Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 213 Company Commission: The Scales of Justice (Part 5) [Bonus Chapter! Please show your love~]

The Watson District subsidiary occupies a similar area to the Whole Foods factory.

This place is only three kilometers away from those venomous insects of the Vortex Gang. This factory area, consisting of several logistics and cargo workshops and a large open space, is surrounded by high walls almost like those of the Arasaka Industrial Park. The people assigned by Lai Xuan and V have already arrived one after another.

Although legally it is not yet a subsidiary of Arasaka, Kei-Kei Logistics is clearly unwilling to occupy the area first, unless it wants to have a real fight with Arasaka's security forces.

Watching the Arasaka soldiers on the wall, holding their guns and keeping a close watch on everything, the factory buildings that had been bombed and ravaged by gunfire were being rebuilt in an orderly manner. Sasha and his medical team moved into the two remaining intact factory buildings, while the other factory building was given to those scientific fanatics from Honshu.

"I go…"

Rebecca stared blankly as the Arasaka soldier in front of her waved for the trucks carrying building materials to reverse. In Night City, where land is incredibly valuable, having such a large park was like a dream come true.

Immediately afterwards——

"Give it back!"

Rebecca puffed out her cheeks, indignantly.

Lin Yue, a master of feigning ignorance, asked, "What?"

Pila wore a gloating expression, as if to say, "Oh dear..."

Qiwei is also quite clueless.

Because she had no idea that the company Lin Yue was talking about was like this. In her mind, a shell company that was set off from an office building was already pretty good. This was a subsidiary with real financial transactions and business. Was Lin Yue... really being sidelined by the company?
Rebecca watched the smug guy walk ahead with his hands in his pockets, then stood still, raised her fists, and yelled, "You lied to me!!!"

Suzuki, who had just driven in from a distance, looked somewhat surprised. Rebecca coughed and looked around like a tourist. The park had given the girl permission to look around, so there was nothing wrong with that; this wasn't Arasaka.

Seeing this scene, Lin Yue couldn't help but sigh.

Waking up in a munitions delivery van in Dogtown, Lin Yue never imagined he would one day control a company. At the same time, he gained a deeper understanding of Lai Xuan's audacity—he seemed never to be stingy with rewards, and Lin Yue could vaguely sense that Lai Xuan was plotting something…

The gift was too valuable; the money wasn't important, because it was like giving Lin Yue a safe haven after escaping from Ara-saka.

Advance to attack, retreat to defend.

To put it another way, this is Lai Xuan's outpost in Night City.

At the same time, this subsidiary is inextricably linked to Dogtown... As long as Emma doesn't cause any problems, Dogtown will always remain divided in two, but Hansen can't admit to New America or other companies that he's not the one with the most control over Dogtown right now.

Because in this way, the new America will have someone who listens to them.

Arasaka Yoriyuki's ambitions are sometimes easy to see. Although Lin Yue doesn't blindly follow Yoriyuki's lead, he still greatly admires such a generous boss who has a conflicting set of values ​​with the company.

He's starting to resemble a seasoned leader, but compared to the seasoned CEO who can effortlessly and creatively plan the overall strategy, he's still a bit immature.

Lin Yue himself also had gains and losses in his battle with Lai Xuan.

Put away your thoughts.

Upon arriving here, the first thing was to have the team familiarize themselves with the route, and the second was to have everyone come and see Sasha. The arrival of daylight in Europe has been delayed, and while the neural matrix has entered a usable stage, no one knows exactly how much has been developed. What problems Sasha might encounter after the surgery are all big questions.

"Meet Sasha, and I also need to tell you about a mission that might require your participation in the future."

The group arrived at the separate factory building that had already been divided up. Sasha was lying on the hospital bed in the middle surrounded by instruments. Her body was gently pushed up by the bed that she could operate on her own. She looked listless, but when she saw the twin-tailed girl who came in through the door, her slightly chapped lips squeezed out a smile, and she opened her arms to welcome Rebecca who was about to pounce on her.

"Sasha! I miss you so much, my dear."

Rebecca was very gentle as she hugged the slender girl. Looking at the prosthetic structure next to her neck, which was no different from Lin Yue's, her eyes were full of heartache.

Sasha rested her chin on Rebecca's head. "It's so good to see you, sweetheart."

Rebecca looked up, blinked, and looked puzzled.

Seeing the girl's pale face full of smiles, he asked, "Eh? You recognize me?"

Sasha said, “I was very lucky. The AI ​​didn’t affect my memory for long, and it recovered quickly. I just occasionally forget some things, but I know you and I remember our days in Night City.”

Rebecca muttered, "No, that's not good—you clearly..."

Realizing she had said the wrong thing, she quickly changed the subject, "I didn't expect that bastard Lin Yue would make room for you so much, things will definitely get better."

Lin Yue was talking with V's network experts. Knowing that the result was still not good, he could only say "thank you for your hard work" and then slowly sat down on the sofa next to him with a forced smile.

Pila, who always seemed carefree, looked at the equipment and clicked his tongue in amazement, "The company is really something. If Night City had this kind of equipment, they could pull their heads back from hell."

Technical experts are not only knowledgeable about weapons and projectiles, but they also have some knowledge of anything involving mechanical structures or even networks.

"Pila, you look terrible."

Sasha covered her mouth and laughed, while Pila pouted, "Don't even mention it. In my next life, I'll have a terrible driver who makes me carsick, it's that simple."

Qi Wei frowned slightly; she hadn't expected the girl to be in such a bad situation.

Seeing the cat-like girl looking at her, Qiwei found it difficult to even offer a comforting smile, because half of her face was covered by a mask.

Sasha: "Thank you, Qiwei."

Qiwei crossed her arms and shook her head. "I backed down. I'm too incompetent... You shouldn't have thanked me."

"Besides... Mr. Rin has given me enough. It's only right to do what I'm paid for."

The situation was critical at the time, and Sasha hardly considered her own and Qiwei's safety. Hearing the other party's answer, she felt much more relieved.

Since there was no other place in the logistics park where the team could talk, everyone talked about the things the company needed to do recently. For Sasha, who had just experienced the battle in the underground parking garage of Arasaka Tower, it wasn't noisy at all; on the contrary, she felt at ease.

Lin Yue reached out and turned on the television next to Sasha's hospital bed, which displayed various intelligence briefs.

The three members of the team immediately became serious, while Sasha looked at Lin Yue with a smile and narrowed her eyes.

“This company doesn’t belong to us under the strict legal definition—the unfortunate guy in the photo, Joey, is one of Arasaka’s people; for a period of time, he used Arasaka’s money to support this company, and the control was in the hands of his wife, Jenny.”

Then the photos swipe.

"The subsidiary has three shareholders. The other two cashed out and ran away. Only one is currently under the protection of Kejing Logistics, and Joey and Jenny have heirs."

Pila pointed at the boy in the photo wearing the Arasaka Academy uniform, "Hey, wait a minute, you don't mean you want us to mess with this brat, do you?"

Lin Yue waved his hand.

“It’s not worth having a problem with a child. Money can settle things with this so-called heir. His parents have already set up a trust fund for him, with a professional financial advisor managing his business, and they are happy to accept the compensation terms offered by Arasaka.” “But the other shareholder is a real problem.”

The crowd stared at the outline of the question mark in the photo and fell silent for a moment.

Did Arasaka not even find out who this person was?
Lin Yue seemed to see through everyone's doubts. "The company can now recruit employees from across the world and have them work for the company using only the equipment and cyber implants mailed by the company. It's hard to say whether the shareholders are in Night City or not. However, the shareholders are most likely some high-level executive of Respectable Logistics. After all, the actual controller of this company used to belong to Respectable. Yes, that's Jenny."

"Moreover, some well-meaning officials in Night City are going to endorse this shareholder, and it seems that a few councilors are also going to get involved."

Rebecca listened attentively, nodding as she spoke.

Lin Yue thought his explanation was clear when he got to this point, until Rebecca asked, "So, who exactly owns the company?"

There was silence.

Lin Yue blinked, looking somewhat helpless.

Sasha covered her mouth and laughed, patiently explaining, "Right now, Lin Yue is fighting with that mysterious shareholder, and it's highly likely that shareholder is under the protection of Kejing Logistics. Lin Yue's idea is to ask everyone for suggestions on how to find out who this person is."

Lin Yue breathed a sigh of relief.

Pila sat casually on the ground. "It's hard to find someone the company is determined to protect. Besides, they'll definitely be more cautious now that they know Arasaka is in trouble. As a true native of Night City, I've never actually been involved in a lawsuit. But I've heard that the adjudication bodies are all useless, and private prisons would love for them to bring in more business."

Qiwei asked, "What do you think?"

Looking at the various information on the screen, Lin Yue said, "Actually, Arasaka's fate is not obvious. The most deceptive thing about this company is that we use Arasaka's people, but we won't use Arasaka's name. The soldiers outside don't have Arasaka's logo on their uniforms."

“Arasaka’s legal department and public relations department send people to make the company’s profits circulate through shell companies and banks around the world, with Arasaka being the actual beneficiary.”

Rebecca clicked her tongue twice.

"You're just like a corporate dog, an empty shell... I failed, so just tell me which person to deal with directly."

Qiwei said calmly, "What about Miss V? I think her advice might be more important."

Suzuki, who had been standing behind Lin Yue without saying a word for a long time, twitched his eyelids.

Miss V is probably...

Lin Yue concealed his slight embarrassment well and cleared his throat, "It's not too late to talk about it when we need Miss V's cooperation."

Rebecca squeezed through the crowd, "You guys..."

As she spoke, she pinched two fingers together and said, "Don't worry, I respect other people's feelings. It doesn't seem to be going well?"

Seeing that Lin Yue's face darkened, Qi Wei pulled Rebecca back.

"I don't think we need to contact that congressman."

Everyone instinctively looked at Sasha lying on the hospital bed.

Her eyes sparkled as she spoke calmly, "The key point is that Arasaka doesn't think he can win this case 100%, which means that the adjudicating body, the city hall, and even all aspects of this struggle for control of the company are not performing well under his leadership."

Does this mean that the outcome of this lawsuit might be more favorable to Respectable Logistics?

Everyone agreed wholeheartedly and looked at Sasha with great anticipation.

Although the girl's expression was gentle, her words were very decisive: "Then let the adjudication body favor Arasaka at the appropriate time. Some councilors and governors can be 'won over', at least their identities are known and verifiable, right?"

There was silence.

Pila thought to herself, "Such a kind child, what has she become by following this scoundrel!"

Lin Yue nodded to himself, and even Suzuki behind him admired this unique insight. It seemed that the team's collective wisdom was indeed very effective in this regard.

But after Sasha said that, Lin Yue felt that it seemed to be connected to the "scales of justice" that Rogge had mentioned.

That's really true...

From Sasha's perspective of maximizing Lin Yue's interests, this plan is undoubtedly the most direct and promising... but this also means manipulating and controlling the law.

However, Lin Yue is not some moral exemplar or pioneer. The laws of Night City, and even the world, are broken and in dire need of rebuilding. If empty slogans were useful, then the world would not have the tragic phenomenon of using people's dreams as fuel.

Only by ensuring one's own stability can one achieve long-term success.

"Qiwei, the three of you work together to investigate the people at the city hall. Suzuki will give you the specific information. As for how to catch them red-handed, that's up to you—the deadline should be before Saturday. You only have five days."

After all, Saturday is the final judgment between the Ministry of Justice and Kejing Logistics. The outcome will depend on this struggle.

Qiwei gave an OK sign, and Rebecca next to her nodded repeatedly to indicate that she had no problem.

Pila looked up. "And you? I don't know how long you've been out of bed, aren't you going to stretch your muscles?"

At this point, Suzuki offered an explanation for Lin Yue.

"After the last operation, Rin-sama's prosthetic body developed some problems, so Arasaka's entire research department moved here. If possible, we will develop a new prototype specifically for Rin-sama's condition to replace the existing faulty implant."

All three of them were somewhat disappointed.

After all, when Lin Yue was around, I felt reassured no matter what I did, as if I had a safety net.

Rebecca patted Lin Yue on the shoulder casually, "Take good care of yourself and Sasha and recover. We've got your back."

Although things have started to look clearer now, Lin Yue is more curious about what Roger asked him to do. She only called to test the waters, and it seems she knows quite a bit about Lin Yue's current situation. So, is her client's problem related to the arbitration body?

Said Cao Cao, Cao Cao.

Lin Yue received an attachment in his email inbox, sent by Roger.

But as he watched, Lin Yue's expression grew increasingly strange...

……

……

　I haven't checked the comments section recently, but I'd like to share some thoughts on a topic my girlfriend mentioned.

　　First, regarding V's romantic storyline, please be patient. I know that in online novels, love is often like leveling up in a game, where the male and female leads go through many trials, their feelings gradually deepen, and they fall in love. However, my understanding of love is based on "feelings" (I'm certain of this). Perhaps "love at first sight" is a more accurate description (maybe)? Haha. Anyway, V and the protagonist's relationship will definitely surface, then settle, and they'll come to understand each other's true feelings. This is like real-life love; during the honeymoon phase, there's a lot of tolerance, but once they reach a point where their thinking differs, they'll consider whether to continue. But true lovers will never miss each other, so be patient. As for being abstract… well, that's a matter of opinion. I didn't expect the first volume to be 90 words; actually, according to the outline, 80 words would have been enough for V (you know what I mean). But due to length constraints, this might happen in the middle of the volume. Sorry~
　　Secondly, I've now laid the groundwork for the later storylines involving kickbacks. Before starting the book, I considered whether the mercenary and corporate storylines could be written together, and after much thought, I actually found a way – this dual-narrative approach. The protagonist's foundation won't just be limited to small-scale skirmishes; it will feel like there's constant change between the upper and lower levels. This groundwork is now completely laid. In the future, the book will feature cybernetic bodies [completely redesigned] not present in the original story, as well as elements of punk, spectacular battles, local customs, adventures involving various factions, and more…

　　Please support Kouya!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)