Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 524 The Long Road Home (Part 1)
"What else is there to say? Buckle up! Let's kill these bastards—"

Vladimir was also an optimist, but beneath his seemingly frivolous smile lay a deep and serious gaze.

Because he had seen the guy who slaughtered the entire street that day, and the Arasaka ninja's goal was so clear, he figured it was also to kill and silence witnesses.

Sasha's pursuit speed increased, and the driving machine, already operating at high speed on the slippery road, began to show signs of fatigue.

"Damn it, what exactly did this guy modify in his legs?"

Sasha also sensed something was amiss.

In the past, Arasaka ninjas were skilled in short-range melee weapon attacks, and Sianwistan had a certain advantage. However, it seems that Kenichi Shiro's training standard has never been to equip ninjas with prosthetics that push their physical reaction limits. Therefore, the fact that he could run for so long without Sianwistan makes the modification of his legs particularly important.

In addition, fall protection is also crucial.

Lynx claws...

Sasha couldn't read the guy's leg prosthetic data from the helmet that was reporting errors, and a sense of irritation rose in her heart as she cursed under her breath.

At this moment, Lucy skillfully gave directions in the car, while using her advanced technology to get any vehicles blocking the way to start moving and leave as early as possible.

Why do I feel like I'm getting further and further away?

Vladimir couldn't help feeling a little uneasy as he drove.

Lucy growled, "Speed ​​up, to the left!"

The sudden sound brought Vladimir's attention back, and at the same time, he swept up a large chunk of frozen corpse and snow with a beautiful tail drift—

It's almost here, almost here...

Too late and things will change.

Given the long-distance pursuit, Arasaka might already know.

Believing it to be true, Lucy's eyes were filled with a dense array of data and indicator icons—

"Sasha!"

"It's now!"

A sports car that had drifted out from the end of the long street suddenly blocked the way for the two speeding people!

"What…"

Clearly, the Arasaka ninja on the less than ten-meter-high building never expected that someone would block his way first. So he turned around and jumped off the roof without hesitation, then rolled on the snow and threw all his shurikens at the roaring driving machine.

Without a word, Lucy shrank out of the passenger seat and kicked Vladimir out of the driver's seat, which no longer had a door!
"Fuck me!"

Lucy rolled wildly in the snow, her hands covering her head, her almost silver hair blending with the pure white snow.

At this moment, Sasha, under the onslaught of ACPA error messages, plummeted from the high-rise building like a black meteor, instantly seizing the moment when the ninja's attention was drawn and charging straight to the ninja's side at a ferocious speed.

Only when you get closer do you realize that this ninja's legs are too grotesque. The hook-like shape of the legs omits a series of complex movements of the ankle and calf. Using only the simplest jumping power and control system, the speed is so fast!

"go to hell!"

The ninja drew his katana from his waist, and his next words strengthened Sasha's resolve to kill: "You bunch of cowardly out-of-town dogs!"

This ambiguous statement from Sasha became his own death knell, so much so that when Sasha broke the blade with a single punch, the guy was momentarily stunned, clearly not expecting the person in front of him to be so fierce—

Of course, he had the skills of a hacker.

Sasha's rapid-fire hacking affected the effectiveness of his weapon; otherwise, it would have been far more powerful.

The broken steel blade sliced ​​through the ninja's helmet at incredible speed, with the largest piece embedding itself in half of the ninja's face. After the blade shattered, Sasha saw the terrified eyes that were wide open in horror.

"You are--"

He seemed to recognize what Sasha was wearing.

Wow.

Blood rained down, fragments of the prosthetic body and flesh scattered everywhere, leaving only the tall, black-clad prosthetic ninja standing like a god of death. The heat emanating from the corpse's cavity hadn't even had time to dissipate yet...

Sasha opened her clenched fist, and after a long while…

"Ouch, that hurts, my foot."

Lucy, lying on the ground, showed a relieved smile on her bewildered face. Sasha quickly walked over and helped the dazed Vladimir up. She then looked at the sports car, which was lying at the base of the building, its front and cabin almost completely disintegrated.

"A perfect kick—"

Sasha's appreciation was palpable. Lucy's coldness didn't hurt anyone, but the way she treated you was hard to accept.

Vladimir's groan rang out, "Screw you! Damn it... my titanium alloy back was just repaired last month, and the insurance hasn't even expired yet!"

See it.

Even those who rebel against the company are bound to it in this way; even if they have prosthetic bodies or problems with their bones, there will be people who come to seize their profits.

Lucy slowly got up and brushed the snow off her body.

Sasha slowly removed her helmet. "So, are we continuing on to other neighborhoods?"

Then she looked at Vladimir with disdain, "Um... what if this guy dies next block? Hey? Besides driving, don't you have any combat cybernetic devices to save your life?"

Vladimir retorted irritably, "Does smart connectivity count?"

"Won't the Girafa Corporation equip you with combat cybernetic bodies?"

Lucy asked as well.

Vladimir spread his hands, rolled up his sleeves as if no one else was around, and said, "My life was given to me by my buddies. I'm too useless to fit too many prosthetics... I've been lucky enough to survive a few times, and my marksmanship is not bad either."

This topic clearly seemed a bit like digging into someone's past, so Sasha immediately changed the subject, excitedly asking Lucy, "How exactly is the boss telling us to investigate that virus? I've looked at the internet connection locations near Arasaka, and they all seem a bit tricky—"

"Are we okay?"

At this point, Lucy paused as she pulled out the cigarette case that was almost soaked with snow from her pocket. A relieved smile appeared on her face as she said, "There's always a way. We... didn't say anything, but he gave me some special instructions."

"Want to hear it?"

Sasha and Vladimir both nodded.

"What kind of food did you order?"

Sasha was inwardly grumbling.

Lucy looked at them like they were two silly kids. "What she said was, if it really is a heavy blow, we should split up and run away. We shouldn't have problems one by one. When it's time to give up, we should give up decisively. — Yes, the boss thought about my suggestion and agreed to this approach. Are you happy?"

Lucy's long, slender fingers, accompanied by a slightly wicked smile, lightly brushed past the two astonished men. "There's a 33% chance that if it really is an improved killing machine, we could all die before the boss shows up. So we need to protect ourselves as much as possible."

to be honest…

Sasha felt that it was time to show some determination, as Rin was too tired.

But this isn't the kind of decision Rin would make. At least... he's never been such a cold person. Lucy, on the other hand, is a bit cold.

Lucy understood.

I've rarely told the truth since I fled this city and arrived in North America, and... today is no exception.

No fly could sneak into any corner outside the Arasaka Tower, so there wasn't enough time for network detection. It was just that she and Rin made an incredibly bold decision—

Do you really think so?

My thoughts immediately drifted back to the quieter interior of the Mamiya Bar after Vladimir and Sasha had left.

Lin Yue's expression was inscrutable.

Lucy took a deep breath. "I'm sorry to have troubled you... I won't bring it up again if it doesn't work out."

Lin Yue stood up, and Lucy instinctively looked away.

"Everyone wants an answer, and I'm no exception—how should I put it, Lucy? I've been searching, searching for the answer to surviving, searching for the answer to how to keep the people around me safe, and also searching for the answer to the Great Firewall..."

"Too many."

The man lurking in the internet spoke through this body, his young face seemingly concealing a withered soul that had witnessed all the darkness and despair.

“But that’s impossible, Mr. Rin…”

"Some things require sacrifice, which is always possible and even necessary."

Lucy suddenly raised her voice a few decibels.

This startled Lin Yue for a moment, then he smiled with relief. "No wonder you've been so distracted since last time. It seems you've been wanting a definite answer, haven't you?"

"Your parents, your home, you just want to find something... to prove that your life isn't actually that bad."

Lucy gritted her teeth, then closed her eyes as if resigned to her fate.

“But you also know that you and Miss Ultra have been exposed to the firewall for too long. Even if you can easily destroy Arasaka’s network system, the whole world will inevitably find out… I really can’t think of any way other than accessing the database offline. You are a network genius—you should know that better.”

“Sasha…Qiwei, they all believe we have a solution. Are they really going to gamble your and Miss Ultra’s lives on our survival?”

Lin Yue shook his head, his words equally uncompromising.

"Lucy, don't you really have any responsibility for others in your life?"

"Mrs. Gloria, David, and your teacher—"

Lucy suddenly interrupted Lin Yue.

At least she always respected this man, and this was the only time she interrupted him in a confrontational manner.

"But what about you and Director V? And Miss Ultra... Are you all just supposed to keep facing unpredictable dangers? Have you ever thought that the only thing you can truly help by protecting everyone you want to protect is protecting yourself first! If you're exposed, things will become unpredictable..."

"The world is inherently cruel; can there ever be a happy ending?"

“I want the answer, and I can also complete the offline invasion, as long as I return to Arasaka Tower and meet Takeda.”

She no longer referred to Takeda Kenji as her father.

Lin Yue knows only three parent-child relationships, and it seems that only Gloria and David are happy.

With great power comes great responsibility. Whether this is a false proposition or not, Lin Yue doesn't know... but he feels that he deserves to dedicate himself to the people in this world who care about him, even if they are some poor people who are tightly bound by the company and unable to move.

"Please..."

Lucy's voice was barely audible.

"Alright, but I have a condition: if Takeda really lets that guy who is suspected to be a clone of the Heavy Hammer kill you, I... won't consider what you said."

That sentence was like a reassurance.

Lucy sometimes fantasizes…

She fantasized about whether her father could be as idealistic and gentle as such a person, protecting those he wanted to protect.

"Thank you."

Seeing Lin Yue's helpless yet clueless expression, Lucy suddenly laughed, "Then please don't tell Mrs. Gloria, David, or the director... I'm afraid I'll back out prematurely."

Lin Yue's eyes lit up.

"This is…"

Lucy looked at the complicated user interface.

Lin Yue said in a deep voice, "I am very familiar with Arasaka's procedures. I have erased any code and architecture number of your prosthetic body and transformed it into various bad versions made by shady doctors. At the same time... I have also deleted any logs of you and Arasaka of Night City."

"Ideally, you would be detained in the most secure area of ​​Arasaka Tower, which should be for restricting prosthetics."

"This program has been tested by Ultraman Run and can temporarily bypass the internal restriction protocol of Arasaka Tower..."

nice one.

Lucy's eyes brightened slightly.

When it comes to being meticulous, Rin is always reliable and trustworthy.

This is not finished.

Lin Yue packed his luggage like a child going out, "Hmm... the program also came with something, a magic puppet that isn't too powerful."

Lucy initially thought it was a one-time-use virus, but since Rin-san's puppets were definitely better than hers, she was just about to save them to an external hard drive when—

"We can shut down the power to Arasaka Tower and forcibly disconnect the self-test system, giving you thirty minutes."

"besides…"

Lucy suddenly burst out laughing.

Lin Yue felt that the reason this girl could attract an honest guy like David was not for any other reason. Like V, she was a very rich person at heart, but she just appeared indifferent.

No wonder David likes you so much…

Lin Yue sighed helplessly, "Listen to Lucy carefully."

"Furthermore, once you enter the network, you will become our anchor point in the Arasaka branch in Warsaw. Ultraman and I... will attack the Arasaka Tower's automatic defense system to buy you time should you have any problems."

"The one-time use rabies vaccine is also included; you must have sufficient RAM to use it, understand?"

Lucy turned her face away, almost making Lin Yue furious.

Lin Yue, with her high intelligence, never expected that this was just a stubborn child trying to hide his emotions. She only felt a lump in her throat and her eyes were a little hot.

"Did you hear that...?"

"I heard it."

Lucy waved her hand dismissively, as if to say, "That's just how I am." In reality, she didn't really want to confront Takeda and Him directly.

嗏

She has to go.

This is the best way to repay Rin.

The first ten years of her life were uneventful, and after the gloomy days that followed, Lucy felt more and more that there were many things in this world that she needed to work hard for.

Lin Yue only sat down slowly after Lucy left.

Aside from Sasha's gear, he was really worried...

So now he's wondering if Yajima and the others are actually able to put together a set of these things for each of them.

That idea seems a bit naive...

……

"Hey? What are you standing there for? You just keep smoking."

"Stop smoking, it's so annoying... You and the boss are such a pain, my synthetic lungs are suffering because of you guys!"

Sasha is a girl with a very healthy lifestyle, so naturally she puffed out her cheeks and attacked Lucy.

Lucy didn't refute it, but instead put away her memories and pretended to smoke while actually waiting.

"Smokers are the worst!"

Vladimir seconded the idea, took out a cigarette and lit it, saying, "Of course I'm a jerk."

As the group chatted and laughed, a heavy, imposing figure slowly emerged from the open hatch of the hovercar above the thick clouds, its face appearing in the locking system.

"Scan first. If it's a leader of the Freedom Front, capture them first. Live prisoners are more useful than dead ones, understand?"

Heavy Hammer let out a strange laugh from his throat. "Would you like to see what this pile of meat looks like?"

Takeda looked at this presumptuous madman with an expression of anger that he dared not speak out.

The high-precision prosthetic arm of the heavy hammer quickly swept the three people on the street into the room, until—

Among the three, the slightly thin girl with a full head of silver hair, who was smoking, looked up at the sky, and Takeda's expression immediately froze.

“The white-haired girl must live. The man is the leader of this group of troublemakers. If they die… I will have a good talk with Ms. Arasaka Michiko about your recent out-of-control behavior.”

After saying this, Takeda hung up the phone, seemingly not wanting Heavy Hammer to notice anything.

"These crawlers are such a pain."

The heavy hammer's throat grew increasingly strange. "Leave your life... Losing an arm or a leg is fine, isn't it?"

……

……

(End of this chapter)