The reason Arasaka was able to know relevant information about this transport...
According to my conversation with a mercenary named A, it's because the intermediary named Faraday hired members of Mann Squad, who had not yet joined his team at the time, to steal biotechnological information.
From this perspective, the errors that occurred from start to finish were all on the part of the biotechnology company, and they even falsified the drug data.
Whether from the previously stolen drug data or the information confessed personally by Diana, it's very likely that the 'Super Soldier Drug' R&D order we signed with biotechnology was a scam.
Although I don't understand why Howard, the investment director, approved such a project... but at this point, we ought to cut losses in time, terminate the investment contract, and have biotechnology compensate for our losses."
As soon as Stout finished speaking, Howard's face turned a livid blue as he said, "Are you trying to push biotechnology into Arasaka's arms?"
"Ending this cooperation doesn't mean halting all dealings with biotechnology. We sacrificed agents' lives and made early investments, but ultimately, we suffered heavy losses because they had a traitor from inside.
Are we really going to swallow this setback and continue wasting money?"
Stout relentlessly argued with Howard a few more words, but in fact, she was observing Lucas's holographic projection all the while.
Seeing Lucas frowning, she immediately smartly stopped talking and waited for her CEO to speak.
Lucas continued listening to Howard's explanation for a few more sentences but eventually lost his patience, interrupted him irritably, and straightforwardly made a decision.
"Pull back the investment, no need to press biotechnology aggressively over the losses."
Lucas paused, then looked at Stout: "Agent Meredith Stout, you are hereby appointed as Head of Operations, fully responsible for Military Science operations in Night City.
And immediately, execute three tasks.
First, identify the issues present in this investment project cooperation, and summarize and rectify the errors and failures that occurred in this action.
To let mercenaries mess up so badly… it's utterly laughable."
Stout immediately nodded in agreement, while Howard's face turned ghostly white as he leaned back in his chair, rendered speechless.
"Second, immediately investigate the identity of this so-called Spark Team of mercenaries. We indeed need a Morgan Black Hand and an Adam's Hammer to gain the upper hand in Night City."
After Lucas finished speaking, he turned to glance at the technical director before finally stating, "Third task, according to information, are these mercenaries currently residing in Dog Town?"
"Yes." Stout immediately replied.
Lucas squinted his eyes, paused for a moment, then said, "We must ensure Dog Town remains under our control; this group of mercenaries residing in Dog Town might serve as a nail we can bury.
We need to constantly monitor Hansen, to ensure his ambitions don't spiral out of control."
Stout still immediately agreed to this.
Lucas nodded, coldly saying, "That's it then, I hope you all can swiftly recover the company's losses, and meanwhile, the technical department should quickly decipher and reverse-engineer Arasaka's exoskeleton."
After he finished speaking, he hung up the communication, the holographic projection vanished.
The conference room plunged into dead silence, whereas Stout calmly stood up, regarded several executives and senior agents, and revealed a somewhat cruel smile.
"Director Howard, come join me for a cup of coffee in the operation department… what do you say?"
Howard merely sat frozen, his face ghastly pale.
He was finished.
...
"Can we go back?"
By the time it was almost noon the next day, V finally came downstairs, yawning and with tousled hair, while everyone else was already wide awake, watching TV, chatting, lively as if it were a holiday.
Upon hearing from Mercer that they could go back, she excitedly widened her eyes, "So soon? I thought I'd be stuck here for ten days or half a month."
"I was surprised too, but Stout has already given me the green light, and the Military Science's wanted notice has been canceled."
Mercer paused, then showed a serious expression and said, "But to return to Dog Town, we still have a bit of trouble to deal with."
"What kind of trouble?" V sighed and took a cup of coffee handed to her by Mercer: "Didn't you say we'd be on vacation..."
"We've got to have a talk with Hansen. Faraday's three million bounty still hangs, and it's likely Arasaka secretly added one more. We need to chat with Hansen, to prevent him from having any wrong ideas about us later."
After Mercer finished speaking, he paused and said, "Moreover, it's time to have a talk with him anyway. If we were to wait for him to approach us, who knows what kind of antics he might pull."
"Alright… just me, acting as a bodyguard for you?" V glanced around.
Mercer nodded and said, "Right now, there are probably countless people watching us. Ghost Town isn't an absolute ghost town, Rebecca and the others need to stay here to prevent someone from sneaking in."
"When do we set off?" V perked up after drinking a sip of coffee.
"Now."
Mercer said, after which V promptly placed the coffee aside, "Then let me wash my face… how are we getting there? There's only one car left here."
"Did you forget Polaris? It's already brought my car over, almost got held up by Netherworld Dog's fools on the way out... Good thing I gave Hansen a heads-up beforehand."
Mercer sighed as he said — living in Dog Town, one has to bow their heads, outside, worry about Arasaka's agents, but residing inside Dog Town, you end up being bullied by this foolish warlord leader.