Lin Mo stared at the message in silence for a long moment before finally setting the Simulator aside on the sink.
That night, the armed group's unexpected appearance had been something he anticipated—
but for everyone else, especially Regina, it had been a complete disruption outside the original job.
He'd completed the mission perfectly, yes—
but Regina, acting as the broker, would obviously start digging for intel to figure out who those extra mercs were and what they really wanted.
It had been a full week since then.
And now, it seemed she'd found something.
Lin Mo was not the kind to bottle up his curiosity.
Since Regina had thrown out the lure and clearly wanted him to call voluntarily,
he didn't waste the rare moment of downtime—
he dialed her number immediately.
The call connected quickly.
Regina's polite greeting carried a tone that suggested she had fully expected him to call without delay.
"I'll admit it—your message was pretty enticing.
Go on, what intel did you dig up these past few days?"
Lin Mo asked straightforwardly.
Regina chuckled lightly.
"Enticing? Please. You're my partner. Whenever I get intel, of course I'll notify you."
"Then tell me about that night. What did you actually find out?"
Lin Mo pressed—he wasn't in the mood for small talk.
Regina got straight to the point:
"Based on current intel, that armed squad was very likely Militech-hired.
After that night, they managed to retreat safely from the coast,
but about three days later, a bunch of Animals gang members were found dead in a gym."
"All of them were part of the group involved that night?" Lin Mo asked.
"Exactly.
And honestly, they're pretty pitiful—
used as disposable pawns without even realizing it,
and silently erased afterward."
Regina sighed, sounding genuinely regretful.
But Lin Mo knew what that sigh was really for.
Not for some random Animals gang members—
but because this kind of corporate use-and-dispose tactic was disgusting even by Night City standards.
"If you figured out who hired them, then Arasaka must know too, right?"
Lin Mo asked.
**"Heh. And what can that change?
Aside from them, you were there too, remember?
You drove a Militech truck straight out of the coast.
Anyone could see it.
Even if the Animals hadn't been discovered,
Militech would still be the one taking the fall.
Though I'll admit—your little stunt saved me a lot of work."**
Lin Mo frowned, growing impatient.
"And besides that? No other intel?"
He didn't believe she'd called him over something this trivial.
If Regina had reached out, she definitely had something bigger hidden up her sleeve.
**"Don't rush.
I won't waste words.
The simplified version is this:
My intel runner uncovered something important—
that night's incident involved four factions."**
Regina's tone sharpened.
Her pace quickened.
"Which four?"
**"Us.
Arasaka.
Militech.
And Moore Technologies.
That merc group looked like Militech's hired muscle,
but there were signs of Moore's planning in the background.
Moore wanted to profit off both megacorps at once.
And thanks to your interference,
a part of their plan fell through."**
Lin Mo's eyes darkened.
"Moore Technologies… again?"
This morning's assassination attempt had been driven by Moore's involvement—
and his interference had blown the entire kill team's plan apart.
Qianchi's intel division had moved fast.
The few captives Lin Mo had intentionally spared were more than enough to extract useful details from.
And the first confirmed fact was simple:
The mastermind behind the assassination was none other than Europe's cyberware giant—Moore Technologies.
Lin Mo knew this company better than most.
Ever since he'd arrived in this world,
if he had to name a corporate enemy fated to cross him again and again,
it was Moore.
He'd killed one of their directors.
The cyberpsycho incident outside Lizzie's Bar had ties to them.
In the Simulator timeline, Moore's CTO had tried to kill Hiro's sister.
Even the infiltration-and-theft job from last week involved Moore.
And now these bastards were targeting his sister.
New hatred stacked atop old.
Even someone as patient as Lin Mo felt genuine anger stirring.
The motive wasn't complicated.
Moore had just released their new-generation Berserk implant.
If Qianchi launched a new-generation speedware shortly after,
it would nuke Berserk's sales overnight.
Killing the VP of Qianchi's Night City branch would stall the Mk.4's release,
giving Moore billions in profit.
Anyone would be tempted.
Lin Mo silently promised himself:
This debt will be paid back one day. With interest.
Regina continued:
**"I don't know why you said 'again,' but yes—
based on everything, Moore is heavily involved.
I don't know the source of this particular intel,
but after analysis, the credibility is extremely high.
The planner behind all this is likely Lorna,
the woman who's been rising like crazy inside Moore.
In less than a week, she jumped from department head to Vice President.
Rumor is she latched onto their CTO, Royin."**
Regina went on:
**"The Night City branch has been insanely busy lately,
and that CTO secretly flew into the city recently.
Putting all signs together—
I can confidently say this CTO is involved in almost everything.
He's the real decision-maker for Moore in Night City."**
Lin Mo nodded slowly.
Her reasoning made perfect sense.
A CTO from the European HQ would naturally outrank the branch president.
But one thing interested him:
Who the hell had managed to dig up such deep, hidden intel?
Who was her informant?
He asked.
Regina answered:
**"Mostly came through the Maelstrom.
As I said, I don't know the exact source.
Maelstrom is the biggest gang in Watson,
a chaotic mess of people, implants, and loyalties.
Their intel is always scattered and unreliable.
My job as a broker is to sift through all that garbage
and find what's actually useful.
Finding the original source?
That's not part of my role."**
Hearing this, Lin Mo frowned slightly.
Maelstrom…
In the game, that gang was a bottomless pit of insanity and corruption—
its internal politics were a horror show.
And now they were tied to Moore's secret moves?
The dark threads continued to tangle.
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