Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 790, Section 204: A Living Legend

"It's been a while, hasn't it, old man?"

The border checkpoint officer lazily raised his head, immediately recognizing the truck he knew so well. He pushed back his chair, stood up, his uniform jacket loosely draped over his shoulders, walked out of the checkpoint, and headed towards the truck window.

"I heard you went out for a trip?" He took the inspection form and cargo list that the old man handed him through the car window, and casually tossed a bottle of water to the old man, his movements as practiced as if he were throwing something into his own refrigerator.

"What good stuff are you transporting this time? When you went out the other day, the guard on duty outside was a rookie. He didn't even remember to call me when I was sleeping in the inner room—otherwise, I would have had a drink with you before letting you go."

Old Huo Tou grinned, tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, opened the door and got out: "You can't drink and drive, but when you finish your shift and go back to the city, you can call me. See you at Wild Wolf Bar then."

"That's fine. I'll talk to you tomorrow about what you transported on this trip. I saw Adcado's men waiting for us early this morning. Could it be some big shipment again?"

"What good stuff could there be?" The old man winked at his old friend of more than ten years—the youngest officer in the NCPD's traffic division back then, who had now become the most cunning old fox on the border. In the past two years, he had also been promoted to checkpoint chief along with the NCPD chief. "He was an errand boy for Adcado's gang. The road wasn't far, and he was back before he even had a chance to get his foot on the gas."

As he spoke, the old man offered his old friend a cigarette.

"Just don't produce any dangerous goods, the talks will be very serious these next few days."

The old police officer at the checkpoint, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, didn't bother to light it. He squinted at the manifest, then nodded to the old thug, signaling him to follow.

As he walked, he tapped the items on the list with his knuckles, the soles of his boots rubbing against the dusty ground.

"Last month, Old Jack transported a batch of 'agricultural machinery parts'," the old policeman said as they walked through the back door into the checkpoint, "and when we opened the crates, they were full of modified, prohibited weapons. If the special operations team hadn't come and claimed them as theirs, even Old Jack would have been in jail for a few days."

As they walked to the stamping window, the old officer casually slapped the form on the table inside. Just as he was about to ask his men to stamp the goods list, a sudden commotion erupted from the other side of the bulletproof glass, towards the waiting room.

With a sharp crack as a metal seat overturned, mixed with a few curses in a distorted tone, something heavy slammed into the bulletproof glass.

The old policeman's hand hung there, his shadow trembling on the manifest like a startled beetle.

"What happened?"

The veteran police officer and the gang leader immediately stopped what they were doing and looked through the bulletproof glass to the other side. On the other side of the glass, the two groups were locked in a tense standoff.

A burly man in faded overalls was grabbing a skinny man by the collar. The skinny man's back was pressed against the bulletproof glass, and it looked like the burly man had pushed the skinny man into the bulletproof glass of the checkpoint.

"Damn, those hotheads," the veteran officer said with a hint of helplessness.

Through the fingerprint-covered bulletproof glass, he could clearly see that the group of burly men leading the way all had unfriendly eyes and looked like they were about to start a fight.

"Making trouble here, with NCPD hovercraft parked just two kilometers from the border post, these idiots must have come from some backwater."

"Is that Adcardo on the other side?"

The old man noticed the tribal insignia on the skinny man's clothes, which belonged to his recipient, the Adcado personnel the old police officer had mentioned earlier, who was waiting for him.

"Adcardo?"

The veteran officer was taken aback. He hadn't really noticed that the person being shoved was Adcardo, who had been waiting for him that morning. Now, upon closer inspection, he realized it was indeed him. He wondered how they had gotten into a conflict with this group of outsiders.

The veteran officer had already signaled to the other NCPD officers to draw their guns and prepare; this was not a place for them to cause trouble.

Just as the veteran officer was about to draw his gun and sternly reprimand and control the situation from the bulletproof glass, a loud shout suddenly erupted from the other side of the glass.

"What are you Adcado people so arrogant about with just a little money?!" The burly leader's forehead veins bulged, and his face was almost touching Adcado's nose.

His rough work clothes cuffs were stained with machine oil, and his face was full of dissatisfaction and anger: "Why do you try to persuade us to join Adcado? Do you look down on our Kus tribe? Even if we disband, it doesn't mean we have to beg for food from you in this place. We can survive on our own."

"You guys can't even afford a decent car right now!" Adcado's skinny man suddenly retorted, his calloused fingers pointing out the window—through the dirty glass of the checkpoint, several rusty modified cars could be seen parked in the parking lot, their hoods missing.

The burly man's fist slammed into the bulletproof glass with a "bang," causing a few wisps of dust to fall from the ceiling.

"Bullshit!" The veins bulging on his neck looked like tangled cables. "This car isn't any better than the old Adcardo stuff. Don't forget what happened in 2074. Who used the last half tank of gas to pull your men out of the Dead Man's Ditch? Why didn't you complain about the car being so old back then? Huh? Now you're putting on airs?!"

"If you hadn't saved us in the past, I wouldn't have bothered inviting you here. If I didn't consider you one of our own, do you think just anyone can get into Adcado?"

The skinny man, facing the burly man, refused to back down: "Your tribe's leader has long since run off to lick the boots of the company. Now you're leading a few beat-up cars and a handful of crippled soldiers, and you think you can make a name for yourself in this godforsaken place? Keep dreaming!"

At this point, the skinny man's tone suddenly softened. He looked directly into the burly man's eyes, his voice unusually sincere: "Why don't you come to Adcardo? Thor has been thinking about you guys."

"Thor."

The name was like a bucket of cold water poured on the strong man's heart. The anger that had been building up due to the disbandment of the tribe and the humiliation of being treated like a stray dog ​​were all calmed down a little by the familiar name.

The burly man always held that legendary wanderer leader in high esteem, however...
The burly man loosened his grip on his collar.

"Even if Thor were to speak up, there's no point in discussing this."

"What if we add armored personnel carriers?"

"what?"

The skinny man's casual remark froze the burly man and his companions in place, as if the air itself had solidified.

"What did you just say?" The burly man's voice trembled slightly.

The skinny man grinned, revealing a full set of teeth: "We now have two armored personnel carriers, real big guys."

"."

This bombshell news plunged the wandering tribes of the Kus into a long silence.

Those who have struggled on this barren land know what an armored personnel carrier means—it is a mobile fortress, a guarantee of life, and an uninterrupted supply line. With it, a tribe can roam freely across the wasteland.

And now, Adcado actually has two of them. This is truly unbelievable, especially for the Kus tribe, who used to cooperate with Adcado; it's even more unbelievable.

When the Kus tribe received Adcado's invitation, they all assumed that Adcado at most had a new convoy or something, which is why they said that Adcado's people were arrogant because they had some money, and that they were being looked down upon. But if it was armored personnel carriers...
That's not a matter of looking down on someone or looking up to them.
"Are you fucking bluffing me?" The burly man's voice was terrifyingly low and hoarse, but most of his previous rage had dissipated. "With the meager resources of your Adcardo family..."

"We wouldn't lie to our own people."

At this moment, an Adka man who had been watching from the sidelines walked over. From his words, it was clear that he had already accepted the Kus tribe's separatists as his own. He naturally took out a projection device and displayed the images on it, which showed the two armored transport vehicles and various data.

"It's the real thing!"

The members of the Kus tribe exclaimed in amazement upon seeing the data and images on the screen. These seasoned veterans, who had been through countless battles in the badlands, had such sharp eyes that they could discern the quality of equipment at a glance. Although they had never personally handled such top-tier equipment, it was precisely this yearning that made them understand every detail of these steel beasts better than anyone else.

"This"

The leader of the group of Kus tribe separatists swallowed hard, and a look of interest clearly appeared on his face.

If Adcado were to simply change their fleet and then demand that they abandon their tribal name and join Adcado, it would be an insult to them, as both sides have their own dignity.

However, if Adcado invited them with armored personnel carriers, then he was clearly coming with good intentions, because he needed to expand his manpower and therefore invited them.

One is pity for someone who isn't doing well themselves, the other is starting a business with friends after they've become successful; the meanings are definitely different.

The former will naturally be angry, angry at the other person's behavior, but the latter...
"I"

The burly man hesitated for a moment, but still maintained his basic dignity: "Have Thor come and talk to me in person, and I will speak with him."

"What a coincidence, isn't it?" the skinny man said. "Boss Thor is driving the Demon Lizard this way, just waiting for you to say that."

"The Demon Lizard?!" The burly man's voice suddenly rose eight octaves, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets. "You're talking about the Demon Lizard I know?!"

“That’s right!” The skinny man shook his head smugly. “We have three armored vehicles now, two of them our own, one of them is rented, and one of our own is the new one you see right now. And the other one…” He deliberately dragged out the word, “is a genuine Demon Lizard, bought outright, the real deal!”

"."

The burly man hesitated for a moment.

"When is Thor coming? Where is he? I'll come pick him up right away."

There's no need to rush that.

The skinny man smiled and waved to the NCPD personnel at the checkpoint who had relaxed their guard due to the less tense situation, indicating that everything was fine here: "Boss Thor is helping to take some people to a place, saying he's going to destroy something. He'll come here to call us to go together. We can practice our skills together after a long time."

"Could you help me bring people along?"

The burly man was taken aback: "Since when did Thor start transporting people instead of goods?"

“These are people Thor actively wanted to help, so they’re different.”

"Actively offering to help?"

Suddenly, the burly man heard a sound, the roar of machinery. Almost at the same time, the old man and the old policeman on the other side of the bulletproof glass also started to move.

"Oh, it seems I arrived at just the right time. I didn't expect to run into you like this."

The old man, who had overheard the conversation between the Adcado people and the Kus tribe, clearly realized who was the person who could get the Adcado leader, Thor, to offer his help.

He and the old police officer both knew each other and were quite familiar with that person.

As the roar of the armored lizard vehicles tore through the morning mist, the entire checkpoint seemed to be put on pause.

The new dreamers waiting to enter the city at the checkpoint stared wide-eyed, their luggage falling to the ground with a thud—the steel behemoth was flying across the dirt road, followed by five heavily modified war machines, its movement resembling a howling whirlwind.

The lizard hovered slowly thirty meters from the checkpoint. The airflow from its engine caused the NCPD's virtual warning lines to swing wildly. With a hissing sound of the hydraulic system releasing pressure, the top hatch lifted up layer by layer like a prehistoric beast opening its scales.

The morning light suddenly became blinding.

As the magic lizard opened, a person stepped out and onto the armored plate. When the person stretched, their appearance was initially difficult to discern.

"The two-seater of the Demon Lizard seems to be more comfortable than a regular two-seater."

As the young man exiting the capsule murmured to himself, his figure was fully revealed in the morning light.

He was a man known to everyone in Night City, and indeed the entire world. Although he had not been in the public eye recently, everyone recognized him immediately when he appeared.

Night City only recognizes two legends:

One that has already entered the grave,
Another one is stretching while standing on the armor plate.

He is the embodiment of the dreams of the dreamers who come to Night City, and also the savior in the eyes of the citizens who have moved to Night City from all over the world after hearing about the protection he brings.

Good morning, KK.

The NCPD officers at the checkpoint, along with the people of Adcado, greeted the legendary figure—who seemed unapproachable to outsiders—quite naturally amidst the diverse gazes of the many outsiders.

And this is how the living legend responded.

Good morning, everyone.

Under the sunlight, KK reappeared in the eyes of the world.

(End of this chapter)