Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 378 The Mystery of the Divine Corpse and Shangri-La (Part 1) [6K]

"Fuck!"

Lin Yue realized that the vagrants were really in good physical condition after running two miles in Panan. They were quite fit even in such a terrible place.

No wonder he could lift that sniper rifle that Ice Storm carried, which was as heavy as a small mortar.

Panan, her hands supporting her knees, gasped for breath, her gaze sweeping over Lin Yue's face in the hazy neon lights of the Night City.

did not expect--

The seemingly confident mercenary leaned against the wall, looking lingering fear.

But Panan had to admit, this guy really had guts.

"I knew it... Roger sent a really good guy."

Panan had stopped thinking about the car. She now felt that the beautiful city was like a beast, wearing a beautiful and free cloak, devouring everyone with dreams.

Lin Yue's lingering fear was definitely an act.

He could run the company's system with his eyes closed. Song Zhao of Kangtao practically had his ambition written all over his face. He was just helping out a little—it was incredibly easy for Dreamers to wipe out a few company dogs who dared to cause trouble in Taipingzhou.

Playing dirty is the only way out for Night City.

"Take my advice, Parnam."

Lin Yue's breathing became even. "Back to Adcardo, Thor—"

Panan's first words stunned Lin Yue.

"I want to be your buddy."

Lin Yue: "..."

"I'm used to working alone."

Lin Yue finally smiled helplessly.

Phahnam lacks nothing, but its most precious possession is courage.

After all, this is the wanderer who dared to follow V in destroying the Contau airship with a Stinger missile—

But Lin Yue politely declined.

Panan shrugged; being able to take things in stride was her true nature.

"That's fine..."

"I need to go to the ghost town to find my car. Shall we split up and look for our own mothers here?"

Lin Yue: ? ? ?
What's left in that place now besides the dead and the landmines lying everywhere?
Panan is incredibly brave.

"Okay, let's go together."

When Panan heard Lin Yue's words, a sly smile appeared on her face. She had been waiting with her arms crossed for a long time, seemingly having gotten what she wanted, but in reality, her eyes kept wandering back and forth over Lin Yue's back.

This guy is definitely not simple.

The two returned to the ghost town and found Parnan's car under the pale dawn sky. The card with the car keys was found in the blood-stained coat of a woman with a mohawk. It seemed that this was the Nash that Parnan had mentioned.

The damage to the car pained Panan; there were four or five bullet holes in the hood alone.

But for the homeless, as long as the car is there, even if it's just the frame, it's like their old friend is still alive.

"Thank God."

The expression on Panan's face could only be described as beaming with joy.

After chatting with his old friend for a long time, he finally decided to start the engine. As for the other car, Lin Yue drove it back to Night City.

"Thanks."

Panan took the Ice Storm from the trunk of his car and handed it to Lin Yue.

"If you weren't here today, these corporate dogs would have killed me eight times over without me even turning my head. Thank you, Roger's professional."

"Flight attendants go to your concert, although I prefer to sit in front of a campfire and listen to folk guitar."

Panan solemnly handed the gun to Lin Yue.

Unexpectedly, this meticulous girl actually managed to find out Lin Yue's side business as a rock star in the Santo Domingo area through her friend.

“Take good care of it. It’s more durable than those technical guns and is suitable for bad soil.”

Panan smiled nonchalantly.

Lin Yue held the heavy weapon in his arms. Theoretically speaking, Panan had overpaid the commission fee.

"Nice gun."

"Thank you."

Panan rested his elbow on the car window, watching Lin Yue's expression reveal his fondness for the gun, and waved his hand with a hint of pride, "Don't be so smug, buddy, use it however you like. It's a reliable weapon that the Wanderers have identified as reliable."

They can leave whenever they want, without any hesitation or delay.

Lin Yue watched the speeding vehicle disappear into the horizon, which was already completely blurred by the white light, and smiled subconsciously.

Perhaps it is because most of the people in Night City carry shadows, burdens, and hatred.

There are very few people as simple and courageous as Rebecca and Panan, and Lin Yue doesn't consider himself one of them.

After putting the gun away, Lin Yue sat in the car, his expression somewhat solemn.

[Qianti] The fact that Kanto has obtained Herman's data from the database is concerning. Even if Rogge also got his hands on the data, it proves—

Arakazama's secrecy measures have failed.

This proves that Relic's chief technical expert is currently being watched by Comtau, and given the slightest opportunity, Herman will definitely be kidnapped.

Lin Yue had no clue whether Herman had to stay in Arasaka.

The key is still the relic sample core.

Before this chip leaves Arasaka, everything will be relatively stable and there will be no major upheavals.

However, early warnings are still necessary.

Lin Yue quickly contacted V.

V said he would come to Santo Domingo, and Lin Yue finally felt relieved and started the car.

Just at this moment—

A sound came from Lin Yue's eardrums.

[Person: Parnan Palmer]

[Affiliation: Night City - Badlands]

【Favourability: 20】

[Development potential: Extremely high.]

[Affection level has been updated]

[Rewards: +2 Tech Points, Ice Storm Kinetic Sniper Rifle, 20 Cybernetic Capacity]

[Progress of Character's Fate Changing: Lin Yue -20%]

Lin Yue's eyes widened in disbelief.

Every romanceable character appearing on the panel involves changes to the fates of multiple key figures, while Panan's romance is solely focused on Lin Yue...

Just as Lin Yue was trying to figure out why Panan would only change his own life's progress, a notification appeared on the panel for the first time ever.

Freedom is also a way out.

Lin Yue gently rubbed his hand on the steering wheel.

As a veteran gamer in his previous life, he was naturally aware of the various possible outcomes and endings of this world, and the Starry Night ending was one of them.

V, who was nearing the end of his life, sat on the roof of the car with Panan, looking at the starry sky. No one knew if V could be cured outside of Night City, but... at least he would be free.

"For me, nothing changing doesn't mean freedom, nor does it mean the real end."

He didn't care whether the panel could hear his words; clearly, running away was no longer an option.

Looking down at the topographical map provided by Scorpion and Mitchell, the areas where the Chaotic Blade Society gathered were highlighted.

Lin Yue was supposed to be in charge of unpacking the boxes offline for Bridil, but someone else acted even faster than Lin Yue.

It's not surprising that the director of the internet surveillance department ended up like this.

Knowing the whole story, Lin Yue sighed at how much hatred could distort a person's motivation and purpose.

What was supposed to be a black wall protected by internet censors has been breached by a roving AI, thanks to Bridil. If this gets out, the internet censors' power to enforce the law on the internet will be completely overturned, and the online world will truly become another territory carved up by companies.

The drive to the Night City landfill is quite long, taking about an hour and a half.

Lin Yue frowned subconsciously after getting off the bus.

Looking at those mountains, his expression showed more understanding than shock.

The faint stench that lingers in Night City year-round probably originates from here.

Companies are frantically pursuing profits, focusing only on immediate gains in various electronic products and household goods, without any design for subsequent decomposition and classification. This has led to a severe shortage of urban waste processing capacity.

Piling up and landfilling seem to be the only solutions.

However, long-term garbage infiltration has turned the underground river into a rich source of toxic substances, and Taipingzhou and Santo Domingo, which are closest to it, are naturally the first to suffer.

Interestingly:

The company will not consider designing and producing products that degrade waste. They prefer to develop water purification devices for households, which can filter out toxic substances to make the water clean enough to drink, and even make the water used for flushing toilets drinkable. However, this would require a one-time cost of 50,000 euros and annual maintenance of 20,000 euros for the next ten years.

Only the rich can afford it.

Thinking about the old captain's words, Lin Yue felt that the time he spent living in the company square was indeed of high quality, but behind it were the burdens of a child and a mother seeking medicine.

Having witnessed too many things beyond one's control, Lin Yue felt somewhat numb.

But he was still shocked to see a landfill of this size.

Standing here without synthetic lungs would be a disaster.

Remember the fire at the Australian landfill inside the car radio? Toxic substances even covered half of the Southern Hemisphere... Several firefighters were suffocated to death by the toxic fumes. This is what the company calls: "Technology changes the future."

Lin Yue shook his head.

He looked at the map and carefully recalled the details from his past life.

There are many different theories surrounding Barthes Moss's death.

At least that's how it appears to ordinary people in this world.

Arasaka's corporate team unearthed the legendary hacker offline; a space-based weapon destroyed Bartmore's building...

Compared to spending a lot of time gathering intelligence, Lin Yue only needs to act according to his memory.

Finding Bartmos might provide clues to the network and the puzzles on your own panel.

But this is so different from the size of the landfill I remember...

Just like the urban areas of Dogtown and Night City.

What Lin Yue remembered as a drive that might take less than ten minutes to travel from the north to the south through Night City was actually a full six hours (without traffic). If he wanted to drive around the entire landfill, Lin Yue estimated it would probably take a whole day.

"Well…"

Lin Yue felt helpless.

Map inaccuracies have rendered many attempts to rely on luck futile.

However, now that he was here, Lin Yue had no intention of letting him go.

He prioritized the clues about Bridil.

He knew the location of Bridir's execution, which the Dreamers hacking team had intercepted; it was just that the people who followed hadn't found the body. Bridir, an avenger like him, was undoubtedly dangerous.

He didn't know his goal, yet he was incredibly reckless.

Lin Yue knew that the one who opened Wendy's box was probably either New America or Arasaka, but definitely not himself.

More importantly, Lin Yue was somewhat worried about Bridil's interest in Relic. If he didn't die, and the Internet Surveillance organization actually found something about the chip, there would be even more variables.

The location of the massacre was far from where Bridil was executed.

After walking for about half an hour, Lin Yue stood beside a metal junkyard entirely covered in steel reinforcement bars. If he wasn't careful, the sharp, broken metal exposed to the air could pierce his shoes. The rust-resistant metal material developed by the company made the entire junkyard extremely glaring in the sunlight. The crimson bloodstains had turned yellowish-brown; the Dreamers had already provided Lin Yue with this information.

It is utterly unbelievable that the body was taken away after the execution.

There is no doubt that the dead cannot speak.

However, it's not impossible for the dead to speak...

Limited to Soul Killers.

Lin Yue rubbed his chin and looked around.

Seeing that nothing was being done, Lin Yue directly activated the scanning mode of the Oracle Prosthetic Eye. The surrounding array of junk prosthetic eyes provided no information whatsoever, but he did manage to scan out something like an abandoned small server nearby.

At first, he didn't pay attention, but his expression changed when he caught sight of the faint color blocks on the cabinet.

blue?

Lin Yue looked at the data traces, hoping to find more information.

He soon saw a line of marks. The metallic sheen made the tire marks appear very shallow. Almost no one drives here unless they want their tires to be ruined within seconds.

If it weren't for Mitchell's map, Lin Yue probably would have driven in the same way.

A flash of inspiration.

That means the people from Night City who came to carry out the executions, or someone else, went in this direction?

Lin Yue quickly followed.

Following along, Lin Yue soon arrived at a swamp that emitted a strong stench.

The area is surrounded by abandoned houses, suggesting that it was once a village-like place before it became a landfill.

Lin Yue checked each house, but several days had passed and he didn't expect to find anything...

However, the pristine condition of the discarded equipment in the third room immediately alerted Lin Yue.

[Cryotherapy System]

The temperature control module has been damaged.

[The corpse]

Cause of death: Severe traumatic brain injury

Lin Yue's expression was inscrutable. This was the first time he had met "Bridil," who had been relentlessly pursuing him ever since he came into contact with the Black Wall.

He was now soaking in water that had completely turned into liquid, and his swollen appearance made the edges of the bullet hole on his forehead look ferocious and terrifying.

"Didn't expect to be dealt with by the internet censors first, did you?"

Lin Yue shook his head.

Bridil was a key figure.

After the Relic chips reached Night City, this guy, who was still the manager of network surveillance, made a request to Evelyn Parker to buy the chips.

Someone is trying to save Bridil's life.

Lin Yue recorded all the evidence one by one, not even letting go of the low-temperature diagnostic system in front of him.

The only organization that bought this stuff is a trauma group.

The first person he thought of was David's mother, Gloria.

Lin Yue, who was already immune to corpses and strange smells, leaned against the edge of the equipment as if visiting an old friend.

【K】: Mrs. Gloria, I have a favor to ask you.

Lin Yue was surprised by the other party's quick reply and saw the words being typed in the next second.

[Gloria]: Please speak :)
【K】: Are cryogenic diagnostic systems very expensive?

[Gloria]: Thinking about retirement so early? If you're considering buying one, I suggest you don't. The cryotherapy system is disposable; once it's turned on, it can't be turned off, otherwise it'll be unusable… 500,000 euros—that's the price of even the cheapest stuff in Europe. I'm on good terms with my friends in the purchasing department; we've talked about it. ;P
Gloria added a little emoji to every sentence she spoke, and Lin Yue felt that she was genuinely happy.

[K]: OK, can this thing be traced back to its source?
At this point, Gloria became much more cautious.

A few minutes later, the typed text message was sent over.

[Gloria]: I just checked the technical instructions for the cryotherapy system. The core technology is the cell cryopreservation module, which prevents cells from being punctured by tiny ice crystals. It uses ion-free cryogenic liquid water technology. The details are too complicated. Please send me the serial number below the biometric QR code. There is only one company in Europe with this technology. You can find it very quickly.

Lin Yue was momentarily at a loss for what to do with such high efficiency.

He scratched his head.

【K】: [Image] Thank you.

[Gloria]: Okay, I'll send the results to your email. Next time, please show your face in the photo so I can see how you've been doing lately.

Lin Yue clicked his tongue.

It was obvious that he had been teased again.

After Lin Yue sent all the information to Emma, ​​the matter was considered settled.

A life of toil, a life of toil.

What kind of boss treats themselves like this?
Last time I saw Emma's desk and chair, I was incredibly envious. The power outages in the apartment building in Santo Domingo happen frequently, and I can't even dry my underwear.

Looking at the corpse in the pool, Lin Yue placed the cigarette he had just taken a puff of on the edge of the pool and left.

……

The smell of the garbage dump under the scorching sun made me feel a little dizzy.

Lin Yue found four or five suspected locations based on his memory, but none of them contained any discarded items such as refrigerators.

Lin Yue was actually quite curious.

If Barthes' body were really here, the place would probably be in a terrible state by now.

I really do have a knack for encountering corpses today...

Just as Lin Yue was focused on finding Bartmos, Otto's voice rang in his mind.

She always liked to speak out of the blue like that, especially now that the garbage dump was completely quiet, which startled Lin Yue.

"The pathway has been established, and I have also resolved the data collision between the AI ​​roaming outside the Great Firewall and my data. The compilation is now complete."

"You need to get online."

Lin Yue continued searching around.

"Could you be a little later, boss?"

Lin Yue was somewhat frustrated at not being able to find Bartmos's body, so he played a not-so-small joke on Otto.

The Ultraman on the other end is becoming more and more like a human.

"What are you doing?"

"I did not detect that you were with your girlfriends..."

?

A hint of embarrassment gradually appeared on Lin Yue's face.

"I'm looking for a body—Bartlemos's, your old friend, familiar?"

It took Otto a long time to reply: "It's meaningless. Dead organisms have no thoughts or souls. Only in the vast cyberspace can one glimpse the wisdom of my friend."

"This whole thing is illogical. He was everywhere in the early days of the crash, and that's when we started to look for him carefully."

Lin Yue, however, sensed something else in these cold words.

"Hmm, are you angry with Ultraman?"

Ultraman is always like this; he claims to have stripped himself of his humanity, but occasionally he reveals traces of thinking that are different from those of AI.

Lin Yue sighed, "So many clues point to Barthes, can we not look for him? Besides... even a physical being like you can't roam freely outside the Black Wall, let alone me?"

Ultraman remains as imposing as ever.

"With me here, you won't have any problems once the channels are established."

Lin Yue didn't answer Otto either.

Since Ultraman didn't urge him, it meant he tacitly approved of his search.

The inconsistency between words and actions can also be seen in AI; perhaps this is a unique manifestation of the digital soul.

Hard work pays off.

Lin Yue found an abandoned area that appeared to contain a large number of electrical appliances, including not only large items such as refrigerators, televisions, and washing machines, but also robot vacuum cleaners and digital products.

Logically, the probability of finding the Bartmouth refrigerator seems higher here.

But the refrigerator here…

Lin Yue glanced at it briefly.

I discovered something incredibly frustrating.

There are too many refrigerators here.

With such a wide variety of styles, Lin Yue had to open them one by one to find what he was looking for.

Looking at the time, it will probably take several days to finish.

Otto simply floated in cyberspace, quietly watching Lin Yue's actions; no one knew what she was thinking.

After Lin Yue turned on the fiftieth or so refrigerator-like appliance, he finally felt a little tired.

really…

Opportunism doesn't work in this world.

Most things match my memory, except that this area is vast and the terrain is too different.

Lin Yue didn't give up either.

He began using his prosthetic eye to scan all cabinet-shaped objects he could see, focusing only on the production date.

Lin Yue would write down anything from before 2023 and take a look at it.

Time passed second by second, and dusk gradually approached.

This feeling is like forgetting where you put your keys before leaving the house, and being so stubborn that you have to find them.

"One of the appliances is still working using its internal power supply."

Ultraman suddenly spoke.

Lin Yue shifted his gaze from the empty cabinet in front of him and, following the direction Otto pointed, saw an old-fashioned freezer-like object standing atop the mountain of garbage under the blood-red setting sun.

It seems there's a possibility it could capsize at any moment.

If there is no human interference, it might slide all the way down from the top to the bottom, which is exactly where Lin Yue is standing.

With a mix of trepidation and excitement, Lin Yue climbed step by step to the top. The sharp debris was blocked by the thin, soft metal sole of his military boots, but he still felt his feet getting heavier and heavier, and the bulging sensation below him was getting stronger.

Appliances still in operation today even have solar energy converters designed to last for decades…

The answer seems quite close.

Lin Yue, having finally climbed up, maintained his balance and stared at the refrigerator in front of him. Even Ultraman was watching this thing.

If he's not here...

Ultraman interrupted.

"Then hurry up and get online."

Lin Yue nodded.

They didn't even give themselves enough time to prepare.

Instinctively, he reached out and ripped open the rusty cabinet door at the top of the freezer—

……

……

(End of this chapter)