Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 311 Terrible (Part 2)

"I've already sent you the coordinates."

"Help me catch this scumbag, and leave the rest to me—my office building is in Kabuki, and I'll have the security system let you in."

Above the bustling streets of the Japanese-style market, Lin Yue leaned on the railing and watched the holographic Japanese dancer repeat her movements dozens of times before finally receiving news of Regina.

"Alive..."

Lin Yue looked at the building in the attached photo and the estimated number of Tiger Claw Gang members, and felt that killing them would be much easier than capturing them.

Regina sighed. "I'm sorry, it's not that I'm asking for so much, but..."

Lin Yue nodded.

“I understand, after all, I also worked as a middleman for a while, but I did it mostly for myself.”

"After all, I doubt many mercenaries would be willing to take on a commission of this amount in the next life, right? Unless they're broke and in debt, they wouldn't take such a big risk—no need to explain so much, I also want to help my friend, we're in this together, Regina."

Regina was completely surprised that Mr. Rin, who was infamous in Night City, was so easy to talk to; on the other hand, she was also glad that her investigation into Rin was thorough enough.

Even though Rin seems to be a complete "villain" based on all the information available to her—

Imagine this: a hound from a place like Dogville, latches onto Arasaka's big ship, establishes itself in Night City, causes quite a stir, and eventually even has its own company.

However, Regina didn't think so; her investigation focused on the people working under Rin.

In her view, the attitude of a former soldier and middleman towards his subordinates was enough to reveal a lot.

"Then it's a pleasure to cooperate. I look forward to the day when we can change this city. I will definitely find out the root of cyberbullying."

I never expected the Night City middlemen to be so "chuunibyou" (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur)...

Lin Yue wasn't blind to all the terrible things, but a complete bottom-up transformation was a hopeless dream, incredibly difficult to achieve… However, as Regina said, even if this city was utterly rotten, Lin Yue's second life was unfolding here, and doing his best to change things wasn't just wishful thinking or a passionate declaration.
"Okay, but before that, I need to see what this scumbag from the Tiger Claw Gang has done."

Speaking of Jotaro, Lin Yue added, "There's this guy called Jotaro Seihō, I reckon he's also from the Tiger Claw Gang—that guy's got a dirty past, you'll probably find him interesting."

Regina's eyes lit up.

"Hmm... Several neighbors have come to me already, saying that this bastard has done a lot of things."

“But you know, it’s hard for me to find the right person to do this right now—this time it’s to help your friend, but I don’t think you’d be interested in Jotaro Seiho, am I right, Rin?”

Lin Yue laughed and said, "The NCPD has a lady who helps me with my commissions. She's a very responsible person, and maybe she can provide you with some information... As for mercenaries, I know there's a kid named Haywood who's never idle. Although he's made a lot of money on his recent jobs, he's a very adventurous guy."

“Jack Wells, Heywood’s pride in my eyes, he would be very happy.”

"I'll send you their contact information right away. Just say... Rin hopes they can help her out."

Regina fell silent on the other end.

She discovered that the information on the paper wasn't as abundant as she had imagined. The guy in front of her must have thought about these things countless times in his mind... Perhaps, he just lacked a little courage?
But Rin has already given the answer.

"I didn't expect someone like you, a corporate professional, to think so much. My perspective on the company has changed quite a bit now—thank you."

"At least I think you're a good person."

Regina expressed her sincere gratitude.

Lin Yue: "Who knows how many good people have caused such a commotion in Night City?"

He chuckled to himself.

"See you later, I will bring Jotaro to you."

"The gang's cybernetic implantation situation has been very serious lately, so be careful... The NCPD has tried to capture this guy several times but they've all come up empty-handed. They must have some way of escaping, so we need to hurry. See you later."

Lin Yue nodded and hung up the phone, then patted Rebecca, who was fiddling with her guns countless times beside him.

The guy grinned broadly.

“That’s awesome. I’ve always dreamed of punishing evil and promoting good in Night City. Pila says that’s what a pushover is, but I don’t think so.”

The two walked down the overpass one after the other and headed into the residential area where the Tiger Claw Gang was based.

Listening to Rebecca's rambling, Lin Yue replied, "That's no problem. Some things have to be done."

"Besides, it's for our friends... Hopefully, once Dorio and Regina get in touch, they can find out something. Now, let's get started."

Rebecca looked at Lin Yue's face and nodded vigorously.

As more and more members of the Tiger Claw gang appeared in the complex residential area, Rebecca's expression began to turn serious.

"You mean... I'll just bring one Lizhi, is that okay?"

Rebecca's jacket was bulging, and Lin Yue knew that she was definitely carrying a pistol or some other weapon.

Even carrying large firearms is impossible...

After all, there's no such thing as a game backpack in the real world. Any gang or NCPD would be suspicious if they saw a guy carrying a gun taller than a person walking by.

Those vicious parasites hiding in the city stared at the uninvited guests. Not to mention Lin Yue, even Rebecca could tell how many cybernetic bodies those guys had.

"Holy crap... I almost thought I'd stumbled into the Whirlpool Gang's territory."

Lin Yue knew that the company had loosened its control over military prosthetics, but he did not expect the situation to be much more serious than he had imagined.

A simple glance was enough to show that their fighting strength was completely different from what it used to be.

The NCPD database will mark the basic details of these people. Apart from their names, most of them have common charges: a wide variety of crimes such as [assaulting company representatives, damaging company facilities, and trafficking in drugs]. Not only that, but the types of prosthetics such as [combat stimulants, S.A.R. III, and Mantis Blade] are also dazzling.

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing seriousness in each other's eyes.

The Tiger Claw Gang is very strict about protecting their territory, and they naturally have their own way of dealing with newcomers.

Before long, Lin Yue and Rebecca spotted two Tiger Claw Gang swordsmen sauntering behind them...

The unspoken understanding didn't need words. Rebecca suddenly turned into a side path, while Lin Yue continued walking forward.

The two Tiger Claw Gang members separated very naturally, and Lin Yue quietly kept track of time with his hands in his pockets.

Soon after, the footsteps behind him began to quicken, and the moment the bright red prosthetic hand pressed on Lin Yue's shoulder, the place in front of him where he could feel the real touch of the hand suddenly lost its grip.

Lin Yue's reflexes were already approaching the speed of a Sianwistan-type spinal prosthetic body at about 30% of the time-stopping level. The Tiger Claw Gang member, barely able to react, was caught by Lin Yue's grip on the neck. With a snap, the man was alive, but no longer conscious.

He dragged the guy into the alley, and with the sound of a trash can being rummaged through, the slovenly Tiger Claw gang members came out again.

After his facial features are blackened, his appearance can be read and written at will, but the underlying code logic of his brain-computer interface cannot be changed. Jotaro's residence has a scanning system, and what he needs to do is infiltrate it.

Lin Yue, navigating the alleyways, eventually climbed to the rooftop, stepping over some debris. As gunshots rang out in the direction Rebecca had gone, Lin Yue watched as the Tiger Claw Gang members below began to move. He immediately timed it perfectly and started backing away.

With a steady and powerful sprint, he suddenly leaped up, clearing a distance of seven or eight meters between buildings.

The Tiger Claw gang members below, noticing something flying overhead, looked up but saw nothing but a dense array of billboards…

It must be said that the two-person teamwork was flawless.

Rebecca's attempt to attract attention came at the cost of unattended power stations and rooftop interfaces around Jotaro's compound. With just some "simple" hacking knowledge, the Tiger Claw gang, accustomed to staying in their dens and never expecting anyone to tamper with the power transmission, were overwhelmed by the rapidly increasing power of the network equipment.

Lin Yue seized the opportunity, nimbly maneuvering on the platform above the courtyard, and in the blink of an eye, he reached the fourth floor of the courtyard. As soon as he entered, Lin Yue smelled an indescribable scent. Even with something like incense to mask it, it still couldn't conceal the extremely penetrating smell.

Lin Yue casually snapped the wrist cord of the Tiger Claw Gang member in the monitoring room and glanced down at the surveillance footage and the letters inside; these could all serve as clues to send to Regina.

Most of the emails were from Night City officials or rogue emails; only one information slip caught Lin Yue's attention.

【goods】

[Sender]: Anonymous
[Recipient]: Jotaro

"There are four or five fresh goods on the truck. Is that Arasaka Academy girl from last time alright? Damn, she scared me to death—who told you to kill her? If her parents were some kind of corporate scum, we'd all be finished! This time they're all tied up quite well. The old woman in Cloud Peak is very strict, we have to be extra careful with our business, OK?"

"But her father seems to be a mad dog; he's killed quite a few people. Is he alright?"

[Return Message]

"The Terrorist Mobile Unit wiped out that idiot. Don't worry, I'm a good judge of goods... But a lot of people died, so I have to spend money to find new people, people I can trust. How the prosthetic body came about isn't important, and I don't know many of the details, but this is how it's done."

Lin Yue's eyes darkened.

If I'm not mistaken, the goods... are basically a person, and a woman at that.

However, there were no rooms in the entire third-floor corridor, and he was certain that something bloody had happened there…

One of the cameras was clearly not from this corridor; it was blurry, as if it were covered by a thin film.

Lin Yue shifted his gaze to the equipment, then looked up and saw the wiring of several camera probes. He drew his samurai sword and cut the wires one by one, observing the blacked-out areas of the screen. Finally, he identified the wiring of the probe in question.

While keeping a close watch on the enemy's movements, he looked up to observe the wiring, and sure enough, he saw a wire leading deep into the ceiling above a simple vase in a corridor.

So Lin Yue immediately started scanning with his prosthetic eye. The pillar with the vase was not a wooden product at all. The information given by the prosthetic eye was an unknown device. Lin Yue touched the top and found a hollow area. He reached out and tapped it, and a password input panel with an interface appeared.

Just then, Lin Yue noticed faint sounds coming from both ends of the corridor—

It seemed like I was about to be caught in a pincer movement.

Lin Yue remained calm as he pulled the human-computer interaction cable from his wrist.

The prompt with the words "[Network Surveillance]" will then unfold.

The cipher matrix immediately appeared in front of him.

At this moment, the Tiger Claw gang members on both sides were chatting about the gunshots they had just heard, reminding each other to be aware of the Tiger Claw gang members hunched over their computers in the monitoring room…

One of them cursed and tried to step forward, but was stopped by his companion.

"Forget it, this guy almost killed himself yesterday, let him get some sleep."

"Let's meet up with the other side first. There's a power problem, so don't let it fall apart."

Having narrowly escaped disaster, Lin Yue was still nervously watching the cipher matrix.

As the password was entered step by step, E9 was the final code.

These sequences are far more complex than simply finding differences. If Lin Yue had enough time, he could have slowly cracked them. But now, as the footsteps grew closer, fine beads of sweat appeared on Lin Yue's forehead. He slowly pushed the blade out of its sheath with one hand…

The shadows of the Tiger Claw Gang members seemed to be closing in from both corners, and Lin Yue, after a rough calculation, chose the code…

"Oh shit…"

Accompanied by code input—

Members with the glowing lights of their prosthetic bodies activating behind their necks appeared at both ends of the corridor!

Lin Yue breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing footsteps behind the door.

However, before he could even feel relieved, the strange smell in his nasal cavity instantly rushed into the top of his head.

Lin Yue's throat bobbed, and he gently held his breath. All he could see were cages covered with plastic film. Lin Yue tried to pull open one of them, and as the cover fell, the scene inside the stainless steel cage sent chills down his spine.

A lighting device, a recording device, and a girl sitting in a chair covered only by a blood-stained sheet, her eyes staring blankly upwards, her eyeballs already cloudy.

The recording equipment wasn't stopped?

Lin Yue reached out and pulled out the recording chip from the back of the device. As he looked at it, his expression turned grim.

Mewtwo: The Rose Fades

[Client requested a complete record of the entire decomposition process of the body, capturing the most authentic smells and the most realistic scenes...]

And this girl is none other than Lina, the one the cyber madman in the Japanese street was desperately searching for.

Lin Yue suppressed his anger and put the chip in his pocket.

The chip recorded the entire process of the girl's abduction and death, and the task of handling the matter was left to Regina.

At that very moment, Lin Yue felt a chill run down his spine, because there were more than a dozen cages covered with plastic sheeting in the room…

……

boom!
As the door to an office opened, the person sitting on the sofa having sex with a sex doll immediately stood up. Just as he was about to curse when he saw who had entered, he witnessed a ghostly scene unfold.

The man, who was dressed as a member of the Tiger Claw Gang, transformed into a cold-eyed fellow carrying a colorful steel blade in a flash of light.

"You fucking bastard!"

Jotaro cursed and was about to shout when he found the steel blade already inserted into his open mouth.

A burst of sweet and pungent flavor exploded in my mouth.

The opponent has clearly lowered their strength.

These opportunistic gang members immediately sensed this information, but in their struggle for their lives, they failed to notice Lin Yue's slightly trembling other hand.

"Dare to utter a sound, and I'll make your tongue fall off right now, including yours."

The sex doll holding the clothes was terrified and obediently nodded.

He reached out and picked up the Tiger Claw Gang's signature floral shirt from the sofa, then suddenly drew his knife. Just as Jotaro was about to shout, a tremendous force shoved the shirt into his mouth.

Jotaro pointed to the NCPD's internal files on the desktop, his gesture carrying a threatening undertone.

However, all he received in return was a pincer-like force and a fist as heavy as a steel hammer.

With the sound of bones cracking, all four of his limbs were smashed by the gorilla's fists, and the sex doll had already fainted from fright.

Who is this person?

This is what Jotaro most wants to know.

"Remember this, I'll find you a place with food and lodging provided, so you can spill the beans, you scum."

……

……

(End of this chapter)