Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 439 Heroes (Part Six - End of Chapter)

"We can't let everyone down!"

Rebecca slipped into the intricate network of secret passages in Taiping Island. Many times, the forks in the road caused her to lose her way, but fortunately, a deafening explosion pointed her in the right direction.

At the same time, the Dreamers' subnet suddenly went offline as if something went wrong, which made Rebecca, who felt as if she had been thrown into the dark depths of the sea, panic for a moment.

what happened?

A subnet outage means that normal soldier communications cannot be guaranteed, especially with Dogtown lurking and ready to strike, and Miles could be found by Dogtown at any time.

Rebecca tried calling the lark, and only felt slightly relieved when she found that the lark did not respond.

Who would believe the lark's words? Heaven knows what serious consequences Rebecca would face if she listened to her and implanted a strange program into Miles.

The underground space of Taipingzhou is indeed rich. In addition to the refugees who dug it underground to avoid radiation after Night City experienced the nuclear bomb baptism, more importantly, it was once the underground starting station of the train from Night City to Freedom.

Before she had walked a short distance, Rebecca heard a noise ahead.

The voice was muffled, as if someone was speaking behind a mask. She leaned down and immediately moved closer...

Ghost Dog?
Rebecca's brow furrowed deeply amidst the demonic graffiti and tattoos.

……

"Damn it, what on earth is going on?"

Miles, carrying a kinetic rifle, pressed buttons on an automatic door for a long time until he finally confirmed that he had lost access and then let out a curse.

Miles couldn't be happier that the colonel would show up right now and carry her back in a sedan chair; at least on some level, she and the colonel were strategic partners.

She certainly didn't know how frustrated the colonel was right now. Becoming her partner meant that the colonel was risking his life to enter Taipingzhou to find her, despite the pressure from Arasaka in the rear.

Compared to money, many of Hansen's demands have not been met... how could he give up so easily?

Seemingly reassured, Miles pondered for a moment and quickly changed direction. Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall, Rebecca, the gorilla, was emitting hot steam from her arm as she carelessly tossed the deformed hound mask on the ground.

The girl, who had calmed down from the battle, took a breath and looked ahead.

Based on this situation, Rebecca will definitely run into Miles around the corner ahead, but at the same time, she will also run into a group of well-equipped Ghosthound soldiers searching in the crater ahead.

Miles now deeply resents the fact that Night City has no signal to contact his guards.

This place truly is the worst region in the entire United States; even the new US president's hope of being rescued by his subordinates has become a pipe dream...

However, Miles wasn't stupid. With such obvious network fluctuations, Night City was likely under Washington's wrath, so she wasn't surprised that the Nightingale hadn't appeared yet.

Perhaps Washington has already successfully taken control of the Lark, and with Miles's control code ensuring the Lark can't move on its own.

The so-called manipulation code is more like a dog leash.

Because he and the Lark have a two-way connection control protocol, provided that he doesn't do anything reckless like breaking the protocol or having something implanted in his head by hackers like the Lark.

Miles hadn't anticipated that his supporters in Washington were turning against him and that a corporate war was brewing...

Although these are cyberattacks, they are, in a strict sense, more than localized military operations. If the damage to the network is severe enough, ground war will follow.

Daring and adventurous behavior isn't unique to Miles; it's also common among the newly appointed president of military technology and the guys in the new America who want her out of office.

The president has the right to know and make decisions regarding emergency amendments to the law, but someone dared to take that risk and let Miles drown in Night City. If Miles had managed to struggle out, perhaps things would have been a little more peaceful...

At least nine months as president is a real thing.

"They're all wiped out? That's fucking ridiculous..."

The fact that half of the Ghost Hound's special squad confessed to this matter has cemented the reputation of this team, known as the sharpest blade in Dogtown, on the pillar of shame.

One-on-one defense...

If the other team hadn't bought time to circle around behind enemy lines, they might not have even been able to find Miles's location by now.

"We must find this person while the Taipingzhou Company is in the middle of a cyberattack."

"Time is value, did you all hear what the colonel said?"

"Any later and Miles will be a useless piece... Cheer up and get what you need."

The captain was extremely strict with the panicked team members. The radio station built inside the Hound of the Underworld was still working, and the reconnaissance force in Dogtown had already learned that the Dreamers of Pacific Island had temporarily retreated due to the shutdown of the subnet.

Furthermore, even though Arasaka was crouching behind Dogtown at this time, his tough attitude meant that the company didn't want to have any friction with him.

"What the hell is wrong with me? How can women in New America run so fast?"

"I have a feeling that these two companies are like brothers."

The Ghost Hound soldier held his gun in one hand, muttering to himself.

"Shut up."

The captain, who was walking in front, gestured for the group to stop. The footsteps ahead were clearly audible, forcing the captain to take off the radio headphones hanging on his ears to listen to the source of the footsteps.

Perhaps because the underground passage was too wide, the chaotic footsteps seemed to be coming from both entrances ahead at the same time.

"Don't fire rashly, control the person first, slowly..."

The soldiers crouched low on the ground, guns raised, watching intently at the two openings ahead where figures might emerge at any moment. The faint light from inside the openings made the haunted dog epaulets on the Dogtown soldiers' shoulder patches appear even more menacing.

Miles slowly raised her gun. She heard a sound from her side, but unsure of what was going on, she could only maintain her basic military discipline and proceed cautiously.

The woman in the white haute couture suit is clearly an expert in handling a gun; after all, most of the high-ranking military personnel are in service, giving her a wartime leader-like air.

The dark opening ahead served as natural camouflage for the Dogtown soldiers, who watched as the woman emerged, her hands gripping her guns tightly—

"Do it!"

As soon as Miles raised his gun, the sniper at the back of the line, who was holding the gun, aimed at his hand. The large-caliber weapon from Tsunami Military Industry caused the gun that Miles had picked up from the soldier's corpse bag to fly to the side instantly.

Before Miles could react and could even speak, the Ghosthound soldiers grabbed his arms from either side, treating him like a prisoner, while simultaneously kicking him in the back of the shin.

Miles stumbled and almost fell to one knee...

"What are you doing?!" Miles growled in a low voice upon seeing the features of the Ghost Hound, but these well-trained soldiers did not answer Miles' question. Instead, they coldly pulled the human-machine interface cable from their wrists.

Miles was restrained in a way that treated her like a prisoner, so she couldn't lift her head and could only see the group's movements out of the corner of her eye.

"Has Hansen gone mad?!"

The others were responsible for guarding the entrance, and Miles' mouth was immediately covered.

The whole process took less than a minute. The new US president could only watch helplessly as the wire approached his neck. Miles knew that something extremely unfavorable must have happened outside.

What about Black Dream?
Miles gasped for breath; the smell of gun oil on the Ghosthound soldier's gloves nearly made her faint!
The moment the database was accessed, Miles realized they were reaching into the protocols of the core database. This was... a lark?!
“Ms. Miles, I’m afraid you’ll have to say goodbye to everything. Dogtown won’t treat you badly; even a starved camel is bigger than a horse—you’re worth more than enough.”

The Ghost Hound soldier's program seems to be...

Washington?!

Miles' heart sank to the bottom.

She wasn't the one taking the risk; it was the politicians who trampled the new American law and so-called democracy underfoot who bared their fangs.

In this case…

It's all over.

Military technology could quickly surpass that of the new America, and this beastly machine would become even more deformed. Miles' vision had begun to crumble and completely shatter.

Aside from the decision made internally in Washington regarding Miles's future, Dogtown couldn't possibly obtain something that could crack the brain-computer interface of the new US president, no matter how hard they tried.

Just as the soldier was watching the progress bar reach 80%, a sudden change occurred ahead!

A dark, shadowy mass hurtled towards them. The group who instinctively dodged realized that the scout, whose face was almost completely shattered, was now dead beyond any doubt...

Such a robust soldier was thrown over like a cement sack, and gunfire erupted instantly in front of them!
"Order that bitch!"

Someone let out a low growl.

The captain in charge of reading the data pulled out the cable, forcing Sianwistan to quickly retreat in an arc—

call!
Like an electric shock, a small, delicate shadow appeared beside me in a flash…

Twin tails?
With her hair flying up, the person slightly hunched over, and the gorilla arm in her hand was completely unleashed. This was thanks to the Lark's Relic skill tree, which allowed Rebecca's gorilla arm to more than double its power!
Furthermore, the path of S.A.W.S. and the gorilla's arm coordination has been optimized, so that punches no longer affect S.A.W.S.'s power loss!
Got it!

The captain, pulling out his pistol and watching the bullet fire, saw the flames explode, revealing a youthful face, but her smile was a grotesque expression completely at odds with her appearance.

The fist grazed the slow-moving bullet, and the time stop made the sound seem infinitely stretched out—

boom!
A powerful, charged punch sent the captain tumbling into a hunched-over shape!

The deformation occurred rapidly along the spine. In that instant, Captain Krenchkov and the secondary heart were blasted into deformation. The dense bulletproof leather and fire-resistant coating bulged up around the fist like scraps of paper!
"Uh—ha!"

Boom!
A dull thud accompanied the captain slamming his gun down, and the soldiers in front turned to stop Rebecca from rushing in before catching up.

Miles heard two explosions beside her and knew that a third party had joined in. Without considering whether the other party was doing it for her, she turned her head to look at the soldier's pouch next to her, then lowered her head and bit down hard, tearing open the electronic fuse of the biological grenade.

"Fuck me!"

The special team's handling of the situation was excellent. He calmly released his grip and elbowed Miles to the ground, while simultaneously pulling out the grenade and throwing it at Rebecca!

Rebecca, like a jaguar in the night, once again took off with perfect form, and the grenade exploded in mid-air!
A thick cloud of grayish-green smoke swept over instantly. Miles, who had been forcibly restrained, felt his body lighten. The soldiers activated the S.A.S ...

The first shot from Ironblood, held in Rebecca's hand, turned the target next to her into a swarm of bees. The burning from the bullet and the biochemical munition caused the Ghost Hound to burst into brightly colored flames.

The soldiers who hadn't had time to retreat watched helplessly as Rebecca darted forward and broke through. The exploding grenades had become obstacles that harmed their teammates, because their first instinct was to activate the air filtration and purification system...

Even synthetic lungs cannot withstand such a toxic odor.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

With her face flushed red and barely able to breathe, Miles didn't care about anything else. She didn't even notice the soldiers beside her that Rebecca had punched her head so hard that it was blown off. Helplessly, she clutched her neck with both hands, trying to get some fresh air.

Rebecca calmly stared at Sianwistan's cooling limit, holding in her hand the plastic explosives that the soldiers used for their demolition assaults.

Without hesitation, she tossed the lump of something onto the thick, sparking power line beside her.

The surrounding scenery seemed to shrink instantly before expanding and shattering in an instant!
The deafening roar, accompanied by the stench of the biological grenades, instantly turned the entire alleyway into a giant oven. Many soldiers were immediately blown away, and the entire squad was stunned by Rebecca's ruthless attack...

As the sporadic clanging of building materials in the alleyway ceased, the Dogtown squad members groaned as they scrambled to their feet…

Everyone felt as if they had lost their hearing and sight, and all they heard was a white noise.

It took them quite a while to see the hole torn open by the plastic bomb…

"damn it."

The Ghosthound soldier staggered to his feet. He was now the temporary commander. Who died was no longer important. What mattered was that if they didn't do this job well, Dogtown wouldn't tolerate them, let alone the new president of the United States.

They had no choice but to retreat the way they came.

"Send ground troops to pursue!"

The roar pushed the world one step closer to danger!
Perhaps it was fate, or perhaps it was luck.

Aside from the Dreamers temporarily withdrawing from control due to the company's declaration of war against them on the network level, the buffer zone between Dogtown and Pacific Island happens to be where the two disappeared.

Hansen's desperate move forced him to send as many people as possible to seal off the area—after all, he still needed to ensure that he would have room to retaliate if Arasaka made his move.

"If that's the case, they might have no choice but to run to abandoned facilities."

The Dogtown squad made a rough deduction and found that if Miles wanted to escape, he could only go underground. Underground were the old Dogtown facilities that had collapsed before. Although part of them had been filled in, no one knew if there were any other strange things left behind by the military technology down there.

The Dogtown soldiers, surging down like a tide, stared into the dark, deep cave entrance, as if transported back to the nightmare of three years ago…

……

……

(End of this chapter)