Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 105 The Shallow Agreement of the Black Wall (1 words)

The evil in human nature always exceeds Lin Yue's imagination.

Lin Yue opened the car door and pulled the female celebrity Chao Meng and the company representative whose head had been blown off out of the car. He then firmly secured Emma, ​​who was trying to move, to the seat.

Emma regained some clarity after such a sudden turn of events, but only for a very short time.

Her makeup was exquisite, but it was stained with a few tiny drops of blood, which, combined with her captivating eyes, gave her the look of a blood-soaked beauty.

"You, you are... Lin Yue?!"

Lin Yue smiled and said, "Sorry to bother you. Now... cooperate with me a little, I need to find something."

As he spoke, Lin Yue reached behind her head to try and find the chip at the interface, and also inserted the human-computer interaction cable into the back of Emma's neck to read whether she had any external memory storage or something similar.

What are you looking for?

Emma's soft yet slightly cool lips suddenly pressed against the back of Lin Yue's hand.

Depend on!
Lin Yue recoiled as if he had been electrocuted.

Lin Yue pinched Emma's chin, his brows furrowing as he looked at the woman, who resembled a cheap commodity from Twisted Street. Emma's hot breath repeatedly sprayed onto Lin Yue's hand, like a puppy begging for mercy.

Lin Yue turned her face to the side and indeed felt a chip behind Emma's neck.

"Kill me, please..."

Emma gripped Lin Yue's hand, looking like a pitiful person who had lost all hope, yet her body was frivolous, and she had to desperately resist the effects of the drug.

Lin Yue took a deep breath. These company dogs all had trauma team programs in their bodies, and a hovercar would definitely arrive there in a few minutes. He took a deep look at the charming woman who had been given away as a commodity, put his gun away, and disappeared into the morning mist.

Emma lay amidst a pile of corpses, her face filled with despair.

How can this not be considered a form of disguised cruelty?
Hanz's nemesis is still around, and his subordinate named Rin has started to change tactics and attack Hanz's vitals... The death of the Fuyutsuki Company representative means that this deal is completely over, and Hanz will soon have to face Fuyutsuki Company's enemies.

A huge humming sound from the hovercar echoed above Emma's head, and a huge red dotted line enveloped the area around her. She waited quietly for the hovercar to land.

The piercing alarm blared in the strong wind, blowing Emma's hair across her forehead.

"Attention, we are currently docking!"

"Security procedures initiated, follow instructions!"

The AI-powered voice of the hovercraft was devoid of emotion. Inside the white hatch, a fully armed trauma team jumped out, carrying intelligent submachine guns, and examined the surrounding corpses one by one.

Emma's identity was scanned by a trauma team using handheld scanning devices to confirm her membership.

Platinum members can easily summon the trauma group's [Zeta Tech Atlas] hovercar, ironically, the insurance was purchased by Hans for Emma.

"The customer has overdosed on medication! Heart arrhythmia!" The medical staff called out to the person on guard nearby and handed over a convenient syringe.

After the injection, Emma's head began to feel dizzy.

Tears welled in her eyes as she gazed at the spot where the lion had vanished, knowing that some things were already done and could not be undone...
-
Lin Yue got everything he wanted: a straight face and Aguilar's behavioral characteristics.

If he makes good use of these two things, Dogtown will be his free kingdom. Not only can he control the votes of the Hound of the Underworld when future changes occur, but he can also hide himself in the crowd and become the new leader of Dogtown, even if it is a position lower than that of a colonel.

But at least it's better than dying in the battle on Arasaka.

So many days have passed since Lin Yuezi lost his network signal, and his confidence in Arasaka has plummeted.

During his time hiding from the military in Night City, Lin Yue had hoped to contact V and have Arasaka help him escape, thus avoiding the company's pursuit. But now he was temporarily putting aside the mess outside and needed to take advantage of this lull in the chaos to get some cybernetic modifications done at the stadium—to increase his chances of winning this battle.

"Damn it, what's going on... Can connections from big companies be unstable?"

Regarding the military science team's pursuit of him in the city, Lin Yue felt it wasn't just about venting his anger—the data wasn't completely copied, and 10% hadn't been stored. They were very likely after the remaining data.

Given the company's track record, by now, everyone has probably already been at the negotiating table...

Leaking the information to Arasaka was a risky move. Lin Yue knew that carrying this thing around was suicidal, so he had no choice but to expose the risk and get Arasaka to stand with him... After all, at that time, it was the best solution.

If the data isn't copied, the situation will be worse.

But nothing is absolute. Having been slapped in the face, Lin Yue doesn't trust two kinds of people in his life: middlemen and corporate cronies.

Even if he insults himself, he has to say it!
What he's thinking about now is—if the military science department cuts off enough flesh, will he be sold out?

He just wanted those idiots in the company to know what kind of person Arasaka was. If Arasaka said he had deleted everything, would they really believe him? Even if there was only a one percent chance that Arasaka and the Military Science Academy could reach an agreement, Lin Yue wasn't going to risk going to Arasaka Tower in the city.

After considering all the possibilities, Lin Yue also had to find a way out for himself: if Arasaka accepted him, he would definitely take a further step, but in fact, this situation of being too closely tied to the company was not the result he wanted to see.

In short, he needed to create chaos in Dogtown first so that he would have a chance to escape. For example, after receiving the melancholy map sent by Angie, he became even more convinced of his idea of ​​taking down Hanz and replacing him.

For him, killing Hans to vent his anger was secondary; taking control of the entire situation was the top priority. Someone had to take over Hans's business eventually, and it wasn't impossible for him to be the "hands" man.

As for the Ghost Hound... now that the die is cast, Lin Yue is confident that he can firmly control Bennett's opponent.

Lin Yue took a deep breath and started the car. He still had a lot to do, and increasing his win rate was the most important thing right now... The emergence of his intelligence specialization required him to install a prosthetic body, the [Network Access Pod].

Lin Yue now feels that his combat methods are becoming more and more complicated. With a gorilla arm, carrying a sniper rifle, and having an extremely balanced stat distribution, he might now also be a fast hacker—damn, it's as baffling as Uncle McDonald eating KFC's Original Recipe Chicken.

After all, fantasy is beautiful, but reality is harsh; there simply wasn't enough time to find him a prosthetic body.

If he followed his memory from the game, Lin Yue would definitely use double jump to rush to the prosthetic doctors in each area: Immortal Prosthetics and all that... he'd pack them all up for his buddy! Yes! [Four-Phase Electric Ripple], [Crow Microcontrol], [Arasaka], and what's that, [Military Technology - Telespot]... all arranged!
If we were to go even further, we could run into the [Little Big Dipper] facility and retrieve [Chapter 6]...

The truth is: no prosthetic doctor would casually provide him with a military-grade prosthetic body for only tens of thousands of euros, and then have Lin Yue lie on a chair and pretend to be Cyber ​​V Zhentian.

I don't even have a mercenary as strong as V to fight Hellhound in Little Big Dipper and obtain the Black Wall Technology's production specifications.

Besides, the real-world area of ​​Dogtown is so large that it's not as small and compact as it appears in the game. In the game, it only takes a few minutes to drive from the stadium to the Long Beach stockpile, but in reality, it would take more than an hour. Where would Little Beidou be?

Before getting his prosthetic body fitted, Lin Yue called Kostin to ask about the network access pod.

As he asked, Lin Yue's face darkened—these were all blatant knock-offs like "Military Keji," "Arasaka King," and "Eight-Phase Dynamic Ripple"... Lin Yue didn't dare touch that piece of junk, let alone install it; he was afraid it would explode if he even touched it.

As he drove, he kept shaking his head. "V, V, is your sister just naturally attracting bad luck?"

Lin Yue never imagined that a seemingly simple internal company commission would involve such complex corporate interests, and even expose the list of military technology agents—the whole operation was incredibly complicated, and Lin Yue almost crashed his car!
At this moment, Lin Yue planned to use the cash he had taken from An Qi to scout out the stadium first, so his first target was the hacker kid, Sami.

There's no other way; he can't go to Old V's place now. He bet V has sent people to keep an eye on things there.

Entering the city, he would either be detained by Arasaka's agents or be caught by military personnel on the way—in Dogtown, at least the company wouldn't dare to openly clean up, unless he paid the colonel, then it was a different story... But in fact, Lin Yue always vaguely felt that his disconnection from the outside world was inextricably linked to the military.

After stopping the car, Lin Yue used the bodyguard's face to sneak into the stadium.

I pressed the doorbell outside the bulletproof glass, and the kid slowly walked out, his shifty eyes behind his black-rimmed glasses staring at me.

Lin Yue: "Boss, do you have any connections for network access warehouses? I'll make sure you get plenty of money."

Sammy stroked his chin. "Where did you come from, buddy...? Asking that is asking for trouble, you know? Everyone knows that in Dogtown, the Colonel has to handle all the prosthetic business."

Lin Yue smiled and said, "A friend of mine bought an ICE from you before. Yes, the kind of ICE that idiots who can't program high-end ICE themselves buy to avoid being hacked. I came here to buy a prosthetic body on behalf of that friend."

Sami remembered: "Oh~ you mean that idiot? He's still alive? Most people wouldn't dare to get that prosthetic body; you need to have enough computing power."

Lin Yue was stunned. "Then you recommended him? You know he's not a hacker?"

Sami crossed his arms. "You seem to know a thing or two about hacking, but your friend... he's a complete newbie—but I'm the guy who makes the money. What does it matter to me if I sell him a prosthetic body and he dies? But I heard from the doctor that the guy left alive and kicking. Is that true? If your friend is still alive, that would be quite a research topic."

Lin Yue admitted that he had become a "red-temperature" (a term used to describe someone who has reached a certain level of popularity).

This bulletproof glass saved this kid's life. Who is this person?
Lin Yue rubbed his hands together, trying to sound amicable. "Uh... so buddy, have you got any warehouse sales going? Say something?"

After thinking for a moment, Sami nodded and said, "There are many options, it depends on which one you want. There are expensive and cheap options."

As they were talking, Lin Yue saw the list sent by Sami, which listed various network access warehouses.

[Military Technology Parallel Lines - Black Edition], [Bio-Powered Type 2], [Fuyuzuki Electronics Type 1]...

Lin Yue was a little embarrassed: Well, without even looking at it, I could tell it was all blue, white and green stuff.

But Lin Yue, who was eager to know how to use his hacking skills, didn't care about that right now. He pulled out two stacks of cash from his pocket and said, "Enough is enough."

Seeing that his customer didn't even like the pile of stuff, the little hacker could only shake his head and say, "What kind of hacker cybernetic bodies can Dogtown sell? This is all."

Lin Yue let out a heavy breath, searching his memory for the least decent prosthetic body among the pile, but in the end he still put the large bag of money at his feet on the counter.

"Are there any more advanced ones?"

Lin Yue wasn't worried that the kid wouldn't take the bait.

The kid beckoned with his hand, "Hmm... if you have that much money, there are indeed better goods, but we have to contact you now. Are you sure you want them? You have to pay first and then receive the goods."

Lin Yue hummed in agreement, "No need to elaborate on the rules, we all understand!"

Sami shook his head. "Sigh... I've seen plenty of self-taught hackers like you—you don't understand any principles, but you think you're awesome in cyberspace and offline. I still advise you to think carefully before installing this prosthetic body."

Lin Yue shrugged. Sami probably couldn't understand him, a hacker with cheat codes.

A hacker... is someone who can write their own programs on a computer port and break into a company's data fortress all by themselves. Even if they have talent, these hackers are happy to do this kind of thing. It was Bartmore who started this trend.

If you don't have the talent, then you should honestly learn hacking techniques, starting from the simplest computer skills and working your way up to programming.

In the old days (Cyberpunk 2013-2020), hackers used a square external device as their network access pod. They used this device, about the size of a paperback book, to gain access to the network.

These hackers gain access to a kind of high-level privileges similar to those of an application, enabling them to locate, run, control, load, and delete objects on the network.

Today, with the collapse of the network, new algorithms and the Bartmouth virus have made cyberspace extremely dangerous, but the underlying logic of hacking activities on the network remains unchanged.

Even in this virtual world that resembles real space, there are still entities that escape cyber surveillance—and there are more of them.

It's important to know that every user joining the network must be certified by network monitoring. Most ordinary people use subnets set up by companies, so they naturally don't know that behind the efficient data transmission lies a desolate wasteland... And the gold of cyber networks often sinks into this barren space.

These internet users, who were keen on mining gold (old internet data) from the old internet and selling it to middlemen, once dominated the world's internet. Their equipment was also constantly being upgraded: in 2077, in addition to PDAs (handheld computers) and personal computers, hackers were using their own brains and neuro-prosthetic bodies for computation—and even combat.

Modern hackers face considerable dangers. These hackers, who lurk in the online world, possess vast knowledge of computers and networks, and use new algorithms to write programs and create and modify viruses.

No one should underestimate these guys who use their brains as processors every day, lying in bathtubs filled with ice water or in hacker chairs. They can write magic puppets and are just as dangerous as fully armed corporate private soldiers.

Therefore, Lin Yue's hacking skills seem to be built on thin air without any learning process... But in fact, Lin Yue had heard Sasha's explanations and stories, and with his own learning and understanding, he still knew most of the basic operations.

However, Lin Yue's current situation is quite strange—because of the panel, he skipped the stage of learning basic computer knowledge and installed a network access module, which allows him to use readily available magic puppets to launch attacks.

This means he may be the first hacker who doesn't know how to protect himself while deep diving.

It's an abstract concept to explain, but ultimately, whether or not you've studied computer and network knowledge doesn't lie.

Lin Yue sighed. It would cost a lot of money again. He then patiently waited for Xiao Sami to contact the doctor inside.

I am probably the strangest individual in the world. I use the puppet plugin purely as a weapon, and I only installed the prosthetic body so that I could use QuickSpeed ​​hacking to hack the camera. In the end, I just need to learn matrix hacking and protocol violation.

After waiting, Sami snapped his fingers:

"You can call your friend now! It's the same place as last time, the same old prosthetic doctor who specializes in installing prosthetics on hackers—as steady as a rock."

Lin Yue also snapped his fingers:

"Could you please provide the model number of the network access module? Also, could you help me find a blood circulation pump, a synthetic lung lobe, and ideally, a leg prosthesis—we'll cover the price together."

Sami's eyes lit up as he looked at the large pile of money in the backpack outside the counter. "You'll be satisfied!"

Then the guy leaned closer to the counter and asked, "Do you know about that big thing that happened with the Voodoo Gang yesterday?"

Lin Yue asked with interest, "What's wrong?"

Sami muttered incoherently, "The Voodoo Gang's hideout got wiped out! Damn—some cowardly coward leaked the prototype of the cybernetic body, and the one we assigned to you is that prototype, only our people modified it a bit, but it's absolutely awesome!"

Lin Yue: "What model?"

Sami said, enunciating each word clearly: "Winter Tsuki Tinker Type 3!"

Is it the network access warehouse of Dongyue Electronics?
To be honest, as a player who isn't a dedicated hacker, I don't really know which network access module is good... But compared to the bunch of things Kostin recommended, Winter Moon's Tinker is at least an immortal network access module, a reputable brand, and it's fine to replace it later if necessary.

I never imagined that I would be replacing Fuyutsuki's body with Fuyutsuki's cybernetic body today, after killing Fuyutsuki's people just yesterday... It seems that everything is preordained.

Lin Yue agreed, "Okay, how much is it in total?"

Sami replied while thinking, "We don't do leg prosthetics here. If you include the blood pump, you'll have to pay 20."

How many? !
Holy crap, 20 for two prosthetic bodies?
Lin Yue had 13 euros in cash in his bag and 2 euros in his personal account...

So he coughed expressionlessly and said, "Don't think I don't know. That thing was stolen from the company by the Voodoo Gang. It's not exactly clean. Why are you charging such a high price? Maybe I should go somewhere else."

Seeing that the deal was about to slip away, Sami quickly said, "I can bargain, buddy."

Lin Yue didn't say anything, just stared blankly at the kid.

Sami couldn't hold back any longer, "15, is that okay?"

Lin Yue pondered briefly. An immortal-type network access pod and an unknown-grade blood pump were both expensive at 150,000, but Lin Yue didn't have time to waste.

"Alright, then let's schedule the surgery!"

……

After 12 hours.

[System self-check...//]

[Network connection failed // Success...]

The fluctuations in the network within Lin Yue's prosthetic eye were becoming more frequent; he felt as if his brain had been churned up by a blender.

Ugh, damn it!
Arakako's network was connected to the bio-controller. The long-term stress, lack of sleep, and the aftereffects of anesthesia made him feel like he was about to die.

Despite the numbness in his head, Lin Yue checked the implant's reading status, which was all normal:
[Operating System]: Fuyutsuki Tinker Type 3 Orange
[Circulatory System]: Synthetic Lung Lobe Blue; Blood Activation Pump Blue
……

Lin Yue was relatively satisfied with the money he had spent and the prosthetic bodies he had acquired.

However, the side effects of this prosthetic body replacement surgery seem to be extremely severe. Apart from the Arasaka surgery, none of the other surgeries have made Lin Yue feel so tired.

To my utter surprise, my first operating system in this other world is a network access pod...

This was indeed a bit of hell for Lin Yue, a player who used to complete games with time-stopping swords, guns, and blunt weapons.

"Are you alright?" The doctor remembered this bold guy and looked at Lin Yue with a questioning gaze.

Lin Yue nodded, his hands supporting him on his back. Feeling a light, foreign sensation at the back of his head, he reached out and touched it. There was a raised button on the side of the skin there. When it popped open, he could feel a hole as big as his mouth.

In other words, this mediocre hacker has now become someone qualified for deep-sea exploration.

But Lin Yue wouldn't do something so risky now; he can only use the network access warehouse as a means of attack.

No hacker in Night City started their career with such a risky act as installing a network access module:

Most hackers begin their hacking journey with personal computers and other devices. Once they acquire extensive knowledge and are not satisfied with the computing power of computer CPUs, they will purchase network access modules and then gain access to those modules...

"All we need to do is use a local area network to upload the puppets and intrusion protocols to aid in the operation."

Lin Yue silently recited a phrase to himself, wrapped his clothes tighter, and got up.

The doctor saw the silent man pick up his weapon and head out, and quickly called out to him, "That brat left you something, saying it's... a gift for you."

Lin Yue glanced down and saw that there were three chips.

The prosthetic eye scanned the information of this thing and found that it was a "hacker plugin"—in layman's terms, a magic puppet virus that was not written by the user and could be used simply by placing it into the network access module's slot.

They gave him a gun and some bullets, for Lin Yue to use himself.

Lin Yue, not having time to examine it closely, gripped the chip tightly. For some reason, he hadn't felt well since the new prosthetic body was installed; he was dizzy, sweating profusely, and a little nauseous… Lin Yue felt he needed to find a place to rest first. He'd deal with the network access pod when he felt better.

Sasha called while they were looking for a place to rest.

Lin Yue frowned. Why was Sasha calling at this hour?
So he swallowed hard, forcefully suppressing the nausea, and answered the call Sasha had initiated online—

Sasha sounded anxious on the other end of the phone, "Lin Yue, the Military Science Bureau caught up with me this morning! I've already shaken them off and am hiding near Taipingzhou..."

what? !

As Lin Yue looked at Sasha's holographic image, he noticed some dark red shadows and trembling ripples appearing in his field of vision, and the dizziness in his head grew stronger!
Lin Yue shook his head. "Tell me your location, and I'll take you to Dogtown."

Sasha on the holographic screen looked very worried and said:
"I have a way to get in myself..."

"Lin Yue, I have a bad feeling, especially after I joined the network yesterday. This feeling is even stronger now. I have recently looked up a lot of information and found that blocking personal communications is very difficult, let alone communications within the Arasaka network."

Lin Yue felt this was unreasonable: "If military technology is so advanced... it should have found us by now."

Lin Yue slipped into a thicket of bushes, removed the bodyguard's face from a corner, and walked up the dilapidated street above the stadium, finally stopping at a small clearing in the middle of a cliffside staircase—a place that seemed to be used by residents for heating.

Sasha muttered in a low voice, "If military-grade hackers had this kind of means to disrupt communications, that would be terrifying. I personally think it's technically very difficult to achieve. How could there be such high-level malware? Wow..."

"Do you know, Lin Yue? I always feel like someone is watching me in cyberspace."

Sasha's words sent a chill down Lin Yue's spine, even in broad daylight.

Lin Yue thought for a moment, "Then don't go online yet. Mann and the others are with me—it shouldn't be a problem. We'll disconnect from communication for a while, and you should get to Dogtown as soon as possible."

suddenly!

Sasha's avatar started flashing incessantly, "Location...%#……#Where?"

Lin Yue's heart tightened, "Hello?!"

At the same time, her voice also began to become strangely intermittent, and even emitted some garbled characters.

A piercing electrical hum rang out!
Lin Yue's eyes saw a bright red, broken data chain, layer upon layer, like a river of blood descending from the sky!
Sasha immediately panicked, "Holy crap! What's going on?!"

屮! ——

Before Lin Yue could speak, the call was abruptly cut off!
It felt like a grenade had been shoved into his head; Lin Yue's vision immediately spun.

He was looking at what seemed like hell turned upside down into the real world. The ringtone had changed, becoming sharp and terrifying!

[Caller: Sasha]

Before Lin Yue could answer the phone, Sasha's profile picture frame quickly changed to a picture frame of an unknown number.

Despite a severe headache, Lin Yue struggled to get up.

But the call connected automatically the next second:

It was a hoarse, distorted voice, as eerie as the whispers of a cyberspace demon:
"We know who you are, we know where you are..."

"We know everything about you!"

Lin Yue quickly got up, finally figuring out the source of the discomfort caused by the network access module—ever since the network access module was installed, it felt like he was being remotely controlled!
What is this? He dug his own grave!
Lin Yue felt that the pain had reached its peak.

It felt like someone was constantly stuffing things into his head; the swelling and dizziness reminded him that his intracranial pressure and body temperature were changing rapidly.

That was "they" giving Lin Yue a warning. No amount of verbal threats could compare to a real, profound spiritual pain. A hacker from the military technology department was teaching Lin Yue a lesson.

Even military-grade ICE equipment isn't working? What's going on?!

Dog-like military technology!

"Depend on!"

Lin Yue lay on the ground and pounded the ground with his fists. The power of the gorilla arm operating at full speed caused cement residue to fly everywhere, and spider web-like cracks began to spread from his fists—a burning sensation rose in his throat, and Lin Yue vomited a mouthful of bright red blood.

suddenly!

"it's here……"

It came like a mother's gentle call.

Lin Yue's ferocious face gradually calmed down as he gasped for air, his righteous eyes filled with a scarlet light.

He strode toward the squad base, his face contorted with struggle. He remembered there were many generators there, as well as interfaces specifically for network access. He had to face the hackers on this network, the enemy trying to isolate him!

Lin Yue, with his gorilla-like arms, moved aside the collapsed floorboards at the doorway, his bloodshot eyes locking onto the combination lock outside. In just an instant, black and red data blocks, like cracks, appeared on the lock—

The door opened with a click!

Lin Yue endured the pain that almost made him faint and staggered into the still-functioning cyber hacking room.

I do not know how long it has been……

The "guy" on the other end continued to coax in a low voice, "Get a little closer, you're still too slow, hurry up..."

Lin Yue's face was somewhat stiff, twitching slightly as he mechanically poured ice cubes into the bathtub.

Splash! He slammed heavily into the bathtub as if he had sunk to the bottom of the sea! The shimmering, fluorescent data points within his field of vision began to blur the real physical world…

A vast, empty expanse of black, the end of a white torrent of data, the top of a pale green mountain of code... all sorts of strange scenes that resemble the real world come to life here!

But these were not places Lin Yue wanted to stop. The scenery flashed by at an extremely fast speed, and he arrived at a flat area.

Lin Yue's hand touched something at that moment—

It was soft, like an endless, gentle ocean enveloping him—he looked up and saw a "wall" made of red dots and black codes blocking his way, with a faint blue light flashing in the middle from time to time!

So... this is the "Black Wall"?

They were very close; Lin Yue could feel the guy calling to him from the other side of the black wall.

"Get over it, it's not something that can stop you!"

But another voice was trying to stop them, saying, "Go back."

Boom!Boom!Boom!
A series of muffled thuds came from above.

Lin Yue's eyes were lifeless, his empty gaze fixed on the direction from which the sound came. Trillions upon trillions of attacks were unfolding behind that wall, which was now bulging in exaggerated arcs before receding again, and data was dissipating like scattered dots—

His memories seemed to be crumbling, and he muttered to himself: Is this an illusion? How did I access cyberspace? How did I get here?
But unfortunately... no one gave him an answer!

Lin Yue pulled out the red and black [data spores]. He looked down at his ethereal body and saw various lines, some long and some short. He instantly understood that these chains, like those of a puppet, were what was controlling him.

He gently hooked his hand up, the thickest part originating from the red and black wall in front of him.

The data spores in his hand were absorbed into his hand, and the sheer volume of data caused the chains to tremble and wail in agony!
[The Shallow Agreement Behind the Black Wall]!
He treated this chaotic mess of data like a stubborn rock in his hand and slammed it against the chain. No one could stop him—he wanted to cross this wall and return to that warm cradle.

Bang! Bang!
With each forceful strike, the shackles extending from the wall would scatter fragments of data, each piece a vast and boundless code.

At that moment, a red figure standing not far away quietly watched the young man who was trying to break free of his shackles, and then immediately disappeared.

Finally, with Lin Yue's full-force strike, he got his wish. With a crisp cracking sound, the thick red chain broke completely!

That's not enough! Lin Yue always felt like someone was trying to control him from behind—

A thin white line stretched out from the endless emptiness behind him. Lin Yue knew that was the safe zone behind the black wall.

"Is it Arasaka?"

Lin Yue muttered to himself.

If I break it, I can leave this place.

The deadly allure of the call grew stronger and stronger in his ears. Lin Yue didn't want to waste a moment. But just as he raised the red and black data block in his hand to strike, the thinnest line tautened, and Lin Yue's virtual body began to retreat rapidly!

why? !

Lin Yue roared and struggled!

The virtual landscapes around his face, so realistic they resembled the real world, were flashing rapidly—he couldn't resist them. The red and black data blocks he had been holding so well had disappeared without him noticing. He could only grip the thin thread tightly with both hands, hoping that the guy wrestling with him behind him would let go.

Click!

Cyberspace began to rapidly disintegrate, the data fading away like melting snow before our eyes, and the boundary between reality and virtuality slowly returning...

Lin Yue's prosthetic eye, due to the high temperature it had just operated, was now stained with a light layer of soot from the burning, and its lifeless eye reflected the surrounding darkness.

He pulled out the strong medicine and pressed it hard to his lips, the crimson light in his eyes extinguished, and the memory that wasn't his own receded like the tide—

Lin Yue struggled to climb out of the icy bathtub and was completely dizzy.

……
-
Arakasaka Tower.

V, his face contorted in pain, forcefully ripped the internet cable from the back of his head. Unable to get up, he could only slump in the hacker chair and vomit violently.

"屮......"

I only felt a little better after vomiting up all the food that had been in my stomach.

V, panting heavily, looked around nervously when his subordinate Harry burst in—the African-American IT expert looked terrified. "Boss, what the hell happened? The servers are all down, damn it!"

V waved, signaling Harry to help her up.

Harry quickly put down his tablet and helped V sit up. "Are you alright? I see all the auxiliary computing equipment outside is burned out. Should we call the medical staff..."

V shook her head and pointed to the water bottle in the distance. After taking the bottle from Harry, she took a big gulp of water and spat it out. After rinsing her mouth, the nausea was reduced by half.

The woman said breathlessly, "Notify your hackers to be aware of internet surveillance; those dogs are about to bite us."

Harry was stunned. "Internet censorship?"

V frowned slightly. "The black wall... that Rin—this guy is touching the black wall!"

"Holy crap?!" Harry hurriedly straightened V. "No wonder so many servers crashed. Should we report this to Jenkins?"

"It's alright, I left a backdoor. The cyber police can't find me. Arasaka's hackers can handle it." V patted Harry on the shoulder, gave him a reassuring look, and watched his worried subordinate leave the cyber hacking room.

As her body gradually returned to normal, she couldn't help but ask herself:
"Rin, what exactly are you trying to do?"

She had just received a notification from the hacker that Rin had successfully connected to the subnet again at a certain moment. So she immediately plunged into the network to track Rin's location, but unknowingly discovered that this guy was moving towards the main network, and even extended all the way to the black wall that major companies had to carefully avoid network monitoring to reach!

Sensing something was wrong, she frantically searched for Rin's whereabouts in the network traffic. The moment Rin cut off the subnet connection, she used all her strength to force Rin offline. The resistance she encountered during this process exceeded her expectations, and she had to borrow several large servers from the counterintelligence department to assist her in the calculation. She almost failed to bring Rin back despite her best efforts.

However, at the very moment he was forced offline, V located Rin's position.

After a moment's thought, V didn't even submit an action application. She knew that getting involved with Dogtown and the Military Science Center at such a sensitive time would create obstacles for Jenkins and those higher up. But now that the location had been determined, V had to act to save the agent.

V's eyes lit up. "Let our men take their weapons and equipment into Dogtown. Rin can die at any time, but not after serving Arasaka—"

The person on the other end of the phone seemed to be questioning it.

V's tone was chilling: "Military technology?...Kill them all!"
-
In the dimly lit room, someone stirred in the hacker chair, their red eyes identical to Lin Yue's.

She slowly got up, staggered to the side, tore open a bag of nutrient solution and poured it into her mouth, her purple hair giving her a mysterious look.

"Who exactly are you? Lin Yue... Lin?"

She stood silently in place, waiting for the discomfort caused by the excessive brain activity after connecting to the network to subside.

The door opened, and the warm, milky-white light from the corridor shone in, illuminating her back. It wasn't flesh and blood, but a complex steel structure, empty and flimsy.

There's also a military technology logo on the back of its neck.

"Is it over?" The man who pushed open the door had a badge of the new America on his sleeve. "[Nightingale], remember to report the results of your operation to the President as soon as possible... The military technology team is still waiting for your news."

The lark took a deep breath, seemingly on the verge of exploding in anger.

After a moment of silence, he nodded blankly and said softly, "Tell Miles I'll go shortly."

The door closed again.

The lark clutched the shriveled nutrient solution bag, just like her withered body. She had no physical sensation, only dizziness in her brain and constant phantom pain in her limbs—other than that, she could hardly feel that she was still alive.

"Fuck you!"

The lark threw away the shrunken bag; her anger could only be vented on it. She dared not make any other noise, otherwise a bunch of clueless psychologists with deadpan smiles would intervene.

They're spouting nonsense, just as hypocritical as that politician.

The lark repeatedly memorized the name and the place in its mind.

For years, she wandered alone in cyberspace, like an outcast shuttling between the inside and outside of the black wall. No one kept her company, and no one ever truly spoke to her...

She lost her physical body and has a cenotaph in the city's cemetery. All traces of her in this world have disappeared, even the warm memories of the past have long since vanished—but that guy is one of her kind. He seems to be touching the black wall as well, breaking through her shield, and attacking her with a huge amount of data and AI protocols.

The mission failed, but she was happy, as if she had met another version of herself on a deserted island.

She knew that the guy would also be slowly swallowed up by this wall, just like her.

"Rin, Lin Yue, Arasaka, Dogtown..."

She repeated these syllables over and over.

To ensure she wouldn't forget this information, she carved the syllables of the words into a thin carbon steel fiber under her arm.

Then she ran to the data panel and looked at the logs, a strange smile on her face.

"are you done?"

The man who had been waiting outside the door pushed it open once again.

The lark stood up and nodded. "Alright, but the mission failed."

The man looked puzzled, then said in an unfriendly tone, "You rarely make mistakes... Go explain to President Miles."

The lark walked lightly on the soft carpet, while outside the window, the warm sunlight shone on the vibrant grass.

After pushing open the door, a short-haired, capable woman behind a pristine white desk was signing documents with her head down. Her sharp gaze fell on the lark. "Tell me about it."

She shrugged. "Sorry, President Miles... that man wasn't an ordinary agent."

Miles frowned and threw his pen onto the file. "Xiao Song, we promised the company... Didn't we say a few days ago that everything was under control? Besides, you can't even handle a company agent? Or are you just unwilling?"

The shrewd president wanted to figure out what the hacker was up to.

The lark walked slowly to Miles's desk, resting her hand on the edge. "There are always weapons like mine, aren't there?"

……

　[Hacker Plugin]: In the game 2077, the magic doll of the network access pod is usually stored on a plugin and loaded into the network access pod.

　　[Black Wall]: Blocks AI from entering the remaining 21% of available network space.

　　【Data Spores】: Residual data after an AI is destroyed. In the cyberpunk board game setting (AI hunters will often encounter this), it must be handled properly, otherwise it will become a hidden danger.

　　【Nightingale】：Original name Song Zhaomei, a new U.S. Joint Logistics Agency agent, a time bomb on the black wall, a human nuclear weapon, Miles uses her to penetrate the black wall to satisfy his personal needs and ambitions.

　　[Cenotaph]: Song Zhaomei has a tomb after faking her death. As she enters the black wall deeper and more frequently, she even forgets many things from the past.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)