The Creators: From Night City

Page 266

But it was all in vain.

Once the 'craftsman' entered business mode, he was even more ruthless than the other party.

Everyone watched as Adam Hammer charged toward the mill like Don Quixote, only to be kicked back to his original spot by Jiang Bing.

Jiang Binglian didn't utter another word. He appeared beside the other person like a ghost and stomped his foot hard on the other person's head.

This kick is no less powerful than a dynamic compaction machine operating at full power.

boom!

The entire dock shook.

From the spot where Jiang Bing landed, spiderweb-like cracks radiated outwards from the hard cement ground. Under the immense pressure, Adam Hammer's iron skull turned into a flattened lump of metal, with some brain tissue being squeezed out by the huge impact, scattering several meters away amidst cement pebbles and metal fragments.

Adam Hammer, the legendary figure of Night City, was killed so hastily. Including the time his opponent spent uttering threats, the whole process took less than a minute, leaving the trio in disbelief.

"BOSS?" Jack tentatively called out.

Jiang Bing turned around, his eyes, radiating a pale golden light, gleaming in the darkness. His face, illuminated by this light, made everyone's eyes twitch, and a word inexplicably surfaced in their minds.

'Divinity'

Fortunately, Jiang Bing's next words brought everyone back to reality.

"You three give me a hand and load this iron lump onto the truck and haul it back," Jiang Bing said, kicking the nearly worn-out armor of the heavy hammer.

As the head of security at Arasaka, this armor is quite impressive and worth Jiang Bing taking back to study. However, he couldn't put it into his spatial storage in front of everyone, so he could only entrust this task to the three members of the [Anti-Entropy] team.

Jack was the first to respond. He had heard of Adam Hammer by heart, and now that he had seen him in person, and even had the chance to touch his mech suit, his curiosity was completely satisfied.

The lieutenant colonel looked at Jiang Bing, who was still neatly dressed, and used great willpower to keep his face calm, but he couldn't help but shudder a few times.

He actually spent several separate nights alone in the car with such a person. No wonder the other party always came alone, not afraid of him playing any tricks.

With that kind of fighting ability, they could crush him and his vehicle in no time.

Physically, it is dry-crushed.

"Mr. Sabur is quite skilled; you must have spent a lot of time working out!" The lieutenant colonel had no intention of finding out the source of the man's fighting prowess and cleverly changed the subject with a non-sensitive compliment.

"It's just because he's young and strong." Jiang Bing's answer was equally full of flaws.

The two exchanged a smile, and that was how they let the matter drop.

The lieutenant colonel secretly breathed a sigh of relief; he was afraid the other party would try to silence him.

As for how Kang and Tao will investigate afterward, that's a matter for later. At present, the relationship between the two parties is very harmonious and everyone is happy.

Now that Jiang Bing has demonstrated his power, he is not afraid of being investigated.

[Reverse Entropy] Right now, we're all barefoot. The more the other side investigates, the more alarmed they'll become.

Superman can even kidnap his adoptive parents and ex-girlfriend, Homelander, how would you handle that?

Are you going to launch a lunar-mass launcher onto the continental shelf?

The key is that with Heimul present, Jiang Bing isn't afraid of this kind of attack.

The lieutenant colonel was unaware of Jiang Bing's plans. He obediently stepped over the blood and corpses scattered on the warehouse floor, reloaded the satellite into the vehicle, and prepared to send it to his 'home' for inspection. After confirming that there were no problems, he would use a special vehicle to deliver the goods to Base Six in Badlands, so that he could complete the transaction with peace of mind.

The rest of the night passed peacefully, as if nothing had happened, and Kang Tao behaved as usual.

Of course, it's also possible that Jiang Bing's individual combat capabilities were not enough to make Kang Tao abandon such a large transaction to pursue him.

After all, for large companies and countries, this kind of power cannot play a decisive role in the ranking competition on the international stage.

Jiang Bing's displayed strength doesn't truly resemble that of a man from the motherland.

On the contrary, Valerie, Jack, and Vincent felt much more confident and assertive when they were doing things.

After all, in Night City, having a strong fist is truly impressive.

………………

"Politics is dirty; its essence is power, the distribution, use, and maintenance of power."

Mr. Blue Eyes elegantly held a cup of cheap synthetic coffee, making Tom's Hotel, a poor man's restaurant, feel like Tom's Grand Hotel.

"What is your view on power? What do you think is the essence of power?" he asked Jiang Bing, who was sitting opposite him.

"The essence is how much power my fist can have." Jiang Bing explained his understanding of 'fist power' while kneading a metal spoon like putty.

This statement almost caused Mr. Blue Eyes to have a meltdown on the spot; he forgot that the person in front of him never followed the usual path.

However, after reflecting on these words again, he found that they surprisingly made some sense.

"Power is relational and resource control; it is the manifestation of social relations. It is the relinquishment of some rights by an individual in exchange for collective benefits or services from others, thereby establishing a contractual relationship," Mr. Blue Eyes recited the dry and tedious sociological definition.

"Most Night City officials believe that power is honey, pleasure, euros in their pockets, extravagance, and beautiful women in their arms, but they don't realize that power is also a responsibility."

"Are you having trouble with the mayoral election?" Jiang Bing's question instantly silenced the other person's intellectual and literary side.

"Or are you trying to kill someone this time?" Jiang Bing's words continued in an unconventional manner. "Don't forget you haven't given me the city councilor position you promised me yet."

"Don't be so absolute. I just want these insects to relinquish their power, since they don't do anything useful with it anyway." The blue-eyed man poured two sugar cubes into his hard-boiled coffee, trying to mask the bitterness of the industrial additives with sweetness.

“They’re not doing anything right.” Jiang Bing looked out the window. His excellent eyesight allowed him to see someone on a high-rise building three intersections away, preparing to jump off the roof.

There are many suicides in Night City. Some are drug overdoses, so addicted that they know they don't have long to live; some have failed in their investments (both legal and illegal) and are preparing to start over; some are driven to suicide by loan sharks; some simply don't want to live anymore; and some are forced to jump off buildings by their enemies.

As for the reason behind this, no one around them cared, including Jiang Bing.

Chapter 516 The Essence of Mayoral Elections

The number of aerial acrobats in Night City is as numerous as the city's acid rain. Passersby are used to it, and if they encounter one on the street, they might even curse at each other to vent their resentment at having their clothes stained with splattered blood.

It's only tourists visiting Night City for the first time who are so startled and make such a fuss.

Jiang Bing withdrew his gaze and looked at the blue-eyed man who had picked up another sugar cube, saying, "Let's settle the balance of the last payment first, and then we can talk about this business."

"Of course." Although Mr. Blue Eyes was always sneaky, he was actually quite straightforward in his dealings.

Which district's quota do you want?

The reason he asked this question was mainly due to the municipal system of Night City.

Night City's city council is a hybrid of district and city-wide systems. Half of the city councilors represent the opinions of the 'people' in a specific geographic district (similar to members of Congress) and are elected by the voters in that district. Naturally, most of their power is concentrated in that district.

The other half of the city councilors are elected by voters throughout the city and are not tied to any specific constituency. This means that their powers are mostly concentrated on the city’s economy, culture, and politics, with very little involvement in the details of the community and streets. Therefore, they are basically accomplices of major companies and capital.

For a 'gang' like [Anti-Entropy] that operates in the streets, the best option is naturally to appoint a city councilor whose territory is controlled by the gang, so that it can easily collude with those above and below.

That's why Mr. Blue Eyes asked that question.

According to the Night City Charter, the powers of the City Council, composed of city councilors, include, but are not limited to: legislative power; budget approval power; judicial and corporate oversight power; appointment power; land planning, public facilities construction planning, and security budget planning for its constituencies; and enacting regional regulations.

But these things are best taken with a grain of salt; if you were to actually implement them, like the new United States and other political systems of the same origin, you couldn't really do it.

Although the city councilors of Night City are elected by the voters and represent the will of the voters, the criteria for electoral eligibility are quite complex.

Does the unemployed count?

Do employees of major companies count?

Do gang members count?

These are all issues, and they all represent flexible political bottom lines.

But it's always good that a city councilor is advocating for a 'gang'.

"I want Haywood."

"Are you sure? I think Watson District is a good option too," the blue-eyed man advised.

"Just Heywood," Jiang Bing replied decisively, without explaining his next plan to the other party.

"As you wish," the blue-eyed man said with a shrug, as if arranging a city councilor position, one of only 51 in the city, was as simple as eating and drinking for him.

"Do you have a candidate? I suggest you find a local from Night City, someone with a solid background who can withstand scrutiny. After all, even the least prominent city councilor is constantly under the spotlight and investigated by various parties every day."

Jiang Bing's mind flashed with Jack's seemingly honest and simple image. "Of course."

"Alright," the blue-eyed man's prosthetic eye gleamed slightly as a message was sent to Jiang Bing's data panel through official channels.

"Have your people contact him. He will arrange the preliminary campaign preparations, and I will handle the rest. However, it may take some time to complete the entire process."

"Now, let's talk about our new business."

“Jefferson Perales’ campaign momentum looks pretty good lately, much stronger than Wilton Holt’s. What’s going on? Something’s happened.” Although Jiang Bing never leaves his house, Gloria regularly reports to him on some of the major events that have recently occurred in Night City.

The current situation of the mayoral election is clearly in the same category.

"We must see beyond the surface to the essence." Mr. Blue Eyes finally stirred all the sugar cubes together, picked up his coffee, took a sip, and was finally satisfied.

"The battle for the mayor's position is essentially a battle between Arasaka and the Yoru clan. In order to gain the upper hand, I chose to cooperate with military technology."

"Hmm," Jiang Bing said, unsurprised.

Compared to the rise of Holt, who was aligned with the Arasaka faction, the rise of Jefferson Perales, supported by the Night Clan, was clearly more in line with the interests of military technology or the new America. It was quite normal for the two to cooperate.

The blue-eyed man elegantly held a single-digit euro coffee, sat in a dirty corner of the restaurant, and talked about a major political event that could determine the future of the entire Night City.

"In exchange, once the deal is done, Military Technology wants something from Night City as payment."

"Is there anything in Night City that you can't get?" Jiang Bing retorted.

“Yes, and there are many more.” Mr. Blue Eyes shrugged, completely unconcerned about Jiang Bing’s sarcasm.

"what?"

"The right to supply equipment to the NCPD."

"Ha," Jiang Bing chuckled, "That's quite an appetite."

On the surface, Military Technology wants the qualification to purchase equipment from the NCPD, which seems like a purely commercial matter. But in reality, it wants to infiltrate the NCPD and gain control of Night City's discourse.

“I agree,” came the blue-eyed man’s surprising reply.

"I bet you're not that honest." Through several collaborations, Jiang Bing had already figured out the other party's character; he wasn't someone who would suffer a loss.

Mr. Blue Eyes put down his coffee cup as if he were putting down the entire NCPD.

“NCPD is rotten to the core and there is no way to save it. I was originally planning to start from scratch, but your people, your people at Coronado Farm, showed me a new direction.”

"Those police officers who were dismissed?"

Coronado Farm is now under the management of Old Logan and has essentially become the territory of the Workers' Mutual Aid Association. From the lowest-level workers to the security personnel on the streets who were retired from the NCPD and turned into part-time patrol officers, from the underworld to the official level, the Workers' Mutual Aid Association has become a behemoth, and with generous salaries and abundant high-quality living supplies, it has firmly established its foundation on Coronado Farm.

“If we organize them, with enough people, enough equipment, and enough organization, why can’t we form a new NCPD?”

“Since NCPD is already listed, if a company can’t compete with other security companies in all aspects, shouldn’t it follow market rules and hand over the business to more competitive security service providers?” Mr. Blue Eyes calmly explained his plan to substitute one thing for another.

"This is not an easy task. Just dealing with those vested interests in official circles is enough to cause you a lot of trouble..."

Jiang Bing suddenly stopped speaking and looked thoughtfully at the blue-eyed man.

He knew perfectly well that Mr. Blue Eyes possessed advanced technology capable of altering the structure of the human brain and tampering with the target's subconscious, memories, and personality.

Chapter 517 Good People Are the Cancer of a Bad World

For example, Jefferson Peralres, who is currently running for mayor, was originally a politician who was flexible and resourceful and would stop at nothing to use political tactics. But now he is thinking about making Night City great again. His words and actions in public are exactly like those of an idealist. It is hard to say that this dramatic change was not orchestrated by the person sitting across the table.

"You really do know a lot." The blue-eyed man was surprised and puzzled. From the moment the other party called out his identity when they first met, he knew that [Anti-Entropy] had a huge intelligence network in Night City. He had tried to investigate the existence of this intelligence network, but he just couldn't find any clues.

Mr. Blue Eyes took a brochure out of his pocket and handed it to Jiang Bing.

'GEO Prison, your new choice for serving your sentence! A luxurious stopover in life!'

The first page of the brochure contained promotional slogans that shattered any sense of morality.

The content that follows can make innocent young boys (and girls) blush.

With its various luxurious restaurants, swimming pools, and seductively dressed prison guards, it doesn't look like a prison at all; it's more like a budget alternative to the Crystal Palace in Night City.

As a modern city, Night City has a mature political system and naturally a mature public security, procuratorial, and judicial system, which in turn must have the necessary facilities of the judicial system—prisons.

Although Night City is not large, it has quite a few prisons. Night City Prison, as a prison directly under the municipal government, is the final destination for most prisoners. However, the overall conditions of this prison are not good. The food is poor, there are no luxurious single cells, no beautiful gardens, swimming pools, lawns, or pretty female prison guards. There are only burly middle-aged prison guards and equally burly rubber batons, endless tedious labor, and fellow prisoners who are always eyeing your body.

The prisoners held here are practically in jail.

This situation is clearly not in keeping with the dignity of the upper class. When important figures break the law and need to be punished severely as a warning to others, how can they be locked up in such a prison? It is simply an insult to civility.

As a result, high-end private prisons have emerged. As long as you have connections with the government and obtain judicial approval, a private prison can start operating immediately.