

But in reality, Gloria never left. She just looped around and slipped back in from an unmonitored stretch of coast.

Lin Miao and the others were about to hit them; going back now would just waste time. Better to stay and keep gathering intel, laying the groundwork for the subsequent offensive.

Their destination was the Sapata Swamp Area, where guerrillas were rumored to have been sighted, and which was also one of the preselected landing points.

Located in one of the counties in the southern part of Matanzas Province under Havana's control, this area used to be a Spanish colony.

Vast land, sparse population—over four thousand square kilometers with only a few thousand people living there, and swamps and tidal flats everywhere.

Because it's far from human habitation, some vegetation and forests survived here. It used to be a famous habitat of Cuban caimans—but that was in the past. Now you won't find a single crocodile, only a few small villages clinging to the coastal plains, growing tobacco.

Now disguised as tourists, Gloria and her group arrived at this place known as Pig Bay.

The ground beneath their feet was soft and marshy; the warm sea breeze washed over their faces, giving everyone—who'd been tense the whole time in Havana—a rare sense of relaxation.

The Killer Demon was even giving David a history lesson about the place as they walked.

"Back in April 1961, historically speaking, the United States CIA directed a group of Batista-government exiles who'd fled to the United States to land here and launch a surprise attack on the Cuban revolutionary government led by Caster, aiming to overthrow the rulers in Havana and bring this place back under United States control. But the revolutionary leaders Caster and Che Guevara personally came to Pig Bay to command the defense, crushed the United States offensive, and then smoothly swung Cuba into the socialist camp represented by the Soviet Union. Later this episode became known as the Bay of Pigs Incident."