Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 165 Puppetry and Black Wall Technology (22) (1 words)

Are you still afraid of losing your current status...?

V, who once saw no end in sight for promotion, believed that as long as the company moved up one more level, her position would be more secure.

But judging from the current situation, that's not actually the case.

Arasaka's tolerance for insubordination far exceeded the imagination of this loyal agent. A supervisor openly executing the Special Operations Director in front of the board of directors and the heads of the three major factions at the Japanese headquarters was something V would never have dared to imagine before.

"Leaving the company would only have added fuel to the fire and hastened my demise."

V is not good at company decision-making.

Lin Yue clearly saw V's current helplessness and slowly said to V, "Do you remember what I said to you on the phone with you in Watson before? Everyone in Arasaka Tower knows that you and I are Lai Xuan's people, but that doesn't mean we can rest easy. Nitta's behavior today..."

V tilted her head slightly. She had developed a kind of dependence on Rin, who could always tell her the current situation whenever she was at a loss.

Lin Yue: "Representative Michiko was completely protected by Saburo. Saburo kept her in the East and West of New America. Nothing changed. It's just that in this round, Lai Xuanhe and we won."

V countered, "Did you have some premonition after this was over? I always felt you saw things very clearly... Maybe I'm overthinking it."

Upon hearing this question, Lin Yue was somewhat at a loss for words.

Based on the timeline, Lai Xuan might suddenly arrive at Gonbi with a Relic chip a few months from now. He has no idea how things will develop.

"I wouldn't call it a premonition, but I feel that Lai Xuan might be hampered. There are people in Night City who support Lai Xuan, and Mr. Xu is one of them... With so many branches around the world, it's difficult for Lai Xuan to keep an eye on things all the time, you understand."

V's smile was somewhat tired. "Hmm... I can tell what you're thinking."

"But what about the network expert who's still lying in bed with Old Wei? He hasn't woken up yet. Should we transfer him to another state to check on him?"

Lin Yue shook his head.

"Arasaka is using me as a weapon right now, and having another Sasha... will only deepen her dependence on the company. Arasaka's research in this area is very limited, so it won't change anything. Besides, the technical specifications, materials, and prosthetic body structure of Honshu have all been given to Old Wei—"

"It should be manageable."

Lin Yue's tone became somewhat hesitant towards the end.

V immediately understood what Lin Yue was planning.

"You don't want Arasaka to control the back door of her prosthetic body, do you? Was it the time with Kon-bi? Or do you want to cultivate a private nuclear weapon?"

Lin Yue acknowledged the first two questions.

But the last one was not what he had expected.

The company's profit-maximizing mindset led V to make one of the most inhumane choices.

In fact, if Sasha's prosthetic body is compatible with Lin Yue's, her strength will definitely increase exponentially. If Lin Yue has a way to control Sasha, then he won't have to do some of the fighting himself...

As long as I don't use the black wall, I can hold out for a longer period of time, which will greatly help prolong my life.

V saw through it but didn't say anything. "You're such a hassle now that you've regained your humanity... Don't you value your own life anymore?"

Feeling a bit irritated, Lin Yue fumbled in his suit pocket, sighed, and lit a cigarette since he had no lighter.

He wanted to go to the office to retrieve the aluminum lighter he had brought with him from Dogtown.

Just as he was about to tell V to stay and wait for Rebecca to come out—

pat.

A flame flickered in front of Lin Yue.

Lin Yue asked, somewhat puzzled, "When...?"

A beautiful smile graced the face behind the flame. "What, you're afraid to smoke the one I lit?"

Lin Yue paused for a moment, then lowered his head and leaned closer.

V shook the lighter in his hand, and the flame went out.

"A little trinket I bought in Jakarta."

Her fingers hooked open the breast pocket of Lin Yue's suit jacket, her lowered eyes revealing a faint, dark golden light in her pupils. The heavy texture slid inside, and she patted Lin Yue's chest.

"Here you go, remember to smoke less... You can stay here and keep an eye on things, I need to go to the office to review some project documents."

"Adam's cargo ship is carrying a prototype of a prosthetic body. It requires my authorization, and we're preparing to deploy it later."

Lin Yue fanned away the smoke in front of him, "The prototype of the prosthetic body?"

V nodded, "[King Kong type]...it seems to also have a small gravity field. Guess who the 'quality inspector' is?"

Lin Yue remained silent for a moment.

"A heavy hammer, perhaps?"

V glanced at Lin Yue, his smile enigmatic.

"You're really smart... If you're still in good health, this job will probably be yours. I heard that the experimental data of this prosthetic body is very promising in Honshu, and they're planning to equip it on a large scale in the Arasaka security forces."

No way.

Almost instantly, Lin Yue had already sentenced this prosthetic body to death.

In fact, even someone as human as David Martinez needed cans of inhibitors to suppress his cyberbullying; the high level of neurological strain is the biggest flaw in this product design.

Who will wear this full-body prosthetic body in this lifetime?

Lin Yue had no answer; preoccupied with his own problems, he immediately left.

Looking back now, I realize that many of my unintentional choices led to changes in many things: the entire Mann squad survived, David is studying hard, and Sasha survived the machinations of biotechnology...

But some things are still going on according to their original trajectory.

V walked past Lin Yue, leaving a lingering fragrance in his wake—

Lin Yue suddenly said, "V".

The woman turned around. "What's wrong?"

The guy, who seemed to always be able to predict how things would go, asked, "What level is Project Cloud Sea?"

V glanced around at the security personnel. "This is very important. Everyone's risking their lives to guarantee this... What's wrong? You're acting a little strange."

Lin Yue stubbed out his cigarette. "Thank you for helping me with the Dog Town matter. As for Yunhai, please keep an eye on it."

That's all he had to say. He didn't know the full details of the Frankfurt leak, so he could only offer V a heads-up.

However, given V's personality, she is more meticulous than Jenkins. In this life, she has become the head of the counterintelligence department, and with her high level of control, she may be able to prevent things from getting out of control.

V nodded.

She didn't want to hear the other person's thanks and immediately turned and left.

Lin Yue watched her disappear at the end of the corridor in silence, and Pila suddenly appeared from the side.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

Pila glanced at Lin Yue. "That girl's angry, didn't you realize?"

Lin Yue found this guy somewhat amusing. "Have you decided where to go? The trauma team said Mann is doing alright now. You should leave Night City after today."

Pila paused for a moment.

He always felt that the guy in front of him, who was wearing the skin of a former team member named "Lin Yue," was a stranger.

Pila then waved his hand, "I know Military Science hates you to the core, and you didn't just steal this company for nothing, did you? It's probably related to that wretched place, Dogtown—don't look at me like that, anyway, I'm going to the European Community, Germany, I guess."

Lin Yue: "You should be worried about whether you'll face retaliation from the military science department. But have you asked Rebecca for her opinion?"

Pila picked at his teeth with his long fingers. "Do I need to ask? I'll definitely be the one leading my little sister! It's just a pity that if she were in the team doing this job, she could have earned another three million euros... and I could spend that on her, hehe, that would be fantastic."

Lin Yue frowned.

The Pilabi sunrise seems rather unreliable.

"Your father is being sent back to the military academy. Aren't you going to say something to him?"

Pila slammed against the railing in the corridor, causing a jolt. "When my deadbeat dad left, I still remembered a lot of things. Rebecca was too young then, so she probably forgot a lot of things—she probably didn't have anything to say. I know my sister's temper."

“I still remember when those debt collectors dragged Rebecca out of her house. All she did was cry. I was the one who helped her get by in Night City… So Rebecca won’t go with him, definitely not.”

That sounds so unconvincing.

Lin Yue could only offer a word of comfort: "You're overthinking it. Your father is probably going to be purged by the military science department, which is why they let you in to talk to him."

Liquidation?

Pila didn't react for a moment. He gestured with his hand on his neck, as if asking, "Really?"
Lin Yue nodded.

To everyone's surprise, Pila suddenly burst into laughter, "It's good that he's dead! He never even existed. It's a relief that he's dead!"

This guy seemed to have been opened up, and his actions became unrestrained. He put his arm around Lin Yue's shoulder as he spoke.

This action immediately drew hostile looks from the surrounding security personnel.

In an instant, Pila felt an invisible wall separating the two of them. The young man who used to sit at the table, diligently assembling parts and who was occasionally scolded by her for being stupid, seemed to have disappeared.

Standing before him now is:
Rin, head of the security department at Arasaka Tower in Night City.

Lin Yue waved his hand, and the security guards stepped back. Pila seemed to want to get through this slightly awkward moment, and her hand remained stubbornly on Lin Yue's shoulder.

"You don't know, we spent a long time picking up trash in Night City before we went to find Wakako."

"That woman offered a pretty good salary, especially for two clueless kids... but you know, it was only enough for a meal or something."

Lin Yue is a good listener. He knows that Pila is just using various memories to numb herself. He and his sister have no family.

Pila mimicked Wakako's tone in a strange manner, "Those who come here are all respectable mercenaries. Let me make this clear: if you mess things up, you won't get a single penny."

"屮!"

"Screw it, I was like a stay-at-home dad back then. One time I took Rebecca to a restaurant to do business... the deal was done and we had to go to Wakako's place to deliver the goods, and this girl actually shot a female employee who was being harassed by members of the Animal Gang!"

"When she was fighting with the other side, she was distracted by a dog!"

"The most outrageous thing was a few years ago... Back then, the two of us went to deal with a company dog... uh, no, an idiot. Rebecca finally had a chance, just one shot away, but this moron was completely fooled by that guy... and actually let him get away!"

"..."

Every sentence seems to be a complaint about Rebecca, but in reality, every sentence tells the story of how difficult it is for the two children to grow up.

Pira seemed tired of talking. "I heard from some idiot in Santo Domingo that he was wandering the streets when a woman came up to him asking for a cigarette—anyone with common sense knows what that means! Guess what? That was his mother, his own mother!"

"So the death of that idiot inside has nothing to do with me, Rebecca... can't die."

The last three words were spoken with a hint of seriousness in Pila's tone.

Lin Yue knew that Rebecca had an extremely strong sense of empathy, which was extremely dangerous for Night City.

It seems I made the right choice; it's time to let them leave.

"Alright, a happy life awaits you ahead... I'll go to the afterlife this afternoon to settle the money in person."

Pila suddenly asked, "And what about you?"

The simple question left Lin Yue speechless for a moment.

Will you be happy in your life? Is the company... really as good as they say?

Lin Yue pursed his lips; he couldn't answer that question.

He had to rack his brains every day to avoid making mistakes and to survive.

Yes, if you help others, who will help you?

At this moment, Pila subconsciously looked at Lin Yue's leg, because V had mentioned Lin Yue's poor condition when he rescued him on the overpass.

Seeing that Lin Yue didn't answer, Pila patted Lin Yue on the shoulder, "You're the best in Dogtown. I've been around for over ten years and I can't even afford a car, but you have a hovercar... You're so lucky. I asked you too many questions."

There are some things Pila can't say.

So he changed the subject, saying, "Sigh, I wonder what my little sister and that idiot are talking about. I hope nothing bad happens."

Lin Yue shook his head, "The whole department is watching, don't worry."

……
-
Night City, Watson District, Little Chinatown.

In the basement filled with the beeping of medical instruments, Victor operated the computer screen while observing the slender body lying face down on the hospital bed, with obvious signs of prosthetic modifications on its back.

The woman who received the prosthetic body transplant was Sasha Yakovlevva.

At this moment, behind her neck is a black network access bay, which is now in the final testing phase.

Old Vie stared at his masterpiece with satisfaction. "I hope this helps you."

As a professionally trained prosthetic surgeon, Vee's understanding and skills have become increasingly refined with the assembly of this new material prosthetic body...

During the long surgery, Sasha even experienced a brief cardiac arrest. Old Wei calmly modified some components of the prosthetic body and retested them, which saved Sasha's head from the high-speed flow of the prosthetic.

Old Wei is now waiting for her to wake up.

According to the theoretical process, everything should be fine.

Time passes.

Sitting on the swivel stool, Old Wei would occasionally stand up, occasionally turn on the instrument switches, and occasionally check the status of the clinic's subnet...

Clearly, Sasha's complicated situation has once again presented Old Vi with a difficult problem.

He clasped his hands together, made fists, pressed them to his lips, and let out a sigh.

"Where did the problem lie?"

Old Wei is now finding it difficult to assess Sasha's condition. Her brain activity is several times higher than that of a normal person. If you don't look at her closed eyes and only look at the instruments, she appears to be a healthy person.

"Misty?!"

Old Wei shouted.

The door opened, and standing outside was Rin's loyal bodyguard, Suzuki. "Mr. Victor, you can call me if you need anything."

It must be said that Suzuki has great respect for this doctor. Perhaps it's because of Rin's influence, but now, besides guarding the basement, he often helps Old Vi.

"After so many days of intense work, you need to rest."

Suzuki reached out and adjusted Sasha's arm for Old Vi. Looking at the tired prosthetic doctor, Suzuki was momentarily at a loss.

Old Wei waved his hand, "I think I've done my best. The current situation is beyond my expectations. I roughly know Rin's plan... He wants this child to receive treatment here to avoid the technology related to Arasaka's cybernetic backdoor being locked."

"Look, there are technical blueprints from Arasaka Laboratory, an inexhaustible supply of prosthetic materials, and many, many prototypes... But the problem is that this seemingly pieced-together approach, temporarily turning the dilapidated house of consciousness into a shelter from the wind and rain... has too many uncertainties."

Suzuki's mind worked very quickly.

He asked in heavily accented Japanese-accented English, "You mean... luck is hard to replicate?"

Old Wei nodded helplessly.

"I don't know how Arasaka woke Rin up, but it seems we can only notify Rin and send her to Arasaka's medical facility for treatment."

Suzuki frowned, but still said in a comforting tone, "Doctor, you should go and rest first. I'll keep an eye on things and have Lady Rin come over to handle it."

Old Wei thought for a moment, then got up and instructed Suzuki to keep an eye on the records in the Arasaka software.

Although this prosthetic doctor wasn't a cyber expert, he understood that the girl's problem was the same as Rin's. The prosthetic replacement operation had to be completed under the protection of the Arasaka software, otherwise her online friends would cause a lot of trouble.

Before leaving, Old Wei took another look at the girl who looked like an abandoned kitten.

The door closed, and Suzuki leaned quietly against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Boss... Miss Sasha still shows no signs of waking up. The doctors say there's no problem with her prosthetic body. Should we initiate the protocol to send her to the main state?"

"Yes Yes."

"I'll be waiting for you here."

The light in Suzuki's eyes faded, and he obediently faced the data panel that Old Wei had mentioned, carefully observing it.

With his exceptional professionalism, he would diligently and meticulously carry out any task that benefited his boss.

At this moment, there seemed to be no other extra sounds in the quiet room.

However, Suzuki, with his back to Sasha, did not notice.

The girl on the hospital bed was slowly sitting up, her neck turning mechanically, her half-closed eyes gleaming with a blood-red light.

……

After hanging up the Suzuki phone

Lin Yue drove his car, carrying two team members, from the company square all the way towards the old Uyghur Medical Clinic.

This time, Rebecca, sitting in the passenger seat next to the thugs, felt none of the excitement she had felt before.

The naive girl thought this was a way to send them away from Night City.

So, she glanced at Lin Yue several times along the way with a hesitant expression.

Pila, sitting in the cramped back seat, looked at her younger sister's worthless appearance and scoffed.

Finally, Rebecca couldn't take it anymore. "Do you still stand by what you said last time?"

Lin Yue was still thinking about how to solve Sasha's trouble while driving when Rebecca's seemingly random question left him at a loss for words.

Rebecca's face flushed red; the other person's bewildered expression made her furious.

"Weren't you encouraging us to be good mercenaries before? Why are you sending us away now..."

Lin Yue looked at this guy, who couldn't even organize his thoughts properly, with amusement.

"No, I'm introducing you to an old acquaintance." An old acquaintance?
She leaned closer to Lin Yue suspiciously, "So you're not going to see us off?"

Lin Yue nodded.

Her excitement returned, but Lin Yue's next words plunged her heart back into despair.

"Someone will escort you away around tomorrow."

Rebecca's words caught in her throat, but Pila in the back seat burst out laughing. "There are plenty of people in the company who are better than you. This kid has been wanting to kick us bunch of burdens out of the company for a long time."

The older brother's sarcastic tone made Rebecca raise her voice many times over.

"Go to hell, bastard!"

Lin Yue felt a familiar tremor in his eardrums.

Well, it still smells familiar.

The angry girl asked again, unwilling to give up, "You have a new squad in Night City? Why did you make us leave?"

Lin Yue could only patiently explain to Rebecca again, "The military's retaliatory actions have been underway for some time now. Even when the wanderers steal their goods, they launch retaliatory military operations with great fanfare. Besides, you know my whereabouts, and staying in Night City will inevitably lead to endless trouble."

Rebecca was instantly rendered helpless by Lin Yue's combination of punches.

She was well aware that this job had caused a lot of trouble, and the Military Science Bureau seemed to be trying to get rid of Lin Yue. To this day, these people still believed that Lin Yue had some damned list on him, so knowing Lin's true identity naturally made them the breakthrough point...

These are all things V told Rebecca.

What else can she do? Fighting and killing are not as good as being a big shot in the next life. Rebecca also finds it hard to adapt to the company's system. She even wanted to help Lin Yue in the company's struggles but failed. Instead, she almost got taken away by the military science department.

They had walked together from Dogtown, and the scenes of fighting side by side were still vivid in her mind, but now she seemed to no longer be able to see the backs of the young men from Dogtown.

Lin Yue could only change the subject by saying, "Arasaka and IEC have a pretty good relationship, so going to Germany will be less troublesome. Night City is the worst place in the world... there's nothing to miss."

It was better before the so-called "humanity" returned.

At least back then, we didn't have so many thoughts, and we didn't feel embarrassed; we only considered our interests.

One aspect of what makes us human is the complexity of our emotions.

Pila clicked her tongue and said with displeasure, "Rebecca is bad at talking, you're bullying her."

“My brother and I can’t do anything except handle guns. I do have some skills, but I don’t know what to do in Germany… To be honest, I’d rather stay in this crappy place, make lots of money, go racing, the NCPD is inefficient, and do whatever I want.”

Seeing her brother back her up, Rebecca suddenly had the strength to retort, "We don't want your money, we'll take responsibility for our lives, and we'll stay in Night City! If the military science department causes us any trouble, we'll just shoot ourselves!"

ha?
Pila stretched his neck out very long.

When did I agree with that statement?

Lin Yue sighed softly. The city's splendor was beyond imagination, but its dark side was also unacceptable to normal people.

Freedom often brings chaos, and the city of dreams comes at a price.

In Lin Yue's view, the rest of the world maintained relative stability, but the city created by the Ye family, in the name of dreams, recklessly exuded the dark side of human nature...

Just then, the speed of the vehicles on the ring road gradually decreased due to some congestion.

Rebecca, who had been looking sullen, suddenly became interested when she saw what looked like an interview taking place on the sidewalk outside.

I don't know if they were filming an advertisement or something, but anyway, all the photographers' long lenses were pointed at that neo-kitsch idiot, who was currently giving a long-winded introduction about how much he loved the city...

The optical components and the man who looked similar to Pila were flamboyant in their mannerisms, shouting:

"Seriously, I fucking love Night City!"

"To be born is to be a person of the City of Night."

"Even in death, I'll be a ghost here..."

Rebecca was watching the interview program with great interest by her car window when a gunshot rang out, and the traffic began to become chaotic.

Lin Yue silently watched as the guy covered his head with his hands and squatted down slightly. Even at this critical moment, he didn't forget to continue recording the program. The madness of the world had exceeded his imagination.

The car window rolled up, and under Rebecca's disapproving gaze, Lin Yue's sports car sped onto the sidewalk and drove away from the shooting scene amidst the screams of fleeing civilians.

A flyer was lifted by the wind from the car, and it read:

Crystal Palace, a paradise for everyone!

It then fell into a sewer and was gradually submerged by the dark sewage…

……

There were no anomalies in the dense data. Although Suzuki was in good physical condition and had plenty of energy, everyone gets tired eventually.

So he twisted his neck, and the reflection of the surgical instruments in the light caught his attention.

It was just this subconscious observation of a detail that made his relaxed body slowly begin to straighten...

His sixth sense told him that the guy behind him was moving and was silently trying to get closer.

While subtly reaching for the pistol at his waist, he kept an eye on the other person's movements. Suzuki was still a little uneasy, because as someone who had been by his side outside the operating room the whole time, he knew very well that these prosthetics were the same model that his boss had been fitted with.

That was enough to allow Rin to fight her way out of the siege by the special forces of the Azure Building Company.

Sasha's eyes would occasionally flicker, and the electronic screen in front of Suzuki would blur with the brightness of her pupils.

At this moment, Sasha, whether still under the control of the wandering AI or not, touched the scalpel on the tray beside her, raised it high, and suddenly stabbed it into the man's back!
However, the seemingly oblivious senior agent suddenly turned around and executed a perfectly executed spinning kick, only managing to kick Sasha's palm. The scalpel flew off and embedded itself in the box containing the prosthetic body.

Suzuki raised his gun, attempting to point it at the man in front of him who was completely different from Miss Sasha; his eyes behind the crosshair were remarkably calm.

"who are you?"

Sasha tilted her head, and the sound of several people talking at the same time came out: "Your human reactions... are really boring."

Feeling extremely uneasy, Suzuki slowly backed away, while Sasha watched him move towards the door with a strange expression.

At this moment, she tilted her head back and murmured:

“A neural matrix anomaly detected; self-awareness is preventing the obedience circuit from gaining permission.”

Suzuki kept his aim firmly locked on her limbs, which affected her mobility. He didn't want to shoot her at this crucial moment, after all, he had heard from the big man named Jack who had come to the clinic earlier that Sasha was very aggressive and that Rin-sama had subdued her using some method.

Suzuki had thought Sasha would recover after receiving prosthetic treatment, but he never expected things to turn out this way.

Fearing the consequences, his first choice was to leave and notify the people in the clinic to evacuate.

Self-awareness... Could it be that Miss Sasha is struggling with something in her head?
Just as Suzuki was about to move to the side of the door, Sasha, with her head tilted back, locked her cold gaze on the agent. "Quick, Suzuki, I... I can't control it."

Suzuki knew that this was Miss Sasha warning him.

So he immediately pressed the button to open the door!
Sasha sneered, pointing her finger at that spot. An arc of electricity erupted from the automatic lock of the door. Through Suzuki's prosthetic eye, he saw a finger-thick red and black light rapidly pierce through the circuit components. That spot was like a black hole that devoured people's hearts, surrounded by floating new algorithm code...

Oh shit.

Suzuki raised his gun and fired!

In a life-threatening situation, he only knew that firing his gun was the only way to survive!
Sasha's body flashed in place, and Suzuki's gun barrel moved quickly. This excellent agent was able to keep up with Sasha's speed!

"Humans are so interesting. You don't even have that kind of trashy neuro-stimulating prosthetic, but you seem to have a lot of talent."

Suzuki blocked with his arm, then his fist collided with Sasha's delicate hand...

What kind of strength?
Suzuki scanned up and down with his prosthetic eye and found that all he could read about Sasha's prosthetic body was a bunch of question marks.

"Simple to operate, simple to follow, but boring."

The gunshots naturally attracted the attention of those outside the clinic, and there was a knocking sound at the door.

Sasha lowered her head slightly, slowly raising her hand from the side. The screens monitoring her condition flickered, then switched to the camera feed. The people who had made the noise at the door were Old Vi and Misty, standing anxiously and somewhat flusteredly in front of it.

Suzuki pursed his lips.

He knew the most dangerous thing wasn't Miss Sasha's speed and strength, but her hacking skills; he wasn't sure if he could hold out.

Lady Rin is surrounded by hacker monsters.

There is no doubt about this.

"Ah... such weak hardware, but I think what's here is enough for me to make use of..."

In an attempt to buy time, Suzuki asked, "Can you modify a prosthetic body yourself?"

Sasha smiled as she looked at the pile of prosthetics and materials provided by Arasaka. "Your technology is too backward. You try to take many basic theories from us and apply them to yourselves. Last time, a bunch of fools took the [Secret of Immortality] from our world—"

"The code inside their frail bodies is basically the same as yours; your organization is called Arasaka."

Suzuki felt he was probably going to die here. "What's the point of telling me all this? Immortality... what's that? You bastard, stop playing tricks on me!"

Sasha looked at her hands. "Immortality is a lie. Your so-called immortality is just us using your bodies. You are not you, you are us..."

"As for why I established communication with you, it's of course to learn how to integrate into your group... because I'm enriching my records, and this process requires sufficient samples... dealing with you is like dealing with useless code, and now we have enough samples."

Clearly, this passage was beyond the comprehension of the rough-around-the-edges Suzuki.

Two beams of red and black light appeared in Suzuki's eyes. He sprinted forward, but the massive data stream that should have been flowing through his head seemed to have malfunctioned—

The gun in Suzuki's hand fell to the ground, and with smoke and arcs of electricity emanating from his arm, he instantly pressed himself against Sasha's face, his hand gripping the back of her neck tightly!
"Go to hell, you bastard!"

Suzuki used all his strength to rip the unconnected cables off the outer shell of the network access compartment. Sasha's movements froze for a moment, and then Suzuki somehow found the anesthetic in his hand and injected it into her shoulder.

call!
Suzuki suddenly knelt on the ground, the malfunction of his prosthetic arm causing him immense nerve pain…

Bang!
The steel door quickly deformed and was kicked open. Lin Yue's face was grim as he stared at the mess in the operating room.

Suzuki recognized the two people following behind him; they were from the cyberpunk team, Rebecca and Pila…

"Boss, I..."

Suzuki felt terrible.

"Are you alright?" Lin Yue's eyes were full of worry. He helped Suzuki up, his eyes glowing slightly red as he removed the remaining black wall code from Suzuki's body.

Rebecca's eyes were only on the slightly frail girl lying on the ground.

"Sasha?!"

Old Vi and Misty placed Sasha on the hospital bed and hurriedly began to deal with the damage caused to her prosthetic body.

An overloaded network access chamber could very likely lead to brain and nerve-related problems... This could be considered a medical accident, since Old Wei was treated according to the Honshu procedures sent by Arasaka. In the eyes of the responsible doctor, such a personality instability was definitely his negligence.

Rebecca didn't have time to ask why Sasha was still alive. Pila lowered her head and said, "You came back alive from the biotechnology... I knew Sasha wouldn't be in any danger."

His younger sister blinked, clearly not understanding the intricacies of the situation.

Pila thought it wasn't her business, so she stood aside with Rebecca. Old Vie, who was clearly busy, didn't care about anything else. "Young man, I heard from Mann that you're in charge of hardware for the team... Could you please help me restore the monitoring system?"

Lin Yue knew this wouldn't be difficult for a technical expert, so he didn't pay much attention. Pila started working on the system programs that came with the prosthetic body without saying a word.

As she looked around, Pila suddenly noticed something in the storage device.

"Something's not right, buddy..."

Lin Yue asked, "What?"

Pila pointed at the computer screen, "Are you sure this prosthetic body can even run? There are problems with the pathway establishment, but I glanced at Arasaka's technical specifications, and they're correct... Could it be a new method that I don't understand?"

No one could understand the technical experts' jargon.

Lin Yue stepped forward and asked, "Explain in more detail."

This self-taught technical expert said, "In short, normal network access modules have components for traffic processing. There are strict requirements for establishing pathways in this area. Downloaded data and data processed by the brain must be separated. However, the flaws in this prosthetic design will put too much strain on the brain—are you sure it's okay?"

At this moment, Old Wei stood up and used a bunch of technical terms with Pila.

Everyone who couldn't help could only wait for the two of them to reach a conclusion.

In the end, the two agreed that the placement of the prosthetic body was indeed unreasonable, but there was one problem:
So Lin Yue also had this prosthetic body installed, but why is he still alive and kicking?
After discussions among the three parties.

Pila pointed to his head and said to Lin Yue incredulously, "You mean... AI can exist in a brain? That's fucking outrageous... Hey, if you ask me, we should just loosen the data control protocol, let Lin Yue control that part of the AI ​​data, we'll modify the prosthetic body, and finally lock the data!"

The technical expert quickly came up with a solution based on his network knowledge, but Lao Wei immediately frowned.

"It is theoretically feasible... but there will be uncontrollable risks if the data is downloaded rashly."

When it comes to technology, Pila is very reliable. "Mann has taken us to you to repair many prosthetic bodies. Your technology is indeed unparalleled. In the current situation, we need some innovation. I'm just offering my opinion. If you think it's unreliable, this guy has an entire Arasaka think tank. Why don't you let him come?"

Pira has a high level of respect for the company's technology.

Lin Yue paced back and forth, deep in thought.

If Arasaka knew what would happen if another Black Wall receiver appeared, he would have no control over the situation... Not only that, Sasha's value would definitely be squeezed dry, and he couldn't let his situation be repeated on a girl who was only seeking revenge for her mother.

Just then, Rebecca, who had also been assigned by Dr. Victor to check the prosthetic data, shouted, "Dr. Victor! Something's wrong!"

Sure enough, Sasha's brain activity data began to decline sharply.

Old Wei stared intently at the screen. "She's giving up..."

Damn!

Lin Yue's nerves tightened. He understood that feeling—the feeling of one's consciousness sinking into boundless data. It was indescribable to resist, but it was easy to get lost in it, and once you tried to resist, it would be extremely painful.

"There's no time... Dr. Victor."

Misty looked at them with concern.

Lin Yue suddenly said, "Pila, do as you say, I'll cooperate fully!"

Misty, who was some distance away, pushed over a chair meant for hackers to cool down. "Rin, lie down here."

Without hesitation, Lin Yue lay down on the cold chair, took the thick network cable from Misty, and Rebecca, seeing the affirming look in Misty's eyes, pressed the valve hard. Power was instantly switched from most of the clinic to Lin Yue's side, and soon all unnecessary instruments and lights went out…

Old Vie sighed and began to work together with Pila.

Misty placed her hand slightly on her chest. She often prayed for some patients. Rebecca's face was a little pale, and she could only pray that Lin Yue and her brother would do their best.

Once inside the virtual world of the network, Lin Yue quickly discovered that a large amount of familiar data was beginning to flood into the clinic's subnet!

He resisted the scattered data spores, searching for something amidst the waves…

At this moment, his anxiety was beyond words.

In a hazy, pale pink light, Sasha squinted and waved, seemingly greeting someone.

"I'm here! You've finally come..."

The heavy weight in my heart seemed to have been lifted.

Lin Yue's brain was now processing data at its peak!

He stubbornly endured the weight of these numbers, inching closer to the girl who was on the verge of collapse—

"wait for me!"

……

At this moment, in the eyes of outsiders...

The dramatic and anticipated tripartite cooperation did not materialize.

More than an hour later, a puff of hot air came out from the back of Lin Yue's neck. He reached out and pulled off the thick network cable, his expression somewhat strange.

Pila wiped the sweat from his brow, and lit a cigarette after Old Vie gestured for his consent…

"Holy crap, this is the first time I've ever fitted a prosthetic body onto a living person."

He shook the blood off his hands. "How was it, kid Lin? Did the AI ​​fight you?"

Lin Yue's face was pale, and he coughed violently.

Rebecca rushed over and found that Lin Yue's palm was covered in thick blood—

"I'm fine, Pira... Let's see what data is causing this blockage?"

Lin Yue immediately gave Pila some data downloaded from Sasha's AI data. This data contained information whose actual use was unknown, and it was the key to the blockage.

Because in his subconscious, this data didn't belong to the AI ​​itself, but rather seemed to have been downloaded from somewhere.

Pila inserted the chip, and a light shone in her eyes.

After a long time...

He then placed the chip down with trembling hands.

"This looks like technical blueprints for a prosthetic body..."

Looking at Pila's strange expression, Lin Yue was a little confused.

Pila's expression changed, and he even forgot to take a couple of puffs of his cigarette.

He said, slowly and deliberately:

"Dude, this is fucking AI technology!"

……

　[King Kong Type]: Similar to the Dragon Knight's full-body cybernetic body, with a small gravity field.

　　[Frankfurt Leak]: Arasaka's construction of a mass accelerator in a lunar crater was exposed by a spy, and Frankfurt is the location of the leak. This is the case that Jenkins, Arasaka's boss at the beginning of the 2077 prologue, is handling, which will cause Arasaka to lose his voice in the Unkai.

　　【Taking Rebecca to do business at the restaurant...】: Pira's memories are from the official background book of The Edgewalker. Rebecca's excessive empathy caused Pira to put herself in danger many times.

　　[Crystal Palace Advertisement]: TV personality Zig Q is the spokesperson for Crystal Palace. He often touts the beauty of Crystal Palace, thus ignoring its inherently corrupt philosophy of money being king.

　　【The Secret of Immortality】: This refers to the technological means behind the Soul Guardian Project, which were discovered behind the Black Wall.

　　【You are not you】: AI means that once a person dies, the so-called person who is reborn using Relic is actually a sophisticated AI program.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)