Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 402 The Emperor (Part 5)

"Jingle Bell…"

A crisp wind chime rang out as the person who came lifted the curtain, producing an even more pleasant sound, as if it had a calming effect.

"It smells so good here every day."

Jack took a deep breath, quite content. Night City reeked of decay and filth, except for Misty's psychic house, which always carried a scent of vanilla—something she'd bought from the outskirts of Night City…

Everyone in the neighborhood knew that Misty was quite wealthy, since Dr. Victor always got his rent back in full...

"Hey, Jack!"

Speaking of which, Misty always adds a retroflex ending to Jack's name, similar to the Chinese suffix "er," as a kind of nickname. The big and burly Jack doesn't mind being called "Little Jack" at all, since Misty is his chica.
"How are you?"

Jack had just comfortably settled into Misty's rocking chair and hadn't rocked for long when Misty, leaning on the counter, looked at her boyfriend with a gentle smile and asked...

Still enjoying the softness of his licorice-filled pillow, Jack looked up like a naive fox, blinking his eyes—

"If I remember correctly, I took you for a ride on my motorcycle to Lijiang Scenic Area just the day before yesterday... Girl, you're not even as old as my mom, do you forget things so easily?"

However, seeing that Misty was still staring straight into his eyes, he could only shrug and say, "It couldn't be better."

Misty nodded in satisfaction.

Jack watched as Misty walked slowly towards him, holding the tarot cards she often played with. He didn't know what they were made of, though Misty often rubbed their surfaces, making the edges of the cards appear ivory-white.

"The rain outside looks pretty heavy. Night City hasn't had this kind of continuous rainy weather in a long time."

Misty gently sat down in the chair next to Jack and reached out to wipe the raindrops that hadn't yet dried off his jacket.

"Oh, sorry!"

"Look at my memory, I should have grabbed a towel or something to wipe it down so I wouldn't get your chair dirty—to be honest, I really like this chair, and it's best if it doesn't have that weird smell of Night City acid rain on it."

Misty simply pressed her hand gently against Jack's chest. "It's okay. You know I don't care about this. I'm just worried you might be feeling unwell."

Speaking of this, Jack immediately showed off his broad arms, "I'm in great shape, it's practically impossible for me to catch a cold! You know what, girl, Haywood had a bench press competition yesterday, guess what place I came in?"

Misty simply smiled gently and held up two fingers.

Jack stared blankly for a second, then deflated like a punctured balloon, spreading his hands helplessly. "Holy crap, this actually works? Misty... I'm not kidding, but it feels like you know everything!"

Second place.

The loser among the winners, the best in the eyes of the losers.

"Because you've already told me the answer yourself, Jack."

"If you were number one..."

Misty deliberately puffed out his cheeks and lowered his Adam's apple, mimicking Jack Wells' tone, "You'll be saying when you lift the curtain, 'Girl! Guess what? Heywood's bunch of cowards are all softies. It's understandable that they can't beat the Vortex Gang, but we can easily crush these chicks!'"

It has to be said that Jack really likes Misty's humor amidst his seriousness.

But the way he stared wide-eyed made Misty unable to hold back her laughter, covering her mouth and laughing heartily, which made Jack blush.

"Okay, okay, I'm convinced."

Jack couldn't hide the sweetness on his face when he said this.

"So when I asked you how you are, Jack, I wanted to know what you wanted to share with me, not just... I'm fine."

It must be said that Misty is a fortune teller who is very good at uncovering people's emotions.

What Jack considered mundane things became interesting under Misty's guidance, whether it was the amusing anecdotes from the audition stage of the new season of the "Gun and Horseback Show," the modifications he made to his dual pistols "Golden Fierce Wife," or the major upgrades his motorcycle underwent...

But as he said this, Misty kept staring at his face.

"Hmm, why don't you tell me about the case you investigated before? That company was quite interesting."

This clearly touches on Jack's painful past.

You should know that in Jack's eyes, Rin died in the missile fire on the Badlands.

But investigating the case itself is very meaningful, because it involves his Amigo partner, whom Jack trusts.

"Ah, you mean this? Well... I feel like I've got the leads pretty good, but they seem to have other things to do lately, and just to be on the safe side, I can't just go there alone..."

Misty had already recognized the sour taste.

“I always felt that those people were hiding something from me, Chica. This isn’t just being dramatic; I feel like they’re afraid I’ll get involved in company matters.”

Misty breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and the tense muscles in her back gradually relaxed. She had guided Jack to say all this in order to hear whether Jack was involved in certain things—

"Alright, Jack, accept your friends' kindness. Maybe they're just worried you'll get into trouble... After all, you still have Mrs. Wells..."

Jack picked up the conversation, smiling in a very simple and honest way.

"And of course, there's you and my Chica. You always seem a little unhappy. My mom won't be a troublemaker. To put it bluntly, if I ever die, she'll definitely treat you like my wife."

Misty clearly didn't want to hear Jack curse her like that, and just gave him a reproachful look.

"Since you're just killing time anyway, let me do your fortune telling?"

Jack, of course, allowed Misty to read his cards, but he didn't quite understand why the girl liked to have her fate told so much...

Misty lowered her head and shuffled the tarot cards. "The more you like someone, the more you want to know about their past, and also about the uncertain future of the two of you. The future is inherently difficult to predict, but... I still want to try."

"Little Jack, everything is preordained."

Jack said he was willing to do the cards.

This time, however, Misty changed the approach. "If it's just about divining the future, let's try a different method this time... using only three cards, one for yourself, one for the people around you, and one for us, okay?"

Jack said seriously, "Our future is absolutely secure, girl."

Misty likes Jack, who talks big, and he's unlike any other street kid in Night City.

"Think about what you most want to do, and then randomly draw from the three sets of cards I gave you."

"Close your eyes."

Jack obeyed Misty's every word, except for one thing: Jack never told Misty about his adventures...

After hesitating for a moment, Jack thought about what he most wanted to do—

He nodded firmly with his eyes closed.

His hand then touched a set of cards, and Misty pressed down on Jack's large hand. "Alright, Jack, you've drawn the 'Friends' tarot card. Now, please think about the friend, family member, or person who has had the biggest influence on you the most... I guess it's V? Mrs. Wells?"

"Anything is fine, just not me."

Jack understood.

Misty watched as Jack's expression calmed down, and after he drew a card from his pocket, he opened his eyes.

The cards couldn't be revealed. Jack shrugged. "Girl, you didn't say dead people don't count, did you?"

Misty clearly hadn't expected Jack to ask that question—

“His death or survival will affect those around him, it doesn’t matter.” So, following Misty’s prompting, Jack drew two cards: one about thinking about himself, and the other about thinking about the future.

To be honest, Jack still had a sliver of hope...

Rin was different from everyone else he'd met on the street. Young people are always a bit impetuous, including Jack, but this guy always had a mysterious air about him.

Misty flipped over the card.

The king, wielding a scepter, looks down upon all living beings, but in Night City, the Emperor card seems to have a deeper meaning.

Instead of reciting the card's meaning verbatim, Misty asked softly, "Who do you think of?"

Jack scratched his head. "If I had to pick someone who changed me the most, it would be Rin. Even though she went from mercenary to middleman, and then to a corporate employee, my life and many things about Haywood were changed by this Amigo..."

Misty's gaze was somewhat unfathomable to Jack.

Skilled in divination, she simply took a deep breath and said, “Everything is under control. Although I don’t know how your friend interfered with these things after leaving this world, the cards indicate that he is still actively influencing those around him.”

Jack didn't believe in the idea of ​​the dead coming back to life.

Of course, he wouldn't refute that Misty was playing tricks; he accepted that explanation because the Dreamers were still operating, and everything Rin left behind was in perfect order.

"Oh, right, Jack—"

Misty suddenly stopped Jack from playing his next card. "Remember what I told you? Stay away from red."

Jack felt that there were too many colors like red in the world, and he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't come into contact with them. Moreover, he believed that living with this kind of fear would inevitably be very painful...

His secret to getting along with Misty was: never tell the girl anything dangerous.

"Aren't you worrying too much about Misty lately... Don't worry, buddy, I'm not going anywhere."

A sudden jingling sound of bells rang out.

The autumn rain always gets more intense at night. The automatic door was stuck with a soda can at some point, and the wind was blowing in through the gaps... leaving Jack somewhat at a loss, and Misty's expression also looked a little unnatural.

“Misty…”

What Jack really wanted to ask was, "Why do you know so much about this, girl?"
However, just as Misty stood up, a gust of wind blew the card she was holding away. Jack had often learned the meanings of most Tarot cards from Misty, and the most profound one was probably the Wheel of Fortune.

The moment Jack and Misty locked eyes, Jack sensed the fear in Misty's expression. Perhaps in Misty's eyes, as a fortune teller, this wasn't a good omen.

The man tried to salvage the situation, saying, "This weather is fucking insane—"

Misty's gaze shifted to another card lying on the ground. The card seemed to be sucked away by the wind outside the door, drifting from under her feet to the front, where it stopped in front of a pair of street-style cyberpunk sneakers.

"Misty?"

The petite figure outside the door smoothed her hair and picked up the cards from the ground.

The rain was indeed so heavy that Rebecca's usually perky braids had completely collapsed.

"Rebecca?"

Jack never expected that the team he was investigating would appear here, considering it had been some time since they last worked together to investigate Mann.

Misty turned to the side awkwardly, her face showing a mixture of strange and complex emotions, but also a sense of helplessness and admiration. She took the Destiny Card from Rebecca's hand and said softly, "Little Rebecca, it's been a long time."

Rebecca, who had received treatment from Dr. Victor many times, naturally greeted Misty warmly, but the anxiety on her face was hard to hide. She quickly said to Jack, "Something really bad has happened, buddy!"

Jack suddenly stood up. "What?"

It seemed that Jack, who had rushed over, was unaware of the incident at the Azure Building. When Rebecca told him that Saburo had died at the Azure Building, he instinctively grabbed Rebecca and closed the automatic door.

"Are you fucking kidding me? You mean the Saburo Arasaka I know?"

"Hold…"

Rebecca sighed. "Yes, I need your help. No, I need to help my brother."

At this point, Jack looked Rebecca up and down, and Rebecca then revealed that her prosthetic body was unusable. She said that Pira had already gone to Westbrook to find Evelyn's whereabouts. They were old acquaintances with Wakako, and the siblings had split up, one investigating clues and contacting the company, and the other going to call for help.

Jack thought it was ridiculous enough to hear that Saburo was dead—

Upon hearing that Saburo's death was related to Rin, and that Rin was still alive and risking her life at the Konpaku Building, she nearly went blind.

There was no time to find out why Rin was still alive; the most pressing matter was that something Rebecca had mentioned was missing—Rebecca tried to describe the Relic prototype in the simplest terms possible, and then talked about the related preparations for the Dreamers.

After hearing all this, Jack plopped down in a chair.

The street kid's biggest dream was to become a big shot, and he never thought of getting involved in the power struggles between companies.

only…

Jack couldn't see these things before, but as he made these friends, he realized that most of the guys who made a name for themselves on the street had some connection to people or things in the company.

Jack hesitated for a moment…

"What should we do now?"

Rebecca gritted her teeth, ignoring her soaking wet clothes, and Misty could only use a towel to wipe the rain off her leather jacket, as if taking care of a child.

“There’s no time. Rin can only rely on Konbi’s partners to find the chip now, but that thing might be hidden very well, or even already outside the Konbi Building—Arasaka is like a mad dog now, biting anyone he sees. We have to find that thing and get rid of it according to Rin’s wishes.”

Jack's gaze darkened, and as he pondered, he subconsciously caught the pleading look in Misty's eyes.

Seeing that Jack was still hesitating, Rebecca could only say, "Help Jack, even just help us retreat. We need you now."

Jack immediately spoke up.

"Girl, saying that is slapping the faces of the Haywood people."

Jack tried his best not to look at Misty's expression. "I've introduced Rin to my mother. Once you've opened your heart to the people of Haywood, you won't let them feel disheartened."

"Walk."

Misty held the card in her hand, and could only watch helplessly as Jack left.

she knows…

I couldn't persuade them otherwise.

Jack had only taken a few steps when he suddenly turned around, strode over, and gave Misty a tight hug. "Hmm, I'll stay away from red."

Misty gave a bitter smile and swayed slightly.

until…

Jack disappeared through the doorway.

She looked down and flipped over the card, which clearly read: [Power].

The power of the world is unstoppable, but human effort may also overcome all obstacles.

……

……

(End of this chapter)