Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 187 Logical Overreach and Freedom of the Press (1.1W)

[Calling: Rin]

The user you dialed does not exist.

V, who had finally managed to hold off the pursuers for a long time, wanted to inquire about the situation, but the message notification that popped up when she made the call made her heart jump.

So she started calling the other members of the team and found that the network in Dogtown seemed to be completely down... In addition, she didn't know why Rin said those words that sounded like "last words" in the car, which immediately made her feel extremely bad.

At this moment, V felt completely exhausted and sat down heavily on the ground, leaning against the car.

She could only ponder it patiently.

The familiar phone rang, but the call screen was shaking slightly, perhaps due to a network malfunction.

[Incoming caller: Unknown]

"Ok?"

She felt relieved and quickly answered the phone. The holographic function was not activated on the other end, and the voice sounded like a woman's.

"Are you... Miss V?"

The other person seemed very tired, and there was a stubbornness in them that they were putting on a brave face.

"Yes, who is it?"

The person on the other end breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's great... I'll try to keep it short, Rin is at the Long Beach storage yard—"

V rubbed his temples, which were throbbing from overworking his brain, his eyes somewhat vacant. "I know he's there, ma'am. You have to tell me who you are... How did you get into the company's network?"

The person on the other end, afraid that V would hang up, quickly said, "Ms. V... Mr. Rin... he's missing!"

Missing?!
"What exactly is going on?"

V's tired body quickly tensed up.

With things escalating to this point, the most urgent task is for everyone to evacuate. The Dogtown middleman is dead, and the entire chessboard has been turned upside down. All that's left is for Arasaka to enter the fray, and everything will be a success.

V had originally planned to do this after taking a short rest.

As a senior company employee, I should be waiting for instructions from higher management—especially Lai Xuan's decision—in this situation.

“My name is Emma Watson… Mr. Rin’s informant in Dogtown. He’s currently in an underground facility at the Long Beach storage yard, looking for one of his hackers. It seems they’re caught up in… uh, yes, a cyber war. One of his hackers, named Qiwei, told me—she’s already down there.”

go down?

V stood up, and the other person continued talking, but the more she listened, the uglier her expression became.

Damn it, how dare they just go down into those unknown facilities?!
What is this cybersecurity expert under Rin's command up to?
Emma repeated Qiwei's words verbatim, roughly meaning: There's an underground facility at the Dogtown Long Beach storage yard, containing a functional deep-sea network access point—

And it involves... the Black Wall!
Emma and her team are currently facing wave after wave of attacks from the Hounds at the Long Beach stockpile, and are clearly stretched thin.

Currently, all the personnel sent out to the facility have disappeared without a trace, so they are continuing to search for all available personnel to find Rin…

Oh shit!

V's hands slowly clenched; the course of her actions was as follows:

First, hold off the terrorist squad for Rin, then Rin goes to rescue Sasha, who is blocking hackers online.

But Rin is completely unreachable right now, and combined with the strange things he said while sitting in the passenger seat... there seems to be a barrier hanging over her mind, making it difficult for the counterintelligence chief to figure out the whole thing.

Just then, Emma sent over an attachment that Qiwei had sent.

Inside were some hastily taken pictures. V looked at the Beidou logo. Although she hadn't seen this military science project in the classified documents she had access to, based on the complete set of equipment, she immediately deduced that it might be a military science experiment site related to the network.

“Ms. V, my men are waiting for you on the side of the abandoned building at the Long Beach stockpile. Please hurry—”

The signal was immediately lost.

V, carefully examining the attachment, murmured, "This is... AI-related research?"

Oops!

These two words were almost inextricably linked to Rin, so she braced herself against the side and, despite her weak legs, quickly staggered to her feet.

At this point, apart from internal communications, Hansen had cut off all contact between Dogtown and the outside world.

If Hansen insists on letting Night City's forces get involved, the Terrorist Mobile Squad probably won't just consist of these three airships.

Hansen's plan was to wear down all of Rin's men and then surround and kill him in Dogtown.

She then began searching the offline Arasaka database for information about Rin's facility at the Long Beach stockpile—but unfortunately, there was nothing, and V didn't know any other specific information about the place.

"Is the thing that saved your life here?... Just how much do you know, Rin..."

V, his hands trembling, pulled a box of Arasaka first-aid supplies from his waist. Before he even reached Suzuki, the samurai's limbs began to move slowly—

Seeing that his subordinate could still move, V breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at Suzuki's shoulder, which was almost sunken in, he pressed the medicine into Suzuki's mouth.

"Find a safe place and hold on... I have to go find Rin. This guy broke into an abandoned military facility at the Long Beach storage yard... Damn it, I don't know how there's a deep-sea access point in there."

Military science facilities?!
A moment of distraction crossed Suzuki's pained expression.

V noticed something was off about the other person's expression.

"what happened?"

Suzuki shook his head. "I hope it's not what I'm thinking... Ms. V, are you aware that Soul Slayer has a competitor?"

A competitor to the Soul Killer?
As the head of counterintelligence, everyone knew that Soul Killer was once Arasaka's foundation, but... what military technology could possibly counter this kind of cyber super weapon?
Seeing V frowning in thought, Suzuki replied, "When I was in Japan, I participated in an infiltration operation. Intelligence indicated that there was military technology research related to this product in a certain area of ​​Pacific Island."

"But we didn't find any internal informants later. The senior executives of the military science company involved in the project were all purged."

V: "Is there a relevant description file?"

Suzuki shook his head. "We do whatever the higher-ups tell us to do, and we don't leave any traces... But the intelligence before the operation proved that the facility was a project that recycled military-grade AI from the old network and then reused it—headquarters even considered restarting the operation because they noticed that the Military Science Institute had been active on this project before the unification war."

"But I don't know what happened in the end... a war of unification broke out."

Based solely on verbal accounts, it's impossible to determine whether this information is true or false.

V pondered the clues about the military-grade AI that Suzuki had mentioned…

correct!

Rin had previously mentioned the idea of ​​stopping the iteration of mobile AI. If what Suzuki said is true, has the military science team mastered the technology to stop the iteration of AI? But how did Rin know this? Could it be a coincidence?

The young man with a cigarette in his hand in her mind was always very purposeful, just as Misty said, with prophetic action.

No way…

V was speechless for a moment.

Suzuki murmured, "AI... I hope Rin-sama's luck isn't that bad."

After only a slight hesitation, V made his decision immediately.

"No... I have to go to that facility to find Rin... Something happened to him, and this mess in Dogtown is beyond repair!"

"Thank you for the information, Suzuki... After all, you should have kept this classified information to yourself for the rest of your life."

Suzuki's lips moved slightly.

"Actually... Ms. V, I made a mistake."

V stared straight at Suzuki Yoshiki for a long time.

Making a mistake?

Does that mean he once sold Rin?

A sinister glint appeared in V's eyes.

Suzuki seemed oblivious to the other person's gaze. "This happened before I came to Night City..."

Hearing this, V finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"No wonder... because not many people are willing to leave headquarters, so... what did you do?"

Suzuki said slowly, "Ahem... It's a project that Peizhuo Petrochemical signed with us... 70% of the land in Honshu needs to continue planting Chun 2 wheat... At that time, because the patent tax was too high, those farmers were misled by people with ulterior motives. In order for the project to proceed smoothly, we were responsible for the suppression operation..."

“They were a family who made their living off the land… The company told us to get rid of the family that was in charge, but I made a mistake in my work—they, they ran away.”

V shifted her gaze away from Suzuki's shifty eyes.

“I’m sure Lady Rin has seen my file and was prepared to be rejected or sidelined as a marginal figure… My colleagues at headquarters laughed at me, saying that a broken bottle cap is paired with a broken bottle, and that headquarters assigned me to Lady Rin… It was actually a form of contempt.”

A barely perceptible sigh.

V: "But you did a really good job, that's a fact. Rin didn't make a mistake in hiring you."

"Suzuki Takeyoshi, can you still move?"

Suzuki checked his body and nodded seriously.

V began explaining the plan: "Hey listen... no matter what, Rin can't die in this awful place. Dogtown needs him to be Arasaka's representative. I have to go."

Suzuki: "But can you still sustain the fight?"

As he spoke, the samurai tried to stand up, but V pressed down on his other, uninjured shoulder.

Her voice was steady and powerful, as if it could give people immense confidence.

“It’s a cyber operation, there’s not much you can do to help—you’ve done enough. Now all you need to do is prevent Hansen’s people from finding us, and try to contact the retreating teams outside, preferably headquarters… This is the encrypted digital communication chip that Arasaka Yoriyuki gave me. Try to contact him if possible.”

"Oh, right, there's also a little girl named Catherine... Is there any news from the company?"

V never forgets anything Rin arranges for him.

Suzuki pursed his lips and shook his head. "Ms. V, the signal is completely cut off, but the other team had already taken action before we came in, so it shouldn't be a big problem—Ms. V, that son of a bitch Hansen... wants to trap us all here to die."

Yes, this person has now completely formed a grudge against Rin, himself, and even Yoriyuki—just wait and see.

V chuckled coldly, his gaze darting through the gaps between buildings to the large structure in this desolate city that displayed a screen featuring Hansen's image...

"I'm afraid he won't get what he wants today."

"The company will not tolerate scoundrels who play the 'win-win' game. He can't take the blame for this!"

……
-
The biggest difference between AI and humans is that in any game, the probability of AI being influenced by other factors is extremely low.

When a deluge of data comes crashing down, any hacker with internet access experience and some knowledge of network surveillance knows that for Rin, this is basically a dead end.

Because the lark knows the power of Orion.

If we had to find the person in the world with the deepest understanding of AI, there would be no one else besides internet regulators and AI hunters who receive rewards from them... Therefore, the methods by which internet regulators attack AI are beyond the comprehension of many hackers.

If it weren't for the fact that Bai Lingniao, as the chief intelligence analyst of the Joint Logistics Command, had access to many classified documents, she certainly wouldn't have known about this AI capture program, which only senior cyber investigators had the authority to use.

Although the user of the program determines its upper limit, such as the AI ​​hunter [Witch Hunter (Richard Alderman)] who gradually disappeared in the 2020-2040s, he used the Orion program to complete many feats of single-handedly killing military-grade mobile AI.

Moreover, his computing power enables this program to perform one-to-many network attacks.

But the program's lower limit is the most impressive... because it is an AI with strong initiative, and its supernatural power system is ingeniously designed, almost like a foolproof weapon.

The program's owner might simply be enjoying afternoon tea with a wire connected to their head, while Orion is helping them kill and annex stray AIs. Of course, this isn't without its price; during the time the supernatural system is activated, Orion's owner is unable to engage in complex thinking.

Just as the Lark was frantically pondering how to deal with Orion after it had absorbed Rin, the Black Wall was changing more and more frequently.

Song Zhaomei discovered that the stray AIs she had summoned on the other side of the wall began to disperse almost simultaneously, rapidly moving towards the depths of the cyberspace outside the black wall—like lambs before a pack of wolves. This greatly reduced the pressure on the black wall, which then began to attempt to join forces with Orion to strangle Rin, who was still connected.

"Stupid program!"

The lark felt as if someone was choking her, and her enemy was about to be swallowed by Orion. Not only was she not happy, but she also had to help the enemy suppress the black wall.

If this is the punishment for deception, then the lark accepts it…

So she started using the Blackwall protocol to make extensive modifications to the parameters of some attack commands. Just like the Blackwall calculates a large amount of data, the lark hurriedly makes modifications, and her brain-computer interface power also increased in an instant.

However, during this process, the lark suddenly seemed to discover something, and a flash of inspiration struck her; her intuition told her that she had found a glimmer of opportunity…

The Black Wall Protocol can enable instantaneous communication, and she must find a way to share some of the burden with Rin.

In other words, if Rin were to use New America's moles in Night City to eliminate the network surveillance administrators who provide computing power to Orion offline, she could definitely win.

But this would almost be handing someone a handle against them. New America openly killed a senior administrator of the Internet Security Bureau. If Rin got hold of such a secret, she would be completely finished.

Therefore, Song Zhaomei must make a choice:

Should he continue to wait for Rin's defeat, and then risk unknown dangers by using the Black Wall to fight Orion? Or should he open the box offline for the internet monitors now and let Rin and Teng deal with him?
This seems to be the most disgusting multiple-choice question in the world.

If she could have a second chance, Song Zhaomei would never have dared to use Relic's ability to connect to domains near the Black Wall to deceive Rin. This guy gave her a very strange feeling, as if he had completely seen through her lies…

In other words, Song Zhaomei became obedient.

Although he didn't know how Rin was so sure that he was deceiving her, the truth was that he had lost everything and his wife had also lost his army.

"屮!"

After thinking for a long time, the lark still couldn't bring herself to contact her "old friend" or "teacher" in Night City. On one hand, she felt guilty and ashamed, after all, she had personally sent him to the abyss of hell; on the other hand, she didn't dare to take this action against the internet surveillance. Once exposed, Song Zhaomei knew she would be completely finished!

Time passes by...

At this moment, things inside Orion are clearly not as peaceful as they are outside.

The upper body of the AI ​​symbiote, in the image of Lin Yue, fights against the data torrent coming from all directions!
【检测到攻击：预估剩余次数1e23（1.2乘以10的23次方）】

[Some functions of the program are not working; a core module is corrupted. Please try restarting!]

The data chains on Lin Yue's body tried to push away the white spikes, but then countless fine, hair-like milky-white threads would bite up, just like a spider wrapping its prey with its silk to slowly enjoy it.

But beyond the surface, this phenomenon is actually a process of vying for data rights. Orion believes that acquiring AI is more valuable than eliminating it.

Therefore, once the red and black data chains on Lin Yue's body come into contact with these milky white tentacles, the contact surface will be quickly dyed white, breaking rapidly like weathered rock. Then, the floating data will turn into data spores and dust and fly into the dark and deep Orion "mouth" above.

"Enemy program integrity: 89%..."

Lin Yue, temporarily controlled by the AI, ignored Orion's mocking progress notifications and instead focused on supplying computing power to the AI—

At this moment, the AI ​​was also fighting back with all its might, and even launched several attacks during the brief intervals between attacks when it was almost out of breath!
At the moment the computing power was completely transferred, Lin Yue, who had been enveloped like a small ball, suddenly felt something was wrong.

Those sickly red data points were like Medusa's snake hair, dancing wildly and intensely!

His face began to blur, and all that could be seen was a human face. Suddenly, a large, blood-red hand reached out!

The white filaments that had just been absorbed by Lin Yue were grabbed and held in his hand—

"Neural migration has been completed."

AI Lin Yue muttered something under his breath, and suddenly exerted force with one hand!
As the data snapped, a still-wriggling broken data chain attempted to escape Lin Yue's control.

Orion finally issued a warning: "Logic code has been altered; request to terminate the merger process!"

It worked!
This sudden algorithm shift caught Orion off guard. Instead, under the monitoring of the Orion program, AI Lin Yue shoved all the milky-white data into its mouth. This was how a stray AI from a tsunami defense system was brutally devoured.

boom!
The deafening sounds of data collisions rang out one after another. The AI's calculations were extremely sophisticated. It immediately used an equal amount of attack to block all the Orion data.

The head, its details obscured, was raised as if gazing up at that deep, gaping maw.

"Iteration process, loading complete."

Without human language, Lin Yue acted almost without hesitation. At the same time, a pained face would appear on his chest, which was Lin Yue's consciousness.

"Don't rush to swallow it, give me the permissions first!"

Upon hearing Lin Yue's instructions, the AI ​​actually restrained its desire to iterate. It should be noted that for AI, the allure of iteration and consuming data is the highest priority. The fact that the AI ​​could stop running around at this critical juncture proves that it agrees with Lin Yue's plan.

If someone were observing this large-scale cyberattack, they would know that Orion and Lin Yue were now in a position of complete control...

Lin Yue's first move was to make the AI ​​change its algorithm. Orion would adapt its swallowing or elimination methods to the enemy AI's data architecture. This rapid transformation would allow Orion to start planning its process anew.

This is about buying time.

The second point is that before Lin Yue was enveloped by Orion, he used reverse engineering to thoroughly investigate the bugs in Orion itself and then took advantage of them.

This is easy to understand.

If we compare Orion to a tool on a webpage that requires an administrator's password to access and operate, then there is a kind of logical vulnerability in the program.

in short:
Users with the same permissions or different users under the same role may perform unauthorized operations such as accessing, modifying, or deleting content.

This logical vulnerability, if exploited illegally, could lead to a massive data leak. According to hacker methods, the most serious consequence would be the malicious alteration of user information—this is a form of "logical privilege escalation" in programming.

Lin Yue's hacking skills are not master-level, but his AI skills are.

As an AI extracted from the black wall, it must avoid most of the logical loopholes in cyberspace. The functionality of the black wall requires it to be free of weaknesses, and the way to eliminate weaknesses is to learn from various known logical traps.

Therefore, Lin Yue used a small trick: he followed the instructions in the Bartmouth Networks Guide to find the necessary vulnerabilities and had AI perform the privilege escalation!

This is thanks to that internet surveillance member whom he had never met before—he seemed to trust Orion too much. The moment the supernatural system was activated, he thought he had it in the bag and didn't even enter the network. This undoubtedly gave Lin Yue and the AI ​​more room to maneuver!
Therefore, the entire process becomes:

The system discovered a vulnerability, tampered with Orion's administrator information, took control of Orion, and finally shut it down with administrator privileges, turning it into data for AI iteration!
"Extremely precise operation."

This is the AI's evaluation of Lin Yue.

At that moment, the semi-intelligent Orion reacted immediately.

This made Lin Yue look at the program with new respect. As expected of the sharp sword of the Internet monitoring to kill AI, this thing is more difficult to process than any other program. It is like a savage strongman with super strength but low intelligence. Even after discovering its weakness, it still fights against the high computing power when it is connected to its master!

"Old buddy, we'll have to handle this kind of data ourselves..."

"The timeframe is very short, hurry up and calculate!"

The combined voices of Lin Yue and the AI ​​echoed in the empty envelope of Orion.

Orion: "Illegal operation detected. Anti-tampering enabled."

As the torrent of data clashed in this simulated space, error messages flooded the entire network area—

Visually, countless black and red tentacles pounded against Orion's gradually shrinking, thin barrier, the light as dazzling as fireworks intertwined in the sky! A massive amount of data, enough to overwhelm a brain, spread from the center, and the relentless attack affected far more than just a handful of people.

In an instant, many people in the North American region experienced network outages or network access warehouse errors. Even data fortresses of companies located nearby were torn apart by the data and melted away like ice and snow!
At this moment, hackers in the nearby domain witnessed a cyber war dominated by AI!
While desperately suppressing the surrounding area in an attempt to support Orion's Black Wall, the Lark quickly analyzed the available information.

As the threads extending from the black wall reached out to the surrounding area, the hacker, who was exceptionally skilled in utilizing the black wall technology, was beyond words.

It was a scene of demons gradually tearing apart the wings of angels, with massive data vortexes erupting on multiple levels. Even seasoned hackers could only ensure they weren't kicked off the network—and they even had to guard against the aftershocks turning their brains into ovens…

"Is he... trying to take over Orion from the other side?"

The moment Rin's purpose popped into her mind, the lark's hair stood on end.

This means that Lin Yue is creating a massive, mobile AI within the Great Firewall!

It's a terrifying entity whose underlying logic is a black wall, and which has devoured AI tools used by internet censorship for many years...

"Isn't he afraid that AI will swallow him up with it?"

Even if Rin wins this cyber battle, his body will be unable to contain this inseparable data... and there will be no longer a body in this world to house his soul.

Perhaps Rin wasn't wrong.

I, Song Zhaomei, have never had the courage…

……

"priest!"

"The internet surveillance has started tracking us down! These bugs, they're investigating us first!"

Placid's voice began to show a clear retreat.

Internet censorship seems to have always been like this; a large part of the bad things about the Great Firewall are attributed to the Voodoo Church.

Bridget was still waiting, and she was in a terrible mood. With all this commotion, wasn't she interested? Wouldn't she come?

"I have set up the BBS (forum) address in advance, and the access channels are also set up. If things go wrong, I can withdraw the data fortress and complete the safe shutdown."

The members of the Voodoo Gang gazed hopefully at the dazzling online spectacle. One of them was gradually drawn to the colors and the data floating around, and unconsciously wanted to read and understand the situation in the vicinity.

Human curiosity has always been strong.

By the time the patient members of the Voodoo Gang realized he was entangled by several faint threads, it was too late.

The most skilled priest in the Voodoo Gang immediately tried to sever the connection with this high-ranking Voodoo Gang member, but the red thread connecting the virtual avatar suddenly turned into an unyielding black!
The crimson color slowly consumed him, and even the voodoo gangs who wanted to help were entangled in the data…

"What is this?!"

They hurried away from the creature that had gotten itself into malicious code out of curiosity, fearing they might have to avoid it at all costs. Under the terrified gazes of everyone, the creature's virtual avatar began to flicker and sway, emitting intermittent, terrifying screams—

With a rapid movement, he completely disappeared from the spot.

This means... the hacker's brain is now fully cooked!

Maman Bridge withdrew his aid, his heart filled with anxiety... If things continued like this, once the guy who had turned the tables on the internet police won, they wouldn't even have a chance to withdraw.

"Wait a bit... Don't read domain data indiscriminately!"

The Apocalypse is something that businesses cannot see, but this fanatical Voodoo Cult member firmly believes that only the Voodoo Cult can be the first to obtain the key to the Apocalypse.

This unwavering belief even led her to forget what death and fear were.

……

Despite the immense computational burden, the entire process went more smoothly than Lin Yue had imagined.

When the Orion envelopment process completely dissipated, Lin Yue, who had absorbed a large amount of discrete data, was already extremely large. Surrounded by black data, he could touch the core of Orion with just a wave of his hand.

"Read failed. Request the administrator to reclaim the program."

At this point, Orion's second weakness was exposed.

Once the supernatural system is activated, it cannot afford to fail. If it fails, the process of attacking the master's brain will not stop.

No one can explain why Orion has such a negatively optimized program, but it is foreseeable that its controller will also become a delirious, idiotic fool within 24 hours.

At this moment, the AI ​​spoke.

"According to you humans, you call that outdated code...soul."

"Now, Orion must pay the price for borrowing a soul."

Lin Yue, immersed in AI data, listened to this guy whose voice was almost transforming as he muttered to himself... He was waiting for an opportunity to kick Sasha out of the network.

When he stands here, it means that there is no turning back for him.

I am now inextricably linked to AI, and the sheer volume of data is beyond the capacity of my physical body to handle…

The entire process of data embezzlement unfolded before Lin Yue's eyes.

The moment the Orion network lock command was interrupted, Lin Yue knew it was time to say goodbye.

His gaze was fixed on the lark, which was trying its best to control the black wall. The AI ​​also seemed to have given some permissions to this human symbiote that had helped it a lot, so his hand slowly locked onto the lark's position.

"First of all... thank you for temporarily taking control of the Black Wall for me."

“But if it weren’t for you, Sasha and I wouldn’t be in this situation. People always have to pay the price.”

"Isn't it?"

A cold voice echoed all around.

This is a scene that is truly almost like cyber ascension!
"Ah…"

The lark's smile was forced; she had only been fighting for that sliver of possible mercy, and in the end, she would still be dealt with.

Perhaps the opportunity was always there, but I just missed it.

Lin Yue didn't want to stand on moral high ground and condemn the lark; everyone was just trying to survive, there was no distinction between noble and base. But every wrong has its perpetrator, and revenge was inevitable…

hum-

The black wall seemed to be lamenting.

It seemed puzzled as to why all this was happening.
The walls of human civilization have never let stray AIs in, but AIs inside the walls keep popping up.

The source code for those AIs is very simple—

desire.

The most tragic thing about a guardian is that the person being protected and the enemy are both trying to seize it.

Lin Yue looked at Sasha in his arms.

"Alright, it's time to say goodbye."

The data began to spread rapidly within the network area!
He wanted to do this one last thing for Sasha…

Meanwhile, in the real world...

A set of data spread rapidly across the network, whether it was on company internal websites, roadside billboards, car radios, or loudspeakers in Dogtown... Almost simultaneously, various information-displaying terminals in Night City were reporting a piece of data.

Many people who download materials, browse websites, shop online, download Mewtwo, and engage in other online activities have acquired a mysterious compression software.

When that thing was untied—

[BIOTECHNICR (Biotechnology) - Confidential]

【Category: Security】

[Reports regarding Safety Ling and its potential side effects (database) are not publicly available.]

……

……
-
At this very moment, in the studio of New Channel 54, Arasaka's spokesperson was extremely uneasy.

Three hours ago, he was pushed by his company to participate in a live debate.

The organizers of the show claimed that there was plenty of evidence that Arasaka was sending armed forces to interfere in Dogtown.

He had to defend the company, and present were not only company representatives, but also Jefferson Peralez, the most newly rich councilor in Night City…

Chiba became a target, and even though these people had no substantial evidence, based on just a few videos, Arasaka was portrayed as the source of the chaos that was driving the war.

Fortunately, Dogtown is currently under lockdown.

The matter in Dogtown was dropped amidst the bickering and spittle, but unexpectedly, the Night City Hall was not going to let go of the opportunity to take a bite out of Arasaka.

Now comes the sharp Q&A session.

"I have several reports here detailing Arasaka's tax payments in Night City—"

Jefferson's gaze was piercing, while Chiba across from him was drenched in sweat.

The other company representatives all seemed to be slightly raising their chins. For the Night City Arasaka branch, this was a public relations crisis that almost killed the company!

Chiba nodded, forcing a smile, and said, "Since Arasaka took over Night City, we have respected Night City's philosophy of free and vigorous development, and have been on time—"

Jefferson didn't give Chiba a chance to finish speaking.

"Please don't interrupt me, Mr. Chiba."

Chiba's face twitched, he took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, cleared his throat, and finally gestured for her to proceed.

"The financial data disclosed by the Arasaka Yoru no Shiro branch shows a continuous upward trend over the past decade, but the tax payment has been declining year by year for the past five years, with an annual rate of 5%."

The studio erupted in boos.

Jefferson relentlessly attacked Chiba, seizing his vital points.

"Could I assume that Arasaka doesn't want to contribute to the dream city we've built together?"

Silence at this moment is tantamount to waiting for death.

Chiba quickly replied, "That's right, Mr. Councilor... In recent years, our Arasaka projects have begun to focus on technology projects that optimize public services. As we all know, this can exempt us from some taxes in Night City."

Jefferson waved his hand from beneath his elegant suit. “No, no, no… According to current financial data, the R&D funding for Arasaka’s Guardian Soul Project is increasing year by year—are you suggesting that every resident of Night City is enjoying the fruits of this technology?”

"Please look at the screen, everyone. Arasaka's technology is divided into three projects..."

Chiba's forehead was covered in even more sweat.

"The three packages are ostensibly buyouts, priced at 30, 50, and 80 respectively. It is said that these three levels represent the degree of completeness of the memories of deceased relatives. The more expensive the package, the more your loved one will resemble the memory. Once we bear these high prices, we will sign an indefinite contract with Arasaka Corporation."

"Except for force majeure, the relatives of the guardian of the soul who have legal inheritance rights can communicate with their deceased loved ones."

Jefferson raised his finger. "But note that Arasaka's buyout system does not include the so-called annual maintenance fee. In other words, people who enjoy these three packages need to pay an additional maintenance fee of 1, 3, and 5 per year."

"I would like to ask, is this money intended for the so-called improvement of public services?"

Oh shit…

A ruthless glint flashed in Chiba's eyes. This stubborn Jefferson rejected Arasaka's cooperation opportunity and was finding all sorts of ways to mess with him.

“Mr. Congressman, this is not relevant to the topic. As a company representative, I have the right to refuse to answer this question.”

Jefferson pressed on, "Is it that you don't want to, or that you can't?"

Just as Chiba felt a burning sensation in his throat and started cursing, a commotion suddenly erupted in the studio!

"There was a problem with the live broadcast signal."

The director said to Julian Jordan.

Chiba immediately breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, the subordinates of the various company representatives gathered around, seemingly discussing something—

At that moment, Chiba heard a report from his subordinate.

"true?"

The subordinate nodded, then took a step back and stood a short distance away.

As luck would have it, the live broadcast on Channel 54 was restored at that moment.

Chiba adjusted his tie as if he had received reinforcements.

"It seems that, compared to taxation, some of our corporate colleagues are doing things that truly harm the public interest."

At this moment, everyone looked at the representative of biotechnology.

damn it.

News Channel 54 also reacted immediately—

Just then, Chiba stood up. "Residents of Night City, this is Chiba, the spokesperson for Arasaka. I believe you are watching this debate right now, and you have a copy of the information on your phone, computer, or something else."

"Compared to fabricated charges, I think we should focus more on the health and safety of residents. As for the authenticity of the information, we should leave that to the citizens to judge."

Chiba watched as the live stream signal in front of him was instantly cut off, a playful smile playing on his lips.

He lowered his head and let out a muffled laugh, then turned away, ignoring the other company representatives and Night City government officials with their varied expressions on the table. With his shoulders straight, he left the studio under the escort of security.

……

This caused an uproar across the entire North American network!

Originating in Rome, Italy, an environmental company that has always presented a positive image and is committed to rebuilding the biosphere and restoring rare animals has actually forced the market launch of a drug with potentially fatal side effects.

The speed at which information spread exceeded expectations.

At the same time, a large-scale cyberattack also broke out in Washington, D.C., and the White House received the news immediately.

The New America: Destroyers of the Barriers of Human Civilization

Such press release copy lay on Miles's desk.

Military Technology immediately initiated contact with Arasaka, but Arasaka remained silent, seemingly offering no response whatsoever.

"Damn it! Where's Song Zhaomei?!"

Miles sat pacing uncomfortably behind her desk, scattering a thick stack of documents all over the floor like a shower of petals...

His staff learned of the incident immediately.

"She is still deep into the deep web. The cybersecurity department is now determining whether a forced internet shutdown is possible. The entire hacking team is online."

Miles braced his hands on the back of the leather office chair, his face buried in his hands, clearly furious.

"Make sure she loses her internet access at all costs!"

"Yes!"

Miles felt extremely frustrated.

Because Song Zhaomei had made numerous outstanding contributions to the Joint Logistics Department over the years, Miles did gradually relax a bit... However, just when he thought Song Zhaomei was doing her job with peace of mind, this rebellious girl actually caused a huge mess in Dogtown under the guise of fighting for the interests of the new America!
The staff members dared not look Miles in the eye.

Everyone knew the situation was under control and assumed victory was assured, but unexpectedly, the person catching the snake was bitten by it…

To say that Miles bears no responsibility at all would be something even she herself could not convince herself of.

屮!
The leader of this war just wanted to curse.

The aide swallowed hard. "Your Excellency, regarding the company..."

He was thinking that the company was practically bombarding the White House with calls…

Miles sighed. "Let's connect the wires."

Good emotional management is an essential skill for every senior politician.

Miles didn't want to face the company's wolves with a furious expression, as that would be tantamount to showing weakness.

The holographic screen projected a scene resembling a conference table in a new U.S. military headquarters, surrounded by people. The man at the head of the table had deep-set eyes and a hooked nose, staring intently at Miles.

“Ms. Miles, I need you to explain what New America is doing with our technological marvels. Seriously, old friend, this isn’t something you and I can just sit down and talk about in private… The shareholders want an explanation.”

Miles slowly rose to his feet, and with a subtle wave of his hand, his staff slowly withdrew from the office. As the head of a fragmented nation—which had regressed to become the world's 26th largest economy—he was just like an ordinary board member when it came to military technology.

The scrutinizing gazes that are unseen in the White House are everywhere here.

Miles slowly sat down in the chair. "This is fabricated, Mr. Lucas Harford. I can explain."

The leading man lit a cigar, the burning butt pointing in Miles's direction. "I have some bad news for you first. Five minutes ago, the stock price of our ally... Biotech New America, hit its daily limit down..."

A limit down?!
Clearly, Miles was so angry that she didn't have time to read the documents that were submitted.

"Then I'll tell you another... harsh truth—freedom of the press cannot be solved by your fabrication. Now... begin your explanation."

Miles placed his hands on the table, his fists gradually clenching.

Fuck...

Freedom of the press.

……

　【The Witch Hunter】: This is an AI hunter in a cyberpunk board game. He was once a high-ranking member of the network surveillance team. Due to a moment of negligence, a roaming AI killed his child and wife. So he used Orion to become a cold-blooded hunter in cyberspace who seeks neither fame nor fortune, but only revenge.

　　[Logical Flaws, Logical Traps]: In the cyberpunk series, the most important way to deal with roving AI is to make the intelligent program fall into a logical trap, thus breaking it down on its own.

　　[Logical overreach]: A term used in computer science.

　　【Apocalypse】: In the main storyline of the 2077 game, "Radio Waves", the Voodoo Cult believes that the Black Wall will eventually fail and human civilization will face destruction. Maman Bridget once said that "large corporations cannot perceive the Apocalypse", meaning that the world is about to be destroyed and there is no other way to face this great change except for cyber digital souls to achieve cyber ascension.

　　[Jefferson Peraray]: In the 2077 main storyline, during the continuation of the dream, the senator's memories were altered and he was controlled by the Night City Corporation; in Night City-related television programs, Jefferson focused on taxation and used it for the benefit of the people, even openly analyzing the company's tax situation on television programs.

　　Lucas Harford: The new CEO of military technology after Rodline Miles, and a loyal ally of Miles.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)