The three semitrailers didn’t head straight for Evil Land but instead stopped at the roadside shortly after leaving Taiping Continent when Lin Miao immediately requested the convoy to halt.
The silver-haired female hacker had been waiting here for some time already, leaving Reyes and Meta Group’s employee Charles feeling somewhat clueless about what Lin Miao wanted with the hacker.
Lin Miao reopened the compartment, taking Lucy with him, and when they emerged, they were holding an electronic device.
Lin Miao tossed it in front of Reyes and Meta Group’s employee Charles.
"Gentlemen, I didn’t expect the surprise gift left for me on this vehicle. My shopping list shouldn’t include tracking and eavesdropping, right? And there’s a military technology virus buried in the machine tool’s CNC program, attempting to steal and upload my design plans. Seems a bit off, doesn’t it?"
"What’s going on here...."
Reyes’ face turned dark, and he looked at Charles, questioning irritably.
"This isn’t what we agreed upon. How did military tech end up targeting this batch of goods?"
Although Charles was equally puzzled, it didn’t prevent him from explaining.
"I don’t know about the military tech situation, but I can assure you it’s unrelated to Meta Group. My task only involves getting these two machine tools out, understand?"
His nonchalant demeanor was absolutely infuriating.
Reyes’ gaze towards Charles took on a dangerous tone. "So, what are you implying? Are you suggesting I leaked this to the military tech?"
If it weren’t for Meta Group’s security personnel on the vehicle, he would’ve shot this bastard dead right now.
"Who knows? Our goal here is merely to sell this batch off; the rest is beyond my concern. You’d better ask Dao Jie. Aside from me, only his people have handled this batch."
"Dao Jie? Are you suggesting Hansen’s mutt can mingle with military tech? At least come up with a better excuse."
Confronted with Reyes’s sarcasm, Charles remained indifferent.
"Mutt always follows whoever feeds them. As a middleman, you should know this well."
Their argument showed signs of escalation until Lin Miao intervened to break it up.
"Alright, gentlemen, now’s not the time for this debate. Since we’ve identified the issue and resolved it, there’s no need to dwell on it further, and I don’t plan to investigate which one of you did this. Let’s leave it at that."
When fetching the goods, Lin Miao sensed something off about Dao Jie. He seemed unwilling for Lin Miao to inspect the goods and remained too silent, arousing Lin Miao’s suspicions.
However, calling Lucy wasn’t coincidental; he initially intended to fetch something from her. It was Lin Miao’s worry about the machine tool matter that prompted him to ask her to come over personally for a minor assistance.
After scanning with his artificial eye and Lucy’s backend analysis, they identified the issue, and Lucy was quite certain that it was military tech’s handiwork.
As for the reason? She didn’t say.
Yet, compared to Meta Group, Reyes, and Dao Jie, Lin Miao had more trust in Lucy.
Besides, pursuing this matter further brought him no benefit.
Even if confirmed it was Military Science’s doing, what then?
Could he confront them for compensation? They’d merely laugh him off as an idiot.
He could only repay the favor at a later time when circumstances allowed it. Machine tools, despite knowing they are problematic, are something he must deal with regardless.
As for Reyes, Lin Miao believes the odds of him leaking the information are low, as the issue likely stems from Military Science agents widely casting a net, indifferent to detection.
After all, a listening device and a virus code, neither holds substantial value.
This affair will ultimately remain unresolved.
"A surprising choice, but quite wise," Charles found this enigmatic buyer somewhat unexpected.
He was a bit concerned that the other party might seize this opportunity to bargain or something. Things taken out from Dog Town were easy enough; retrieving them was far more troublesome.
Lin Miao no longer shared a ride with the old captain, opting to turn away under Reyes’ reproachful gaze to ride alone with Lucy. Reyes wasn’t headed for Evil Land; he had his own matters to attend to.
Lin Miao looked at the feminine décor inside the vehicle, somewhat surprised.
"You’ve bought a car in just the few days we haven’t seen each other?"
Lucy kept her eyes forward, hands gripping the steering wheel, her voice tinged with a hint of dissatisfaction.
"You’re such a busy person dealing with matters all day; how would you care about someone like me? Not knowing I bought a car is pretty normal, right?"
"It’s only when you need me do I come to mind, this hacker wandering Night City."
The implicit complaint of being useful only when needed was almost palpable, her expression reading "I’m angry, appease me."
She originally thought Lin Miao’s mood would be bad after losing so many underlings, planning to wait a few days to contact him when he was in better spirits. But what happened? He didn’t call for a week.
And now, he’s reaching out just for her assistance. Meanwhile, can’t he reach out casually just for the sake of connecting?
"Well.... not exactly. Truth is I’m a little overwhelmed, busy with things coming at me from all sides."
Lin Miao isn’t clueless; he sensed Lucy’s underlying meaning perfectly well, but why would he deliberately respond proactively to such conversation?
He prefers being passive.