Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 514 Kerry Eurodyne

The vast and mysterious outer space.

The blue planet didn't seem to show any signs of being riddled with holes, but Kree knew that if the people below didn't even have biotechnology to modify their skin to protect against ozone layer depletion, they would be living in dire straits.

"Isn't she beautiful?"

Kerry was sitting in the first class cabin of the space shuttle, looking out the window, when he heard a voice behind him. He subconsciously replied, "Yeah, it's so free."

He then realized he had lost his composure.

The woman sitting next to him was clearly of noble birth, with a long, slender neck like that of a proud swan.

"Oh, I remember you, Executive Vice President of Rolling Stone Records—I'm so sorry."

Kerry still needs to be careful about the company's overt business dealings, after all, he was able to hold a concert at Crystal Palace, which was already far ahead of him, all thanks to these executives.

The woman smiled, glancing at Kerry's half-closed and insincere gaze, and at the drink in his hand. "Hmm, it seems this event has left you a little tired; I didn't mean to intrude on your personal time—"

She paused, seemingly a little embarrassed, and said, "My daughter is a huge fan of yours and has caused her father a lot of worry... I was thinking that if you could give me an autograph or something, our mother-daughter relationship might get even closer."

Kerry, stunned for a moment, turned around and yelled, "Fuck you, Cowens! Why did you send Ms. Mellins to ask for an autograph in person?! Give me a record, the fucking best one!"

The surprise in the woman's eyes was quickly replaced by admiration.

She seemed to understand why this guy, who used to be a member of a rebellious band, was able to thrive now that the company controlled everything.

Cursing and swearing, Kerry saw the woman and immediately revealed a row of large teeth. "Damn it, these bastards who take money and do nothing—don't worry, as many sets as your daughter wants, I'll have them all, delivered to your private cabin in a bit, I'll do it myself!"

The woman stopped smiling, stood up, and nodded.

"No need for you to come in person; my assistant will naturally fetch it. Well... have a pleasant journey, Mr. Kerry!"

Kerry, who was half-sitting on the sofa, quickly got up and bowed to the woman. After she left, he puffed out his cheeks and plopped down in the chair.

Just as Kree continued to gaze at the increasingly massive planet outside with drooping eyelids, the woman who emerged from Kree's cockpit waved her hand. "It's not him. The others inside have been scanned. Be ready to act at any time. If that guy lands, we'll be in a passive position."

A chilling killing intent, completely opposite to that of the entertainment company's vice president, emanated from the woman's eyes. The two agents simply nodded and took their positions on either side.

Cursing himself for being a dog again, Kerry slumped out the window, his head starting to feel dizzy.

The ear-piercing sound of the electric guitar made Kerry feel somewhat dazed.

In a blur, he saw a figure walking towards him, somewhat thin, with long hair. The only striking thing was that his right arm was silver-white, and what was gleaming was a small dagger protruding from his elbow.

"Holy shit..."

Kerry thought he was probably seeing a ghost.

In a daze, the blurry figure appeared in front of Kerry as if teleported. Kerry's hair stood on end as soon as he saw the face!
"Johnny...Johnny?!"

What you think about during the day, you dream about at night. There's also a saying: "If you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to fear."

Clearly, our Kerry has gotten involved in all of them.

Johnny's breath reeked of cheap rum, and his glazed, drunken eyes were filled with hatred, like the cold mist seeping from the wells of Night City in winter.

"You fucking bastard, Kerry!"

Kerry was at a loss, as if he had been transported back to that era.

In that era once dominated by the Samurai Band, he wore an American soldier's headband and watched the dazzling superstars like a follower.

Perhaps it was because his gaze had been fixed on Johnny for so long, and the resentment in Kerry's heart, coupled with the chain reaction of being frightened, forced him to push the guy's hand away. Of course... it cannot be ruled out that there was a bit of love turning into hate.

"You're the fucking silver-handed one!"

"Where the hell have you been?! When we guys were being locked up like dogs by the company, where were you?"

"What talk about saving the world... what talk about becoming a thorn in the side of the new America, a thorn in its flesh, and fucking turning the hill on its back!"

Kerry grew even angrier when he realized his struggles wouldn't divert Silver Hand's attention. "You're just an arrogant, hypocritical, pathetic wretch who's always chasing girls off Arasaka! Damn it!!!"

As he spoke, he even punched Johnny.

However, this impulsive act made Kerry look down at his trembling fist. As his chest heaved, the guy opposite him, who was covering his face, slowly raised his head and stared directly at the impotent and furious Kerry, as if he were staring at a child who had made a mistake.

“Kerry…”

"So you finally became Ziben's dog, didn't you?"

"Or... have you already betrayed your former self?"

Kerry collapsed to his knees with a thud, raising his trembling hands. Veins bulged on his forehead, and the broken, pale gold prosthetic lines were swallowed by the wrinkles. Kerry's trembling hands, which he wanted to press against his face, now became a mirror, reflecting a reflection of himself with eyes no different from those of a corporate dog.

"How did you even come up with that idea? Going to Singapore, Malaysia, or Thailand to clear your head and find yourself again." The guy slowly walked up to him, his muddy military boots landing on Kerry's thigh, and gently bent down to remove his sunglasses. "You've become one of them—"

"Do not!!!"

These words struck a nerve with Jerry, who quickly stepped back, shouted, and suddenly opened his eyes.

"Sir? Sir..."

With a worried expression, the Orbital Airlines flight attendant knelt before Kerry, holding a warm handkerchief. Especially since these service industry workers all inherited the cleanliness and tidiness philosophy of the Arasaka Service Industry, her entire body was covered in a special silver-white skin modification that reflected her image…

Clearly, what Kerry had just experienced in his nightmare had given him another fright.

"Uh, I'm fine..."

After calming himself down, Kerry forced a smile and took the handkerchief from the flight attendant's strange gaze to wipe away his cold sweat.

"Sir, there is an urgent meeting for you."

The man to Kerry's side received a notification from the flight attendant. A wire for brain-computer interface slowly extended from the partition above the cabin. Unaware that he had just escaped a disaster, Kerry only glanced at it casually.

He began to realize where the problems lay in his amazing concert at Crystal Palace…

Kerry has never felt at ease.

On the contrary, he would subconsciously ignore the band's past tracks every time he selected those playlists. He didn't want to face the past more than anyone else. Perhaps doing some childish and innocent things was considered rebellion for Kerry.

Johnny may have always been right; he was a complete coward.

"Damn it... He's been dead for so many years, and he still makes people uneasy."

Kerry decided not to close his eyes.

Disturbed, he turned on his phone, violating the rules of orbital aviation, and called his buddies in Night City: "Dark Matter Bar, my treat tonight."

They were all just a bunch of drinking buddies, and Kerry didn't care about that little bit of money.

"Tonight? Forget it..."

This was the first time Kerry had ever heard these opportunistic bastards refuse him.

A group of thugs laughed, "A really awesome band has recently appeared in Night City, led by a superstar—well, that's not quite the right word, anyway, he's incredibly popular in Night City right now. Can you imagine how much he's worth to overthrow the Night Clan?!" Kerry almost flew off his chair.

what?
If Kerry hadn't been able to hear properly, he would have really thought those guys on the other side were high on drugs...

Who is this Ye Shi?

"Wait, you said the Ye family... is gone?"

This shocking news made Kerry's first reaction that all the stocks he had bought were gone.

Kerry didn't even know how the call ended. He heard that the rising rock star was raising money for venue rentals by having his group perform in bars, saying he was going to do some kind of public performance.

And these bastards make no attempt to hide their motive: to kill the company.

Suddenly, Kerry seemed to remember something and hurriedly flipped through his phone. A few years ago, when Kerry's career was about to take off, he had heard of Santo Domingo, a band that had offended the company.

Call…

KIA?
As Kerry recalled the name, he saw the news article that had been buried in the trash for a long time.

"Ding dong..."

"Dear passengers, this LPSO flight will land at the Night City NCX Spaceport. As this area is a neutral zone, please ensure your tethers are secure at all times during landing. Also, please do not connect to unknown networks. If necessary, Orbital Aviation and NCX local services can provide 24/7 security to ensure your smooth travel."

Night City.

Kerry sighed and came back anyway.

Kerry could say he didn't like this place at all, but the creative freedom here was undoubtedly relatively high.

Since the death of the Samurai band, Kerry has only been able to write metaphors in his songs that are almost incomprehensible to outsiders. In addition, it is only in this criminal paradise that Kerry feels like a "rebel"... Kerry seems to have never been good at the issue of identity.

"I don't know why a mercenary leader would still be into B-rock. Rock and roll is fucking dead."

Kerry cursed under his breath and tightened his seatbelt. "When will you guys ever get a chance to do commercial performances? You might as well switch careers and let these company dogs eat bullets... damn it."

The plane cut into the atmosphere, and the descent and shaking made Kerry forget about the man still in the conference system.

When Kerry noticed that the guy's body was starting to spasm, his first reaction wasn't fear, but rather to stare blankly.

A group of flight attendants, unsteady on their feet, rushed forward to watch as sparks began to fly from the wires connecting the man to the brain-computer interface, and chaos erupted in the cabin…

"disconnect!"

"Crash-"

A series of noises accompanied the plane's final violent shaking. The window sills outside still bore the lingering red glow of atmospheric friction. The men who had been huddled together inside the cabin were dead.

Accompanied by burning flames.

It looked like a layer of rubber was rolling up on the man's face...

Kerry froze, then forcibly turned his head.

However, while a bunch of people were busy figuring out what to do with the body of this seemingly wealthy and powerful man, Kerry simply raised the bottle of wine that had emerged from under the table to celebrate a safe landing, and gestured for a toast to the distant silhouette of Night City.

As expected of the City of Night…

Beneath the opulent sense of order created by money at Crystal Palace lies a scene reminiscent of this one on the airplane.

But Kerry's trembling hands while drinking betrayed him.

Only then did Kerry realize that the Rolling Stone vice president had probably come to test him, and sure enough, a lot of agents had gathered around...

Perhaps it was Kerry's slow-thinking nature that saved his life. After all, Kerry was preoccupied with avoiding offending these powerful figures, which is why he wasn't eliminated along with them.

However, his brain-computer interface contained an email with a self-introduction.

The sender was the guy whose brain had just been fried. Kerry's calmness wasn't just to maintain the image of a crazy rock kid who'd had too much to drink; he was also terrified...

Just a few days ago, this man had looked for him in the casino area of ​​Crystal Palace, asking them to ask the band to bring someone in from the upper levels. Kerry refused without a second thought... He figured that if he hadn't been a cash cow for the record company and knew nothing about it, he probably wouldn't be here anymore.

When Kerry, like a walking corpse, smelled the pungent odor of the Night City ocean, his assistant and a group of people were already waiting for him below.

"These are your luggage. They were already retrieved separately for you from the VIP baggage check-in area, you..."

Kerry waved his hand and said, "The box contains the videos and Mewtwo I wanted, right? Okay... let's head out then. I'm so sleepy. I parked a car here, I'll drive back myself."

After saying all this, the big star, who had made a fortune at the Crystal Palace, bypassed the passageway where he might be mobbed by fans and walked out through the elevator in the dedicated underground parking lot.

The group looked at each other in surprise, then received the payment from the company. They were all overjoyed and no one paid any attention to Kerry anymore.

As soon as he got on the bus, Kerry received a call from his cronies. The call was filled with loud rock music, and with his years of experience, Kerry immediately recognized it as a song by the Samurai Band.

"Listen to this...listen to this! Kerry, isn't that awesome?!"

"Wow! That's awesome!"

Hearing the noisy, bustling atmosphere, Kerry felt a sense of relief from his loneliness.

"Where?"

As Kerry started the car, he placed the briefcase on the passenger seat.

"Night City's Liz, it's a really cool place. Don't worry about the two girls at the entrance who are a bit hot, they're just waiting for you, big star—you'll definitely be interested in this group!"

It seems we're definitely going to have to meet with the KIA band tonight.

"Also, my Mewtwo remembers, I need to see what Crystal Palace looks like, and we also want to hear your music."

Kerry patted the box, laughed and cursed as he hung up the phone.

Those guys probably wanted to resell their Mewtwo concert first-person perspective video, so Kerry turned a blind eye and considered it a gift for his "friends".

Perhaps only in this way can I pretend that I'm not too lonely.

However, as Kerry drove out of the garage, he looked at his box several times, his intuition telling him... this thing didn't seem to be his.

There's always this feeling with old objects in life; even if you lose them and replace them with brand new ones, they still don't feel the same as your own.

So he slammed on the brakes, ignoring the honking horns of the cars behind him, and reached out to open the glove compartment.

However, the HyperDream chips and video recording memory cards that Kerry expected did not appear. Instead, a strange, jet-black object filled with red data appeared...

It was like the eye of a demon, silently watching him.

……

……

(End of this chapter)