Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 463 Top-Tier "Outsourcing" (Part 1) [7.3K]

A mercenary said he would solve Heywood's problems that had plagued him for decades.

Valentino's relationship with his neighbors was like a special kind of symbiotic relationship; of course, the Valentino gang also brought a lot of trouble to the Haywood residents.

Whether it was a merit or a demerit is now impossible to say...

Mrs. Wells just didn't understand. Did the powerful mercenaries in front of her intend to wipe out the entire Valentino gang's top brass? Mrs. Wells wasn't the kind of woman who lacked experience. Having run Wild Wolves for so long, she had been involved in many things behind the scenes.

The reason she made her son leave the Valentino gang was because she was afraid.

Mrs. Wells had nothing but Jack.

“I want to know the company’s purpose. Since you’re taking the blame for them, can you be frank with me? I’d rather hear the opinion of a street urchin—I won’t believe a word the company dogs say.”

Mrs. Wells said with a smile.

Jack's helpless shout came from afar, "Mom, help me, stop using this kind of... expression?"

Mrs. Wells ignored him and kept her eyes fixed on the confident and powerful mercenary the whole time.

She'd seen plenty of boastful guys on the street, but the guy in front of her didn't seem like a brute who only knew how to use brute force. He was smart and composed, reminding Mrs. Wells of a "company friend" that Jack had taken to the Wolf Bar.

However, that one seems to be Arasaka... and the name sounds very similar to the pronunciation of a certain "legendary" codename that has been gaining popularity in Night City in recent years.

Mrs. Wells, being an elderly person, wouldn't use any particularly advanced prosthetic eyes or translators, so of course she wouldn't know the difference between "凛", "林", and "令".

“If my son’s friend were that person, Heywood might have suffered a second misfortune.”

Mrs. Wells thought to herself.

That guy's fighting skills, combined with the company's ruthless methods, could really eradicate this cancerous gang... but no one knows what Mrs. Wells is thinking. The world isn't as clean as people imagine, and sometimes the people of Haywood have to rely on the Valentino gang's bloody methods to protect themselves.

So Mrs. Wells just wanted to resolve the issue of Valentino sitting crookedly.

The guy in front of me is shrewd and has the right status; he knows how things work on the streets…

However, the cyborg mercenary in front of her, who seemed quite formidable, had just committed a small-scale massacre, and there was also that girl whose temperament was very similar to V's. Mrs. Wells couldn't predict the outcome of the two of them working together.

This is where controlling variables comes in…

Mrs. Wells figured out how to do the job in just a few moments.

It seems the company wants him to deal with the Valentino gang, so Mrs. Wells has to be honest. Sometimes, "selling out your own people" depends on how you do it.

Jack is a simpleton who doesn't think things through. He's had his fill of life in Night City, but he'll never make it in a gang.

His meticulousness was limited to middlemen assigning jobs and smuggling...

She knew her son better than anyone.

"To avoid trouble for you or having the company investigate, I plan to tell you about Camilla in detail... She's a daughter-in-law I think highly of, but Jack doesn't like her—of course, I don't really like that eccentric girl either."

In the distance, Jack's arm was gently pressed down by V.

Mrs. Wells has disliked Misty for a long time, and the most important thing right now is to get information.

"Appreciate further details."

Lin Yue listened patiently.

"Camilla's older brother died in prison, I won't go into details about that. This girl is ruthless, wild, and can't let go of things once she's made them—in short, her personality is quite different from mine when I was younger."

"When I was young, I wouldn't have uttered a sound even if Jack's dad beat me to the ground and I couldn't get up. That's why I like her, understand?"

Lin Yue nodded.

This is one of his strengths. After all, Chinese children learn how to deal with their elders and relatives from a young age, especially someone of Mrs. Wells' age. All he has to do is listen to what she says and extract the important information from her words.

"But the girl was blinded by hatred."

“The people of Haywood need money and supplies to survive… Right now, these are the only things we can use to get through this crisis, you know… the city hall doesn’t care whether we live or die.”

Lin Yue reiterated his agreement.

"So you're planning to let the company do all the work for free, and then let the Haywood people resist the company?"

Lin Yue had every right to ask this question, since he was now the company's "capable outsourced contractor," and it was perfectly normal for him to take care of the client in every situation.

Mrs. Wells shook her head. "Once the company comes, they won't leave easily, but the Valentino gang can't go on like this. At least... we have to go back to how things were before."

Here comes the point.

Lin Yue could tell that Mrs. Wells was implying something else; she still wanted things to stay the way they were before. Of course, Lin Yue wouldn't do that. Mrs. Wells probably didn't expect that her son had brought the person in charge of the company in Taiping Island.

Lin Yue glanced at Jack in the distance and nodded.

"Camilla probably has a powerful backer, but given the Valentino gang and that girl's personality, I guarantee it's definitely not a company. The problem lies at the port. As far as I know, the Valentino gang shipped goods from abroad a few days ago, and the ship wasn't certified by the NCPD."

"However, given the current situation, the NCPD doesn't dare to rashly enter Heywood—"

"So once you get your hands on that shipment, you should know who's backing Camilla."

Mrs. Wells stood up. "Jack?"

Lin Yue frowned slightly, pondering Camilla's supporters. After thinking it over, he couldn't guess who, apart from the company, could give Valentino such strong support. The non-cadres were wearing Sianwistan... Although this thing could be bought from prosthetic doctors in Night City now, the price and maintenance costs were a huge expense.

Even the Valentino gang wouldn't be this arrogant.

"Did we discuss it?"

Mrs. Wells pulled Jack aside. "Let my son come with you. He knows Heywood well and can help you sort out Heywood's affairs."

Lin Yue was somewhat taken aback.

To be honest, Jack didn't expect his mom to let him go. Normally, if Jack just rode his motorcycle out, he would get a lecture.

V was also curious about why Mrs. Wells had changed her attitude today.

Mrs. Wells zipped up Jack's jacket. "Remember one thing: take good care of Camilla. You promised her brother."

So that's how it is...

The woman in front of her wanted to spare Camilla's life, fearing that she would be executed by the leader of the Valentino gang.

For Jack, who had been carrying cement and bricks all this time and whose titanium alloy skeleton was about to rust, he couldn't wait to go out and ride his little motorcycle. The fun of Night City was right there. In short, doing some work with Night City's strongest lone wolf was much more interesting than staying here!
"Jack?"

Jack, full of excitement, casually put his arm around Lin Yue's shoulder, while V, with his hands in his jacket pockets, strolled slowly behind them. The three of them hadn't even stepped out the door when they heard Mrs. Wells calling out.

Jack turned his head, and Mrs. Wells said, "Do you remember what you promised me?"

The man laughed heartily, "Of course, Mom! Don't let those bastards shove bullets into my heart and lungs, don't worry!"

Mrs. Wells smiled slightly, turned around, and went upstairs.

Lin Yue glanced at the old woman out of the corner of his eye, and for some reason, he felt that Gloria had the same feeling when she looked at David.

I'm worried, but I'm willing to let him do it.

……

"Phew, I was so suffocating!"

Jack straddled his motorcycle as soon as he left the house.

The houses near the Wild Wolf Bar have all been renovated, and people are coming and going on the street, creating a rare peaceful afternoon.

Lin Yue shielded his eyes from the sunlight slightly with his hand. "So your mom still wants to set that crazy woman up with you?"

This was meant as a joke.

Jack immediately put on a serious face, "Damn it! I really don't feel anything for her at all. When I first met her, I thought she was very gentle..."

This kind of question seems difficult for Jack to figure out.

He scratched his head. "Honestly, I'm not feeling much better than my mom... Camilla has no family left, just her brother. People at Haywood have disliked the company for a long time. Only I think you wouldn't betray us..."

"But as you can see, my mom and the others don't believe it."

Lin Yue laughed and said, "It's a win-win situation. Heywood still has to live a normal life, right? We take the assets and the port, and you have a stable life. That's how it is in Taipingzhou."

At this point, Jack immediately became serious.

"Honestly, man, Heywood is a tough guy who has never submitted to anyone, but I do."

Lin Yue glanced at V in surprise.

V lit a cigarette, shrugged, and said, "Jack went to Pacific Island. Emma asked him to investigate a former scavenger hiding in a residential building there. Apparently, he was still doing some illegal things, but when they sent people to investigate, they found nothing... So Jack went and found out quickly."

Jack chuckled. "Just some banter, that's all there is to it on the streets."

Lin Yue laughed too, "Okay, Jack."

V rolled her eyes at the absentee boss beside her. "You didn't know?"

Lin Yue didn't dare to reply, but Jack was quite happy to see Rin being controlled by V like a mouse. Even the most awesome person has a weakness.

“After seeing what you’ve done, I finally convinced my mom to accept the Dreamers. Of course, if you’ve resorted to force, Haywood wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it, but things would have become much more difficult.”

Lin Yueshen agreed.

“I understand you, Jack. You're caught in the middle, and I don't want to put you in a difficult position.”

"Thank you for your hard work... but I promise you, Jack, as long as I'm here, the Dreamer will never point his gun at civilians."

The weak are like water, easily shaped and easily blinded; when they come together, their impact is enormous. But none of this justifies a company's use of riot control methods against civilians.

Jack, sitting on the motorcycle, thumped the accelerator several times. "Okay, okay! I'm relieved to hear that from you, bro."

"Speaking of which, what's the scale of things later on? I need to think about it... With the two of you around, I guess I'll just be the one cheering you on."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yue shook his head repeatedly.

“Jack, we need you. I’m willing to do anything that doesn’t require internet technology. I can’t use my prosthetic body too much either… Sianwistan is already my limit.”

"I also have other things to do. Let's arrange a time for V and me to go to Westbrook..."

Jack had a look on his face that said, "Dude, just how much work have you taken on?"

V nudged Lin Yue with his elbow, "We finally got a top-notch 'outsourcing' job, so we have to make the most of it, right? I just wonder if some of them will even remember my vacation after they're done."

Jack saw through it but didn't say anything.

"Okay, I'll go to the port first to check out the routes and stuff, so we don't get targeted by those Valentino gang brats. Nighttime would be best?"

Lin Yue nodded.

That's exactly what he wanted.

Sandra Dorset and Gloria from Westbrook are still waiting; I need to call Roger first.

The three parted ways at the entrance of the Wild Wolf Bar. Lin Yue got on the motorcycle and handed V a helmet. He looked at the bullet hole in the front of the motorcycle with some heartache, like a street kid who had lost his dream.

V stared helplessly at this ridiculous guy.

With his online data and bank accounts frozen, Lin Yue can only solve his problems with cash. Just as Lin Yue was thinking about whether to contact the old captain and trick the old guy into fixing his car for him.

V, standing behind him, crouched down and pulled out a stack of gleaming euros from his pocket. "Now you have money, don't you?"

Lin Yue was about to refuse in a righteous and eloquent manner.

"Hurry up, we should still have some time after we get to Westbrook, right? It's my vacation, don't dawdle with me—"

With V's long legs straddling the motorcycle, Lin Yue thought that even a street kid wouldn't be out of the question.

"You have so much energy, dear minister."

V gave me a look that said, "Let's see how long you're going to keep watching..."

"Can I watch it slowly after I'm done with my work?"

Lin Yue nodded, "Okay."

V was both angry and amused. He watched as the guy sat obediently in front of him, naturally resting his head on his back, his arms wrapped around his waist, looking incredibly relaxed and comfortable.

Lin Yue noticed the movements of the person behind him and smiled knowingly. The motorcycle rushed out like a wild horse.

The layout of Night City has changed. Many routes through Heywood are blocked by the Dreamers' roadblocks. Lin Yue chose to cross the bridge with the most locals. To salvage some dignity, the Night City Hall has arranged for NCPD mechs to stand on that bridge, and they generally allow passage for anyone coming from Heywood.

"It seems that the construction of Dreamer is progressing very quickly."

Lin Yue glanced at Night City and saw that many of the bright and unrestrained advertisements had been removed. This was partly because Dreamers had rejected contracts with food and daily necessities companies, and partly because Emma had decided to do so.

The overly blatant advertising indoctrination has spawned a variety of crimes, and Dreamers is still using the same strategy as in Taipingzhou.

The car moved at a steady speed, and Lin Yue did not deliberately increase the throttle. Instead, he watched as the Dreamers' defense forces were strictly on duty in the streets, without being lax or absent from their posts. Moreover, the residential areas were not too close, so they did not disturb the residents.

Of course, it's still a mess...

For example, just as Lin Yue turned a corner, a gunman who had been preparing for a long time was hiding among the pedestrians on the other side and suddenly drew his gun and aimed it at the soldiers on the other side.

The streets quickly descended into chaos.

Sparks flew from the soldiers' carbon-ceramic armor, but surprisingly, they didn't immediately open fire. The rioters, taking advantage of the Dreamers' soldiers' reluctance to fire, continued their attacks from within the crowd. Behind the flimsy makeshift cover, the Dreamers soldiers simply kept shouting something.

Soon after, the Octagonal drones that appeared above identified all the attackers from the crowd. A large number of intelligent weapons accurately targeted the enemy without any attempt to save bullets or costs. The Dreamers soldiers quickly cleaned up the conflict site, and within minutes the street looked as if nothing had happened.

Local prosthetic doctors in Heywood were "forced" into signing contracts with Dreamers, and injured residents were treated uniformly by Dreamers vehicles.

This is a good approach in the short term.

嗏

"The cost is enormous."

V's eyes showed worry, and his voice from under his helmet was muffled.

Lin Yue, not being in charge of the household, didn't know the cost of daily necessities, seemingly noticing the expression under the helmet of the guy who turned his head to the side.

V continued, "Every company has a department that strictly controls costs, and Arasaka is no exception. Emma is burning money—did she mention to you how urgent the Haywood matter is?"

Lin Yue shook his head.

"The reason why only trauma teams use smart weapons is for precise target acquisition. The cost of the bullets is equivalent to ten rifle shots. Your people are probably wearing the heavy armor from the company's close-quarters combat force..."

"Based on population density, drones would also be a considerable expense."

"Although there is arms dumping, you will eventually have to abandon this path, so you can maintain stability for now."

Lin Yue understood what he meant after hearing that.

"This doesn't even include the medical costs for the wounded and your soldiers, so if you don't resolve the port issue, you'll just be incurring huge losses."

"It's a miracle Emma can afford to pay salaries."

Lin Yue's forehead was sweating slightly, and V's sharp gaze seemed to be behind him.

"You need to think about the products from Dreamers; after all, this is the path we're going to take, isn't it?"

Lin Yue sighed.

He was well aware that the company needed a product to complete its transformation. Although he had a complete Arasaka research team, they were all focused on combat prosthetics. If he continued to make combat-type prosthetics, wouldn't he be just feeding the chaos in the city?

Emma mentioned this when she was alone with herself...

"What are your thoughts, professional?"

Lin Yue asked.

V pinpointed the demand precisely: "Let me put it this way, you don't want to sell guns or prosthetics, so there's only one profitable industry left—have you forgotten that biotechnology has exited the market? I think you can start by building on their existing foundation."

"The healthcare industry is always highly profitable."

"Isn't there a saying in your family? 'Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater'... Do you think rejecting the company's capital will make this cycle continue?"

It must be said that the company personnel have a clear understanding of these things, but Lin Yue still needs to review the company's accounts before deciding whether to cover the R&D costs.

"Dreams come at a price."

V gently placed her hand on Lin Yue's shoulder.

Lin Yue thought about it carefully, "The Biotechnology Apartment has preserved a lot of research data... but I have a clue, thanks V!"

V smiled gently.

She understood that the guy in front of her was very tired.

But V has seen too much of reality when it comes to simply paying for dreams.

"Let's go, your people are coming soon. We've been here for a while."

The motorcycle disappeared at the end of the street corner.

The NCPD level was quite easy to pass, but the moment Lin Yue entered Westbrook, he realized how uneven the world was... Some of the towering buildings were still incomplete and looked like they were about to collapse.

The people on the street walked slowly, as if they had lost their souls.

There are many NCPDs, but as you can see, they are just patrolling on street corners. Even though there are faint gunshots in the distance, these people do not show any intention of taking action.

"Tiger Claw Gang, stop looking."

V told Lin Yue to abandon his intention to cause trouble for these gangs.

"Do you know why you failed to subdue the Tiger Claw Gang?"

With V, a professional, accompanying me along the way, I was able to understand the core principles behind many things.

“Wakako is just the boss in name only. Arasaka… Tiger Claw Gang, there are many such cases of subordinates rebelling against their superiors.” V recalled bad things when he thought of this. “It’s all the same. The company will always replace the same group of people after the storm.”

“Jenkins… Abernathy.”

Lin Yue noticed that V's hand on his shoulder unconsciously tightened its grip.

“Even though Jenkins was my mentor and everything I learned at the company came from him, sometimes the obstacle is your superior.”

"Execution efficiency, action intervention—simply put, take action when everything is done better than what your superiors can do."

It seems he felt he had said too much.

"Feel sorry."

Lin Yue shook his head.

“I never expected Jenkins to do it this way. He must be a proud person, right? I know how much Jenkins hates Abernathy, but neither Saburo Arasaka nor Lai Xuan planned to use him—”

"I just didn't expect Jenkins to be the one who executed that traitor. I always thought he was only after Arasaka."

V sighed.

"Military technology."

This is the name V hates the most.

"I heard you detained that top-tier lone wolf in military technology? Where is he now?"

Lin Yue said, "Emma told me that he is still in Taipingzhou. We don't know exactly what he is going to do, but he has not threatened us so far. On the contrary, it was his interference in Ganbi that caused Xiaotian and his group to fail."

There was silence.

After a long pause, Lin Yue hesitated before finally saying, "Hey V, I know Jenkins is a big blow to you. But whatever you think, I respect your opinion. Tell me if anything's wrong, don't keep it to yourself."

V gave a muffled "hmm".

After a long while, she tightened her grip on his chest even more.

Betrayal is the most unacceptable and unforgivable thing for V.

That's why she's so conflicted about her attitude towards Jenkins.

Speechless all the way.

The car slowly came to a stop, and Lin Yue and V looked at a dilapidated house on the border of Westbrook.

Rogge's call went through.

Roger was still sitting on the sofa in the private room of the next life, as usual.

"My company's outsourced staff are asking for work again."

Lin Yue laughed without a care in the world.

Roger smiled politely, "If you do it yourself, it should be fine. That kid is driving herself crazy by hiding in her room all day... Do you know how much she asked me for? A full 50,000 euros."

"I guarantee that after my cut, there will be enough commission left for a dozen mercenary squads to operate."

Lin Yue thought about it and it made sense.

This is evidence of the breach of the Black Wall and the fact that the Night Clan's top management was tampered with and controlled by AI. Sandra's survival is purely due to a combination of luck and random events.

"I'm not here to smooth things over for her. To put it bluntly, I want to get information out of her. I don't care about the money, but I have leads I want to investigate. After all, I need to buy some public opinion to shut up those companies that are lying through their teeth."

Roger shrugged. "If it were anyone else, I'd say getting involved in this is suicidal, but you can."

"What to investigate and how to investigate depends on your communication with her."

“I’ll just act as matchmaker, Mr. Rin.”

It seems Sandra didn't really tell Roger much.

Immediately afterwards——

“That girl is no pushover either. She’s determined to get to the bottom of things. You’ll have to ask her yourself what she’s looking for… Besides, someone took her out of Night City from the border afterwards. A wanderer would be perfect for that.”

Lin Yue said he had no problem with it, "Hmm... Besides, she must have some other requests, right? Otherwise, you definitely wouldn't have let this get stuck with you."

Roger sighed.

"I dare not let anyone know about this, I haven't even given them a heads-up."

“Sandra is such an idiot. She came to my place asking everyone if they dared to investigate the company, using some tricks she learned online… Honestly, if Miss V hadn’t reminded me, and I hadn’t sent someone to invite her in, the whole of Night City would probably know tomorrow that someone wants to investigate the Night Corporation.”

Lin Yue was both amused and exasperated.

Rogge's next words clearly revealed his cold-blooded middleman nature.

"As for the mercenaries Sandra hired before I noticed them, they've all happily gone on 'vacation,' so the company doesn't need to worry about it anymore."

Lin Yue then noticed that V's expression relaxed.

No survivors, clean house – that's the survival strategy of the Night City middlemen.

Lin Yue sighed.

There's no time to be sentimental about these things; next up is his top-tier outsourcing role.

The two walked up the corridor, which was filled with fluorescent green light and covered with graffiti, one after the other. Lin Yue was a little puzzled, feeling that this place seemed somewhat familiar... but he couldn't remember it no matter how long he thought about it.

Sandra is temporarily staying on the top floor.

She didn't seem to like having neighbors. The stairwell was filled with all sorts of clutter, and only one person could pass at a time. If they hadn't confirmed the location, the two would have thought they had arrived at an abandoned house that was being demolished.

After walking around the pile of miscellaneous items and furniture, Lin Yue saw a dense network of red lines on the ground.

"Isn't this woman afraid of blowing herself up?"

Lin Yue ultimately gave up the idea of ​​rashly disarming the landmines and approaching the door; Sandra was probably in a state of shock right now.

"Ding dong..."

Ultimately, V used the internet to ring the doorbell in the distance.

There was silence.

Lin Yue and V waited patiently until almost ten minutes had passed before a trembling voice came from behind the door.

"Who...who?!"

V spoke first.

In any case, a woman's voice should have a more soothing quality.

"The people who will solve your troubles, Roger sent us..."

The person behind the door was talking to himself as if he were having hysteria.

"It's definitely a scam, a scam... Those bastards left their contact information, but I can't get through to any of them. It's impossible, you want to come here, right?!"

"Come on! Let's blow you bastards to bits!"

V frowned. "Hey! Calm down, Sandra."

"To be honest, we could easily disarm these military grenades at your doorstep that are over ten years old. Just out of respect, okay?"

"Now pick up that damn phone and call Roger. I don't want to waste my breath, or else your troubles will be left to someone else to handle!"

Lin Yue was stunned.

If we're talking about a perfect balance of strength and gentleness, then V is the way to go.

After several minutes of dawdling, Lin Yue and V heard the phone call inside stop and the sound of the landmine slowly deactivating its laser. Just as the two were staring at the door that was slowly opening automatically, a thud sounded as someone collapsed to the ground—

"Damn it, help!"

V's eyes widened.

A figure resembling a skeleton lay sprawled on the ground…

……

……

(End of this chapter)