CHAPTER 397: CHAPTER 397

Chapter 397

2-in-1-Chapter

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Over the following six months, Aurora Private Military Company focused entirely on rooting out the remnants of both the insurgent forces and the Shining Group.

Leo delegated all operational tasks to others.

He himself, accompanied by Maine’s team and David, boarded a private jet and returned to Night City.

Inside Arasaka Tower.

Leo and his party followed behind an Arasaka staff member.

David glanced around, his eyes filled with curiosity at everything he saw.

Had this been over a year ago, when he was still a student at Arasaka Academy, he might have found the interior of Arasaka Tower awe-inspiring and overwhelming.

But now, aside from a mild interest, he felt it was nothing special.

It wasn’t that he looked down on Arasaka.

It was obvious from the architectural design, the choice of materials, and the opulent decor that no expense had been spared to create this place. Every detail had been executed to perfection.

Even though Aurora PMC had risen rapidly over the past year, it still had a long way to go before catching up to a longstanding megacorporation like Arasaka.

Still, David’s sense of detachment came from something else.

Aurora didn’t spend money on superficial things like this. Instead, they invested in ventures with genuine purpose and value.

Ding—

The elevator doors opened, and the group stepped inside.

Leo glanced at the screen inside the elevator.

He had heard people say that Arasaka’s control over its employees was extreme, with an obsessive need to maintain authority. They said every corner of Arasaka Tower was filled with propaganda glorifying Saburo Arasaka’s legacy.

Yet the screen in this elevator was turned off.

Most likely, ever since Yorinobu Arasaka replaced Saburo, he had ordered such displays to be deactivated.

When the elevator opened again, the staff member stepped out first and spoke politely, "Mr. Leo, Lord Yorinobu is waiting for you in the reception room. We’ve also prepared a dedicated lounge for your attendants. They’re welcome to rest there."

Leo nodded.

The day after returning to Night City, Leo returned the call made to him earlier by Yorinobu Arasaka, who had stated he had something important to discuss.

Yorinobu had agreed to the meeting.

Leo had brought Maine’s team and David along, primarily for the sake of appearances.

Now that he stood at the head of a private military company—and would soon, in all likelihood, lead a sovereign nation—it was no longer appropriate to attend such meetings alone. Arriving without any support behind him would make him appear like a general without an army.

"Thank you," Leo said to the staff member with a polite nod. Then he turned to Maine’s group and David. "You guys go get some rest in the lounge."

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Inside the reception room.

Yorinobu Arasaka was not seated and waiting.

Indeed, he stood before a massive floor-to-ceiling window, hands behind his back, looking out across the Arasaka company plaza.

From this height, one could see the entire expanse below.

When the door opened, Yorinobu turned around to face him.

"Mr. Leo, you’ve arrived."

"It’s been over a year since our last conversation. I didn’t expect to see how much you’ve changed."

Yorinobu spoke English with a heavy accent—like Takemura Goro, it was clearly not his first language. Still, it was understandable.

The conversation he referenced was the one that had taken place at Konpeki Plaza.

Back then, Saburo Arasaka had come to Night City with his personal guards, enraged that Yorinobu had stolen the Relic prototype from the lab.

What he hadn’t expected was that his own son would dare to murder him in a blind rage.

After killing his father, Yorinobu fabricated a story for Takemura, but suspecting Takemura might not believe it, he secretly had him followed.

As expected, Takemura began investigating Saburo’s true cause of death. The agents dispatched to silence him encountered Leo’s group on-site instead.

With their help, Takemura escaped the ambush.

While others might have dismissed Leo’s crew as just another mercenary group in the city, Yorinobu had sensed that there was something different about them, something beyond what most would assume.

At the time, he had not intended to antagonize them. He had used Arasaka’s net to locate Leo’s contact ID and called directly.

When he failed to recruit them, he had at least attempted to explain himself.

After that, there had been no further communication.

What he hadn’t anticipated was that Leo would rise, just as he had suspected—suddenly and with immense force.

And not by following the usual mercenary trajectory in Night City.

Leo had founded a company.

In just over a year, Aurora PMC had established a stronghold in Bolivia. Arasaka had no on-the-ground operations or intelligence network in that region, so the specific details remained unclear.

But from the reports of operatives who had since returned from Bolivia...

After receiving intelligence from some mercenaries’ side that Aurora PMC had succeeded in unifying the fragmented factions within Bolivia and had become the single most powerful force in the region, Yorinobu agreed to the meeting the moment Leo made contact.

He wanted to know why Leo had returned—and what he intended to discuss.

"Mr. Yorinobu, I see you haven’t changed much at all."

Saburo Arasaka had lived for over a century. His son, Yorinobu Arasaka, was already in his late seventies, but thanks to the advanced medical technology of 2077, he appeared no older than a man in his early thirties—polished, calm, and without a single trace of age on his face.

In fact, he was nearly the same age as Johnny Silverhand and Rogue. But while Rogue still maintained her figure and hadn’t physically declined, her face bore the unmistakable marks of time.

Yorinobu was different. If one didn’t already know, it would be easy to mistake him for a man in his prime.

With a light gesture, Yorinobu motioned.

"Please, sit, Mr. Leo."

Once they were both seated, Yorinobu went straight to the point.

"Mr. Leo, I hope you won’t take offense, but I’m not one for empty words. Especially under current circumstances, I prefer clarity. If there’s something you want to say to me, please speak directly."

It had been more than a year since Saburo Arasaka’s death, yet in all that time, Yorinobu had only managed to fully secure control over Arasaka’s Night City branch. The main corporate body in Japan hadn’t openly opposed him, but they had stalled his full ascension in every possible way.

At present, Arasaka’s internal structure had splintered into three distinct factions.

The first was the Taka faction—hawkish and aggressive—led directly by Yorinobu Arasaka. This faction favored direct conflict and rarely tolerated compromise.

The second was the Tori faction, led by Hanako Arasaka. After arriving in Night City over a year ago to attend her father’s funeral and participate in the Arasaka Memorial, she had returned to Japan and never left. No matter what reasons Yorinobu offered, she refused to appear in public again.

The third was the Hato faction, headed by Michiko Arasaka.

Though born to the Arasaka bloodline, Michiko had spent her early life in the New United States, and even during the Fourth Corporate War, she had been nothing more than a seventeen-year-old high school student. During the war between Arasaka and Militech, she had nearly faced deportation and the loss of her citizenship.

Relying on her youth, charm, intelligence, and emotional appeal, she had successfully convinced then-president Elizabeth Kress that she was an innocent bystander, unconnected to Arasaka’s corporate structure.

This allowed her to retain her New United States citizenship.

Later, she returned to Japan and rejoined Arasaka, eventually becoming the figurehead of the Hato faction.

Though she had formally returned, she never gave up her U.S. citizenship—retaining dual nationality.

Because of this, her presence within Arasaka had always been controversial, and she had long faced rejection and resistance from traditionalists within the company.

But everything changed after Saburo’s death.

Yorinobu’s hardline policies and repeated provocations against Militech had made Michiko stand out—an internal voice of moderation and Western alignment.

Militech noticed. At first, they made contact through intermediaries. Once they confirmed her stance, they began quietly supporting her faction.

With Militech’s backing, the Hato faction rapidly expanded—absorbing minor factions and growing into a major internal force.

At present, Hanako’s Tori faction and Michiko’s Hato faction were weaker than Yorinobu’s Taka faction, but united, they had become a meaningful opposition.

That alliance had placed enormous pressure on Yorinobu.

For over a year, he had focused entirely on internal consolidation, but even with all that effort, he had failed to bring Arasaka fully under his command.

It was a source of deep anxiety—and frustration.

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