Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 326 The Power to Change Fate! (Part 2)

Three hours ago.

Somewhere in the badlands, the edge of a cliff was now filled with the piercing sounds of explosions and a hail of gunfire. Tracer rounds clashed back and forth in the slightly dim environment, and under the remnants of the storm sky, it was an almost one-sided siege.

Jack Wells decided he should cancel the dinner party his mother was making today. At this rate... Jack felt that losing an arm or a leg would be a blessing in disguise. Anyone with half a brain would know that the people from Rin Company, executive Emma, ​​and even Heywood, the bastard who would do anything for his "good buddy," would all be dead here.

"It's coming up from the left!!!"

Jack's twin pistols had patterns reminiscent of a barmaid's leather skirt—and the basic "gold" color favored by the Valentino gang.

The powerful dual pistols of the "Golden Fierce Woman" had already lured away several idiots who dared to show their faces. This time, Emma was well-prepared; DRAR had plenty of heavy weapons, including modified vehicles with distinctive Dogtown characteristics. As missiles rained down on the overconfident company soldiers like a shower of petals, Jack exclaimed with delight—

But... everyone knows this is just a celebration before all other options are exhausted.

In the face of a company, extreme personal power might be advantageous, just like that weirdo Rin.

But in most cases, in open terrain like Badlands, the company has enough manpower to wear you down one life at a time.

If you want to know why company soldiers risk their lives?
That's because if you don't work your ass off, the consequences will be even worse. Once the employment contract is signed, everything, even your body, will no longer belong to you...

In contrast, the fear in the eyes of the people at DRAR was so real it seemed tangible. For them, being a dreamer was just a job, but now that job meant facing one of the world's most powerful and largest corporations...

But they had to do it, because these were all heroes trained by Suzuki.

"Where is Miss Emma? We...we can't hold on much longer!"

One of the soldiers looked very young and was probably the temporary captain of the armed security team of Dreamers Corporation. He was wielding a crusher and had blown the heads of several military soldiers to shreds. His excellent manners indicated that he was a confidant of Suzuki at Arasaka Corporation—which was why he was standing here.

"Oh!"

Jack shot down a soldier who peeked out in the distance. Densely packed, fully armed soldiers crept up from among the strange rocks. Twenty-odd men against four or five hundred—that was the limit.

Moreover, the seasoned mercenary Jack noticed that as these soldiers advanced, several vehicles were patiently waiting on the distant horizon behind them…

He glanced back at Lin Yue, who was still inside the prosthetic body's self-assembly device, and thought, "Damn... can that thing really be installed on a person's body?"

He actually wanted to help Lin Yue escape that monstrous thing, but Emma didn't say anything and just kept pushing Jack away. Given that this woman's mental state was indeed not very reliable—he didn't dwell on it—but he roughly knew that this was a trap set by the Arasaka Group to trick Lin Yue. However, this was something Lin Yue really needed…

Looking at the dense crowd, Jack could be invincible on the street, but clearly a well-trained army—even some soldiers who had participated in the new America’s foreign wars—was more disciplined in teamwork.

The cover team and the squad behind them, who were doing something else, worked together very well.

I had this feeling before when fighting against the Ghost Hounds, but the organization of those rogue armies was nowhere near as good as that of the military.

"What exactly are these corporate idiots trying to do?"

A sudden inspiration struck Jack. Looking at the map, he realized that most of the company soldiers hadn't pinpointed Lin Yue's exact location, and besides—they seemed unwilling to implicate Jack's backline…

Rat-proof device.

This was the idea of ​​the military science department.

What they wanted was to get close to Lin Yue and obtain the prosthetic body intact.

Almost instantly, he shouted, "Watch out for drones!"

Wow!
It looks like a torrential downpour is brewing in the sky!

"Holy crap!"

The pterosaurs roared as they soared into the sky, a dense, swarming array...

Now the true intentions are finally revealed!

The Dreamer soldiers, having exhausted their missiles, were instantly dumbfounded. The buzzing of the vector engines sounded like a vengeful ghost, and everyone looking up at the formation of aircraft in the sky was stunned.

However, what's strange is...

These drones hovered neatly three kilometers away, seemingly waiting for something, or perhaps it was a mockery and a demonstration...

It implies that something should be handed over obediently.

But clearly, the demonstration achieved its goal…

Thump! Someone plopped down on their back on the ground. "Damn it! Why?!"

"We're going to die!"

"I want to go home..."

Jack's chilling heart was shaken by this pleading murmur.

A terrifying thought crossed my mind…

Mutiny!

More and more dreamers began to stop. They just watched as they gave it their all, only to find that the company didn't need many methods at all. Simple equipment and financial resources were enough to get things done without bloodshed.

"Everyone stand up!"

The soldier who had been reporting to Miss Emma but received no response suddenly turned around, reached out and lifted up the soldier whose knees had buckled.

"What the hell are you doing, you bastard? Have you forgotten how you were beaten like a dog in the security department's dormitory? Supervisor Suzuki brought you out of the company, offered you a higher salary than Arasaka, and made you do transportation work. What are you doing?!"

The captain, clutching his collar, was enraged.

Loyalty is a rare quality in a person, and reciprocating kindness is not just a moral standard, but a precious treasure of this world.

"But we all have to fucking die! We're going to fight to the death for this boss, no matter if he turns into a cyber lunatic or not—"

Bang!
A powerful punch knocked the man down completely!
The soldiers who had agreed with him were immediately dumbfounded. As the captain took off his clothes, the patterns on the prosthetic structure behind him silenced the soldiers for a moment... How to die? This was a question worth considering. Was he to be executed by the supervising captain or riddled with bullets by military drones on a cliff with no way out? Neither seemed very dignified.

"Before this, our contract with Arasaka was for fifty years. Faced with all sorts of unavoidable terms, we implanted ourselves, our families, and even our children into the company's system so that you would keep working yourself to the bone and never dare to stop—Mr. Rin supported you with money, and Manager Suzuki pulled you and your families out of the cesspool—"

"Let you live with dignity in this shitty city! Why would you say such filthy things?!"

"It is truly...unforgivable."

The soldiers' leader clenched his fists, staring intently at the soldiers, his eyes filled with disappointment and sorrow.

People caught up in the company's problems may belong to different social strata, but they all have their own kinds of suffering.

When a person's moral veil is touched, anger becomes the best way to express it.

"Layton! What's with all this pretense of high and mighty attitude at the company!"

"You want to spend your whole life working for a company dog?"

The words had barely left his mouth when Jack raised his pistol—

"Wow, oh my, forgive my bluntness, gentlemen—it seems my Amigo has raised a bunch of ungrateful wretches? Hmph, oh hmph, try saying that again!"

"If arguing here can take care of those pterosaurs that don't want to come down and turn us into a swarm of bees, then what's the point of using guns?"

Jack didn't know the intricacies of office politics, but he knew Rin was definitely a good friend, and he stood by this guy named Layton—

"Thank you, friend."

The man raised his hand, indicating that Jack didn't need to get involved.

"You can't leave now. If you think the company will accept your surrender, then go ahead..."

Jack frowned at the group of terrified soldiers, shrugged, and went with Raiden to search for an electromagnetic pulse device to counter the drones, leaving the soldiers who didn't know what to do. In the end, one of them gritted his teeth, rubbed the marks on his face from punching, and picked up his gun.

Layton, turning his head slightly, gave Jack a thank-you smile that looked more like a bitter laugh.

Just then, the drones seemed to lose patience. Seeing that the Dreamers were determined to continue their stubborn resistance amidst the scattered wreckage, the drones began to swoop down at high speed in batches and in a matrix!

"Keep your heads down!"

Leiden reacted quickly and shoved Jack aside.

The small cannon mounted on the front of the Wing Loong is comparable to any kinetic weapon on the market, and its high rate of fire and stabilization technology make it a leader among military reconnaissance drones.

The spread of bullets lifted half of the ground.

All Jack could hear was the sound of sand and gravel flying around him, and the unbearable sensation of his head being covered in sand and gravel.

The howling sound continued, and Jack felt he was about to die...

But once the gunfire subsided, Leiden turned around and shouted, "Damn it, we need to get those jammers moving!"

Jack, regaining his senses, then realized that dense clusters of drones were shooting out threads that firmly embedded themselves into the surface of the overturned cargo hold and its various locking mechanisms. After completing these actions, these drones... were actually preparing to rip the entire cargo hold into the air and carry it away?!

"this…"

Without looking back, Jack ran forward with Raden and the soldiers who had just retreated!

……

"cough!"

Lin Yue, whose process could not be interrupted, was no longer aware of pain.

Lin Yue looked down at the tubing under his arm, densely packed, each broken wire a testament to the agony he had just endured.

【panel】

[Prosthetic body capacity: 570/1300] (Exceeded critical point)
Dangerous Structure: [Miniature Gravity Field Generator X1]

【Ultra-Release Body Micro-Control Core UB】

Hallucination?
Lin Yue had no recollection of his interface displaying these messages.

What's going on? I feel so relaxed...

V？

Turning his head, Lin Yue saw a woman squatting next to the prosthetic body loading well, her icy hands resting on her face, a gentle smile covering her perfectly proportioned features. "Why are you here?! I... damn, I almost thought I was going to die."

The corners of the woman's mouth turned up.

"Of course I'm worried about you—once everything is resolved, the process will stop immediately."

Lin Yue smiled, then, as if suddenly remembering something, said boastfully, "I did it! I never thought I could withstand the prosthetic structure. Perhaps... I really am special?!"

V crouched down, resting her hand on her cheek, and looked with affection at the men all around her, who were covered in terrifying cybernetic structures.

“You have always been the most special, and I have never doubted it.”

The images are interwoven.

"Rin, please, look at me! Look at me!"

Emma's hair was loose, and the man below simply gazed silently at the sky. "V, I've said I'm the most special one. You might not believe it, but this isn't my world—"

"I finally did it, I did it... I was able to change the world."

In the mouth of a lover, there is the lover's lover...

Emma didn't understand a word he said.

Emma gently pressed her forehead against Lin Yue's forehead, looking into his rapidly trembling eyes.

"Take me away, Rin, take me with you."

The loss of control caused Rin's image as a pillar of support in Emma's heart to collapse instantly.

Perhaps only destruction can end all of this.

A terrifying groan came from Lin Yue's throat.

At the same time, Emma felt a loss of balance under her feet. She looked up and saw a dense array of mechanical objects flying around above the well.

"Warning, process error, currently recovering."

The thick syringe at the top was filled with fluorescent green liquid and swiftly pierced Lin Yue like a ghost.

Emma gave a soft groan as the needle piercing her shoulder sprayed out immunosuppressants.

Her hand was still caressing the other person's face when drones began to slowly pour in, seemingly observing the situation.

Emma's hair fluttered, and she felt herself being targeted by many gun barrels.

Things have come to this point, and we've lost everything.

Undoubtedly, even special beings can fall. Emma felt that this period of time was too short. She hadn't finished many things, and it was even difficult to hear him call her "Emma" again.

Drones circled around Emma, ​​their gun barrels extended, beginning to gather flames.

See you over there, and remember not to call me by the wrong name again.

Emma bent down—

boom!
The gun barrel exploded instantly!

With a whoosh, a shower of hot shards fell beside Emma's ear, and she trembled, crawling like a cub.

Is everything really going to end like this?

She still harbored a sliver of hope.

Miracle.

Rin's greatest talent is creating things.

"Please…"

Everything is over!
A terrifying afterimage appeared in the video.

Something that is almost at the mechanical limit is in motion.

The drone, still engulfed in flames, was covered by a large hand.

Immediately afterwards——

He clenched his fist and instantly crushed the drone!
Time flow restored...

All of this happens in milliseconds.

"Dulu..."

The pterosaur emitted a low, warning sound indicating friend or foe identification.

When a drone operator and an AI identification system detect that the owner of the hand is staring at them, the first thing they do is quickly move away…

They then began to circle rapidly, seemingly intending to attack the prosthetic structure behind Lin Yue—

Before he could even move, a red light, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, swept rapidly across the man who had just stood up!
call!
now.

Emma felt herself being lifted into the air, and as she was being held, she saw Rin, whose structure was still half humanoid.

The faint light was from a completely unfamiliar "him".

Another Rin whom Emma adores.

"The body has its limits, but the mind has no boundaries."

What came from Lin Yue's throat was a female voice... like a precise program and an ethereal saintess.

“Otto Cunningham…”

"cold…"

Two notes overlap.

The proportion of nerve involvement increases dramatically.

Some things are special and don't need to be perfect; their existence is their meaning.

……

Below, a battered and bruised Jack forcefully twisted the electromagnetic pulse transmitter with his scarred hands and aimed it at the swarm of drones struggling to drag the cargo hold. Beside him, Leiden, who was firing rapidly from cover, roared back.

"Just a little bit!"

Seeing Jack's desperate expression, Leiden quickly crawled down to his side. The two of them were doing their best to control the thing, and at the same time, they activated the electronic pulse transmitter!
With a flash of light from the prosthetic eye, the two men were simultaneously knocked to the ground.

The drone in the upper corner was interfered with and quickly collided with another drone, causing the cargo warehouse to sink instantly!
But the vector engines of the other drones started pushing wildly!
"It happened!"

The two, their heads nearly exploding, scrambled to their feet. Without hesitation, Raiden attempted to use his pulse again, but the moment his hand reached out, he was suddenly sent flying backward like a sandbag—

"It happened!"

Jack watched as Raiden fell to the ground and crashed into the rubble, risking his life, while the sniper's red laser beam relentlessly pursued him.

"Hold!"

"Don't keep me for dinner tonight, Mom!"

However, just as Jack saw his thigh being locked onto by the red laser beam, something strange suddenly appeared above him...

To be precise, it's a humanoid shape!
The creature that suddenly rose into the air from the swaying cargo hold, half-human in structure and with a black prosthetic body on its side, seemed to be ascending to the highest level of godhood that humans could reach, surrounded by drones!
The moment the image freezes.

The dense swarm of drones surrounding the area detected the unusual activity.

The "monster" with black hair whipped up by the heat suddenly had a unique, rapidly cracking light in its eyes. As if connected by a fuse, the drones around it burst into flames, turning the entire area into a sea of ​​fire!
call--

The whistling airflow filled everyone's eardrums.

Jack helped the still-breathing Raiden to his feet, staring blankly at the scattered drone debris falling above like meteorite fragments...

The two looked at each other.

Looking at the face on that strange structure.

"cold…?"

"boss?"

Boom!
The extremely heavy humanoid monster crashed to the ground, and layers of soil exploded around him!

Jack, his legs trembling, almost cried out for the Virgin Mary—

As the smoke and dust dissipated, Rin, with one red and one blue eye, stood quietly in the middle.

Jack stared blankly at the guy who was shattering his understanding, and suddenly realized that it was almost perfectly reasonable for Heavy Hammer to die at this guy's hands...

legend.

These are the only two words that can describe it.

"us…"

Leiden swayed as he heard Haywood beside him say:

"Looks like I can go home for dinner now..."

……

……

(End of this chapter)