Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 293 The Road to Expedition and Freedom is Full of Thorns (Part 5) [Happy New Year, May the Year of the Snake Bring You Good Fortune]

The holy sword gradually approached the ground from the tower, passing through the security checkpoints.

The sleek, aesthetically pleasing car doors opened, revealing cat-eared girls holding a variety of bizarre weapons. Most of these were modified versions of guns and swords commonly used in Night City, and their prosthetic bodies were also not to be underestimated.

As the strong wind swept in, the girls' skirts began to sway, and without exception, their eyes were filled with intense longing.

Michiko Arasaka is the absolute leader of Dangerous Girls, not only because she treats these girls extremely well, but also because she is the brains of the company. Michiko personally commands many of the Dangerous Girls' high-difficulty missions. In the era of 2045, Michiko's career is at its peak, and the cyberpunks of Night City all know the methods of this beautiful woman.

The previous rumors had caused the company's employees to lose confidence. The company was temporarily managed by Michiko's lover, and Night City's business even came to a standstill. As soon as Michiko returned, this mercenary company, whose main business was detective work, reappeared on Night City's company list.

In the girls' eyes, Michiko, stripped of all her flamboyance, was like a simple sketch; the kind smile in her eyes was no longer the same as before.

"Ms. Michiko."

The leader of the dangerous girls bowed to the boss and glanced at him curiously, wondering what had happened to Michiko Arasaka that made her seem so cold and aloof.

Michiko looked around and found that NCX had indeed temporarily handed over the area to the girls as required by the agreement. The next half hour was crucial. Having learned how to play the company game well in the old house in Japan, Michiko had lost her expectations of other companies. She wanted to keep the secret firmly in her own hands.

"Lucy...a nice name."

Michiko muttered something to herself, then looked sharply at her subordinate, "J, what's the situation in the area right now?"

The girl answered truthfully.

"The Arasaka agents from Poland have all been eliminated, so there will be no unnecessary diplomatic incidents. Our people have located where the 'rat' is hiding, and he will be apprehended as soon as he appears!"

Michiko was satisfied with the current situation and asked, "What about the risks of leaks and related matters?"

The girl's prosthetic eye shone brightly. "What we know for now is that the Arasaka branch of Night City has not responded, nor has the newly established company DAR... The situation is under our control, and we should have results soon."

DAR…

In Michiko's mind, the young man's dark pupils stared intently at her, Abernathy's blood stained the floor, and there was only a cold and cruel smile.

"Furthermore, the hackers currently online have not detected any communication data being sent to the target individuals and locations, which means that neither the defecting hacker Arasaka nor the company's security director intended to seek help from the outside world... They are quite clever."

Michiko nodded, then quickly added after a moment's thought, "J, that guy named Suzuki is definitely not simple. He's one of the best samurai in Arasaka. He probably wants to send this girl onto the spaceship, so our focus should be..."

Eyes move.

A pair of eyes stared at this place from an inconspicuous underground manhole before disappearing into the darkness.

"Arasaka Michiko, how could it be her?"

Suzuki muttered to himself. He thought that after being ostracized by Lai Xuan, this former national vice president of Arasaka had completely bid farewell to his senior management career in the company. He didn't expect him to make a comeback so quickly.

It seems Rin-sama was right; the Arasaka family is indeed excessively lenient towards its own people…

On the other hand, Lucy also saw the woman next to Suzuki. The high-ranking executives of Arasaka stood in the NCX park and ordered their subordinates to find these two rats. They were terrified but even more confused.

“Miss Lucy, it seems your father is not an indecisive person.”

Lucy couldn't tell if Suzuki was being sarcastic or not.

Yes, the Polish branch agents who came from afar were all dealt with to avoid a diplomatic incident. The memory of her father's cold and unapproachable face and her mother's relentless pursuit of her made Lucy's heart extremely cold.

There was a long silence.

"Suzuki... Forget it, let's retreat."

For the first time ever, Lucy actually asked to give up this opportunity.

Perhaps because she saw no hope, she just wanted to get away from this place.

Unexpectedly, Suzuki suddenly stopped, and Lucy, who was following behind, bumped into his back. When she looked up, she saw Suzuki staring at her expressionlessly, and she was momentarily taken aback.

“Miss Lucy, sending you away is not a great or glorious thing, but rather fulfilling a promise I made to my boss, and I am willing to do it; secondly, it is good for us all if you leave, and in my opinion there are many good ways to handle this.”

"For example, killing you, handing you over, or us splitting up are all options that are in my best interest—please don't say anything discouraging, it makes me feel very uncomfortable, and I believe that Lady Rin will definitely let me live."

Lucy's expression changed repeatedly.

“You’re just blindly confident. Look closely, Michiko doesn’t use Arasaka’s people. She doesn’t trust Arasaka at all—among the girls under her, there are influential figures from the Night City’s fringe. I just don’t want to drag you down because of this matter, that’s all.”

Suzuki listened quietly, then seemed to realize he had gone too far.

“Miss Lucy, do you think we can still get out? We must persevere on the path we've chosen, even if it leads to darkness. The cost of giving up is far greater than you can imagine.”

Lucy looked anxious. "You have no idea what my father wants, and that dangerous girl isn't ordinary—"

“Actually, I don’t want to know what your father is looking for in you. Hearing too many secrets will only bring unnecessary trouble… As for the dangerous girl you mentioned…” Suzuki smiled nonchalantly, “Even if you think I’m blindly confident, Lord Rin has killed quite a few.”

Lucy finally understood what that guy used to make his men willingly risk their lives for him.

Suzuki waved his hand, "It's just a bit of a pity... there wasn't enough time to pick out a suitable gift for my child. It seems I'll have to go to Night City to buy something later."

Lucy glanced at the bulging outline of the man's suit pocket and nodded gratefully. "I can use the surrounding network equipment to check suitable nodes for us to travel to the ground."

"That's best."

Suzuki finally received a little help.

Along the way, the strange duo, who would normally never have crossed paths in Night City, chatted intermittently.

Suzuki realized that Michiko planned to deploy surveillance around the space shuttle, but this came at a cost. Every second the shuttle was grounded cost NCX euros. It was highly likely that Michiko had reached an agreement with this European company, so it wouldn't be long before the deal was finalized.

Lucy wholeheartedly agreed; all they needed to do was get as close as possible to the spacecraft heading to the moon and then hide themselves.

The floor panel beneath a quiet aircraft maintenance workshop made a loosening sound. Suzuki looked around, crawled out, and reached his hand inside. Lucy used the leverage to climb out. After assessing their surroundings, the two breathed a sigh of relief and listened attentively to the AI ​​reports from the spaceport.

Lucy connected herself to the data access point on the side of the corridor, monitoring the spaceport's lockdown status in real time.

At this point, everything is going smoothly.

As for how Suzuki would escape, he certainly had a way, since such escape training was a routine training program in Hokkaido.

Lucy quickly sifted through the data and happened to see a lot of NCX's monitoring data. Of course, she didn't have time to watch the data frame by frame; she just glanced at it. She had been casually waiting for the AI ​​notification like Suzuki, but in the fleeting images she saw, she spotted some familiar scenes...

So she quickly retreated, and as she looked around, her expression gradually darkened.

"what happened?"

Sensing something was wrong, Suzuki gripped his gun tighter; his professional instincts compelled him to immediately search for the best escape route.

Lucy answered Suzuki's question through gritted teeth, "We hadn't been in the emergency exit long when the Dangerous Girl took over the duty-free shop, and everyone from Arasaka and the customers were dealt with..."

Suzuki felt a sudden "buzz" in his head!
He instinctively grabbed Lucy's arm, bent over, and rushed forward, determined to get away from there at least for now.

"Suzuki, we've been tricked!"

Lucy's voice was hoarse, and she was panting heavily. "The dangerous girl who entered the emergency exit found a few routes that were probably the way we were going, but she wasn't sure, so she sealed off two areas and forced us to move. I even felt that the dangerous girl hadn't sealed off the platform at all!"

"What?!" Suzuki stopped in his tracks, finally understanding how this detective agency operated.

Unsure whether the intelligence would be leaked, they set a trap for Suzuki and Lucy, meaning they are now very likely being watched!
"careful!"

Suzuki felt Lucy abruptly shake off his hand. Just as he was about to turn around and scold her for acting alone, he saw the orange monomolecular threads in the girl's hands shimmering around her. His fighting instincts kicked in, and he created distance.

A series of afterimages connected in a line and flashed from the side!

"Wow!"

Lucy's monomolecular filaments danced in the air, making a soft rustling sound, like the sigh of death, before suddenly wrapping around the attacker!

empty!

Without hesitation, Suzuki pulled the trigger. He saw the enemy's alluring eyes and knew she was dressed like a dangerous girl!
After missing its target, the monomolecular wire got tangled in the escalator next to it. Then, with a burst of force, the steel pipes were cut into a dozen or so pieces, each less than the length of a hand, and then collapsed suddenly!
After dodging the bullets, the enemy's first instinct was to grab Lucy. Her katana was clearly aimed at Lucy's hands, which were controlling the monomolecules. Her intention was extremely clear: to cripple Lucy and then take her away...

At this critical moment, Suzuki's speed suddenly increased, and just as the blade was about to fall, he kicked the enemy's long sword away!

Lucy suddenly created distance, her eyes turning red. The instant the quick counterattack took effect, the blade was already in Suzuki's hand. With a simple, effortless flip of the blade, Suzuki turned his back to the enemy, and the blade was already plunged into her abdomen!

Suzuki looked up, listening indifferently to the sound behind him that sounded like a deflated balloon, and then drew his sword.

Lucy watched helplessly as the girl's bewildered eyes and her body gradually went limp, her knees belatedly buckling.

Suzuki scooped her up in one swift motion!
"go!"

However, even though the two executed a perfect play due to their adrenaline surge, they were still a step too late…

The appearance of this enemy meant that the dangerous girl had already surrounded the area.

Suzuki flung the girl away suddenly. The girl's light body floated like a butterfly to the simple passageway two meters high next to her. At this moment, Suzuki was surrounded by the afterimages of Sianwistan!

"Suzuki!"

Lucy knew she couldn't help anymore.

However, there was no fear in the eyes of the samurai holding the sword; on the contrary, there was only a calmness that seemed to have broken the deadlock.

The dangerous girl hadn't expected that the cold-faced man with a scar near his eye was someone who had held out against the Black Wall weapon for a long time. After all, even an AI-infiltrated hacker like Sasha couldn't deal with him, so he was undoubtedly a supervisor-level fighter!

Lucy only saw him simply retreat, barely dodging the incoming blades and bullets. His cold gaze instantly locked onto the slowest enemy. The girl felt a chill run down her spine, as if she were being watched by the Grim Reaper. Her teammate, who was supporting her, had already plunged his blade into Suzuki's left abdomen!
But Suzuki's expression didn't seem to change at all, and he didn't take any defensive measures. He just stubbornly put the knife to the girl's neck.

The round object flipped and flew into the air, and Suzuki delivered a powerful kick that knocked back the enemy who was trying to stab the knife deeper from the side!
Blood stained the pristine white shirt—

The single-molecule line then followed!

Having blocked the enemy's attempt to swarm forward, Suzuki quickly retreated, throwing several deep-cut grenades in front of the pursuers!

"spread!"

By the time the enemy reacted, Suzuki had already created distance.

Suzuki felt the warmth draining from his abdomen, a stinging pain and coldness seeping into his internal organs, but he remained calm and focused—

His gaze flickered, and suddenly he saw a sign prohibiting open flames.

Space fuel...

If all else fails, this is the only option.

Suzuki glanced behind him, then turned and blocked the narrow passageway bridge that could only accommodate one person at a time.

"go!"

Holding knives in both hands, he hunched over like a predator guarding its territory, and then suddenly charged out!
The scaffolding used for repairing spacecraft severely restricted these dangerous girls with operating system prosthetics. As Lucy crawled into those complex structures, they were forced to confront the security chief whose combat capabilities were seriously misjudged.

The melee broke out!
Lucy didn't dare turn around. She knew that if she hesitated for even a second, Suzuki would pay an even heavier price.

"Run the fuck away! Don't stay put!"

Suzuki's growl still echoed in my ears.

She's the enemy's target; as long as she's not controlled, the enemy will have to divert some of their attention...

run!
It was like running out of that hellish Arasaka Tower.

Never look back!

……

On the highest control tower of the NCX, Michiko rested her hands on the control panel.

She remained calm as she watched time tick by.

So far, the only unexpected thing is Suzuki's formidable fighting power. Of course, this is also because Rin took care of Michiko's special team. If those two had been involved, Suzuki wouldn't have been delayed for so long.

She had other concerns.

"Miss Michiko—"

Before the person giving the report could finish speaking, Michiko stopped her from saying anything more.

She parted her lips slightly and said, "Execute another plan: use the Soul Killer to deal with Lucy."

The words had barely left his mouth…

A violent explosion rang out!
The aftershocks of the explosion caused the high-strength glass of the control tower to vibrate violently!

The security personnel beside her quickly stepped in to protect Michiko.

As the surrounding sounds quieted down, she didn't care whether Suzuki was dead or not, because she was certain that Rin didn't know what secrets this hacker was carrying. All she wanted was this person—no, all her memories.

Looking at the towering flames, Michiko had no doubt about Suzuki's choice.

That's a smart guy; he knew her target was the defector hacker, so he didn't choose to retreat.

Perhaps in Michiko's eyes, it wasn't surprising that a loyal employee like Suzuki had died; she guessed Rin would regret rashly letting the detained hacker go, but she had once again made a grave mistake—

Her enemy wasn't concerned with the hacker's secrets, but rather with the life she had disregarded.

At the same time, the piercing alarms of the cybersecurity team echoed throughout the tower.

The intrusion message clearly stated:

DAR//…

……

……

(End of this chapter)