Dragon Clan: Lu Mingfei Doesn’t Want to Become a Night City Legend

Chapter 174 The Unknown Spirit
It's night.

Tonight, the sky above the city of Night has a glass-like texture. The inorganic lights have unusually adjusted their frequencies, reflecting and covering the sky in a network that echoes each other. The quiet yet bustling city is beginning to awaken.

This is the City of Night; they only truly live at night.

Whether it's Genting Highlands, the Afterlife Tavern, or any corner of the city—an abandoned factory, an apartment building slated for demolition, or a cyborg doctor's clinic—everywhere is discussing the same thing.

L, a mercenary who 'rebelled'.

Everyone hates companies, but they've never seen a famous mercenary go up and cut off the head of a company—a truly heroic act.

Most importantly, he came out safe and sound.

But at the same time, the residents of Night City also knew that this matter would not end like it did last time.

Last time, Lu Mingfei only slapped Aras in the face and then killed one of the other party's loyal and useful dogs—it was shameful, but not enough to make the company and Lu Mingfei fight to the death.

But killing Saburo Arasaka means that they have to take revenge, even if it costs them their entire fortune. Otherwise, in the eyes of other companies, Arasaka will never be able to hold his head high again.

Otherwise, how did the first corporate war come about? — Of course, it's because they discovered that it was more convenient to rule directly with private military force than to negotiate at the negotiating table.

The difference lies in the scale and speed at which Lu Mingfei is hunted down.

"Young Master Lai Xuan."

The air at the top of the Arasaka Tower seemed to freeze.

Lai Xuan turned off all the lights on the floor, claiming it was to commemorate his deceased father. The staff member in charge of the liaison, dressed in a black suit, forced himself to remain calm using the "composure" boosted by the points chip, and reported from behind Lai Xuan.

"The location of L has been determined."

"Should we deploy the armed forces now?"

"."

The Arasaka employees lowered their heads, not daring to look at Arasaka Yorinobu's face.

In his peripheral vision, only that tall, sharp suit stood out, while the neon lights outside the window pierced through the bulletproof glass, carving a cold, hard line between light and shadow on his profile.

He lowered his eyes to look down at the shimmering lights of the Night City, and replied after a moment of silence.

“No need. Half of the Alpha Group died at his hands. Even Goro couldn’t stop him. Simply using numbers to brute force is useless against him.”

"—Legends are like ants to the company, but that's only if both sides clash head-on with their full strength. If Lu Mingfei insists on hiding, we can't afford to have a major battle break out in Night City, and we can't push him to the brink and make him defect to military technology."

"but."

"Do not worry."

Arasaka Yorinobu interrupted his worried words.

"He will come back, because they stole Pandora's box that they shouldn't have taken."

"What we need to think about is not where to find Lu Mingfei, but how to defeat him when he comes to us."

Arasaka Yorinobu turned his head slightly, "How many more times can the consciousness of Adam's Hammer be used?"

Less than ten times.

"Even the soul of a legendary machine can only withstand a few splits. Never mind."

“I need someone who can hold him off. Goro alone isn’t enough. Hanako will be arriving in Night City soon, and then I’ll need to borrow her people.”

"Use Arasaka's authority to ask [the higher-ups] for the person."

Arakasaka Yoriyuki looked into the distance, his hands behind his back.

Behind him, his 'confidants' looked at each other, speechless.

They couldn't help but think to themselves—why is Arasaka Yorinobu still so calm?

The media can fool the outside world, but when Arasaka Hanako arrives, even if Yorihiro doesn't die, he'll be locked up and imprisoned. His current arrogant and conceited demeanor makes it hard to believe he's the young master of Arasaka.

However, it does fit Lai Xuan's usual persona.

Unaware of the sarcastic thoughts of his subordinates, Lai Xuan simply looked at the distant neon lights and squinted slightly.

"soon"

Before Hua Zi strips me of my power, at least this is the last thing I must do.
The man's figure was reflected in the glass in front of him, which didn't allow light to pass through completely, along with the suspicious expressions of his confidants behind him.
That was the illusory image of an old man in a suit standing shoulder to shoulder with him, a figure that seemed to be visible only to Lai Xuan.

"soon."

"I'm sorry, Victor, for dragging you into this."

"Hehe, say less. Although I'm an old man, it's not like I haven't dreamed of one more glorious moment."

Inside the safe house, Old Wei sat slumped in a corner. In front of him stood Lu Mingfei and V.

Jack is still lying inside; he has lost a lot of blood and needs a long period of recuperation.

During this process, Lu Mingfei and V initially considered whether to protect all the contacts related to the three of them, fearing that Arasaka might take hostages to threaten them. However, they soon realized that they had worried too much.

Arakasaka did not attack anyone else.

Or rather, Jack and V were simply not taken seriously.

Their only target is Lu Mingfei.

In their eyes, Lu Mingfei's most important partners—David and his group—had all gone to the wasteland to reclaim wasteland, leaving only Jack, V, and Old V behind.

All we need to do is run with Lao Wei.

The reason their actions became so 'proper' is probably because...
“Ryonori is currently the de facto leader of Arasaka in Night City. Although his actions are unpredictable, his target is definitely me alone.”

With his legs spread apart and elbows resting on his knees, Lu Mingfei sat up straight with a gloomy expression.

“I don’t know what his purpose is. Maybe he’s using me as a show of force so that he can sit on the throne of Emperor Arasaka himself. But there will definitely be resistance in the process.”

“The Arasaka Three Factions.” V nodded beside him. “If I were Yoriyuki, I would use various reasons to incite the core members of the other two factions to participate in the operation to capture you, then use them as pawns to kill you, so that you can influence the other factions, and then find a way to reap the rewards myself.”

It's idealistic, but also old-fashioned.

"Um"

Unusually, Lu Mingfei didn't say much, nor did he utter any offensive remarks.

V noticed this and her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

She could tell that Lu Mingfei was not in a good mood. He was rubbing his fingers together, and his expression was unpredictable. He was different from the confident young man she knew.

Her observation was correct.

Lu Mingfei was indeed in an abnormal state at this moment.

(I messed it up.)
Lu Mingfei gritted his teeth.

Deep within the unknown depths of the mind, negative emotions accumulate continuously.

The boy named Lu Mingfei was not a person associated with 'strength' at all. He grew from a useless loser to a capable one until he saved David. He realized that he could also live with his head held high.

However, one successful experience is not enough to mold a person into a perfect one.

Lu Mingfei is neither perfect nor could he be. His composure so far is built upon his formidable strength and confidence in his own abilities—in fact, he could easily defeat Constantine, suppress Jormungandr, and capture Uesugi Erii single-handedly.
However, that's all there is to it.

He can defeat most people, but that doesn't mean he can protect all his companions.

Brother, you're the biggest monster ever!

These are the words Lu Mingze once said.

But what if it's a lie?
Lu Mingfei is not some extraordinary monster at all. He is not the Dragon King, nor does he have any special background. His biggest background is that he is connected with Lu Mingze. His current strength is because he is a stillborn infant who was bred from two S-class hybrids and given the flesh and blood of the first generation.

A stillborn child who should never have been born grew into a human being with the unconscious help of the demon Lu Mingze, which is why he became so powerful.

But no matter how strong he is, can he be stronger than the Dragon King at his peak?

You could have saved us.

Half-baked strength is the real threat; you should choose to trade, brother.

Past words flashed through my mind.

At the same time, a strong sense of unease echoed in my mind.

This cyberpunk world seemed to be 'reminding' him of something as it operated.

Let Lu Mingfei know
The time has come when we must uncover the truth about this world.

And at this moment——

"Alright, stop looking down. I also have something to say to you." Seemingly noticing that Lu Mingfei was not in a good state, Old Wei, who was always more like a father to him than his own father, took the initiative to speak. "Jack's condition has stabilized a lot, but I have some bad news to tell you."

This sentence indeed caught Lu Mingfei's attention, and both he and V looked at Old V.

Old Wei didn't delay and gave the answer.

"The Relic you're talking about, he kept Jack alive, but the 'transformation' has already begun irreversibly—a new personality is taking root in Jack's soul."

(End of this chapter)