Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 485 Different Paths, Same Destination (Part 1)
It's only been three years.

Goro Takemura began to feel like he didn't recognize the world anymore.

Whether the battle unfolding before him still belonged to the realm of humanity was no longer important. What mattered was that he felt the cold, metallic scent of ninja swords. At the same time, the man with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes appeared to the left of the prosthetic ninja as if the screen had frozen.

Goro's hair, disheveled by the rain, fluttered as he instinctively stepped back, sword in hand, and was then severed by the blade.

The ear-piercing sound of the punch, almost in sync with a sonic boom, made Goro's eyelids twitch uncontrollably. He saw the ninja's body slam into the side due to the powerful impact!
The thick steel and concrete roadblocks sent up a shower of gravel. Even with the rain covering the ground, the lone wolf from outer space, Hua Zi's strongest assassin, whom he had prepared for three years, was caught red-handed by the city's most terrifying BOSS when he was dealing with Takemura Goro.

The ninja's speed completely overwhelmed Sianwistan's technology, and Takemura couldn't understand where the speed of the man beside him, who was still in a frenzied punching posture, came from.

All he knew was that the nightmare from three years ago had come true again.

It was a rainy day that time.

The invincible guy still handled the top rivals of the Tokyo mansion with ease. When Takemura Goro looked at that guy's two completely different eyes in the last second before the floor collapsed... that feeling of helplessness still lingered in his mind.

He was blindly loyal, but not foolish.

There must be a reason for the enemy's mercy; Takemura knew this principle.

Strands of hair fell to the ground. Realizing what had happened, Takemura stumbled back several steps, but before he could even speak, the woman with the black umbrella stared at him with two blood-red eyes…

"hateful!"

The prosthetic body that had its back door locked was not only useless, but also completely powerless against any network intrusion. Its two arms were constantly spasming, and its dynamic stability function quickly lost its balance. It knelt down on one knee and looked at the "legend" a few steps away, slowly retracting its punching posture.

Takemura had never seen that look in his eyes before—Takemura could hardly imagine that one day he would see the word "disappointment" in the eyes of someone he called an enemy.

The woman holding the umbrella was also looking at him, her eyes filled with disgust.

V ...

Lai Xuan had promoted an unknown figure from a branch office in the past few years, and Takemura, who had been investigating privately, already knew about this guy who had risen to a high-level position in the company like a rocket.

With Yoriyuki stationed there, the Night City branch was practically the headquarters. For someone like him to come looking for him in person... Takemura could only laugh helplessly.

His "despicable" wasn't a curse directed at the young couple, but rather at Arasaka Hanako's act of discarding them after they had served their purpose.

Aside from the sound of rain, the faint sounds of Night City advertisements, and the whooshing of hovercars... the world hasn't been this peaceful in a long time.

Takemura had imagined the ending many times, but in the end he realized that this moment of peace before death was the one that suited him best.

"Arasaka Saburo, are you about to lose?"

Over the years, two completely different perspectives—the kindness Saburo Arasaka had shown him and the inhumane things he had done—clashed in Takemura's mind. He didn't even realize that in the past three years, he had stopped calling the man who had rescued him from the slums "sir."

Takemura even fantasized that if he were still working at Arasaka, he might only be a silent, oblivious corporate dog.

The world is too small for a guy like him to fit in.

The young man in the rain walked up to Goro Takemura. "I never expected you to survive that day."

Goro Takemura, feeling the pain of the prosthetic body stimulating his nerves, grinned, his eyes still seeming wild. "You bunch of lackeys, you win—you don't seem human, you seem like a demon returned from hell."

He wanted to provoke the other party.

Aside from death, Takemura could find no other way to end his suffering.

"Shouldn't the devil be someone like Saburo?"

"They drag their rotting bodies, which exceed the limits of human lifespan, to the top of the tallest towers. The rich live forever, while the poor die young... I really want to know, have you ever thought about these things?"

Takemura fell silent.

This was the first time he had heard the guy's real voice, but those sharp words pierced through his pretense of not wanting to face the truth.

"Let the counterintelligence department interrogate him."

The sound of high heels clicking on the ground came from behind. V, who was looking down at Takemura Goro, reached out and used an umbrella to shield Lin Yue from the rain. Takemura Goro looked at the glistening raindrops on the woman's tight-fitting suit... Sure enough, he still got the worst result.

"You may not know what he's doing, but this guy is gathering information for Hua Zi's gang in Night City, using any means he can to find out your true identity—Hua Zi will only send someone to silence him once he has the information, and then the enemy will indeed be lurking in the shadows."

V gestures with his hand.

The leader of one of the squads was Lucy, and she clenched her fists, recalling the almost indistinct battle that had just taken place.

Hua Zi has mastered the most advanced cutting-edge technology in space, and the new type of cybernetic ninja he created over three years was easily defeated by Rin in one move...

Moreover, the guy talking to Takemura Goro hasn't even used his network abilities yet.

Lucy felt a pang of unease; once Goro Takemura joined the counterintelligence department, his fate was predictable…

She was certain that once Takemura went in, he would be able to remember everything he did when he was three or four years old!

"not only that."

Just as Lin Yue was watching Goro about to agree to V's request and secretly lamenting that he had misjudged him, the proud and loyal samurai spoke up.

"There were many Chinese people in the parade. They wanted to overthrow Lai Xuan's position. In recent years, they have been working on creating the most powerful weapon. With Lai Xuan dead, everything will fall into place."

Lin Yue noticed that V beside him was getting angrier and angrier, because the sign of her anger was not sharp rebuttal, but a deep smile in her eyes.

"Night City has such a large branch, are you implying that the counterintelligence department is just sitting around doing nothing?"

Goro Takemura gave him a "no comment" look.

Lin Yue knew what the guy in front of him was thinking. He was willing to sacrifice himself so that Hua Zi could escape Lai Xuan's pursuit. It was almost impossible for such a guy to know fear—he was born to do this.

Things are far more complicated than that.

Lin Yue appeared expressionless, but he was actually trying to figure out what was on Takemura...

There must be a reason behind Hua Zi's act of discarding the donkey after it has served its purpose.

"Takemura, do you know why Hanako killed you?"

"Everything you did was entirely out of loyalty to Sanlang, even if it went against human nature, you still did it... Whether you understand or not is no longer important. I guess even you didn't expect Hua Zi to want to kill you, did you?"

Directly addressing the core issues has always been Lin Yue's forte, and sure enough, the warrior's expression was no longer as calm and indifferent as before.

"Are you mocking me?"

Takemura gritted his teeth and replied.

Lin Yue shook his head, "Whether V believes you or not, the counterintelligence department will still be active today. Whether Hua Zi has hidden people in Arasaka or in Night City, they will find them—"

V was a little anxious, "Rin?"

However, Lin Yue clearly had his own considerations, and Takemura's stance was beginning to waver. This was the only conversation between Lin Yue and Takemura; no trust had been established whatsoever. Lin Yue simply wanted to maximize Hua Zi's losses…

"Perhaps it's in the intelligence you overlooked, or something you came across by chance, or even something you know very well why Hua Zi wanted to kill you... but none of that matters anymore."

"Because your death was meaningless."

Zhucun's face twitched.

Lin Yue continued slowly, "Saburo is dead. Arakawa Hanako treats you like a stray dog ​​that she can use to do whatever she wants... The master you are loyal to is now just a bunch of data, patiently waiting for Yoriyuki's body to return to this world, right?"

Takemura suddenly felt a chill.

The unpleasant things he knew at the headquarters in Japan, the memories that shook his loyalty, began to resurface... Why does this guy seem to know everything as if he's right next to him?

"I think your plan isn't to assassinate Lai Xuan at all, but rather to kidnap him, right?"

Lin Yue's smile was somewhat helpless. He couldn't understand why Hua Zi was trying to cover things up. He realized that this potential sabotage was just a way to divert attention.

Takemura clearly didn't dare to say anything more.

"Goro, are you really planning to be abandoned like an unwanted dog and just want to die, or are you thinking about how to prevent a bunch of data from coming back to life in your head... Since Saburo can do this, there will be more imitators. Since you know this news and still do it, it seems that I really shouldn't have let you go in the Azure Mansion."

Zhucun kept his head down.

For the first time, this guy, who dared not face his own heart, wondered if he could still be considered the loyal Saburo bodyguard.

Whenever he tried to utter the word "adult," he would instinctively shut up, because he felt that Sanlang was no longer worthy of that title.

As someone born into poverty, Takemura could accept fighting for Saburo, but he couldn't accept the rich man toying with the social class he belonged to...

The subconscious mind doesn't lie.

"I...I don't know why Miss Hua killed me."

Takemura's pupils moved back and forth.

He clearly didn't understand it either, but whether the two people on the other side believed him was another matter.

As Lin Yue stood up, he and V heard a crackling sound of electricity and the scraping sound of something on the rough asphalt road behind them.

Goro Takemura suddenly looked up—

The guy's prosthetic body seemed to have increased its energy level several times, soaring towards Lin Yue's back at an unbelievable height.

This way of making moves and setting up the game is exactly the template for Hua Zi's moves, and Lin Yue can only respond with a cold laugh.

Looking at the prosthetic body that could rise from the ground, Lin Yue could roughly guess that this was a variant of the gravity field, a related drive device for anti-gravity... But this was tantamount to courting death. Lin Yue's gravity field would teach this guy how to obediently run on the ground and launch an attack.

The gravity field that caused Takemura to fall from the collapsed floor caused the surrounding airflow to suddenly swirl!

The ninja's lithe body was swiftly pressed down, and the violent speed at which the rain swept away seemed to catch Lin Yue off guard. He didn't even turn around to look at the enemy's position, and just stood there watching Goro's astonished eyes.

Ding! ! !
Lin Yue slightly raised his arm, and the sharp, space-grade material landed on his arm, sparking as it flew.

"The materials used in this state are the same as your knife. Didn't Hua Zi tell you this?"

With half of his body broken, the ninja swiftly threw the kunai in his hand towards Takemura!
Lin Yue knew that this guy's goal was still Zhucun. Hua Zi was very clear about what he wanted to do, and even if this guy was crippled, he would still faithfully carry it out.

V's upload hacking panel can make the movement trajectory of almost any Sinweistein on the market clearly visible, and can even make it stop suddenly. This makes it convenient for hackers to upload and crack quickly. However, she found that Rin was still moving quickly in the view of her hacking panel.

Is this prosthetic body really that fast?
Could it be that Rin did use the network's computing power?

Lin Yue's reaction was already at its peak; a score of 20 was enough to crush any lone wolf on the surface with a record. In other words... he was now an army all by himself!
Lin Yue easily caught the kunai in his hand, and a pitch-black hand suddenly plunged into the guy's heart, gripping the heart tightly wrapped with wires... Only by attacking here can the integrity of the prosthetic body be maintained.

Since Hua Zi and Ye Shi both like to give him "gifts," he will accept them all!
As Takemura listened to the sound of kunai hitting the ground, Lin Yue held the heart wrapped in dense threads and dripping milky white prosthetic solution in his hand. Takemura's life was saved by this enemy for the second time.

“Takemura, V or me, you choose one.”

The electronic heart in Lin Yue's hand was carelessly discarded, and the corpse with the empty chest in front of him finally fell down, causing a metallic clanging sound.

"To Arasaka, you are an information container, but to me, you can investigate for yourself why Hanako wanted to kill you—I only need this information, nothing else matters, and you can still live in this city."

Takemura wondered how this guy could be so arrogant, but he quickly came to terms with it.

The word "invincible" was something Takemura often told himself during his training. He believed that as long as one had courage, one could be invincible. But he was wrong... True invincibility is more terrifying than he imagined.

V was clearly unhappy.

"He can't let go."

Lin Yue looked at Zhucun, "Should we still remain loyal?"

The mental anguish that Takemura is now experiencing has surpassed the feeling caused by the damage to his prosthetic body. He is panting heavily, and his distorted thoughts have been completely stripped of the disguise called "loyalty".

Just five minutes.

Takemura's tense back went limp...

He could no longer convince himself to work for this distorted cause; he desperately thought he had joined another interest group with a twisted purpose—the power-hungry Lai Xuan hawks…

“I will go with V, and I will tell you everything I know… I just need one chance. I want to know why all this happened. I… want an answer.”

V stared at Takemura suspiciously.

Lin Yue gave V a gentle smile, indicating that she shouldn't worry. "You haven't forgotten our invitation, have you? I'll go."

V's expression relaxed.

With someone like Rin present, Yorihiro's safety would naturally be much more assured...

She just didn't understand why Lin Yue was giving Zhucun, who was clearly a core figure in the Huazi Group, so many opportunities.

Could it be that…

Did Rin already know this guy and was familiar with his life trajectory?

Lucy stepped forward and grabbed Takemura's arm. "Please move aside."

Zhucun watched dejectedly as the man and woman disappeared into the rain. He walked towards the path he least wanted to face, yet which was the path where he could sleep soundly every day and night he walked.

……

……

(End of this chapter)