Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 111 The Empress (Part 3)

Dogtown, an unlicensed clinic in an alley outside the Peizhuo Petrochemical Stadium.

Wet raindrops pounded on the dirty ground. This acid rain with its low pH would corrode the rubber soles of shoes, and the steps were covered with a sticky, oil-like black substance.

"You look a bit unfamiliar."

The cyborg doctor had red hair, and his eyes were modified into two adjustable lenses like those of a DSLR camera, emitting a faint rotating sound. His large hands had dozens of fingers as thin as long needles, seemingly trying to touch the cheek of the tall man standing outside the door.

*Snap!* His prosthetic hand was grabbed, and the person outside the door coldly asked, "I heard you... have the company's blacklist here?"

expert!

The cyborg doctor chuckled, then slid backward abruptly, causing the thick cables connecting his chair above to rattle, startling some cockroaches out from the gaps.

"The rain outside smells awful, come in."

The black-haired man was ushered into the room, and the heavy steel plate behind him slammed shut with a thud, followed by the sound of the door being locked.

"Black version prosthetic body, flashed with company firmware, Black Hyper Dream, whatever you want, my treasure trove has it—even if you kidnap a sex doll, I can completely wipe its behavior control system clean... making it 100% obedient to your commands, you can do whatever you want with it..."

"So please, plunge your lovely little thread deep into my reading system."

Is he a doctor or a madman?
The young man said, "I just want to see the prosthetic body."

"Then obediently put your butt on the stool." The prosthetic doctor quickly operated dozens of fingers on the computer touch screen.

The man, wearing a black jacket, took it all in. He then sat down on the greasy operating table. The prosthetic doctor turned around, clasped his hands together, and stared intently at the man, seemingly impatient.

"Let me see what's bothering you..."

"Hmm, your name is Lin Yue... The system is fine too, such a clean system... I love it. Hmm? Wait... Oops... Your prosthetic body is malfunctioning?! Why can't it read anything—"

Just as Lin Yue was about to speak, the prosthetic doctor held up a few fingers. "Don't rush, I have another good program that can handle all of these... Come on, connect to this."

He glanced at the oil-stained short wire in the prosthetic doctor's hand, took it, and inserted it behind his neck.

"What's the working principle behind the behavior system for 'brushing sex dolls'?"

The doctor looked at the prosthetic body's log and said, "It's about keeping the chip in her body on all the time, so she has no memory, no resistance... well, she only accepts one instruction."

"Are you interested in this?"

Lin Yue shook his head, "No, I'm just asking, please hurry up, buddy."

I thought it was a clever application at the network level, but it turns out it's just a simple program disruption. If that's the case, my brain might be completely fried in a few days.

[Agata Lesz] was very familiar with this process, and he quickly operated the clinic's subnet system to perform a full scan of the "guest".

"You have to lie down; this is the process of connecting to the network."

As soon as Agatha finished speaking, he saw that the guy had already lay down and started deep diving.

He smacked his lips, finding this unsuspecting prey rather boring.

Lin Yue entered the subnet "cleanly".

Angie said that this cleaner was a key hub for the dumping of prosthetic bodies at the Hanz Stadium, and the data fortress was the purpose of his trip.

In cyberspace, being completely naked is a sign of weak self-defense mechanisms, because deep diving without the support of various mechanisms is a very dangerous act.

Thin lines approached Lin Yue. These lines were the attack methods of ICE and various malicious programs, cutting through his consciousness during the deep dive, causing him to be torn to pieces and ultimately perish in this world built by the new algorithm.

Of course, it's not very reasonable for a prosthetic doctor's clinic network to have so many malicious programs and ICE.

"Go to sleep, go to sleep..."

The doctor pressed his face close to the screen, as if he could already see the unfortunate soul on the operating chair's final fate.

Something's wrong——

How come nothing's happened after all this time?!
The doctor suddenly discovered that the prosthetic information read by the "black version" program was almost entirely cheating and replacement; it was all fake!

These prosthetic bodies... are they Arakawa's?!
"Depend on!"

A low hum suddenly filled the clinic—the computer screen in front of him switched to a red glow.

His entire subnet is down!
"Is your mom more like a company dog?"

"court death!"

The doctor suddenly stood up, a long, blood-stained knife in his hand that he seemed to have pulled from somewhere on the chair, with flies buzzing around him.

All the cameras in the clinic glowed red, all pointing at this cleaner disguised as a doctor.

"Relax, Agatha... Your memory seems to be a bit off, don't you remember me?"

A distorted electronic sound rang out, an arc of electricity erupted from the doctor's prosthetic body, and the knife in his hand fell to the ground, clattering...

"You told me you went to work in biotechnology, so why are you still doing this kind of work for scavengers in this cesspool..."

Agatha's expression was somewhat strange, as the image of a guy he had only met once in his memory surfaced in his mind.

"You are...that mercenary?!"

Lin Yue bypassed the black wall. He was almost helpless against this kind of rudimentary subnet defense system. The black wall's coverage strength could paralyze the subnet in a few microseconds, and the lucrative data fortress was now exposed to Lin Yue's eyes.

After Agatha let the biotech employee escape, he was still purged by the Cleaners.

Biotechnology is a worthless promise with no chance of being fulfilled.

He profited from both sides, selling Lin Yue and Cleaner, so the company naturally sold him as well.

"Let me see who your partners are."

Lin Yue lay back in the chair, having taken complete control of the prosthetic clinic. At this moment, Agatha's head was also tightly connected to the subnet.

Deep in the water, Lin Yue expressionlessly flipped through the videos of Mewtwo recorded by the doctor. They were all death videos of guys from Dogtown or Night City who had "come for fame"—cruelly dismembered, ending their life's journey with despairing eyes.

There were also some deceived sex dolls... who were tortured by these guys in all sorts of ways in the factory occupied by the cleaners and then sold to manufacturers in the city as raw materials.

Well… of course, some company employees also buy it, like Arasaka—after all, there are bound to be people with unusual tastes under this kind of work pressure.

"You can't do that! These are top company secrets. If you see them, I guarantee you'll be in big trouble!"

Agatha spewed out the most vicious curse in the world.

Lin Yue kept this noisy cleaner around solely for interrogation; otherwise, a slight overload of the medical system would have sent sparks flying from the guy's head like fireworks.

Judging from the records of Data Fortress, it was probably someone's instruction to remove the code from the prosthetic bodies that were leaked from the company, do some minor tampering, sell them into stadiums, and then carry out the extortion scheme.

A familiar industrial chain.

"Agata, which company produced these prosthetic bodies? Please answer seriously, okay?"

After hearing the guy's question, the cyborg doctor began to hesitate.

Wow!

The computer screen behind the prosthetic body kept flashing, and even the prosthetic doctor's prosthetic eye was flashing a blood-red light.

With just a squeeze on the brain nerves and a little punishment, some people will naturally submit.

"Damn hacker!"

"It's just a shell company that transports all sorts of goods, including military science, Arasaka, and Kijiro Tsukasa... and even prosthetic bodies produced by their subsidiaries. How the hell am I supposed to know who's the big boss behind it all?"

Lin Yue thoroughly examined the data fortress.

Indeed, there were no more clues. As for the transaction process and location, everything was already clear.

Agatha's hands trembled, and for some unknown reason, he had temporarily broken free from the subnet's control!
He quickly drew his gun, aimed it at the man on the operating chair, and frantically pulled the trigger, the bullets sparking!

Is it useless...?

Under Agatha's horrified gaze, Lin Yue slowly sat up and unplugged the low-speed internet cable from the back of his head that he used for deep-sea diving.

"Look at you... you're not being honest."

"To be honest, I have a lot of disgust for you cleaners."

"I don't know how Hanz and the Colonel managed to put up with this discomfort and do business with you, but I won't do business with you... and neither will Arasaka."

Lin Yue pulled out his pistol, and the bullet, enveloped in flames and distorted by the air, flew toward Agata's head.

Starting from the bones near his eye sockets, the impact shattered his entire head into pieces almost instantly. Agatha, headless, swayed and leaned back in his chair, his hands hanging limply. Bones and prosthetic fragments, trailing sticky blood, splattered onto the ground.

The heavy door was flung open, and Lin Yue tucked his gun behind his back, his eyes flashing with the light he'd seen during a phone call.

“Ms. Angie, there’s a smashed wall in the statue passageway on the left side of the stadium. Go around the iron fence and you’ll find the goods distribution center. You know what to do.”

……

This is the scene of a transaction.

Boxes of prosthetic bodies filled with coolant were brought in through openings in the stadium's outer wall.

The escorts were several ghost dogs and cleaners.

These Eastern Europeans were blunt: "Dude, are you working for Hansen... or Hanz?"

The hound clicked its tongue in dissatisfaction. "Bennett sent us. Who standing here isn't working for the Colonel? As for that bar owner I've barely met—get the hell out of here!"

Another burly scavenger slammed the box he was carrying onto the ground; it was full of goods.

"Look!" The Ghost Dog, cigarette dangling from its lips, raised its chin. "If it weren't for this stuff, Bennett would have killed that bastard long ago..."

The cleaner was naturally curious about what had happened; curiosity is human nature.

Another ghostly hound, casually standing against the wall, chuckled, "Want to hear it? Share some of your exciting videos, but make sure they don't contain viruses."

The cleaner rummaged in his pocket and tossed out a chip. "This was taken by the cyborg doctor. That woman was being cut up piece by piece, and she was screaming like crazy!"

"Good buddy." The Ghost Dog's eyes lit up. He tossed the chip in his hand and put it into the magazine pocket of his tactical vest.

"Nothing much, do you know any Cubans?"

The hound rested its hand on the muzzle of the rifle, looking nonchalant.

The scavenger soldiers had no idea about this and shook their heads, indicating they had never even heard of it.

"It's that drug trafficking ring. They're incredibly ruthless—not to mention anything else, even the most sought-after drugs in the city come from this town, and they're incredibly pure!"

"That idiot supposedly hired someone to impersonate Aguilar, anyway, that assassin from the Cuban cartel, you've heard of him, right?"

The cleaner racked his brain, "Was it that lone wolf who randomly killed company dogs? I've heard of him!"

The hound had an expression of profound knowledge:

"He's got some sense... This idiot tricked our boss, and the boss almost kicked him out... But to save his own life, Bennett cut more than half of the prosthetic body business and arms business from the city's suppliers. You know... When there's money to be made, nobody cares about this."

The cleaner was taken aback. "That's all?"

The hound shrugged. "What else?"

"Damn it, give Mewtwo back to me!" Scavenger and Ghoul cursed at each other and fought.

Just as everyone was waiting for the boring delivery job to end, the sound of sticks hitting the iron fence echoed in the empty passage.

Everyone shuddered and raised their guns.

"What are you guys talking about?" Angie said, carrying a stick, as dozens of members of the Animal Gang filed in behind her.

Bennett's soldiers recognized the men. "The Animal Gang? What do you want?"

Angie came out and placed her hand on the cold outside of the prosthetic body packaging box. "Hmm, there are quite a lot."

The Ghosthound soldiers, guns raised, began to retreat, but chaotic footsteps came from the other side of the passage, and the Animal Gang members, guns in hand, blocked their retreat.

"Go ahead and take everything."

Angie stepped back.

With a few sporadic gunshots and the screams of the animal gang members, everything in the passageway gradually returned to calm.

……
-
Hanz was deep in thought in his workspace.

He slammed the delicate teacup in his hand onto the ground, splashing boiling water everywhere, steaming hot.

"call……"

Hanz closed his eyes, his anger making his heart pound, and he even felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

His prosthetic eye showed photos of the cargo distribution center taken by his men. His prosthetic body was completely gone, and the corpses of several ghost dogs and scavengers were piled together. A graffiti was drawn on the wall.

It was a woman standing behind the roaring bear of the animal gang. Her face was indistinct, but she had a baseball bat slung over her shoulder, with a line of Gothic letters below it.

Queen.

The person who left the logo to provoke him, Hanz could guess with his toes, was Angie from the Animal Gang.

The Wild King's team is about to enter the arena this week, and Ermer has also swallowed Angie's fire. Everything is going very smoothly.

But things didn't go as Hans had expected. Not only did Angie hold onto all the drugs from Cuba, but today she even seized all the prosthetic bodies the company had shipped in...

Mr. Hanz, who was hesitant to act for fear of harming others, was already at his wit's end.

Bennett was waiting to collect his money, and the suppliers behind him were also waiting to gather funds. Not only had he not earned a single penny, but his entire stadium prosthetic business had been ruined, and even the doctors who were used by the cleaners to turn the prosthetics black were not spared.

"What's wrong, darling?"

Emma walked in from outside, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and cast an inquiring look at Hanz.

"The women in the Animal Gang have gone mad!"

The cane in Hanz's hand tapped against the soft carpet with a dull thud, a testament to his fury.

Emma leaned back on the sofa with Hans, her hand gently resting on Hans's shoulder. "Business is business. Don't punish yourself like this, Wade."

The woman's comforting voice gently reassured him.

Hanz's heaving chest gradually calmed down.

He sighed and said, "Emma, ​​this shipment is a real problem. We have to bear the losses ourselves, which isn't a good thing... Although we've earned enough to cover these losses, I just don't understand how that woman from the Animal Gang knew all this?!"

"We still can't find this woman. It's too troublesome."

Hanz shook his head.

Emma asked, "What about Cuba?"

Hanz: "We haven't been able to get in touch yet."

Emma pondered for a long time, "Cuba is providing you with less and less support, but their business is hardly affected. The Animal Gang and you are honestly helping them sell their goods—"

"Make sure you can identify trustworthy partners, my dear."

Hans pondered for a long time, "My patience with Cuba has reached its limit, but our supply routes outside the city..."

Emma gently pressed her pale fingers to Hanz's lips. "Don't say things you shouldn't let me hear, okay?"

Hans paused for a moment. "I remember you used to be very interested in my business, and even wanted to help me fight against that Rin... What's wrong? Are you insecure?"

Emma shook her head, walked around the sofa, and gently sat in Hans's lap. "No, it's precisely because I want you to succeed that I can't listen to these things. If your enemies target you, I'll be their best target—"

"What if the secret is leaked? Wouldn't you be in even more danger then?"

This kind of subtle tactic of retreating to advance can always get a man to reveal his true feelings without reservation.

Emma is very talented in this area.

Hanz kissed Emma's unique, sweet scent. "Darling, I'm sorry for using you to hold off Fuyuki... but you know, those two corporate bastards specifically asked you to discuss business with them. I was too slow in finding the blueprints, Emma..."

Emma's eyes seemed to hold a faint pink glow.

"That's all in the past. Did I bother you by coming here?"

Hans shook his head. "How's Catherine? Is she alright?" Emma nodded, her lips brushing against Hans's ear. "She's fine. I came over when I had some free time."

Hanz: "The cargo route outside the city was provided by the military science department, and Zeta Technology has been temporarily stabilized because of some concessions I made and the exclusive supply rights to the stadium."

Emma rested her chin on Hanz's shoulder, a cryptic smile playing on her lips.

Emma: "You have your own plans for business, but relax and enjoy yourself today..."

Given the immense mental pressure Hans was under, he naturally rejected Emma again.

Emma looked somewhat dejected, but obediently didn't press the matter further. "Are you feeling particularly frustrated, with no one to talk to? I'll activate the sex doll chip, and I won't remember anything you say. How about that?"

Before Hanz could stop her, Emma activated the chip.

This technology comes from Genting. Under this framework, the controlled sex dolls can always understand the deepest desires of the client. Not everyone is after the physical body; some people are more willing to reveal their secrets to these handsome men and beautiful women who have no consciousness or memory of their own, and then get psychological relief.

Hanz's secret was completely swallowed up by the unconscious Emma, ​​whose prosthetic body hidden behind her neck recorded everything accurately.

Before falling asleep, Emma's mind was in chaos. She was being forcibly controlled by some program and had no awareness of her actions, as if she were in a deep sleep.

……

Emma, ​​who had just emerged from her deep thoughts, examined her body and began to gag uncontrollably.

She knew she was sick.

This illness may be psychological, but it is more likely the torment of sex-couple chips.

She couldn't imagine what would happen to her if anything more happened between her and Hanz today. She wiped her lips hard with a wet wipe until her lipstick and blood were almost indistinguishable.

Perhaps Rin is right; there's always a price to pay for what you gain.

[Calling: Angie]

Angie, on the other end of the line, crossed her arms and asked, "What's wrong, little beauty?"

Emma steadied her breathing. "Did you withhold that shipment from Hanz at the stadium? He's furious."

Angie became interested. "Of course, otherwise why would I leave such a big logo? It's to let Hans know that I ate all his food."

Emma frowned. "Aren't you afraid of Hanz's retaliation?"

Angie replied, "Hey, hey, hey... which side are you on? I'm following Rin's orders. He has his own plans—it's just that there will be a lot of trouble this week, but we can handle it. Rin's people will come to Dogtown to help me after they finish dealing with the animal gang, so relax."

“I have a plan, would you like to hear it?” Emma interrupted Angie.

plan?

Angie had no idea what this woman, who seemed to be going crazy, was planning. "I'm very grateful that you helped me contact Rin. How about this... come to my place, and I can send you out of Night City. You can go wherever you want, anywhere in the world. I'll even give you the money. Isn't that a good deal?"

Emma shook her head; leaving this place was not her wish.

The woman, with a resolute expression, continued, "Don't you want Dogtown to be your exclusive gang?"

Angie narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean? Do you know what you're saying? Damn it... if Rin heard you, she'd eat us alive! You stupid woman!"

Emma remained calm. "Did I say I would betray Rin? Angie... I know Hanz's transportation routes. We'll hold onto the goods and use them as seed money. You and I will join forces... to help Rin establish the sales channels that Dogtown needs to build."

Angie: "What about Mewtwo? You're not planning to give it to Rin's hackers?"

The woman, who was willing to go to any lengths, spoke with unwavering resolve, "We will give it to him, but it will take time... Company matters will keep him busy. Let's join forces and use our own abilities to take control of Hanz's business in Dogtown first, then we'll hand it over to Rin—"

"Wouldn't that make Rin think we're even more useful?"

“Oh! You’re such a crazy bitch!” Angie shook her head.

"How do I become a girlfriend? Give me some pointers."

Angie clearly wanted to do something; she dreamed of taking control of the gang businesses in Dogtown.

Emma gradually revealed her plan, and Angie remained silent for a long time.

Angie asked with some doubt, "Is this feasible?"

Emma's plan was simple:
Rin's mercenary squad has already begun dealing with the Taiping Continent Animal Gang. Once the Taiping Continent Savage King's animal tribe is scattered, they won't have time to enter Dog Town.

Angie's capital lies in holding this batch of goods; she can use it to open up a new sales channel.

As for Emma, ​​she used this information to get Angie to cut off the shipping channels, gradually helping Rin to push Hanz to the brink... When Hanz was desperate, she introduced Arasaka to Hanz to replace him.

Emma: "I'm sure we can... They took Mewtwo just to find out who Hanz's supporters are, that's a company matter, but we can do our thing—trust me, Rin will definitely like someone who is obedient and proactive."
-
Lin Yue lowered his head and finished signing the defense report for the week.

He's doing a great job, at least for now, and he's doing it flawlessly.

Although the security department had undergone a major purge and layoffs and was operating smoothly, this was very unfair to its subordinates because the number of security personnel had decreased by a quarter, which meant that the work that no one else was doing had fallen on their shoulders.

Moreover, the reduction in field staff has forced some office workers to go out on field assignments as well.

Everyone was afraid of this young boss, but in Arasaka, at least openly, they dared not complain about these things in front of their boss, because it could very well be the handle that led to their being kicked out of Arasaka in the future.

Even the lowest-level employees at Arasaka receive quite generous compensation.

These wages are enough to offset the complaints about working overtime.

Lin Yue knew that in managing subordinates under Arasaka, besides the high salary provided by the company, one also needed to understand one principle:
Let them take action and figure out their own solutions.

In short, present a highly enticing goal, and let those who are driven by fame and fortune get the work done on their own.

Of course, this also applies to people other than Arasaka.

Besides enjoying the pleasure brought by his combat prosthetic body, Lin Yue had obviously found another new kind of fun: completing his work in his office on the 89th floor of Arasaka and driving these wolves to devour their targets clean.

Lin Yue wasn't exactly harsh on Emma. If she wasn't willing to take action herself, she would at most be a traitor who would pass on messages. He wanted to see Emma's desire for revenge ignite her fighting spirit, so everything went smoothly.

Lin Yue put down his pen and glanced at the Night City Port Customs Form on the table beside him.

This document contains dozens of pages of project information.

These were all arms shipments sent by Lai Xuan from Japan, worth over one hundred million euros.

Most of this shipment consists of Arasaka's smart firearms, but they are still more expensive than those from Comto.

In Night City, the smart weapon Kangtao, with the highest coverage, is undoubtedly the leader.

At the same time, Comto also wants to bring its smart weapons into Dogtown—after all, their products are "smart electronic solutions," which are much cheaper.

But Lai Xuan was very clever in that he had already reduced the cost himself, so Lin Yue didn't have to worry about it at all.

In other words, the smart weapons on this cargo ship can now be sold for 10 percent less than the price of those on the Comtau.

Furthermore, Lai Xuan could completely cover the accounts of the head office.

Lin Yue smiled. It seemed that Lai Xuan really didn't care about Sanlang's assets.

Lin Yue spent the entire week waiting for this batch of weapons, making arrangements one by one, ensuring that Angie temporarily stabilized Dogtown, and Emma continued to provide Hanz with information:

However, Lin Yue could see Emma's thoughts. She seemed to be cooperating with Angie. Many sales channels in Dogtown began to switch sides and were now under Angie's control. Mann and his group also resolved the unification of the Taipingzhou Animal Gang and smeared a lot of mud at the tribes under the Savage King. Now everything was in chaos.

Hopefully Emma can live up to her ambitions.

Just as Lin Yue was pondering whether Emma could handle this task well, Abernathy barged in without knocking.

Behind him was Suzuki, who was bowing apologetically to him.

"Rin, explain your behavior." Abernathy rudely slammed the list of names in front of him.

It's been a week since he arrived. It seems Abernathy is quite patient. Judging from his accusatory manner, he must have gotten some "incriminating evidence."
Lin Yue shrugged, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair: "A massive purge, layoffs, a lot of people who are detrimental to the security department are to be kicked out... Is there anything wrong with that, Director Abernathy?"

Abernathy rested her hands on the table, and she could see an ambition in this guy that was even greater than Jenkins'.

"The security department is already under a lot of pressure. Have you thought about the consequences of such a large-scale layoff? Judging from the results of this round of employee evaluations, your performance is very poor..." Abernathy sneered and crossed his arms. "So we now have reason to doubt your stance and hand over all the records of your recent actions."

Lin Yue gestured with his chin towards the customs list on the table.

"Look, everything is on here. Be careful with your eyes when you look at it, Director."

Looking into Lin Yue's fearless eyes, Abernathy's confidence began to waver, but he still reached out and picked up the customs form.

At the same time, she gestured to the two agents behind her to check the information on Lin Yue's personal computer. The two agents turned Lin Yue's personal computer screen and, rather unceremoniously, plugged the cables into the computer interface to check Lin Yue's private information one by one.

Abernathy's eyes scanned the list line by line, and she regretted it a little after seeing the name of the authorizing person.

After checking the personal terminal computers, the two agents looked at each other and shook their heads at Abernathy.

Has someone tipped off Rin?

Abernathy immediately thought of Jenkins. "Today, a document that you don't have the authority to view was handled by Counterintelligence Agent V and passed all the way to you. Where is this document now?"

Lin Yue held out his hand, "The one you're holding is it."

"Not a list of personnel identification information?" Abernathy's expression was somewhat unpleasant.

Those idiots in the counterintelligence department are determined to stand with this new head of the security department. It seems the rumors were true—this is the counterintelligence department.

"Director, if your eyes are not mistaken, you have no right to view the customs list. Explain it to Mr. Lai Xuan yourself... As for your baseless speculation, bringing people into my office so brazenly is the prerogative of your special operations department, and I have no objection."

When he said the last few words, Lin Yue clenched his teeth a little harder.

Abernathy's face darkened.

Damn it, I've been tricked!

Today, the security department informed her that a sales order from the Arasaka sales department had entered the security supervisor's office. This overstepping of authority was a great opportunity, but Abernathy never expected that this guy was authorized by Lai Xuan to sell the goods.

Damn it...

Although the board of directors could resolve this troublesome matter, this woman from the company, who had almost never suffered a loss, was still very unwilling.

Abernathy's pale face brightened slightly. She waved her hand behind her back, and the agents all left, leaving her alone in the office.

She snorted coldly, sat sideways on the edge of the desk, her textile company work skirt slit quite high, revealing her pale skin. "How much did the counterintelligence department give you?"

That's so straightforward, Lin Yue likes it.

Lin Yue thought for a moment, "What do you mean by that? Do you think I'm working for the interests of the counterintelligence department?"

Abernathy lit a cigarette: "You were pulled up all the way up by the counterintelligence department, and you were promoted because of some operation that I can't find out about. Fine... you can continue to be in cahoots with the counterintelligence department."

"But don't let me get any leverage over the counterintelligence department, or I'll leave you without any backup."

See, there's no beating around the bush in Western office politics; it's all blatant threats and blatant campaigning.

Lin Yue laughed and said, "Director Abernathy, won't you consider being a little gentler with me? Maybe I'll side with you."

Abernathy is clearly not the kind of idiot boss who can be easily fooled.

“I don’t know what methods Jenkins used to make his woman so loyal, but you seem different—you must have someone backing you up at headquarters in Japan… It’s okay, I’m glad you’re just the head of the security department.”

The meaning is quite clear: it's still a bit difficult for you to mess with me.

"That's definitely not as good as you. You have people on the board backing you up... Don't you also go to great lengths to find fault with me?"

Abernathy was surprised that this security chief would dare to say such things so openly.

She suddenly laughed. "Not bad, seems like someone with guts."

"Don't forget I'll be keeping an eye on you."

Lin Yue smiled and gestured for the guest to leave.

He stared blankly at Abernathy's departing figure, his fist clenching tightly in his hand.

Fortunately, V had told me about this in the morning, which prevented me from doing this.

Perhaps because his appearance disrupted the development of various events, Jenkins is now nominally the deputy under the Special Operations Director... He planted someone next to Abernathy, and only then did he realize that Abernathy was full of bad intentions and wanted to cause trouble for him.

Lin Yue cleaned everything up so that the words "Dogtown" never appeared in Abernathy's sight.

This boss, who loved to steal credit, really tricked Jenkins in Osaka. Having learned his lesson, Jenkins was naturally wary of her now.

Arthur Jenkins used to be the head of the counterintelligence department and is now the second-in-command of the special operations department, so he naturally has more experience.

Lai Xuan's order today was a great help.

Lin Yue understood Lai Xuan's thoughts, which meant he could use Lai Xuan as a base to continue his career in Arakasa...

Judging from this, the possibility of me being eliminated is still not high. After all, Abernathy's face froze when he saw the name Lai Xuan. But as for V and Jenkins... it's really hard to say. If the Cloud Sea Project makes that mistake, it will be a disaster.

Things will come in droves when the time comes, and I must steer my little boat in the right direction.

In some ways, he was no different from the lark; if they left the company that provided them with technical support or the new America, they would be torn to pieces by the Black Wall.

Lin Yue had already begun to slowly search through his memories. He knew very well how Abernathy would behave after what happened in Frankfurt.

Judging from the performance of Frank, the employee who was kicked out for counterintelligence, Abernathy also purged his subordinates.

Let's solve this problem from the beginning?

Lin Yue pondered the timeline and began to make various contingency plans for possible future events based on the authority of his department, but eventually gave up somewhat dejectedly.

The most frustrating reason is still the same: he doesn't have enough permissions, so he can't access the Cloud Sea Project.

To put it bluntly, Lin Yue is now only responsible to Arasaka Tower, providing manpower for the counterintelligence and special operations departments.

Moreover, if he were to tell Jenkins about the Cloud Sea Project to his face and then try to fool him with a bunch of nonsense like "I have memories of my past life," that would be really stupid.

In just ten days, it will be 2076. No one knows what the new year will bring. People around the world are either looking forward to it or worrying about the coming new year.

But there's a guy on Arasaka Tower who wants to change everything he knows.

Lin Yue stood up and looked at the company square outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

Unsure of what the view would be like up there, he wanted to keep climbing.

In his view, only by climbing step by step to the top can one possibly control their own life.

[Incoming caller ID: V]

Lin Yue answered the phone. V on the other end seemed very busy. "Lin, I have an agent here whose operational authority you need to help with—it's about biotechnology."

Lin Yue thought for a moment, "Biotechnology?"

V looked up, as if realizing something, "I almost forgot you don't know... do you still remember what you said about 'safety spirit' outside Dogtown?"

Lin Yue suddenly realized, "You guys investigated?"

V nodded, "Of course, [I mentioned it to Jenkins a little over a month ago], he sent our people to infiltrate the biotechnology building, and recently they gained access and discovered that there are indeed security-related files and information stored on a server with a very high level of access."

“WNS has dug up this dirt before, but there was no evidence, so…you know, this time we might get some top-secret information.”

Lin Yue sat in his office chair. "How exactly do we do it?"

V seemed to have gone to ask the subordinate in charge of the case, and after a while replied: "It's not easy for an agent to infiltrate, so I came to you, the security supervisor."

Lin Yue thought for a moment, "My people have been tied up with projects lately."

The security department has undergone layoffs, and most of the agents capable of infiltrating are already employed, so it's really difficult to find suitable replacements.

V blinked, "Colleagues are meant to be worked to death. Safety supervisor, can't we distribute the manpower more evenly?"

Lin Yue: "Then it'll be me and Suzuki."

V thought for a moment and said, "Okay, the agents will let you in, and you can leave as soon as the data copying is finished."

……

　【Agata Lesz】: The cleaner in the chapter "Redemption of the Kidney Surgeon" in this book, and the person in charge of the cleaner's logistics in the background story of 2077.

　　[Frank]: An Arasaka counterintelligence employee who was purged by Abernathy in the 2077 side quest "War Pig". He once tried to exchange V's head for a chance to return to Arasaka.

　　[A brief mention was made to Jenkins]: In the chapter "Loyalty and Change," when V met with Jenkins, Jenkins instructed V to send spies to infiltrate the biotechnology sector to investigate the rumors surrounding Safe Spirit.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)