Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 151 Entering the Game (Part Two)

Lin Yue, who was assigning the tasks, was not at ease.

Because he still remembered what happened with Rebecca—

If Sunrise's father is involved in military technology, then this lone wolf equipped with an advanced operating system might appear at an inopportune time for his daughter's sake, since Lin Yue can only fight back by relying on the computing power of the roving AI.

It's impossible for military technology to operate without spies in Arasaka. It's just that the events involving Yoriyuki and Dogtown prevented him and V from carrying out the purge, so they could only temporarily push forward with this work.

To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, Lin Yue still informed V about the risks associated with Rebecca, and V responded quickly.
This is also why Lin Yue specifically instructed the Mann team to be prepared for the appearance of armed forces from other companies.

This job is destined to keep too many of Arasaka's people out of it.

"cough!"

Lin Yue had just lit a cigarette when he was suddenly choked by it.

Sasha, who was standing to the side, kept her eyes fixed on Lin Yue's face the whole time. Of course, she also saw him wipe away the dark red stain on his lips... She immediately concealed the sadness and worry in her eyes.

The girl blinked, then reached out a finger from behind her back and beckoned.

"Mr. Rin, could you please bend down?"

Lin Yue, with a cigarette butt in his mouth, was still groping around for something to wipe the sticky bloodstains off his hands.

He frowned slightly upon hearing Sasha's greeting, but still bowed gently, assuming Sasha was going to offer some advice regarding today's mission.

Unexpectedly, the girl's hand pinched the cigarette butt from Lin Yue's lips and took it out. With a gentle flick of her wrist, the sparks from the cigarette butt flew off and disappeared into the mist of Night City with the wind blowing through the high-rise buildings.

Sasha rubbed the blood from the corner of Lin Yue's mouth with her fingertips. "Recently... you've been working on those things in your head again?"

Lin Yue shrugged, feigning ignorance. "Maybe... I don't quite remember."

I wonder what this teenage hacker will feel when she sees Rebecca in the Arasaka Tower after her mission is over.

Sometimes, the more Lin Yue tried to push away, the harder it became.

The wheel of fate will turn, causing those who should no longer have any entanglement to become, imperceptibly, increasingly connected to oneself…

Sasha shook her head.

She didn't know where this man got his confidence from, but her intuition told this clever hacker that Lin Yue seemed to have already planned how to resolve the situation.

Many times she had seen a kind of helplessness in the eyes of this powerful man.

She had seen that feeling in her sister's eyes before—the feeling of knowing something terrible was going to happen, but it still came true.

Lin Yue seemed to know everything.

"The body is a machine. It may seem to be working properly, but sometimes it can collapse in an instant... You can no longer use these things."

Sasha was certainly not as assertive as Miss V; she didn't know how to dissuade her and could only cautiously probe.

Lin Yue was silent for a while. He remembered the physical attribute points and special skill points that Rebecca had given him that day because of her favorability. If his physical points reached 20 one day, would he be able to resist the erosion of the Black Wall?
But he immediately denied it.

Based on my guess, it shouldn't work.

Even someone as powerful as V, whose attributes have reached their peak, will be helpless if something goes wrong in his mind. He can only rely on the intervention of giant corporations to restore him.

In fact, Lin Yue didn't understand why Arasaka couldn't complete the task of stripping Johnny Silver Hand's memories from V—it gave him a strange and manipulated feeling, since the Relic series was developed by Arasaka, and the various technical methods should be more mature.

"Today's matter is very important, and we must use it if necessary."

Lin Yue patted Sasha on the shoulder, then turned and walked straight onto the hovercar.

If I didn't rely on the power of the Black Wall, what kind of combat strength would I have now?

Uploading a simple, quick crack, combined with your own reflexes and a range of special talents, should still be powerful.

Sasha silently chewed her bubble gum, blew a small pink bubble, slung her small crossbody bag over her shoulder, and followed after them, saying in a deliberately casual tone, "I'm not bad either, and besides, I also have... um, Miss V's friend, that mercenary you said was very powerful, right?"

Lin Yue twisted his wrist and slung the knife behind his back.

"Yes, a guy with very few prosthetics but great strength."

Sasha also became interested, "Is that Jack Wells that amazing?"

The two figures, one tall and one short, left the rooftop of the building.

Lin Yue's voice was barely audible in the wind, "A young lone wolf, he's quite—"

"Big man?"

……

A P126 truck with its driver's side window shattered emerged shakily from the tunnel.

The cobbled-together vehicle, whose engine might not even last a few more years, emitted a feeble roar as it drove down into an abandoned riverbed.

Old Man Sunrise cursed a few times before opening the car door, his tall frame almost curled up inside the "economical" vehicle.

"Arasaka Dog".

After getting out of the car, Sunrise Old Man wrapped his coat tighter around himself, still indignant about the loss of his modified car. He shivered and swaggered toward Meredith, who was standing next to a military technology vehicle in the distance.

Meredes raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised that the Lone Wolf, a member of the Military Technology team with exceptional combat skills, would meet with him in this way.

"Didn't you say you had something to do in Night City? How come... you've already made progress so quickly?"

Old Man Sunrise didn't waste any words, "I've found the person you asked me to find."

Sunrise was just a lucky break; he originally wanted to solve his own child's problem first, but unexpectedly, luck led him to encounter this guy.

Meredes paused for a moment.

Because she was already mentally prepared to wait a long time.

Military Technology suffered huge losses in Dogtown and Night City's Watson District. The mastermind behind it seems to be under tight protection, and none of the Military Technology spies planted in Arasaka were able to obtain any information about this person.

Seeing that the woman didn't react, Sunrise simply threw the image recorded in his prosthetic eye directly to Meredith.

After watching it, Meredes lit a cigarette and paced back and forth.

Sunrise Old Man said, "This guy is Rin, the one you guys have been chasing for so long. Does that placard on his face look familiar in the second half? It's from that cybernetic body in New America, right? Let me make it clear, this idiot isn't going to die right now—"

Meredes was about to ask why when Sunrise silenced her with a look.

"This guy's prosthetic body is very strange... there's no way to get close enough to kill him."

Sunrise never uttered the words "Black Wall" because if things escalated to the point of the Black Wall, finding Rebecca would become extremely difficult.

The only solution he could think of right now was for the company to provide some more support, giving him some time to find Rebecca's whereabouts—but it wasn't urgent at the moment, judging from the behavior of that Arasaka company scoundrel, Rebecca wasn't in immediate danger...

As for his daughter, it's highly likely that she's been brainwashed by Arasaka, or that Arasaka is doing something shady.

Meredes nodded, his hands trembling slightly.

"Damn... I need to think about it."

Sunrise clicked his tongue. "Think about it? Tell your superiors to get more company personnel involved."

He wanted to see if this woman could figure something out.

Sure enough, Meredes stared intently at the sunrise, a look that sent chills down his spine.

Meredes crossed his arms and muttered, "No... this task will definitely be assigned to that idiot."

Which?

Sunrise frowned, then realized that it must be Meredith's competitor.

When faced with a problem, his first instinct is to scheme and plot against this person or that person. He's thoroughly fed up with these idiots in the company.

If Rebecca weren't still in Arasaka's hands, and if this woman hadn't slept with his boss, Hinode wouldn't bother wasting his time here.

For Meredith, the position of Senior Operations Manager in Military Technology was something she had long coveted, so she had to find a way to claim the credit.

She couldn't immediately come up with a good solution after thinking it over. However, since Sunrise had arranged to meet with her first, it was probably because of the money.

As for the other reason, the clever Meredes probably thought of it—

"Judging from the operation, you seem to want the girl in that Arasaka woman's hands. Who is she...?"

Sunrise said irritably, "My daughter... I used to have a family, a son and a daughter, both in Night City. Do you need me to provide information you don't have permission to access? ...As for holding back, who the hell knew my daughter was being controlled by Arasaka's people? If I had run any slower, I would have been sandwiched between two high-level lone wolves!"

Meredes looked embarrassed, but she also sensed a hint of opportunism.

Sunrise appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, he was wondering what kind of scheme the woman in the company was plotting.

Meredith: "Where is your daughter now..."

Sunrise uttered three words: "Arakasa Tower".

hiss…

Meredes then said with a determined look in his eyes, "Give me half an hour."

Sunrise slowly leaned against the car. "Hmm, tell me your thoughts, ma'am."

Meredith took a deep breath. "Let our pawn in Arasaka use their privileges to investigate your daughter, that woman in the company. Top-secret information definitely won't be available... because none of the people we've infiltrated have ever received red-level access—"

"But as long as we investigate thoroughly, we'll at least know what they're doing. Don't worry... I'll have my people bring your daughter out, it'll just come at a higher price."

"Trust me, there will always be a way."

……
-
A street corner in the city of night.

He glanced down at the sign at the entrance of the All Foods factory; a man and a woman were standing next to the shipping containers in the yard.

"How about it? The girl said that you can't get a car without a job in the city, so... she gave me the car she bought when she was training at the company."

Jack loves motorcycles, but gangsters are generally concerned about saving face. For example, whenever he goes on a date with Misty, Jack always tries to borrow a motorcycle from a friend or someone, because it would be too embarrassing if it started raining while they were walking down the street.

Lin Yue actually stood at the entrance of the All Foods factory in a daze for a long time.

It's the strange feeling of familiar scenes from memory being projected onto reality.

Lin Yue was stunned when he saw Jack standing next to the car kicking the tires of the Sky Hera.

He walked to the car, touched the hood, and looked down at the side of the wheel rim where there were knife marks... It was the car Lin Yue drove in Dogtown.

It seems V towed the car back from Dogtown and did some thorough repairs.

I didn't realize V was so nostalgic.

"Hmm...it's a nice car."

Jack chuckled, "I knew you knew your stuff."

Lin Yue looked at Jack, "You mean V will pay you?"

Jack nodded, "Hmm... The prices are all agreed upon in the market. Running odd jobs through middlemen earns a few thousand euros, at most ten thousand euros. The girl pays more; last time she gave me over a hundred thousand euros."

Only a little over 100,000?
Lin Yue knew it was about the matter V had asked Jack to find him last time.

Jack looked rather grim. "I was spending money a bit too fast. My cousin is trying to quit drugs... He kept saying he needed to find a good institution, and his mom kept begging him, so I just lent her the money."

Lin Yue didn't care about that; he didn't feel happy at all.

After all, he was already used to paying his team high salaries; he had already paid over 10,000 euros for his first job in Dogtown.

However, upon closer reflection, V's pricing is reasonable. When he calculated the commission for Mann's team, it was based on thirty years' worth of living expenses. Because the goal was to sever ties and protect them, these people would be disposed of by Lin Yue using Arasaka's authority in the future.
This means that Mann and his crew will never appear in Night City, or even North America—which translates to 100,000 euros a year, possibly less than what Jack earns.

The best course of action would have been to discard the group that took action, but Lin Yue wouldn't do that. V... wanted to, but couldn't bypass Lin Yue's authority.

She trusted Jack, and Lin Yue trusted Mann and the others.

"This lovely lady... is she the hacker you were talking about?"

Jack then noticed Sasha sitting on a container in the distance, holding a laptop, and she was currently accessing all the nearby subnets.

The pink light on Sasha's holographic glasses disappeared, and she waved her hand while wearing the Arasaka Cooling Suit and a coat.

Lin Yue said, "The company's hackers are very skilled, don't worry... But speaking of which, why did we have to meet here, Jack?"

Jack, hands on his hips, gave me a look that said, "You don't understand the ways of the world." "The subsidiary of Respectable Logistics is less than five kilometers from here. In other places, there might be security company informants, but here... there's just a bunch of fucking lunatics."

"The whole food factory...everyone in Night City knows it's the territory of those idiots from the Vortex Gang. They're very xenophobic, and the company doesn't like to hang around here."

Lin Yue nodded. "Hmm, did Quan Foods hire a bunch of 'amateur security guards'?"

Jack scoffed, “Fully automated production line. These maggots are always thinking about replacing their bladders with all-metal ones, who knows what they’re doing in there—but these guys are pretty good hackers. I’ve heard from people in the industry that if they can’t crack any software or products, they can take them to the Whole Foods factory and have them hacked, and they’re guaranteed to be unblocked.”

"But the premise is that you have to come out alive. The Vortex Gang... loves to double-cross each other, I know that all too well."

Hearing these blunt words, Lin Yue felt it was expected; Jack's dislike of these metal fanatics was consistent with his impression.

However, it's actually quite good to avoid dealing with the Whirlpool Gang.

Lin Yue had fought with these bastards in Dogtown. These people had extremely high nerve tolerance due to long-term use of drugs and stimulants. Sometimes they would get up and continue to fight even if they had a hole in their body. Cyberpsychosis was the most common in this gang.

As they spoke, Jack located a nearby water tower. The three of them climbed up the tower and quietly looked at the dozen or so company-painted transport trucks parked in a relatively flat courtyard in the distance.

"After the car started moving...where did your people take action?"

Lin Yue glanced at the time. "Anywhere before entering Dog Town."

Jack paused for a moment, then Sasha smiled and held the computer up to the big man. “I just hacked into the transportation company’s database using the backdoor in the power system and found this route map. I’ve already sent it to Mr. Rin’s team… I’ve also copied the backup map and the internal security configuration.”

Lin Yue: "Take a look, Jack. If you have anything to add, please say so."

Jack took the computer and looked at Sasha. Having helped V with things before, he naturally had some experience and didn't react much—after all, the better Sasha's abilities were, the more at ease he, as a thoughtful lone wolf, would feel.

It's worth noting that V immediately sought out this big guy as soon as he received the mission to kill Abernathy from Jenkins. The way Jack talked about things like "only cash... a full crew, a hacker with a super brain, and a racer who dares to race in hell" is enough to show how much Jack did for V.

However, after V left Arasaka, Jack was still willing to accompany his friends, starting from the worst jobs on the streets and gradually building up his credit with Wakako, which shows that he was a very ambitious street kid.

After reviewing the route map, Jack confirmed the plan after the security team was lured away by Lin Yue's squad.

"V said...you're very strong?"

Before Lin Yue could speak, Sasha, head down, typed on the keyboard and answered for him, "They are very strong, but there was a prior agreement—"

“Some prosthetics have too much of an impact on his body, so I will supervise him to prevent him from using them.”

When did I agree to Sasha's request?

Jack sighed, leaned on the railing, and gazed at the distant target, muttering, "Just don't let me look like a handyman, otherwise I won't feel secure taking the money."

Odd jobs?

Lin Yue didn't see this as just doing odd jobs; V was a great help to him, providing a reliable lone wolf in case of any emergencies.

A guy with only an EMP thread prosthetic body dared to grope Lai Xuan's things in the Azure Building while following V, and even fought his way out—

After all, there are no unknowns on a legendary wine list.

……

　[Senior Operations Manager]: A military technology rank. In the 2077 main storyline mission "Fame," Meredith's identity is listed as Senior Operations Manager in the materials Dexter DeShawn shows V, roughly equivalent to V's status as an agent.

　　[Cousin Quitting Drugs]: Jack mentioned it briefly in the prologue of 2077 Corporation, so this is a tribute to the prologue.

　　[EMP Thread]: Although not scientifically proven, many believe that 2077 can act as a Faraday cage, providing protection against electromagnetic interference from implanted network software and radiation. Most people wear it as a fashion statement. It can be understood as prosthetic patterns, but it's largely useless.

　　[Combat Power Issues]: There are many scripted deaths in the game 2077, making combat power somewhat confusing, such as the role of Jack. I don't know if he has attribute values ​​in the board game, so I've listed him here as a stronger lone wolf than Mann (without the long-range equipment).

　　This chapter is incomplete. My plan was to write 10,000 words to finish the battle story, but my workplace called me in to work overtime today to prepare data. So, this is the most I can write after I got back at 9 PM. Please bear with it; I tried my best…

　　I'm so sleepy, goodnight.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)