Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 115 Guide and Accountability for Internet Travelers
"News - All at WNS"

"Morning News: On January 13, 2076, the Night City Council passed a bill to privatize the NCPD. The Night City Police Department will take measures such as 'optimizing staff,' phasing out outdated weapons and equipment, strengthening cooperation with private prisons, and 'merging' with relevant security companies to quickly complete the restructuring."

According to industry insiders, this is based on the legal priority of equity and related control rights—

“Jerry Fort, the sales director of Night City’s public computer and database systems company (DataTerm), will become the new CEO of the NCPD and the director of the NCPD.”

"The current polls for the bill are not optimistic, and large-scale protests have broken out in many places in Night City, including Pacifico, Watson North, and Santo Domingo; let's turn our attention to the protesters."

WNS reporters pointed their microphones at a young man standing on the street, whose face had been altered in half, holding a banner.

"This is the road to hell! Who can we trust anymore?! My mother was attacked by a cleaner yesterday! Today the NCPD tells me they can't find this person. One day the company will turn us into devils! This is blasphemy! Blasphemy against the Lord!"

The woman cried out, "I can't imagine what kind of environment we'll be living in. My children and my family will have no safety whatsoever!"

The veteran leaned against the railing, saying, "Only a company, only a company can bring order!"

The man punched the veteran in the face, yelling, "Fuck you!"

Chaos erupted, and NCPD officers quickly entered the scene, with gunfire erupting everywhere.

"..."

The WNS presenter continued to announce NCPD-owned regulations with a blank expression, including measures such as the large-scale replacement of NCPD officers by drones and a €9 fee per minute for emergency calls.

Lin Yue slowly sipped his coffee. There was a golden taco on his desk, which he loved to eat... because in Night City, it was best to eat less of anything with protein.

With the NCPD privatized, an even more chaotic era for Night City is about to begin.

Lin Yue leaned back in his chair, watching the man in a suit and tie delivering his inaugural speech on the holographic screen.

This corporate dog is incredibly greedy. The new NCPD director taking office means Night City will have to abandon large areas with high crime rates, including but not limited to Badlands, Pacifica, and Watson North, and he'll also be setting up some kind of bastard system—

It seems to be a warning to citizens about the threat level in the area. Apart from the municipal center in the heart of Night City, Westbrook, there is no longer any guarantee of public safety in Night City.

Lin Yue let out a cold snort, biting his breakfast as if lost in thought.

Dengdeng!

The office door opened, and Sasha, dressed in the uniform black customer service attire of Arasaka, walked in looking somewhat tired.

Lin Yue gestured with his chin toward the desktop, where Sasha placed the cyber activity report from the security department. "Supervisor, this is the log of recent cyberattacks targeting the security department's database. Several of Mr. Suzuki's actions have already been dealt with offline. The company laws and regulations violated by these hackers are clearly marked at the back, and I resolved many of them online."

Lin Yue stopped chewing.

He stared intently at the girl who seemed on the verge of collapse. "Online attacks... if I remember correctly, are dangerous. In a cyberspace confrontation, have you taken responsibility for your own safety?"

Sasha clenched her hands tightly behind her back. "I'm sorry, it's..."

The clever girl had long since memorized Arasaka's employee rules, and could only respond to her boss's reprimands with "yes" or "sorry".

The atmosphere dropped to freezing point.

Lin Yue sighed almost imperceptibly, "That's not what I wanted to hear—let's eat something first. There are still beans in the refrigerator over there, and in the coffee machine."

Losing her mother was already a blow to Sasha, and she was probably in a lot of pain at that moment. Lin Yue could only stop criticizing her dangerous behavior.

"There's an anti-hacking team in Arasaka. Your task is simply to follow my instructions."

Sasha hummed in response like a kitten being fed, and obediently sat on the sofa in Lin Yue's office reception area, sipping her steaming hot drink.

"Hmm? These look like real coffee beans!" Sasha's eyes lit up, and she let out a satisfied sigh.

Lin Yue turned his chair towards Sasha, who immediately stood up in alarm.

"Sit down. I think you've gotten used to things in Arasaka... As you know, Arasaka has a rule of having a conversation with your superior."

Sasha sat on the sofa, silently waiting for Lin Yue to speak.

Lin Yue lit a cigarette. "What you told me that day, was it a guess, or something you made up to get into Arasakaguchi?"

Sasha shook her head slightly. "No, Mr. Rin."

"A seasoned net-runner knows there's one thing you absolutely must never touch: the black wall. The fact that you've touched the black wall and are still standing here unscathed must have taken a lot of effort from Arasaka, right? At least the complete set of modifications, the prosthetic body that can resist the black wall's high data and highly corrosive data... the firewall, etc., all require the company's resources to support them."

Lin Yue gestured for her to continue.

“We’ve known each other for so long, I’m pretty sure you’re not a qualified hacker. At the very least, you know nothing about programming, deep-diving, or bypassing internet surveillance.”

Sasha stared into Lin Yue's eyes. "The Internet Supervision Bureau reviews anyone who tries to infiltrate the old network. Although the number is large, it's almost impossible for a newbie to fool the Internet Supervision Bureau on their first time online... But you weren't targeted by the Internet Supervision Bureau—is someone there? Or is something covering your tracks?"

Lin Yue shrugged; he dreaded dealing with these hackers.

If someone is a bit slow, that's one thing, but genius hackers like V and Sasha see things too clearly—it's really annoying.

Qiwei and Lucy, those two hackers, are probably no match for this guy.

Lin Yue silently made plans in his mind while continuing to listen to Sasha.

"That night, the amount of data you generated caused a severe overload in my network access pod. I had to overclock my brain-computer interface to withstand one-tenth of the black wall data. However, you were handling the majority of the computation. There must have been something else doing the calculations for you, right?"

Lin Yue remembered Sasha's question to him: Are you still Lin Yue?
Sasha: "AI... Although I don't know what the consequences of AI invading the human body will be, I'm sure your body will experience severe self-deterioration, but I can help you."

Lin Yue nodded. "As you know, as the security director of Arasaka, I can have my network experts teach or use the subnet's resources to learn network knowledge. I kept you here because you seem to know a lot about the Black Wall, and I admit that."

"As for helping me, Arasaka has a solution for replacing my prosthetic body—I'd like to hear how you plan to help?"

Sasha said with unwavering determination, "Go around the black wall, find the main program of the AI ​​inside your body, and stop it from iterating!"

Ok…

Sasha's solution seems to have the same underlying logic as the neural matrix of the military science, but her methods are immature and somewhat rely on probability.

Sasha was unaware that the Beidou neural matrix controlling the AI ​​iteration had already been fixed by the military science and technology department, and that the key seemed to be in the hands of a hacker in Europe codenamed "Tianguang"—the Beidou project had collaborated with them.

In fact, Tian Guang's true identity is quite obvious, and Lin Yue is also very familiar with it: he is the hacker [Auror and his sister] who entered Dogtown at the invitation of Kurt Hansen.

Lin Yue had also tried to research this topic while he was in the state, so he offered his own perspective on Sasha's solution:
"The number of roving AIs outside the Great Firewall is too large. Although there have been iterations and mergers, finding the main program is like finding a needle in a haystack—I'll give you a figure: the probability of finding it is less than one in ten million. Moreover, in the end, you still need to crack its [underlying logic]. Do you think you have that ability?"

Sasha sighed. "It's better than having no way out, and excessive cybernetics is a trigger for cyberpsychosis."

"You have to face the Black Wall and the AI ​​on the other side. This process requires you to try your best to avoid the scrutiny of the internet censors, just like the Voodoo Gang. You not only have to become a cyberwalker, but you have to be an extremely good one—the probability of death in cyberspace is not much lower than in Night City."

Lin Yue pondered the necessity of crossing the black wall.

My life mentor once said that you need to confront the things in your head to have a chance to grasp your humanity; Sasha also suggested entering the Black Wall to resolve the hidden obstacles related to the prosthetic body; the most important thing is Little Beidou. If it is under control, it will be fine, but if it continues to fall into Hansen's hands, the trouble will be enormous.

It should be noted that Lin Yue's current prosthetic body capacity is already close to its maximum.

However, having multiple options is always a good thing – going through the black wall is death, and not going through it is also death. When learning about network hacking, you should at least be prepared, right?
We're still in the early stages, and where to start is up to this experienced hacker.

Sasha looked at Lin Yue and said, "I'm curious which one is the real you? Although I know your facial prosthetics can change a lot of features... uh, sorry, I was just asking casually."

I feel that asking this question was indeed a bit presumptuous.

Lin Yue frankly admitted, "Some changes have occurred. I used Rin's identity before simply to make myself safer."

“You’ve already joined Arasaka and are working for me—there are some things I can tell you, but you should know the consequences of leaking information.”

Sasha understood the threat in Lin Yue's words.

Lin Yue: "When I was receiving treatment in Japan and at Night City Medical Center, they talked about a problem called personality drop... That's why you feel like I'm a stranger."

"To be honest, even I think I've changed—although you're a hacker, I want to ask you if you understand this kind of knowledge?"

Sasha thought for a moment: "The problem of personality loss, I guess it's like this... You should also know about the advertisements that are put up in the streets and alleys of Night City, right? Protect your soul, under the guise of meeting your deceased relatives."

Lin Yue: "I know."

Sasha nodded. “In my opinion, it’s not about protecting the soul, but rather a sophisticated AI performing data reading—that’s why your personality dropped.”

"If AI wants you to become like it, then you have to abandon your humanity... Have you heard that rumor from the corporate wars?"

“Otto Cunningham, who developed the Soul Killer program… Some say she’s still alive, but in my opinion, she’s a super AI that has consumed a massive amount of data and had her personality stripped away. If this rumor is true, then the idea of ​​AI influencing personality matches your situation.”

Lin Yue took a deep breath, “So I really have changed… but the scary thing is, I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong with it.”

Sasha hesitated for a moment, but then mustered her courage and said, "They've completely changed, they're so ruthless..."

It was clear that she still harbored resentment towards Lin Yue's words that shattered her illusions that day.

Sasha lowered her eyes, "During the time I've spent with you... you shouldn't be the person you are now."

"Actually, I sensed that you might be Mr. Rin when I was in the next life, but I know that some things can't be guessed. I have to be responsible for the team... Don't worry, I will keep the secret. Everything in Night City is no longer related to me."

Lin Yue nodded.

He grabbed a handful of medicine prescribed by his life coach, swallowed it with his now-cold coffee, coughed, and a few drops of blood appeared on his hand.

Sasha naturally noticed his action of wiping away the blood.

Lin Yue's breathing calmed down a bit as he asked, "Biotechnology won't be so easily defeated by Safety Spirit. If you want to unleash your anger on biotechnology, then make sure you can live safely until that day... Make long-term plans."

"I will involve you in any future offensive or defensive operations related to biotechnology."

Sasha bowed her head in thanks.

Lin Yue continued, "Also, you can work in my office. Tell me what to do, just to learn about networks—"

Sasha shook her head: "No, I will accompany you into the depths of the Initial Network, because I am very familiar with it, and you need someone to guide you."

"I'm not afraid of danger, I'm just afraid of being idle."

This guy.

Lin Yue shook his head helplessly, and after a long while, he uttered a single word: "Okay."

Sasha's eyes lit up, and Lin Yueyi saw the words "Uploading" appear in his eyes.

It seems this hacker is ready to teach Lin Yue.

Sasha's tone was calm as she officially began the online teaching process.

Like almost all other advanced cyber hackers, she used a logical and orderly approach to explain what Lin Yue should learn, but she knew very well that making a living online wasn't just about studying; talent was the most important factor.

Therefore, he spoke very frankly, "Rin, I know your pain, but the ability to learn cannot be changed by pain. I can only wish you success."

"What I just gave you was 'Latchbartmos's Guide to the Internet,' you should know this hacker, right?"

Lin Yue looked at the extremely long hacker's guide and said, "I know, the culprit behind the data collapse."

Sasha pulled up a chair and sat down opposite Lin Yue's desk.

She said, "In cyberspace, Bartmouth is invincible, and only he has the right to say, 'Don't pray to God, pray to me.' The first part is not about network programming and network fundamentals under the new algorithm, but you still have to learn it."

"The programming logic hasn't changed; the most important thing is how much of Barthes' wisdom you can absorb."

"Excuse my bluntness, but the hacking knowledge within the Arakazako network is all about maintenance and defense. However, excellent hackers almost always start their careers with a risky attack, so... residency training can't produce good hackers."

Lin Yue carefully examined the document. "Hmm... So what's the next step?"

Sasha pointed to Lin Yue's office computer, "I'll give you some time—connect to it, learn how to write an intrusion protocol according to the guide, find the location of the database I temporarily set up in the subnet and launch an attack. Don't use your black wall data, that doesn't belong to you."

As they were talking, Sasha picked up the personal computer that was on the coffee table, did some quick work on it, and then stopped.

Lin Yue indicated that he understood Sasha's meaning and immediately examined carefully what the legendary hacker had written inside the prosthetic eye.

This guide, almost revered as a bible by hackers, truly lives up to its reputation. Barthemos explains all network-related knowledge in the simplest language, and includes all of Barthemos's achievements and insights after his first time online...

Lin Yue admitted that it was indeed a crazy thing for Bartmos to go online under his real name, but he had the right to do so.

At this moment, Lin Yue was carefully studying the section on network intrusion, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Sasha hadn't moved for a long time.

He looked up, somewhat puzzled. "What are you waiting for?"

Sasha shrugged, her smile gentle. "I'm waiting for the time to pass... I'll only give you half an hour. There are still ten minutes left. Get ready and connect to the network."

Lin Yue frowned. "Isn't this a bit too strict...?"

Sasha held up four fingers. "Bartlemos was already able to manipulate the company when he was only four years old."

“When I was seven, I was able to easily enter the security company’s subnet and conveniently erase the information that was forcibly saved for my customers. If you’re determined to break through the black wall and don’t even have this much understanding… you can only hope that Arasaka will save you.”

Okay, okay.

Lin Yue shook his head helplessly and pulled out the soft wire from his arm. This was not a deep-sea attack, so there was no need to rely on the network access pod. It was just a simple matter of writing a program, locating the target, and then sending the message.

With Lin Yue's intelligence combined with Bartmore's detailed tutorial, writing the program was no problem at all, but the key was the location. With such a large amount of traffic within the subnet, how could they deduce the usernames and network traces that Sasha was hiding?
Sasha, who was patiently waiting, was actually more anxious than Lin Yue. She observed the man's expression and found that he showed no signs of panic.

Lin Yue tried to retrieve the network logs from the night he used the black wall gateway.

My program once ran Sasha's network access repository, which only required feature data, so it wasn't considered a violation.

Lin Yue wrote only the simplest intrusion protocol, just like the network virus in his previous life. It merely stripped the data fortress of permissions and delved into the database to retrieve private information.

The confirmation of the IP address only took Lin Yue three minutes. Cleverly, the small-scale data movement between the two within the Arasaka network did not attract the attention of the Arasaka anti-hacking team. Sasha also made things difficult for herself in this place. If the commotion was too great, Sasha would not even need to lift a finger, as hackers would naturally block her way.

Lin Yue... is he unable to find himself?

Sasha rested her chin on her hand, watching with interest as the guy frowned in thought.

Of course, she had to set a challenging goal, because only through setbacks can one learn a lesson—otherwise, newbies who successfully completed the assessment would become arrogant. In cyberspace, victory or defeat is decided in milliseconds, and there is no second chance if you lose.

Meanwhile, Lin Yue had already figured out a way to break the deadlock: he would use the logic code written by Sasha to try to observe Sasha's data fortress defense ICE and further conceal the anti-protocol intrusion program.

Sasha generously gave Lin Yue a few minutes, but ICE remained silent.

She started to worry.

This proves that... Lin Yue is not suitable for this job.

They couldn't even launch a decent attack.

Lin Yue tapped his fingers on the keyboard, pulled back the interactive cable, and ended the subnet transmission process. "Sorry, it timed out. I didn't understand what you meant. I thought I needed to study hard before the assessment."

Sasha shrugged. "It's okay... It's great for the first time, um... although my ICE doesn't seem to be reacting... uh, wait a minute!"

In the data fortress, Sasha hid only a picture, the line drawing of a cat's head that was her phone avatar.

Just when she thought Lin Yue had failed and began to crack the database, she discovered something that terrified her—

The data in my database is... gone?!
Sasha stared wide-eyed, seemingly trying to figure out if this guy had used a black wall to dismantle his ICE... But after checking countless times, he finally found the intrusion protocol only in the simple ICE he had built, without a trace of the black wall.

In other words, Lin Yue not only infiltrated the database and successfully stole it by becoming one of their own, but he also managed to destroy the data...

Lin Yue smiled. "It seems to be working well."

Sasha thought for a moment, "That's good... You borrowed my program to hack and read data, and even destroyed the database along the way. Well... I underestimated you."

What kind of monster is this?

Lin Yue, ignoring Sasha's ulterior motives, knew that this was not enough.

Bartmouth's intelligence is already at the pinnacle of this world. Although my own intelligence points are only half of this legendary hacker's, I can generally understand and master complex problems.

I still need to practice...

But Sasha was quick to let it go. "It seems you taught me a lesson. It looks like underestimating a newbie is a recipe for disaster... Rin, you're perfect for this."

Her expression suggested she had breathed a sigh of relief; Lin Yue's intelligence was far greater than she had imagined.

In that case, helping him enter the Black Wall would be a very easy thing. I wouldn't have to act like a mother hen, protecting the newbie all the way to the Black Wall and letting him fall into the pit and die on his own.

Lin Yue rubbed his slightly sore eyes. "Thank you. I will do my best to handle the rest."

Sasha nodded. "How are you feeling?"

Lin Yue did not deny his physical condition, "It's okay, I'm just a little tired occasionally, and I sometimes have inexplicable bleeding spots... These are all minor issues, let's stop here for today."

"Also, I wanted to tell you about Emma and Mewtwo." "Was the Mewtwo analysis done by Judy?"

As Lin Yue spoke, he took out the separation chip from the information extracted from Mewtwo from the drawer next to his desk.

Sasha nodded and inserted the chip into the back of her head.

Lin Yue explained, "You know we have business dealings in Dogtown. Mann and his group have temporarily thrown the tribes of Pacific Continent into chaos, while Angie and Emma have already taken over Hanz's business channels and have basically completed the replacement."

Sasha was a little puzzled. "It should be a good thing for you, since the people below you are taking the initiative, which will make things easier for you."

Lin Yue shook his head. "That's true, but they can't reach into Night City... You can see the supplier's information; it's a logistics company in Night City called [Respectful Logistics]... Angie and Emma used their own people to sabotage the last shipment, and now we're just waiting to talk to the people from Respectful Logistics."

Talk?

Sasha's intuition told her that this talk was not a calm and peaceful business discussion.

Lin Yue tapped his fingers on the table. "Keijing Logistics will fully compensate customers when goods are damaged. Hanz is targeting this point, which is why Angie and the others haven't let Hanz's business collapse. After all, many companies in Night City's sales departments are trying to build relationships with him, so of course we have to get involved too."

"You connect with Hanz online, contact Emma... act as a supplier to lower Hanz's guard, and sign an online contract. Once everything is ready, I'll shut up the manager of Respectable Logistics in charge of this line and get our stuff in properly."

Sasha felt the risk was still quite high. "With your abilities, you should be able to take down Hanz directly—"

She ran her hand across her neck.

Lin Yue: "Of course we have to kill him, but we don't want Angie and Emma to waste their efforts and let him run wild for a few days."

“Since Emma wants to save me costs, let’s deal with the suppliers first… I’ll have Mann and the others investigate based on what’s in the separate chip, and ideally, we should cause problems with the databases of the small companies in Night City—like [Affordable Firepower], and cut off all their logistics channels within fifteen days.”

Sasha stood up; she finally understood the difference between Mr. Lin and Lin Yue.

Moreover, the intelligent girl even knew that Lin Yue must have gained a firm foothold in Arasaka after the incident at the Black Wall, but she was not quite clear about the reason why Mr. Rin was so persistent in Dogtown.

Forget it, I shouldn't think about things I shouldn't be thinking about.

Sasha, carrying her laptop, was busy with her own tasks in the meeting area next to the office, as instructed by Lin Yue.

Just as Lin Yue was about to begin arranging the operational permissions recently requested by the counterintelligence department, V sent him a text message.

[V: Jakarta (picture) :P]

Lin Yue gave a faint smile.

[Rin: How did you manage to send the text message? Shouldn't the signal have been cut off?]

[V: Sometimes I think you're incredibly stupid; it must be Arakawa-ko's website.]

[V input in progress...]

Lin Yue scratched his head, genuinely unsure of what to say in response.

[V: Take your medication on time, I'm outta here... Ugh, Jenkins is really inhuman, looks like the operation won't be over until March. Oh yeah... I sent you a gift, I had it delivered to your apartment.]

Lin Yue hesitated for a long time.

Rin: Okay, thank you.

Seemingly sensing a lack of enthusiasm, he added, "Really."

Just as Lin Yue finished replying to the message with his head down, he looked up and found Suzuki standing in front of him like a ghost.

Do these ninjas walk without making a sound?

He trembled slightly. "Suzuki, have you forgotten the rules?"

Suzuki felt wronged. "Boss, I knocked! That lady heard me... You were so engrossed in what you were looking at, and you were even smiling—"

Sasha stared at the computer screen, her voice coming through, "Hmm...you're really engrossed in sending messages."

Lin Yue's smile faded. "Next time, please knock louder."

Suzuki bowed quickly.

Lin Yue waved his hand, "Alright, alright, have you found anything?"

Suzuki felt that the boss seemed to be in a good mood and didn't really want to bring up the matter.

But seeing Lin Yue's gaze, he could only bite the bullet and say, "It's something we found during the last operation."

Although he knew he was about to get into trouble, he still handed the report to Lin Yue with a "death-defying" attitude.

"No signs of company or internal personnel involvement were found. All we know is that it was a nomadic tribe outside customs who infiltrated the customs area. The customs officer who let them in has already been dealt with. The other trained mercenaries, as you described, are all soldiers who violated company law and were laid off by the company..."

Expected result.

Lin Yue destroyed the investigation report. Just then, an unfamiliar phone number called.

He answered the phone with some doubt.

In the holographic image, the man wearing an expensive shirt, leaning back on the sofa, stared at him.

Lin Yue's hair immediately stood on end.

Arakawa...Yorinobu?!

Lin Yue paused briefly before greeting, "Mr. Lai Xuan."

Arasaka Yorinobu straightened up. "How are you feeling, Rin?"

Lin Yue replied, "The technology in this state is very good. Thank you for your help."

Yoriyuki Arasaka said in fluent English, "I heard there was a problem with that shipment?"

Lin Yue suddenly felt his head spinning. "Yes... but we only lost one truck fully loaded with intelligent weapons. It was my oversight that failed."

Lai Xuan suddenly laughed, "No, no, no... I don't need employees to apologize, I'm just asking as usual. I hope you can get our weapons into Dogtown as soon as possible, it's about the scale of our small arms industry in Night City."

It seems that Arasaka Yorinobu is quite concerned about squeezing into the military science department.

Lin Yue agreed, and Lai Xuan made him write a "self-criticism," and then sent another batch of smart weapons to the Night City branch.

This is practically a blatant attempt to disrupt Dogtown's market with a large number of unprofitable weapons.

Lai Xuan said in a deep voice, "The Military Science Academy has tricked you, and Arasaka will naturally not let it go. By the way, do you have a way to make contact with the warlord in Dogtown? If not, I have an opportunity here, let's see if you can seize it."

Lin Yue nodded, feeling a sense of relief.

The fate of this anti-capitalist pioneer will undoubtedly make it easy for him to resolve his issues with Hansen in Dogtown.

Lai Xuan: "The reorganization of Night City's NCPD seems to have involved a series of business activities, including mergers and acquisitions... These are just despicable business tricks."

“But I heard that the new CEO of the NCPD really likes to ‘make friends,’ so I’ll go meet him. I think this greedy bastard might be of some help to you and Hansen in making a fair deal.”

Lin Yue carefully considered Lai Xuan's meaning.

However, Lai Xuan did not intend to let Lin Yue answer yes or no, saying, "I hope you can be as smart as V said."

The phone hangs up.

New work arrangements were immediately made within the subnet.

[To-do list: The City Council cordially invites representatives from various companies to a networking reception at the Dark Matter Club in Westbrook; you have been granted board authorization, please arrive at the venue before 9:00 PM tonight to participate in the event. Security has arranged an executive vehicle for you.]

[Security team personnel list: Suzuki Takeyoshi…]

[Stock Price Alert: Based on an optimistic outlook for NCPD's future performance, we recommend an "Overweight" (adding to your position) rating.]

【…】

With just one sentence from Arasaka Yoriyuki, no one dared to obstruct his authority.

This job should have been done by Chiba, the representative of Arasaka Company... But what does Yorihiro mean by that?

Lin Yue frowned and carefully recalled every detail of Lai Xuan's words.

What do greedy corporate employees want most? Money.

Judging from the details of the memory, this NCPD director only had money in his eyes, and his greed was evident in his actions; he didn't let go of anything he could embezzle.

Based on the timeline, the NCPD has only just been reorganized, so it shouldn't have established any connection with Hansen yet.

Is Lai Hsuan going to act as the middleman and bring them together himself?
This is not very safe. Generally speaking, both the buyer and seller in a transaction are protected, but the intermediary is not—if Fort and Hansen are in cahoots, then one has little say in the matter.

This was not someone he knew well, and Lin Yue, who had experienced so much, knew the importance of intelligence.

So he immediately instructed Suzuki to have his men investigate this NCPD corporate dog, so that he would have some confidence when he met this guy. As for what to do, he would have to wait until he was there to make a decision.

The time has come to give full play to our initiative.

At this moment, Lin Yue remained calm. Lai Xuanming's blatant support gave him more confidence, and he had a thousand ways to deal with the greedy NCPD director.

Suzuki spoke up at this moment, "Boss, the subnet notified me that there is an event you need to participate in this afternoon. I will notify you at seven o'clock tonight. I have to go take care of my business now."

Lin Yueqi, having finished dressing, asked Sasha, "Has the company arranged accommodation for you?"

Sasha shook her head. "My level doesn't exist in Arasaka's job titles and salary standards... But it doesn't matter, the cybersecurity room has accommodations."

Lin Yue pointed to the reception area in the distance, "Stay here. If anything happens, I can find you immediately. Tell Suzuki to connect the server line to that cubicle. You can complete the network access here."

Sasha: "Yes, thank you."

Lin Yue started the car in the underground parking lot.

He needed to give instructions about the operation to Mann and the others before the afternoon reception. Most importantly, he wanted to know who had commissioned Mann regarding the biotechnology matter—the most important thing right now was to keep these cyberpunks under control, as he was still counting on these non-company personnel to help him sort out the miscellaneous affairs in Dogtown.

If it weren't for her own good fortune last time, Rebecca and Sasha would have been in big trouble.

Looking at Rebecca's favorability rating, Lin Yue tried to recall the details of his interactions with her, but all he could think of was a sharp pain.

Although he didn't know why he felt the urge to save the girl, Lin Yue was certain that some of his memories of her had been lost.

Fragmented memories are the source of emotions—the subconscious cannot lie. At that moment, he made up his mind to save Rebecca almost without thinking.

Since receiving treatment in Japan, I feel like something is missing in my heart every day, and some things are just blurry.

……

At this moment, at the Santo Domingo Red Clay Bar.

Except for Lucy, everyone in Mann's squad was in the yard listening to rock music and drinking.

The atmosphere was very lively, except for Mann.

Because he was on the phone with Rin.

After hanging up the phone, his expression wasn't very good.

Dorothy looked at her boyfriend and asked, "What's wrong?"

Mann said dejectedly, "Rin is asking who assigned us that biotechnology job. You know Dorio, Sasha is a hacker he values ​​highly. Damn..."

Dorothy put her hand on Mann's shoulder to comfort him.

Dorio: "Should we call Lucy over? She's probably stealing chips from a car in the Watson District right now."

Mann glanced at Qiwei in the distance. "Forget it, the trouble that's meant to come can't be avoided."

Just as Mann was pondering how to explain things to Rin, a Villefort Avalado Mission 2044 pulled up on the street in front of the Red Clay Bar. It was Faraday's car!
The guy with the terrifying optical prosthetic eye got out of the car and spotted Mann immediately, walking toward him with a cold expression.

Mann felt that today was really unlucky, and muttered, "Damn it, besides Rin, there's new trouble."

Rebecca and the others, who had been sitting idly in chairs in the distance, all perked up and looked in their direction.

The middleman, though thin, was very tall, and stared straight at Mann with his hands in his pockets.

“You’re too careless… I remember I told you not to bring unnecessary trouble out.”

Mann managed to squeeze out a sentence, "Faraday, my hacker has also been lost."

Faraday scoffed, "If she hadn't been so interested and seen things she shouldn't have, I think you'd be on vacation right now."

Mann clenched his fists. What tormented him most was not Faraday's questioning, but Sasha's death, which was constantly torturing him.

Faraday continued, "You'll lose 20 dollars as punishment. If you want to live a comfortable life in the next life, don't do such stupid things again."

After speaking, Faraday slowly left the place.

Mann stood there, stunned.

Qiwei, who was next to Rebecca, asked, "Is that guy the middleman for the next life?"

Rebecca muttered, "Scumbag."

Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, a sapphire blue car turned onto the street corner.

Rebecca's face immediately fell. "It's over!"

Qi Wei frowned. "What?"

Pila chuckled, "The real corporate dog has arrived."

After Lin Yue got out of the car, he saw Mann standing there like a tree stump and looked speechless. "Mann."

Mann could only mechanically reply, "Mr. Rin..."

Lin Yue slowly said, "You know... if it weren't for me, Rebecca would be dead. Who assigned you the biotechnology project?"

Rebecca immediately objected upon hearing this, "Mr. Rin, we're just trying to make money; we don't talk about names when we do business—"

Although Rin's expression was warm, her tone was icy. "Rebecca, did I ask you?"

"I don't object to you taking on jobs, but don't let it interfere with my work. I've said before that we have a long-term working relationship, so please be more responsible for my work, okay?"

Dorio pulled Rebecca behind her. "I'm sorry, Mr. Rin."

Lin Yue looked around and spotted the woman in the maroon coat standing not far away. "Where's your other hacker?"

Mann felt a cold sweat run down his back. How did Rin know everything?!
“Uh… she’s in the Watson area.”

Lin Yue asked with a smile, "Okay, then tell me, who sent you to the biotechnology field?"

Mann said as if he had made up his mind, "There is a middleman in the afterlife, everyone calls him Faraday."

Dorio glanced at Mann. "Mr. Rin, this is our fault. We failed to protect Sasha..."

Faraday?
Lin Yue narrowed his eyes.

Mann explained, "Faraday is indeed not very transparent; it's my fault, I'm sorry..."

I wonder how Rin will hold everyone accountable?

Rebecca sensed that this guy's aura was becoming increasingly dangerous.

Just as everyone was watching Rin, waiting for him to speak, he unexpectedly took a step closer and said something that sent chills down their spines:
"It's alright, there won't be a Faraday in the next life."

"I said."

……

　Mergers and acquisitions (M&A): The business operation of merging companies to form a new entity.

　　【Tian Guang】: The hacker who collaborated with the Little Beidou Neural Matrix is ​​the online name of the Oror siblings.

　　[Latch Bartmos's Guide to Cyber ​​Action]: Superconducting Noodles on Bilibili has a detailed explanation; you can check it out if you're interested.

　　"Don't pray to God, pray to me": This is the quote on Barthes' clothes.

　　[Kingly Logistics]: Kingly Logistics is a shipping company that provides transportation services to business and individual customers, with operations spanning continents.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)