Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 197 The Game Becomes Clear (8K)

Lin Yue didn't actually feel that a long time had passed.

He felt as if he had just finished talking with Ultraman a second ago, and the next second he was lying here, soaking wet and cold.

According to his memory, he knew exactly where he was and had heard Hua Zi's order.

Therefore, the way he looked at Hua Zi, as a member of the Night City branch's management, was far from polite, and he had to stop Hua Zi from planting a backdoor in his head—

"Miss Hua Zi..."

Lin Yue, who was well-proportioned and strong, just stood up, and the experimenter next to him started to tremble, even backing away repeatedly.

The already bulky protective suits made the group's movements less agile, and one of them almost fell into the pool next to them.

He reached out and gently disconnected the circuitry from the brain-computer interface, his voice flat, but the person understood the displeasure in that form of address.

This pale-faced guy…

Lin Yue's quick-thinking mind soon figured out what was going on.

The fact that Hua Zi is standing here proves that Sanlang has once again suppressed his son.

Upon closer inspection, the backdoor program in the brain-computer interface was almost finished, which made Lin Yue's anger rise rapidly. If it weren't for the access point to the sacred vehicle below the Arasaka Tower, he would have loved to smash through this glass and crush these ungrateful Japanese devils right now.

But the act still has to be performed…

"Where is this?"

Lin Yue's hands hung down, the easiest position to launch an attack. Coupled with the dripping cooling liquid from the hollow structure of his prosthetic body, almost everyone instantly recognized him as the god of death stripped of his humanity.

Hua Zi suppressed her astonishment, made a gesture, and the technical experts present locked the nuclear-proof gate to the Shenyu access point.

As for the four guys inside?
Hua Zi needs to ensure his own safety.

She's a normal person, and she understands that after working so hard for the company, discovering that the company has tampered with her body, anger should be the first emotion.

"Rin, this is the secret access point for a certain project on the lowest level of Arasaka Tower."

Hua Zi is a hacker with a high IQ; she deliberately tries to find out what this Rin really is.

In her view, it's possible that it's a wandering AI, or even Ultraman, and the probability of either of these is not low...

"So... what does Miss Huazi mean?"

Lin Yue felt a sense of powerlessness, after all, he didn't know that he had been lying in the care facility in Arasaka for two whole months.

Hua Zi put her hands on her waist, her straight back as if she wasn't the one who had done something wrong... Such a thick skin is enough to live up to her nonsense about Saburo Arasaka valuing family.

"Don't worry, Rin. A professional medical team will be here soon to give you a full examination. I'm sorry, I can't assess your condition right now. Although your body has a high tendency to heal itself and your brain is very active, you've been lying in bed for two months."

Lin Yue stared at the time displayed on Arasaka's website; it was now May 2076…

This feeling of having someone deliberately press the "time jump" button was unpleasant. Although his mind was still a bit confused, Lin Yue knew very well that the point at which the Frankfurt leak would break out was very close.

Lin Yue exhaled through his nose, a playful smile on his face as he stared at the few test subjects who didn't know where to retreat.

"It seems that Ms. Hanako's ideas have penetrated Arasaka quite well. The four of them were easily sold out... Well, of course, me too."

Hua Zi's face immediately fell when he was exposed.

"Watch your words, Rin-san!"

In companies after 2045, it's no longer the era where you could quit your job and yell at your boss if you were unhappy—companies after this point are essentially feudal organizations disguised as modern enterprises.

The superiors are absolute, the hierarchy is very clear, and the company's internal regulations have exceeded the law... Lin Yue has a good memory; V included a crime of disrespect in his employee handbook.

The meaning is quite clear: if you criticize or mess with your boss, you'll be in for a lot of trouble.

However, Lin Yue was completely unfazed by this threat.

Instead, he stretched out his fingers to measure the distance—and the time it took him to rush to the glass.

"please calm!"

Several researchers in protective suits loudly tried to dissuade them in Japanese.

Who wouldn't panic at this point?
One person takes on the Ghost Hounds that surround Dogtown, one person fights against a large AI in the cyber world, one person reverses and swallows up the Orion constellation that the Internet Police are so proud of... Any one of these stories is enough to make your legs weak!

But Lin Yue glanced at the combat system and abandoned the idea.

My health is very poor.

My brain-computer interface seems to have been updated, and the prosthetic microprocessor, rotor, neuron components, and so on have all fallen into an error state.

This is easy to understand.

The system has been updated, and the app is incompatible, so it needs to be reprogrammed. Scientists and prosthetic doctors will conduct a second check.

He took a step forward.

The guards that Hua Zi brought from Japan surged in from behind—

Oda Santayu was fully armed, with the faded Arasaka logo printed on the light yet solid shoulder armor beside his shoulders.

His eyes are reminiscent of the demon eyes of the Hannya, a Japanese yokai. His white eyeballs are covered with only small black dots. They are the specially made prosthetic eyes of Arasaka that are enough to crush human eyes. This is also why he was able to become Hanako's bodyguard.

Oda merely glanced at the guy; his long-standing fighting instincts told him that, true to his name, he was indeed an extremely dangerous target.

"Miss Hua Zi..."

Xiaotian's voice was like a leaky pipe, extremely hoarse.

"Please leave here temporarily; your connecting plane will be here shortly."

Lin Yue didn't seem to be in a hurry to speak. Instead, he walked step by step toward the glass, pointing two fingers at his eyes and then at the small field outside.

This provocative action made Oda even more nervous.

Hua Zi stretched out a hand to block the guards who were trying to walk around behind him.

Rin is a very intelligent person. She knows that if she makes even the slightest offense here, she will not leave Arasaka Tower alive. This is underground—to get out, she would have to face countless guards of Arasaka Tower. She doesn't believe that Rin would make such a foolish choice.

"Don't worry yet!"

Rin, who had walked all the way to the front of the Sacred Bridge, stared at Hanako and said, "I want to see Mr. Lai Xuan, and I hope Miss Hanako can grant my request."

Hua Zi paused for a moment.

Under Oda's gaze, he nodded slightly. "Okay... but before that, have the four colleagues inside finish the backdoor procedure that's still incomplete."

The man inside, standing on the sacred bridge of the palanquin, was of a higher position than Hua Zi, which was undoubtedly very offensive.

It was a kind of contempt, and pure hostility.

"Rin, the Arasaka family will not listen to the words of a madman like you. If you still value your samurai honor, please bow and kneel down to talk!"

Lin Yue felt like he'd been given a real eye-opener.

kneel?
Could this long-haired, androgynous man really think the woman in front of him is an empress? Even if she is, Lin Yue would be lucky not to spit out a couple of mouthfuls.

A disdainful laugh came from the communication device inside the palanquin.

"Sorry, only idiots like you care about honor, and I'm not some kind of samurai—"

"Besides... who do you think you are? The owner hasn't even spoken yet, and the dog is already barking?"

Hua Zi blocked Xiao Tian.

If he had known that this guy dared to kill a senior executive at the Arasaka board meeting, he wouldn't have bothered Rin like this.

Just as Hua Zi was about to speak—

boom!
Rin's black prosthetic arm slammed into the glass, the sudden sound causing the Arasaka ninja behind her to draw their katanas in unison, some even throwing out their mantis swords.

Even Hua Zi, who had weathered many storms, was startled by this action and let Xiao Tian shield him behind her.

"Miss Hanako, you might not have heard me because I was standing far away. I'm looking for the president of Arasaka. Is that clear enough?"

Oda thinks this guy is probably a cyber lunatic.

No one in Arakawa would dare to do this, so what is this guy up to? And looking at Hanako's expression of not wanting to leave, Oda felt that something was wrong with this world!
Hua Zi stared quietly at the man who was leaning against the glass with one hand. The emotions in his eyes were completely unlike those of the guy who crushed Abernathy at the board meeting.

"Before I lose faith in Arakawa—"

Hua Zi interrupted Rin, who was still trying to recount what she had done at the Chick Party.

"Okay, I'll contact my brother right away."

Oda: "Miss!"

In the eyes of these guards, this was undoubtedly a compromise, a disguised form of weakness—it undermined the Arasaka family's unshakeable influence within the company.

Hua Zi explained softly in Japanese, "He is a sharp blade. Father will not allow us to lose him. Let him speak out against injustice himself. My brother... will not make things difficult for me."

AI: "Connecting with Arasaka Japan Region President, Yoriyuki Arasaka."

Lin Yue breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the backdoor program is not yet perfect, Lin Yue has no desire to be chained to it, because from the moment he came into contact with Arasaka until this moment, all he wanted was to find a place where he could survive in this cannibalistic place, instead of being at the mercy of others.

Of all the companies, Arakawa was actually the worst choice.

Unfortunately, Lin Yue needs to release Ultra into the Divine Carriage and enter the network world to find the answer the Black Wall wants—he hasn't figured out how to do any of this yet.

It would be asking too much to think about so many things in just a few minutes.

At this moment, Lin Yue just wanted to get some fresh air and leave this place that made him feel uncomfortable to the core.

Lai Xuan's voice rang out inside the Shenyu access point.

A holographic image of Yoriyuki Arasaka was projected onto everyone's prosthetic eyes.

"cold?"

Sitting on the sofa, his hair slightly disheveled, with the ashtray next to him full of cigarette butts, Lai Xuan finally saw the answer he had been waiting for.

Lin Yue also breathed a sigh of relief.

It felt like a reunion after a disaster.

In some ways... they were all impulsive and naive young guys.

Lai Xuan, whose methods seemed childlike in front of Saburo, actually pushed forward the Dog Town affair by his own will, but after all, he was not Saburo, and he couldn't completely cover things up.

Lin Yue is the same.

If any one of these events goes wrong, he'll be burned to a crisp in Little Big Dipper in Dogtown.

It's like two people have been fooling around, and afterwards they see that the other is alright and feels relieved.

Besides that, there's one more thing—

As long as this "filial son" of Sanlang is still around, the matter of getting rid of this back door chain can be settled.

"Mr. Lai Xuan".

Arasaka Yorinobu stood up, his gaze a mixture of approval and apology. "The technical experts who came from Honshu said your condition is very strange; you've been in a deep sleep... It seems my sister really did help you."

Hua Zi took the opportunity to bow once.

Lin Yue certainly didn't want to gild the liar's lily.

"Everything went smoothly, except for the incident where Miss Hua took me to a so-called basement in an attempt to set up a backdoor program."

Hua Zi's face twitched.

She never expected Rin to be so direct, and her accusations were so straightforward, perfectly matching the character of this weapon.

Lai Xuan couldn't see where Rin was on the holographic phone, but after hearing this, he looked coldly at his sister, who had just felt like she had done a good deed.

"President Lai Xuan, every employee of Arasaka should dedicate themselves to Arasaka with all their heart, obey the decisions made by Arasaka, and establish a permanent connection with Arasaka with their body free of charge. This is Arasaka's rule, and I don't think I have done anything wrong."

Hua Zi's meaning is very clear: the lone wolves who work for Arasaka all have prosthetic backdoors, so why should Rin make an exception?

Lin Yue added, "To correct you, it's not a brain-computer interface backdoor."

Hua Zi felt he should have brought this guy to the access point from the beginning and installed a backdoor, since he always targeted the areas where he was in the wrong, and he had no way to talk back.

Lai Xuan is clearly very good at "upholding justice".

He seemed too lazy to say much, and simply gave orders.

"Remove it."

Hua Zi: "..."

Remove it? With this guy's abilities, removing the back door would mean he'd be free to run wild, wouldn't it?
Besides, without this back door, if Rin wanted to leave, almost no one could force him to work for Arasaka!
Lai Xuan had clearly lost his patience. He had been having a terrible time these past few days, and with no one to vent to, Hua Zi became his punching bag.

As expected, Lai Xuan's roar almost made the Chinese guards kneel down.

The entire facility was filled with profanities in a mix of Japanese and English.

President Lai Xuan still suffered from being educated.

Lin Yue even wondered if the Steel Dragon Wanderer Family in Tokyo was really that civilized.

The influence of the University of Tokyo made it difficult for him to utter swear words despite his loud voice; after all, the worst thing he could say to his father was something like "senile old man."

"Are reliable employees who work their lives away for Arakawa only going to get a dog leash in return?! Hmm? Hanako... if you were in their shoes, how would you feel? Are you only satisfied when Arakawa is truly left without anyone to work for?"

Hua Zi's face turned even paler.

Then Lai Xuan looked at his sister's guard, Xiao Tian.

"Are you planning to rely on these good-for-nothings around you to expand Arasaka's territory? Why didn't I see them in Dogtown?"

Oda lowered his head slightly. After all, Yoriyuki was currently the apparent controller of Arasaka.

He felt incredibly aggrieved; he was standing there doing his duty, yet he was being insulted…

In contrast, consider Hua Zi.

If he wasn't in the wrong, Lai Xuan might have taken her somewhat seriously, but today he had secretly gone to Night City to use Lin Yue as a test subject to collect data—

As for saving people, although she said that Saburo wouldn't let Rin die, she didn't treat Rin like a human being when she actually killed her.

"Data is directly fed into the brain-computer interface? How did you even come up with that idea? You're a smart person who received systematic education from renowned teachers at home... What's the difference between this and injecting nutrient solution into your brain?"

Lin Yue nodded. He was right to scold him.

"The situation in Dogtown has been opened up, and Rin has passed the test of Arasaka."

Lai Xuan stood up, which was tantamount to making the final decision.

Hua Zi was still unwilling to give up, "Don't forget, brother... Father will not allow this to happen."

Lai Xuan shook his head.

Silly sister, if Father didn't want this to happen, he would have shown up long ago.

Lai Xuan retorted, "Father never told me or you how to win people's hearts—if the prosthetic backdoor and the procedure can convince the public, I suggest you stay in North America now, implant backdoors in the brains of all the soldiers in the new America, and then go home. Wouldn't that be more convenient?"

Lai Xuan's sarcastic and unsettling manner was extremely damaging.

Then, Lai Xuan looked at Lin and thought for a while.

“Come to Japan. I will find you a suitable position. As for your subordinate, he can stay in Night City. The transformation of Black Wall into Arasaka is very important. I hope you understand Hanako’s intentions.”

Lai Xuan's words were clearly more sincere.

This means that Arasaka is using you as weapons; if you come under my nose, I can protect you, but only one person at a time.

As they spoke, four trembling lab technicians began to operate the system to uninstall the backdoor for Lin Yue.

Uninstalling the backdoor requires ICE verification for Ultraman and permission from the Divine Carriage—which also means Lin Yue will have a few microseconds of access to the Divine Carriage.

The lab technicians were a little uneasy; they were afraid that this guy who dared to speak so disrespectfully to Miss Hua might strangle them if he got angry. They mustered their courage and said:
"Minister Rin, please... cease all autonomous operations."

Lin Yue nodded.

He quietly pondered how to respond to Lai Xuan's words.

During this time, a red light flashed in Lin Yue's eyes, but no one noticed.

"Thank you, Mr. Lai Xuan."

Lin Yue said calmly, "But I'm used to Night City, and my synthetic lungs are familiar with the air here—I don't think I like unfamiliar places very much. This trip has indeed been very fruitful, and I won't refuse the reward from headquarters."

"But I have a request."

Lai Xuan felt that this kid was the most pleasing to the eye among all his subordinates, so he was naturally willing to listen to him.

“Tell me, as long as it’s not about making you the president of Arasaka’s country, I can satisfy you—money, women, assets, and there’s a vacant position at Jenkins’ level that you can take anytime.”

Hua Zi felt that elevating someone who could only be used as a weapon to this position was far too risky, so she could only hold her breath and listen quietly.

Apart from Lai Xuan and Rin, no one present was comfortable.

"I request to resign from my position as the head of security at the Night City Arasaka branch."

Upon hearing this, the Shenyi access point fell completely silent…

Lai Xuan looked at Arasaka Hanako with an unfriendly gaze, and said to Lin Yue with a helpless tone, "Alright, stop being stubborn, Rin."

Lin Yue shook his head.

“I can accept carrying out operations against military technology and cyber surveillance for Arasaka… At the same time, the company no longer needs to continue building me a Black Wall-type prosthetic body, because I have now lost the ability to connect with Black Wall.”

Lai Xuan: "Rin... a three-year-old might believe this, but I understand the technical principles. Your prosthetic body can use the technology preserved by the Black Wall; it's just that the connection is broken. This is an optimization—"

"I've long heard that under Arasaka Medical's care, your body has undergone a miraculous transformation, and your cellular self-aging has stopped. Isn't that a good thing?"

Being too smart isn't necessarily a good thing.

At this critical juncture, it seems that Lin Yue has no means or way to smoothly leave this large company. After all, companies in this world offer lifetime employment, and the company only has the right to fire or execute you; there is no such thing as leaving on your own.

But he was well aware of all this.

In order to open a window that was blocked, sometimes it was suggested to lift the roof, and the window would naturally be opened—because Lin Yue just wanted to get out of the center of the vortex of Arasaka, catch his breath, and make plans for the problems to come.

A job that requires working day and night and pushing oneself to the limit is clearly not what he needs.

It must be said that Lai Xuan is very good at winning people's hearts.

“You’re just tired, Rin… Here’s what we’ll do. I heard you have a Night City squad that made great contributions to your operation in Dogtown. Let’s use them to try and win you a big reward.”

what?
Lin Yue was completely confused and didn't understand what he meant.

“Arasaka’s legal and public relations teams have been at odds with Kejing Logistics for a long time. The logistics company in Watson District before… is now yours.”

Lai Xuan continued, "Have your people cooperate with the legal department to obtain evidence of the weaknesses of Respectable Logistics. Use your relationship with the NCPD of Night City—once you take over the company, you will be the actual controller, and we will have professional managers to do everything you need."

"This company will be the hub for transporting goods to Dogtown. Profits will go to Arasaka, and it will be on an annual salary basis—the HR department will handle the details with you. If you really need a break, this is the best place for you; there's nowhere to lie down and sleep in the Arasaka Tower..."

Seeing that Lin Yue remained unmoved, Lai Xuan wondered if this guy had no concept of money.

"Also, you can recruit mercenaries from your private company; internal audits won't interfere with you."

She could accept everything else, but this was the last time she could take it.

"elder brother!"

Arasaka Yorinobu glanced at his sister indifferently.

As a rich second-generation heir whose father could flatten half the earth with a snap of his fingers, Sanlang wouldn't even bother to glance at the company he was given away.

As long as business in Dogtown continues and Arasaka continues to develop, the old president will not interfere with Lai Xuan's decisions.

If it weren't for the fact that the temple fair was closed and required her certification, Hua Zi would have left this place that brought her humiliation long ago.

In fact, Lin Yue, as the person involved, didn't quite understand the decision either. Whether from the perspective of a modern enterprise or a country, it is very dangerous for internal members to keep private soldiers, which is an unstable factor for those in power.

The right to use instruments of violence (the military) has been a cornerstone of rights throughout history.

Lai Xuan laughed and said, "Although Arasaka is handling the lawsuit for you, he still has to put on a show. The company can't be known to just anyone that it is controlled by Arasaka. Besides, it has connections with Dogtown. If the media in New America finds out, there will inevitably be a tearing apart of them."

Prince Arasaka's rare patience was probably reserved for Rin, who had helped him accomplish many things.

Although it was his own fault for not being able to outmaneuver his father, everything Rin did was beneficial to him, so there was no reason for him to be stingy with such a capable subordinate.

"The company has about a hundred people. Of course, Arasaka will provide you with people for the positions that keep the company running normally, and you can arrange your own core subordinates."

"As for your position at Arasaka Tower, I will keep it for you and let V take over all your work. When you've had a good rest, I think Arasaka will need your help."

Lai Xuan's understanding is very simple.

Arakaza is not a place where you can come and go as you please; at least Rin's wish to resign cannot be fulfilled. However, the resentment caused by the oppression is something that Yoriyuki does not want to see. Therefore, removing the thorn in Rin's heart is the primary task.

Of course, since Lin Yue is determined to leave today, Lai Xuan will not use gentle methods again. However, he will still give her the full reward she deserves, but he will never give her such a great deal of freedom.

It seems pretty good, of course, provided that V doesn't swear.

"Alright, Rin, you can go now... Let the doctors from Arasaka Tower take a look at your problem. They were all sent by me, so you can rest assured."

Lai Xuan, who had given the order to leave, showed no intention of hanging up the phone. Only after Rin's holographic image went out did he turn his attention to his younger sister.

"A mysterious underground facility... Hua Zi, when did Night City get such a place? My memory isn't bad, you've been keeping it from me, haven't you?"

Lai Xuan's accusatory demeanor completely threw Hua Zi's plans into disarray.

Only Hua Zi and a few others knew about the access point to the Divine Carriage in Night City, and Lai Xuan was not actually among them.

But if something goes wrong, it's always right to blame it on the father.

Hua Zi replied, "Father said that Night City is the starting point of the struggle. The Divine Carriage Access Point was destroyed here once, and it was rebuilt for that unpredictable day."

"Of course, it will be the day we go to war with the company."

She wouldn't say that this place was convenient for Sanlang and to keep an eye on Lai Xuan.

Because there is a digital copy of Saburo's soul inside the node, this is so that on the day the incident occurs in Arasaka, Saburo can command everything here from the "underworld".

At the same time, Night City is a very special place.

In today's world, although the European Community government is still functioning normally, major companies have effectively controlled most of the region.

[Japan once joined the European Community under Arasaka's impetus], but with the failure of the corporate war and the nationalization of a large amount of assets by the local government, Japan was eliminated.

After decades of recuperation, Arasaka is still able to establish branches in various European countries.

This is actually the role of Arasaka Bank, which never publicly disclosed its business operations; it was a bribery tool that Arasaka used to pave the way in those important areas.

Therefore, most of the area was under Saburo Arasaka's surveillance.

Only Night City, which adheres to anarchy, is outside of this.

Because Arasaka could not be completely controlled, Saburo instructed Hanako to restart the construction project of the Kamikoshi node here as a precaution.

“Hua Zi, you are still young, but your soul is as stubborn as your father’s.”

Lai Xuan hadn't even considered that aspect.

He only knew that these nodes were used to use Soul Killer, and it wasn't surprising that Night City had this facility. What annoyed him was that Hua Zi was doing these things behind his back.

“Shut up the Divine Node in Night City. If we don’t want the events of decades ago to repeat themselves, we should do this incredibly boring project on our home soil.”

Hua Zi did not offer any further explanation.

Instead, to dispel her brother's doubts, she bent down and agreed.

Because there will definitely be more Divine Carriage Nodes in Night City, there will always be another Underworld entrance beneath this tower, the location of which Lai Xuan cannot guess.

"Brother, do you think that samurai is an AI?"

Hua Zi was seemingly asking a question, but in reality, he was warning Lai Xuan about his practice of giving his subordinates complete autonomy.

Lai Xuan stared at Hua Zi quietly for a long time.

He suddenly let out a cold laugh.

"Hackers certainly have vivid imaginations. Your team is the best hacker in Japan. Have you detected that entity? A perfectly healthy person being experimented on without confirming the loss of neural projections—don't think I know nothing..."

Hua Zi subconsciously looked at the guards behind him.

Lai Xuan looked at his younger sister, who was conservative in her thinking but was conducting experiments that violated the bottom line of human ethics and morality.

"This is Pandora's box. When immortality is in the hands of a few, the world will descend into chaos. I agree with the plan to protect souls, but let's not touch this kind of trick of resurrection again."

"I'm glad you haven't been able to transfer digital souls into your bodies yet. Stop what you're doing before you destroy yourselves..."

“I’m speaking to you as family… sister.”

After saying this, Lai Xuan exited the communication.

Hua Zi's expression wasn't exactly ugly, but there was a sense of loss and bewilderment about it.

She waved her hand, and all the test personnel and soldiers left through the side passage.

This seemingly harmless woman stared silently at the Divine Carriage server and said softly:

"Xiaotian, the guards and other people you brought today, don't keep them."

Oda thought he had misheard, so he gritted his teeth and tried to persuade her, "Those eight people were selected from Hokkaido, they've been with me for a long time, and they were trained by Master Takemura, right—"

Hua Zi turned around and looked at his most trusted guard with an extremely calm expression.

"You heard what I said."

Oda bowed and said, "Yes, Miss Hanako."

Faint gunshots and cries of agony could be heard.

Arakawa Hanako said, "Yori no Susumu cherishes that Rin. He marginalizes this weapon and concentrates power on that V... I can't understand him anymore. Sometimes I wonder if what he said when he was young was just said in anger or was he serious."

Xiaotian was somewhat puzzled.

"He said that one day Arasaka would be destroyed."

The topic is so big that Oda, a mere guard, wouldn't dare to take it on.

However, upon hearing those words, the battle-hardened young ninja felt a chill run down his spine…

"Yet everything he did was ruthlessly expanding Arasaka's territory..."

Hua Zi seemed to have a lot to say.

"Only today do I finally understand what kind of cards my brother was trying to play... and I finally understand what my father said about him."

Xiaotian watched as something glistening slid down her master's face.

"He is an evil dragon, wanting Arasaka to expand to the extreme—to explode at any moment; but as Father said, he is still a cowardly and gentle guy."

"Do you think I should stop him?"

……

……

　[Japan once joined the European Community under Arasaka's influence]: According to the background description of the board game, the formation of the European Community is similar to that of the European Union. Due to Arasaka's influence, Japan became a member of the European Community. With the outbreak of the corporate war, Yoriyuki pushed for the key factor in Arasaka's defeat (Japan nationalized Arasaka's assets). And because the loyal subordinate of Steel Dragon sacrificed his life to destroy the data, Saburo was not actually aware that the mastermind behind Japan's daring to swallow Arasaka's assets was his own son. Otherwise, he would never have allowed Yoriyuki to return to Arasaka.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)