Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 425 The Secret Key
Upon hearing the news that Dogtown's website had been hacked—

Lin Yue was visibly getting impatient, so his most pressing matter right now was to find Arasaka Yorinobu to negotiate this matter.

Soon, news came from V.

Yoriyuki Arasaka has canceled everything and is now waiting for him at the Arasaka Yoru no Shiro branch.

“V, besides intelligence, there’s something else I need to discuss… I need to get into the network first.”

“It’s better to start with the company’s data fortress, you know… large companies’ subnets are more robust and secure, after all, the places where I need to find information are very sensitive areas.”

So I wanted to ask you—

V didn't even let Lin Yue finish speaking, but immediately nodded.

Lai Xuan said, "I'll do whatever you say."

A surprised Lin Yue smiled.

"Okay, then wait for me at Arasaka Tower."

The quietest time in Night City is usually in the morning.

The people in the city have not yet woken up from their hedonistic lifestyle, and the spiritual decline of the people on the streets is visibly apparent.

“We’ve compiled all the information we’ve gathered… Just like last time, I’ll temporarily disconnect from you when you go to Arasaka. You know where to find me.”

“Going to Arasaka to join the network is a good idea. If we’re right, Arasaka should know about this too—after all, Arasaka Yoriyuki is your ally.”

Lin Yue nodded.

“I’ve never been to Washington. The counterintelligence department is more sophisticated in finding intelligence. It’s hard to guarantee that the new US database hasn’t been hacked and caused a lot of trouble. I hope V can find the intelligence we want... but I don’t have any clue right now.”

Otto offered a rare word of comfort.

"Then search online. I haven't really seen your hacking skills yet. You're being too cautious."

Lin Yue revealed a guilty smile, as if he had been exposed.

In the past two years, Lin Yue has never stopped learning network hacking techniques. Compared to his previous method of using forces that weren't his own to sweep across the network, he now understands what privileges are, what intrusion is, and what the real techniques of network combat are.

Even the seemingly ordinary Rabies Kit becomes incredibly versatile in Lin Yue's hands, unleashing data attacks with the same frenzied intensity as its name suggests...

Otto himself had never seen Lin Yue's network skills in the past year, only that he was now fully capable of independently bypassing the Great Firewall and finding targets outside the firewall to hone his skills.

……

It has become commonplace for counterintelligence agencies to be brightly lit at night.

Lucy was gently woken up early in the morning. Still half asleep, she opened her eyes, and as the person in front of her began to focus and become real, she immediately woke up halfway.

"Director."

Lucy clearly hadn't expected the Special Operations Director, who was several floors above the counterintelligence department, to come down from upstairs and personally wake her up...

V put his hand to his lips, gesturing for silence, and pointed to the door.

Lucy nodded, rubbed her eyes, quickly got up, patted her slightly wrinkled suit, and hurriedly followed them out.

"Rin is coming to Arasaka Tower. Pick him up at the underground parking lot and ask him how he plans to use the Black Wall Key that you handed over."

"I understand that thing; it's probably some kind of agreement."

Lucy felt a surge of tension.

V seemed to sense the girl's unease and gave her a heads-up beforehand.

"The best way to gather intelligence is, of course, to use the Black Wall Protocol. There's this guy in New America who's willing to risk his life, hanging on the Black Wall every day. I think we can achieve our goal of retrieving information on some level. In short, let him try everything—"

V looked at Lucy, his tone very serious, "Did you understand?"

Lucy paused for several seconds before hurriedly nodding.

After V left, Lucy felt as if she hadn't woken up from her sleep, staring in the direction V had gone. If it weren't for a strong gust of wind on the rooftop in the early morning that woke her up, she probably would have remained in that state for a while longer.

Confusion, fear, being caught off guard... a whole host of emotions.

As if she had just remembered something, Lucy hurriedly took out her phone and sent a text message to David.

Hey, can you see the message?

She began pacing back and forth impatiently, praying that David hadn't been involved in any activities the previous night.

Biting her lip, she gripped her phone, her hands trembling as she began to type a text message.

David, I might have to go on an operation, so my day off request for today might be canceled...

[I can tell Mrs. Gloria tonight that she doesn't need to cook my meal.]

I've deposited some money for medicine at Fuerkang (a medical insurance company). If you get injured or anything while at work, you can use my card.

If I don't reply to a text message from Kejing Logistics, they will automatically send you a new one.

Lucy stared at the red notification on her phone, as if in a daze, at the message indicating that the text message character limit had been reached.

There was silence.

The faint sound of holographic advertisements drifted from the company square, blowing Lucy's hair wild in the wind.

【Del】

Lucy ultimately decided to delete that large section of text.

Good morning, David. Please give my regards to Mrs. Gloria.

Lucy put her phone away and started walking downhill.

The entire Arasaka Tower is like a machine that never sleeps. Lucy can see hurried crowds on any floor, activated by the bio-controllers to be in a state of alertness and work. Even in the underground parking lot, Arasaka's security personnel are on regular patrols.

Rin is coming to Arasaka...

Lucy never expected him to come in person; at least to outsiders, Arakasaka and the Dreamers were mortal enemies…

Rin came at a huge risk, and Lucy didn't want to mess it up.

However, this wasn't mentioned in the system notifications. Lucy was a bit lost when she arrived at the underground parking lot, wondering how Rin would get in, given the fully monitored surveillance system and the presence of an Arasaka security guard every five steps.

Just as she was contemplating whether to use that number that had been lying in her contacts for who knows how long but which she had never dared to dial—

She heard the sound of footsteps stopping behind her.

"No need to turn around, just lead me upstairs according to the address in the instructions."

It was a voice completely different from Rin's, but Lucy could tell from the tone that it was Rin.

She turned to look at the unfamiliar man in the Arasaka suit. "Sir, please come this way."

The counterintelligence markings on Lucy's body made things much easier for her along the way, and the guy behind her looked even more like Arasaka than she did... He even pointed out the elevator to Lucy once.

The elevator that goes directly to the 90th floor is undoubtedly a long "journey".

Lucy held her breath and stood at the front, feeling the gazes on her from behind.

"David should be attending his onboarding training for the security department, right?"

Rin asked.

Lucy nodded and turned her head slightly. "Yes, sir. The training time for the security department is a bit longer. David did a good job in a previous operation and should be able to join the department ahead of schedule. He will be promoted to the security department."

Lin Yue thought this kid was really lucky.

If David hadn't experienced so many unexpected events, Lin Yue guessed that he certainly wouldn't have died under the Ara-saka Tower.

"V already told you?"

Lin Yue keenly noticed that Lucy's body became increasingly stiff when he said those words.

Lucy was a little uneasy. It was like a kidnapping. Rin wanted to use the key she provided (the black wall), so she, as the one who provided the information, also had to enter. It was a kind of indirect protection.

in addition…

Lucy only gave her this thing, but didn't say what she encountered outside the wall when she got it. She didn't dare to tell anyone, fearing that Rin would dissect her as a test subject.

"Your father is still the president of the Warsaw headquarters, right?"

"Ah."

Lin Yue: "Your father is very smart. Lai Xuan has tried to cause trouble for him many times but has not had any good results. Moreover, Poland is far away from the emperor... Just wait patiently. V said she will handle this matter. Don't worry about your identity being exposed and being targeted by your father and mother."

"The 404 hacking group Arasaka has also launched several targeted attacks, so they shouldn't let you get detected."

Lucy hadn't expected Rin to remember this, but bringing it up at this crucial moment only made her more uneasy...

This is like the last pie in the sky that the boss makes to you before you're about to die.

"Mr. Rin, Director V said that you... are planning to try to enter the network within Arasaka's subnet, is that right?"

Lin Yue nodded. "Lucy, what you provided is the underlying logic code of the Black Wall protocol. Theoretically, we can rely on it to retrieve data without crossing regions. The Black Wall connects to all the old networks."

"So you have to get on the network too. Only you have seen the source code. It's not about trust, it's because I haven't seen the underlying code—you have to verify it."

There was no threat in his words.

Lucy looked at Rin, whose expression was neither sad nor happy, from inside the stainless steel elevator lobby, hoping to glean some extra information, but she found nothing.

Nobody knows what Rin is thinking.

"Don't worry, if anything goes wrong, V will prioritize forcibly disconnecting you."

"Just do your own job well."

Lucy breathed a slight sigh of relief. They were almost at their floor, but the feeling of being constantly on edge made her very uncomfortable.

However, Rin's news undoubtedly offered a sliver of comfort to the anxious Lucy.

Although Rin was a terrifying figure to Lucy, Lucy had heard about Rin's unwavering commitment to keeping her word.

Maybe I'm being too sensitive...

If David were to send those things out, he might secretly laugh at himself.

Even though she didn't know what enemies she would face in the online world, Lucy was clearly not as depressed as before.

"We're almost there, Mr. Rin."

Lucy, trying to mentally prepare herself, watched the floor numbers tick by, glancing at her phone as David still hadn't replied...

Lin Yue gave a faint "hmm".

Ding-dong-

The monotonous elevator announcements even sounded somewhat pleasant to Lucy's ears.

As soon as the elevator doors opened a crack, Lucy's toes began to urge her to step forward.

The guy behind him had a faint red and black light in his eyes, the kind that only the Desolate Moon Network Access Warehouse possesses.

The elevator doors closed again as Lucy was still in shock.

In the instant she turned her head, Lucy saw the side camera droop slightly as if it had lost its power support.

"Lucy?"

The guy behind me spoke in a calm tone.

“Originally, I wanted V to guide you and let you gradually get to know us, so that you would tell us everything you know without reservation… But anything can happen. Before you enter the network, I need to make sure you have nothing to hide.”

"Just consider it a habit of mine..."

Lucy's stiff neck slowly turned, and she saw the guy's pupils looking down at her.

"Lucy... what did the things outside the Black Wall tell you?"

……

In that instant, Lucy seemed as if her soul had been ripped away.

My whole body tensed up, like a bowstring being drawn taut, and then…

The sound of staggering footsteps echoed in the elevator of the Arasaka Building, a place so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Lin Yue didn't make a move or have any other intentions; he simply used his eyes to continuously put pressure on the girl opposite him who had been holding back.

In his view, it was all very simple.

David and she already have the best life they can have. Regardless of what the girl's purpose was in concealing the source of the Black Wall key, Lin Yue must know.

He didn't want to encounter any unforeseen events beyond his control while diving into the internet.

"How...how did you know?"

Lucy felt her voice getting softer, as if her throat was blocked, and she couldn't say anything to defend herself.

She swore to God that it wasn't that she thought hiding these things would bring her anything, but rather that the events were so unexpected that even little Lucy, who had miraculously survived outside the Black Wall, couldn't tell if it was a dream.

It is speaking.

Black wall…

In reality, Lucy, who had miraculously survived in the various abandoned data fortresses outside the Great Firewall, did not know that the one who could communicate with her was actually the guardian spirit after the collapse of the old network. She just wanted to quickly exit the network as her companions died one by one.

But how could a child break through the protocol set up by AI? The black wall seemed close at hand, but for Lucy, it was always an unattainable illusion. She could only wander in the data fortress where her companions had died, waiting for ICE's cutting line to completely shatter her consciousness.

Just then, it appeared.

Like a living, breathing person, he was able to communicate logically and knew how to soothe human emotions, which is why Lucy mistook him for a human hacker.

As she grew older and more knowledgeable, she realized that hackers could only bypass the firewall with the help of a company... and hackers wouldn't dare to wander in those spaces filled with blood-red data blocks.

Only the Black Wall could do this.

Yes, Lucy communicated with the Black Wall.

Moreover, Lucy knew long before that the Black Wall had been looking for someone.

"What did he say?"

Lin Yue didn't seem to be asking any questions. Instead, he slowly bent down, two heads taller than Lucy, and said, "Lucy... she's very important to me."

"Because that guy is mostly silent to me, I have to help him figure out where he came from... otherwise I'll be constantly threatened by the Great Firewall on the internet."

Lucy swallowed.

She didn't know whether she should say it or not...

Looking at the man in front of her, she saw his gentle demeanor at Mrs. Gloria's house, and now his expressionless eyes, which were flashing with the light of data.

"Feel sorry."

Lucy ultimately chose the smartest option.

"My relationship with David, perhaps I should have said this a long time ago... but my memory is hazy, and sometimes I can't believe I came back alive from that place."

"Are you afraid you've misremembered something, afraid I'll misunderstand you?"

Lin Yue shook his head.

"That's not the most crucial factor. I need to hear if there's something I'm looking for inside."

Perhaps it was because Rin's tone and manner of asking the question were so calm... that Lucy tried to recall and recount the scene at that time:
"It asked me...why I was here."

Lucy forgot exactly what she said, only that she roughly expressed that she didn't know what to do and that she would be killed whether she was offline or online.

Lucy's memory of the Black Wall's reply was somewhat hazy; she only remembered one sentence: "I was once like you."

Lin Yue's expression showed understanding.

It's not surprising that black walls could be something created by human consciousness.

Why did he find you?

Lucy gritted her teeth and finally said the words she would never forget in her life.

"Let's make a deal, honey."

"Help me find a name and a person, LIN..."

"I may forget my name, but our promise remains valid, the strongest link in the world. I can find you, no matter where you are..."

Lucy's forehead was covered in cold sweat from the stinging memories, but she didn't notice that the man who had been listening quietly just moments before had straightened up and his expression was as calm as if he were frozen.

"So, that's why you and Qiwei investigated me? It seems Qiwei isn't the key figure."

"You're the one, aren't you?"

Lucy's face turned pale, and she touched her lips, giving up on explaining.

"Going to the moon will allow me to escape all of this?"

Lin Yue's eyes showed both anger and helplessness.

However, Lucy, with a grim expression, looked up and said, "Mr. Rin, please believe me, the most important thing is..."

"What is it?"

Lucy gritted her teeth and said, "It says it's Murphy... Spider Murphy."

……

……

(End of this chapter)