Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 892, Section 102: Li Dexin Keeps His Promise

A chilling cold shot up Li De's spine and straight to the top of his head, instantly extinguishing the last flicker of struggle in his eyes.

He lay on the ground, staring blankly into the passageway, as if he could see through the layers of concrete to the soldiers outside who were still fighting to the death for 'New American Glory' and Hansen.

For what?
To ensure Hansen's power was eradicated completely? To resist the invasion of the new United States?
What are the people fighting for?

Fifteen minutes from now, will they all die? Along with everyone inside—the hounds, the new American soldiers, the innocent civilians, and him, Li De, and Song Zhaomei, the source of this 'trouble'.

Were these people, whom Hansen and Miles, two identical individuals, all destined to die and be sacrificed?

Everything can be sacrificed.

Aside from themselves.

That's the truth, isn't it?

Li De's mind flashed with Miles's cold and resolute face, Song Zhaomei's pale and helpless expression, and the determined eyes of the young soldiers on the battlefield. Finally, his mind settled on Karl's bloodied yet unusually calm face.

This man, who was not bound by any rules, this person he once regarded as dangerous, this person he might have considered a friend in his heart, now pointed out the truth that had been covered up by lies with unparalleled clarity for his sake.

That lies buried beneath the glory, the promise of the nation, the promise of greatness, and the naked truth of pursuing only one's own selfish desires!

Li De loved his country, but he loved the new America!

He wasn't fighting for Rosalind Myers's insane ambitions that would drag the nation into the abyss!

"Hehehe," Li De suddenly chuckled softly, his laughter hoarse and desolate, carrying an emptiness that came from utter despair. He struggled to sit up, despite the excruciating pain in his body, and leaned against the cold wall.

He glanced at the abandoned pistol on the ground not far away, but didn't pick it up.

“You’re right, Karl.” Li De’s voice was unusually calm. All the pain, anger and struggle seemed to dissipate with that bitter laugh, leaving only a weariness and resolve after seeing through everything.

"What I've been loyal to may have always been just an illusion, an illusion woven from lies and ambition."

He raised his head and looked at Karl, his eyes no longer filled with confusion, but with a heavy clarity.

“But I can’t let those soldiers die meaningless like I did back then.” He took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind. “Nuclear weapons must be stopped.”

This wasn't for Karl, nor for Song Zhaomei, nor even for himself.

This is for those who are still fighting on the battlefield, and for the Li De who was once purely in love with this country and believed in some lofty ideal deep in his heart—the Li De who was almost forgotten.

He looked at Carl, his tone firm: "Tell me, what should I do?"

At this moment, the lost ace agent seemed to have died, and another Li De struggled to stand up on the ruins of his beliefs.

He chose not to betray his country, but to betray the cancer that was corrupting it. What he wanted to protect was the new America that he truly believed was worth protecting, even if it meant embarking on a path of no return that would completely sever ties with the past.

In response to Li De's words, Karl checked the time.

Thirteen minutes.

Perhaps, making a breakthrough in one's past life and gaining a clear understanding is not difficult, right?
Carl tended to his wounds briefly, then picked up the discarded piece from the ground.

He slowly walked up to Li De and handed the pawn to Li De.

"What should you do? Pick it up yourself."

Carl walked up to Song Zhaomei's side, leaving Li De in a daze.

"To be honest, I don't think I hug women very often."

With that, Karl adjusted his position and picked up Song Zhaomei.

"The last time, I remember, was two years ago."

Karl carried Song Zhaomei to Li De and then handed her over to him. "Let's go."

He casually inserted an acupuncture needle into Li De's body and treated him with all his might, then walked away into the distance.

That place was not in the direction of the underground shelter.

Karl is not Hansen; he came to end the nuclear war. Now that they've finally reached an agreement, they can get things done.

Li De looked at Song Zhaomei, who had been handed to him by Karl, and at Song Zhaomei, whom he had fought for just a few minutes ago. Seeing her pale appearance, his expression trembled slightly.

"Where are you going?"

He asked Carl.

"To solve the 'problem' of Song Zhaomei, the key to stopping the nuclear bomb is to make Miles, this profit-driven guy, think it's a losing proposition. She's capable of dropping a nuclear bomb on Dogtown, which has both Hansen and Song Zhaomei, but if Song Zhaomei has left and Hansen is dead, Miles would never do something that is destined to lose everything."

Karl said it casually, then glanced back at Li De.

"You should know about the access permissions for the Neural Matrix, right? Those two hackers, that was done by your FBI, wasn't it?"

Li De nodded in response to Karl's words.

After V successfully installed the tracking program on the two hackers that day, it was indeed their intelligence agency that tracked down the two hackers and obtained the access code to the Neural Matrix from them. That access code was in Li De's hands, which was also the reason why he came here alone to rescue Song Zhaomei.

At first, he only wanted to rescue Song Zhaomei, but perhaps when Miles allowed him to use the access code, he had already planned to have him heal Song Zhaomei so that he could take her back and continue to use her as a tool, allowing this almost-obsolete tool to be reused once again.

Now that I've figured it out, doing things isn't difficult.

"I will save you, Xiao Song."

Li De said this to Song Zhaomei, whom he was holding.

This time, it's not for Miles.

It was for his own sake.

Li De.

In her hazy state, Song Zhaomei heard a familiar voice, the voice of Li De.

She opened her eyes groggily, but could only see a dark shadow in the dim light.

"You're so dark-skinned, Li De."

Upon hearing this, before Li De could react, Song Zhaomei mumbled something else.

"So you really came, Li De."

Song Zhaomei said, "You promised me that you would stand with me in battle and that you would never regret it. And you really came."