Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Returning in Black Clothes (2)
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Asecure Corporation, Eastern Suburbs Branch Manager's Office.
A strikingly young man slammed a stack of documents onto the desk like he was discarding trash.
"Is this really something a branch manager should be saying?"
He was Anderson, the president's fourth son and the executive director dispatched from headquarters.
Anderson openly scolded the branch manager, who was old enough to be his father.
"Our market share in the surrounding districts has been cut in half, and you're still talking about just sitting back and watching?"
The middle-aged man tensed up, carefully choosing his words before speaking.
"Executive Director, what I meant was... we should approach this more cautiously. The Radiance Church here has enough power to push out all the existing mafia forces and establish themselves. So—"
Anderson snorted derisively.
"Cautious about what, exactly? Beating some mafia? You think we couldn't wipe them out if we wanted to, and that's why we've left them alone?"
He clicked his tongue and continued.
"No. That's not it. We just didn't need to. Those thugs scared the rich folks in the suburbs into handing over their money to us on a silver platter. It was a perfectly orchestrated setup, and then these cult fanatics barge in and ruin the whole thing!"
Anderson glared at the branch manager again.
"And while all this was going down, what exactly has the branch manager been doing?"
"W-Well..."
"I don't want to hear it. How long are you going to drag this out in this backwater dump, quaking in your boots? I got impatient and handled it myself. I blew up one of their shops, so everyone should have gotten the message by now."
At Anderson's words, the other man's face drained of color.
The branch manager, trembling unnaturally, was about to say something when—
Bang—!
The office door flew open violently, and someone rushed in panting.
"What the hell?!"
Anderson was about to snap at the rude intrusion when the employee blurted out in a frantic voice.
"Report! We've lost contact with the patrol teams outside. They're overdue for check-in...!"
"What? They've already made their move?"
Anderson clicked his tongue. He'd poked the bear first, but he hadn't planned on an all-out war. Wiping out the church would mean sweeping the entire sprawling suburbs, and aside from the affluent neighborhoods, the rest were just beggar dens.
So he'd figured it was better to keep things tense like this—stir up some conflict to boost security subscriptions, then toss the unprofitable zones to them under the guise of negotiation, like some generous handout.
That's how they'd always handled the mafia too.
Those guys never dreamed of challenging downtown corporations. They always wanted to negotiate, creating an atmosphere of fear for the residents while quietly partnering with security firms under the table. Symbiotic partners, in a way.
'But these church nuts... they're crazier than I thought.'
Charging in without even testing the waters.
Still, creating this standoff was partly intentional, so it wasn't all bad.
'No, but... they're getting too cocky.'
He made up his mind. Even if they negotiated, he'd first drill into them the gap in power.
The executive director thought that inwardly as he irritably asked.
"So... which team didn't report back?"
The employee, face ashen, squeezed out the words with effort.
"...All of them."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ On the road linking the suburbs to downtown, black smoke rose from the wreckage of shattered vehicles.
Armored cars lay mangled and hideous in spots all around.
Security company soldiers sprawled dead in heaps.
Even the wreckage of aerial support AVs, shot down and smoldering.
It was the result of one hasty misjudgment.
All the forces from Asecure Corporation's Eastern Suburbs Branch in District 1 had vanished or been neutralized in less than half a day. Whoever held command at the time panicked and tried to pull the remaining troops out of the suburbs...
But the end result was just these few prisoners, caught amid overturned armored vehicles.
"......."
The captured security company employees knelt with heads bowed.
One of them, Anderson, scanned the surroundings with terrified eyes.
"........."
Mercenaries with clearly top-tier combat cyberware surrounded them.
Some faces even looked vaguely familiar.
'Th-That guy...!'
He'd definitely seen that face somewhere. Anderson desperately racked his brain.
'Right, the roster...!'
A page from an old document surfaced in his memory.
A list of elite mercenaries the company had once tried to recruit. The top name was that man. He'd vanished at some point, presumed dead from Cybernetic Rage, but here he was.
Too late, he realized several others looked familiar too.
'My God...'
Sensing the caliber of the force gathered here, Anderson's mind reeled. Everything felt beyond comprehension, outside the realm of common sense. And people fear what they can't understand.
He began pleading belatedly.
"H-Hey...! Let me see your leader! I'm Executive Director Anderson of Asecure Corporation!"
"......"
"I'll pay ransom! Whatever you want, just name it and let me go! Harm me, and headquarters will send an army! It'll be all-out war then!"
At that moment, a casual kick slammed into his face.
Thud—!
"Gahk!"
Anderson spat out broken teeth and crawled on the ground. The mercenary roughly yanked him up by the hair.
To the man, who could only babble incoherently with his jaw dislocated, the former elite mercenary said quietly.
"When innocent people die, the war has already begun."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ In the downtown headquarters of mid-tier security firm Asecure Corporation, the reports kept coming.
"Contact with the Eastern Branch has been lost?"
The middle-aged man sunk into the luxury leather seat spoke in a deep, resonant voice. His secretary bowed her head in reply.
"Yes, sir."
"Hm... How long has it been since we dispatched Anderson there?"
"The Executive Director arrived just the day before yesterday, and the latest report was seven hours ago."
"Not a comms glitch—this city doesn't have those. Something's wrong, then. That hotheaded nature of his was bound to cause a big mistake someday."
The secretary flinched involuntarily at the cold voice. Even discussing the possible death of his own son, there wasn't a hint of agitation.
The middle-aged man spoke again.
"We got reports that this church group was no small fry from the start. Even a mangy dog bites harder at home. No need to take losses in that beggar pit over nothing. For this incident, whip up some documents and prep a lawsuit."
"A lawsuit, sir?"
"Yes. File it with the Judicial Arbitration Bureau. No matter that it's just a branch office, if they cut off contact and hit us that hard, they're more dangerous than they seemed. Looks like some of the tougher street rats banded together. We can roll ODPD over them cleanly."
"Understood."
Downtown corporations often treated police forces like private armies, through city hall connections, legalized lobbying, and bribes.
The Omega Detroit Police Department, ODPD, appeared weak and ignored everywhere, but in truth, it was one of the city's top three military powers. Bound by public authority constraints and tangled interests, it was forced to slack off on real issues.
That they could be wielded as tools was the foundation of the hierarchy between 'corporations' and other factions.
Illegal groups whose only strength was their size, versus companies that could command public forces.
It was never a fight on equal terms.
That's why even major mafias and gangs couldn't challenge corporate strongholds in the city.
'Could this loss... even be part of a larger design leading here?'
Even bought-off public forces were still public. A mid-tier corp needed some pretext to mobilize them. And now, a missing branch executive—perfect justification.
'Sending that arrogant youngest son first... was that laying the groundwork too?'
Even his own flesh and blood... if it served the company, he'd use anything.
A ruthless businessman who treated people like chess pieces.
Even long-time aides could scarcely fathom the mind of a CEO running a corporation in this city.
The secretary shivered involuntarily at the iron mask betraying no human emotion.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Days later.
Asecure Corporation President McKenzie appeared at the Municipal Courthouse of the Judicial Arbitration Bureau, impeccably composed.
His hair slicked back perfectly, suit without a single wrinkle.
The middle-aged man glanced around the room, eyed the empty defendant's bench opposite, and let a faint smirk curl his lips.
It had to be empty. Suing under a Class-3 citizen ID barred from even entering downtown meant no way they could show up.
In truth, this was all just scripted procedure.
Win the token lawsuit, leverage prepped connections to authorize police deployment.
Of course, McKenzie had to pay hefty kickbacks to his bought judges, but he saw it as an investment in the future.
Security firms' regular forces were valuable assets. Having already taken pointless losses, better to avoid more variables and solve it with overwhelming firepower money could buy.
Thinking that, he leaned back in the plaintiff's seat.
As he waited for the formality with his legal team...
Suddenly, a group of suits poured into the defendant's bench, which should have stayed empty until the end.
Watching the scene, the man's expression subtly darkened.
"......"
And when one stood to introduce himself—
"Sorry we're late, Your Honor. We're the Lumina Group legal team, representing the defendant in this case."
Cracks began forming in McKenzie's iron mask.
Even the judge preparing to start froze for a moment before straightening up.
Now treating them with far more deference, gauging their reactions.
"P-Pardon, but did you say Lumina Group?"
In Omega Detroit, that name alone shifted the courtroom's atmosphere.
Watching the power balance flip in an instant...
A single bead of cold sweat trickled down McKenzie's back.
"......"