Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 138 Healing and the Spirit Room (22)

"Hi, Rin."

Misty greeted Lin Yue with a calm and gentle voice.

Lin Yue felt that he was becoming less and less able to put on a nice smile.

He merely twitched the corner of his mouth and nodded slightly.

"I'll wait for Jack here, you don't mind, do you?"

Misty shook her head and continued to prop her elbows on the counter with its strange carvings, next to a shiny jar.

"Sit anywhere, that lounge chair is Jack's favorite spot... or you can wander around."

Misty looked almost exactly like the image she remembered.

Her clothing style is completely different from her personality. Just looking at the blue sweater and the studs on it, it's hard to associate her with a doctor who gently counsels children with mental illnesses in Chinatown.

Lin Yue shrugged. "I think I'll take a walk."

Misty was fiddling with tarot cards in her hands, and Lin Yue glanced at her curiously.

With her back to Lin Yue, she asked, "Are you very interested in this?"

Lin Yue didn't know how she knew he was looking at tarot cards.

Misty possessed a kind of priestess-like magic, always able to clearly see through other people's thoughts and intentions.

So Lin Yue, carrying his tattered suit, slowly walked to the counter. "To be honest, uh, I haven't studied this much... Is it very accurate?"

Misty kept shuffling the cards in her hand, her eyes, heavily made up to look like they were about to smudge, staring intently at him.

"That depends on what you're asking. If you want a definite answer, it can't do that, but it can always help you understand your own feelings."

Lin Yue glanced at the time.

Anyway, Jack won't be here for a while, so I'll just kill some time.

Lin Yue: "I need to draw a few cards, and then you'll interpret them, right?"

Misty smiled. "Rin is too impatient."

Lin Yue, of course, did not presume to reach out his hand, but simply gestured for Misty to continue speaking.

Then, she randomly picked a card from the tarot deck—it featured a woman with a crescent moon above her head.

Misty explained in an explanatory manner, "You have to think about what you want to ask first. For example, this priestess is just one of the answers to various questions. You have to choose it yourself."

Is there a problem?
Lin Yue remained silent for a long time.

He said uncertainly, "The future?"

"Or life..."

Misty nodded.

"It seems you like minimalism, and the questions are simple and clear. But vague questions often lead to many situations, making them more complicated to interpret."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

As she spoke, she spread a stack of tarot cards on the table in a fan shape, then began to shuffle them vigorously with both hands until all the cards were scrambled.

"Now, destiny has entered these tarot cards."

Misty's psychic house seemed to have a strange aroma that made people feel calm.

Lin Yue's eyes glanced at the dim candlelight in the corner, and for a moment, the noisy sounds of Chinatown outside seemed to disappear.

Misty put the tarot cards away again. "These are for you to read yourself, so I won't draw the cards for you."

"But I may not be able to interpret all the meanings; you'll have to experience it for yourself..."

Misty is sending a signal that she is not a fanatical believer in divination.

In truth, Lin Yue never believed in divination, just as he didn't believe in fate. Even though his seemingly inescapable, closed-loop destiny felt like a shackle he couldn't break free from, he still didn't succumb.

Things will always change, that's what he told himself.

Misty's hands, which were fiddling with the cards, had strangely painted nails, as if a witch had applied ancient paint to them.

After Misty shuffled the cards, she divided them into three parts, stacked them back up in layers, and spread them out in a fan shape.

“The card spread is also a very important step. Your question is too complicated, so I will present it to you in the form of a six-pointed star.”

"Okay."

After saying that, she looked at Lin Yue with encouraging eyes.

Lin Yue shook the cards in his hand and discovered that the patterns on the back of the cards were centrally symmetrical, meaning that the front and back of the cards were random.

Sure enough, Misty explained, "Life has its ups and downs, and so do the cards... Pick them out, don't change direction, I'll arrange the cards for you."

Upright and reversed?

Lin Yue nodded, finding it to be a very interesting game.

Soon, Lin Yue handed the cards he thought looked best to the "diviner" one by one.

Misty finished arranging them and pointed to the card furthest from Lin Yue.

"This represents your past."

Lin Yue didn't know why he felt a little nervous.

Misty's hand flipped open a portrait, which was facing Lin Yue.

"Upright, The Fool."

Misty pointed to the seemingly optimistic little figure on the pattern, whose foot was raised high, seemingly unaware that he was about to step into a dangerous abyss.

Misty said calmly, “You are unique and very lucky… It represents your true self, with a heart as pure as a white rose—perhaps you will be willing to take risks for the dream in your heart.”

Lucky...?

Lin Yue frowned. He was being chased and blocked by military technology, and he had to rely on Ara Saka's dirty hands to climb up the muddy ground of Dogtown... Now it seemed that he had become a complete corporate dog.

As for when they first arrived in this world and met Mann and the others...

and many more!

Lin Yue felt that the memory was very blurry; how did he meet Mann and the others?!
He rubbed his forehead; the feeling of losing his memory while fully conscious was very unsettling.

I clearly remember the details of doing the job with Mann and the others:
The force of Mann's large hand patting his shoulder, Pila's rough voice, Dorio's calm smile, and Rebecca's swaying pigtails...

What happened before?
He looked up, his eyes filled with panic.

Misty calmly observed the unpleasant expression on the tall man's face.

She placed her hands flat and moved them up and down, gesturing for Lin Yue to relax and breathe. "Dr. Victor said you will forget some things, but that's okay. As long as you remember the present, that's enough."

"Take a deep breath..."

Lin Yue's chest heaved, and he braced himself against the Misty counter for support.

Luck seems to have truly been with me from the moment I came into this world until now.

Using reincarnation memories to grab Hanz by the neck, being caught by Arasaka during the first request, and V arriving just in time after the Black Wall baptism, and the attention of Yoriyuki... Could these be considered lucky?
Lin Yue knew he couldn't wait any longer.

After the events in Dogtown are over, he and Sasha will head to the border of the Black Wall to find the lost items, because he is terrified of the feeling of not knowing where the enemy is.

After thinking it through, he gradually calmed down.

Seeing that Lin Yue's breathing had become much easier, Misty turned over the second card.

"This is your present."

"...The Empress?"

Lin Yue looked at the woman on the card, standing on fertile land. Her expression was peaceful, and behind her was a vibrant scene of life.

Misty frowned. "I'm sorry, although this card is in the first position... it's rarely drawn by male customers, so it should be a positive sign? It could represent you learning to love, or it could be an idealistic path—"

"Or perhaps, some women are influencing you with their creativity, right?"

Lin Yue shook his head, feeling like he was going crazy.

If this card is truly as Misty says, then who does it represent?

Emma? V? Sasha? Or Rebecca…

Misty's explanation was very simple, as if she was only responsible for showing the face of fate.

"Alright, now for the question you're most concerned about... the future!"

Lin Yue watched as the card was turned over.

On the cards:
On the throne, the man held a scepter in his hand, his eyes shining brightly, just like the crown on his head!

Misty murmured to herself, "The emperor... interesting."

She held up a tarot card. "Perhaps your career will go smoothly... but it may not necessarily help your love life. You have many ways to overcome the difficulties you face. Be decisive and strong—unlike the Fool of the past, you have let go of unrealistic fantasies and are gradually realizing your ambitions."

Lin Yue listened blankly to Misty's interpretation.

Upon closer examination, the fortune teller's words seem to be slowly coming true.

He didn't know if this was the result of psychological suggestion.

Lin Yue tried to laugh awkwardly, but no sound came out.

Misty stared at Lin Yue's shifty eyes, "But there's a reason for everything."

She flipped over the card that represented the reason—

destiny!

It's still reversed...

Misty's tone was somewhat somber, "It seems there are occasional unexpected events..."

"You are facing some bad things, the wheel of fate has turned upside down... it is playing tricks on you."

As if possessed, Lin Yue immediately asked, "So what should we do?"

Seeing that the customer opposite her had taken the initiative to ask a question, Misty felt that her divination had been recognized.

Her smile was gentle.

"Then let your imagination run wild, create a new destiny, and break free from it!"

Okay, okay…

Lin Yue felt like those guys from his past life who watched short videos to calculate their own fate, scoffing at the probability of divination while seemingly choosing to believe it nonetheless.

Even Emma's sex-pair chip exhibited this highly suggestive nature.

Am I overthinking things?
Misty: "Next... look at the environment you're about to face. It's an uncontrollable variable, but it's a good indicator."

Lin Yue was even a little impatient to see the cards.

"Judgment."

"Misty said softly."

"A proper judgment, it seems you're really lucky, Rin. To be resurrected... the joy of resurrection—perhaps these are all positive omens."

As she spoke, she gave Lin Yue a reassuring look.

Lin Yue breathed a slight sigh of relief. "I hope so."

As Misty placed her hand on the card behind her, Lin Yue also placed his hand on the card.

He gently shook his head. "According to the hexagram you described, does this represent a countermeasure?"

Misty gestured for Lin Yue to open it himself.

So how do tarot cards predict what methods and means one will choose?
His cheeks puffed out as he exhaled.

Thus, the power card was revealed.

In the picture: the woman's hand is tightly gripping the lion's fangs, but it's reversed. Misty looked at Lin Yue with a puzzled expression, "It seems you have many contradictions. Don't be afraid, Rin... remember, fear will destroy you."

This woman, whom the neighbors wouldn't bother with, was very clever; she always tried to keep any unpleasant hints to a minimum.

Without giving Lin Yue time to think, she continued.

Now, let's take a look—

Misty hadn't even finished saying that.

A loud voice rang out from the doorway, "Hey! Girl, calculating?"

Jack, carrying his conspicuous machete, rolled up his sleeves and stood behind Lin Yue with his hands on his hips.

Lin Yue nodded as a greeting.

“It’s time to do the math, buddy… Misty is always right.”

As she spoke, she winked at Lin Yue.

Lin Yue was taken aback, not because of Jack's arrival, but because he discovered that this seemingly rough, genuine man didn't contradict Misty.

Misty shook her head helplessly. "Jack, you still say I'm accurate—did you do the ritual I asked you to do?"

Jack's expression stiffened for a moment, then he looked a little embarrassed. "Oh! I forgot, girl."

Then he placed his large hand on Lin Yue's shoulder and looked Lin Yue up and down at his blood-stained shirt. "Are you feeling alright?"

Lin Yue removed both hands from the counter, saying, "Old Wei's cooking is excellent."

Jack wanted to ask about his friend's situation, but he didn't dare to ask too many details.

After hesitating for a while, I finally asked, "Was that girl V... with you?"

Lin Yue replied, "She's fine."

Jack was relieved.

"Looks like I interrupted Misty from showing you the cards. Buddy, I'm going to get out of the way!"

As he spoke, Jack casually lay down on the rocking chair, his heavy body creaking as he sat down.

Lin Yue thought to himself, Jack's respect for Misty was truly beyond question.

Although he doesn't believe in this, he would never suppress his partner's beliefs.

Misty gave an apologetic smile. "Let's see what the tarot cards have to say for you."

World Card: A divine maiden dances gracefully amidst a laurel wreath.

"I told you, you're lucky."

"The world is in its proper place, perfect and without flaw."

Jack sat bolt upright upon hearing this. "Damn... such good luck? Then why have my cards been so bad for the last few months—"

He meant to say it smelled bad.

The man from Haywood held back his profanity, waved his hands haphazardly a few times, and then looked somewhat dejected.

Misty held up a finger. "Shh, Jack. It's just a tarot card. It can't determine your life. Don't be too pessimistic. Just be careful."

The careful girl carefully put the cards away and looked intently at Lin Yue.

"Rin, everything will be alright."

Misty knew the guy in front of her was a company employee, but she didn't object to V introducing her as a friend.

She just hated those arrogant guys who got out of their cars and cursed everything here, and who were also despicable people who were trying to swindle a few people from the lower classes.

Like V, Rin in front of me is like a street kid, lost in life yet inwardly powerful.

Lin Yue hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

"Uh... I'm sorry, Misty, for keeping you standing for so long. What about the fees or something?"

Misty smiled. "I often do fortune telling for free, so don't worry about it. I'm going to help Old Vie tidy up the house. You can talk to Jack."

Jack watched Misty walk away from behind, then spread his hands. "Looks like your luck's been up and down lately, huh, buddy..."

Lin Yue pulled over a stool.

"Thankfully, everything has been resolved. Now I'd like to ask about the plans for the merger and acquisition."

Jack lit a cigarette. "Yeah, I need to take care of this for the girl."

“You said you knew some mercenaries who do the work, right? Now look at the information. V said you're busy, leaving me scratching my head every day trying to figure out a solution.”

Lin Yue took the chip Jack handed him, and various information about people, locations, and laws switched back and forth inside his prosthetic eye.

"This guy from Arakawa, Joey Livani."

Jack exhaled smoke and said seriously, "He took weapons from Arasaka and sold them to people in the logistics company. This guy is ruthless. He squeezed out all the shareholders of the subsidiary of Respectable Logistics. Now he is backed by the logistics company and is negotiating with Arasaka. He is trying to profit from both sides."

Lin Yue's eyes lit up. "Uh... wait a minute. A subsidiary of Kejing Logistics? Shouldn't Kejing have control? How did Arasaka take over?"

Jack sneered, "You know, this guy is clever. His wife is one of the shareholders of a subsidiary of Kejing Logistics. The financial statements submitted to the parent company show losses year after year, and the key is that the data is made to look real, thus avoiding internal audits... Kejing Logistics doesn't want to take on this mess, so it sold its shares at a low price, which is quite normal."

Lin Yue rubbed his chin and continued to carefully examine the documents.

Soon, a message stopped in front of Lin Yue's eyes.

Dogtown…

Jack leaned in to listen to Lin Yue mutter, "With so many weapons, we can't just sell them to the NCPD on the street, who takes a cut from the gangs, can we?"

At this moment, Lin Yue's eyes seemed to blaze with the excitement of rain falling from the sky.

Intelligence indicates that Joey is selling weapons to Dogtown!
Lin Yue's excitement wasn't due to the high demand for Arasaka goods in Dogtown, but rather because his control over the lower and middle classes was becoming increasingly clear!

He quickly retrieved the logistics company information that Emma and Angie had previously looked up for him through his prosthetic eye.

After several comparisons, the matching company name immediately excited Lin Yue.

Because he discovered that the company Hans used for logistics was this very one!

He wants to take back what he said earlier about V bringing bad luck.

At this moment, a well-established logistics channel in Dogtown lay right in front of him.

Don't underestimate these logistics channels.

If Emma reaches an agreement, all I need to do is squeeze Joey out, and I'll have a ready-made closed-loop business to run.

In other words, after Lin Yue kicked Hanz out, he didn't need to go through a lot of trouble, including finding a new logistics company or getting the convoy from the Arasaka Industrial Park into Dogtown.

You have to understand that there are many eyes in Night City watching Dogtown. For Arasaka's truck to blatantly transport weapons to Dogtown is no different from giving someone a handle to use against them. The colonel in Dogtown would not agree to it.

After a frantic mental search, Lin Yue quickly figured it out:

We need to take advantage of this operation to make Joey vomit up what he ate... Since he is an employee of Arasaka and controls this company, it proves that Arasaka has the legal authority to confiscate the property that this employee bought and sold without authorization, and the logistics company can be merged into Arasaka Enterprises.

We're not afraid of being investigated in Dog Town; it's just a matter of adding a few more layers of shell.

As for how to get rid of Joey, Lin Yue thought about it and there was only one way—

Physically squeezed out!

Jack patiently waited for Lin Yue to look at the documents.

Of course, he had no idea that the young man from the company in front of him had already calculated everything perfectly.

Lin Yue suppressed his excitement and let out a long breath, "Go on, Jack."

Then, Haywood explained everything that required Lin Yue's cooperation, including some points to note.

The most important thing is to avoid major conflicts.

The reason V involved him and Jack was to prevent the company from having too much armed force involved.

Because there are also many corporate spies in Arasaka from Kekei Logistics, it would be troublesome if the company found out.

Finally, there is the action plan.

"We're in charge of decapitating him and taking control of his management team."

"V said he'll have Arasaka cooperate in detaining Joey from Arasaka Tower and taking him out to go through the dismissal process. Your team will be used to intercept the shipment and distract the security company personnel they've hired."

"However, I bought some intelligence through a middleman. This trip will require hackers to download the data, and I feel... I'll have to spend money to hire one, but I have connections here."

Lin Yue knew what Jack meant: the prerequisite for their cooperation was that someone had to download all the files and data from the mainframe to serve as evidence.

As long as everything goes smoothly.

If you hand over the items to Arasaka's legal department, you can sue Kei Logistics.

Lin Yue didn't need to worry about what happened next.

While downloading data is something any ordinary hacker can do, it's still important to be wary of cyberattacks, so experience in this area is necessary.

After a moment's thought, Lin Yue decided on Sasha as the hacker candidate. "No need to spend money. Arasaka's armed forces are unusable, but bringing a hacker won't be a problem."

……

It was already evening when everything was discussed and agreed upon.

Jack got up and took his jacket from Misty's psychic house, gesturing for Lin Yue to cover the bloodstains on his body.

"Uh... I'm starving—put your clothes on, don't let the NCPD come and question you. I know an Asian restaurant near the skyscrapers, I'll treat you!"

Lin Yue did not refuse Jack's offer to help him while he spoke.

Jack stretched his legs and said, "Well, we people at Haywood like to tell each other things before we start working."

"But since you were called by V, this procedure can be skipped..."

"Although I'm poor, treating the girl's friend to a fast food meal is no problem, consider it an apology for what happened with the wild wolf—as for a big meal, you know, I'm too embarrassed to ask my mom for money... If I don't make any more money soon, I'll have to go back to farming."

Lin Yue shook his head, both amused and exasperated. "From what you've said, the neighbors in Heywood are very easy to get along with."

Jack gestured for the two to walk outside. "Of course! Haywood is a friend, or... family? Although there are a few scoundrels occasionally, everyone gets along well!"

"That Kirk is a complete idiot. If Mom hadn't stopped him, she would have given that kid a good beating."

And you, friend?

Lin Yue felt that Jack, though seemingly rough on the surface, was actually quite thoughtful.

I guess they wanted to find out their own background.

Lin Yue put his jacket on. "I was brought into Arasaka by V. Before that, the places I came to were all bastards, no good people."

After listening, Jack shrugged and pushed aside the sex dolls that were posing provocatively in front of him.

"See you next time, ma'am—"

"Seriously, is there anything more damn stupid than a company?"

Lin Yue nodded, "Of course!"

Jack remembered what happened to this guy in Dogtown, and Dogtown must be an even worse place.

Lin Yue suddenly felt like teasing Jack.

He said with a hint of sarcasm, "So... the heart-to-heart talk before we started working is over? But I think a true heart-to-heart talk only counts after we've actually finished the job, right?"

Jack turned to look at Lin Yue, his expression helpless.

"Dude... you and V both hold grudges. I was just saying, I'm not asking you to confess how many girls you picked up last night."

As for opening up to each other...

“A huevo (No problem)”.

……

(End of this chapter)