"An 80-square-ter cozy nest, plus a gentle and good wife~"
"The kid can smoothly make it to the world club, kicking around and winning championships easily~"
V is soone who doesn’t hold grudges, more precisely, doesn’t hold grudges against her own people, and Lille disappearing for two years didn’t really count as a grudge. After the car sped a few laps on Evil Land and Jack took her through a few thrilling super transformations, she quickly forgot all those past events, smiling like a foolish girl.
By now, the car had already arrived near the forr border wall—
The long wall had mostly collapsed, and the forr heavily ard customs checkpoint was now in ruins.
The first ti Lille, V, and Jack t was in this small town, but there’s no one in the town now.
The road was artificially altered into a small path, directly leading to a collapsed gap, clearly sothing Night City did afterward.
On the vast Evil Land, the solar panels were either reclaid by Military Technology or destroyed.
So Iron Beetle drones floated in the sky, seemingly on alert, but primarily for early warning purposes, not the fully ard blockade of the past.
After all, compared to Military Technology, Night City was still lacking in strength, and it was unrealistic to complete full-scale construction within two years.
Lille curiously asked, "What happened to this place?"
"What else, Military Technology got scared by us."
V interrupted her newly learned song "The Requirents of Night City Aren’t High", spreading her hands with pride and arrogance, just like Jack, though he couldn’t speak at the mont.
"Military Technology demanded an increase in the contract amount, Ryan wouldn’t agree, or rather, he didn’t dare, so I organized Adkaduo to raid the Military Technology Forces along the border line, sotis outside, sotis just nearby.
Eventually, they didn’t dare co anymore.
I must say, those Netherworld Dog’s stashed away anti-air missiles are really useful, even managed to hit a Military Technology plane."
Lille understood.
Clearly, this is a very direct approach: The greater significance of Night City’s border wall was that it was ceded by Ryan.
Ceding the seaport to Arasaka and the land port to Military Technology was a balancing strategy.
When Arasaka left, Military Technology naturally gained the advantage, either retreat or go hard.
Lille had warned Ryan to beco independent, and Ryan also realized that sticking to the old path would inevitably get him crushed by corporations, so he could only rely on fellow Night City residents and the Netherworld Dog who ca and beca one of them.
V pointed to the sky, "At that ti, Military Technology dispatched a really badass plane, supersonic, instantly killed a bunch of people, and even had bombers!"
Lille raised an eyebrow, "Bombers? How big?"
"Uh... aren’t they all the sa size?"
Clearly, Lille’s concept of a bomber differed from V’s knowledge, or perhaps from the world’s perception.
The world’s military developnt leans towards miniaturization and mobility, with large strategic units, the most famous being Arasaka’s aircraft carrier and Military Technology’s sky fortress.
The standard fighter jets are sowhat smaller than Lille’s perception, with their primary weapons being large-caliber cannons and missiles.
It seems that the "bomber" V ntioned is also a modified version of a fighter jet’s ammunition, suggesting Military Technology had attempted other directions.
But this world doesn’t have that many resources available to them, and New Arica wasn’t well-heeled either.
"Hansen fired five missiles from Night City in a whoosh, and one of them hit a plane; by then, we had already captured the border wall, and Adkaduo had pre-emptively dug temporary air raid shelters nearby...
But still, a lot of people died."
By the end, V’s tone beca a little downcast.
The result was clear, Military Technology considered costs to have exceeded expectations, and risks as uncontrollable.
If they could still accept a war, they wouldn’t have agreed to the ceasefire agreent a few years ago. New Arica had entered a recuperation period after signing the agreent. Under V and Jack’s leadership, Adkaduo’s strong presence at Night City’s border was enough to make them consider alternative solutions.
Moreover, the number of Adkaduo exceeded imagination, with at least half of the millions of Wanderers capable of combat. Though not to the extent of the Death Soldiers, harassing their dostic facilities and the US-xico border’s transport line would be enough to cause them beverage-worthy headaches.
Control over Night City’s border could be returned, as the city did not have the capability to attack and capture Southern California; but internal facilities and the US-xico border greatly affected production and trade, leading New Arica to decide to focus their efforts on these issues.
Without the border, everything beca freer.
Seeing Lille keep quiet, V started humming whatever Lille taught her: "Commuting back and forth smoothly every day, with no rush hour traffic~"
"Going outdoors for exercise every day, the blue sky earns money~"
"Ah, the weather’s a bit bad now."
However, commuting was indeed smooth—
New Arica had been continuously imposing trade controls on Night City, although President Miles struggled to restrain the giant corporations, it still reduced trade exchanges significantly.
However... with every loss cos a gain; as the rchants from New Arica decreased, the once displaced Adkaduo and even other Wanderer Clans increased.
There are many Ghost Towns outside Night City, now taken over by the arriving Adkaduo Clan, while further away are other Wanderer Clans, so essentially, Adkaduo has beco Night City’s natural border patrol.
Most cities discriminate against Wanderers, portraying them as rapists, murderers, and robbers under propaganda, only in Night City, Adkaduo beca official strategic cooperative labor, living far better than other Wanderers.
Still, Wanderers indeed form the main force of robbing companies, many even abandoning their moral bottom lines to join the Chaotic Blade Association, so border checks remain necessary—
Now, most Wanderers first trade with Adkaduo, and Adkaduo also conducts strict scrutiny on these outsiders to maintain their status.
Border checks must harbor a notably exclusionary sentint, which helps them stay sharp, while understanding outsiders facilitates smoother work.
Lille slightly nodded: Ryan did a great job, not the kind of politician who simply seized power through deceit.
There were quite a few vehicles on the road, and to make driving smoother, Wanderers would occasionally repair the highways of their own accord...
Of course, there were certainly covert conflicts, which couldn’t be avoided, but overall things improved.
Just on the Evil Land around Night City, Lille perceived positive changes, and previously, he had been quite worried:
Political institutions should ideally be spontaneously, independently ford rather than forcibly transplanted and air-dropped; only the forr aligns with the city’s current situation and adapts to changes within the city. This adaptation process also injects developnt spirit, rather than extinguishing their initiative.
[Illuminati: Inefficient thod, Night City’s governnt lacks control.]
Lille disagreed.
"How can you judge it inefficient without seeing the effect?"
[Illuminati: Indeed, perhaps I should update my database.]
The Illuminati suddenly knelt down, leaving Lille speechless: The Illuminati, seemingly an AI amalgamation of the thoughts of famous figures in politics, history, economics, and philosophy, seed as cowardly as a little dog.
Perhaps guessing Lille’s thought, the Illuminati added:
[Illuminati: Actually, my model does have so opinions on this, but Night City’s societal form has indeed exceeded the predecessors’ understanding; even post-WWII, I haven’t recorded data significantly impacting the model, and if any, those have been negative examples.]
[Illuminati: I indeed have misconceptions, it’s not sucking up to you.]
Lille was even more speechless, and indeed felt strange...
Regardless, Lille continued admiring the "booming" Evil Land, thinking that with so many people, perhaps big things could be done here.
V didn’t notice Lille’s communication with his AI assistant at all, extending a hand out of the window, feeling the wind and rain:
"I still have ti to go to Berlin, London, and the Alps, wander the mall, and go to the seaside, such leisurely days~"
Although it was a not-so-beautiful rainy day, V felt so good that she suddenly hugged Lille tightly while singing—
"People’s relationships are friendly, strangers nod with smiles~"
"Give a smile... I’m telling you to smile!"
Lille turned his head stiffly, pulling a face that said, "Go ahead and try to make smile with that hand over my face."
Little octopus, seeing this, bent its eyes and tapped on Jack.
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