Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 185 Straight to Hell (Part 2) (8K) [Second Update]

boom!
When data attacks each other at a rate of trillions per second—

Sasha discovered that, within the view of thousands of devices in the Beidou facility she controlled, a man with a body covered in wounds was slowly advancing, wielding a knife in one hand…

It's Rin.

Sasha glanced at the guy with her emotionless eyes.

"Sorry, Rin, just wait a little while."

All the hellhound robots in the facility began rushing towards Rin's location in an attempt to stop that guy.

Because of the interconnectedness, Rin's voice echoed in his mind.

“Sasha…it’s me—I’ve finally gotten in touch with you.”

"We all have a part in the neural matrix inside the Little Beidou system, don't do anything foolish! Tell me your location!"

Sasha watched the progress bar slowly loading.

The lark's resistance grew increasingly fierce, but she still spoke calmly and deliberately:

"Rin, you've probably forgotten that we're always connected... I can see your past, everything about you... So we've known each other for a long time, haven't we?"

"In your memory, I saw myself falling from the biotechnology building, lying on a cold car, and Mann was heartbroken..."

Facing a rapidly charging Hellhound, Lin Yue didn't hesitate to use the Black Wall Protocol, dragging the machine into an abyss of chaos—then his blade pierced the Hellhound's core, and his gorilla arm operated at full power, crushing the machine's head!
Inside the channel, Sasha was still talking to herself, and her voice was clearly a harbinger of AI completely dominating her personality!
Lin Yue knew this very well because he had experienced it himself.

“Ms. V is right, you should be a little selfish—”

"Destroying biotechnology has been my long-cherished wish, and I don't want the Neural Matrix either. I've been waiting for this day since the moment I accepted AI... It's such a pity that this day came too soon."

Lin Yue jumped off the Hellhound, and two Hellhounds pushed through the doorway and rushed in!

His expression grew increasingly grim.

"Sasha, the AI ​​is deceiving you. Stop the process—"

Sasha said with some regret in the channel, "Too strong... I really can't imagine what in this city could possibly stop you."

She watched as Lin Yue swiftly destroyed the two Hellhounds, and murmured…

"Rin, the AI ​​is wearing your body down. Stop using it. Stay where you are, and pretend I'm..."

"I beg you."

Sasha felt her consciousness rapidly sliding into the abyss.

Time is running out.

Lin Yue wouldn't listen to Sasha. His Wild Moon Blade was running at full power, and the blade in his hand began to chip with each slash.

"Oh shit…"

However, the gates, hellhounds, camera devices, and automatic turrets inside the military facility are all under Sasha's control, and these obstacles are preventing Lin Yue from averting this unpredictable loss!

"Sasha, I'll help you get revenge with biotechnology. You just wait for me, and let the lark go! Tell me where you are?!"

Sasha made a listless "hmm" sound through her nose.

"Lin Yue...it's been so long since I called you that..."

The corridor in front of Lin Yue seemed to have no end.

It was as if there were holographic projections in every corner around him. Lin Yue saw Sasha standing in the biotechnology building, staring at the screen in despair... Then, the scene changed back to him sitting behind his desk, with Sasha sitting obediently on the office sofa, sipping her coffee, her face full of pride and satisfaction.

Having lost their support, Sasha and Stella are taken in by the Liz Bar and become hackers maintaining the bar's subnet. The neon sign with the cat-eared girl at the entrance is modeled after Sasha.

Sasha and Stella play together, support each other, and grow up, scene after scene unfolding on screen—until Sasha is playing with a kaleidoscope, while a pale-faced woman with a warm smile lies on a hospital bed, gazing at her child.

That's...Sasha's childhood memory?

A series of scenes unfolded repeatedly in every corner of this facility.

Memories unfold in reverse chronological order.

Lin Yue knew that among his "past life memories," which even Sasha had noticed, the lark had also experienced this kind of memory manifestation when she was about to enter hell. He had also seen the "holographic projections" in Song Zhaomei's mind and the red and black data around the edges...

It all seemed too late.

Clang, clang... The knife in Lin Yue's hand fell to the ground.

He sighed dejectedly.

How to describe this feeling?
Even though everything has changed, it still matches the story in my memory.

Fate is like a guide arranging the course of events, only with a different beginning and new people suffering.

Back when he took Sasha in the Arasaka Tower, he knew that one day hatred might truly consume this girl.

Now... it has truly come true.

Sasha, who seemed innocent, orchestrated her revenge plan in her own way, and all of this was perfectly kept from Lin Yue's eyes.

"What's going on? This is... Sasha?"

Sound came through the long-silent channel, intermittent and broken…

Lin Yue: "Rebecca?"

The girl on the other end exclaimed in surprise, "Lin Yue?! We're in some underground facility. This place is so strange, there are all sorts of scenes—it's hard to describe. There's you, me, everyone, and Sasha up there!"

Lin Yue said in a deep voice, "That's Sasha's memory. I won't explain it now... I'm here too. Tell me what you saw there first?"

Rebecca said "Oh," and then said seriously, "It seems she walked onto a long bridge and crawled into... uh, a big iron ball...?"

A giant iron ball?
If I'm not mistaken, that's the core computing hub of the Beidou system!

"Damn it, the map's been disturbed! There are monster robots everywhere, Lin Yue! We just entered... [Sector 3], where are you?"

Rebecca lowered her voice, as if she were avoiding something.

Lin Yue plugged the human-computer interaction cable into an external device, calculating Sasha's location. At the same time, he said, "Sasha is in danger... Rebecca, who's next to you?"

Dorio

Rebecca glanced at Sunrise Old Man, but to avoid trouble, she didn't mention him.

Lin Yue pondered the approximate location of Zone 3, which was a sterile area... This meant that Rebecca's location was very close to the core area.

“Look after each other. Head to the area I sent you, three sections… find the [Thermal Control Subsystem], overload it—these doors will open due to the emergency protocol. Meet up with me, then find Sasha. Don’t wander into any other areas! Understand?”

Rebecca's face stiffened. "Won't all those robots come looking for you?! I still don't understand what's going on, how is Sasha in danger—"

But seeing Lin Yue's serious expression in the holographic communication box flashing in her eyes, she knew she couldn't persuade this adventurous guy, so she gritted her teeth and endured it.

"Damn it! Fine, fine, I can't do anything with you...you little bastard!"

Lin Yue nodded.

The air was filled with a cacophony of unsettling noises from the Little Big Dipper facility and the scurrying of hellhounds. He listened intently to the sounds around the gate, waiting anxiously…

……
-
Number of users: 14

[WARNING: Unstable local network connection; server overload; please contact the administrator...]

【Maman Bridget】Watched the escalating chaos near the Black Wall in the network domain with her indifferent eyes. Her virtual avatar still had the thick lips of a Haitian and the gaudy clothing decorated with voodoo.

Apart from the two hackers who were conducting a large-scale counterattack using the black wall, the other 12 hackers who dared to appear at this point were the Voodoo Gang members.

Behind her, a virtual man with a muscular physique resembling a member of the Animal Gang, sporting dreadlocks, spoke in a muffled voice.

"[High Priest]...The internet censors are probably coming soon...and those two hackers have already noticed us. Should we have the others go offline temporarily so we can observe the situation?"

Bridget chuckled coldly, crossed his arms, and spoke in the most authentic Haitian dialect in a tone that sounded like he was chanting a spell.

"[Plasid]...You're too cowardly. They won't have time to deal with us—right now...that woman (the Nightingale) who's using the Black Wall is circumventing internet censorship, and the guy who's challenging her (Sasha) is modifying the Black Wall's program at any cost. She's gone mad and is even trying to communicate with the AI ​​outside the wall to join her in attacking the Black Wall."

Modify the black wall?

Is communicating with AI outside the Great Firewall a traitor to humanity?
Placid was startled, almost thinking that the Voodoo Cult had risen to power again.

"Is it a slider?"

The Voodoo Gang's de facto leader glanced at the rigid fellow and said, "Even if you gave Rachel ten lives, he wouldn't go near the Black Wall... Besides, this spineless bastard works for the Joint Logistics Command! You need to change your thinking... This is a company infighting."

Just as the two were talking, the giant wall that seemed to never deform suddenly bulged out in an exaggerated arc!
Attacks on the Black Wall by AI roaming outside the wall occur every moment, but most of them are just data ash after failed breakthroughs. However, such an exaggerated arc proves that a "heavyweight guest" has arrived on the other side. This is almost a million times more powerful than those AIs that have no intelligent thinking and only know how to kill!

Placid's eyes lit up!
"Is it her (Ultraman Cunningham)? High Priestess..."

Bridget shook her head. "She is a god. She doesn't need crude methods to get past the Black Wall. The Black Wall is subservient to her... She can get past it whenever she wants. I think the users who challenged the Black Wall gateway may have attracted a group of relatively inexpensive AI. The Black Wall is just distracted. It doesn't mean that it can be breached."

Placid gritted his teeth, "What if the Great Firewall breaks down? The internet police will definitely come after us first!"

Bridget watched the black wall rise and fall repeatedly, and said coldly:

"Believers, tell me, what will happen to us if the Black Wall breaks down?"

Except for Placid, the other ten people knelt on one knee. "We will become gods!"

Placid looked at the fanatical followers behind him and quietly gazed at the woman in front of him.

"See, my assistant... The chance to ascend is only once. You can turn around and ask my followers if they are willing to leave the network!"

Placid remained silent for a long time.

“But she is the only one who currently controls the path to godhood. We haven’t been able to think of a suitable way to contact her. High Priest, you need to think about this again… Without her, can we really achieve godhood? I think we should withdraw and await her will!”

Bridget said helplessly, "But that's the trouble. She doesn't want to meet us believers! Otto Cunningham has already removed the human element that hinders progress. We need to get something that can attract her... It's no different from finding a grain of sand in the ocean. We can't fathom the thoughts of a god."

"Internet surveillance is infiltrating us more and more frequently now. Once our evidence is secured, we will become the enemy of the whole world. Is that what you want?"

Placid's face darkened.

"Find that rock star and lure that woman out; I think that's the best approach!"

Bridget: "That's a useless approach..."

Placid finally blurted out what he had been holding back.

"Once the black wall is breached, the world will become hell!"

This statement clearly offended Bridget, a devout follower of Voodoo.

“Plasid, don’t make me lose patience with you—hell is only in the mouths of heretics, and this is hell we are in now. Only cyberspace, only here, is our divine kingdom!”

She continued sarcastically, "Once you become a god, who cares about the well-being of ants? Forget that hopeless plan, Placid…you're too naive. Such a huge commotion will surely attract the gods; we're about to have a chance to communicate, and—"

"Are you disrespecting the gods? How dare you!"

Placid obediently knelt on one knee on the ground.

"I'm sorry, High Priest..."

The female hacker, who aspired to achieve immortality in the online world, muttered, "Let's make a bigger scene, hopefully she'll show up before the internet censors arrive..."

……

Inside the facility at this moment.

Lin Yue leaped through the door like a fish, and just as the automatic door was closing behind him, a mechanical arm jammed the gap!

He stepped back.

The arm reached out and scooped several times, each time accompanied by a gust of wind.

Although it was unknown how much longer Sasha could hold on, Lin Yue's own body had already reached its limit.

Rebecca's anxious cries came through.

Seeing his prosthetic body's combat system mostly malfunctioning due to overload, Lin Yue could only hold his sword with one hand to keep himself from falling.

Just when Lin Yue had nowhere to retreat, the door seemed to have increased the force of the hydraulic system because it had been unable to close for so long!
The hellhound's arm was also instantly severed by the powerful force of the door closing!
He breathed a sigh of relief and almost collapsed to his knees.

At this moment, outside the circular glass of the main control console in the control room, in the center of the pitch-black space, stands an iron sphere with a diameter of more than five meters. It is connected to a dense network of wires, and below it is an endless abyss. Only a bridge that can only allow one person to pass through leads to the outside of this core hub.

Lin Yue sighed, "I'm fine, Rebecca."

Along the way, Rebecca and Dorio learned of the changes that had befallen Sasha, and they made their way closer to him through a series of perilous journeys.

The small door next to the core control room opened.

Rebecca, who rushed in, immediately spotted Lin Yue, who was swaying.

"damn it!"

She carefully supported Lin Yue with her cold, gorilla-like arms.

However, her expression showed more sadness than shock.

Lin Yue's body is now completely covered in horrific wounds, the crooked prosthetic structure in his left arm... When Rebecca got close to him, she almost thought she was standing next to a furnace, and that she had just grabbed his arm and a puff of white smoke had appeared.

At such high temperatures, can a human body still exist...?
Lin Yue plopped down on the ground. Dorio abandoned her father, who was lying on her like a dead dog, and rushed over to Lin Yue, injecting him with adrenaline and also putting the last of his medication into Lin Yue's mouth.

His battered body finally regained a little bit of its motor function, and he gritted his teeth and stood up.

“I should have known… Mr. Rin is you.”

Dorothy's expression was complicated. "No one in Night City would pay us such high wages for doing the dirty work... I'm sorry I couldn't help you much, and I almost let Mann affect our plans."

Lin Yue, panting heavily, said, "Working for the company isn't anything... never mind... I've already found Mann for you, that bastard is—"

Wow!

The control room glass suddenly shattered!
Before they could finish speaking, everyone looked out the window at the hellhound climbing up. Lin Yue's brain was working again, quickly deciphering the panel!

It quickly crawled in, but Sasha's helpless, distorted cries came from the module.

"Leave now, you...I...I can't control myself anymore..."

The simple-minded Rebecca thought Sasha was trapped in the innermost core area.

Rebecca instantly teleported in front of Lin Yue to block him, raising her gun and shouting, "Give me back my friend!"

Lin Yue and Dorothy's pupils suddenly contracted!
"Rebecca!"

finished...

Pfft!

The sound of the S.A.S. starting up was somewhat disjointed.

The sound of the high-speed drill bit quickly plunging into her body could be heard. Exhausted, Lin Yue failed to notice Rebecca's condition, and even Dorio's eyes showed a moment of dejection.

A series of afterimages slid to Rebecca's side!

Sunrise Old Man's eyes were lifeless. He shoved the girl aside with his body. Due to the impact, Rebecca's body rolled quickly. The drill bit pierced the chest of the armless Lone Wolf. As the drill bit was lifted up, Sunrise Old Man was sent flying like a rag doll on a bamboo skewer!
at the same time.

The structure beneath the hellhound's feet was unstable, causing it to sink rapidly, dragging Sunrise Daddy down with it into the darkness below...

Rebecca, who had rolled several times on the ground, rubbed her head and slowly got up.

Clearly taken aback by Old Man Sunrise's sudden move, she instinctively raised her hand to scratch her head, and a chip fell from her palm.

……

When all obstacles were gone, Lin Yue, whose body could barely move, walked step by step toward the core center with Dorio's support, all he could hear was Rebecca's anxious dissuasion.

Even the most naive Rebecca could see that Lin Yue's trip was no different from suicide.

"How are you supposed to fight against New America hackers on the internet looking like this?!"

"Let's stop doing this, okay... I'll go unplug Sasha's internet cable for you..."

Lin Yue shook his head.

"Rebecca, Sasha will die if the wire is pulled. Only I can save her..."

Then his prosthetic hand emitted a burst of hot air, as if he wanted to pat Rebecca's head, but then lowered his hand.

"Don't you trust me? ...Whenever I fail to keep my promise, I can definitely get Sasha back."

Rebecca looked suspiciously at the guy who couldn't even walk, yet he still managed to squeeze out a confident smile on his blood-stained face.

"Don't lie to me! You know I'm the easiest to fool!"

Dorothy hid a hint of reluctance in her eyes.

"The online world doesn't require physical movement, just internet access... It's okay, Rebecca."

Lin Yue glanced at Dorio with a hint of gratitude, then staggered into the core hub, leaving Rebecca staring blankly at their retreating figures.

……
-
Within the core of the crimson halo, the intense heat at the back of Sasha's head caused the temperature in the entire space to soar to over 50°C!
She finally completed the dual-track operation despite the cost.

The lark cried out in terror, "How dare you stick your hand out over the wall? Those are devils!"

Sasha's body trembled.

Her voice was low and emotionless as she said, "Devil... Lark, you tried to communicate with these programs when you were desperate, so why can't I? I know you can invoke the Black Wall to erase me and the AI ​​outside the wall. What are you afraid of?"

"There's no turning back now. If you don't take action, you're just waiting to die."

Rumble!
The guys outside the black wall seemed to sense Sasha's call, and the entire wall began to bulge rapidly under this intense supply!
Within the vast collection of data flying everywhere, even the smallest speck of dust contains tens of gigabytes of data, and there are trillions of these specks of dust in cyberspace.

In other words, each attack would cause data loss to more than a dozen companies' data fortresses!
This is beyond human capability; Sasha has completely combined the computing power of the entire Beidou system!
The lark managed to put up a barely passable defense using the Blackwall gateway. Perhaps Jesus was just like this, helplessly watching the nails sink into his hands before he was nailed to the cross... The lark had nowhere to retreat and could only relinquish its control over the Blackwall.

then.

The black wall instantly sensed the provocation and began to expand rapidly!

The number of domains that users can connect to is gradually shrinking. This wall is expanding at an exaggerated exponential rate, attempting to completely annihilate the data outside the wall!

Of course, this includes Sasha as well…

This seemingly slow expansion is actually an almost peak upload speed in the world—it reached Sasha in just a few milliseconds!

It's all coming to an end!

Sasha's tiny body crashed into the blade like a monstrous wave, leaving the little fish helpless and vulnerable. The virtual image began to crumble and turn to dust.

A storm of data swept in, and the miniature black wall standing behind the girl could no longer withstand this level of attack. Like a small mound of earth blown away by a gale, it was instantly swallowed up by the data within the black wall... Perhaps there wasn't even time for mourning before she died—

Sasha had only one thought: to drag the other person down with him!

The countless data chains are beginning to crumble!
A pair of scarlet eyes on the black wall anxiously watched the enemy, who was still not defeated. The commotion was getting louder and louder, and no one could get away...

The lark could only pray that it would freeze, exit the process, and quickly disconnect from the network the moment the data disappeared.

Wow!
The data chains flying everywhere were more robust than ever before, and the process took an incredibly long time.

Just as the lark was about to succeed, the rapid expansion of the black wall suddenly froze—

If virtual avatars could display facial features, the lark would surely be deathly pale.

Suddenly, a seemingly endless "cloud" appeared in the boundless darkness above...

The lark murmured in despair, "Damn it..."

Hackers in New America knew that it wasn't a cloud in cyberspace—but a tangible program resembling a spaceship, its massive size testifying to its complexity, and possibly even being an AI itself, but it had an owner.

A term that had almost disappeared from hackers' ears after the 2070s was recalled by the lark…

AI Hunter!

The lark, who had access to a great deal of confidential information about New America and the company, knew that this unregulated and boundless program had its own name—Orion! (Appears in Chapter 138, "The Edge Walker")
This program is the same one that internet surveillance used to track AI... and it itself has a certain degree of intelligence.

The lark's eyes gradually turned vicious. She immediately noticed that Orion, which had just appeared, had no operator accompanying it.

still have a chance.

As long as it doesn't discover itself, everything is fine.

But if I expose myself, then I'm destined to face the internet censors...

The lark was weighing the costs and praying that Orion would focus its attention on Sasha, who was not yet completely overwhelmed.

She speculated that this thing must have been "fed" data spores by the creators that could track it here.

Orion's inherent characteristic is its high sensitivity to AI-residual data spores. Moreover, it can track AI on its own without a controller!

At the same time, Orion's most terrifying feature is that this low-intelligence AI program can call its controller through the built-in Avatar Function, allowing the controller to provide assistance at any time without having to be submerged in the cyber network.

The most bizarre aspect of this system, which can be translated as "supernatural power," is that AI hunters can enhance their computing power simply by connecting to it—meaning that hunters will not directly confront the AI, which undoubtedly enhances the security of AI hunters.

However, if Orion fails while using this subsystem, the AI ​​hunter's brain will be rapidly destroyed within 24 hours, turning it into a mindless idiot.

In other words, even if the Lark wins against Orion, she still has to ensure that she can quickly open the box for the AI ​​Hunter offline, prevent him from leaking information for 24 hours, and then completely shut him up and die silently…

Going against internet censorship is practically going against the entire internet convention, but the lark doesn't care.

If all the participants in this secret die, then I will still have a chance to survive.

She stared grimly at the Orion program that recompiled the Black Wall data and controlled the riot; Sasha's almost ethereal body was gradually exposed to Orion's shadow...

as predicted!

Orion immediately discovered that the data spores on Sasha matched the characteristics of the AI ​​it was tracking!
Because its master once stood atop it, grinding a data spore of AI into dust, it has now found this guy…

The program emits a cold, hollow yet pleasant voice, like that of a young, sweet woman.

"Target detected, highly accurate."

"Nearby network users, please log off. The disinfection process will begin in three seconds!"

“3…2…1.”

"Protocol activated!"

The moment the words fell, sharp, sword-like data spikes began to fall from the boundless program, attempting to shatter Sasha, who was as small as a sesame seed, into pieces!

At this moment, Sasha's AI self-defense mechanism was activated. The broken and sloppy data chains hastily blocked the attack from above, and the spikes arrived in an instant!

Without Sasha's guidance, these enormous spikes smashed through the chains almost without any resistance!

"Humph…"

The lark noticed that the program that had been freezing it had disappeared. After a cold laugh, it felt a sense of relief and wanted to quietly log out of the network.

Before that, she wanted to see the operating logic of this program with her own eyes, after all, she couldn't guarantee that the internet censors wouldn't come after her again...

hum!
Just as the spikes were about to touch Sasha, a blinding red light flashed.

The lark instinctively wanted to use the black wall to read the information, but being above Orion, she had to suppress her impulse, and a sense of uncertainty began to creep into her heart…

Time passed by minute by minute.

Just when the lark thought the program was about to end, the irregular Orion constellation began to transform into two large hands, which suddenly grabbed downwards!

Orion's hollow voice echoed through cyberspace, seemingly tinged with anger.

"Disinfection failed, new suspected target detected. AI source code—"

"cold!"

Lin Yue looked up at the giant hand falling from the sky, with irregularly protruding cubes of data on it. The red and black data clinging to Sasha began to slowly flow into his body... until he transformed into a strange, enormous network image that still had a human form but resembled a program.

The data that broke free from the black wall spread rapidly, enveloping Lin Yue's fist and penetrating every corner of Lin Yue's network consciousness!
in a blink!
Bang!
Lin Yue clashed violently with the data expert's hand, which was almost completely disproportionate to his own!
It seemed like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, but this seemingly casual action actually managed to block Orion's first wave of data attacks.

"Data volume judgment error, checking Avtar Function, calling program administrator."

The lark looked at the guy she knew so well and cursed under her breath, "Damn it... how dare he let AI control him?"

First it was Sasha, then it was Rin.

These two are like reckless fools, how dare they let AI take control of them without hesitation?!
We can't keep it any longer—

The lark began to accelerate its escape.

My heart suddenly skipped a beat.

The lark raised its head in disbelief…

She noticed that the guy in the distance seemed to have sensed something in his empty eyes, and within milliseconds, he locked onto a certain area of ​​the black wall, albeit slowly…

"No no no..."

Song Zhaomei murmured.

The program, a blend of AI and humanity, seemed to sneer. Rin gently raised her hand and pointed to the lark's location, as if she could see through the lark's panic.

His and Sasha's voices overlapped as they came:
"Where do you want to go?"

"A good friend of the new America?"

……

　【Area 3】: The most core area of ​​the Beidou system.

　　[Thermal Control Subsystem]: In the game, the player, as V, needs to complete a major node task in the thermal control subsystem.

　　【Maman Bridget】: In the main storyline of 2077, he is the leader of the Voodoo Gang, whose hideout is located in the Great Empire Mall in Taiping Continent.

　　[High Priest]: The Voodoo Cult maintains the worship of primitive tribes, and the most respected members within the cult are called priests.

　　[Plasid]: The man in the base game 2077 who treats the player like a rag.

　　Orion: A program used to capture and destroy AI, a cyberpunk board game concept.

　　【Avatar Subsystem (Supernatural Power System)】: This is described in the text.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)