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

Chapter 214 2004
This is the reality of the past.

The reason why Arasaka was able to rise to become one of the world's top companies during the corporate war was because of the remains of the White King.

This is also why Outcanen was able to develop Relic.

Above the Crystal Palace is a place where many mixed-race families are believed to be gathered.

Now, in these isolated cities, the truth about Barthes has finally come to Lu Mingfei's attention.

However, many more doubts do indeed exist.

Clue 1: [It can be inferred that these companies, which should have existed concurrently with Arasaka, even if they existed in the world, were not as powerful as those in cyberpunk history, and may not have existed at all.]

Clue Two: [In 2004, this world was already capable of influencing wars through super-individual mercenaries, meaning that the concept of super-hybrids still existed at that time. So, who is this super-hybrid?]

Clue 3: [The disintegration of the United States in 1994]

Clue Four: [Crystal Palace's sudden change in behavior]

Clue Five: [In Saburo Arasaka's memories, there is never a specific battle where he slayed a dragon, meaning he never directly fought a dragon; he only knew about dragons through various documents and at the end, when he witnessed their remains.]

Clue Six: [Beyond the black wall lies Barthes's virus, and a chaotic cyberspace where AI has been deliberately leaked and mixed together due to the deliberate destruction by various companies.]

Besides, there are too many doubts about this statement, or rather, newly added doubts.

Lu Mingfei pinched the bridge of his nose and started from the first one.

First of all, the more he listened to Saburo's words, the more he felt that the cyberpunk world was definitely not a parallel universe that had nothing to do with Lu Mingfei and the others.

Even if it's a parallel universe, it's probably a world that diverged at some point.

History was changed at multiple points.
However, Lu Mingfei had heard a different story.

The so-called world lines are like bundles of ribbons that separate at a certain point in time, but will inevitably converge at a certain point, because this is the inertia of history, an 'event' that is almost inevitable.

If we assume that cyberpunk and the world of dragons share some commonalities, then there will be an obvious 'breakthrough'.

[Clue 2: The super-hybrid that appeared in 2004, triggering a corporate war]

The point of contention is that super hybrids are not so easily born.

Before Lu Mingfei arrived, it had been a long time since Kassel had visited an S-class family. Lu Mingfei had previously deduced that most aristocratic families had probably hidden their trump card hybrids.

However, in this kind of corporate warfare, those who can be hired as mercenaries are definitely strong individuals exposed in the open.

In 2004, Lu Mingfei was still in junior high school. What major events happened at that time?
My most vivid memory from junior high school in 04 is probably that torrential rain.

During the torrential rain that swept through Fuzhou, Lu Mingfei had no one to pick him up. He had asked a classmate for a ride, but he couldn't get a ride.

Back then, I didn't even know any of the senior students from my school.
But
Lu Mingfei knows the answer.

Let's reminisce.

This is something Lu Mingfei did when he first returned to the Dragon Clan world.

【

Let's put the 'monitor' aside for now.

On the other half of Lu Mingfei's field of vision, the searched information was indeed neatly arranged.

[1908 Tunguska explosion]

[In 1908, the Gypsies discovered the remains of an unknown creature]

[A bloodthirsty mysterious subspecies appeared on the Arab battlefield in 1979]

【XNUM X Year X NUM X Month X NUM X Day】

[FZ City Expressway Incident]

These are the anomalies that Lu Mingfei compiled, which he believes may be related to the so-called 'dragon' mythical creature. To collect this information, he even spent some time hacking into some sensitive and important facilities.

July 3, 2004

【FZ City Expressway Incident】

That's right.

Lu Mingfei already had an impression of this matter.

Behind this incident, Lu Mingfei's senior brother, Chu Zihang, was even involved, and one person went missing.

Lu Mingfei did not find his file at the time.

A certain entity deeply connected to Chu Zihang, in 2004, during the first corporate war in the cyberpunk world, and simultaneously in a mysterious incident on the Fuzhou overpass in the Dragon Raja world—

[Disappeared]

Interestingly, neither Saburo Arasaka nor any of the investigators from the Dragon Clan world other than Chu Zihang could recall this character's name.

There are too many overlapping points. Considering Chu Zihang's mixed-race identity, if we define this "missing person" as a "mercenary from the First Corporate War" who once appeared in the cyberpunk world but whose information has now been largely erased, then...

Furthermore, considering what was mentioned earlier, it can be inferred that these companies, which should have existed concurrently with Arasaka, even if they existed in the world, were not as powerful as those in cyberpunk history, and may not have existed at all.

Perhaps it's not because of different timelines.

Combined with [Clue Three]

In 1994, Lu Mingfei recalled that such a major economic crisis had not occurred, let alone the disintegration of the United States. In other words...

Whether it's a parallel universe or a divergence in world lines, one thing is certain—

Someone altered history before 1994, the year of the iconic cyberpunk event of the "American Revolution," eliminating these large corporations that should have been on the historical stage!

Then, in 2004, the existence of a certain "super hybrid" was erased.

While it's not quite a perfect match, it's like the fitting edges of a jigsaw puzzle – it's definitely a possibility!
That means
Once Lu Mingfei finds this person, he can at least determine whether the other party 'consciously engaged in this behavior' or 'unconsciously reached a timeline divergence'.

If it were the latter, then Lu Mingfei would only need to focus on saving the world.

If it's the former.
That means someone is deliberately delaying the arrival of the cyberpunk era, or rather, changing the status quo of the cyberpunk era.

Was the other party acting with good intentions or malice?
While it may be called malicious, the cyberpunk era was indeed delayed.

While it was said to be well-intentioned, in Lu Mingfei's view, the other party's act of 'erasing the company' was, in a sense, also reducing the competition for the hybrid families. This meant that once the dragon race entered the 'Hunting Era,' the hybrid families would arrive in cyberpunk at 'a faster pace than now,' and it would be even more irreversible.

On Earth, the Crystal Palace, known as the Garden of Eden, will forever reign as the emperor, above all others.

What made Lu Mingfei feel a vague sense of nausea was becoming increasingly accurate.

That was his intuition telling him—the answer was the former.

There is a pair of hands that he cannot see for the time being, which have been controlling the era that belongs to Lu Mingfei.

Where is the answer?

As his consciousness sank into the spiritual world, Lu Mingfei's evolved intelligence helped him arrange all the memories in his brain and find those foreshadowings that had already been 'marked' long ago.

It must exist.

clue.

flaw.

Decisive evidence.

As consciousness descends, the bubbles change from transparent to cloudy, gradually flattening like shards of glass.

Lu Mingfei felt an excruciating pain as if his soul were being ripped away. Perhaps because he was actively accelerating his thinking, he had never felt the pain of 'teleportation' so clearly before.

That's right.

Lu Mingfei realized that he would soon return to the Dragon Clan world.

This time, it is such a clear and unambiguous 'fact'.

But he hasn't found the answer yet, not to mention evidence, he doesn't even have any supporting clues.
and many more.

The crackling sound in my ears gradually subsided, and the water pressure in my mind left a net-like indentation on my skin.

After the ability to perceive light faded, the chill transformed into tangible needles that pierced through the bone marrow.

[Supporting evidence. The source of inconsistency]

Isn't that me?

Lu Mingfei suddenly thought of it.

I am someone who can travel between the dragon world and the cyberpunk world. Although my timeline is different, if I can do it, doesn't that mean that 'others may also be able to do the same thing'?
The air membrane ruptured, and darkness turned into liquid and poured into the seven orifices, causing the bones in the body to emit a crisp sound of fibers breaking.

But at the moment Lu Mingfei gained 'confidence', in the deep sea of ​​consciousness, amidst countless fragments of memories, he seemed to suddenly understand and reach out to grab a piece.

That was before the last time I came to cyberpunk.

His conversation with the king.

The memories he obtained from Sanlang's mind.

[Relic wasn't even originally called Relic; since its invention by Outcanning, the original project name was clearly Soul Killer.]

The Soul Killer was even named by Arasaka, while the term "Relic" was used as a promotional term after the Soul Killer program had developed to a certain stage; essentially, it means "relic" or "imprint."

This is a name that will only be proposed after 2040.

If relic was never named, then why?
When Herzog spoke to him, he mentioned the word "relic." Why did Herzog use "relic" in Lu Mingze's memory, instead of some other word?
The name "Relic" was chosen so that, when advertising the product, it could be used to say, "Protect the souls of your family members and see your deceased loved ones again." This is its outward characteristic as a product.

If Herzog invented relic independently, was it necessary for him to use that name?
Did Herzog invent Relic, or did some being from the cyberpunk world come to the Dragon World and pass on the relevant technology to Herzog?

In the autumn of 1991, Dr. Herzog met with a major named Bondarev in Port Black Swan.

[Afterwards, the doctor underwent plastic surgery to transform himself into a Japanese man and went undercover in Japan to gather intelligence on Bondarev. In an accident, he obtained a black notebook containing the entire procedure for resurrecting the White King and his own research findings, and also located Bondarev's secret laboratory in Tokyo.]

[And in Bondarev's records, there is a path that can revitalize the previously abandoned Plan 1 — [The White King]]

What a coincidence.

The coincidences that would have made Herzog lose his mind wouldn't work for Lu Mingfei.

Bondarev.

this man
It's a singularity that connects the cyberpunk and dragon worlds.

(End of this chapter)