Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 428 The Emperor's Adventure [1 words]

"Director, the Night City public network is down."

"As per your orders, not a single employee in Arasaka's cybersecurity department conducted any investigation—"

"The NCPD's network administrator is already online and checking, and network monitoring is also underway... Should we shut down our data fortress? After all, we still have two connections. If this continues, other companies will be able to find us!"

Harry rushed into V's office, where he saw:
The network hub and server facilities on this floor were surrounded by agents from the Special Operations Department, as if something inside was being closely protected.

Standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, a tall, slender woman rested her chin on one hand, watching the goldfish leaping in the company square.

Harry waited patiently for a minute, and seeing that his boss showed no sign of responding, his expression became even more anxious.

"Director?"

V turned around, and only then did Harry notice the pale golden light shining in the woman's eyes as she spoke.

Seemingly intentionally so Harry could hear, V canceled the silent call setting, and a man's voice echoed throughout the office:

"Things here have been taken care of."

"The conservatives within military technology have started biting each other with New America. 'Pocket' (target name) has been dealt with—our people checked it, no problem."

Harry clenched his teeth immediately upon hearing this, and a chill ran down his spine.

Could it be that…

Is the death of Lucas, the head of military technology, related to the woman in front of him?

"When it comes to costs, I need to see if they align with our interests."

V paced back and forth, waiting for the final casualty figures.

"All three intelligence agencies in Washington have been wiped out, and the entire intelligence network has been paralyzed. However, we haven't been the primary suspects—due to the White House's poor decision-making, they targeted us first..."

"We lost over sixty agents, all of whom were dealt with remotely."

When Harry heard this, he subconsciously looked up at the woman. In that instant, he seemed to see the scythe behind her that reaped lives, the long shadow in front of her, and the small square floor... as if she were controlling a game of chess.

"Well done."

“You know how to compensate me. Come back from the Free State. You… can retire now.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

"V? Can I come back?"

However, V did not answer him and simply hung up the phone.

Harry swallowed hard, forgetting all the words he was about to say. The woman before him seemed more like the company's power broker than ever before; that's what a hawk is like—

Do everything without hesitation or indecisiveness.

This is the inevitable outcome once action is taken. V is not the executioner who deals with her own people, but she has to do it for that goal.

"Let's wait for the data fortress to connect; he... won't make any mistakes."

Harry quickly composed himself and said, "The Night Corporation is in trouble. Our routine surveillance has revealed that the Night Corporation's subnet is down, and the website portal is missing—"

"what?"

V's brows immediately furrowed.

Even without supporting evidence, V could probably guess that this was likely related to Rin...

Did Dreamers mobilize their entire cybersecurity department?
It's important to know that none of the monsters lurking in Night City's corporate plaza are easy to deal with. V had already noticed that Night City's subnet was very strange; her natural hacker intuition told her that she had never conducted detailed cyber espionage against Night City.

Therefore, her subordinates were merely monitoring, not spying on the Ye family.

Nowadays…

"Where are our people?"

V wants to know the current situation of the hackers who are monitoring him; face-to-face communication would definitely be more effective.

"Unable to log out, our people dare not force a disconnection, this guy is like he's frozen in the network... I don't know who has such power to bring down the entire Night City's network."

"The entire network is currently in an amber state... it can be observed but the data cannot flow. We only know that there is a core burst point in the data, but our network experts cannot get in at all!"

V leaned on the table, feeling lost even though she thought everything was going smoothly for Rin.

Is the internet frozen?
Technically, this is difficult to achieve and would require network monitoring to use new algorithms and protocols. However, the problem is that most of the current network's underlying logic still contains the Bartmouth Rabids virus, in addition to the Great Firewall...

No, it definitely wasn't internet censorship.

Could it really be Rin?

how come…

Even with the Dreamers cybersecurity department, he shouldn't be able to do it alone, right? Or is it the power of the strongest known artificial intelligence that has always been with Rin?

I was originally going to tell Rin that Washington's operation was very successful, that internal pressure was rising in the new America, and that perhaps Rebecca's situation could be resolved without causing a war...

The corporate war, which is now almost a network-level conflict, has begun.

"so…"

Harry knew this decision was difficult.

However, given the current state of affairs online, if this leaves other companies with leverage, Arasaka will be on the defensive... Everyone would think that Arasaka is dropping a bomb in Night City.

Many people don't like the current Arasaka.

It is young, sharp, and like a tireless machine.

The internal enemies were suppressed with an iron fist. The treatment that Arakawa used to cut off his own arm (the incident with Hanako in space) actually made Arakawa no longer willing to compromise in certain areas, most notably in the fields of prosthetics and military industry.

Over the course of two years, Arasaka became involved in armed conflicts in many countries and regions around the world.

It could be said that the weapons, equipment, and soldiers in some regions all came from the massive machine that is Arasaka—and with Arasaka Yorinobu's tightening of power, Arasaka, through this two-pronged approach, created more enemies than before.

Those political commentators are saying that if Arasaka regains full control over the space realm, that behemoth that existed before 2023 will reappear…

Of course, these events only affected parts of Northern Europe and South America.

Perhaps because of Saburo's death, the traditionally conservative but remarkably progressive Kanto in the field of intelligent weapons has begun to take the initiative in Asia.

Therefore, Lai Xuan's ideal breeding ground is North America and Europe. If he becomes a public enemy because of the Ye clan, the possibility of Lai Xuan's premature war will increase dramatically!
“Harry.”

Do you know why I used your people without telling you?

V pondered for a moment, while Harry looked somewhat confused.

Doing everything personally is already beyond the scope of management science and the capabilities of managers, so V suddenly felt that he needed a like-minded subordinate.

V just doesn't know whether she should make this choice.

"do not know…"

Harry shook his head.

What the boss says goes; it's a very simple principle. Harry has no right to interfere with how V wants to use the counterintelligence agents and experts—most importantly, the counterintelligence department currently doesn't have a true minister; V is still acting as a figurehead.

However, Harry seemed to be able to guess what his boss wanted to ask.

V rejected the request to immediately disconnect from the data fortress. This order meant leaving Oda Tsuki (Lucy) and Rin from the counterintelligence department in cyberspace, where they would have to wait until they couldn't find a network exit node...

"That's because the Special Operations Division started working two years ago to give Arasaka an advantage in various fields. We're not just facing external enemies, as you know."

Harry said he knew that, of course.

"So Harry, I want to ask you... who do you think our enemy is?"

In the face of such a crisis, this woman calmly asked Harry questions that seemed to be on a macro level.
"Forget about the decision you urgently need your boss to make right now."

V's anxiety was burning fiercely, but she couldn't panic. Being pushed by her subordinates to make decisions was the most dangerous moment... Regardless of which force or organization caused this incident that could be described as a network catastrophe, she only believed in Rin and the entity that Arasaka had once imprisoned.

"Well…"

Harry's dark face glistened with sweat. He glanced at V's reaction every now and then, though he had a pretty good idea that his boss was testing him...

how to say?

In fact, human history seems to have remained unchanged; the clear hierarchy of power has led to speculation being one of the most important ways of thinking for humankind.

Anticipate all possibilities, and then come up with the perfect solution.

The same applies to the online world; when a system requires a single, definitive answer, this is also a form of speculative thinking.

Harry wasn't just a rigid cybersecurity expert; he was highly skilled, physically fit, and a qualified agent…

V seemed a little impatient.

His brows furrowed slightly.

If I remember correctly, this guy also scored high in the defense training subjects.

"Speaking of enemies..."

Harry gritted his teeth and finally spoke his mind.

“All other companies.”

V's question followed immediately, "Which ones? Be more specific..."

"Military science, biotechnology, Yeshi, Peizhuo Petrochemical... European Community companies, etc.—any company that could threaten Arasaka's goal of becoming number one globally..."

"Aren't these companies right outside your window?"

V leaned on the table. "Is there anything else?"

Harry: "N-nothing."

Feeling uneasy, nervous, and anxious.

V finally realized how clumsy his seemingly flawless answer was in front of some insightful superiors.

"If I had to say... there are enemies within our own ranks, but nothing else."

The guy mentioned Night's Company, which only has assets in Night City and only invests globally, but he didn't mention the rising company outside the walls of Pacific Island. V wasn't sure if the guy forgot or deliberately didn't mention it.

"Night City has no other enemies besides the ones I've mentioned, Director."

As V stared intently at the man in front of him, pondering how to ask his next question, Harry repeated the sentence with absolute certainty, and with complete conviction.

"Are you sure you've finished listing all the companies in Night City? I heard you even mention companies that make optical instruments... but you've left out our biggest enemy?"

V wanted to see what his subordinates thought.

However, Harry remained silent for a moment. "No, Director, this is not... an enemy."

V's expression immediately changed.

Harry looked at V's gloomy face, and V's tone in that phone call seemed to be aimed at him at any moment, so he immediately apologized.

"There was no intention to insult Lord Arasaka... Lord Arasaka's death at the hands of that company did not affect Arasaka's interests in any way."

V raised his chin, signaling him to continue.

Her fingers were just tapping the table, unsure whether she was anticipating good news from the online world or hoping Harry would give her the answer she wanted.

"Lai Xuan should thank him. The conservative strategy of Arasaka-sama is not the current Arasaka. The gas tanks of the Free State are tightly covered by DRAR. In my opinion, they are not enemies. In fact, Arasaka-sama's death has become simpler because of it."

"If a company generates profits for Arasaka, is it considered an enemy?"

"It just depends on whether Arasaka is willing to go to war with DRAR in Night City for the sake of so-called 'revenge' without any profit. If that happens, Arasaka will make his first losing deal."

Harry was going all out.

His position makes it against Arasaka's rules to say such things.

While the company's overall structure became more rigorous after Lai Xuan took office, the company's rules also became more stringent. Any oversight in the Arasaka employee handbook could result in the Arasaka counterintelligence department detaining you before the end of the workday.

It was this iron-fisted approach that allowed Arasaka Hanako's faction to maintain its foothold even after becoming a space exile group.

After hearing the answer, V remained expressionless and scanned Harry up and down.

"It seems your business involves spending all your time online, yet you're quite concerned about Arasaka's management..."

Harry was about to explain when V raised his hand, "Don't easily mention the name 'Lord Arasaka' inside the Arasaka Tower. According to Lai Xuan, he can only be called Mr. Lai Xuan or President."

"I thought you wanted to be discreet and say whatever came to mind, but I didn't expect you to have so much to say."

"Alright, it's fine if I hear it in the future, but make sure no one else hears it."

V played the role of the bad cop very successfully, and now Harry is somewhat regretting saying those words.

Should I follow President Lai Hsuan's suggestion and say that dreamers are the number one enemy we face right now?

Maybe I'm overthinking it.

"Go, Harry. Don't tell anyone about the Special Operations Department. Have your people on standby to handle any emergencies."

Harry clenched his fists and realized his palms were covered in cold sweat... Even though he hadn't been standing for long, his thighs felt a tingling sensation.

Watching his subordinate, who was taking stiff steps, move his legs and leave his office, V had a faint sense of relief on his lips.

She looked at the warning time Harry had given her; the link might be exposed in less than ten minutes.

Keep in mind that Miles might be passing over Night City in just a few hours…

The lack of news from Rin, coupled with the information sent by V's people in Washington, put her under immense pressure.

"Faster, Rin."

……

"Ho!"

Lucy, jolted awake from the hacker chair, coughed violently, feeling a burning pain from the network cable port on the back of her head.

At this moment, her advanced network access bay is overheating and emitting a sharp warning!
My head hurts so much…

That's a sign of complete data overload.

I was just witnessing all of this from the sidelines, and my RAM was already overloaded. Could the human brain really handle all of that?

Lucy didn't know.

She gasped for breath in shock, her heart still pounding as she looked at Rin, who sat quietly in the hacker chair beside her, seemingly asleep…

All signs indicate that she has survived the Night City network, which felt like an impending cyber apocalypse…

She touched her face and felt the coldness. She hurriedly unplugged the internet cable from behind her head, not even caring about the pain.

"We need to find the boss quickly..."

Talking to herself, her voice trembling, she stared at the aching in her legs and, barely managing to stay upright on the edge of the hacker chair, slid to the ground.

Building Blocks…

Lucy remembered the few toys she had when she was a child.

In the hands of that colossus who seemed to be Rin, the Night Clan's firewall was like a child's building blocks!
Clutching the stinging pain in her chest from unconscious, rapid breathing, she staggered towards the internet cafe's outdoor door, shouting at the top of her lungs—though still weak—"Connect it quickly!"

now--

The collapsing world is like a nebula in the initial state of the universe.

The various broken data are just like a perfectly real and transparent lake.

The multifaceted fortress and data lake that had been balanced were both gone, and the process in the collapsed central area also came to a standstill.

The remaining data of the Night Clan had long been shredded, and even Mr. Blue Eyes' network consciousness was still stuck in the second before the collapse, his body twitching like a video that had been stuck.

"It's impossible for such a long operation to be simple. The Rin... Night Clan's headquarters may not be inside the walls."

"You want to use a surprise attack in the online world to make the Night Corporation a sacrificial lamb... It seems a bit too rushed right now."

"but--"

Lin Yue picked up where Otto was going to leave off.

"But I've already destroyed most of their stuff, haven't I?"

"The company that used Ye Corporation as a scapegoat wasn't Ye Corporation; biotechnology was the first."

Although he was still at this moment, Lin Yue's body still emitted layers of pure white light like ocean waves.

The data clusters and spores swept by the white light did not explode or roar; the instantaneous expansion of the white light was not energy, but a conceptual deconstruction instruction for information.

Although Lin Yue noticed that Ye Shi was going to transfer the data, he destroyed it... but that doesn't mean that the data fragments are meaningless.

Lin Yue's brilliant brain, embodied in the 21-point strategy, is the most powerful self-calibration system. It can make a rough prediction about the bad areas of the data and decide whether to read or destroy it, thus preventing Ye Shi from finding the lost important information in this data-constructed ruin.

The current network can only accept a small amount of information infiltration from advanced hackers, and refuses any information output. Even physically unplugging the server or modifying the gateway is useless.

At this moment, Ultraman is playing the role of the maintainer, and all data must be reviewed by her first... However, this process is extremely computationally intensive, and even one person and one AI may not be able to handle it for more than a few hours.

“I saw it…”

Otto gazed from the void above at this being who was even more like the ruler of cyberspace than himself, quietly "listening" (reading) the information he was analyzing.

Lin Yue saw that all the data accumulated by the Ye family over the past century, hidden deep within this core data lake, had been unearthed, even if damaged.

Technical blueprints, encrypted call logs, transaction records, and even system conversations with Nightingale in Washington were all uncovered…

These guys are actually injecting new AI into the lark's brain? No wonder it's temporarily stabilizing the lark...

"You're still alive."

Lin Yue felt that perhaps the best relief for the lark was to die now.

The data was simply too badly damaged.

He couldn't see what the purpose was of contacting the Nightingale, or how the Nightingale persuaded the Nightingale.

Lin Yue's method of reading is like the Hand of God: reading, downloading, and archiving. These things will become a rich source of intelligence information in the future.

It's just that the cost was a bit too high.

He looked down at the city's public network. If this data were to run rampant on the public network, the real internet users might suffer all sorts of dangers.

"Rin, how long can we stall?"

Ultraman is asking Lin Yue about his limits.

Lin Yue did the math…

"Three hours."

"So I sent Lucy to find V, and Lai Xuan had to risk crashing the network to communicate with me."

“If Arasaka backs down in any way, I won’t hold him accountable. I will first complete the best execution route based on the existing intelligence and let Rebecca intervene. But I think Miles’s willingness to continue using the Lark is the boldest thing. Politicians who dare to gamble are the most dangerous.”

Lin Yue's purpose in trapping the entire network was clear—"To stop everything for now, you're preventing the Night Clan and the Nightingale from changing their tactics, right?"

From the records just now, Ultraman learned exactly what the Lark and the Night Clan had concocted...

They wanted to kill Miles over the Free State, thereby instigating a war between Arasaka and the New America, and incidentally retaliating against Miles.

In Ultraman's eyes, their plan against Rin was undoubtedly clever: to keep Rin out of the picture at this juncture.

They simply set the wrong goal.

They attempted to burn the girl who was the recipient of the relic, so that Rin would receive her first act of revenge.

However, Ultraman knew very well that angering this guy would only bring more serious consequences.

"The lark is no longer herself; destroying her might be the best solution."

Ultraman didn't reveal the real reason for Rin's anger.

Just as the two were searching for information and waiting for Arasaka's response... a thin beam of light moved from Arasaka's data fortress towards Rin.

"Your allies seem to trust you a great deal."

"Ultraman muttered to himself."

……

After Lucy, her voice trembling, explained everything that had happened on the cybernetic network to V, she was immediately escorted by agents to the prosthetic technology expert. There was nothing more she could do to help after that.

Rin... she really is the one who caused the network outage?!

V quickened his pace. Even though the security guards at Lai Xuan's door tried to stop V's rash entry, Lai Xuan, who was waiting with his arms crossed for a report of the network outage, paced back and forth anxiously.

The Night City Hall has requested to connect with Lai Xuan more than once.

Currently, the NCPD and internet monitoring are no longer able to solve the outage problem of the city's public network. They can only seek help from companies one by one, but the capable companies are only concerned with their own investigations.

Left with no other choice, Night City began using internet surveillance to completely shut down the entire Night City network. The claim that London was acting as the intermediary for Night City's internet surveillance began to put pressure on the heads of companies like Arasaka Yorinobu.

Although Lai Xuan would never allow these web crawlers to obtain even a tiny bit of information about Arasaka, he couldn't pretend he knew nothing either, because who knew what schemes those companies might devise to annoy Arasaka behind his back.

Just as he was getting anxious, V arrived.

"What happened?"

"I asked in a deep voice," Arasaka Yoriyuki inquired.

"Lai Xuan, you need to take a look at this." V stepped forward and handed Lai Xuan the intelligence he had compiled while walking.

When Lai Xuan saw the intelligence, his expression was as if he had seen a ghost, and at the same time, there was a hint of disbelief and worry.

"cold?"

"How can this be?"

Lai Xuanzai carefully examined the words, and when put together, they seemed like an unbelievable legend.

"My sister used to be a hacker, and I also have some technical skills in this area... How much data would it take to completely block the network?"

"I can believe that data fortresses can be blocked, but apart from those law enforcement bastards who are online and willing to risk their lives, is there really anyone who can do that?"

After thinking about it.

Lai Xuan muttered, "Could it be that enormous entity that accompanies Rin? Ultra Cunningham—I've always known about that. Is it possible that the creator of the Soul Slayer could have that ability?"

V shook his head.

Ultraman is not invincible.

In the online world, Arasaka's specially made ICE equipment would be enough to give her a hard time. Once network surveillance gains control of the movements of such a large entity as Ultraman, it can employ a massive, swarm-like tactic…

It's important to know that the reward for capturing a mobile AI network surveillance system is extremely high, so many people risk their lives for it, and these people are AI hunters with a deep understanding of AI.

"Does Rin mean for me to go online and talk to him?"

Lai Xuan's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

The internet today is like a stormy ocean with tsunamis. Lai Hsuan is currently protected by layers of data fortresses, fearing that he might be threatened by enemies at the network level and thus carry out a decapitation strike.

You should know that Arakasaka Hanako and her gang never wanted to see Yoriichi die...

"What else did Rin say?"

V sorted out his thoughts, "The gist of it is that Rin has now obtained evidence of collusion between the Night Clan and the Lark, and we are trying to contact him—after all, our intelligence agency has also found out that Miles is trying to frame Night City."

"This politician is at his wit's end, but he's still very bold."

"Sorry, I thought Miles was out of luck after Lucas died."

Lai Xuan shook his head.

"To be honest, I also helped with this plan. I can't blame anyone else. Miles' cunning was within my expectations."

"She is the most formidable enemy I have ever encountered. I fought against her during the unification war... You could say I call her the most rational gambler. To get something, she can discard any burden that is in her way, even if those burdens are of great significance."

V snorted coldly, "Miles played a really clever trick, trying to exchange something for Hansen to protect her—I just wonder what else she's up to?"

Lai Xuan smiled.

"V, do you know what the biggest difference is between you and Rin?"

Under V's questioning gaze, Lai Xuan continued, "Your intelligence lies in your ability to assess situations, your ability to see through the circumstances, and even your adventurous spirit."

"But you have everything Rin has, but you don't know what the situation is."

Lai Hsuan sat on the sofa, seemingly undecided about whether to go online.

"To put it bluntly, Rin and I both only look at the overall chessboard."

“Think about it, V. Miles won’t be getting any more gigs in a few months… Her biggest concern right now is definitely not getting voters or corporations to trust her again.”

"There is no doubt that what Miles is doing is contrary to their interests; the new America is above military technology, and that's what she wants to do."

Lai Xuan reached out and picked up a bound book that was rarely seen in this era. It was Arasaka's employee handbook, or what was called the Company Law.

"One of the laws of the new America is that if war breaks out, Miles can stay in office for another year. The new Americans aren't stupid; only Miles knows how to fight a war."

"Only Miles could trample on military technology."

V was stunned.

She had no idea about this—

"Rin, you're amazing."

Lai Xuan was also stunned. "So you're willing to praise Rin, huh?"

Just as V realized what was happening and was about to "make amends," Lai Xuan reached out and blocked V's speech. "This is indeed worth the risk of me entering the network to meet with Rin. The reason he made us disconnect from the network and stay inside must be because there is some data or information that the employees cannot take out."

"Where is that girl named Oda Tsuki?"

V: "It's okay, I'm already receiving treatment."

Lai Xuan stretched out his hand, "I'm connecting to the network."

V didn't expect that Lai Xuan would act without hesitation after sorting out his thoughts. She quickly said that the technical department should prepare, and at least add several layers of complex ICE logic gates to Lai Xuan.

Lai Xuan said he didn't have much time, and then picked up his white suit jacket from the side of the sofa, put it on, and walked out the door with one hand in his pocket...

Logically speaking, this guy is in his sixties or seventies, but his behavior is like that of a young guy like Rin.

V was stunned for a moment and then quickly chased after him. Along the way, Lai Xuan scoffed at the so-called protection.

"The entire network has shut down. Protection? You're afraid this is a trap set by the enemy? Since the enemy's network capabilities are this advanced, what difference does it make whether we die sooner or later?"

Unable to refute...

"What I'm worried about now is the Ye family."

Lai Xuan's expression darkened slightly.

"If Rin starts a war in an emergency, Arasaka needs to prepare in advance. Corporate warfare is no joke, V."

war…

V, in her early twenties, couldn't fully grasp the weight of those words.

In her own eyes, Valerie was a battle-hardened agent, a woman who could execute cold-blooded missions perfectly, but she dared not claim that she understood what war was.

"When war begins, there is no right or wrong, only the complete annihilation of the enemy or our own annihilation."

By the time V came to his senses, Lai Xuan had already taken the network cable handed to him by the guard beside him.

Only Lai Xuan's security personnel and V were present.

In other words, Arasaka was unaware that the Arasaka Controller was planning to infiltrate during a network outage that terrified all corporate security departments, and that he lacked a network access pod, meaning that Yoriyuki was only relying on the human-computer interaction line…

Even a tiny puppet could kill Lai Xuan!
V went online himself, but before he or she could even speak, Lai Xuan's eyes already lit up with the light of data reading.

……

Lai Xuan cannot see the status of the network.

At this moment, he could only see Rin's image in the flickering and blurry holographic interface.

Fortunately, the call signal was normal.

"cold?"

He tried asking.

There was a burst of static over there...

Lai Xuan was a little unsure of himself. Just as he was waiting anxiously, Lin's voice suddenly came, clear as if it were right next to his ear.

President Arasaka felt a chill run down his spine, causing the security guards standing nearby to tense up.

"Lai Xuan".

"I'm sorry to make you call me under these circumstances, but you can rest assured that as long as I'm here, even if the network is down, it won't affect you."

If the internet hadn't been down, Lai Hsuan might not have believed the value of this promise.

But now it sounds like an overwhelming level of self-confidence…

If he didn't understand any technology, that would be one thing, but Lai Xuan knew the process of some technologies. In the current situation, unless Rin... isn't a living person.

From the moment he and Ultraman were able to break through the heavy defenses of the Japanese net area and approach him, instantly reversing the situation, this guy seemed to be shrouded in mystery...

And Rin has shocked people more than once or twice.

"Did you really cause the internet outage?"

Lai Xuan's incredulous tone even trembled slightly.

Lin Yue confirmed this, and Lai Xuan's mood immediately improved. No one would complain about the strength of their ally.

"Rin, you really are like... someone that even cutting-edge machines can't compare to."

But at the same time... the doubts in my heart don't seem fake.

Can an extremely powerful individual truly uphold their ideals?

Rin's tone was very relaxed, as if she were having a casual chat.

"No... of course it's not just me, Ultraman. She just doesn't like Arasaka."

"Her contribution was significant."

When he said this, Ultraman just stared at Rin.

Clearly, Ultraman didn't approve of lying to her face, and she didn't remember saying anything like she disliked Arasaka.

Lai Xuan had no interest in dealing with AI; his hatred for the Soul Killer program was no less than that for his sister and father.

"Let's get down to business, Rin. What exactly is going on with the Ye family?"

Lin Yue calmly recounted in detail how he entered the cyber network to investigate clues.

Lai Xuan listened to Lin talk for a full three or four minutes, and slowly sorted out the cards in the hands of the two people.

A known:

[The Night Clan and the Nightingale want Miles dead in Atlanta, the city in the Free State that Arasaka supports the most, and arguably Arasaka's last stronghold in his war of unification.]

[She started a war, seeking revenge on Miles; the lark is no longer human… The black wall and the AI ​​on the other side have long since robbed her of her self-awareness.]

[Miles is being cunning. In order to win the election, she also wants to instigate a war. Her goal is to use this to ensure that she can stay in the position of the new US president for a longer period of time, so that the progress of military technology controlling the government can be halted, and the situation of the White House controlling military technology will return to the new US.]

The colonel in Dogtown seems to be working with Miles.

Lai Xuan and Lin Yue said almost in unison, "It would be a real problem if Miles got stuck in Dogtown..."

If Miles goes missing, New America will have a very good reason to cause trouble, and Hansen can use this opportunity to take back Dogtown.

Thinking about this, Lin Yue greatly admired Emma's strategic vision.

Dogtown wasn't a long-term solution, so Emma started slowly moving people out of Pacifica.

“What if you want Rebecca to get close to New America? I bet the Ghost Hound will risk his life to find Miles… and if Miles falls down and still has a breath left, he’ll crawl into Hansen’s doghouse with his butt clenched.”

Lai Xuan frowned, feeling somewhat at a loss as to how to proceed with the game.

Lin Yue felt that the best thing about his ally was that he didn't use phrases like "the current situation is so complicated," or "it's a struggle between nations and companies," or "human rights struggles"...

Lai Xuan still prioritized what Lin Yue wanted to achieve.

Perhaps it was because he was too concerned, but Lin Yue was momentarily speechless.

Miles's fall in Dogtown and the Dreamers' attack on Dogtown became the pretext for the New America to go to war.

"cold?"

Rin, who had just almost completely wiped out the Night Clan in cyberspace, was momentarily lost in thought.

"Sorry, I'm here."

Lin Yue only realized what was happening after hearing Lai Xuan call his name several times.

"Actually, we both know how to do this, especially you, Rin—offense is your consistent style."

Why are you silent?

Lai Xuan's voice was gentle, as if he were advising an old friend.

Lin Yue felt very confused.

If Lai Xuan shows any selfish motives, he will know what he wants or how to achieve it. He only needs to continue to bind Lai Xuan with his strength...

But Rin didn't know how to start a conversation because Lai Xuan's unwavering trust in her always made her feel safe.

Lai Xuan wasn't sure if he had guessed correctly, so he said, "Let me tell you what Arakasa is thinking."

Although the young king had no physical form in cyberspace, Rin sensed it; it was the gaze unique to adventurers.

“Our enemies are Miles, the Night Clan… and that garbage-filled gas tank in Dogtown.”

“We need to develop, Rin… You have been more aware of and faithful to this plan than anyone else for the past two years, but I can’t bear to see you unable to protect your loved ones after paying such a high price.”

"So... let's destroy Miles!"

A moment of silence...

Although Lai Xuan's words reflected Lin's thoughts, Lin Yue was still stunned when he heard them.

“This is an extreme risk, Lai Xuan… How could you, uh, no, I mean how could you have thought I would do this, and you even agreed to it? The situation in Europe is not optimistic.”

Lai Xuan spoke up: "I have said before, I am not alone on this path."

Standard Chinese.

"War can be unpredictable; it just depends on whether you or I are the one to do it."

Without almost a second thought, Lin Yue immediately refused.

“Arasaka can’t do that, Yoriyuki.”

"While Dreamers is my brainchild, Arasaka is the pillar that supports us. We can't be so reckless. If the news leaks out and Miles dies on the plane... what should we do?"

"I come."

Belonging to different factions, the two emperors, one in the open and one in the dark, slowly revealed their hidden cards.

In essence, this is an option to exchange short-term, extremely risky military action for long-term strategic security.

The dream is to replace total war with controlled shooting down methods.

That's all.

Miles (New America), Night (The Lark), and Hansen (Dogtown) were all included in this solution framework.

If it's successful, it will kill three birds with one stone.

“But your task is very heavy... Miles must be kept under control.”

"It's a pity about Lai Xuan. I don't know what tricks Miles is hiding, otherwise he could have taken control immediately."

"The Badlands and Wasteland will be sealed off naturally. What you need to do is surround Dead Dog Town within the Taiping Continent area and not let a single fly in."

"Hansen won't start a war unless he's an idiot, but the price is that you have to cede Dogtown..."

Rin looked at her digitized palm.

Without any hesitation, he made up his mind, gazing at the collapsing cyberspace sky...

The situation regarding network solidification is beginning to ease.

As Ott watched the data that was about to fall and destroy the public network being decompressed and dissolved by Lin Yue, the data burden on the entire network area was reduced to a minimum.

"Although few of the people here deserved to die, but..."

Lin Yue ultimately didn't reveal that the reason he was risking his life to stay there was because he was a living, breathing human being.

"Thank you, Lai Xuan."

Upon hearing this, Lai Xuan was abruptly disconnected from the communication system…

……

……

(End of this chapter)