Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 167 Betrayal and Entry (Prologue to Dogtown) (4.6K)

Next Life Bar.

Dorio, with a band-aid on her face, was resting with her arms crossed and her eyes closed.

Qiwei was talking on the phone with her legs crossed, seemingly discussing some new business with an online client. The cigarette butt in her mouth glowed and dimmed with each breath.

As for Lucy, she stood to the side, tossing her lighter in the air every now and then, and glancing absentmindedly towards the door from time to time.

Mr. Rin walked in from outside. This time, he was not accompanied by Arasaka, but by Suzuki, who had given him the money chip last time.

"Mr. Rin."

Dorothy immediately realized what was happening and looked at Lin Yue with hopeful eyes, but when she realized there was no one else behind him, her expression turned somber.

Mr. Rin's face was unreadable.

He reached out and pushed a detachable chip towards Dorio…

Dorothy has always had an incredibly accurate premonition, and she had a feeling that something bad was going to happen at this meeting.

Lin Yue hesitated for a moment, but still explained the current situation.

"The people I sent to pick up Mann from the hospital today, when they were handling the paperwork for him... Mann disappeared."

Missing? !

Everyone was stunned for a while.

Dorio asked in a deep voice, "Mr. Rin, what exactly is going on?"

Lin Yue said helplessly, "Let's look at the contents of the separation chip. The probe recorded that Mann was sitting in a blind spot when a woman said something to him, and then he disappeared."

Lucy's eyes were sharp; she wanted to see even the slightest sign of lying from this middleman.

"Mr. Rin... are you sure you're telling the truth?"

Lin Yue was also completely baffled; he couldn't understand why the team seemed to be spiraling out of control...

"You can check it yourselves. I wouldn't make such a joke at this critical juncture."

Qiwei hung up the phone, seemingly unconcerned about the news of a teammate going missing. "So... is this an arrangement for us to break up?"

After seeing Lin Yue's signal, Suzuki distributed the money chips to the group.

"Dorio, here's the money from Mann. Take the reward and leave Night City. I'll find a way to let you know once I find him..."

Qiwei stared at the chip in her hand, lost in thought.

Lucy was the first to make her choice, saying, "Then I'll be leaving now..."

She glanced at Dorio, and the hesitation in her eyes quickly disappeared.

Lin Yue offered a friendly reminder, "I hope you find a reliable middleman to buy the [NCX] moon ticket. The company is too easy to trace, so don't be careless."

Lucy stood there, stunned, her expression shifting between light and dark.

Lin Yue's eyes fell on Qi Wei. "Hackers are cautious, so I won't ask any more about your whereabouts. But I have only one request: if I see you in Night City, I will not hesitate to take action to deal with you for leaking information... Goodbye!"

Lin Yue stood up, his heart heavy. Reaching this point, memories of friendship and the battles in Dogtown flashed before his eyes…

Humans aren't plants or trees; how can they be completely devoid of feelings?

"Wait, Mr. Rin! Where's Pila?"

Dorothy asked as if waking from a dream, "Could you please help me?"

Looking at the woman who was almost broken, Lin Yue felt a pang of sadness. "Dorio... don't worry, Pila has made all the arrangements—as for Mann, I have arranged for people to search for him with all their might. There is currently no evidence that he has been controlled by military technology, so he is definitely still in Night City."

"Take care of yourselves first, get out of here... If military technology comes looking for trouble for you, I might not be able to get away."

Just then, Lucy asked, "Mr. Rin, to be honest, I didn't have much hope that you would actually keep your promise of the 300 million euro price and let us leave here... I want to ask you, why?"

Lin Yue said, "Because some people are not afraid of the siege of the world's largest mercenary company, because some people keep their promises, because... they are trustworthy people."

Lucy's eyes unconsciously glanced at Qiwei.

They don't trust anyone; that's their motto for surviving in Night City.

At this moment, Qiwei's muffled voice came along with the sound of a card being pushed, "I don't plan to leave Night City... Of course, I don't want to take so much money either. Most people who hang around here have left their names with the company, but not many choose to run away."

Lin Yue looked at the two chips in front of him.

He knew what this tall, slender woman wanted.

"You want to get closer to the company?"

For some reason, Qiwei was surprisingly candid, "Lucy and I investigated you, but I suspect you made a move... Her external memory storage was completely lost... You must really hate someone as presumptuous as me."

Lucy was getting restless; she didn't understand where Qiwei got the audacity to say such things.

"Qiwei, you..."

Lin Yue paused for a moment, then chuckled softly, "Lucy, it seems someone taught you your first lesson."

Qi Wei remained calm and composed, saying, "I only want the normal price for mercenary activities. This extra two million... is to buy back your trust in me."

Ah…

Lucy wanted to leave, but Suzuki, sensing something was amiss in their conversation, had already blocked the doorway to the private room.

“Miss Lucy…the boss said you can only leave if you are allowed to.”

This girl, who had been through thick and thin with Qiwei in Night City, experienced her first betrayal in life.

In the eyes of everyone in the team, nothing was more suicidal than secretly trying to find out information about Mr. Rin...

The authority that was established without her even realizing it, and the ruthless nature of killing, made Dorio's body tense up instantly.

"Mr. Rin, please don't misunderstand—"

The eldest sister-in-law of the team couldn't bear to be sad; at this critical juncture, she didn't want the team members to suffer such an undeserved disaster.

Qiwei interrupted, "No, Dorio, I'm serious."

As expected, those who survive in Night City are all ruthless characters, willing to take risks for their own benefit.

Lin Yue rubbed his fingers. "Then I'd like to hear how far you've gotten in your investigation, or whether you've given anything you found to a third party. You know—if another company ever causes me trouble, then I'll cause you trouble."

Qiwei's voice behind the mask was unusually calm, "I can't find out about your methods, and Arasaka wouldn't let an ordinary hacker like me succeed so easily... But I have something else, something about Lucy."

Lucy's face looked very unpleasant.

"Qiwei, you're playing me?! Damn it... what did you give him?"

At this point, Lucy didn't care about anything else and immediately tried to make a move, but she didn't expect Suzuki to be able to fight against a half-blackened samurai, and he restrained her almost instantly!
Dorio stood up, her gaze towards Qiwei gradually turning cold.

Qi Wei's laughter at this moment was quite sarcastic.

"Does going to other places guarantee my safety...? I don't believe it. I only believe that I should take my own destiny into my own hands. Don't look at me like that. I believe my 'gift' will be enough to move Mr. Rin."

at the same time--

Qi Wei's eyes lit up, and the words "transmitting" also appeared in Lin Yue's eyes...

After he saw the contents, Lin Yue's somewhat puzzled and indifferent gaze immediately locked onto Lucy, who was trying to struggle.

That's really interesting...

Lin Yue felt that sometimes the world seemed to be predetermined, and different paths would eventually converge on the same result by some twist of fate. Just when everything seemed to be going very differently, Qi Wei betrayed Lucy without hesitation in order to gain company immunity and recognition...

As for the content sent by Qiwei, it was about Lucy illegally obtaining some documents outside the Black Wall, all of which had Arasaka's mark. In this way, Lucy's detention had many more benefits.

Lin Yue asked calmly, "Qiwei, how did you get these things? Although your skills are sufficient in Night City, it's not like you could bypass the Black Wall and connect to a personal ICE to obtain something of such importance, is it?"

Qiwei was quite frank.

“I originally intended to keep these things to myself and give me more time to investigate you and do more things for you… There are too few middlemen in Night City who have a direct connection with the company, and you are my only chance.”

Lin Yue was finding it difficult to balance the current situation.

Both logically and emotionally, Qiwei returned the money and offered something convincing to win him over;

But on the other hand, will Qiwei betray him again?

In Lin Yue's view:
One of Qiwei's cleverest traits is that she maintains absolute loyalty during missions, but when her team faces instability or deviates significantly from her ideals and goals, she will not hesitate to sacrifice herself for herself, and she will never regret it. The second major function of her past life memories is to analyze the personalities of people in this dazzling metropolis based on their deeds.

Qiwei is the kind of person who will work her as hard as she can if given something. She doesn't even need to be paid; a pancake that suits her taste is enough to motivate her.

Lucy kept her head down, listening to the only sounds in the private room being breathing and the muffled tapping of Lin Yueyi's hand, and couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

"This is the first time I've believed you, Qiwei."

Qiwei's smoking motion stiffened slightly.

Lin Yue looked at the documents. For him, who was not suffering from asthenia, this was indeed a great achievement. But these were just some AI feature data, which were the data that Lucy had privately stored when she was a mining girl.

He's very useful to the company, but not enough to earn Arasaka's full effort to solve his physical problems.

Qiwei said calmly, "Lucy, there was a big order before that required us to access the regional network. You kept refusing at the time, but later reluctantly agreed to join the network to assist me. [Didn't you notice that several signals from the European network immediately tracked you down?]"

"Going to the moon will get you rid of all this? That's naive... In my opinion, you need 200 million euros to permanently settle on a lunar colony. With the money you have, you can only afford a few spaceship tickets. What can you change?"

“Poor Polish girl, your survival depends on Mr. Rin.”

At this point, Lin Yue had made his choice.

"Alright, whether these files have been backed up or not, my cybersecurity expert will ask you to stay here for now. After we find out, Suzuki will send you to the moon."

Everyone was stunned when they heard this.

Lin Yue looked at Dorio, "I'm sorry about what happened to Mann, but as the company, this is all I can do to protect your team. Qiwei... come with me to Dogtown tomorrow. If you lose your life... don't blame anyone else."

Qi Wei's eyes flickered, and she nodded slightly.

Lin Yue got up to leave, but Dorio suddenly blocked his way—

“Mr. Rin, could you let me stay in Night City? I want to wait for Mann, I must wait for him to come back.”

Lin Yue frowned.

But deep down, he felt great sympathy for Dorio's plight.

It would be better if humanity didn't return; at least then I could issue commands without feeling and wouldn't have to worry about so much.

"I'll return all the money to you. Please help me find Mann... I can take jobs and corporate commissions!"

Suzuki placed his hand on Dorio's hand and shook his head slightly.

“Miss, please don’t make things difficult for Lord Rin.”

Lin Yue did not take back the money. He knew better than anyone how Mann treated him. Mann dared to come to the aid of Lazarus during their siege, and he even gave him careful instructions when he was getting a prosthetic body. Only now did he realize how deep Dorio's feelings for Mann were.

"I won't be bringing too many company people with me into Dogtown. Just come with me, and V and Suzuki will help you find people."

“Once the Dogtown incident is over, you’ll have to accept whatever the outcome. I don’t want Mann to be uneasy because you didn’t land safely… Is that alright, Dorio?”

Lin Yue actually had a premonition.

Mann's inherent pride may have been a key step in his downfall, but as a man who initially possessed warmth for the city—

Having reached this point, Lin Yue felt he had repaid the debt of gratitude.

He had no energy left to care about what would happen next.

Dorothy's lips were stained with a trace of blood from the forceful grinding of her teeth. "Okay."

Immediately afterwards, Suzuki chopped Lucy in the neck.

After the others left, only Qiwei and Dorio remained in the private room.

Before that, the girl raised her head and stared at Qiwei with resentful eyes, while the so-called "despicable one" being stared at showed no emotion.

……

【Pluto Supercars】is a luxury car rental company in Night City.

Excellent autonomous driving technology and a comfortable experience make it the top choice for many high-society individuals to impress others when conducting business.

Inside the basement of Arasaka.

V stood in front of Lin Yue, quietly watching the man whose facial features had been altered using behavioral characteristics.

"Hmm...it's pretty good, but not my cup of tea."

She naturally reached out and adjusted Lin Yue's bow tie. "Arasaka is looking into Mann's matter. The less evidence of Dogtown's involvement, the better. My cybersecurity expert will modify the data of the Phantom Supercar when the time is right..."

Lin Yue nodded and joked, "Please don't upload my face to Mr. Hans's desktop. He's old, and it would be a loss if he got scared."

V sighed.

"This kind of idiotic joke isn't funny."

Uh, okay.

Lin Yue was just trying to liven things up...

V stepped aside and continued, "You need to take Sasha with you. I've seen her brain-computer interface problem. She's an AI with the same logic code as you, except that her brain has absorbed data from the Tsunami Military Industry's AI. Theoretically, you can use your logic code to control the release of her Black Wall."

Lin Yue was about to speak.

V interrupted him directly, "If necessary, have your people take action. Unless you want to die on the spot, don't do anything to me—if your body runs through the AI ​​a few more times, no one can save you. I'm not kidding."

"Oh, right, I have someone else here, you can take them with you."

Just then, a burly man with a conspicuous bun hairstyle walked into the underground parking lot. Although he was wearing a suit, it couldn't hide his thug-like demeanor.

“Jack…”

Jack waved, "Hey amigo! V said there's a big job out there, enough to feed me for half a year. I thought it was some cheap, lowly job sucking up to that old man Saburo, but it turns out it's a Dogtown job. I absolutely have to get involved!"

Lin Yue looked puzzled, but V shook his head. "That's just how Jack is."

Sasha, Pila, and Rebecca emerged from the elevator together, all wearing identical black bulletproof vests and individual soldier gear. There were no fancy parts; even Rebecca's hands were painted black, ostensibly to match her friend's.

“I had Emma arrange for them to go in. Qiwei has already found the location of the subnet link in Dogtown and is keeping an eye on the situation near the area where the woman is preoccupied…”

Everyone's expression was extremely serious, even Pila was no longer the carefree person who was just lying around with his head on his pillow.

Jack was a master at livening up the atmosphere. "How about we say something to give each other a pep talk before we go into action?"

Lin Yue looked around at everyone and chuckled, "Jack may not know, but the rest of them do. Let's go, everyone... so much time has passed, let's make up for Mr. Hans's Christmas present."

"boarding."

Everyone had an excited expression on their face.

Except for Jack.

He spread his hands, looking completely bewildered. "So, this word is really cool?"

V felt a little relieved and patted Jack's broad shoulder. "Alright, get in the car, buddy."

Jack shook his head and climbed into the back seat of the luxury car.

White smoke, engine roar, taillights disappearing around the corner.

V stood quietly with his arms crossed for a long time, then said to the person behind him, "Suzuki, if Rin can't find the person she's looking for, then you can go to Dog Town and play with the Ghost Dogs."

"Yes."

Suzuki lowered his head, and Agent Arasaka behind him also lowered his head…

In the empty basement, only the clattering of V-shaped high heels on the floor could be heard.

……

　【NCX】: Night City Spaceport, a ticket to the moon costs 25 euros, and immigrating to the moon costs 2 million euros.

　　【Didn't you notice that several signals from the European network were tracking you down immediately?】: Lucy's mother, who belongs to a Polish hacker group, is searching for and tracking Lucy's whereabouts with her husband, who is based in the Polish branch, Arasakata.

　　【Pluto Supercar】: The luxury car that the Auror hacker siblings rode in during the Shadow of 2077 belongs to this company.

　　Time flies when you're eating out, and since I still had some free time, I decided to write something for everyone when I got back. Happy holidays, my darlings! (Now you know I have an outline, right? *whispering*)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)