Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 210 Company Engagement: The Scales of Justice (Part Two)
"Whoa~~!!"

On the speeding vehicle, the three people exclaimed in unison—

Falco's steering wheel seemed to have its own soul. The way he turned it when he let go often grazed the side of those huge cars in the oncoming traffic that could almost crush people and cars into mincemeat. Every time, such maneuvers gave the cyberpunks who had never experienced this kind of driver a strong sense of excitement.

To thrive in Night City, you need to be a driver and a gunman...

However, this team has not yet made contact with anyone from the wanderer family. Good drivers are born in the wilderness, but where did this guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, wearing a suit vest and overalls, learn his skills?

Rebecca adapted quickly. She liked things that were highly stimulating. Compared to Kivi, who was staring wide-eyed, and Pila, who was about to vomit from being shaken, she took on the role of Falco's observer.

This made Falco think that Rebecca had worked as an observer before. While such roles do exist in rally racing, in Night City, few people bring a second-in-command, and besides, in the latter half of the race, someone will almost always fire a gun.

Bringing another person along wouldn't do any good except add weight, unless... she's a very good shot?
"Uncle, I always thought Pila was the one who was always courting death, he's been maimed by the things he created so many times—his hands, his eyes, all of that happened! But I never thought you were even more courting death than him!"

"Coming all the way to Westbrook, this is so exciting!"

Falco didn't dislike the girl who was shouting in the passenger seat; on the contrary, he would even say a few words in response.

"Tiger Claw Gang members often accidentally injure each other. A bunch of them chase after us, and the others get restless; most of them are there to cause trouble... Hold on tight!"

A piercing scream rang out from outside the car!
The Tiger Claw Gang member, with his hair styled in the flamboyant colors of a gunslinger from an old arcade game, and two colorful ribbons fluttering from his elbows, was currently tightly gripping a [Kyo Kusanagi] series motorcycle controlled by one hand, its rear end sporting an exaggeratedly upturned tail wing like a twisted street doll—

"You damned bastards! I'll tear you to pieces! Damn it!"

The man had a hoarse voice, and the overwhelming smell of drugs on him seemed to waft through the car window…

Rebecca immediately recalled unpleasant memories: the restroom of the Rebirth Bar... and those same villains with their eyes groped and their long, thin hair like bamboo sticks, wielding samurai swords!
Wow!
The blade was somewhat flexible, and amidst the whistling sound of it cutting through the air, Falco actually jerked the steering wheel sharply while traveling at high speed!

Everyone felt like their waists had been ripped away in that sudden movement!

But Pila's car was clearly much better than the heavily modified motorcycles of these young "intellectuals." While the Tiger Claw gang was still in shock, the cars had already swerved into another lane.

Unwilling to give up after missing his target with a single strike, the Tiger Claw Gang members bent down and began frantically twisting the accelerator, causing the front of the car to lift up suddenly, bringing the image of desperate criminals to life.

“I almost lost out on my payment, hey! Even though I bragged earlier—you guys have to get involved. If they're intentionally blocking you, the bridge to Watson District is definitely blocked by those guys!”

Falco seemed to have a calm sense of humor. When he said this in a nonchalant way, Qiwei, who was usually quiet, bent over, suppressing her nausea, and looked up and chuckled... yes, that was a questioning sound.

Rebecca, as if waking from a dream, quickly said "Oh".

The car window rolled down, and a blast of cold air rushed into the car. Rebecca's petite frame could comfortably sit in the passenger seat, her brightly colored gun propped against the window.

At that moment, there was a large truck honking its horn next to the outside of the vehicle.

Falco glanced at the truck's rearview mirror out of the corner of his eye, calculating the time it would take for the Tiger Claw Gang members to appear from the other side of the truck.

The Tiger Claw gang member turned his head, staring intently at the truck, cursing the blind driver. He pulled out an explosive device, intending to throw it onto the road as he reached for the truck. After all, these members had heard that if the people in the truck were crippled, they could have anything they wanted—

But the Japanese gangs actually agree to the promised conditions, which means that those who go up are basically the worst of the worst.

coming!

Tiger Claw Gang member, his white teeth clenched around the bracelet, the drug's effects so strong that veins bulged on his neck, and he mumbled incoherently in Japanese.

call out!
The moment they are aligned!
Without hesitation, the Tiger Claw Gang threw the grenade!
At the same time, the dark opening of the gun locked onto the Tiger Claw Gang member. The honking of car horns mingled with the crisp clanging of the iron gun. Half of the Tiger Claw Gang member's body was riddled with small dents, which, under the force of the gale, became like blood vessels in the air...

Even as he fell off the motorcycle, this guy was still yelling those damn things about dying—

Then, as the petite girl spun the gun in her hand and shattered the grenade in mid-air without hesitation, she ended the man's hope and his life!
"That's fucking awesome!"

Falco possessed a youthful sense of humor that belied his appearance; while driving, he even gave Rebecca a high-five, creating a quirky and comical effect.

Rebecca glanced at her brother with disdain. Her brother, with his head down, could only raise his middle finger with his long, slender thumb.

"coming!"

Falco's face darkened. Thanks to his plan, the Tiger Claw Gang's pursuers hadn't been able to catch up smoothly, but now a major obstacle loomed—

Even the best driver isn't a pilot. If the Tiger Claw Gang came out from the side ramp on the bridge, they could practically turn their car into dumplings!
The car jolted violently, and the speedometer stopped at an astonishing speed of nearly 180 kilometers per hour. Everyone held their breath, watching the cars being left behind, and gripped their belongings tightly in their hands.

The moment I saw the bridge surface—

Everyone encountered the worst possible outcome.

In the distance, there was a horizontal line interwoven with red and blue light. Without a doubt, that was the NCPD!

At that moment, the radio inside the vehicle was also quickly hijacked. The NCPD dispatcher reported the conclusion that the oncoming vehicle was speeding by 120 percent and demanded that it be stopped immediately.

"Strange... Where's the Tiger Claw Gang?"

Just as Rebecca's mutterings faded... more than a dozen vehicles rushed out of the ramp at the same time. There were lightly modified sports cars, the most common type in Japanese streets, with various gang spray paints on them, as well as motorcycles with colorful ribbons fluttering on their handlebars, and motorcycles with strangely prosthetic bodies and eye-catching hair of men and women...

At this moment, the wide road surface formed an inverted "V" shape, and all vehicles were moving towards the car at the front.

This is probably what they mean by "wolves in front, tigers behind"...

Falco's eyes darted left and right. In the rearview mirror, the Tiger Claw Gang woman's legs had been modified into sharp blades like those of a Blademaster. She was wielding a whip, and her chains were barbs and daggers strong enough to tear through bulletproof leather.

Wow!

The chain swung, and Falco dodged it lightly. The chain pierced the asphalt road, leaving a blinding spark.

Falco chuckled. These guys in the rearview mirror would never be able to overtake him on a straight stretch of gas... Seeing that this method wasn't working, the guys started pulling out guns from their pockets and trying to smash the rear window of the car.

Maintaining a stable shot on the swaying vehicle was no easy task. Just as Falco was changing lanes, some gunmen on motorcycles pulled out a very classic and relatively good smart weapon in Night City—the [Arasaka TKI-20 Shingen]!
Rebecca realized as well, "The people from Arakawa are in here too..."

Everyone instinctively looked at the car's dashboard, where various display data began flashing, clearly indicating that someone was attempting to hack into the vehicle's infotainment system...

Falco: "Find out who the hacker is!"

Qi Wei quickly turned her head. The moment the quick-decoding interface appeared, a faint laser line locked onto the vehicle she was in. Looking towards its source, the laser line zigzagged back and forth several times over many members of the Tiger Claw Gang…

"Oh shit!"

Qiwei felt like her head was being shaken, but she still endured the discomfort and forced her brain to perform calculations to track the real subject.

[Warning: Brake failure!]
Before Falco could speak, Rebecca's face darkened, and she sprang forward, instantly locking onto their position with the smart weapons—

Since smart weapons mostly prioritize locking onto combat personnel, and since micro-guided bullets sacrifice some of their power, it seems these weapons are all aimed at people.

Rebecca leaned back slightly, and the hail of bullets fired by the Ironclad hit the car that had caught up the fastest. Unfortunately, one piece of shrapnel hit the fuel tank!
Like a flint approaching flammable material, the motorcycle was instantly engulfed in flames. The two human figures engulfed in the flames were thrown high into the air, screaming as they were smashed to pieces on the ground...

Falco pulled Rebecca in!
Several bullets from smart weapons flew in, and the people who hurriedly ducked for cover were grazed by the bullets.

As the NCPD drew closer, the light that had been rolling in Qiwei's eyes faded!
"The third to last car!"

Qiwei uploaded a quick hack that caused one of the motorcyclists' prosthetic bodies to malfunction temporarily. As the motorcycle wobbled, it squeezed next to its partner's motorcycle. The Tiger Claw Gang member, who was almost tripped, was furious and kicked the malfunctioning prosthetic body aside!
To avoid a collision, the vehicle carrying the hacker behind them swerved, and a grenade that was rolling and bouncing on the ground appeared right in front of the windshield of that vehicle!
This grenade was Pila's masterpiece!
boom!
The moment the grenade flashed, the vehicle's infotainment system quickly recovered; they were now only a few breaths away from making contact with the NCPD members! Pila yelled, "I can't take it anymore!"

He stuck his head out of the car and started vomiting violently!
Falco had no time to pay attention; his gaze was fixed on the concrete wall separating the lane from the oncoming road, his expression utterly calm.

"Sit down!"

With a roar, the tire suddenly rolled onto a cement bag used for repairing a concrete wall!

Everyone felt a sudden weightlessness...

On a high-speed racetrack, even a pothole the size of a coin cannot appear, because at such speeds, even the slightest imperfection in the road conditions could lead to a loss of control!

Not to mention Falco's risky actions...

Is this him?
The feeling of weightlessness, with their hearts pounding in their throats, overwhelmed everyone.

Even Pira, who was vomiting violently beside the car, was dumbfounded as she watched the ground recede into the distance...

boom!
The car suddenly plummeted to the ground!

Before they could even see the road clearly, the crowd was blinded by a blinding light... The horn of a truck approaching from afar blared loudly and urgently, like a death knell!
The car in Falco's hands finally revealed its untamed wildness, and after landing and losing control, it rushed straight toward the front of the car!

now.

At such a critical moment, even the guy inside the open door of the floating vehicle above felt powerless to turn the tide, and his face turned extremely pale.

Falco used all his strength to try to subdue the beast that was about to rise up—

Damn it! Share this!

The steering wheel was as hard as a rock. In the brief but intense struggle, Falco seized that sliver of opportunity. At this moment, any attempt to slow down would have been inadvisable, only making the car more rigid. Instead, Falco didn't use the deceleration device, but instead kept its speed stable, correcting the car's trajectory through subtle maneuvers…

Wow!
The moment the truck made contact, Rebecca instinctively closed her eyes in the glare.

A brief metallic scraping sound came from the Falco's vehicle, followed by—

Like light breaking through the clouds, the two vehicles with vastly different kinetic energies quickly separated after a brief "kiss of death." Falco's clenched teeth loosened rapidly, only the cold sweat on his forehead and his slightly trembling thick beard seemed to be celebrating his narrow escape...

"My..."

Rebecca blinked, feeling the car moving at a steady speed, and subconsciously glanced at the flashing red and blue police lights behind her.

They drove against traffic in the other lane of the bridge spanning the river. For Falco, driving against traffic was much easier than jumping over the concrete wall earlier; he casually maneuvered the steering wheel…

"Damn it, they're still going to deduct money from my pay."

Rebecca winked, "Hey, has anyone ever told you that you're a real show-off, old man?!"

A strange smell suddenly filled the car. In the rearview mirror, Pila, his face a mess, was panting heavily. "No pay deduction... Ugh, buddy, let's find a place... Ugh!"

The unpleasant smell and terrible appearance made Qi Wei, who was covering her face with a mask, unable to hold back her anger.

……

Near the riverbank in Watson District, Qiwei was vomiting uncontrollably beside her car, while Pila was crouching beside a tree pit where the tree had long since died—

Falco leaned against the railing, taking intermittent puffs of his cigarette.

Rebecca muttered excitedly, "Uncle Falco, you're too late! If we had a driver as good as you earlier, we would have dared to go to the company square!"

Falco waved his hand. "After living in this world for so long, this is the first time I've noticed you guys. You know... racing is giving me less and less excitement."

The girl thought she had done a fantastic job today and excitedly introduced herself, "Rebecca!"

Falco stared at the girl's raised fist, then froze in his tracks as a hovercar appeared.

That expensive hovercraft vehicle cost at least tens of millions of euros to build…

Arasaka?

This wasn't just any ordinary office worker. Falco's guard was on high alert, but when he saw the girl's expression, he realized she wasn't nervous at all; instead, she seemed excited, like someone reuniting with an old friend…

What's the matter?

These people are working for the company...?
The hovercar slowly came to a stop. The man had a youthful and handsome appearance that seemed incongruous with his ostentatious manner. He wore a crisp Arasaka Corporation uniform, and behind him stood security guards with hawk-like, cold eyes.

"The NCPD withdrew too slowly, exceeding our expectations, which forced you to resort to that risky method... I'm very sorry."

Falco wanted to clean his own ears. When would a corporate dog ever say the word "sorry"?

Rebecca smacked her lips, deliberately making a "you're here now, I don't care" expression. "Oh! A promotion and a raise? Aren't you going to take your poor buddies and sissies out for a bit of fun?"

The "company dog" smiled helplessly, his eyes revealing relief.

"I'm afraid I'll have to rely on you guys for a living; the company doesn't really like me these days..."

Rebecca's next words made Falco's foot twitch.

"Got dumped?! Hahaha, serves him right!"

Lin Yue spread his hands, "Looks like you guys are doing pretty well in Night City. How about we add me to the list?"

Rebecca was somewhat taken aback by these words.

Seeing the genuine honesty on the other person's face, and the ambitious yet delighted smile that appeared on their expression, more like a "wicked grin," such was the wildness of a street kid.

Her voice also lowered, "Welcome! You bastard Lin Yue..."

At this moment, Pila, still panting heavily, yelled, "Damn it! Don't endorse this kid on our behalf! We're all illegal workers! Did you even spend the money you were supposed to pay for the job? You're a money-losing bastard!"

Qi Wei wiped her mask, her expression conveying a sense of lightness, as if she had just emerged from the fog.

The clever hacker didn't feel that Rin had been kicked out; on the contrary... he felt a sense of ambition growing wildly.

This guy… Qiwei knew she had made the right bet.

Lin Yue glanced around and finally fixed his gaze on the last member of the team who was smoking by the bridge.

Falco realized something was wrong. He had no idea these people had such a good relationship with Arasaka, and he had no idea how he had gotten himself involved...

For a moment, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

……

(End of this chapter)