Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 143 Uncontrollable (22)

The yellow sand steamed with heat, and the distant scenery was blurred and distorted.

Mann licked his dry, cracked lips, shielding his forehead with his thin hand, trying to look directly at the sun that seemed to never set.

Behind him, the sunlight cast long shadows, just like his slender figure.

Large beads of sweat slid down his forehead, fell to the ground, and slowly dried, turning into gas.

“Mann…you have disappointed me greatly.”

The girl's eyes were filled with sorrow, and her short hair near her ears swayed incessantly with the heat.

Mann's throat was hoarse, and he made a sound similar to a "ha".

He looked down at the scratches on his body caused by the sand and gravel, and then took another step forward, trying to get closer to the person who was out of reach.

"Sasha."

With every step Mann took forward, Sasha moved one step further away from him.

A person can never catch their own shadow no matter what.

Mann felt a pricking sensation in his throat and lungs. The buildup of lactic acid made his steps increasingly heavy. Unable to hold on any longer, he could only support himself on his knees with his hands, hunching over and gasping for air.

suddenly!

Sasha suddenly moved closer and stood in front of Mann.

a long time.

As Mann's breathing gradually calmed down, he slowly raised his head. His face was as if covered by a shadow due to exhaustion.

"sorry."

Sasha stared straight at him without looking away.

"forgive me."

The girl opposite Mann didn't respond to any of his words, only responding to his apology with an extremely resentful look.

I could faintly hear music.

Mann's eyes slowly widened, and the scene in front of him was reflected in his pupils as if playing frame by frame.

Frenetic drumbeats, rapid electric guitar strumming, and a hoarse, guttural vocalist…

In Mann's pupils, fireworks exploded behind Sasha, and the girl's eyeballs and skull began to deform under the blast wave. Her close-fitting black bodysuit began to swell, and her distinct ribs began to protrude!
don't want…

The drumbeats grew more and more intense, and the piercing heavy metal music echoed in Mann's head!

The girl seemed to be trying her best to reach out and grab Mann, but the speed at which they disintegrated was beyond human control.

Swish!
Time resumed its flow, the girl was torn apart, then turned into dust, and the mixture of various tissues, still warm, rushed onto Mann.

A drop of blood splattered into his eye, and the world around him instantly turned blood red.

An irreversible ending has played out once again.

……

Rock music echoed from the rooftop, seemingly growing louder and louder, starting to make people feel uneasy.

at this time.

Snapped!
A large hand pressed on the pink radio next to him, and the music stopped abruptly.

Mann lay on the table, staring blankly down.

He straightened his massive body, his clothes still stained with blood that hadn't dried.

The sounds of floating cars and advertisements, sometimes near, sometimes far, made Mann realize that he was still alive and that it was just a dream.

He reached for the sunglasses on the plastic table and put them on, concealing his tired and trembling pupils.

pat.

A cigarette billowed up, and Mann took a breath and exhaled it into the slightly pungent night sky.

Footsteps came from behind.

“Mann, Dr. Victor is done—you can come down and let him take a look at your problem.”

Mann gave a blank "oh," his hand holding the cigarette trembling slightly—he slowly stood up with his back to Misty, his hand returning to stillness.

"Where are your other companions?"

Misty asked kindly.

Mann gritted his teeth and grinned sheepishly, "I've been busy on vacation lately, but I'll have some big work to do soon."

Misty saw the blood on the mercenary, but remained silent.

The two walked down the rooftop of a building in Little Chinatown, one after the other.

“Thanks to your boss, Dr. Victor is probably the most meticulous doctor in Night City.” Misty’s voice was gentle. “He must have his reasons for not recommending the implant. I hope you will listen to his advice later.”

Mann shrugged noncommittally. "Hmm."

Upon entering Dr. Victor's clinic, Mann discovered that many changes had taken place.

Various new medical devices and related equipment, as well as neatly arranged zones, including the previously dim lighting, have all been well renovated.

It looks more like a prosthetic doctor's shop in the company square.

"Ah... Mann is here."

Victor tapped his fingers on the keyboard, "Wait a moment while I input the prosthetic body model into the database."

Mann sat in the operating chair behind him, curiously looking around at his surroundings. "I'm not used to it yet. To be honest, I've been to this doctor's office many times, and I always feel like you're not making much money..."

Hearing Mann's mutterings behind him, Victor paused, then chuckled, "You mercenaries like to take on big jobs, and we doctors sometimes get big jobs too—in my eyes, life has no high or low status, but in some people's eyes it does."

"As you can see, this is all my payment... You are also familiar with this person; his name is Rin."

Mann listened blankly to Victor's words.

This... probably requires a lot of money, right?
Dr. Victor spun his chair around, and with a flick of his foot, the chair moved in front of Mann.

"I have good news. I have some low-ranking Krenchkovs in stock."

Upon hearing this, Mann's expression first became strange, and then his eyes began to dart away.

"Uh…"

Old Wei stared at the mercenary for a long time, then sighed softly.

“You went to another doctor to get it done? Mann, I’m not bragging… how good do you expect a doctor who prescribes large amounts of immunosuppressants after you get a prosthetic? Rushing things can make a mess of your body.”

Mann shook his head. "I...I just can't wait any longer."

Old Wei's voice was low and deep. "I don't think so. Lie down first, and I'll try my best to correct this prosthetic body... If you feel you can't hold on, then you should consider whether to remove it. Don't miss the golden period for nerve recovery."

Respecting the client's choices is a rule that every doctor in Night City must learn.

It's true that Victor's clinic doesn't make much money.

The reason for this is that Victor has a limited stock of prosthetic bodies, and he has never used any of the black-label prosthetic bodies available on the market for his customers.

This also means that Victor basically earns money from repeat customers; some guys who have been shot in the body just get first aid from him... The probability of his clients developing mental health problems is very low.

Because after the treatment, there are dedicated people to help clients build psychological defenses, and that's what Misty does.

The fact that prosthetics have been market-tested proves their ordinariness, which is why this conscientious doctor's business has remained lukewarm.

Mann swallowed hard and lay back in the chair.

"This is my first time having surgery to check my prosthetic body, doctor. I'm not going to wake up in a cleaner's bed, am I?"

Old Wei took the gruff man's joke to heart.

"If that's the case, I should have gotten rich sooner. Okay... stop joking around and relax."

Mann nodded.

Victor skillfully operated the equipment. "I forgot to remind you, Rin paid me a fee. If there are any problems with her prosthetic body... you can come to me. But I don't have those experimental versions here."

"Now, let me see the skills of my fellow craftsmen."

As the anesthetic was injected, Mann's eyelids began to feel heavy, and Victor's voice began to appear and disappear.

The only sound in the room was the ticking of the instruments. Victor looked at the CNC panel while checking the connections of various pipelines, his brows slowly furrowing.

"What's wrong, Dr. Victor?"

Misty wiped the sweat from Old Vie’s forehead with gauze; she rarely saw the doctor with such a serious expression.

"Ugh... what a mess, Misty. We didn't find anything wrong with his prosthetics when we checked them with the software before."

As he spoke, Viktor pointed his scalpel at a certain piece of tissue. "Here...here...even the projectile launch system is faulty. Someone modified and overwrote the original company software to deceive him. Like the nerves in this prosthetic body, that doctor didn't have much patience, so he...just randomly attached a few, and the original nerves all died..."

Viktor stopped, seemingly having a headache over what to do.

Misty bent down to look at the dissected body. "Should we remove it?"

Victor glanced at Mann lying there. "No...removing these is tantamount to killing him—he will lose the right to have prosthetics in these areas in the future."

"It's hard for mercenaries to survive without these things."

"Do you know what the saying goes in Night City? It's that getting a cybernetic body requires talent. That's just utter nonsense."

"In my opinion... the non-compliant surgical procedures and the prosthetic body with excessive rejection are the real culprits behind mental problems. Add to that the need to earn money and the worry about food, and the mental stress is overwhelming—how could one not go crazy?"

Misty asked curiously, "Will the prosthetic bodies you select also be like this?"

Victor shook his head. "No, as long as it's a prosthetic body, the damage to the nerves is irreversible. It's just a matter of choosing a method that causes relatively less damage."

"Here's something interesting: people who can withstand a lot of prosthetics are either extremely sensitive and rich in neurological information, or they are not very sensitive in neurological information. These two types of people have very different personalities. One type is naturally kind, while the other is a natural executioner."

"This friend in front of me... I wonder which category he belongs to?"

Misty: "What about Rin?"

Victor reached out and slowly combed through the tubing, replying, "The kind with a rich nervous system... Logically speaking, the prosthetic body should have reached its limit. I guess losing his memory might be a good thing for him in some ways, at least it won't put too much psychological pressure on him."

Misty was silent for a moment.

"It seems you'll have to put in some effort, Dr. Victor."

Then, as if encouraging himself, Victor said, "I'll try my best."

……

“If you feel anxious, can’t control your impulses, and like to distract yourself with all sorts of exciting things—I hope you come to me to remove those prosthetics. I don’t expect you to believe me or misunderstand me as squeezing out your colleagues.”

"Don't continue using those immunosuppressants. They will greatly affect your nerves and make you forget that the prosthetic body comes at the cost of nerve repair."

Dr. Victor's words echoed in Mann's mind.

He glanced at the time; there were only two hours left before he was to meet his boss, Rin.

Night City, already covered by a cage of light, seems to have ushered in its most beautiful moment.

But in the alleys of Chinatown, there was no light, only drug addicts lying on the ground, rolling around and groaning, babbling incoherently, while cockroaches crawled over their bodies...

Mann pushed open the iron gate outside Victor's clinic, making a creaking sound.

He stopped walking, his hand still resting on the iron fence.

However, in his line of sight, there was a muscular man in a black leather jacket staring at him. He had short hair and appeared to be of African descent.

"Long time no see, Mann."

The man had his hands in his pockets, just like he had a few years ago, seemingly unchanged.

Mann's expression was inscrutable. "Ahem, old buddy—[Li De], I thought you were dead at the hands of New America... How's it going? Did New America promote you?"

In fact, Mann really wanted to hear that Reed had been tricked by New America, at least that would prove that his insistence was right—because Mann had already seen through the fire what those idiots in New America were thinking.

Li De shrugged. The searchlight from the hovercraft shone through the collar of his leather jacket, a faded burgundy color, and he wore a ring on his chest, taken from a comrade. "As you wished, I've been completely sold out by the new America."

Mann grinned.

“That’s good, at least you won’t starve in Night City… If the military can’t do this openly, the Joint Logistics Command probably doesn’t treat you like a human being either.”

I'm so glad I didn't accept your invitation.

"Do you smoke?"

Li De shook his head, stood in front of Mann, and sized up his comrade-in-arms who was born in Maine.

Mann's cigarette glowed intermittently; he knew that this former comrade-in-arms of the new American believer was definitely not here to reminisce.

“I work as a doorman at a bar in Night City. Maybe you can come over and sit down sometime. You’re right, Mann—New America sold me out completely, but I don’t complain. Little Song… maybe there’s something he can’t say about it.”

Mann scoffed.

"A bar doorman... How did you even come up with that idea? Your junior from Brooklyn seems to be learning very quickly? Well then, I'm already somewhat famous in my next life, so come work for me, it won't be a bad job."

Li De's posture was always that of an army on alert, as if he had never lost that air about him. In contrast, Mann seemed more like a local Night City rogue mercenary.

He extended his hand to refuse, "No... I came here to ask you about someone, Lin Yue... do you know him?"

Mann's expression remained unchanged as he leaned against the railing behind him. "I don't know him."

Li De paused for a moment, then said, "The answer was too quick; it was a subconscious denial."

“Don’t rush to refuse… You can listen to this, let me put it this way. Our comrade from Dogtown, Farida… I owe her something, and she recently told me something that makes me very worried about a Joint Logistics Command intelligence leak… She once performed surgery herself, and he took some new American technology.”

"Because he said he knew me...that's how he fooled Farida."

Mann's smoking motions gradually slowed down.

The word "knowledge" kept echoing in Mann's mind.

"so what?"

Mann maintained his nonchalant attitude.

Li De smiled. "Perhaps I didn't explain myself clearly. This involves the leak of information about former Joint Logistics Command agents, you—"

Mann interrupted, "You're still with the Joint Logistics Command? Does it really matter whether there's a leak or not?"

"To be honest, I can't tell whether you're trying to save your own life or if you want to continue working for your superiors... Solomon Reed, it's time to wake up. Didn't that fire burn away your ignorance? What a bastard."

Li De frowned. "That's just a necessary sacrifice for the operation, Mann."

Mann seemed to be losing patience. "Let's talk next time. I have other things to do, and I don't want to get involved in your Joint Logistics Command's mess."

Just as he was about to leave, Lidla stopped Mann.

"He was once a member of your squad? Have you ever considered that he might be a spy for New America... And I've also investigated, you two have some shady dealings with Arasaka—are you sure you don't want to get to the bottom of this?"

Mann's gaze shifted downwards. "Bringing a gun to your former teammate, that's impressive, Li De... You'd better look up at the sky. One day Miles will fall from the sky and tell you that the new America still needs you... so you can go and risk your life for him."

He pointed at Li De's chest with his finger, "If you're in Night City, you'll inevitably have shady dealings with the company—as for that Lin Yue you mentioned, you'll have to find him yourself."

Li De released his grip, stood still, and tilted his head slightly to watch Mann's massive body disappear into the alleyway.

He sighed and was about to take a step when he noticed the drug addict lying on the ground was still rolling around. He noticed that the guy had a handkerchief made of a new American flag around his waist.

Li De quietly looked at the flag, which was stained with sweat and mud.

The broken country, however, is the driving force behind this agent's life.

Even though this motivation was a kind of anesthetic, Li De still found it sweet.

A coin was tossed beside the homeless man, and the footsteps faded into the distance.

……
-
Afterlife.

Lin Yue was not as high-profile as before this time.

The hovercar was parked on the helipad of a building, which was one of Arasaka's properties.

Just as Lin Yue was about to get out of the car, V stopped him.

"Change your clothes. You've been making some big moves recently, so it's inevitable that people will be watching you. I suggest you don't wander around the areas with the highest concentration of mercenaries in a suit. Assassination attempts happen to Arasaka's upper echelons every year."

Lin Yue asked, puzzled, "My prosthetic body isn't penetrated by many weapons, is it?"

V replied, "Where's the bomb?"

"It's good to keep a low profile. No high-ranking member of Arasaka Tower is willing to leave the company square. If someone fires a gun there, it will cause chaos."

As they were talking, V's trousers fell to the ground.

Lin Yue quickly turned his head away.

V didn't care at all. She put on the sports vest that was kept in the hovercar, revealing her charming abs. She then put her hair up and draped a large jacket over her shoulders. An extremely short skirt was pulled up above her long, slender thighs.

Unlike her simple attire when she went to Dogtown with Lin Yue to help Anqi with her affairs, she now had a real street kid vibe.

Lin Yue saw everything clearly out of the corner of his eye, not missing a single detail.

V reached out and turned his head. "Can we change your clothes?"

Lin Yue didn't hesitate; he agreed to the change and let's see who suffers the loss.

To everyone's surprise, V was even bolder than last time in the company square in her own house, staring almost intently and occasionally giving Lin Yue encouraging glances.

And so, the two of them, having shed their corporate personas, arrived at the gates of the afterlife.

Unsurprisingly, the security guards at the next station refused them entry.

"We don't accept customers we don't know, thank you."

V glanced at Lin Yue standing behind her. "What, do you want me, a woman, to clear the way for you?"

Lin Yue shook his head. He had the face of a middle-aged man and seemed gentle, but in the next instant, the gun at the security guard's waist appeared in Lin Yue's hand, which he held and twirled with his fingers.

With alarm sirens blaring in their minds, the group instinctively reached behind them, and three guns were simultaneously pointed at Lin Yue.

"Dude, what's with the prosthetic body? Four guys, one gun, don't break the rules, okay?"

The tallest security guard, holding a gun, noticed that the weight of the gun seemed a bit off.

Lin Yue spread his hands, and four or five magazines fell to the ground with a clatter. The gun was also squeezed by Lin Yue's prosthetic hand and began to deform.

"Let them in."

A female voice sounded from behind Lin Yue.

The woman wearing a pale yellow turtleneck sweater had her hair shaved to one side, with the rest parted to one side. Time had left its mark on her face, but it had not taken away the beauty she should have had in her youth.

“I am Rogge. You two look unfamiliar… My people said that you came last time wearing Arasaka’s clothes. Sorry—these people don’t have very good memories.”

Roger reached out her hand, her gaze shifting from V to Lin Yue's face.

Lin Yue simply shook hands with this underground queen of the next life, "Rin."

Roger smiled and said to V, "It's rare to see such a beautiful girl like you around here. I wish you a happy life in the next life."

After speaking, the woman walked straight into the automatic door.

Lin Yue glanced down at the time and realized that he and V were still early.

The main reason was that they hadn't expected the hovercar to be so fast, so the two of them sat side by side at the bar in the afterlife.

With reddish-brown hair and wheat-colored skin, the female bartender exuded vitality, health, and strength. She leaned on the counter with a warm smile.

"I'm Claire, what would you two like to order?"

V asked doubtfully, "Last time it didn't seem like...it wasn't you?"

Claire shrugged. "Maybe it's a vacation...maybe it's me speeding?"

"Speeding?"

V exclaimed, "Wow! I couldn't tell!"

Claire took it as a compliment. "I can modify them myself, and I'm pretty good at it. But this isn't the place to talk about cars, honey. The drinks menu has a lot of cocktails; there's bound to be one that suits you, a special treat for the next life."

V looked at the drink menu and, apart from the mainstream drinks found in various nightclubs in Night City, most of the cocktails seemed to be named after people.

This woman in Arasaka Tower, who was so focused on her work, seemed to have no idea about the afterlife. "Uh... so do you have a lot of bartenders?"

Claire paused for a moment, then covered her mouth and burst into laughter.

"I swear, you are the cutest girl I have ever met."

V looked bewildered, glancing at Lin Yue beside her, who also had a faint smile on his lips, then at Claire—

Damn it, I've been tricked!

"The wine list for the next life is custom-made; these are all wines from certain celebrities who died in Night City."

Lin Yue explained slowly.

Claire held up a finger. "Looks like an expert. This gentleman is talking about the legends of Night City."

"And the wine list accepts new wines—guests can provide their own recipes, and who knows, your name might be on the wine list next time!"

V: "What do you mean? I can have my own formula? What... are the conditions required?"

Claire: "Tell me the recipe you want, and then die in a fancy way, preferably a spectacular one."

V fell silent instantly.

She is a senior agent of the company, but that doesn't mean she doesn't value her life.

"Uh, never mind—I'll recommend a lesser-known wine for me to try."

Claire flipped to the back of the wine list. "Johnny Silverhand, a unique flavor, not many people order it."

V glanced at the recipe. "A bunch of bitters, tequila, and chili on the rim of the glass. What kind of idiotic recipe is this?"

Lin Yue helplessly reminded him, "Be polite..."

However…V’s description is quite accurate.

Claire smiled. "Want a drink? Not many people order this anymore; most are fans of rock and roll."

V eventually switched to a more palatable cocktail, Baileys, which is available in every city.

Lin Yue's finger finally moved to a line of obviously new text.

What is this "Uncontrollable" product?

Claire glanced at it. "Oh, this isn't from the Legendary series. It's just an interesting rumor from the next life. Since there were a lot of votes, I tried making it. Hmm... it tastes pretty good."

rumor?

Lin Yue and V exchanged a glance.

"It's what Stanley, that fast talker, said on the show: there are demons from hell that have gone out of control in Dogtown and have been released from the cyber world. The hackers at the bar really liked the idea, so they added it in. The style is a bit like Black Judge, it's pretty good."

"..."

V quickly masked her surprise.

"Then let's get him a drink."

Claire chuckled, "This liquor is very strong; not many people can handle it. Let's see how this gentleman fares."

V's expression was calm, and his tone was surprisingly confident.

"Don't worry, he can control himself, trust me."

……

　After resolving the initial issues at the company, some foreshadowing elements were planted regarding the 2077 main storyline, the Edge Walkers, and characters related to Shadows of the Past. I've noticed a lot of requests for updates lately, thank you all for your support.

　　Actually, my update frequency isn't low; many part-time and even full-time authors on Qidian don't update as frequently as I do, I can guarantee that. It's just that the recent heatwave has forced me to be on duty for my main job, which is severely impacting my performance. Think about it, I get off work at 7 PM, and then I'm writing until 11 PM. This author is squeezing in every spare moment to write! Please, everyone, take some time to catch up before you accuse me of being lazy (seriously, take some time to catch up!). I've tried my best 5555
　　
　
(End of this chapter)