Players Invade Cyberpunk-Chapter 913 - 295: Preparing Next Version Content

The sound of industry is the crisp sound of metal colliding when castings are rolled.

The color of industry is the ion reaction that bursts forth during welding and smelting.

Developed industrial productivity is an unavoidable prerequisite for any nation that wants to be strong.

The materials needed for industrial growth are massive, often necessitating transportation lines from all directions to coordinate industries.

However, because government agencies have become dysfunctional, leading to a loss of control over the grassroots, the railroad networks, which serve as the industrial arteries, are hard to maintain. The chaotic lower society has given birth to numerous Wandering Tribes that roam throughout North America.

Those like Adcardo, with their own businesses and agriculture, fare better, but groups like Chaotic Blade Association and other Wandering Tribes that survive through plunder frequently attack the long, unprotected transportation lines, further damaging the already poorly maintained industrial network.

Even hover ship transport isn't entirely safe. The vast plains of North America often see Somali air pirates, driving homemade Hovercars, committing robberies (from the original setting).

Although it's always said that national governments arise from irreconcilable class contradictions, due to the distorted capital development of the cyber world, government power has shrunk, unable to effectively serve as an intermediary between the two. The fatal consequence is a sixty-year-long economic crisis with no sign of improvement.

All companies are engaging in unsustainable practices, and industry is being compressed into cities where it barely survives, even creating a 10% employment rate, a legendary figure comparable to Gambia and Haiti from another perspective.

Now Lin Miao, whose business is growing, also has to face this problem.

On July 5, 2076, a very bad message was relayed to him by W.

[System: Just received news from Union Pacific Railroad Company, a batch of robots we were shipping to Missouri was robbed halfway, and all the goods on the train were looted.]

"Damn! Someone's actually robbing from me now?"

Lin Miao was almost twisted with anger, but there was nothing he could do except say welcome to the cyber world; this is how it is, so deal with it.

"What does the insurance company say?"

[System: This is not within their compensation scope; it falls under natural loss.]

Lin Miao was speechless.

This is one of the self-inflicted consequences for companies; due to frequent robberies, insurance companies have removed this compensation clause from their terms, and logistics companies don't want to clash with gangs like the Chaotic Blade Association, lest they ruin their own business, so they pay a hefty protection fee annually.

But it's easier dealing with the big gangs than with the small ones. Along the way, there are more than just the Chaotic Blade Association committing robberies, so to avoid unnecessary losses, each company forms armed security units to accompany the goods and protect company property.

Big companies will buy out train carriages and send troops to escort them, while smaller companies join forces to hire security units. Lin Miao chose the latter, teaming up with others to hire Military Science troops. But clearly, Military Science failed this time.

Although, according to the contract, Military Technology is responsible for retrieving lost goods, the success rate isn't high. After all, these gangs operate on a hit-and-run basis, and the outcome often involves companies pooling money to buy back their goods from the gangs.

As Military Technology put it, finding a buy-back channel for you is already a demonstration of their skill.

[System: Friendly reminder, according to the contract if goods cannot be delivered by the end of this month, you'll compensate the other party with 200% breach of contract fee, about 1.95 million Orokin.

Furthermore, the railroad company announced in its Q1 financial report that their goods delivery rate was 95.2% in the first quarter, with an attack probability of 16.9%. But according to statistics from foreign trade companies over the years, the actual probability of being attacked is far higher, with a delivery rate of only 83% last year, and the probability of economic loss for small companies is greatest. The system suspects collusion between company employees and robbers.]

[Currently, due to the widespread acquisition of Taiping Continent properties, the company's liquidity is nearly exhausted, and all related bank loans have been exploited by this system. This compensation is likely to become the last straw breaking the financial chain. If host, you don't want the most flashy Sex Doll from Yunding serving the company big shots, you'd better quickly find a way to resolve the logistics issue.] 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Lin Miao was at a loss.

"Your reminder is anything but friendly, and this matter is mundane, only deserving of a Sociology +3."

But to prevent external intrusion on his hook, Lin Miao had to think of a solution.

"How many players do we currently have?"

[System: Currently registered players: 3,744. Combat Department single mastery: 1,276; dual mastery: 63. Engineering Department single mastery players: 1,433; dual mastery: 12. Other profession players: 847. Casual players: 284. Novice players: 965.]

[Players above level 30: 82.]

[Players above level 20: 1,675.]

[Players above level 10: 2,976.]

There's cross-folding of players from different departments. Most players choose a Combat Department as their main profession, with an Engineering Department as a money-making secondary profession, and mastery skill points are rare, earned at one point every 10 levels, making dual mastery Combat Department players few.

Moreover, dual mastery in Engineering Department is even rarer.

Some special professions, like Hacker or Medical, classified under other professions, have a particularly high demand for mastery skill points, like Residents, who have only just pointed [Prosthetic Cognition] and [Human Cognition] to mastery, with [Medicine] and [Surgery] still to follow.

That means he'll need to reach level 40 to achieve four masteries and can't point to any combat skills; otherwise, he'd have to wait until he maxes out at level 50 to become an advanced prosthetic doctor. This game doesn't have a reskill option.

But the fear is that once mastery is pointed, players can immediately max out the skill, rushing to mastery LV6. A prosthetic doctor with four max mastery LV6 skills, it's safe to say—

In Night City, there's probably only a handful, and all hold significant positions in big companies.

Putting them in the spy world is akin to the likes of Li De or Black Hand.

"The number of players is almost over four thousand...."

Looking at the numbers increasing daily, Lin Miao felt a throbbing tempter at his temple.

Don't think four thousand is a small number; any city having an extra four thousand people out of nowhere can drive the local government insane, only in a chaotic place like Night City it can be concealed. But it can't keep growing; even a fool would soon realize the dubious origins of Horizon Mercenaries.

And these four thousand people have the destructive power comparable to forty thousand. Previously, there were gangs as targets for destructive power, but now—

Now Night City's gangs barely survived a year under their hands.

Once they are done with the gangs, the next target is obvious; they will definitely go after the companies.

But Lin Miao doesn't want to fall out with Huang Ban and other enterprises just yet.

Little brother, we still have to do business with the foreigners, ohhh.JPG

"System, make a report on each company's annual investment in logistics security in Night City for me, as well as all recorded attack locations and loss situations, with data as detailed as possible."

[System: The system is working ing, please wait]

Faced with the current dilemma, Lin Miao had a bold idea.

Instead of letting players continue to ravage Night City, why not officially publicize the player's armed forces in the next version, letting them ravage the entire United States.

Horizon Corporation starts an armed transport business, taking on security orders and subcontracting them to the player's armed companies, like Super Earth, Cow Horse Security Department, Caldeia...

Meanwhile, follow the railroad company's logistics network, establish supply points along abandoned bases in states and towns to facilitate material resupply, cleared bandits, explored new maps, and searched each state's situation in the United States.

Moreover, besides security business, Horizon Corporation's other businesses could also expand to more cities, like organic food, steel, chemical, and other series of light industrial products.

But....

Lin Miao couldn't help but think of Gloria, still in Cuba, where the situation isn't optimistic.

According to her relayed information, Cuba was controlled by multiple drug lords, apart from the largest Havana Drug Trafficking Group, there were other groups like the Cuba National Liberation Front, Camaguey Republic, Santiago Organization, and various other drug trafficking groups.

Represented behind them are proxies supported by European countries, who don't want Cuba unified, even if the unifier is a drug lord.

Apart from these drug groups, masters also probed some news stating the Cuban guerrilla left by Castro Government Army a hundred years ago still existed in the mountains, and multiple parties have been at war to this day; how chaotic the situation is.

Resolving these drug lords is no longer the focus; Lin Miao now needs to figure out how to legitimately and legally send players there en masse.

He also has to consider logistics.

He isn't the United States or Military Technology, he doesn't have so many planes for air drops.

As the cannon fires, Gold flows a million; a war thousands of kilometers away from Night City could collapse his financial chains within less than a day.