Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 466 Reputation [7.3K]

"I'm here."

Above a building, a figure with blue eyes is standing on the rooftop, talking on the phone.

Without a doubt...

The blue light in those eyes was the hunter Lin Yue was waiting for—or rather, the prey.

Perhaps it was because the Night Clan was extremely wary of Lin, the legendary mercenary of Night City, and also because they knew many of Lin Yue's secrets...

Even though K below had killed almost half of the gangs and mercenaries they had hired at great expense and through various means of circumventing censorship, he still patiently waited for the K who resembled Rin to reveal a flaw.

They look so alike...

But it's not quite like that.

Especially in terms of fighting style, this guy seems more like someone from an animal gang.

at the same time--

A force no less powerful than the Night Clan's pursuit of Sandra lurks in the shadows within the network, waiting for its chance. The moment the data Rin has recorded in the network appears... they will erase this variable that could have a huge impact on their future plans...

The so-called erasure methods were extremely brutal.

"Is there any response from Orbital Aviation?"

The man standing above subconsciously looked up at the sky and asked with a worried tone.

He was guessing where the space-based weapon used to take down what might be the world's strongest lone wolf was now, while casually tossing aside the disposable puppet controller in his hand that was responsible for paralyzing traffic on the overpass...

Everything is planned, and all variables are controllable.

This has always been Ye's philosophy.

Now there's only one last step left...

"You know about β (Beta). If we've chosen the wrong person this time, it will be catastrophic for us. The big model predicts that eliminating Rin and angering the space powers will bring irreversible consequences—"

"Killing Rin is completely uneconomical and will only cause network surveillance to act recklessly, and may even lead to the involvement of several other European network companies at the same time."

That concludes the discussion of the existing objective conditions.

The tone on the other end was very confident, "Orbital Aviation, ESA, High Knights... We've been infiltrating the low Earth orbit network longer than they think. Now the most important question is very clear to the company—should we open fire?"

"So you'll have to be there in person to see if that guy is Rin..."

"The plans have all been carefully calculated, so don't worry."

The guy standing on the top floor looked worried.

Perhaps AI also has a fatal problem: it can collect all kinds of data, but it ignores certain social attributes of people.

Humans engage in social interactions, have different purposes, and exhibit different behaviors.

At this moment, the guy under the overpass whose face had been transformed was using the face of the rock star from three years ago under the Arasaka Tower in Night City, K—

A name that can only be heard in the underground bars of Night City.

Some say it's Johnny's reincarnation, while others say it's an imitation of the radical behavior of the Samurai band.

Anyway...

K's digital identity left so few traces on the internet that he seemed like an ordinary person in Night City who wouldn't infiltrate the deep web.

"If that's a prosthetic body with the characteristics of the Black Wall modification, I can actually detect it with the naked eye as long as the distance is sufficient, but..." The blue-eyed young man seemed hesitant, "If we get too close, and it really is him, will our plan have to be aborted?"

“β, let the sir calculate it again.”

This was almost a plea.

However, the person on the other end only hesitated for a few moments before replying, "The boss said that if we hadn't been hiding inside the company's data fortress, we probably would have been caught by that guy long ago—the boss said that the entire Night City network is under his control!"

"what?!"

The blue-eyed young man looked quite unwell…

"How is this possible? Didn't the company notice anything? Arasaka even brazenly took the lead and pretended to be with other companies, and that damned Yoru no Shiro also joined in with some kind of contract... If the company knew that this guy could perfectly control the network, wouldn't that be..."

He wondered if Rin already knew something.

The tone on the other end was confident.

“Absolutely not. What you should do is try to force him. We only trust Mr. and the big model.”

"The big model believes there's a 68.23% chance the person below is Rin. If he can maintain this immortal fighting state, I think you and I don't need to ask the master for instructions—just fulfill your duties as coordinates and annihilate for our glorious future."

The blue-eyed young man nodded.

"Then it seems we'll have to resort to drastic measures."

The person on the phone continued, "No rush. For some guys carrying heavy weapons, a few dozen gangs and a few mercenaries are no match for them. Wait until he's done killing them."

The analysis on the other end of the phone made perfect sense: "Since you don't dare to get close, let the NCPD take action. The consciousness infiltration plan is what we need to use now."

"The consciousness infiltration plan... If I remember correctly, Sandra seems to have reviewed this information. Can it be used?" the young man questioned.

"As the master said, this is a scheme carried out right under our noses. Even if that guy knows that the NCPD has high-ranking officials who listen to us and are deploying the Terrorist Mobile Unit or Special Operations Unit, there's nothing we can do. All we can do against them is to encircle and annihilate them."

"As long as the Dreamer and Arasaka get involved, he might resort to unconventional, highly lethal, and fastest methods to escape, and then everything will become clear."

The young man nodded repeatedly as he listened to the explanation, and at the same time asked, "That V, she used a faceplate... why didn't the large model use this evidence to increase the probability of inference?"

This is incredible.

To think that someone of his rank would know that V and that guy named Rin were lovers, and that V was a liaison or something similar when Dreamers was first founded…

At the same time, in many crucial moments of internal struggles within Arasaka, this woman was able to turn the tide not only by perfectly executing her underdog-to-superior strategy, but more importantly, by having Rin outside the arena always perfectly turn the tide and quickly get the whole situation back on track.

However, it seems that the large model described by these AI-powered humans is like an unshakeable rule, and any doubt can only give way in the face of it.

"I can't tell you the reason for this, because Rin's whereabouts are too unpredictable... Whether it was the bullet attack on Badlands or the explosion on Pacific Island, these caused us huge losses."

At this point, the guy actually made a grinding sound like a human teeth.

The young man chuckled a few times, "You're becoming more and more like a human."

"Isn't it?"

"It was precisely because we were certain that he was in trouble that we were able to proceed with our strategy. We never expected that he could disrupt our plans to this extent. We are now hiding in the cyber world with nuclear weapons in our hands... If he lives, we can't use the Lark."

β's tone was cold.

The young man's smile faded. "Okay, I'll keep an eye on the big model. The mind-penetration software is already running. I believe that once that K finishes killing these people, the Terrorist Mobile Unit and the NCPD will teach him a lesson again."

"Let's see who perishes first."

……

For someone whose body hasn't depleted and who's even more excited about fighting—

Years later, he might also doubt himself, realizing that the space-based weapon used to target Bartmouth had once been aimed at him.

Lin Yue oversimplified the problem.

But he didn't know...

The clean internet gave Lin Yue a false sense of being king; when everything was under his control, the lack of control was what made him break out in a cold sweat.

The Tiger Claw Gang, provoked, acted like mad dogs.

Sianwistan helped them move quickly, and the Sianwistan in their hands made Blade a deadly weapon that Night City mercenaries feared when carrying out missions, but this was no problem for Lin Yue's baseball bat.

The mercenaries hidden in the stagnant traffic took turns firing, and most of the bullets were ineffective against the bulletproof leather. However, this did not mean that Lin Yue could withstand the impact like an armored vehicle indefinitely.

Skin also has its limits.

Therefore, the most efficient way to fight at this time is to dodge bullets while smashing the heads of the Tiger Claw Gang members who keep biting you with a baseball bat.

"You bastard--"

The Tiger Claw Gang spat everywhere, and with a few quick left and right movements, their blades struck the baseball bat in Lin Yue's hand!
Lin Yue's baseball bat slipped from his hand and spun 180 degrees around the Tiger Claw Gang's blade. He had mastered the art of manipulating Sianwistan, teleporting to the side in an extremely short distance, several times faster than the Tiger Claw Gang's street-smart products (Sianwistans).

It saves a lot of effort.

Seeing their strength dissipated, the Tiger Claw Gang members, who were just about to turn the tide of the attack, were blasted away from the waist by Lin Yue, who had sunk down, with a powerful punch that could destroy a brick wall!

The three cars suddenly piled up on top of each other, shattering the windows, and the Tiger Claw Gang members were firmly embedded in the scrap metal.

Lin Yue twirled his baseball bat in the air, and then received another powerful punch from behind. Without any expression, he aimed at the explosive device thrown by the enemy and, with the posture of hitting a home run, returned the metal block to the other side.

"Try walking past me!"

The mercenary, who had been knocked over by the aftershocks of the explosion, was also frightened by the powerful guy in front of him.

"Is that Adam Hammer?! Someone! Stop him from charging at us!"

"Damn it! Everyone spread out!"

Are you kidding me? Dozens of elite Tiger Claw gang members were just wiped out like that. Even a fool knows they can't rely on melee combat anymore...

"It seems Sandra's information was indeed accurate..."

Lin Yue pondered to himself.

The NCPD director and several high-ranking officials on the list seem to have had their memories interfered with. The fact that the NCPD is not showing up when these gangs and mercenary dogs are besieging them confirms this intelligence.

Given that so many gang members were killed in Night City, causing widespread traffic congestion in eastern Santo Domingo, any NCPD member who isn't an idiot would come.

Lin Yue had already spotted the airships of the trauma team above, hovering but not daring to land. He guessed it was because of some accident scene caused by the battle, and that some company employees had purchased platinum or gold memberships…

It was precisely because Lin Yue was killing indiscriminately like a cyber madman that the hovercar dared not choose a risky landing method.

The crowd was in disarray.

The traffic was completely blocked for about 700 to 800 meters ahead of the elevated highway. Not only could cars not pass, but even pedestrians couldn't get through.

But the terrifying explosions and gunshots below forced the poor, innocent citizens of Night City to crouch on the ground with their heads in their hands. It didn't take long for them to go from crying and shouting "Don't kill me!" to sticking their heads out to look curiously.

When people realized that this was a one-sided pursuit by mercenaries and gangs, their innate spectator instinct kicked in.

So many eyes were fixed on the battle below from the overpass, but most people would only watch for a short while before crouching down, almost vomiting...

That scene was too bloody!

"He's a cyber lunatic!"

"Will they turn around and charge up from below after all the mercenaries and gangs are dead?"

"Wait! Where's the NCPD? Are all the people up ahead dead in the road? Why aren't they moving?!"

"Trauma team? Hello?! I need more money, I want to leave in the airship right now—damn it!"

However, some citizens who frequently watch Cyberman's Black Dream are not worried at all.

The guy below, though his cybernetic body is abnormal, isn't in the bizarre state of a cyber madman. His speech and fighting style are very much in line with those of a professional mercenary.

Some people even took out Mewtwo's filming equipment to record it—

This city is truly obsessed with entertainment.

"Holy crap! What's that, S.A.W.S?"

"Is it the top-of-the-line civilian version shown on the show? It's supposedly a high-quality unit that used to be deployed to the naval special forces, costing 100,000 euros per unit!"

Soon someone refuted this.

"You bumpkin, this is clearly not military technology. Multi-stage start-up, stop as soon as you use it...tsk, looks like Zeta Technology."

"Holy crap, that guy's arm is definitely a gorilla's arm, that's fucking awesome!"

Regardless of people's emotions, without exception, everyone felt that this guy really resembled one of those lone wolves selected from the top ten in old magazines.

In particular, the "Liver-Exploding Fist" that caused the Tiger Claw Gang to crush three cars, with its fluid fighting movements and almost invisible afterimages, ignited the fighting spirit in everyone's heart.

"The network is working properly, hurry! Live broadcast!"

However, even before they became the first commentators on site, well-known media outlets in Night City had already begun reporting on it.

Stanley, in particular, used extremely exaggerated language to describe the ranking of the Night City Lone Wolf, and comprehensively analyzed the cybernetics on the guy's body during the battle below. However, it was not long before residents of Santo Domingo who had participated in the riots a few years ago recognized Lin Yue.

"K?!"

The movement of getting up was mostly made by people from Santo Domingo; even locals and three- or four-year-old children had heard of this story.

That was the protest march three years ago at the foot of Arasaka Tower, demanding "rights" against large corporations—

It is said that K disappeared after that protest. Some say he was arrested by the NCPD, some say he died in prison, and others say that the recent internet crash also caused K's death in that incident.

He's perfectly fine here now.

Not only that, but he's also engaged in a fierce battle with dozens of ruthless gangs and mercenaries... Is the bar for singing rock music really that high now?!

Stanley is back, friends!

"I bet some of you are still sitting in your cars waiting for traffic to resume, or listening to my show on a public Walkman... or maybe you're crouching on the ground with your heads in your hands, waiting to die? Hahahaha!"

"The battle at the eastern viaduct entrance to Santo Domingo has seen new developments. It's rock star K, who caused the riot at Arasaka Tower three years ago. He and his legendary band staged a protest against Arasaka Group's immortality technology three years ago..."

"Does that remind you everyone?"

"Look at what's happened in these three years. If I remember correctly, KIA was probably still singing in various underground bars during these three years, right? Tsk tsk..."

"That was absolutely awesome, fucking awesome! Everyone come and tell Stanley, where was the last time this guy was on stage? How long ago was that?"

Amid Stanley's quirky and sarcastic voice, someone muttered...

Wait a minute, didn't K clink glasses with me in Westbrook just two months ago?

The man rubbed his eyes, and with a punch tore apart a mercenary's head, his hand, adorned with an angel tattoo on his guitar,...

Gudong.

"It seems to be true, honey, come quick, your mom is here!"

A woman leaned closer to the TV and asked, "Whose mother are you watching?"

The man pointed at the TV screen, "Damn! What's so interesting about this? Watch that rock star I told you about, that guy's even more daring than Johnny Silverhand!"

The woman blinked, and a few seconds later gave a fair assessment.

"Quite handsome."

The man spread his hands, giving off a look that said, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Clearly, this woman didn't care about that.

Stanley continued, "Look, the man who tried to burst the bubble of freedom in the system by picking up a guitar string is now using his cybernetics incredibly well—hmm, a guitar string can't destroy ZiBenism, but a gorilla arm can! I've already thought of a name for K's new album!"

"But to be honest, with this performance, K could probably be considered one of the 'Night City Top Ten Lone Wolves' who haven't updated in a long time?"

"The last time I remember someone being this badass was a cyber lunatic who single-handedly killed dozens of police officers in the central square of Night City, and the Terrorist SWAT team had to clean up the mess in the end—"

In front of televisions and radios, and among the citizens at the scene who were both anxious and eager to watch, the crowd listened noisily to Stanley's live commentary.

It's unclear how Stanley figured out Lin Yue's fighting style. Keep in mind, that's the incredibly fast Sianwaystein; even without its computing power, it's no less effective than a time-stopping technique from afar…

"A beautiful flying kick!"

Stanley made a sound of pain and sympathy for the mercenary, as if he himself had been kicked.

Lin Yue's attack caused several cars in the traffic jam to rear-end each other, and the mercenary, who had already half-crawled into the parking space, was pulled out again, his fate unknown. He held the guy up in his hand—

In short, this seemed to be the method of execution for those with strong bodies in Lin Yue's past life memories. He threw the guy's body directly off the overpass as if he were lifting weights.

This was followed by a cacophony of shouts and screams...

"It seems that K, the rock kid who speaks out for freedom and accuses the company, is just as troubled as Johnny Silverhand has been for decades."

Stanley never said that Lin Yue was being hunted down by the company.

But people have already automatically assumed that K is being targeted by the company and is fighting back.

This is the inflammatory nature of language.

The protagonist was completely unaware of all this.

He was patiently waiting while dealing with these mercenaries and the Tiger Claw Gang... but now, Lin Yue's confidence was starting to waver.

Why haven't the people of the Ye clan appeared yet?

Does this give him the opportunity to take the next step and deal with the remaining assets of the Ye family?
In fact, Lin Yue contacted someone, Dorio, who was responsible for cutting off the NCPD's traffic control system, and another person was the homeless man Adcardo—that was all.

Stanley's outburst...

soon.

There's already been an mobilization in Santo Domingo.

The old captain was still in his workshop, his face covered with a magazine. He had stayed up all night yesterday to procure several luxury cars, and the dreamer had also helped him build some connections—in short, business was booming, and life was wonderful. Apart from the rock kid who hadn't contacted him for over half a year calling to tow his truck, everything was fine.

Tsk…

The old captain had just put his legs down from the table and lit a cigarette, but before he could even smoke it, the door was flung open with almost tremendous force.

"My darn thing!"

Mars has given his silk pants a huge, "postmodern art" hole...

"You'd better fucking get hurt..."

But when the assistant finished speaking, the old captain didn't mention the matter of his pants anymore. Instead, he got up, grabbed his clothes, and rushed outside.

"It's the company, it's the company!"

The assistant hurriedly pulled the person away.

The old captain was speechless. "Of course I know, but those are Santo Domingo's men. Bring your weapons, let's see if the company's bastards can beat our Santo Domingo's good lads! Don't forget why Pedro Petrochemical softened up these past three years. It wasn't because of him that the neighbors got their compensation!"

……

On bad soil.

Three or four modified off-road vehicles sped along the road.

Why are we rushing out like this?

Scorpion was usually a man of few words, but Panan had been driving in silence for a long time, and he couldn't hold back any longer.

Yes, Scorpion didn't suffer the fate he was destined to have, dying in the attack on the Kanto Floating Vehicle. Instead, he spent the last few years working alongside Panan to run a new business for the homeless.

Three years ago, thanks to Lin Yue's help, Panan became a true expert in smuggling goods. Later, he led most of the people of Adcado to work for him. In the past few years, the tribe's population has more than doubled, and they have moved to Ghost Town to establish a defense line.

This is a matter of courtesy.

In Panan's mind, this was something that couldn't be repaid with just an Ice Storm sniper rifle.

When Rin said that someone from Night City needed to be sent out and placed in Adcardo's care, Panan agreed without hesitation...

However, Panan switched the headphone channel to the car.

Scorpion heard the program playing in Panan's headphones, and his expression gradually became strange. "Is it... that K?"

He tried asking.

Panan nodded coldly. "That bunch of bastards! We need to hurry. Get all the brothers and sisters watching around the Night Watchers here, and have Thor send more people!"

The scorpion showed no sign of questioning.

"Shout it now."

"Hey, Mitchell! The boss said, fucking we're going into town to rescue people!"

"Remember that K who got us a meal? We're stuck in Santo Domingo. Even if the NCPD and the company's military came, we'd knock a few teeth out of those guys—"

"Go to hell with your company!"

……

Emma heard the news with her hands under her chin and glanced at the time.

It seems like less than half an hour has passed since Rin was blocked, hmm…

"Why are you so noisy?"

Although she said that, she still glanced at the guy on the computer screen a couple more times. She had to admit, the idea of ​​her boyfriend having his face swapped was incredibly cool. Emma thought the rock kid was pretty good, with that outfit. But his face still depended on Rin's appearance, maybe with some red wine or something—

"Miss Emma?"

Suzuki placed his hands in front of him, wondering why Emma was staring at the screen with a faint smile on her lips (that's how Emma always smiles). He was worried that Rin's identity might be in question, which was why he rushed back from Santo Domingo.

Emma chuckled.

"Company involvement would just give them leverage. Let the animal gang handle it. Angie can take a few good guys. Didn't they make progress on the low-side-effect drug for the biotechnology apartment recently? Let Angie slip out and see for herself. She can just claim to be a die-hard K fan..."

"Although I think my darling can definitely handle it herself..."

Suzuki's lips twitched.

So I've been standing here all this time... Oh well.

He nodded and left.

……

V watched from the overpass as the scene spiraled out of control.

The homeless person certainly couldn't arrive in just a few tens of minutes. In addition, she belatedly realized that Lin Yue had done this on purpose, and the Ye family was very likely watching from nearby. V, who was extremely angry with the Ye family, finally couldn't hold back anymore.

These stupid programmers!

Sandra looked at the woman with some fear; to be honest, her beauty and sharp features were even more intimidating at this moment.

Arasaka's intelligence department is basically controlled by V.

But this time she decided to do something big.

Without any justification, V overstepped his authority and submitted a proposal to Lai Xuan without going through the board of directors to forcibly use the Special Agents Association to hack into the data fortresses of major companies and clean up suspected AI data. Just three minutes ago, Arasaka's counterintelligence department detected the appearance of data spores in the public network.

Lai Xuan agreed in almost a minute.

The reasoning is simple: let the companies fight it out first.

V instantly forgot his initial doubts, gestured for Sandra to squat down beside him, and then lit a cigarette to watch Rin's battle below.

Her bones creaked and cracked.

Rin was still worrying too much, fearing that the Night Clan would do something so self-destructive again on the black wall, but V didn't care about all that. Her principle was simple: whoever made Rin uncomfortable, she would make them uncomfortable in return.

"Lucy?"

Sandra heard a woman's light, airy voice above her, seemingly talking to another woman.

Lucy on the other end nodded with a serious expression.

"I'll bring some people to have the Tiger Claw Gang bosses sit down for some tea. Once this is over, I'll personally go to Genting Highlands. I don't believe the Tiger Claw Gang doesn't know my digital identity."

Lucy paused for a second or two, "To confirm, is it alive?"

V nodded, "Alive, and able to understand what I'm saying."

"Especially that weird old woman, she has to go—he doesn't quite understand the principle that things are different now. At this time, her subordinates dare to chase after Arasaka and bite him. I want to know if it's because the medical insurance of the Kijitsukasa is too generous that she still likes to court death."

Lucy did as instructed.

……

Also.

In the urban area.

The fully armed NCPD special police team endured ten minutes of bombardment from the dispatch console. The death toll in Santo Domingo was rising sharply, even though they were mostly gang members. However, the city hall was going to cut its budget again next year.

When orders were given to arrest a rock star who was committing cyber-mad killings, the entire NCPD SWAT team was mobilized, tires screeching in the air.

The woman sitting in the passenger seat of the lead car was as robust as a mountain.

She had full lips and short, blonde hair.

"Go to the scene and, according to my orders, kill all gang members without warning, and attempt to arrest target K."

One of the NCPD agents sitting face-to-face between the two groups at the back asked, "But the orders from above are..."

Dorio switched the cigarette between the two sides of her mouth and gave a cold smile.

"Those who want to leave tomorrow, listen to those above; those who don't want to leave, listen to me."

"Yes!!!"

Hearing the unanimous response from her subordinates, Dorio sent a message to the girl in her headset who was helping her disable the traffic control adaptive program on the network.

"Thanks, Stella."

……

……

(End of this chapter)