Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 328 Destiny Forges a Legend! (Part 2)

It's quite rare to see a gentleman and a "beast" in the same carriage.

The swaying carriage had only two rows of seats, and the lighting was dim. It sounded rather eerie that someone was breathing under a mask.

left.

The gentleman wore a clean, crisp suit, and the pocket square at his collar was folded with perfect precision, just like his hair, which was pulled back and tied into a bun, giving him a carefree, youthful hippie vibe—yet his slightly graying temples played a crucial role in softening the look, making his somewhat fierce face appear more reliable and mature.

Sword master, top student, freelancer...

He has many titles.

But while those familiar with him in Night City call him "Danny Hulk," most of the guys who live on the edge prefer to call him by his codename:
【Saber】

If the media of this era in Night City are all hyping up the legendary figures and deeds of Night City, then those like Sabre who help the company gain profits but have little fame, who make a big splash in Night City and then lie there waiting to die—the edge walkers who bury their enemies seem to be more deserving of the dream of "becoming a legend."

Helping the company has many downsides.

You're easily envied, sometimes you don't even get paid, and if you work yourself to the bone and break your arm, there's no one to provide after-sales support.

Too much.

Of course, there are many advantages: more money, knowledge of some dirty dealings, and the ability to keep a tight lip to avoid making mistakes.

In addition, working for a company means you'll live longer.

That's what I think, anyway.

Huff... Huff...

The guy opposite me was incredibly noisy. His arms were bound by a high-strength, integrated shackle; he was a large, burly man with a high, bulging back, like a machine tool from a factory housed inside. His gaze was always fixed menacingly on the box beside the saber.

The box was entirely silver-white and radiated light... I wonder what good things were inside.

"hey-hey…"

The guy who was squeezing out laughter from his throat wanted to strike up a conversation.

He is not a prisoner.

A whole bunch of gangsters and lunatics call him the Godfather, and the real natives of Night City all know one thing: don't drink too much at night, and don't carry anything valuable on you, or if the Ripper sees it, your guts will spill out...

When carrying out missions, he will deal with enemies according to the will of the "Evil God," and the more ruthless he is, the better the effect.

He didn't particularly like the pretentious guy in front of him, but he liked the swordsman's hands. They looked like specially made prosthetics, and he really wanted to attach them to his back to tickle himself—the prototype military technology had given him was just too itchy. If the Ripper knew who this idiot was, he would definitely skin him alive.

Currently, the relationship on this vehicle is that of a caretaker and a cared-for, but this was all proposed by the Ripper himself. This is because the Ripper needs the money for military technology and the operating system behind it... In order to prevent his cyberbullying from recurring, he has to put on the shackles himself and also needs a powerful lone wolf to watch over him.

"Tsk tsk tsk... He's pretty damn cool."

A mocking and cruel smile appeared behind the ventilated mask that resembled that of a cannibal.

As he slightly rose, the red and black leather jacket rubbed together with an unpleasant sound.

They take pleasure in violence and behave in a chilling manner.

Even though he was very close to the saber, the man kept his eyelids drooping and remained silent. Under the Ripper's gaze, he reached out his silver hands and gently tugged at his collar.

Without any politeness?

Or is it a warning or a curse?

Clearly, Saber, who received a good education at Night City University, wouldn't do that, or perhaps he was simply satisfying his curiosity.

"I heard you were dead. Did you crawl out of some sewer in the old town after the war?"

"what!"

His rude remarks didn't anger the beast; instead, he found a topic to discuss.

"It's no different from being dead. I'm just stuck in a nutrient tank, barely clinging to life. Those pretentious idiots at the company—they say they want to protect human rights, so they make sure someone like me, who isn't even human, signs the contract, and then... hey, here I am? Is everything alright outside now?"

There was silence.

Sabre said calmly, "[The current Night City has the Vortex Gang and the Cleaners]... They've perfectly inherited your two hobbies, hmm, taking out internal organs and risking their lives to install prosthetics on themselves, that's it."

"Your people... [Skippy (pronounced like 'Four Seasons Treasure') created the Vortex Gang."

In the beast's mind, he pictured someone dressed in a kitsch pink leather jacket, like a bully, with plastic ears ripped off Halloween toys, and a cheap metal choke around her neck with peeling chrome plating—she liked to lie on the ground, looking neither quite human nor quite like a dog.

A flicker of reminiscence crossed the Ripper's eyes.

His tone was eerily gentle, "Oh, look at my good dog."

A snap of the fingers shattered the Ripper's "wonderful memories".

"[The chatty cyber lunatic], isn't it time to answer my question?"

The beast was very satisfied because the creature in front of it was a good conversationalist, saying only heartwarming things.

For most lone wolves, [temptation] and [negotiation skills] are also very good abilities. It seems that Saber is good at other skills besides swordsmanship.

Why would military technology seek out cyber lunatics?

"Probably... uh? Maybe they want to test something, like the stuff behind me—no, you fucking want to ask about dirt on me, right?"

Saber nodded.

"Black material is also very useful for self-defense, so why not give it a try? Besides, do you know that you're about to be testing your product against other companies' competitors?"

The beast shook its head and suddenly burst into tears.

There was simply no way to communicate with this cyber lunatic. Saber, his eyelids twitching, decided to abandon this foolish idea. He turned his attention to the intelligence he had gathered, ignoring the cries of the increasingly unstable cyber madman, and began to assign tasks according to procedure.

[Three minutes to go]...

That's what the prosthetic eye says.

"You are about to face a prototype that claims to be superior to the model behind you, whose main capabilities include an unidentified S.A.W.S. operating system that exceeds the limits of physical strength, a microgravity field, and armor-level protection—"

"Hehehe!"

The Ripper's eyes were darting around, but fortunately, the military technology manual explained how to handle this situation.

“Jack the Ripper, if you lose, these prosthetics will be taken away.”

The silver prosthetic arm of the military knife pressed down on the guy's head, speaking slowly and deliberately.

Perhaps the overly cold touch of the prosthetic hand calmed him down a bit, and the chain of an unknown metal under the seat tightened instantly!
"Red-Eye is now online..."

As the countdown drew near, Saber realized that Red Eyes was responsible for inserting data and hacking information into the brain of the Arasaka Prosthetics Kongo test subject through a backdoor obtained by espionage.

Those are all simulated data; sometimes, driving a cyberpsychotic to self-destruct is a good method.

"Good boy, find a way to dismantle that person's body. If you win, you can put all those things into your body."

With a burst of wild laughter, the car door hatch opened without warning.

The outside wind and sunlight poured in, the neat suit clung to the skin with a rustling sound, and the tie fluttered like a beacon.

Everywhere you look, there is a mess.

Some of the craters had charred edges, revealing burning limbs and vehicles inside. Others had clean edges, as if they had been meticulously sculpted, like a hydraulic press had been used to smash them. Even Saber's expression turned grim at the sight inside.

I've heard that Night City has become even more fun than before, and that someone has killed the invincible Heavy Hammer from that era.

Therefore, Sabre, which has always opted for free trade, unprecedentedly accepted a "pre-commission payment" for military technology. Beneath its two arms is a projectile launching system with doubled power, and behind it is the fully mass-produced and equipped S.A.R. Farthest Point—

In addition, a special firewall, a sword (the Grim Reaper) in a silver-white box, and Erebus were all prepared.

In the distance, a group of people had already begun to flee along the edge of the cliff. Sabre naturally wouldn't order Ripper to chase after them; he simply adjusted the viewing distance of his prosthetic eye and saw the half-human, half-machine figure standing quietly in the encirclement.

That guy…

Saber had reviewed the enemy's entire intelligence; he couldn't be called strong, but rather a complete genius.

He didn't know how long it would have taken him to get to this point if he had been crawling through that cesspool of Dogtown, but the guy named Rin on the other side only took a little over a year.

The data comparison shows a high success rate, indicating that military technology has great confidence in what's behind the Ripper.

Wow!

The taut chains began to visibly change shape.

Sabre stepped back and caught a glimpse of the Ripper's confused eyes and the heat emanating from the prosthetic body behind him as it operated.

"Good hunting, squad, get ready! Keep the Meredith woman away from here to watch."

……

"coming."

Otto was giving Lin Yue a warning. Lin Yue's gaze didn't waver; he simply watched his men leave.

"Hopefully they can get in touch with Rebecca's team."

"What did you find out, Ultraman?"

The entity outside the black wall replied, "I can't enter the military technology data fortress without leaving a trace, but I know a little about other things... The other side is determined to use you as a test subject. In any case, according to the current intelligence, they are very interested in the micro-gravity field on your body."

new technology?

A glint of unprecedented excitement flashed in Lin Yue's eyes.

Unlike his previous passive attacks burdened by heavy responsibilities, Lin Yue has now found something of his own through this "anchor of destiny." A subconscious awakening makes his heart burn and his fighting spirit surge.

But that's a story for another time...

At that moment, his eyes were fixed only on the rapidly moving target approaching from afar.

beep - beep -

The ripper, moved by the enhanced prosthetic body, made a crisp, spinning sound, and could cover tens of meters in the blink of an eye as it moved left and right.

They jumped off the vehicle and launched an attack with no discernible pattern.

Cyberpsychosis is definitely his...

Military Technology has a distinct style from Arasaka: no matter how many times Military Technology suffers a loss, it is always willing to seize every opportunity to get back at the opponent.

It probably reflects the mindset of the new US military.

Rin is probably going to make this company suffer.

"The prosthetic body's microgravity field is pretty good, but the rest is a bit redundant—"

"However, the current approach is sufficient to obtain the core."

Otto wanted to ask Lin Yue if they needed to use hacking techniques to crash the other side's system.

However, Lin Yue took the initiative!
……

"A madman against a madman, I've never seen such a funny scene."

Meredith, smoking a cigarette, kicked away the charred head at her feet. The company team kept themselves out of the way; she just wanted to see how these two products were going to compete.

"What an ugly design."

At this moment, Lin Yue didn't actually look very well.

The legs were covered with solidified prosthetic skin, one hand was disproportionately large, and the other was a gorilla arm with some tangled wires. The back looked like it was carrying an iron box.

The entire cybernetic body assembly is less than 40% complete, which is already very much like the final stage of a human body's development.

What follows is likely the complete cybernetic transformation of his limbs, which will be like steel pillars.

boom!
Before Meredith could even take her second puff of cigarette, a sound in front of her that was no less than a sonic boom made her instinctively flinch.

The environment at the center of the battlefield became extremely distorted because of the overlapping of rapidly moving light and shadow!
The two subjects were now circling each other like a waltz, unleashing their weapons!

boom!
The moment they retreated, all the bullets, shells, and other projectiles that had been fired collided together!
In addition, the limited speed of sound waves is what caused that terrifying force to erupt...

"Is this all the speed you can achieve?"

Lin Yue had already reached a stalemate with his opponent thanks to the built-in S.A.W.S ...

"Be careful, that thing's power is changing."

No sooner had Otto given his warning than a barrage of missiles began to shoot down from where Lin Yue was standing!

Before Lin Yue could even land after dodging, the second burst of speed arrived!

"engine?!"

Lin Yue quickly used his cybernetic body to defend himself, his body flying out like a cannonball, leaving a scratch on the ground that was half a person high.

The high power caused that cyber madman to completely lose his mind.

Lin Yue could see with his own eyes that the immunosuppressants automatically injected into his lower back were controlling his personality and nervous system…

Lin Yue wiped the blood off his face and stood up.

"Acceleration, segmented operation, and a micro-jet engine—"

Lin Yue didn't mind taking good things; his arrogance regarding military technology led to his success.

This temporary setback excited the military technology team, including Meredith, whose mocking smile was almost impossible to suppress.

"If I had known, I would have installed all of them. The microgravity fields on both hands would have been even better."

Despite his muttering, Lin Yueqi's hair suddenly flew backward, and he was the one who took the initiative to attack!

What other functions are there?

If the other party knew that Lin Yue was thinking this way, they would probably be in great pain.

As expected, Lin Yue's reaction points, combined with S.A.S ...

He simply maintains the same level as the other party so that he can activate more functions.

As the guy opposite, whose facial features resembled a combination of the Vortex Gang and the Cleaners, let out a strange cry, he suddenly arched his back, and the prosthetic prosthetic head on his back began to spin rapidly!
Lin Yue's pupils contracted, and a circle of red light began to sweep around him!
The laser caused the cuts on the rocks to melt, appearing reddish, and the laser beam's speed completely exceeded that of the S.A.R. apogee!
"So this is it?"

Lin Yue shook his head. Like the prosthetic body, it trades space for function and has no adaptability at all.

A fleeting moment across the distance.

The high-precision artificial eye saw Meredith three kilometers away.

Lin Yue chuckled.

"He's too tough."

"The game is over, ma'am."

Amidst the cheers of the military technology team and Meredith's hate-filled gaze, Lin Yue vanished.

No, to be precise, Rin, who was just barely dodging the relentless barrage of lasers, has reached a critical speed!
"Harmony between humanity and nature!"

Lin Yue silently repeated this to himself.

He leaped up and looked down at the guy lying on the ground below, shaking his head slightly.

Such a despicable approach to warfare, putting the cart before the horse... seems to suggest that elimination is the inevitable outcome.

boom!
The vanished Rin instantly reappeared in the sky, leaving the military-grade tracking equipment and its operator, who had only just locked onto Lin Yue, dumbfounded...

As the gravitational field twisted the moment it appeared, the Ripper's high-raised back shortened instantly, his entire body began to deform, and the prosthetic device in his esophagus and stomach began to be squeezed, causing him to fall heavily to the ground!
Pfft!

The pervasive red color was still controlled by gravity, evenly filling the deep crater created by the gravitational field, like crushed grape pulp used to make wine...

Everything fell silent.

The guy who pulled himself out of the blood pit shook his arms. There was no doubt about the fragility of the prosthetic body, and the users were also different.

“David…”

Lin Yue knew that David couldn't see, but everyone was David, and everyone wanted to be the most special one.

Right now, that's him.

Accompanied by a murmur.

"Watch closely, this is how S.A.W.S ...

hum!
*Thud*... Meredith's cigarette butt fell to the ground. In the reflection of her eyes, a young man with cold, mocking eyes was charging towards her, stubborn and frantic.

Coming soon!

……

……

　【Saber】: Denny Haulk, also known as Sabre. Sabre is a freelancer who will hire any company to clean up his messes. Early in his career, he gained a reputation for saving his employer from assassination, losing both arms in the process. He is a fencing master and previously worked on the fencing team at Night City University.

　　【SKIPPY and RIPPY】: Rippy the Ripper was an ordinary but sufficiently conspicuous street law enforcement officer during the Red Era. Skippy was Ripper's bodyguard, a highly enhanced cybernetic psychopath who was extremely loyal to him.

　　[The Evil God]: Over the years, the Ripper developed pseudo-mystical "tests" for the survivors. These rituals were so intense that some members began to genuinely believe in them, as if they were some kind of religion. It became so compelling that Ripper and, occasionally, Quake, also involved new members.

　　[Redeye]: Redeye is a natural-born programmer. Redeye's career began as a member of the elite CorporateNetrunning team. However, she always felt alienated in the corporate environment, and even in the male body she was born with.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)