Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 323 The Storm Has Arrived (Part 2)

In the deep, dark corridor, bodies undulated in the shadows, and some groaned in pain on the ground, having been struck hard…

The thin, somewhat exhausted figure's back bobbed up and down with each breath. The exquisite suit now appeared wrinkled, and the V-shaped face, panting heavily, was hidden in the stray strands of hair.

With a series of unsteady footsteps, V's hand, raw and bleeding, pressed the button on the automatic door. With a click, all the employees inside stood up in unison, their faces filled with trepidation…

The woman looked menacing; if she hadn't held back, the corridor outside would have been filled with the aroma of flesh from an overloaded implant.

"Ah…"

V leaned against the door frame, her lips, now dry and cracked with blood, the color of her lipstick faded, and her smile made the technical staff, who dared not move, tremble with fear.

"With such a commotion outside, they're still carrying out tasks with non-compliant procedures... What a bunch of good-for-nothings."

As she spoke, she looked around with a chilling gaze, seemingly searching for the person in charge at the scene.

However, some people confessed without being asked.

"V—this, this has nothing to do with us. The orders from above just come down, what can we do?"

The man wore half-glasses on his face and kept shrinking back, thinking that the security guards outside were all V-killed.

V's fair chin tilted slightly.

"Stop all counterintelligence orders, now... immediately!"

"But--"

Michiko might be right behind him right now. The head of the technical department harbored a sliver of hope. In Arasaka, choosing the right boss is an art, and he felt that Michiko's background was far more powerful than V's...

V knew that there was a reason why some people deliberately pretended to be deaf and dumb.

We don't know where Rin is right now. If Michiko uses her as a pawn to attack Rin or military technology... then she will definitely make that bastard's head fall to the ground.

She now needs to know the specific transportation route for the prosthetic body—

Hoping she could make it, she took her hand off the doorframe, her steps becoming much steadyer. She walked straight towards the head of the technical department among the group of employees… a leader of the V rating department, but she didn’t have the courage to finish her sentence.

As the woman drew closer, her face so cold it seemed as if it were about to freeze into ice, he instinctively shielded his face with his hand.

you could put it that way:
Arasaka's main power is concentrated in the counterintelligence department. Without the restraint of the special operations department, V can't be held accountable on the spot even if he does something outrageous.

V certainly wanted to kill this idiot who was working for Michiko right now, but she was always a person of reason. She simply brushed past the technical department head who almost made her head twitch, pulled out the interaction line on her wrist, and began to modify the instructions.

The people around looked at each other, no one dared to approach the woman who was covered in blood, and could only stare helplessly as the progress bar for canceling permissions appeared on the screen.

"Lady Michiko is watching, are you really going to do this, V?!"

A courageous plea to dissuade her didn't bring the woman back; instead, a holographic screen from the counterintelligence department appeared before her—V had broken through the network's blockade.

"Minister V, armed forces with military technology have attacked our mobile unit responsible for pursuit!"

There was an uproar.

V silently calculated how many people in the entire mobile unit were actually from the security forces, and how many were recruited by Michiko from places like South America to make up the numbers.

But one thing is very clear: the security services are definitely conserving their strength.

"Let all the hackers go online."

V's orders were concise: "Have the two counterintelligence teams withdraw immediately and cease all previous operations... Harry, bring in the internal whistleblower; someone has clearly jeopardized classified information and related licensing risks."

The head of the technical department, whose face had turned ashen as he spoke, knew that he was not someone Michiko wanted to protect at all.

Even with the situation having reached this point, Michiko still did not show up.

As the superior organization that oversees the counterintelligence department, the most important function of the Special Operations Department is internal investigation, which is a very dangerous weapon. However, in order to make the influence of Yoru no Shiro Arasaka clearer, Michiko completely emptied the Special Operations Department and even took advantage of the situation to do something big, namely this command and dispatch that exceeded her authority.

Does the liquidator have a legitimate reason to act now?
Clearly, Arasaka's internal command system rejected V's command immediately due to insufficient permissions.

"V, you crazy bitch! Huh? Look at your behavior, this is serious dereliction of duty and rebellion, I'll let headquarters know what you've done!!!"

Counterintelligence agents, their faces grim, bypassed the defenseless security guards in the corridor and apprehended the still-spouting jeer.

"let me go!"

V crossed his arms and silently reviewed all the intelligence information.

Multitasking is not impossible, but for the company's veteran hackers, who are well aware that falling behind means becoming abandoned, it's not difficult.

The good news is that the most likely route for the cybernetic body is the route Rin planned to take first. The bad news is that the company can only communicate through the subnet now, and the Badlands are essentially disconnected due to the storm.

But will military technology really become a weapon to be used at will?

V silently instructed Arasaka's cybersecurity team to be ready to face large-scale attacks from other companies before turning his attention to the guy behind him.

It's noisy…

"Do you know what I often say to my team members?"

V looked up at the screen and said, "Take a good look at the Arasaka Employee Handbook in your hand and figure out what you can do—it's best to be smart and not make decisions based on wishful thinking."

"According to the contingency plan for changes in the internal structure of Arasaka, once the superior department loses its authority and functions, the next level department will continue to assume them."

"I've already submitted the supporting evidence to headquarters. Do you want to say anything more like a 'farewell speech'?"

The guy was clearly furious, but even though the agent was holding his arm tightly, he still tried to struggle. He cursed V as an instigator, his words were fierce and rebellious—he even called her a hawkish lackey who was blinded by greed. In his rage, he spoke without thinking.

"Headquarters has received the notification. The authority has been changed. Please proceed according to the emergency plan."

"Permission countdown: 23:59:59..."

The AI's voice, which resounded throughout the Arasaka Tower, instantly silenced the roaring guy.

Arasaka's management style is always strict and emphasizes unconditional obedience to superiors, but if there is a valid reason, the weaker party will also receive support; a position of absolute power is never guaranteed...

"Did you hear everything?"

The room fell silent.

“V, no, let me explain—”

The agent had clearly been putting up with this guy for a long time.

They were already annoyed that they couldn't come here with their boss to deal with the technical department because of regulations, and this guy's constant changes of attitude forced the agents to put him into a deep sleep for the time being.

Each of the Arasaka family's managers has their own style, but Michiko is the most adept at coming out at the right time to annoy others.

"Minister V, there's a problem with the cybernetic body. The prototype has been attacked by a large number of unidentified armed men, including members of DRAR. The Japanese-sent guards are currently fighting them. Tell your men not to retreat and to work with the security department to seize the prototype."

If a child says they're about to wet their pants, they've most likely already done so.

Rin, V, and everyone in the team's efforts have made it impossible for Michiko to clean up her mess completely.

Losing the prototype is the biggest problem.

V couldn't make his intention to stall for time too obvious, so he carried out Michiko's orders.

At this moment, Michiko was completely enraged. V's actions from beginning to end had been flawless, and even the methods used to save the people in the special operations department were all in accordance with regulations. On the contrary, Michiko's side had many irregular operations—this enemy, who had thoroughly mastered the rules of survival in Arasaka, was now showing her power.

“屮…”

Michiko didn't expect that Rin would run into a random route that she hadn't chosen herself.

Is good fortune really on Rin's side?

"Jenkins, tell me, is your idea really feasible?"

Hearing his boss's furious voice, Jenkins felt only desolation. "Now it's not just Rin; military technology companies and many more are eyeing this prototype. The V project has to be put on hold—"

Michiko did not expect that Jenkins would not try to find a solution here as if he had no other choice, but instead "indirectly" acknowledged V's "innocence".

"Ah…"

Michiko was so angry she laughed. As expected, people from Arasaka's counterintelligence department all had incredibly thick skin.

Before the two could speak, the lights inside Arasaka Tower instantly brightened, and piercing alarms blared throughout the corridors—

"what happened?"

Michiko was startled.

She even thought someone was launching a full-scale attack on Arasaka Tower…

Jenkins abruptly stood up. "Getting V online is a cyberattack by the company; they're looking for a shipping location."

At that moment, the AI's hollow voice echoed within the obsidian-carved tower.

"Under cyberattack, Falcon Protocol activated!"

A storm brewing within the network for the sake of technological advancements has already surged towards the data fortress guarded by the Arasaka Tower hackers…

……
-
Lin Yue looked at the prosthetic structure he was standing on and desperately told himself to stay calm and find the core module of the prosthetic device to disassemble it.

However, none of the technical experts had ever seen the prototype. Professor Shidao's team, including Pila, had made many ideas about how to completely dismantle this location. At this time, these technical drawings were scrolling in three dimensions inside Lin Yue's prosthetic eye, and none of them were verified.

The gunshots outside had long since ceased. Fearing something might have happened to Emma, ​​Lin Yue could only search the temporary prosthetic device for a port that could read and write to the Arasaka backdoor.

The company's implants must undergo backdoor scanning and activation before installation.

This is similar to trendy electronic products. If activation is not performed, some functions will require a lot of effort to crack, and may even erase some of the original functions of the prosthetic body, causing program conflicts.

Lin Yue touched the surrounding light screen and discovered that it was an imaging device, similar to the transparent glass-free technology found only in luxury cars like the Holy Sword, the Lake Maiden's Sword, and the Sword in the Stone (meaning: the surrounding structure is steel, and the external scene is synthesized using AI algorithms).

Even though he wasn't a technical expert, activating the system was a piece of cake for him, let alone the fact that he was a hacker.

But the moment the image was captured, Lin Yue's expression changed drastically, and his jaw clenched tightly together.

Emma, ​​who was being choked, was weakly pounding on the mantis swordsman with both hands. However, she knew very well that she couldn't deal with the guy without Ultra's save file. So Lin Yue immediately bent down and pulled a thick tube from the side of the prosthetic body.

No low-temperature access network.

Moreover, it's the Arakasako website frequented by the Arakasa hacker...

Lin Yue knew very well that he only needed to use the internet for a short period of time to launch a puppet attack, and this process had to be as fast as possible!
For Emma, ​​he didn't hesitate at all, plugging the internet cable straight into the deep-sea device behind his head!
Scattered points of light floated around him, and Lin Yue's perspective shifted to a vast, boundless world of darkness and three-dimensional lines. He did not establish any temporary ICE, but determined the location of the attack in a very short time.

[Warning: No cooling device connected; forced shutdown imminent]

The ever-increasing body temperature readings combined with Lin Yue's frenzied online persona...

Lin Yue only noticed his surroundings the moment the attack command was given.

Tens of thousands of data tentacles were reaching out to him, and behind them were countless virtual online avatars—

[Port: Arasaka Data Fortress]

[WARNING, forced offline]

Under the attack from both sides, Lin Yue's online image quickly crumbled. When the data collided violently, it was like the chaotic scene a convoy saw while driving through a storm...

"Depend on!"

Lin Yue's whole body was burning hot; the moment he dropped the data port, a burst of heat shot out from his body!
He was lying on the ground, almost vomiting from dizziness. He shook his head several times before he saw Emma outside the car about to fall. A powerful sniper rifle shot pierced through the man's body.

“Jack…”

Before Lin Yue could even feel happy when he saw the familiar figure appear, the prosthetic body loading system suddenly started up on its own, as if someone was remotely controlling it.

what's the situation? !

Incoming call - Unknown

Along with the flashing signal, Lin Yue heard a familiar voice.

"V?!"

The V's voice on the other end was muffled, as if the connection was about to drop at any moment.

"The technical...blueprints have been...sent."

"Here's the link for you, don't...hesitate."

At the same time, Pila's voice rang out.

"Hey kid? Hey? Damn it—that cold-faced woman at the company isn't lying to me, is she? What do you think, Shidao?"

Lin Yue's expression changed.

"Pila?!"

Upon hearing the sound, Pila immediately shouted, "Kid, hurry up and install the prosthetic body!"

"Ok?"

Lin Yue was momentarily taken aback.

It seems like V is implying the same thing?
"Hey kid, there's no time to analyze the structure now. You have to forcibly interrupt the process after the core is loaded during the prosthetic body installation, understand?!"

Pila was very anxious, fearing the signal would be lost, and she spoke extremely loudly.

Just as Lin Yue was looking at that huge thing, the panel that had been dormant for a long time began to slowly appear.

Putting aside some conventional skills and physical data points, one piece of information made Lin Yue's expression instantly turn ugly.

[Prosthetic body capacity: 570]

[Special Prototype Cyberbody - King Kong: Cyberbody Requirement Value 1200]...

……

……

(End of this chapter)