Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 496 Haywood's Future (Part 2)

With the urgent alarm blaring and the red flashing lights, Mrs. Wells was on the verge of suffocation.

The old buddies beside him hurriedly braved the gang's bullets to try and pull the iron thing off this street icon, but unfortunately the thing's bionic limbs were completely mechanically locked...

The sudden turn of events and the underestimation of gang tactics seemed to signal the end of the street resistance centered around Wild Wolves.

This also had a significant impact on some residents who opened their doors, hoping to join Mrs. Wells in protecting their homes.

"Step aside!"

Mrs. Wells, despite her small body, let out the loudest shout she could muster in her life. She waved her hands and struggled to her feet. This series of actions took only a few seconds. Perhaps it was the intense adrenaline rush from the impending death that caused the robot to be dragged up and slammed against the wall.

She just wanted to get further away from her neighbors!
The crowd was filled with anger and fear until someone shouted, "Get out of the way!"

The intelligent modified robots that replaced Tiano's men to quickly suppress the street riots all sped up, like a group of monsters of the soul, using all four limbs, suddenly stopped on their knees and then plunged into the crowd.

Mrs. Wells watched as this method of using suicide robots broke through her defenses in an instant, and despair began to spread wildly within her.

Beep beep beep beep…

The buzzing in her ears seemed to stop abruptly, and Mrs. Wells felt as if the end was approaching.

She was undoubtedly relieved; at least her child wasn't in Heywood. Perhaps after she passed away, her child would find various ways to reclaim the land that belonged to the people of Heywood, but at least for now, he undoubtedly gave his mother peace of mind…

"retreat!"

"Tiano shouted."

I silently mourned for the woman who made such a great contribution to Heywood.

People with different values ​​cannot work together. Every Haywood resident has the right to choose their future, and so does Tiano…

Even though he knew this would cause his brothers to turn against each other and the morale of the Heywood community to crumble, at least the company wouldn't interfere anymore, and he would make sure that the outsiders Camilla had brought in to help were completely kicked out.

The consequence of using a cunning strategy to drive away a wolf to devour a tiger is often that the tiger eats the man, a principle that Tiano did not understand.

In some ways, he was more naive.

now--

call out!
In the gray-green world, afterimages moved swiftly!
Those guys on the street with their special prosthetic bodies felt a sudden, turbulent breeze brush past their ears, and Krenchkov, driven by neuromechanical responses, abruptly entered a state of time stop…

Is someone there?

On the street blocked by the gang members, someone rushed into the core area where the explosion was about to occur. When they entered this brief moment of time stop, they only saw a broad back leaving a dense and terrifying afterimage as it headed towards Mrs. Wells's location!
"stop--"

The eerie tone grew longer, and someone subconsciously shouted a warning.

The moment Mrs. Wells closed her eyes, the mechanical arm that was holding her tightly suddenly broke down!

Sharp metal fragments grazed her wrinkled face, leaving streaks of blood. Broad arms shielded her tightly, and then a gust of wind brushed past her ear. The robots that had rushed into the crowd, before they could even lock their arm structures, seemed to be pulled up by an unseen force...

They were thrown into the air as if they had no weight.

The afterimages darted left and right through the crowd, and several robots were flung into the air.

The entire process took almost a second.

When Mrs. Wells felt that arm protecting her again, the robot controlling her began to flash with a blinding white light, and time suddenly returned to normal. The robot was torn apart by a violent explosion.

Mrs. Wells was firmly protected, and the big man gritted his teeth as the long, slender prosthetic body on his spine, resembling a giant gecko climbing, suddenly glowed!
Upon closer inspection, one can see numerous high-tech fixation points embedded in the flesh along both sides of the spine… The sounds they make, the way they stimulate the nerves, their colors, their compatibility, and so on—

Without a doubt, this is something far more ferocious than the super-generation version of [Seanwistan - Far Point] from three years ago!!!

Wow!

The orange-red flames exploded rapidly, abruptly elongating the shadows of the two people below.

The strong man, dressed in a flashy black jacket, held his mother tightly in his arms, like a thick and reassuring wall, firmly blocking the shockwave and flames behind them!
Several bursts of orange flames erupted from a height of over ten meters above the Heywood building, resembling fireworks at a grand event!
The immense impact tore through the building's windows, and the strong wind blew both groups of people down until someone got up and saw the guy with a charred back, yet still standing upright—

“Jack…”

Someone, half-sitting on the ground, propped themselves up and saw the guy's face, muttering in astonishment.

Even with the intense heat scorching his back, the S'anwestan appeared even more ferocious and sharp, its silvery-white surface adorned with the distinctive crimson glow of the Vortex Gang's altered system...

"call."

The burly man looked down at his mother, whose face was covered in wounds, and his lips trembled slightly.

"Mom, I'm back."

Mrs. Wells reached out and touched the man's face incredulously, thinking it was just the first hallucination after the explosion had torn his body apart.

A hint of tenderness flickered in the eyes of the former Haywood warrior, "Wells Boy," only to be followed by anger fueled by the scars on his mother's face—

"Bastard."

Mrs. Wells wanted to ask Jack how it was, but S.A.S.S.S.'s second activation shattered the peace after the explosion!

"Enemy attack!"

The loyal guards beside Tiano raised their guns and fired at the shadow moving left and right in front of them. However, before they could fire a few bullets, they saw the flickering black shadow holding two large-caliber pistols with luxurious dark gold patterns. The afterimages were engraved with the charge of this lone gunman!
After briefly cocking his gun with his arms crossed over his chest, Jack's eyes were filled only with hatred and incomprehension towards Diano…

Everyone says that companies are like dogs, that they plunder everything.

But he knew that there was only one reason why the world had become worse, and that was:
human heart.

Evil people create companies only to exploit and oppress, while good people create companies only to rebuild order.

"Thanks, Amigo..."

Heywood Kids thanked his friends for letting the Heywood people make their own choices, giving these nobody street kids, whom everyone looked down on, a chance to change their lives.

He wanted to use those words of thanks to Rin to sound the horn of a counterattack.

No one dared to hold back anymore; they all instinctively went on the defensive. The howl of Sianwistan before them sounded like the lament of death, and they could only stare wide-eyed in terror as they activated their prosthetic bodies.

however…

too fast.

This modified and untamed beast, Sianweistein, is itself a being that surpasses the limits of the human body. Its afterimages trace irregular curves, and the moment the gun is fired, the hair on the Valentino gang's fine heads trembles as the bullet penetrates!
Tiano's prosthetic eye simply didn't allow him to see this...

Everything happening around him reminded him of the tall plant stalks his father had fallen on when he was a child, cutting sugarcane to make rum, the hot blood splattering everywhere on his face, body, even his eyelids…

In the blink of an eye, the face he knew so well appeared before him.

Then came the dull thuds of bodies collapsing one after another… To catch the thief, first catch the king; Tiano was the first king to fall…

"Jack?"

Even he himself didn't know why he suddenly asked that question.

Tiano forgot his fear and his cries for help, and instead asked and answered himself in a low voice as if he were meeting an old friend.

The burly man stared intently at him without uttering a word. Then, Tiano was violently shoved forward, followed by Mrs. Wells's desperate scream: "Jack—stop!"

As a mother, she would do everything in her power to make the perpetrator pay if her child was injured or killed.

And she understood how angry Jack was to see her hurt...

The cybernetic body on Jack's body was definitely not some ordinary street-side item, but rather the wings of an excellent warrior. She feared that Jack might make a grave mistake and slaughter these Haywood people.

Jack, straddling Tiano, tucked the golden-haired woman behind his back. Tiano's men scattered with a bang, all staring pale-faced at the two men in the center.

Bang!
Jack's fist, as big as a sandbag, slammed into Tiano's cheek, and several teeth, along with blood, drew a red line on the ground!
"You're letting these kids run wild with you, aren't you?!"

Jack wasn't satisfied with just one punch, so he grabbed the guy by the collar and looked at his dazed and swollen face. Jack's reluctance grew stronger, and then he threw another punch!
He knew that Tiano, a fine boxer, wouldn't faint so easily. He wanted to know why they preferred to believe in heinous criminal methods and why they wouldn't look at Pacific Island and Heywood under the protection of the Dreamers... Did the people of Heywood have to do illegal business for their entire lives?

There are too many problems.

Jack could only punch the guy repeatedly.

The surrounding gang members retreated hastily, their Adam's apples bobbing, none daring to respond to Jack's roar...

Subconsciously, they know what is good and what is bad, but self-interest tears at their conscience, and the morality that the Heywood people follow gradually becomes distorted... The gangs are the beneficiaries, and they don't care where the money comes from anymore. Even if it is the hard-earned money of the people of Heywood, they will still take it without hesitation.

Only when Tiano was barely breathing and his throat was hoarsely murmuring did Jack loosen his collar, slowly stand up, and look around at the younger generation and brothers who had once followed him around, fighting for the Valentino gang.

Jack was panting heavily, and everyone was looking at this guy whose back was a mess but who exuded a powerful aura.

This is no longer the Jack who holds up a glass at the Ritz Bar and asks you, "Amigo, want a few sexy little wildcats?" This is Jack Wells, the former top gunman of the Valentino gang, a man who risked his life for his country.

Looking at the people around him, Jack finally understood why he had been so determined to become a famous figure for a time.

At that time, I couldn't see much. Even if I received the highest respect in the gang, I was still an "unknown nobody." But if I could become famous in one battle through the middleman, I would be a true legend of Night City.

But the world doesn't work that way; it's more complex than you might imagine, yet also simpler.

The right answer lies in following the will of the people.

Jack hated the company and even advised V to stay away from that snake pit more than once, but the peaceful years he had lived had taught Jack that nothing could escape the company's scheming.

The recent events, both big and small, have taught Jack a lesson: true legends are about change.

The city king of Night City is nothing but the glory of death—just as Rin said, rebuilding order is more important than anything else, and Taipingzhou has achieved this.

So Jack tried to learn to examine himself and understand the people who had changed his life, Rin…

The fake resistance was deafening, but the real resistance was a relentless, unwavering struggle. What did reputation or fame matter? Lin Yue had only one goal from beginning to end: to change everything. He would not disappoint his good friend who had chosen not to send anyone to intervene and who had kept a close eye on the Sixth Street Gang.

"Cough cough..."

Lying on the ground, Tiano was too overwhelmed by pain to think clearly.

He knew perfectly well that Camilla had sent him to pledge allegiance, and that only by showing a tough stance against the Haywoods could he take the first step in resisting the company's invasion!
Jack just arrived too quickly.

The actions that Tiano took, driven by his conscience, had already pushed the two to opposite sides. Jack's failure to kill him with a single shot... had already eroded all their past feelings.

Tiano squinted and saw his sidearm.

"You're fucking... pretty good... damn it!"

Tiano lay on the ground as if he had completely given up. "I should have installed this thing too."

Jack frowned.

He didn't know how to handle the next step... himself, his mother had already shot and killed a Heywood man, and his brother was preparing to kill even more Heywood men.

"Put the fuck down your guns!"

Jack's roar made many of the gang members surrounding Tiano look at each other in surprise, but they all put down their weapons.

Mrs. Wells came over, showing no intention of helping Jack.

She first had her men disarm Tiano's gang, and then everyone, including herself, kept an eye on Jack.

They wanted a leader who could guide the neighborhood out of its predicament.

"May everyone live in peace and prosperity, have a home, and may children not be killed by bullets while playing in the streets, may everyone's bodies not be destroyed by poison, and may no one have to sell their bodies for money..."

"Think about it carefully, brothers and sisters... are you really doing the right thing?"

Tiano remained silent, knowing that all was lost, and simply lay there breathing heavily.

"I know many of you say that the Wells family has become the company's dogs—"

No one expected Jack to be so blunt... and those who were about to question him fell silent.

"But open your eyes and look! The Heywood people have used the company's resources to make a living. We don't trust the company, but we can't live like this anymore... From self-defense in the past to doing business in Cuba now, how much more will the Heywood people pay for their crimes?"

No one spoke; everyone remained silent.

"But…"

"What if the company wants to eat us up?"

Someone asked in a low voice.

Jack saw the man, and his expression reflected the confusion and bewilderment that everyone else shared.

"If you don't trust them, then load your pistol and try this route—do we have a better option?"

Jack looked solemnly at all the neighbors, even those who had been hiding in their homes craning their necks to listen…

“I, Jack, a son of Heywood, will never let the people of Heywood become the filth in the mud… No matter if the enemy is a gang or a corporation, as long as our lives are no longer stable and happy, I will always be the first to fire, and I will never stop fighting…”

The man placed his hand on his heart, calmly gazing at the men, women, and children, and repeated:
"forever!"

……

……

(End of this chapter)