"Forget it. I handed everything over to News 54 before I jumped."
Faced with Xiao's proposal, Sasha was clearly tempted—but she still shook her head.
It wasn't that she didn't want to.
It was that she couldn't.
How could something already on the verge of exposure still be used for blackmail?
"Then do you know who's funding News 54?" Xiao asked calmly.
"Military Technology."
"Militech?!"
Maine slammed the brakes, twisting around to stare at Sasha, disbelief flashing across his face.
"Yes. Every news outlet in Night City has financial backers," Xiao continued evenly.
"They're all mouthpieces for the corporations. Take News 54 and WNS—two stations that get criticized all the time. The former is backed by Militech, the latter by Arasaka."
He patiently explained the relationship between media outlets and megacorporation's in Night City. After all, news—something that represented the city's 'official voice'—could never truly be independent or uncontrolled.
"So," Xiao went on, "if you're hoping News 54 will expose Biotechnica, that's going to be very difficult. How about we make a bet?"
He smiled lightly.
"I bet the information you gave News 54 will never see the light of day."
"Why?" Sasha demanded.
"Because right now, Biotechnica is Militech's largest partner. They've poured enormous resources into Project Nightingale."
He shrugged.
"I'm not interested in reading the whitewashed nonsense Biotechnica puts out about what they're doing to the Stone Tribe. If you want real, accurate reporting, your best bet is independent freelance outlets."
He said all of this casually—information that only top-tier insiders should ever know.
But to Maine and Sasha, it was nothing short of an earthquake.
Maine's expression grew darker and darker.
Because the objective of their mission this time was precisely to steal progress data on Biotechnica's implementation of Project Nightingale.
Which meant that everything Xiao said perfectly matched their intel.
There was no reason for him to lie.
"Corporate dogs… damn blody corporate dogs!"
Sasha's face twisted with rage. She slammed her fist into the seat in front of her and started cursing.
"Those bastards! I trusted them so much!"
She was like an enraged cat, fur standing on end. Slender, sharp cybernetic claws popped from her fingers as she furiously shredded the upholstery of Maine's car.
"So," Xiao asked calmly,
"do you want to make a fortune?"
"With what you've got, I can get you at least five million eurodollars."
"Five million?!"
Sasha's eyes went wide at a number she would never earn in her lifetime.
But almost immediately, grief and hesitation flickered across her face. She shook her head hard.
"Forget it. I'll send it to WNS instead. Since they're behind the scenes, they'll definitely expose it."
Her voice tightened.
"Biotechnica's drugs already killed my mom. I won't let them hurt anyone else."
"Someone like you," Xiao said quietly, a faint smile at the corner of his mouth,
"won't survive long in Night City."
"Hmph! I'll protect everyone!"
Maine clenched his fists. His massive silver prosthetic arm trembled slightly.
Sasha's near-death experience had made him painfully aware of his own weakness—his limitations.
He needed more power.
"The biggest danger in this team," Xiao said bluntly, glancing at him,
"is you."
"In just a few months, you've replaced at least half your organs. You've gone way too far, big guy."
His prosthetic eye had already scanned Maine's condition. The system's verdict was clear:
Maine's humanity index was dangerously close to bottoming out.
"I'm different," Maine replied casually, smiling with absolute confidence.
"I'm special."
"Maine," Sasha said urgently,
"use the money from this job to buy a chip. The team can't function without you!"
She had watched him transform himself step by step. The pace was terrifyingly fast.
"Besides," Maine added,
"now isn't the time. I'm not at the point where I can't control myself yet."
He didn't agree outright.
When this job was finished, the fixer would indeed pay well—but once the cut was divided among the whole team, each person would receive less than ten thousand eurodollars.
Everyone needed money right now.
A dimension chip cost fifty thousand.
Even though this mission technically paid enough, Maine still felt deeply uneasy about spending it all on himself.
As for joining the Mechanicum—neither Maine nor Sasha had ever seriously considered it.
They had been to Pacifica and the Badlands before, searching for the Mechanicum.
But after witnessing the fanatical believers of the Mechanical Church firsthand, Maine never brought up the idea again.
In his view, there was no such thing as gods. And with dimension chips now on the market, cyberpsychosis was no longer an incurable disease.
What disturbed him even more was what happened after people completed the initiation ceremony.
Their worship of the God of All Machines was fanatical—unnatural. It was as if their personalities had been rewritten, as though they were no longer themselves.
Coupled with constant media propaganda and corporate "debunking," the narrative was clear, both overtly and subtly:
The Cult of the Mechanicum was accused of brainwashing—preaching openly while secretly altering people's minds.
As a result, the Mechanicum's reputation had been steadily smeared. People who were truly desperate no longer even considered joining.
This was the megacorporation's' counterattack.
They knew how dangerous Xiao was and wouldn't move against him directly—but they also wouldn't allow him to grow unchecked.
After all, the ones with the loudest voices decided what the public heard.
Whether something was good or evil wasn't decided by the people, or by the Mechanicum—
—but by capital.
The Mechanicum wasn't publicly listed. No investments. No cross-shareholding.
That meant it didn't belong to the club.
Money earned by the Mechanicum went entirely to itself—food taken directly from other capital groups' mouths.
Joint suppression was inevitable.
And as more opportunists flooded in, purification rituals became commonplace. Clean water was cheap now. People could enjoy it without joining the Mechanicum at all.
Under the combined pressure of capital and saturation, the Mechanicum's growth slowed.
Though many still believed in the God of All Machines,
the days when priests were endlessly busy conducting initiation ceremonies were gone—forever.
"Heh, let's part ways here," Xiao said lightly.
Maine pulled over somewhere in the city center. After stepping out, Xiao raised two fingers, tapped his temple in a casual salute, and smiled.
"If fate allows, we'll meet again."
"Bye~" Sasha waved.
After Xiao left, the air inside the car seemed to freeze.
The two of them sat in silence for a long, long time—neither saying a word.
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