Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 169 Moral Standards
EBM Petrochemical Stadium.

The temperature in Dogtown always seems to be a few degrees lower than in Night City, and no one knows when it will warm up... Lin Yue glanced down at his watch; his attire and clothing were completely out of place here.

The fluorescent paint splattered on the Ghost Hound mech at the entrance resembled the head of a demon, staring intently at Lin Yue. Behind it, Jack carried a suitcase, his eyes showing no fear.

The soldiers eventually removed the barbed wire barrier under the stadium steps.

"Welcome to Dogtown, civilized people."

A nasty sneer rang out.

Perhaps it was because this body had lived in Dogtown long enough that the air, slightly musty and smelling of sewage, mixed with the smell of burning leather from cyber electronics—made one feel completely comfortable, as if one could let go of all rules and regulations.

"What are we doing, buddy... uh, Rin?"

Jack, a shady character from the Haywoods, knew exactly where not to go, especially after 2070 when the area was taken over by the new U.S. military. Residents of Watson, Westbrook, and other areas would not set foot in Pacific Island.

Everything was old, new, and frightening.

As Jack asked the question, he glanced at the dead body that the Ghost Soldiers dragged out of Dogtown Stadium. It was probably another homeless guy who had overdosed on drugs and died in the alleyway that had been dug out.

Lin Yue looked at Jack, "The optical implant has a subtitle function, right? From now on, I'll speak German, and let Hans's people follow along for a few laps..."

Jack was clearly an experienced man; instead of looking back, he observed the crowd behind him through the side mirror.

"It seems there are some loyal fans who welcome the two of us."

Seeing that Rin wasn't worried, Jack simply stopped worrying about the stalker.

Having someone who can rip off ACPA standing next to him is more important than anything else. The last time he felt this at ease was when V pulled off a deal with him—easy, enjoyable, and incredibly satisfying. Once he got the money, Jack could live comfortably for another six months.

The curious street kid looked at the bustling crowd.

The people here seem to have no spirit at all, just dragging their bodies around. The further you go into Night City, the cleaner your clothes are for the sake of appearances. It seems that as long as you have some cloth on your body to maintain your self-esteem, that's enough.

All I could hear were the jarring music played by vendors, and the ground was far from clean—cement residue, unidentified liquids, and piles of smoking electronic waste.

The pungent smell of medicine made Jack frown and avoid the women trying to solicit business.

Several incredibly seductive laughs came from not far away.

"Tonight...at your place?"

"No, honey, there's a great place outside, guaranteed to be exciting."

"The price is agreed upon..."

Jack shrugged. "The Kabuki District has all sorts of rumors about this place... If Night City can't handle a deal, come here and it'll be fine."

"Holy crap... looking at it this way, it seems the colonel doesn't know much about management?"

Lin Yue said slowly, "Chaos is this colonel's ultimate goal. Jack, look to your left."

Looking at him, it seemed to be a weapons dealer who had infiltrated the Vortex Gang. His arms were made of twisted strands of silvery-white metal, and various cybernetic components were crudely pieced together on a head that barely resembled a human.

This cybernetics… Lin Yue shook his head.

However, the main point is that this weapons shop has a storefront that looks like a food truck in a Japanese street. The iron racks at the entrance are densely packed with black high-explosive warheads, which are only used by heavy artillery and tanks.

"Damn it... if the cops find out about these things in Night City, they'll lose ten heads."

Lin Yue glanced at the people behind him out of the corner of his eye. "Let's go, Jack. I only knew that these people ate Hansen's food and handed over a cut, but I didn't know the specifics. Since we still have some time, let's find out."

Jack wasn't very optimistic.

"Hopefully we don't get detained by Hansen's men, buddy..."

Lin Yue smiled and stepped forward.

Upon entering the Pedro Petrochemical Stadium, it was discovered that many of the two-story rest areas were still occupied by businessmen from other countries in suits, sitting on chairs and waiting for the results. Night City has a lax legal system, and the arms dealers in Dogtown were once able to support the so-called arms race.

What do you have here?

Lin Yue scanned the cybernetic body on the boss's body and found that they were all heavily modified to the point that even the appearance software had to be wiped off. Upon closer inspection, he found that the guy had welded a pair of nightclub glasses to his face.

He now strongly suspects that this so-called boss has practically no flesh left on his body.

"There are plenty of them, buddy... If these things aren't enough, you can look at the ones by the door, take them and figure out how to blow them up, even the toughest ones will fall down for me."

Ha... I can rattle off a rhyme on the spot.

Lin Yue picked up a tsunami-themed harpoon from Jack's hand, and Heywood's eyes never left it.

Jack dreamed of having two of these gadgets, so he could tinker with them, give them Valentino-style graffiti, and a nice name.

The heavy object was tossed into Jack's hands. In Night City, such a presumptuous act would surely arouse the boss's suspicion. At best, he would be embarrassed and retaliate with a gun, claiming the buyer was provoking him; at worst, once the blast-proof roller shutter door was pulled open, who knows what might happen inside.

So the relatively law-abiding residents of Night City glanced at the guy who looked no different from the cyber lunatics of the Vortex gang... and noticed that their boss was even giving him an encouraging look—

"If you want to test the gun, shoot from behind. Those guys from the Ghost Hounds aren't in a good mood today."

He put down the box, gripped the pistol with both hands, and assumed a fighting stance.

"That's fucking awesome!"

Lin Yue smiled, beckoned to Jack and took the box from his hand, then tapped his finger on the box.

"Why did you make such a mess of your face? And what's with this outfit?"

Cyberpsychosis is truly amazing. Judging from this boss's appearance, he is the standard template for cyberpsychosis. Perhaps I will become like him in the future, with my whole body replaced with a prosthetic body that can resist the Black Wall.

The boss spread his arms and said helplessly, "When I was a kid, I was playing in the mud and dug up a landmine that exploded; or maybe I got hit by a car, tsk... Which version of the story do you prefer? As long as the deal is done, I can say whatever I want."

"Or perhaps you could perform a talent for the boss?"

Lin Yue's expression was strange.

Immediately afterwards, the guy put his hands in front of his chest, and his elbows instantly spewed out a burst of flames.

The strong smell of alcohol 2 lingered in his nose. He knew this guy wasn't crazy, but he wasn't normal either.

Jack stared wide-eyed at his boss's solo show, thinking that Dogtown was a place he'd come too late to, and that it was fucking hilarious!
Lin Yue opened the box in his hand, revealing more than a dozen money chips inside. He pulled one out and stared intently at the metal maniac.

The guy chuckled, and without a second thought, he took the money chip and inserted it into the brain-computer interface.

Lin Yue smiled and waited for him to see the amount clearly.

Although the guy's face couldn't express any emotion, his muffled electronic voice immediately became serious, "Ah... I understand, shall we talk in the back? We'll sell as many of these weapons as we have."

Lin Yue shook his head. "This is the price of this gun, and... a little bit of information about the distribution channels."

The owner sized up the German man and gestured for everyone to move to the back. Dogtown's unique characteristic is that closed-door businesses are the most profitable!

"You know, buddy, Dogtown's got money for everything, they'll do any job."

Lin Yue looked at the beer bottle in front of him, which still had mud and water clinging to it, and moved it aside.

The boss shrugged. "I thought you Germans liked to drink some wheat juice before doing big things."

Jack was currently examining the machine gun drooping behind the sofa, its Arasaka logo clearly visible...

He kept muttering to himself.

It seems like things from Arasaka can be sold in Dogtown?

"Hey buddy, how about it? Got your eye on my Arasaka machine gun? I can get you as many as you want."

Jack shook his head. "No."

Lin Yue wasn't surprised to see Arasaka weapons here, but the key question was: how did they manage to get such a large-caliber machine gun so easily?

"This machine gun... Does Arasaka of Night City have anything to do with you?"

The moment this question was raised, the atmosphere became strange.

"Damn it, you corporate dogs..."

The boss muttered a curse under his breath.

"Sit down and talk."

Jack is also stubborn; when he sits down to speak, his reactions and movements are slower...

“I’m standing.”

The guy's eyes were fixed on Jack, then he glanced at Lin Yue.

However, Lin Yue seemed oblivious.

"Let's get down to business. The money's all going into your pocket... How does the colonel manage you guys? What's your business model?"

Lin Yue, who used to hang out in Dogtown, had never been exposed to this level of business and naturally didn't care. But now that he was here to kill Hanz in one blow, he naturally had to investigate these arms deals thoroughly.

The boss was gulping down beer.

I've seen plenty of corporate employees, but it's rare to see someone this reckless.

"Then you must be crazy. This place doesn't care where you come from. Did you come from a colonel?"

Lin Yue shook his head. "People outside say... even the arms dealers in Dogtown can support an arms race. I wonder if the colonel isn't envious... or what—"

"These things all belong to Hansen?"

The boss paused for a moment, and Jack stared intently at the Arasaka machine gun beside him.

“We can get the goods ourselves. Dogtown isn’t all people from Night City. I’m… a genuine Arab native. As for how I got the goods from Arasaka… it’s not hard if you have connections in your own backyard. The Colonel has smuggling channels, and he takes a cut every time a shipment goes through.”

"There's a quota for each year; if you go too far, the colonel will make you disappear."

Smart person.

Lin Yue didn't actually want to take down these local bullies on his first day in Dogtown. Although V had told him not to act rashly to avoid causing health problems, Lin Yue was confident that the network access pod was enough to deal with these guys.

The boss spoke slowly, and Lin Yue listened carefully.

"Hansen's stuff will be allocated to us. There's a woman at the door with her few stupid sons who brag every day about helping you outsiders with an arms race."

"Hansen's goods make up the majority of what she can get her hands on. You can get tanks or anything else you want, but you have to pay for the shipping and assembly yourself."

Jack listened as if it were a story.

"So this land of yours is the distribution center? Is the company cooperating with you?"

For some reason, Lin Yue felt that the boss was rolling his eyes.

"If you have eyes, you'll notice that the signs outside are denser than the tattoos on the women's bodies when you come here to do business at night."

Lin Yue nodded after listening, and then tossed over another chip.

The shopkeeper glanced at it, seemingly uninterested. "If you don't know anything else, ask that old man with the really big shop by the door!"

Jack crossed his arms, feeling that this madman, who seemed to have almost lost his mind, wasn't the type to tell the truth.

“Rin… I think this idiot is using some rather unconventional methods… His rhetoric makes me think our good colonel is some kind of benevolent philanthropist from Taiping Continent, while you guys are just distributors who take the money and don’t do the work—”

The lone wolf was about to take a step forward.

But Lin Yue raised his hand and immediately blocked Jack.

Almost instantly, the sounds of machinery moving around came through!

The boss had one leg dangling from the armrest of the worn-out sofa, seemingly doing nothing, but all the Arasaka machine guns that looked like samples were now aimed at Lin Yue and Jack's backs.

"For the sake of money, I've said everything I wanted to say. As for the rest... you can guess for yourselves! I may be mentally unstable, but I'm not brainless. You're asking for death by walking on the colonel's head, so don't blame me."

"Hehe! The colonel will be ecstatic to earn two salaries."

Jack placed his hand on the gun and instinctively took a step back.

"Fuck you!"

Lin Yue smiled and said, "[Herold]...the feedback loops, integration connections, control modules, and so on in your store...are they all connected to your brain?" Herold suddenly burst into laughter as if he had gone mad.

"The most stupid thing in life is to revisit a place you've never been before. You probably hung out in Dogtown, right? Huh?"

Jack frowned and asked in a low voice, "Rin, what does this mean?"

Lin Yue said in a nonchalant tone, "Everything in his shop is peripheral equipment for this owner. He can make any bomb explode, and he can make any drone fly... You can't fire the gun in your hand now. Try it if you don't believe me."

Jack immediately drew his gun, and the trigger clicked several times.

The big man's heart sank to the bottom.

That's just how things are in Dogtown; the owner only tells half the truth, but his memories are the most reliable thing he knows.

The people here all have extremely unpleasant pasts. Of course, they also have their own ways of surviving here, and at the very least, they are not insignificant figures who can be easily manipulated.

Lin Yue chose this guy to understand the situation because, firstly, his shop was not in an inconspicuous place, and secondly, he could solve the problem by hacking into the network without having to take action himself.

We should listen to what V says, lest we ruin our health and suffer a greater loss.

The boss burst into laughter at the sight of Jack's liver-colored face.

"What do you think? You don't even see the situation as clearly as your older brother..."

Lin Yue leaned back on the sofa. "Aren't you afraid of overload?"

The boss abruptly stood up; Jack was ready to act at any moment.

Who would have thought that this guy would actually start dancing like a fish!

"I'm not that scared, which is why I often have trouble sleeping... But you guys are definitely scarier than me, Bong!"

This guy suddenly leaned close to Jack and said, "Everyone has to lie down."

Lin Yue knew that this guy had roughly explained Dogtown's operating model, but the second thing he needed to address was still unresolved...

“Herold… if I were you, I wouldn’t be happy too soon.”

Just then, Lin Yue's eyes flashed with a fleeting crimson light, and a large amount of useless data blocked the control program of the Arasaka machine gun.

hum…

The machine gun slumped down instantly, like a weary man.

屮? !

Herold immediately sensed something was wrong and was about to run when Jack, like a wall, blocked his way and pushed him back with his muscular body.

To Lin Yue's surprise, this guy was actually preparing to detonate other things without hesitation.

Fortunately, Lin Yue had played a trick when creating the backdoor.

During his studies in the "Network Walker's Guide," Lin Yue became proficient in some basic operations of network hacking.

A backdoor is essentially a pathway between Herodes and external devices that enables rapid password cracking. In some facilities, leaving a backdoor is often a necessary step for experienced hackers.

In some cases, the backdoor acts more like a remote control, serving as a crucial measure for companies to control employee ownership of prosthetic bodies.

In no time at all, Jack had Herod pinned to the ground.

Lin Yue looked down at the guy and said, "A few minutes after I leave, you'll be able to take all these weapons and equipment to the heavens and open a weapons shop in hell. Isn't that great?"

At this point, Herold, who seemed a bit erratic, finally calmed down a bit after a series of "actions".

"Herrold, I'll leave the back door open for a while. Are you sure what you just said was true...?"

The modification fanatic nodded.

Lin Yue then waved the chip in front of him, squatted down and said, "Promise me one small condition: the weapons dealers in Dogtown don't pass the goods over to Mr. Hans, the middleman here."

"Once all this is over, we'll go our separate ways, okay?"

Seeing that the other party readily agreed again, Lin Yue placed the chip in front of him.

"Very good, then I hope our cooperation will be pleasant."

Lin Yue glanced at the time, and Jack released his grip on Herod's hand.

As he left, the fake German casually left behind a remark:

"Whether it's Sami or any other hacker... even if you go to the Voodoo Gang, it's fine. If they dare to crack it, I guarantee you'll have a comfortable journey ahead. See you next time. By the way... your fireworks show was great."

Herold lay on the ground, and his prosthetic arm slammed down hard on the ground.

He muttered as he stood up, walking towards the door, "You bastard Hanz, you're a fool who won't make money when you can. Do you think I'm a fool? Messing with this brainless idiot..."

Jack walked along the side carrying the suitcase, increasingly sensing that something was amiss…

"Rin, aren't we making things worse right under the nose of the Dogtown middleman?"

Lin Yue thought it was no wonder this guy could be friends with V.

Both of them, who are slow to catch on, have a clear and innocent look written all over their faces.

“Yes, we came in early to reduce the risk for my informant. What can he do now? We intercepted his goods, and there's no one in Dogtown to help him through this crisis. Believe it or not, Hanz is very wary. If my goods get into Dogtown first, killing him will be easy…”

"After I kill him, Hansen will immediately tighten the channels, and it will be troublesome for me to squeeze in again."

Jack racked his brains for a long time.

That seems to be the case.

No wonder V is under so much pressure. She keeps vomiting in the bathroom while on the phone. How can she be stressed when she's constantly scheming against others?

In the eyes of this Mr. Hanz informant: since he is an "arms dealer," what he cares about most is these iron pieces.

The friend from Germany who came all the way here was obviously there to conduct research so he could negotiate prices with this middleman from Dogtown.

while walking.

Lin Yue's gaze quickly shifted to the weapons shop with various long guns and short cannons displayed at the side entrance.

Despite being called a weapons shop, this place is more like a large supermarket—several grenade launchers are displayed at the entrance without any protection, making it seem like you could grab one and use it at any time if you wanted to.

The owner inside was the woman Herold had mentioned. She was a bit older, resembling a withered, dark red rose, and one could still vaguely see the wild beauty she had possessed in her youth.

How should this lady negotiate?

Jack muttered something under his breath.

Lin Yue said with a smile, "Doing business doesn't have to involve all those cameras and microphones every day, does it?"

“Sasha will give me the data he’s gathered from the Dogtown web traffic. We’ll sit down with this lady and have a proper deal, but before that… we need to get rid of these Mr. Hanz spies.”

"You have to have some temper, right?"

Jack looked at Rin, who was smiling beside him, and he felt that Rin seemed to have changed in some ways since working at Watson last time.

He couldn't explain exactly how it had turned out.

The two stood at the doorway. Lin Yue lit a cigarette and chatted with Jack amidst the bustling crowd.

Those men sent by Hans to keep an eye on Lin Yue didn't take their eyes off him, but as a wave of people surged in, the two guys disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The group looked at each other in bewilderment and hurried over to where Lin Yue and Jack were standing.

After Lin Yue's prosthetic eye scanned the prosthetic models of the group, he stood to the side, deliberately showing his back.

Jack leaned against the wall, a cigarette dangling from his lips. "V said that every time your eyes turn red, your body will become more troublesome. Leave these idiots to me."

Lin Yue nodded. Of course, he would avoid taking action if possible before meeting with the leg prosthetic doctor in Dogtown.

As expected, before Lin Yue had even finished half a cigarette, three guys lay down and fell asleep in front of the burly Jack.

He took out his phone and sent a blatantly warning text message to his "business partner".

Lin Yue had a bad feeling about this. Whether it was the Ghost Hound's inexplicable interception when entering Dog Town or Mr. Hanz's bold probing behavior, it didn't seem like something a middleman without confidence would do.

That's why he came to the stadium, both to find Qian Sihu, whom Lao Wei recommended, and to eliminate any potential backup options for Hanz.

From a profit perspective, Lin Yue only believed that Colonel Dogtown would engage in double-dealing and would not use his own goods to support Hans. To put it more clearly, it was a conflict between the early Dogtown investors, the Cuban and Hanssen.

Losing Hanz isn't so bad for Hansen; he's an easy front man to support, and it also forces the Cuban group to reassess its position.

Lin Yue thought that if it were him, he would at most give Cuba face, and superficially helping Hans was Hansen's best option.

What about variables?
Lin Yue knew he wasn't a god and couldn't see through everything. He had done all the groundwork within his capabilities, and from now on, he could only leave it to fate.

The light flickered on Lin Yue's face, making his expression indistinct.

A slender figure stepped over the corpses and walked in. Sasha handed a chip to Lin Yue.

Lin Yue was very satisfied after reading the contents. "The conflict that V had anticipated did not break out. You guys can find a place in Dogtown for now... Given Hanz's personality, he probably won't let me bring people up there."

Sasha blinked.

Lin Yue said helplessly, "I'll take you with me if I have the chance."

Sasha smiled with relief upon hearing this. The influence of AI on personality and memory was indeed showing some signs in Sasha.

Fortunately, Sasha didn't turn herself into a cold-blooded killer like Lin Yue.

Jack tried to move aside; he was still a little scared of this "cat" lady.

"Seriously, man, how do you stop that shop at the very front from selling Hanz's merchandise?"

Lin Yue stubbed out his cigarette, held up the chip, and said, "This contains Hanz's asset valuation, as well as the maximum amount of weaponry he can currently purchase. This money is his lifeline. There's also a portion showing the price of the stadium's weapons transactions."

"We'll order this batch of goods at a price higher than the market price..."

Jack asked, puzzled, "You want to buy it? This..."

Lin Yue: "Are you saying this isn't in our best interest? We only brought enough money for a deposit."

“We just need to stop this company from shipping goods, and we’ll have achieved our goal. Hanz needs my products to satisfy his suppliers… so we have to make him buy them willingly.”

"In the company's eyes, this is how business tactics are played."

Jack didn't think it was a good idea.

"This is a huge sum of money... If you pay but don't take the goods, isn't that money just wasted?"

Lin Yue felt that Jack definitely didn't understand the company's procedures.

He pointed to the box at his feet, “Hanz is dead, why should I take Dogtown’s goods for more than the market price… Once this is resolved, I will of course take the money back.”

"Use Night City's standard methods."

Night City may lack morals, but Jack couldn't understand how Lin Yue could say such immoral things so casually... Considering Haywood's character of liking to do honest business:

The guy from Arasaka in front of me is a typical example of someone who has no sense of contract, trying to take advantage of both sides, using both physical and commercial means...

"Honestly, even though I'm making money off you, this is still..."

Jack still couldn't bring himself to say the words "company dog".

Lin Yue took a step.

From the stinking dogtown all the way to the company, he learned only two things: first, never give up and wait to die; second, to achieve your goal, you can't care about the means.

……

　【Herold】: A weapon merchant in the Shadows of the Past DLC 2077. You can buy Night City exclusive weapons from him.

　　[Bridge]: A financial term that roughly means using high-interest loans to temporarily delay or facilitate cash flow during difficult times.

　　There is also a free chapter later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)