Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 223 Light and Darkness (Part 1)

The vehicles of the Ghost Dogs were hardly stable. A long stretch of the road after entering from the border was in disrepair, which made the military vehicles even more bumpy when they ran over the raised asphalt fragments.

This was a vehicle with only four occupants. The driver and co-driver were both heavily armed soldiers from the Ghost Hound, who held onto their powerful kinetic weapons tightly, their eyes behind sunglasses intently watching everything happening on both sides of the road.

At that moment, a woman's slender hand reached out from between the seats...

It seemed like an accident, but it was actually a deliberate and gentle touch on the shoulder of the co-pilot.

The woman spoke French with a languid voice, and her eyes, hidden beneath her burgundy short hair, were somewhat glazed—clearly signs of excessive alcohol consumption, which even made her tongue a little tied.

"Couldn't your boss send us a more comfortable 'carriage'? You strong boys can handle these hard leather seats, but I can't..."

As the woman spoke, she rubbed her fingers against the soldier's shoulder a few times.

The soldier in the co-pilot's gaze fell on the woman's fingertips. He grinned, revealing a set of teeth that clearly indicated years of smoking, his smile appearing somewhat awkward and simple.

Auror Cassel rolled her eyes, leaned back in her seat with a resentful look, and her flamboyant silver hoop earrings swayed back and forth in a huff.

"Damn... this guy can't understand French."

The yellow sand outside the bulletproof glass seemed endless, and only the neon-lit skyscrapers of Night City could be vaguely seen on the horizon, almost like a mirage.

Emeric Kassel seems to only ever use indifference when looking at people.

Compared to his unruly sister, Emeric was much more stable.

“I told you not to drink while you’re on business, and one day you’ll regret it…” As he spoke, he expressionlessly reached out and gently wiped his sister’s eyelids down. “Close your eyes, and maybe it will be over soon.”

Auror let out an uncomfortable growl in his throat, and after a long while…

“Emerick, do you think Hansen would agree to our terms? He said the Neural Matrix is ​​only missing our key—but my friends in North America said that Night City and Dogtown were besieged by the corporation. What if he's lying to us?”

Hearing his sister's question, Emeric didn't seem flustered at all.

He said, "The prison's cronies can't offer any good advice... Besides, Kurt Hansen doesn't understand technology, but he got his hands on the Neural Matrix's blueprints, so I think there's a high chance he's in his possession—"

"However, it's strange. We cooperated with military technology, but we didn't expect this facility to become the territory of a warlord. I will divide the key into two parts, one for you and one for me, and put them in the [Memory Bank], which is bound to the puppet. If either of us has a problem, he can forget about getting this thing."

Auror opened her eyes and glanced at her brother. "Whatever, but I heard that shabby place has the best AI dealers in North America, and the most luck-based gambling tables... I'm only interested in that. But then again, I quite like men like Hansen; he's manly."

Emeric shook his head and looked out the window.

His younger sister always let her guard down, which gave European internet regulators the opportunity to send her to jail once. But whenever he was with his sister, he would pay attention to every detail.
For example, the vehicles would randomly switch positions at intervals, and the paint job and appearance of these Ghost Dog vehicles were almost identical, indicating that Hansen took this meeting quite seriously.

Emerick never fights unprepared battles. He had long heard that Dogtown had been in a semi-blockade state, and that the colonel's army was getting supplies through smuggling channels and even airdrops... so the place wasn't exactly a good one, and even gave off a sense of unease.

However, as two seasoned internet users who had violated many internet laws, the relentless pursuit and crackdown in Europe had long annoyed the siblings. This time, they were planning to make a big profit and then leave.

"Shall we enter Night City?"

Emeric asked casually, in Spanish.

As expected, the Ghosthound soldier in the passenger seat glanced subconsciously at Emeric in the rearview mirror. After realizing that he and the guest were making eye contact, he reluctantly replied, "No, guest. We will take the colonel's most secret tunnel, which can avoid the eyes of many people."

Emeric: "Who are you on guard against?"

There was silence.

At this moment, Auror, who seemed to be resting with his eyes closed, also opened them. "Idiot, you'll scare him like that—I forgot to tell you, we have many implants that can detect eavesdropping and scanning devices... Let the colonel be more honest."

The hound adjusted its sitting position, its expression tense as it drove.

"Alright, don't be angry, you two... Badlands isn't very peaceful. There are homeless people and thugs who steal things, so these are just some necessary security measures. The colonel is waiting for you two in Sapphire Blue right now. Don't panic if anything happens later."

"The colonel will handle it."

Normal people, upon hearing such an explanation, would first react with anger at their partner for concealing a dangerous situation, or at the very least, with dissatisfaction.

However, the opposite is true—

Auror held up two fingers. "Add another million."

Emeric tilted his chin slightly, revealing an expression of non-disagreement.

Shortly after, Hansen's hoarse voice came through the military channel inside the vehicle, "I guarantee you'll win more than two million at the Sapphire Blue table."

Auror muttered "Great!" in French and then closed his eyes again.

Hansen then instructed the soldiers: "That scheming bitch wanted to kidnap people. It would have been better if she hadn't come out. Now she's personally leading people out for a desert sightseeing tour, causing us trouble—and she even wants to curry favor with her company boss. You know better than I do what we should do."

"Keep driving, don't stop the gas pedal."

Hansen had barely finished speaking when the car entered a hilly area…

A gleam of light, the kind that only appears when cracking code quickly, shone in Emeric's eyes. Having hacked into the car's audio-visual system, he quickly noticed the unusual activity on the sand dunes ahead.

"RPG!!!"

The roar of soldiers suddenly filled the channel—

call out!
boom!
The blinding flames were even stronger than the blazing sun overhead... The car instantly plunged into the orange-red flames.

The vehicle lurched violently, and everyone inside looked at the empty shell on their right, now filled with black smoke and flames. Emeric, the woman atop the dune, had already seen it; he glanced at her silently.

The car's speed increased again, clearly indicating that this car was much more powerful than the others.

The Ghost Hounds' disciplined fighting style proved effective; the stopped vehicles, without even being ordered, began to organize a counterattack on the spot. Emeric turned to look at the rear windshield; the gunfire was barely noticeable through this transparent barrier. Before he could even settle into his seat, he noticed many black dots appearing in the sky above him…

"Drone?"

Emeric and Aurol exchanged a glance, and without much preamble, they quickly dismantled one of the most damaging flying weapons after another.

The ghost hound soldiers wanted to stop them, but in the end their tone turned to suggestion, "Don't worry, the support team has arrived."

The drone swarm seemed to be instantly de-energized. The moment the electromagnetic pulse device was activated, they all turned into scrap metal falling from the sky. The soldiers' crude curses came over the channel, "That bastard's coordinates are up there!"

"Get your hands on it!"

"..." The obviously retaliatory profanities were harsh, but they only made the two European hackers more interested in the woman's identity.

"Anyone in Dogville who dares to play games with the Colonel?"

No one answered the question, but Aurore and Emeric took it as a minor incident on their boring journey. After all, Hansen had promised them a reward of five million euros. With that much money, even if the Aurore siblings wanted to do something reckless, they couldn't.

The doors are welded shut, so it just keeps moving forward!

……

At that moment, Emma, ​​standing on the sand dune, threw away her cigarette and silently watched the vehicle rush into the innermost part of the dune, followed by reinforcements that the Ghost Hound had prepared long ago.

The Dogtown Queen was only accompanied by the animal gang members who had just carried the rocket launcher; the surrounding area was empty, and there seemed to be no reinforcements or anything like that.

"Hmm, it seems the colonel is quite to our liking."

As the convoy rushing towards them on the horizon stirred up dust like a mini sandstorm, Emma pointed her finger into the air, as if counting.

The security guard carrying the rocket launcher was the same bodyguard who had been asked to leave when she met V that day.

The boss's earnest counting seemed so unreliable, but he knew none of these people would be going home today.

The woman in front of me is crazy.

From the very first day he took office, he knew that the laws of Night City and the Night City Arms Convention were nonexistent with this woman; on the contrary, she had acquired many dangerous things while controlling half of Dogtown and the logistics channels.

If those things become known to the Night City authorities or other forces, Dogtown will become the target of everyone's ire.

"Were there this many people at Xiaobeidou back then?"

The bodyguard handed over a phone, his voice ringing, "Boss, Ms. Angie is looking for you..."

"Hey?! Tell me what the hell you're doing in the Badlands?"

Emma slightly moved the phone away from her ear, waiting for the woman on the other end to vent her frustrations.

"Damn it! It's happening again!"

Angie even started to sound a bit earnest, because what she feared most was that one day her subordinates would tell her that this crazy woman had run away, and today it really came true!
Emma pursed her lips, her tone surprisingly wistful as she said, "You really care about me, darling."

Angie: "I'm fucking—"

"Can you tell me what you're going to do? Hmm? At least you should use my people, shouldn't you?"

She has long since given up on using the word "crazy" to describe Emma, ​​because she knows very well that this is the woman's mental state; she does dangerous things, although the rewards are enormous.

Angie became even more frightened at this thought. "Last time you went to Gemstone Blue all by yourself and took over the smuggling route from Hansen... What about this time?"

Emma thought for a moment, "Of course, I'll lure Hansen's men out. These are all veterans, capable of both retaliating and weakening Hansen's power. As for me, I'll make sure Hansen feels comfortable sending his own people."

Angie sighed, speechless.

"Hey listen, now's not the time for you to risk your life..."

Unexpectedly, Emma interrupted, "I didn't risk my life. I was just repaying someone. Every time I can still hear Hansen's voice echoing in Dogtown, I swear that one day I will make him pay."

“I didn’t bring many people with me, they were all my men, and the equipment they used was from Europe. None of them will survive.”

Angie's eyes widened. "Wait, you wouldn't—"

The phone slipped from Emma's hand, rolling down the sand dune onto the burning gasoline-strewn ground. Flames twisted the air, and the sunlight fell on Emma's profile, casting a play of light and shadow along the bridge of her nose...

Immediately afterwards, fully armed mercenaries emerged from the sand dunes on the side. Strangely, they were all wearing gas masks, which were the least common in Night City. Although the air in Night City was toxic, most people simply replaced their lungs with synthetic ones, and no one had ever appeared in Badlands wearing such a thing.

They held black cannon barrels in their hands, quickly assembled the mortars, and aimed them at the direction the convoy was coming from. However, they didn't seem like professional gunners, because the angle of elevation made it seem like they were aiming at the sky...

Emma picked up the gas mask and gently placed it on her face, the viciousness spreading in her pupils impossible to hide.

Beneath the mask, her voice was as cold as a sharp blade piercing the chest, "Tell those guys in the Netherhounds who work for us to hold Tian Guang captive... If one of them is missing, I'll make sure he loses a pair of limbs."

As each shell shot straight into the sky, they exploded in mid-air like fireworks!

Carrying toxic substances that cells could break down, the foul-smelling air rushed into the ventilation systems of every vehicle. The roar of the engines, the ferocious faces of the soldiers inside, and every heavy, deep breath were all signs of impending doom.

The soldiers who had leaned out fired their guns at the sand dunes. Emma didn't move an inch. She closed her eyes and counted the time. The dose was enough to bury these people here forever.

The animal bodyguards behind him silently watched the hell below.

The soldiers watched as their bodies melted like ice cream, oozing clear liquid, until their blood vessels ruptured, their throats blocked, their hands frantically pulling triggers, and they staggered to their knees…

They were all like zombies from hell, trying to walk towards the woman on the hillside.

They placed their hopes for survival on an enemy with an angelic face, never imagining that he was the true Grim Reaper…

This agonizing torment continued until evening.

Everyone was watching below when Emma let out a muffled laugh.

A rustling sound came from behind me…

Emma lowered her eyes, looking at the undulating corpses below, then glanced slightly behind her. Behind her, four burly men were carrying two young men and women who looked like dead dogs...

"Let's burn this place down before it gets dark."

Emma glanced at the blood-red sunset and slowly walked down the sand dune.

On her way, she recalled the fairy tale she had told Catherine: the evil queen and the pure princess—

So, am I one of them?

……

……

(End of this chapter)