Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 322 The Storm Has Arrived (Part 1)

The bullet, carrying immense energy, squeezed through the gap between Lin Yue and Emma's vehicle—

More stray bullets began to hurtle towards Lin Yue, who had not yet gained a foothold on the truck roof.

Lin Yue, his body slightly lowered as he shielded his forehead with one hand, staggered several times from the bullets, which left white scratches on his skin and scattered fragments from his prosthetic arm…

"cold!"

Emma's attention was focused on Lin Yue. She finally realized how bad his condition was when those programs weren't in his brain-computer interface.

After dodging the attack, Lin Yue stretched his hands behind him to indicate that he was alright.

Emma gritted her teeth; she also had to hide now to avoid being caught up in the armed forces circling around the vehicle.

"Yahoo!"

A group of cyberpunk mercenaries squeezed in from Emma's side in that flashy car. They saw that someone had gotten there first, so they were naturally eager to try it out as well.

This is the downside of trying to take advantage of chaos.

The cyberpunk team usually focuses on the target, but at this moment they actually plan to deal with the goods first, just like Lin Yue.

We don't know what cyberpunk squad is inside, but judging from the size of the security force, it must be a rare find. There are many things that sell for a good price in Night City, but most of them have one label: corporation.

However, when the guy in the passenger seat with the mohawk and studded leather jacket tried to grab the railing, the Arasaka gunman following him like a ghost wouldn't give him the chance.

"Damn your company!"

Relying on his bulletproof leather, that guy actually tried to tough it out!

however--

Unable to lock onto Lin Yue in the blind spot above, Arasaka's armed forces turned their guns around, and the gunmen firing at close range used Arasaka's Shingen.
The man was immediately "dismembered" by bullets coming from all directions after a burst of gunfire.

It swayed against the window like a rag doll...

The driver inside the car and his teammates in the back seat who were occasionally retaliating all paid the ultimate price in this attack!
squeak-

With a screeching sound as the tires lost control, the vehicle, which had been "fishtailing," finally rolled over.

Under the watchful eyes of the surrounding cyberpunks, Emma, ​​and Lin Yue, it turned into an explosive fireball after Chun Er was ignited!
"屮!"

Cyberpunks who wanted to emulate Lin Yue immediately began to stay away from the truck.

"These Arasaka bastards..."

Emma also realized that these guns were very powerful.

The most important capability of this weapon is intelligent locking, which was a monopoly weapon of Compto before it entered the intelligent weapon market.

The power shouldn't have been enough to kill the bulletproof leather street kid in the first salvo.

But the Arasaka army of Night City had long since changed their weapons.

Although these weapons are still Arasaka's products, the manufacturing process, maintenance, and the quality of the parts are vastly different, so their power is incomparable to what it used to be…

If we were to explain it using Lin Yue's gaming mindset from his previous life: the weapons these Arasaka Guards are currently wielding are probably orange-tier legendary weapons, whereas in the past they were more likely to be blue, green, or even white-tier.

The signal from Badlands was no longer strong enough for Lin Yue to make a phone call to tell Emma to retreat. He could only try his best to bend down and use gestures and shouts to get Emma away from Ara-saka's firing range.

"Emma! Watch out!"

Lin Yue looked at the combination lock on the truck's cargo bed, which was so close to him, but he wasn't sure if what he wanted was underneath.

But since things have come to this, the only way to avoid regret is to keep running on the road.

Cracking this combination lock required the cracking program provided by V. Lin Yue grabbed his wrist with one hand, pulled out the human-computer interaction cable, and inserted it into the combination cracking interface amidst the car's violent shaking. At the same time, he kept glancing at Emma out of the corner of his eye—

[Cracking...]

Emma didn't have a single combat-related implant, and her reactions weren't as good as those of a professionally trained driver. He could only pray that the program would progress faster.

At this moment, Emma, ​​who had just seen the truck disappear above her, temporarily suppressed her worries.

As they get closer to the border, and with the storm having cut off all communication with the world ahead, the Dreamers' security forces are not yet in place.

[Communication wake-up failed...]

Emma was suddenly lost in thought—

How to break the game?

Bang!
In the instant Emma was lost in thought...

She heard the sound of ropes slicing through the air, and the rear of the car was hit violently. Emma felt her spine was almost twisted by the inertia. If it weren't for the double seat belts, the vehicle would likely have gone out of control.

From Lin Yue's perspective on the roof, he saw that the soldiers behind the Aragaka car had already raised their guns and aimed them at Emma's vehicle. This powerful beast roared and tried to overturn Emma's car. Not only that, but a soldier was also climbing towards Lin Yue's position.

Yes, Emma had nothing.

But Emma possesses something no rational person should have: a reckless madness.

So, under the barrage of bullets, the bulletproof glass at the back of Emma's car shattered, followed by the high-pitched roar of Emma's engine.

The moment the distance between the front of the Aragaka vehicle and the rear of Emma's vehicle widened, the woman's eyes, hidden beneath her disheveled hair, were filled with intense hatred; her eyes were fixed on the soldier who was trying to go up to find Lin Yue.

boom!
The vehicle, whose chassis wasn't particularly heavy, couldn't withstand such a sudden turn. The car instantly lifted to one side, clearly out of control, and the rear tires began to bounce. It suddenly slammed into the unsuspecting soldier. The guy watched helplessly as the side of the car lifted up and hurtled towards him almost smashing him. He tried to let go, but it was too late…

The passenger side window shattered, and Emma's face was cut and bleeding from the shards, but her white-knuckled hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, trying to squeeze in.

Startled by this crazy action, Arasaka's vehicle immediately slowed down.

The passenger-side window was completely filled with the man outside, whose body was somewhat deformed; surprisingly, he was still alive.

bass!
Emma pulled out a dagger from beside the dashboard. It was a dagger she had given to Lin Yue, and now she used it as her own weapon for self-defense.

The guy tried his best to reach out and grab Emma, ​​but all he got in return was one cut after another.

Emma's hair, splattered with red, mingled with the howls of a young beast emanating from her throat.

Seeing that the other person's hands were no longer moving, Emma's bright red hands continued to grip the steering wheel tightly, leaning forward and looking ahead, pressing the car body against him again and again until he was crushed into a meat patty...

This is not finished.

Emma clearly saw that the other Arasaka troops had driven away the cyberpunks and were now rushing to their aid, but she still didn't evacuate from around the truck. Instead, she turned on a button on the side of the steering wheel.

Don't underestimate Dogtown.

Lin Yue, who was above, was caught in the raging wind. No matter how he shouted, it wouldn't reach Emma's ears. He was extremely anxious as he looked at the progress of the cracking, which was 90%.

However, Emma had made up her mind.

Even if she were to die here, she would buy enough time for Rin; her resolve had never wavered.

Even if her vehicle becomes a target of everyone if it gets armed, she will still do it—

hum!
As two structures beside the vehicle deformed, miniature missile launchers appeared on the side of the vehicle like two ears, and Emma's vehicle was immediately attacked by bullets from all directions...

"屮!"

Emma's prosthetic eye and the vehicle's aiming system were instantly integrated. Her perspective had changed to looking down at her vehicle, as if there was a drone above her. This was a computer-generated image, meaning that the driver had abandoned most of the ability to observe the road in order to focus more on aiming.

As the laser-like red frames locked onto the vehicles in the field of vision, the approaching Arasaka vehicles showed signs of evasion. Small missiles, all flying into the sky, found their targets and rained down on the vehicles like a shower of petals! Multiple bursts of fire erupted from the dust-filled ground. After the smoke cleared, Arasaka's vehicles were still able to emerge from the fireballs, though their exteriors were considerably blackened…

These armed vehicles cannot be dealt with by a single missile…

Moreover, more vehicles that had just driven off the cyberpunk squad began to appear in the surrounding blurry, sandy world.

Emma's fingers pressed the button, making only a slight clicking sound.

Accompanied by this despairing sound, the combination lock under Lin Yue's hand above was unlocked.

tick...

Lin Yue reached out and tore open the heavy cover, which resembled a tank, revealing a series of channels inside, like small launch silos, that began to light up layer by layer…

His heart skipped a beat, and he looked closer...

A cybernetic body?!
Lin Yue, who had already prepared for the worst, never expected that he would stumble upon this cybernetic body among the three random routes!

Looking at the two cube-shaped gravity field generators on the left and right sides, which are still as thick as an adult's waist even after being condensed, and the two mechanical legs that support this prosthetic body... the weight of the prosthetic body Kong has reached an astonishing 300KG.

This is enough to be called humanoid armor.

Just as he was examining the prosthetic device, a problem arose with Emma. It seemed that Arasaka's back-end command had discovered that this woman was a high-value target; they had surrounded Emma with four vehicles. The rear hatch of the leading vehicle opened, revealing a pair of blood-red eyes—

call!
The guy with mantis blades in his hands suddenly leaped out, and the two long blades pierced straight into the hood!

"Hey pretty girl, you drive really well? Let me try—what about you?"

The obviously abnormal Arasaka Mantis Swordsman licked his lips and stared at Emma sinisterly.

Emma's blood-smeared face twitched, revealing a sweet yet cruel smile. "Trying to tie me up?"

"No way! Bye-bye~"

The mantis swordsman was taken aback. He shifted his gaze and discovered that the crazy woman was holding a grenade that had been locked at some point.

beep beep-

Dense afterimages began to appear behind the mantis-sword warrior, and all movement around him froze...

He raised his knife and slashed at the woman's arm, while the other mantis blade had already slashed four times, cutting the seatbelt completely. Keep in mind that these actions were completed in just a few seconds.

"Ok!"

With a muffled groan, Emma's gaze shifted, revealing a terrifying face before her, and a piercing pain shot through her wrist.

She mustered all her strength and headbutted the guy's nose.

The swordsman suddenly turned his blade, and the intense pain caused Emma to drop the grenade from her hand. The madman, Arasaka, whose face was twitching, grabbed Emma by the neck and dragged her out of the car. He then bent his knees slightly and jumped onto the roof of another car in an instant.

boom!
Emma's car was instantly set ablaze, and the secondary explosions from the other weapons inside made the airflow and wind hot and turbulent.

As the sparks of fire dissipated, the man, carrying Emma, ​​stood firmly on his feet.

"That thing couldn't possibly be carried on one's body; only a madman would do that. To chase after something with negative optimization for so long—it's hard for me to believe that guy is the one who defeated the Heavy Hammer."

Emma tried to pry open the hands that were almost suffocating her, and just then...

The teammate of the Arasaka Mantis Swordsman gave a notification.

"Someone is locking on!"

"A hacker?! Where the hell did they come from?"

The swordsman looked somewhat bewildered.

The prosthetic eye detected the red line emanating from inside the cargo compartment of the prosthetic body transport vehicle…

"Strengthen ICE!"

The words had barely left his mouth when an explosion occurred behind Cyber ​​Knife!

With a jolt, Emma was thrown off the vehicle. She frantically reached for the handlebars at the back, her body dangling in mid-air…

At this point, Emma wasn't thinking about how to get herself up there, but rather how to grab the guy's ankle and pull him down with her!

"Ugh... Holy crap!"

The cyber madman's rapid cracking was solid and effective. Emma couldn't see all the information; she only knew that Lin Yue was helping her with the limited opportunities available to him.

Perhaps I should climb up?
But in any case, Rin definitely needs some time…

So Emma remained steadfast in her choice. Ever since she lost everything and fell into an incurable illness, she had made one thing clear—she would not become anyone's weakness.

The mantis swordsman, trying to regain his footing, cursed, "Crazy bitch!"

Emma retorted, "That's me."

The howling wind made it difficult for Emma's hand to hold on for long, but she was still desperately pulling at the thing with her injured hand—

call out!
A bright blue light swiftly pierced through from the other side of the storm!

Cyberman was like a skewer of meat, with a huge hole suddenly ripped out in the middle of his waist!
Shadows began to appear in the sandstorm from the side—the pursuing vehicles…

DRAR!

Having lost signal in the Badlands, they followed Lin Yue all the way here at the crucial moment.

Those dark yellow paint jobs inherited the color of the Respectable Logistics containers and were modified from abandoned vehicles... At this moment, a Dreamer security soldier holding a kinetic sniper rifle was standing above, and he was the one who had just made the move.

In the instant of the firefight, an extremely reckless motorcycle suddenly appeared from the side. The driver was a burly man wearing a helmet to protect himself from the sandstorm. He was very strong, and the motorcycle he was riding was clearly not intended for the Badlands.

He quickly approached Emma's location—

“Chin!Te agarré, seora! (Hey! I've got you, ma'am!)”

The Dreamers' convoy had the ability to establish temporary, small-scale communications, and Emma heard a rough-looking man speaking Spanish in her ear.

The man reached out and deftly pulled the woman off the seat with one hand, settling her in the back seat, and gestured for Emma to hold on tight.

"That guy chose to go it alone for such a big job? Amigo deceived me!"

He was indignant, as if complaining about why he wasn't taken to the bar...

“Jack Wells, that’s what everyone calls me.”

"If V hadn't been fighting so hard and panting for breath, calling for my help to Rin—I'd still be waiting at the border to run a few exciting deals!"

Boom!
The Dreamer's heavy weaponry flipped a car over, and Jack quickly swerved the wheel, yelling, "Watch out, buddy!"

With Jack's shout, the vehicles engaged in gunfire and the cybernetic giant's truck instantly plunged into the storm...

It seems like they're covering up the mystery before the truth of this all-or-nothing operation is revealed.

……

……

(End of this chapter)