Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 876 There's No Reason Not to Do It

Chapter 876. There's no reason not to do it.
"Nuclear bomb?"

Hearing what Hansen said through the secretly set-up channel, Oliver's lips twitched slightly before Bennett and Gago, who were monitoring the channel, could react.

"No, we were just talking about Johnny's incident, and now it's actually happening?"

"2023, will the past repeat itself?"

V muttered to himself, glancing at Johnny: "This is too much of a coincidence."

"I remember that the core power supply for Hansen Stadium used the fission reactor he salvaged from that nuclear-powered airship he shot down, right?" As a veteran of Night City, Jack knew a lot about what Hansen had done during his time in Dogtown after the unification war. When it came to nuclear weapons, that was the first thing that came to mind.

"I remember there seems to be a difference between nuclear reactors and nuclear bombs. I've read some related materials, which say that they differ in terms of controllability and energy release. Nuclear reactors require a continuous and stable chain reaction, while nuclear bombs require the instantaneous release of energy through an uncontrollable chain reaction in a short period of time. So that's how it should be."

Carl pondered for a moment and said, "So, that stable fission reactor has already been converted into a nuclear bomb by that guy Hansen?"

“Hansen is an arms dealer after all, so getting his hands on a small nuclear bomb shouldn’t be too difficult for him,” T-BUG’s voice chimed in, calmly analyzing. “But according to him, to wipe out all the approaching New American forces in one fell swoop, this yield could only be the result of modifying the reactor.”

She paused briefly before continuing, "This also explains why Hansen has been unwilling to show himself. Something like this, which could potentially send his own 'Ghost Hounds' to their deaths, can only be personally controlled by a leader of his caliber."

"What a hell."

Johnny's projection sighed, "So there's no change between fifty years ago and fifty years later. Whether it's between companies, between countries, or even between countries that have come out of the country to confront the country, they're all still thinking the same thing and doing the same thing."

As he spoke, he scoffed, "Ha, I actually believed that patriotic nonsense back then, lied about my age to enlist in the American army, to hell with America, to hell with the new America."

As he spoke, he gave his friends a standard military salute: "Private First Class Johnny Silverhand salutes you."

"So you were just a private first class back then?"

V looked at Johnny's impeccably standard military salute with some surprise: "I thought you were at least a corporal."

"I definitely have some, but I lost them all after I deserted. I have both forgotten and unforgettable past experiences. The only thing I remember now is that I participated in the Second Central American War in 03, invading others under the banner of justice, and then ran away halfway through."

Johnny sighed and said, "I don't know whether to say I was lucky or unlucky about that trip. I ran away early and didn't become one of those unfortunate guys who were abandoned by logistics and trapped in the mess in Central America. But in the end, I still got the stigma of being a deserter."

"Later, the truth came out, and everyone realized that it wasn't some bullshit just war at all—it was nothing but an invasion. Nobody wanted to fight for old America anymore. But guess what? They turned the tables and blamed the defeat on us, on those soldiers who had barely crawled back from hell."

His tone turned somber: "Even those who were abandoned and struggled to escape were treated as deserters. Public opinion overshadowed their names, their families were separated, and they lost all dignity. They survived on the battlefield, only to face everyone's accusations when they returned home—this should never have happened!"

“From then on, that old America was no longer my homeland.” He chuckled, but there was no smile in his eyes. “Sure enough, a few years later, around 14, the old America had completely collapsed, and I was no longer an old American.”

Johnny's projection lit a cigarette, but his body didn't inhale the smoke, as if he wanted to use this instinctive act of lighting a cigarette to suppress certain emotions within him.
"Now I see that America is still America, and the bastards are still the same bastards. Whether they left America or are still in America, nothing has changed. It's really hard to describe. After all, I did similar bastard things myself. I also came from America, and it's really the same old story."

Listening to Johnny's words, his companions could more or less understand his current feelings.

The reactor that Hansen is about to detonate will cause far more horrific damage than Johnny's heist years ago, with a wider impact and more incalculable casualties.

Faced with such a scale of destruction, even the most turbulent emotions seem to be drained away. Standing here, one falls into a strange numbness—not calmness, nor despair, but a blankness that is difficult to describe even to oneself.

Johnny puffed on a virtual cigarette, exhaling virtual smoke one puff after another. Finally, he snapped the cigarette in two with his silver hand: "I'm going to stop them. Is there anyone who can help me pull off a heist?"

If it were the old Johnny, he would have said, "You all come here and do a job with me."

Even at his least scumbag moments, Johnny would say, "Come with me and pull off a heist."

But Johnny now.

In 2077, Johnny says, "Who wants to help me pull off a heist?" What is Johnny planning to do?
Naturally, no further explanation is needed.

After the reactor detonated, the explosion's epicenter alone was enough to blow up large areas of Dogtown, not to mention the subsequent effects.

While it may not be enough to return to the era of Cyberpunk Red, its impact will definitely severely damage Dogtown, the entire Pacific State, and Night City.

Night City is changing. Although it can't be considered a true city of light, it is indeed getting better little by little.

Although the speed is not fast, and people's quality has not changed that quickly, it is indeed changing.

It didn't go down, but up.

Since things are getting better, even a little bit is enough.

In 2077, Johnny still wants to make the world a better place.

Even if it's just a little bit.

and so.

He absolutely cannot let that kind of bastard thing happen again.

2023.

A glimpse of the past.

2077.

The past is gone forever.