Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 215 Tremendous Changes and Oversights

When I got back to the company's apartment in the plaza, it was already five in the morning.

The city is about to experience the hangover of revelry; this is the darkest moment of midnight, followed by the pale light of dawn.

It's not a good time to sleep.

Logically and emotionally, Lin Yue could live in the NID area of ​​Watson District, at least avoiding the hassle of traveling back and forth. However, the company plaza has a helipad for hovercars, and besides, he hadn't spent any time at home last time he hurriedly brought Sasha back—

This mentality is more like that of the Chinese people: they feel the need to go home whenever they have free time.

The moment the automatic door opened, Lin Yue tossed his suit jacket aside next to the sofa, rubbed his face and hair, and slumped back onto the sofa.

Throughout the journey, he kept thinking about what Pila had said. To be honest, he still had a big question mark about whether Pila could participate in the development of prosthetic bodies—because Pila's behavior was not like that of someone who had received a systematic scientific education.
Night City certainly has many self-taught technical experts, some of whom are so skilled that they can modify firearms to give ordinary military weapons a second life. Of course, some components, manufacturing standards, behavioral experience chips, and knowledge of traps during stealth all come from these guys.

But this still doesn't make him a scientist.

A scientist must have a solid scientific foundation, sufficient literacy, and the ability to think creatively.

Unsure of what to do, Lin Yue postponed Pila's fervent wish, citing that he hadn't yet fully secured control of the subsidiary and that Arasaka's scientific team was currently focused on ensuring his prosthetic body functioned properly.

On the other hand, it's quite simple. Lin Yue believes that it's unrealistic for Pila to have the doctoral degrees and scientific expertise of those top scientists in the state. Therefore, he opened a back door for Pila: Arasaka Academy has certification qualifications for various professional skills in Night City. At the very least, Pila needs to obtain a Level 1 qualification certificate (senior technical expert, close to 10-15 technical points).

Whether it was just my imagination or not, after Lin Yue finished speaking, Pila gave me a look that said, "You think I'm beneath you," and went back to sleep with her hands behind her back, humming a song.

This guy…

Lin Yue originally thought that taking a self-taught approach was also a good idea, and planned to set up a workshop for Rebecca and Pila when the factory was restored. After all, Lin Yue still cared that the word "weapons expert" had appeared in Rebecca's favorability panel.

From the beginning until now, the favorability panel has never made a mistake in its judgment...

Everyone has their own ambitions. Lin Yue didn't mind providing Pila with a stage to showcase her talents, but the details of prosthetics were too intricate, and he still didn't dare to take too many risks.

finally…

Lin Yue breathed a sigh of relief; everything was back to normal.

Finally, there's only Ultraman's side left. For so long, there's been no movement from the BBS address that represents Ultraman's possible appearance. It's as if what happened in the Dogtown network world was just a big dream. But this vague sense of oppression without any clues or goals still makes Lin Yue a little concerned.

A rustling sound came from the sofa.

Lin Yue followed the sound and saw the little creature, which had hardly ever seen its owner, curiously looking at Lin Yue with its emerald-like eyes. Then it raised its paw and tugged at Lin Yue's shirt sleeve.

The pet, having been petted by its owner, stretched its paws as much as possible, pressed its head against the mechanical hand, and made gurgling sounds in its throat.

Pets can drastically reduce stress levels, and Lin Yue began to like this adorable creature—

Just as the two were interacting, the cat's ears twitched, and it quickly jumped off the sofa, ran to the automatic door, and obediently sat down on the floor... Lin Yue, who was puzzled, looked at the little guy, and then heard faint footsteps coming from the corridor.

She was a woman, and she was wearing high heels.

The voice became clearer and clearer, and Lin Yue roughly knew who it was, so he stood up unconsciously.

The cat arched its back, clutching the small blanket on the floor by the door, as if welcoming the person outside. However, the person at the door seemed to stand quietly for a while before moving on, until the sound disappeared next door.

Somewhat helpless, Lin Yue could only shake his head and stare into the cat's eyes.

The cat seemed puzzled. The person outside the door usually came to visit, so why did he leave today?
Feeling guilty, Lin Yue shrugged and, with a wry smile, slipped into the bathroom as the cat watched him go.

As the hot water steamed, Lin Yue washed his body while pondering how to utilize the 6 points of Intelligence he had previously acquired.

After carefully searching his mind, Lin Yue slowly clicked on the most important skills in the hacker skill tree—

[Location Encryption] +1: All fast decryption methods -30% traceability;
[Absolute Obedience] +1: The better the enemy's brainwave state, the longer the duration of using control-type quick-break will be increased by 100 (minimum 50%).
The previous "Embedded Development" only reached the first layer. When the second layer is activated, Lin Yue's Quick Break damage will increase by 60% against enemies affected by "Control," "Stealth," or "Quick Break: Draw Away Enemies."

[Quantitative Speculation] +1: Using [Combat Type] to quickly eliminate an enemy will restore RAM. The restoration amount is equal to 25% of the total RAM consumed by the target's quick hacks.

【Puppet: Ice Cone】+1: For some controlled, concealed or quick-break: lure away enemies affected by enemy influence to fight quickly break -1 RAM usage;
[System Suppression] +1: The target is affected by a unique Faster Crack effect and a damage over time effect, +7% Faster Crack damage…

As Lin Yue's panel loaded and a torrent of data washed over his eyes, only the last three points remained.

As Lin Yue felt his brain becoming increasingly clear, his heart pounded uncontrollably.

That's because he's about to acquire a power that only advanced hackers possess—[brain-computer interface overclocking]!
This isn't about passively watching AI struggle under its control, but rather about the ability to manage and control massive amounts of data—a crucial differentiator between a hacker's potential danger and one's own capabilities.

In reality, brain-computer interface overclocking is not a skill, but rather a measure of one's own brain development and the courage to exceed one's own brain-computer interface control limits.

In short, if you have a PC, the process of brain-computer interface overclocking is equivalent to entering the BIOS and modifying the frequencies of various hardware components. Performance improvements often mean hardware wear and tear. However, this is not the case for brain-computer interfaces. Countless people have overestimated their talents, forcibly overstepped their authority to enable brain-computer interface overclocking, and ended up overclocking their brains.

V represents the result of talent and long-term training, while Lin Yue's panel replaces this process, using clearly visible data to tell Lin Yue:
You are now qualified to unlock brain-computer interface overclocking!

Lin Yue reached out and turned off the shower. He leaned over and watched the blurry mirror gradually become clear. He wondered if, once the network access pod fully recovered, he could still achieve that devastating effect by overclocking his brain to unlock the remaining rapid cracks of the Black Wall.
He was terrified of regressing...

When a person gains power that doesn't belong to them, losing it brings immense unease. For example, the reason Lin Yue found it difficult to calm down during the period when his prosthetic body couldn't fight normally was precisely because of this.

Furthermore... the brain-computer interface can be activated with a little overclocking, but the network access module is currently in a state of functional deficiency. Will this have any adverse effects?

He, who always proactively blocked the trauma group program, silently waited for it to restart automatically, and after mentally preparing himself, cleaned his body.

call!
Without hesitation, he immediately added his first specialty!
[Brain-Computer Overclocking +1]: +10% RAM recovery rate...

Boom!
Lin Yue's perspective seemed to have suddenly widened!
The feeling at this moment is no different from taking a breath of full-strength medicine when I am in a healthy state. My heart rate increases rapidly and all my senses become exceptionally clear!
Breathing, water droplets hitting the polished floor, the sensation of water droplets sliding down his forehead, the splashing sound of a body touching the bathtub in the next bathroom... all these sensations created a sensory feast in Lin Yue's mind!

This feeling is so wonderful.

He seemed omnipotent and omniscient, his mind exceptionally sharp. The entire process lasted for a good half minute before he gradually calmed down, panting heavily…

"It seems that the failure of the prosthetic body doesn't affect the panel points?"

The voice just fell.

A second layer is embedded in the Brain-Computer Overclocking skill tree—this is the effect of +10% quick-break damage.

The imagined enhancement of sensory experience became almost imperceptible...

Lin Yue, who was in a daze, quickly came to his senses.

Anything related to RAM generally leads to a sharp increase in mental agility, since RAM is linked to data processing capabilities. This is still a significant gain, as Lin Yue's brainpower can now perform many complex calculations.

For example, when he was estimating the damage from the rapid network breach when the Black Wall AI coexisted with him, as long as the damage caused by that rapid breach didn't drop below 50%, Lin Yue could completely compensate for the damage using brain-computer interface overclocking, only the range wouldn't be as large.

However, this is still good news.

After all, activating brain-computer interface overclocking doesn't put as much strain on the body as AI controlling oneself. In comparison, Lin Yue is quite satisfied that he can exert his own strength.

The harvest is not small.

Excited, Lin Yue couldn't wait to head towards the third level, which was the key to obtaining the brain-computer interface overclocking privilege!
To be honest, Lin Yue once asked V and Sasha about activating brain-computer interfaces, and their answers were surprisingly consistent. It was a very abstract feeling, like you know that using brain-computer interfaces will never kill you...

Therefore, he wanted to see how the skill panel implemented this series of processes.

[Data loading...//]

[Brain-computer interface overclocking privileges have been granted]

[Duration 14s...//Cooldown 30s]

Lin Yue stared intently at the data popping up on the panel, his hands unconsciously clenching.

As time passed, his mind became increasingly clear, and he not only failed to notice anything unusual, but the network access module behind his neck actually started up on its own.

[Hardware connection in progress...]

[Battle System Review]

Lin Yue watched as various devices reported errors one after another, until finally only the network access bay remained.

He watched intently as the progress bar climbed from 0% to 98%, then remained stuck at that number for a long time without moving.

The waiting time felt incredibly long. Just as Lin Yue's tense mood was beginning to be replaced by the gloom of impending failure, the number suddenly jumped to 100%...

No wonder!
Lin Yue vaguely felt that this panel was like a program rooted in his brain, which should cause some disturbance to the network access warehouse. Unexpectedly, it actually worked!
The scientists in the state who designed this prosthetic body couldn't find the problem with the network access module's malfunction, but they unexpectedly solved it themselves...

The series of surprises left Lin Yue feeling dizzy and his heart pounding.

His biggest worry was that he wouldn't be able to participate in the battle, but now that the network access pod is still there, everything is fine!

But are there really no other options for prosthetic bodies?

Undeterred, Lin Yue tried again, but finally shook his head helplessly. It seemed that he could only let the scientists from that state do it. Of course, he couldn't go up to those mad scientists and tell them that he had completely restored the network access pod because of a certain panel. Like the memories of his reincarnation, this was a secret that Lin Yue would keep to himself.

As he watched the familiar fast-cracking queue appear in the network access module, and after verifying that everything was correct, he looked at the fast-cracking of the black wall protocol. Its specification, which used to only have question marks, had long been replaced by a clear line of description.

[The Black Wall Protocol]: Permission from the great dike of civilization; the thing most feared on the other side of the wall is your will.

With the machine's unclear description, Lin Yue couldn't predict its potential harm and could only wait for an opportunity to use it.

Lin Yue shook his head, deciding not to make a fuss. The warm steam in the bathroom had now condensed and was damp and cold. He grabbed a towel, dried his hair, and walked out of the bathroom.

However, there are still many things that Lin Yue is curious about, such as: What is the difference between the [Black Wall Protocol] and the [Black Wall Gateway] in the Xiaobeidou facility?

Is its function merely to quickly crack combat-type puzzles?

In the eyes of the mercenary with the prosthetic eye, blood-red data pierced through his skull, burning the implant and brain-computer interface, emitting a terrifying roar only found in cyberspace... It doesn't seem that different? Could it be that once the technology is fixed, there will be distinguishing features?

Thinking about this—

Lin Yue slowed down his hair drying and stopped walking.

The gleaming interior decor and silver-white metallic surfaces reflected the man's bewildered expression... It seemed that because he had woken up too late, and with all sorts of things piling up, he had... forgotten the second most important thing in the Little North Star facility?!

Without him.

Lin Yue forgot about the core technological outputs of the Xiaobeidou facility: the [Chapter Network Access Container] and [Erebus]!
"Oh shit…"

As if waking from a dream, Lin Yue's expression instantly turned ugly. Forgetting about getting back into bed, he hurriedly sat down in front of the computer in his bathrobe and reopened the report on the Dogtown operation, which he had read countless times.

With more careful reading—

Lin Yue saw the last line of text.

[The military technology facility triggered a self-destruct emergency procedure due to core damage. Counterintelligence Agency V attempted to stop it but was unable to, resulting in a large-scale collapse of the entire building, with the collapsed area estimated to be over 80%...]

……

……

(End of this chapter)