Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 388 A Bird Startled by the Bow (Part 3) [6K]

Hermann had no idea how he got back to the lab.

He only shivered after he sat down in the chair…

Yes.

Just now, Arakasaka was about to kill him with a single word from that old guy. Herman, who once came to his workshop full of enthusiasm, is now restless.

"Holy shit...holy shit..."

Herman was panting heavily.

Just as he was about to make a few phone calls, his hand froze.

His quick thinking saved him; the part of the Relic project that was missing was entirely fabricated by Herman, and he only wanted to use it to save his life…

But how long can it last?
He guessed that when his clumsy lie was exposed, he would probably suffer the worst possible fate after learning the secret of the morbid family above the Arasaka Empire.

What should I do?
Everything about myself in Tokyo…

Compared to one's own life.

Herman made his choice almost instantly.

The reason he didn't make those phone calls or search everywhere for information about his escape was because he knew very well that Arasaka was keeping a close watch on him...

A knock on the door,

Hermann was slumped in his chair, covering his face in despair.

"What the hell do you want to do?!"

Although the outcome was expected, Herman still lost his ability to manage his emotions.

The two Arasaka samurai coldly watched the chief scientist inside, who was flying into a rage. They exchanged glances and saw a hint of disdain on each other's faces.

Bang!
Herman suddenly threw the folder on the table at him—

The samurai sidestepped, and the object was firmly grasped by his prosthetic arm, which was fitted with the Arasaka Mantis Blade.

Herman was taken aback.

These damn bastards wouldn't want to lay a hand on me, would they?!
Sure enough, another warrior appeared in front of Herman in a flash.

Along with this, Hermann made a choking "hoarse" sound as his throat was being squeezed.

The praise and encouragement I just received from Saburo seemed fake...

Without orders from above, how could these security guards have acted this way?

“Great scientist… help me out, don’t act like a woman.”

“From today onwards, all your actions will be subject to Arasaka’s control and scrutiny. I hope you are prepared.”

"in addition--"

Hermann's hand grasped haphazardly and touched the samurai's wrist.

His face is now almost the same color as pig liver.

The samurai seemed to have timed it perfectly, deliberately slowing his tone, "You'd better hand over your personal communication devices now."

Hermann's legs began to pedal.

The samurai then released his grip and looked down at Herman, who was now curled up on the ground as if he were about to cough up his insides.

Hermann's sense of humiliation had already reached a fever pitch.

He couldn't understand how the father and daughter in Araka could be so vicious...

It was only the terrifying will to survive that people experience before suffocation that forced Herman to temporarily become a little smarter.

"Depend on…"

"Sorry...cough cough! I'm just feeling—"

The samurai clearly had no patience for this. Instead, they proceeded to inspect all of Hermann's equipment according to standard procedure, their prosthetic eyes glowing red as they examined even the transparent viewing wall in the room where fish were kept.

Herman could only hug his knees, his once meticulous hair now curly and messy, plastered to his forehead.

Now he has no choice but to rethink his approach.

Escaping Arasaka's surveillance is no easy feat anywhere in the world, let alone in Tokyo.

Herman had intended to use the Chiba black market to pursue his escape plan, but with his accounts and devices blocked, such an opportunity simply did not exist.

The two people in front of me were clearly professionals in the field of internal investigation.

They knew what methods traitors would often choose to escape their constraints, and they went through every conceivable process.

"A great scientist."

"I have to remind you: don't get any funny ideas about the project. If there are any problems with the project, we have plenty of people to replace you."

Hermann wanted to destroy the sample core directly.

He could only lower his head and watch the two warriors standing guard at the door, and he could only think of a solution.

Herman was not going to waste any more patience on Arasaka.

He stood up, and both warriors stared at him.

Herman coughed twice and sat down in front of the computer.

Experienced technical experts often possess several skills in cyber hacking.

The overlap between electronic information and various scientific types immediately gave Herman an idea of ​​who and how to make that contact.

Yes.

That's Lai Xuan, whom he just sold.

The Relic project was spearheaded by Hanako Arakawa, with Saburo controlling the project behind the scenes.

Arakasaka Yoriyuki had very little information available. If Herman could just report this situation to Yoriyuki, he might still have a chance to survive.

As for whether Lai Hsuan would be angry because he couldn't withstand the pressure and leaked information, Herman couldn't guess.

I thought of Lai Xuan's reputation.

Herman was also terrified…

Everyone knows the Arasaka Hawks' style of doing things; they are as radical and savage as Lai Xuan, always tearing their prey to pieces.

In fact, Arasaka's technocrats all feared this president who was known to have a gang background—just as the media criticized, President Arasaka had multiple accusations, including gang-related activities.

To seek help from a tiger or to dance with a wolf?

Hermann felt there was no worse option than this.

However, his intelligence was still sharp enough to realize one thing: Lai Xuan was unaware that Arasaka Saburo had temporarily let him go...

Hermann is now like a frightened bird, and he wants to drag Arasaka Yorinobu into it as well.

Having found a glimmer of opportunity, a smirk appeared on his lips. His blank expression as he sat before the computer startled the two warriors, who assumed this cowardly scientist had been terrified and allowed Hermann to fiddle with the now-unusable "equipment"...

Is it really usable?
They clearly underestimated the hands-on abilities of scientists.

Hermann gently brought his hand close to a small data-fitting computer, which contained an AI responsible for downloading online data and then broadcasting the results verbally. The facility's automated fire suppression system was connected to the subnet, and Hermann wanted to create his own telephone...

With brain-computer communication locked, this was the only way Herman could think of to contact Lai Xuan.

It's okay to be monitored.

He has to drag Lai Xuan into this...

In Arasaka's eyes, hawks like Yorihiro are power-hungry and ruthless, and they are terrified of losing these things!
Certainly possible.

Even if Hua Zi wants to settle scores, Herman thinks there's a high probability that Lai Xuan will personally intervene.

"what are you up to?"

Hermann had a constipated look on his face, and with his trembling lips, the two warriors were momentarily at a loss as to what this spineless coward was up to now.

He hesitated as he slid the components into his sleeve, saying, "I need to go to the bathroom."

One of the samurai wrinkled his nose in disdain. "Let's go."

Herman anticipated that people would follow him wherever he went, but he kept a sullen face and didn't say anything to tell them to stop.

"Keep a close eye on him."

Another companion whispered a reminder.

Although they were a bit rough with Hermann, it didn't affect their professionalism.

The heavy, bulletproof door was pushed open. The samurai blocked the door with one foot, then placed his hand on Herman's shoulder and pointed to the toilet door in the very center.

"Go to that one."

Hermann stood there dumbfounded, as if he had gone mad.

He muttered something under his breath...

The samurai looked puzzled and leaned forward.

Hermann suddenly roared like a madman, "You fucking kill me!"

The stunned samurai's expression immediately turned extremely sinister.

As everyone knows...

Herman mustered tremendous courage to fight for this chance to survive.

He only has this one chance, so he has to fight with all his might.

The results speak for themselves.

Hermann received another warm welcome.

Hermann, looking like he'd been beaten to a pulp, lay quietly on the ground. His two leather shoes and his elegant trousers were both black, and Hermann could still see the glistening liquid on his trousers.

"Kill me!"

Herman, who looked like a zombie, suddenly stood up and grabbed the samurai's trouser leg.

He roared, causing the samurai to immediately raise his fist—

"stop fighting."

"Killing this guy won't do us any good!"

However, the samurai's slip of the tongue made Hermann even more convinced that he had made the right choice...

"Miss Hua said that this guy is full of bad ideas and is very dishonest."

His companion tugged at his sleeve and gently shook his head.

Clearly, his colleagues didn't understand the principle that water shouldn't be too full. Everyone in Arasaka wanted to make a good impression on the boss, and he was no exception... But things can go too far, and things will backfire.

"Fine, you're awesome."

The samurai stood up and abruptly pulled his leg out of Herman's clinging embrace.

The other samurai was very professional.

Herman's unusual behavior forced him to begin searching her body. Herman lay motionless on the ground like a dead pig, letting people lift her up, blood dripping from her nose onto the white floor.

Hanako Arakawa…

Hermann clenched his teeth as if tearing raw meat, swallowing those words hard.

What about the component that Hermann took out?
Herman's method of hiding the object was actually quite simple. It was something about the size and weight of a lighter, and when he angered Arasaka Samurai and was knocked to the floor, the object was already in his mouth.

just in case.

Herman even swallowed it.

Two samurai stood outside the door, listening to the sounds of vomiting coming from inside. The other man, who was trying to dissuade them, shook his head again as he looked at his violent accomplice who was so reckless with his own strength.

"Although Miss Hanako doesn't believe he has any unfinished work, the headquarters' counterintelligence department is investigating, and Kuroda Rei is involved—"

"It's no big deal to earn some credit now that we have evidence... We'll have someone come in and give him a piece of our mind later."

The one being lectured was clearly the younger generation.

He placed his hands in front of him, his expression somewhat unnatural.

Inside, Herman was lying on the ground. He thought vomiting up the component would be difficult, but the overwhelming fear caused him to gag physically and psychologically, eventually expelling the substance. Holding the sticky mess, he slowly curled up like a shrimp and stood up.

Not long after…

Sitting on the toilet seat, he prepared himself, pulled out the human-computer interaction circuit and carefully examined the data, finally finding Lai Xuan on the internal circuit.

There was almost no probing.

At this moment, Hermann seemed to come alive again, and he growled in a suppressed voice, "Something has happened, Lai Xuan!"

Lai Xuan's face was on the holographic screen, and upon hearing Lai Xuan's voice, he immediately realized that this phone call was serious...

"What's wrong? Why wasn't that line used?!"

Hermann's remaining rationality prevented him from using terms like "white-faced bitch" to describe Arasaka Hanako. "Your sister tricked us all! Arasaka... Arasaka-sama knows everything!"

As he finished speaking, Herman felt that the wounds from the beating he had just suffered were no longer so painful, because the surge of hormones from the tension had made the pain subside.

He's gambling.

Dou Hanako and Saburo kept it from Lai Xuan. As the nominal president of Arakawa, Lai Xuan had no right to know anything about Relic. Besides anger, Lai Xuan should have felt more fear.

When Lai Xuan's expression turned so gloomy it was almost dripping with water...

Hermann's anxiety finally subsided.

Arakasaka Saburo's actions of investigating Yorimitsu's affairs and placing him under house arrest behind Yorimitsu's back undoubtedly shocked Yorimitsu!

"Where are you now?"

Lai Xuan's movements were extremely agitated.

Herman didn't even mention asking Lai Xuan to save him. "These are all Hua Zi's people. You have absolutely no right to participate in the Relic project. I'm just warning you—"

"Wait for me, I'll find someone to get it out of here."

"Those damn idiots!"

Herman wasn't worried at all about who Lai Xuan was criticizing.

He simply collapsed quickly, muttering that he was saved…

The bathroom door opened silently.

The samurai heard a whispering sound, indistinct and muffled.

For the sake of privacy, these soundproofed stalls suddenly became incredibly inconvenient.

The samurai's leg prosthetics were clearly modified; they called these, which allowed him to walk almost silently, "lynx claws"...

The cubicles were opened one by one.

At this moment, Hermann was still telling Lai Xuan those details. He crawled into the third toilet stall. The samurai looked at the vomit on the ground and stepped on it expressionlessly.

Getting closer…

The samurai's hand touched the cubicle where Hermann was.

Faint voices could still be heard inside…

The samurai gave a cold laugh.

As long as this dishonest scientist is trying to contact the outside world, it's considered a military achievement for these guys who are monitoring him, so how could they not be happy?

call!
It was torn apart with almost tremendous force!

The samurai's prosthetic arm was strong enough to tear these door panels apart.

What came into view was Herman slumped over the toilet, muttering something repeatedly...

"What the hell are you doing, you lunatic?!"

The samurai stepped forward.

But all I heard Herman kept repeating phrases like "my money" and "my life is fucking ruined."

When Herman saw the samurai about to touch him, he was so frightened that he quickly shrank back inside.

This is the one who didn't beat Herman earlier—

"stand up."

Herman stood up hesitantly.

"I'll say it one last time: do your job properly and you'll be fine. Don't try anything funny. A doctor will come to treat your wounds later. Is there anything else I haven't told you?"

Herman shook his head frantically.

The samurai forced a strange smile, like that of an artificial robot, and gently patted Herman's cheek.

The chip was tucked into the gap of the handle lock on the rickety toilet door; the samurai could see it if he turned around…

……
-
It was only a matter of time before something went wrong.

Lai Xuan hadn't expected it to happen so quickly, and he was completely unaware of it.

Lai Xuan believed he had never suffered a major defeat in his power struggle with his father since becoming CEO of Arasaka. He had spread his intelligence network throughout Arasaka, yet he had never dared to touch the research and development aspects of Relic's new generation of projects; he personally handled all the details.

However, reality dealt Lai Xuan a heavy blow!
He tried to contact the intelligence agents he had planted on the periphery of the Relic project.

Without exception.

They all suffered a massive purge…

Lai Xuan subconsciously walked to the side of the office—to the luxurious bedroom that replicated the top-tier suite structure of the Grimm Tower—and pulled out a handgun that looked like a work of art from the bedside table.

When the heavy, cold weapon is held in your hand...

Lai Xuan seemed to suddenly wake up, staring blankly at the gun before plopping down on the bed.

He didn't understand why his father hadn't done anything at all, even now that things had come to this.

Herman abruptly hung up the phone; his pained voice seemed genuine. Lai Xuan had foreseen that Herman's interrogation would inevitably lead to leaks of information, but he hadn't expected it to happen so quickly…

No!

Lai Xuan’s brief panic was abruptly stopped by him.

Regardless of what Hua Zi and his father were thinking, Lai Xuan had to keep something in his own hands.

He almost without hesitation decided to find a way to take away the sample chips that his father valued most in the Relic project. After glancing at the intelligence, he realized that the chip being tested this time was the one that Herman had lost the least and that was the one with a damaged consciousness and personality among the sample chips that Herman had given him.

The owner of this chip was the very person who caused Arasaka to suffer the most severe losses in the corporate war.

one…

A rock star that few people remember.

Lai Xuan wanted to hold this thing in his hand, to free it from the dirty, secret prison of Japan, and to make this chip, in everyone's eyes, evidence of Arakawa's crimes...

What is the thing your father least wants to happen? Lai Xuan is determined to make that thing come true!
Lai Xuan's security chief died in Night City some time ago...

Lai Xuan, who was about to ask Chongchui to find out where his father was, felt somewhat helpless.

Lai Xuan only dared to use a madman like Chongchui, who wouldn't submit to anyone, but it was difficult to find another guy like him in the company, so he had to search for him himself...

When the computer displayed the message "Permission Restricted," Lai Xuan, who was usually calm and collected on his own, suddenly exploded!
He shoved the things off the table.

The command functionality is limited by the creator; the only commands that Arasaka can perform these functions are those of his own father!
"Lord Yorinobu!"

The security guards outside the door instinctively took a step back when they saw President Arasaka's wolf-like gaze as he leaned on the table...

"Put the Third Special Operations Department under martial law. Location: Tokyo. Authorization code: 207731..."

The newly appointed hawkish security chief was clearly dumbfounded as he entered the gate.

The guy who can guard the door for the CEO must have received training in company knowledge.

Saburo clearly stated in the Arasaka Company's regulations manual that no armed forces could be used in Tokyo. Lord Yorihisa, what is this...?
"Sir, what happened?"

This person is also a member of Arasaka Yorinobu's faction.

He instantly realized that Arasaka was in deep trouble.

Lai Xuan was clearly furious. He stood with his hands on his hips, his chest heaving, and pointed at the smashed things on the ground, cursing incessantly. "My administrative order has been banned—these damned parasites have turned the entire Arasaka into a coward, and that's exactly what they wanted!"

The administrative order is prohibited?!

Seeing his subordinate's face turn as if he had seen a ghost, he sneered and strode over to him.

No one in the hawkish faction didn't know that Lai Xuan was a capricious and ruthless man, and the security chief immediately swallowed hard...

"What if I ask you to bring our people to retrieve something?"

The security supervisor's expression shifted uncertainly.

“If these parasites in the company are not removed, Arasaka will never have a future. You are being cowardly.”

"Want to be like those people?"

Lai Xuan was like a madman.

The security chief could only lower his head, "No, that's not the case... Sir, I'll inform the ministers right away!"

He didn't even dare to look up at President Arasaka's expression.

After a long while, Lai Xuan finally let out a cold laugh.

The Steel Dragons arrived soon after.

The maid who delivered the information to Arasaka stood respectfully behind him.

"Lord Yorinobu."

Arakawa Yori crossed his arms and watched the people in Tokyo who belonged to them move on the computer screen, his expression dark and unreadable.

It wouldn't be surprising if his father's bodyguard, Takemura, rushed in with his men at this moment; what he couldn't understand was why his father hadn't made a move—

Is the father waiting for his own strength to leap out of the water?

In Lai Xuan's office, a number of company executives in suits entered one after another. Arasaka didn't really have any requirements for the executives' attire, otherwise Michiko wouldn't have dressed so flamboyantly in Night City.

However, Lai Xuan's subordinates all had one very obvious characteristic.

Like high-ranking military technology officials, their clothing was appropriate and devoid of any kitsch.

Without exception, they all wore silver needles pinned to their chests, a trait reserved for high-ranking members of the Arasaka administration.

Many of the officers who were to participate in the operation joined the online meeting, and no one whispered among themselves, because these were all power-worshipping believers that Lai Xuan had won over.

I had helped Rin with several cleanings before.

The hawks are now reduced to just the most radical group…

Before Lai Xuan spoke, he was instructing his cybersecurity experts to send orders to each of his trusted units.

Lai Xuan no longer cared whether this was an overreaction.

He only knew that it happened suddenly, and passively accepting it wouldn't change anything...

Just as everything was proceeding smoothly and orderly, the most magnificent building in Tokyo, housing a large company with the world's most advanced cybersecurity services—located on Jeju Island—was having its servers, which held Arasaka's most secrets, compromised.

That was the enemy that Arakasaka had fought against for a long time, and now she took the initiative to attack.

Along with this came a network user.

Aside from the Black Wall, the world's largest known artificial intelligence is currently only used for security and ICE.

This seems a bit too extravagant and outrageous.

As these commands were being sent using the Arasaka network, those blood-red pupils stared at them and let out a long sigh.

He seemed to be complaining to the woman behind him who was like a goddess—

"Lai Xuan really keeps his promises; he wouldn't even make a phone call before things got really bad..."

"You can't beat your dad like that."

"Those who are afraid deserve to lose."

……

……

(End of this chapter)