Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 180 Judgment of Fate (Part 1)

[Ghost Hound Dispatch Channel]: The target has appeared at Lu Ke Shuang Spa. I repeat... Have all your men follow!

Sounds came from the other channel where gunfire erupted.

"Damn it, this is a cyber lunatic—where's the nearest mech?! Hurry up and get here!!"

“屮!!!”

A piercing scream rang out, followed by a rapid-fire barrage of static that seemed to freeze on the channel.

"Hello? Warning Line Squad? Get a response... Damn, send the Pacific Pacific team up there, quick!"

The chaotic chatter filled the channel, creating a scene of utter disarray.

The drones of the Ghost Hound overhead were transmitting real-time images to the Gemstone Blue. Wherever the electronic optical equipment observed, it looked as if congealed blood had been splashed on it. Red, shimmering fragments clung to the buildings, resembling eerie witchcraft totems.

Zoom in on the lens —

A figure, almost invisible, attacked the Dogtown soldiers who were firing and trying to surround him with a blade that reflected the sunlight.

Dismemberment is the simplest action in the hands of this out-of-control lone wolf.

Lin Yue's shoes left a dusty scratch in the rubble on the building's rooftop.

"laugh…"

He seemed to still be sneering. Even though the prosthetic leather parts on his body had flipped up where he had been shot, he showed no fear. Instead, accompanied by the red current surging through his body, the knife in his hand was once again in a forward thrusting position!
Moreover, his high-speed movement allows him to unleash bizarre hacking techniques that the surrounding soldiers simply cannot withstand.

A scream rang out…

Another three-person breakthrough team has been wiped out!

Fragments of the body flew up—

The man, whose upper body was ripped in a suit, revealing a muscular chest, was still loading data into the soldiers' operating system with one hand. Red arcs of electricity pierced the air, causing the troops behind him to instinctively take a step back.

"It's over..."

There was no time to retreat; the bodies were thrown aside at an alarming speed, like a death list.

Nobody knows who will be the next to die!

This has already instilled fear in the soldiers of Dogtown.

This guy, deep in thought, has only been down there for a few minutes, yet he's already killed over a hundred people...

However, things have come to this point, and there is no turning back.

The biggest difference between the Dogtown Ghost Hounds and gangs is that they operate like a military, carrying out orders and having a supervisory team.

This means that anyone who backs down will die.

And so, a new round of attacks came instantly!

……

On the top floor of the Sapphire Blue Tower, Hansen paced back and forth. This soldier, who had experienced the baptism of the unification war, possessed an extraordinary calmness.

"As long as they're still human, they can't keep running indefinitely—surround them, bring in the mechs!"

Just as Hansen gave the order.

The automatic machine gun displayed in the center of the Gemstone Hall for customers suddenly started moving—Yuri, who was standing nearby, noticed something was wrong and quickly tackled his boss to the side!
clap clap clap!
Flames poured down relentlessly. The Ghost Hound dispatcher, with his back to the machine gun, couldn't understand how he would be killed by the weapons sold by the colonel in the safest place, Gemstone Green!

Immediately, the ghostly guard beside him slightly bent his knees and calmly aimed at the turret to fire.

With just one salvo, the turret exploded and drooped its head.

Scrap cartridges bounced on the smooth floor, and the surrounding area was a mess.

Hansen shook the cement fragments off his head.

"Those damn hackers, get me that woman!"

Clearly, the hackers of Ghosthound had no choice but to grit their teeth and re-enter the turbulent cyberspace.

However, in addition to the brain-computer interface explosion, another disobedient hacker died at Hansen's hands.

Yuri growled at the leader, who was still trying to cover his bare bottom, "We don't handle cyberbullying. If this continues, even more people will die. Get that company from the city in! Now!"

Hansen's mood is unpredictable.

He knew, of course, that the situation was out of control, and the lark kept claiming that she could hold off this guy named Rin.

But the problem is——

Not only did they fail to hold her back, but she also lost contact with them.

Hansen instinctively felt that New America and Night City wanted him dead.

"Colonel! An unidentified military-grade hovercraft is approaching Night City!"

The soldiers rushed over in panic.

Several hovercars?!

Hansen felt that the bunch of bastards he had recruited were too weak and not nearly as useful as the group of people trained in military technology.

Anyone who didn't know better would think that old codger Arasaka had brought planes from an aircraft carrier over—

"What are you panicking about? Did I spend so much money to buy this air defense system just to look at it?"

The soldier gritted his teeth, "Hackers have gotten hold of these things. The system has crashed. Network and technical experts are working hard to repair it. Several vehicles have already rushed in."

company?

Hansen let out a deep breath.

The lark can't be relied on at this critical juncture. Even if the losses can be recovered later, he still has to consider his reputation. The matter has escalated to such a big point that it's impossible for Night City to ignore it...

"Let the media question Arasaka, and notify the Terrorist SWAT team; we'll let them in!"

Upon receiving the order, the soldiers hurriedly ran towards the Gemstone Blue elevator.

Hansen stared at the soldier's back, clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth.

The colonel, who was good at balancing the game, seems to have accidentally hit a critical point, and everything is heading towards an unmanageable situation.

……

The dense firepower from the soldiers forming a tight encirclement left Lin Yue with nowhere to hide, and soon his body was riddled with holes and deformed.

"He's about to go soft! You all better watch out and give him a good warning!"

The channel was filled with strange red data about this thing that could crush and burn prosthetic bodies. Visually, the data would flash on the body because of the sheer amount of information. Technically, it was like a tsunami that ICE couldn't withstand, which would destroy the defenses!
In addition, the death was accompanied by stuttering sound effects from the audio-visual system…

Even the previously noisy channel suddenly fell silent.

boom! boom! boom!
Accompanied by the sound of machinery crashing onto the asphalt road, the Ghosthound mech entered the arena.

Soldiers slowly retreated like a tide, firing in a crossfire, while the machine guns on the mech arms, with their feet firmly planted on the ground, began to spin!
After dealing with the attack, Lin Yue tilted his head slightly, seemingly puzzled by what was in front of him.

All the hounds waited for the missiles and machine guns to tear the enemy apart. The man, frowning, glanced at the network access bay in his prosthetic eye and the near-shutdown state of his cybernetic body. He then plunged his blade directly into the mech in front of him, an act as unbelievable as a child charging at a professional boxer.

call out!
A terrifying beam of pale blue technological weapon energy struck the mech's weapon cannon barrel, which was still in the preheating stage.

The violent roar of the hovercar's engine bombarded his eardrums. Lin Yue reached out to shield himself from the oncoming gale. Above him, on a military hovercar, the woman holding a large gun turned her face and stared at him quietly.

V stared at the man whose specially modified cybernetic implants were exposed and whose face was strange, and a nameless anger quickly rose within him—

Then two more hovercars arrived and descended in a drifting motion, stopping in a line with the lead car.

The hound didn't care about any of that, and started firing bullets indiscriminately!

Sparks and bullet holes appeared on the side of the hovercraft, and V began rapidly uploading the cracked code.

The mech weapon module, which was preparing to engage the enemy, ejected an electric arc and quickly malfunctioned!
The intelligent operating vision system only saw the woman's cold, indifferent eyes staring intently at him.

"RPG!"

The ghostly hound let out a loud roar, though no one knew who it was.

The weapon bay on the side of the airship popped open, and missiles spitting fire landed densely among the soldiers who had not yet dispersed in time!
Squads of fully armed Arasaka soldiers jumped from the hovercraft, brand-new smart weapons linked to their tactical helmets. Amidst the flames of the explosion, they surrounded Lin Yue, guns raised, waiting for the next round of air-to-ground attacks to end…

Suzuki stood beside Lin Yue, carrying a weapon.

"Master Rin..."

The company's well-trained soldiers clashed with militarized gang soldiers, these black-clad troops like a bayonet, piercing straight into the formation of these hounds.

Soon, under the onslaught of intelligent weapons with bizarre trajectories flying everywhere, the Netherworld Hounds of Dog Town, which had almost dragged Lin Yue into the abyss, began to retreat, because the higher-ups had come up with a new plan.

Lin Yue, who was heavily protected, opened his mouth but found himself unable to speak. "Luckily, I wasn't too late."

Someone nearby breathed a sigh of relief and said.

Lin Yue's body swayed slightly due to the overload of his prosthetic body, and Suzuki supported his arm—the medicine sprayed into his mouth, and the soreness and fatigue in his body quickly subsided.

There's a constant buzzing in my ears, like someone is muttering something.

It turned out to be a dogtown loudspeaker with questionable sound quality.

"Residents of Dogtown!"

"The company has already begun military operations against us. If you still want your freedom, I suggest you pick up your weapons and kill these harmful bastards in Dogtown!"

V, upon hearing these words, turned as cold as an ice cube soaking in a hacker's bathtub.

"Damn it... this Hansen."

At this moment, Lin Yue finally uttered his first words upon meeting, "V... go to the Long Beach stockpile, Sasha is there."

Without asking why, just like Rin, who led her to this position during the Konpaku uprising without explaining why, she immediately did as she was told.

Within the channel, Arakawa's cybersecurity experts began issuing rapid warnings!
Surface-to-air missiles have begun to return to normal operation.

Clearly, Hansen had gone mad.

V, holding the cat in one hand, shouted, "Spread out and advance towards the Long Beach stockpile! Get those Dogtown vehicles moving—and the missiles are coming!"

Lin Yue bent down and picked up the samurai sword from the ground. Next to him, Arasaka's special forces killed some soldiers who had just climbed onto the vehicle and were trying to escape, and opened the vehicle door.

V got into the driver's seat, reached out her hand, and Lin Yue pulled her in before she stepped into the car.

Weapons and vehicles: The soldiers of the Ghost Hound rely on these all-terrain vehicles to manage the Dogtown siege.

The engine roared, and Lin Yue and V's prosthetic eyes saw the vehicle's machine gun and missile load capacity—they had only driven a short distance when the anti-aircraft missiles arrived in an instant!

call out! ——

A violent explosion came from behind, and the two or three hovercraft were quickly engulfed by the fireball!
The car, with its engine at full power, sped down the mountain.

V glanced at the rearview mirror every now and then, and only breathed a sigh of relief after realizing that he had dodged the missile.

"You can even use a black wall... God, I really don't know how to describe it."

V sighed.

She was well aware that this might lead to unpredictable situations.

"Your cybersecurity expert..."

She had already imagined that Lin Yue would become a half-dead man, but she never expected that this guy would be just like when she first met him, carrying the dog from the Netherworld Hound of Dog Town for so long.

"We can't get in touch with the team either... What about Jack?"

Lin Yue seemed unwilling to speak.

V pursed his lips and floored the accelerator.

He's back to his old weirdo. To be honest, V would rather he hadn't sent Rin into Dogtown as an informant.

Perhaps that's when things started to spiral out of control.

No matter how much suffering or harm I've endured, it doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that perhaps it will all end soon.

V's biggest hope now is that Rin can leave Dogtown after it ends... Does Arasaka have the technology to cure him? V thought about it. He had already inquired about this information in Night City. The middleman, who was busy with gangs and company commissions, wouldn't know how to cure the disease of having programs running in his brain.

Perhaps the hope lies beyond Earth?
V kept thinking about it on and off.

"I want to live...V."

The noisy roar, coupled with V's distraction, prevented him from hearing Rin's words.

"Uh, what?"

She turned her head to look at Lin Yue, who was leaning back in his seat with his head tilted back, the red light in his eyes still lingering, trying to figure out whether he was speaking himself or one of those wandering AIs.

"I'm sorry, I kept that from you. There's something in Dogtown that could save my life—"

"Cough cough!"

Lin Yue coughed violently twice, wiped the blood from his mouth, and let out a long sigh.

V's expression clearly understood.

"I knew it... You're not the kind of person who would risk your life for the company. You're always scheming and relentlessly climbing the ladder... So resources, status, and the right to play cards are what you really want, right?"

Rin has an almost obsessive attachment to Dogtown; she should have realized this long ago.

V suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of frustration.

Meanwhile, some oblivious guy was still chuckling as he spoke, "I've always felt that you're completely focused on the company. Jack has tried to persuade you a lot, but you think that your status, car, and house are all in the company's hands... Your family is well-off, so there's nothing wrong with you having this idea."

“V… I’m leaving the matter of Dogtown to you. Someone has to give Lai Xuan an explanation.”

V listened to what was being said next to him and felt utterly annoyed.

"If you want to do this, you do it yourself! What the hell does it have to do with me?!"

How is this any different from a will?
Lin Yue adjusted his body.

“During the time Sasha took things out of my head, I figured out a lot of things.”

"Misty is right, fate is indeed playing tricks on me."

“I’m not sure if I can still do these things, V… tell me, if someone is going to hell because of me—there’s only one lifeline, who will pull that rope?”

V gritted his teeth, "That's all fake—wait, just a rope? What are you talking about?"

A bad feeling grew infinitely in my mind.

Lin Yue slowly turned his head, staring at that astonished yet perfect face. "What should I do? Tell me... V."

This was the only time Rin showed helplessness in front of him.

V withdrew his gaze, his expression calm.

"There's only one dose of medicine, so I hope you'll take it."

Being a little selfish isn't so bad; having grown up in a corporate and family environment, I already know what selfishness is.

A gust of air came out of Lin Yue's nasal cavity.

This is the optimal solution. That piece of RELIC is his only hope. He drags his mangled body, which has enough power to self-destruct, to the antidote.

scoff!

The car came to a sudden stop!

V gritted his teeth, "Arasaka definitely has a way to save you. Your team, your cyber hackers, and that woman who helped you reel in the cables in Dogtown, I'll do everything I can to help you—go to Honshu, quick!"

The cars following behind also stopped at the same time.

No one asked what had happened, as if giving the man and woman time to make a choice.

Lin Yue stared out of the car like a dead man.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two hovercars transform from black dots to clearer images, rapidly approaching…

Immediately afterwards——

A bright red neon rectangle appeared above the V team's head.

The huge warning sign appeared on all four sides, making it quite eye-catching.

Hearing the familiar alarm sound, V exclaimed in astonishment, "Terrorist SWAT team...? How could this be—damn it!"

Lin Yue slowly turned his head to look at the woman who was trying to reverse the car, her face full of anger and cursing under her breath.

Rin's voice came through:

"V, stop them for me."

"I...I'm begging you."

V stopped what he was doing and stared intently at the guy who was holding down his gearshift.

……

　Just a quick update: since starting the book on June 7th, I've updated a total of 6.7 words, averaging over 84 words per month. And it seems I've only taken one day off (even when I was healthy, I was still updating). As a part-time author, achieving a pace exceeding that of a full-time author is truly commendable. It seems few authors on Qidian maintain such a high intensity even as part-timers. So… regarding recent updates, please don't rush to criticize, it's been a normal amount. During the holiday, I wrote around 5000 words in two chapters. After working so hard for so long, I wanted to rest for a few days. I won't stop updating; I'll gather some more drafts tomorrow, and around the 5th, depending on the situation, I'll resume my normal daily output of 20-8 words. I hope everyone can spend quality time with their families during the holidays, have a smooth life, and enjoy some good times and get out and about!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)