Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 481 Insight and Sensation
Lin Yue arrived quickly and left just as quickly.

When Dorothy looked at the scenery with ease for the first time in years, secretly looking forward to the future, she turned her head and found that there was no one beside her.

She smiled, and without realizing it, her face gained more confidence.

"Captain, everything is ready."

Dorothy stood up with the help of her subordinate, who usually stared at her like a mouse watching a cat. "I suggest you look away. If you keep staring, tonight will be two extra hours of tactical training..."

The subordinate looked miserable.

"Don't be like that... you seem pretty happy."

Dorothy asked, "Where did that person go?"

The subordinate blinked. Dorio knew it was pointless to ask, so she glanced several more times in the direction Rin might have left. "Let's go. Valentino, help these brats. We have a big job to do tonight."

"In addition, the security situation along the route has been thoroughly investigated. If any gang attacks the police force, the riot control plan will be followed and the riot control mobile team will be put into call channel at any time."

"Yes!"

……

"Cyber ​​psychopaths, tsk... I remember Night City used to have quite a few?"

Lin Yue was traversing building platforms or atriums that were difficult for ordinary people to access, naturally investigating Mann's affairs.

The way Dorio gave orders that day was completely different from her usual roguish mercenary demeanor. She was resilient and strong, like a woman as robust as the earth. To be honest, Lin Yue admired her a lot... Very few people could wait for a boyfriend who was probably crazy in Night City, where people valued relationships less than dog shit.

However, Lin Yue also deeply understands the preciousness of feelings—

It wasn't just because someone was worried about him, but also because of V's quiet, unwavering companionship after he was exposed to the Black Wall internet. If he were in V's shoes, he wouldn't give up on finding V's whereabouts either.

"A highly sought-after interview with a top star, an exclusive interview with K's former rock bandmate—"

Lin Yue felt that he had a sense of shame.

The advertisement was playing right next to him, and he just sat there on the rooftop, watching the traffic and people hurrying by below…

Nobody cares about the real legends; after the party, most people are thinking about how to make enough money to fill their stomachs today.

As Lin Yue watched the faces of his teammates appear, he thought that although he had "disappeared," at least he had given these friends with musical dreams a bright future.

He casually turned his head and noticed that one of his teammates was missing.

李。

That seemingly unruly yet stubborn girl.

Given her personality, Li indeed dislikes this kind of activity. She doesn't want to live too fakely to maintain a hypocritical facade, so... it's not hard to understand.

In fact, it might be better to leave the task of finding a cyberpsychotic to a professional, such as Regina.

However, after Regina's hideout in Night City was razed to the ground with plastic bombs three years ago, this war correspondent changed careers.

Think about it carefully…

It’s true that things have changed.

Having searched in vain, Lin Yue prepared to return to his small home in Night City to relieve the fatigue of searching for a day and a night. After all, the network node of Arasaka would be officially activated in 48 hours, so in addition to himself, the Dreamers' network department was online the whole time, keeping a close eye on every move in Night City.

A large number of Dreamers agents and soldiers are also searching every corner of Night City.

Speaking of network access nodes—

Later, Lin Yue will be taken to the Inland Node by personnel arranged by V at the Night City Port. Arasaka Yoriyuki gave this place a very scientific name: [Singularity].

Lai Hsuan wants to become the black hole that the world's giant corporations fear most.

Tear apart, devour…

Lin Yue is the heaviest and most crucial element.

With Mann's matter seemingly unresolved, Lin Yue began to consider joining the network—

After all, Ultraman couldn't find anything on the internet.

A faint, ethereal whirring sound—Night City's classic incoming call tone.

[Incoming caller ID: V]

Recently, V has been sending herself messages whenever she has free time; of course, her ability to craft these messages is truly extraordinary.

For example, she would take a picture of a very ordinary office desk and then not say anything. Lin Yue could only rely on his imagination to deduce that V was telling him that she had to go to work and might not reply to his messages for a long time. This was commonly known as "reporting to the authorities."

Of course, she might also suddenly send a photo, a "record" that shows a complete lack of selfie skills but relies on a flawless face to hold up.

"Hey?"

V sounded quite pleased on the other end. "Is there any news about Mann's matter?"

At this moment, she was comfortably standing on the edge of the desk, nestled in the chair and rocking back and forth, her snow-white legs somewhat dazzling.

Lin Yue sighed, "No."

V on the other end nodded thoughtfully. "I've already prepared the contingency plan for the Arasaka Parade. I was hoping you had some progress on your end..."

She kept the matter Lin Yue had mentioned in her heart, as always.

"I've found the middleman behind the explosion at Regina's hideout; he's being held by Lucy right now."

Lin Yue felt that V was indeed talented in intelligence gathering.

"Thank goodness for you, V."

V couldn't deny it, saying, "Isn't it normal for you to need me?"

Seeing Lin Yue's somewhat anxious expression, V hesitated.

"If you have time, you can check the news. There's something about your former teammate, though it might not be a big deal—you know what I mean, I just don't want to keep it from you."

“You probably don’t watch TV much, but recently two members of your band have been on TV one after another, which has caused quite a stir. One of your female band members has disappeared and can’t be contacted. NPCD doesn’t handle these kinds of things. Would you like Arasaka to help you look into it?”

Lin Yue was somewhat taken aback.

I turned my head and glanced at the billboard I had just seen.

Is it Li?

After thinking for a moment, Lin Yue decided to call Roger first to find out what was going on.

V, who had just hung up the phone, stood up and stroked an exquisite holographic invitation.

Above, electronically rendered cherry blossom petals flutter down, while two holographic goldfish, unique to the Arasaka Building, follow closely behind a flower boat…

V was trying to say this.

"Never mind, I'll give it to him later."

……

After agreeing on a meeting place, Lin Yue hung up and immediately called Luo Ge.

After Lin Yue explained the whole story of the band member incident, the seasoned middleman was taken aback. "Li? You mean a skinny woman with smoky eyes who looks even more punk than those rock singers?"

Smoky girl... okay.

Lin Yue admitted that the middleman's memory method was indeed unique, and Li was exactly like that.

At this point, Roger felt a headache coming on.

"Rin, dozens, if not hundreds, of people contact you every day."

"These days, every rock star who wants to make a big splash is scrambling to get involved with you. I guess you still don't realize how sought-after you are in underground bars. I've told that girl everything I could—"

"But she seemed to strongly disagree with my conclusion." Roger recounted in detail what had happened that day when the band had approached him. Lin Yue was somewhat taken aback by his teammates' insistence on his life or death...

"I'm sorry to talk about this, Rin."

“There aren’t many sincere people in Night City. Over the years, there’s been a lot of truth and falsehood, and different people say different things. But those people have feelings for you—they want an answer, so I gave them an ambiguous answer. My intention was to put their minds at ease. This is my problem, and I will do my best to handle it.”

Rogge had to lower his stance.

Before her stood the living Yama of Night City, the executioner of the company's dictator, Saburo... She had no intention of being sloppy about such trivial details.

Lin Yue was both amused and exasperated.

Having a high reputation on the street doesn't mean that people won't curse at you if you bump into them, but rather it's about the attitude of this veteran middleman.

"No, Roger."

"Thank you for not hurting their feelings... If you could, could you help me look into Li?"

Roger nodded.

"After your rock bandmates left, this girl came to me alone once. She looked very nervous and kept asking me if I was really still alive. She asked to contact you, but I refused."

"I didn't think anything was wrong at the time, you know—"

"A guy like you, even with a fake identity, would attract girls. I thought they were after you..."

Lin Yue felt awkward.

"Don't worry, Lee and Mendro are a perfect match. We were both poor guys who went through tough times during our time in the band, so..."

Roger had a knowing look on his face.

"Ah, spiritual leader."

"Okay, I understand. I'll get back to you as soon as possible, today."

Lin Yue nodded, "Thanks, Roger. I'll have to trouble you with that batch of orders from Arasaka before. They were all network equipment transferred from Japan. You know... it's inevitable that someone will be watching when it's shipped through the company's freight service."

You can't just talk about prestige or feelings with Rogge; you have to exchange some benefits.

Rogue was able to make money on this private transport trip thanks to Rin's connections; a veteran underground middleman like him is still capable of handling these things.

Roger was never worried that the other party wouldn't understand the concept of "reward." He would simply say, "Then thank you."

Lin Yue immediately felt the comfort of having someone available after hanging up the phone.

Partners, lovers, friends, etc. are like other pieces of the puzzle, reliable and able to make you stop worrying about many things.

Lin Yue, whose shoulder pressure had suddenly eased somewhat, simply turned his head, and the panels that had appeared sporadically over the past three years popped up...

Who is it?
[Character: Valerie (V) Affection level updated]

【Favourability: 99】

[Development Value: ? ? ?]...

Ok?
It's actually V...

However, Lin Yue wasn't surprised at all when he saw that the number wasn't close to 100. After all, emotions have a subjective element, and it's not entirely possible to guarantee that a person is as loyal as an inanimate object...

Besides, Lin Yue doesn't need it either.

His eyes widened simply because he hadn't expected it to be V.

Does this mean that they are an almost completely interconnected community at this moment?

"Will it still produce large values, just like when intelligence exceeds limits?"

A mixture of joy at the third-party verification of her relationship with V and anticipation of the reward.

It took Lin Yue so many years of exploration to realize that the calculation method for the favorability panel was extremely abstract.

The general idea is that human emotions are not something that can be quantified precisely at will. The higher a person's favorability rating, the lower the probability of it appearing on the panel later. It probably requires experiencing some special... event?
However, it seems that for Lin Yue, updating favorability is no longer the top priority.

From the moment he arrived in this world, Lin Yue's initial intention to deliberately approach those whose panels reacted in order to gain survival resources gradually transformed into a heartfelt treatment of those he treated with all his heart.

Because he realized that the people here were all living, breathing beings.

Immediately afterwards——

The panel displayed: [Stage Reward: Reaction +5, Reaction Feat Points +10]

[Rewritten: This character's storyline has been altered, and this character's influence on "Lin Yue," "Arasaka Yorinobu," and "Jack Wells" has increased to 80%, 70%, and 99%, respectively, with a total change progress of 50%]

call…

Lin Yue's mind seemed to stop working instantly.

The Whole Foods ads and various noises on the noisy street began to stretch on endlessly—

Even the smallest detail, as long as the brain focuses its attention on the matter itself, will instantly provide a feedback...

In short, I have complete control over all changes, and my body is starting to move with ease!

This…

Lin Yue looked down at his hands in disbelief.

He felt a responsiveness in his body that was almost equivalent to the computational power injected into Swannstein—

Below, on the street, a dark-skinned African American man with vacant eyes walked like a zombie.

For some reason, he suddenly looked up, as if he sensed that someone was watching him; it was entirely a spontaneous sixth sense.

Lin Yue's body flashed and disappeared into the even more complex building!
This process almost rivals the full-scale activation of Sianweistein embedded within the desolate moon…

"So this is how obvious the full physical attributes are!"

Lin Yue stood still, waiting for the panel embedded in his brain to finish updating. The last trace of that shackle-like feeling in his body disappeared...

Now he doesn't need to worry about the side effects of the prosthetic body at all. It would be even better if the reaction could affect Sianwistan's attributes.
The complex architectural structure of this metropolis became Lin Yue's training ground for testing himself.

His training target is the NCPD's patrol drones, and he needs to travel on foot through the information-intensive city to meet V.

At the same time, Lin Yue's strong thinking ability also makes him subconsciously combine his high-reaction ability with his existing abilities.

The speed of light is absolute.

The primary function of Shadow as an instantaneous prosthetic body is to assist. Secondly, its basic algorithmic logic is to utilize brain-computer interface computing power to perform light and shadow imaging based on the opponent's reaction and possible actions.

This is also the main reason why the shadow puppet can often intimidate the opponent.

Because each attack is launched from the angle of a professional lone wolf, the opponent is forced to subconsciously defend or attack.

Then...

Lin Yue easily dodged a police drone that swooped down from a distance. Looking up to observe the next route, he thought of a direction for Ying's perfect transformation.

With such a high reaction speed, could we try to catch up with the motion trajectory after the image is formed, and make the various optimal attack paths calculated by the prosthetic body our choice?
Lin Yue, clenching his dark prosthetic hand, leaned down slightly, his target settling on the next platform.

The scene of Ye Shi hacking into space-based weapons is still vivid in my mind.

Individuals fighting against the collective may not be the way to save this chaotic world, but Lin Yue wants to be the strongest among those who resist the system!
Night falls.

A figure moved with perfect posture, the enormous moon, like a jade plate, contrasting with the darkness of the night, gradually disappearing into the neon-lit shadows.

……

……

(End of this chapter)