Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 533 The Attack! (Part 3)
That night.

In urban legends, desolate areas far from the city at night are often depicted as deadly places where people are devoured without spitting out their bones. However, the so-called demons and monsters that kill people do not actually exist. On the contrary, these places become places where people eat each other after nightfall.

For vagrants who rule the wasteland, and for criminals who are excluded from cities as a source of instability, isn't this another kind of paradise?

The barking of dogs could only be heard outside Night City, where a mass extinction had occurred. The high-pitched howls made the wind on the wasteland even colder. Accompanied by heavy breathing and heavy footsteps, Rebecca's bright eyes gazed at the desolate town in the distance, which seemed to be devoid of any living people.

Rebecca was exhausted.

By the dim moonlight, she could see the scars on the girl's face and the black jacket that had lost its sleeves. The rough and perfect black prosthetic lines on her arms were still emitting heat, clearly indicating that she had been through a fierce battle.

"Oh shit…"

Rebecca could only vent her anger by swearing.

She didn't want to stop, because once she emptyed her mind and lost the thoughts of fighting and escaping, she couldn't help but think of Morgan, who had been manufactured by this damned world as a counterfeit.

They were implanted with memories that their bodies shouldn't have, and were forced to live in the place of others.

Will Old Man Sunrise, who chose to offer help in the underground facility, also fall into this problem of self-perception?
Rebecca didn't understand such advanced vocabulary; she only knew that such a life must be extremely boring, unable to even achieve something as simple as being herself…

"Lowell".

Rebecca clutched her chest, a sharp pain shooting through her throat. She coughed and, unable to hold on any longer, slowly sat down against the wall.

The howling wind howled through the gaps in these dilapidated buildings, sounding more like a death knell—Rebecca, who had found something to shield her from the wind to avoid hypothermia, had a faint glow in her eyes in the darkness, hugging her knees as she seemed lost in thought.

Morgan, now in those people's hands, should be...

Rebecca was secretly heartbroken for a while, but then she remembered the hypocritical expression of the woman in white. The veins on Rebecca's forehead throbbed uncontrollably, and she couldn't suppress her hatred.

Miles played everyone for a fool; even after saving her life, he still managed to scheme against her relentlessly.

Rebecca had heard about the lark before, when Lin Yue mentioned it to her while they were strolling down the street… He might not have truly believed that a two-faced politician like Miles could keep his promises, but for the sake of his health, he chose to gamble with the greatest possible cost…

Now, facing this outcome, the deep-seated hatred made the fire in Rebecca's chest burn fiercely.

Of course, the bastard hiding in Rebecca's head could sense this emotion. Immediately, a wave of energy rippled around him, and Johnny Silverhand strode out from the phantom, his hands in the pockets of his worn-out, skinny jeans that were practically standing on end. His other hand wasn't idle either; he simply scratched his crotch.

"What, did you come out to laugh at me?"

Rebecca composed herself, burying her head like a deflated balloon, feeling as if she had let the whole world down.

"Hahaha!"

Johnny Silverhand let out a few dry laughs in a deliberately mocking, masculine voice, "Is this what you want?"

Rebecca's curses brought a slight smile to Johnny's previously somber expression—

Fuck Johnny!

That's good. At least I can swear, which proves that things might not be so bad right now.

"So, the mercenary who impersonated my old friend's military technology is dead?"

"Hmm... I could tell he was a complete idiot from the start."

Johnny crouched down in front of Rebecca, looking at the girl's listless eyes peeking out from the crook of her arms. "New America isn't all trash."

“Miles…”

Rebecca's voice rang out, filled with gritted teeth.

Johnny reached into his pocket and found he had no cigarettes, then said, "Hmm, I knew this day would come the moment you swore it."

"I know their nature all too well. They make empty promises, never keep them, and then they'll threaten you with your life—didn't that girl named Song Zhaomei end up like that?"

Before Rebecca could even give her a response.

Johnny seemed to be getting angry too, and stood up pacing back and forth. "When we get back to Night City, I'll take you somewhere... I once fought for honor, for my country, for the freedom of the old United States."

"Until I discovered it was all a politician's lie, because of one person, I survived; he gave me a second life."

Rebecca stared blankly at Johnny.

This is one of the few times this guy has mentioned the past amidst his witty and sarcastic remarks.

Over the years, Rebecca has experienced Johnny's memories from his perspective more than once, but the most memorable one was still the dream at the veterans' concert...

As for the rest?
Slaying enemies all the way through the Arasaka Tower? Storming into Arasaka's top-secret laboratory and killing Fuyushiro (then president of Arasaka North America)?
None of them left a deep impression on me, except for the nuclear explosion and the moment Saburo turned Johnny into a chip—those were the most memorable things I saw.

However, Professor Yajima later said that Johnny had edited his own memories, and this was also confirmed by Otto Cunningham, who was residing in Lin Yueqiang's brain computer, so Rebecca always regarded him as an idiot.

For the first time, the two, whose minds were connected, felt like comrades fighting side by side.

"What are you going to do?"

Johnny turned around, raised his silver-white arm, and pointed two fingers forward. "Go back and fucking kill them all! Make those white-faced bastards of New America pay the price! If I can pull off a big heist, I'll die happy!"

As they were talking—

Rebecca suddenly covered her mouth and coughed violently. To avoid attracting the attention of the pursuers, Rebecca tightly covered her mouth, while Johnny suppressed his excited expression and silently watched her.

In this world, humans are so insignificant.

"Holy shit..."

Rebecca felt dizzy and lightheaded, as if her lungs were about to burst.

He shook his hand; the ground was covered in bloodstains. His body reacted this way whenever Johnny came out…

But to be honest, although it was painful, it had nothing to do with whether Johnny was there or not when she was supposed to die. Rebecca thought it was nice to have someone to talk to.

"so…"

Johnny scratched his head, his eyes obscured by his black sunglasses. "What are you planning to do?"

It took Rebecca a long time to calm her breathing. She said in a low voice, her breathing heavy, "When Black Hand... uh no, Lowell left, I really wanted to die. At least I wouldn't have to face the painful choices that would come later."

Suicide?
Johnny least wanted this outcome—

“Listen, we still have so many friends, so much power, and your prosthetic body… to be honest, it’s really awesome.”

"If I had your gear fifty years ago, I would have definitely killed Arasaka Saburo!"

"Is this really how it has to be?"

Rebecca thought to herself.

A low-level mercenary in Night City who has no worries about adventures, makes such ordinary choices when she is under such great pressure.

"You mean... there are other friends... who will have to pay the price for our lives?"

"The brothers who were injured and died in Dogtown and Taipingzhou...do they resent us?"

"Ah, it's so annoying!"

Rebecca clutched her head, wishing she hadn't woken up, at least... she wouldn't have to experience all this pain firsthand. Johnny, unusually, didn't try to provoke Rebecca to ignite her will to live; instead, he stared intently at her, as if for the first time he seemed to be angry.

“I’ve already taken control of this body once… If you really want to die like this, then give me your body and let me control it.”

Johnny was like a powder keg that had been ignited. He started shaking Rebecca by pressing his arm against her shoulder. Meanwhile, in the dark ghost town room, a girl was shaking herself with her gorilla-like arm while muttering strange words.

This night seemed very eerie…

"Is giving up your solution, Rebecca?"

Shaken and disoriented, Rebecca shoved Johnny away, baring her teeth like an angry little lion, "This is my body! I will never give it to you!"

The two of them were like childish kids fighting over candy, or perhaps they were both immature children and idealists.

"I'll take control!"

Johnny became increasingly unreasonable, and his actions became more and more violent.

Rebecca fought back, but unfortunately, her prosthetic body seemed to have no effect on Johnny. On the contrary, she was like a powerless child being held down by Johnny's shoulders and stared at with the eyes of someone looking at a coward.

"Rebecca! This world has gone out of control, do you understand?!"

Johnny, frustrated with her lack of progress, loosened his grip slightly, seemingly to ease the pain in Rebecca. However, this did not elicit gratitude from Rebecca; she only felt that Johnny was a guy who, before even showing his fangs, was already trying to usurp her place.

"You're dreaming!"

Rebecca would never allow her body to bear another's soul. In desperation, she roared, "For Rin, for those guys who helped me get my damn life back, I will never give up my life! Never!"

凛…

Since arriving in Washington, D.C., Johnny Silverhand has rarely spoken to Rin. You see, this guy used to frequently describe Rin as a "corporate dog" or "looks like a conman." But when Rebecca mentioned this person's name, Johnny, who always liked to attack company members, gradually calmed down.

Johnny, who was usually reckless, was very serious at this moment. There was no trace of thuggishness on his face; it was the look of someone who had died once.

Resolute, resentful, and with a hint of unwillingness to simply disappear.

Rebecca suddenly froze, and the two of them looked at each other in silence, while Johnny stared at the dark night sky, pacing back and forth in the faint moonlight.

“I have seen the company use clauses and contracts to strangle people’s throats. The coastline of Night City is a hell constructed by the company through a series of self-righteous plunderings. It sucks out blood and sweat, gnaws at dignity, and spits out a discarded cyborg skeleton.”

"They disemboweled the world, plundering everything, sparing not even the marrow and people's dreams—"

Johnny's voice suddenly turned cold, "Rebecca, you can't stay numb any longer!"

The girl stared blankly at the guy in front of her. That night at Arasaka Tower, the enthusiastic fans covered the military technology squad as they stormed into Arasaka Tower. Perhaps this was the natural charisma that rock and roll kids possess.

Numbness...?

Rebecca clenched her fists and slowly leaned against the wall, shrinking to the ground. Despite the physical discomfort and the suffocating burden, she still wanted to live and fight back by any means necessary!

“Our resistance is not due to personal grudges, nor is it for some stupid new American freedom, nor is it to become a thorn in the side of socialism.”

"We have no choice but to go all out, smash the corporate system off its pedestal, and shatter their dream of immortality!"

"This is a fucking struggle! Do you understand, Rebecca?!"

Rebecca didn't understand those special political terms; all she knew was that the world was sick, just as this rock-and-roll idiot in front of her had said.

"If I had another chance, I would press the button to blow up the company building right away, and I would take your body without hesitation if I needed it!"

"Our price is this life, Rebecca!"

Everything was silent.

In chaotic times, companies bleed people dry, and everywhere you go, there are people who are neither human nor ghost.

Rebecca looked up, staring intently at Johnny, and after a long while, she managed to squeeze out a sentence, "I won't give you my body. I'll take my own life. I'm going to get it!"

Johnny strode towards Rebecca and then disappeared with a whoosh.

"Hold…"

Rebecca felt a sharp pain in her chest and cursed Johnny as a scoundrel, but there was no doubt that Johnny's voice was deafening!

The changemakers in this world are either mercenaries who are all alone and want nothing, or radicals like Johnny. Rin is a changemaker, and so is Lai Xuan. He is using the most destructive weapon in this world—the company—to break this unchangeable fate.

"Just you wait, Johnny, you won't be inside me for long."

"What the hell -"

Rebecca struggled to her feet, leaning against the wall. She couldn't stop; so many people were waiting. She had to move to create distance between her body and the pursuing enemies.

The stray dog ​​howled again…

Rebecca stopped moving as she got up, pressing her ear close to the hole to listen intently—this time the cries were dense and drawn out, as if someone was approaching the ghost town…

Soon, a low, mournful wail and the rustling of the wind, along with a different kind of friction sound, confirmed Rebecca's guess.

Those persistent guys finally caught up with us!
This time, Rebecca didn't despair; her eyes were filled with a fierce will to survive.

Taking advantage of her petite stature, she quickly bent down, focused her attention, and abandoned the pain, preparing to change direction and leave using the stealth techniques she had been trained in…

In the darkness, the rustling sounds were like the forked tongues of venomous snakes, echoing between the damp walls and abandoned shipping containers caused by the large temperature difference in the wasteland at night. Rebecca's expression was serious as she used her prosthetic eye to accurately analyze the path and avoid the direction from which the rustling sounds came.

However, those guys' prosthetic eyes are definitely locked by thermal imaging, so Rebecca's circling around was just to increase the distance.

A few minutes later, she stumbled into a dead-end alley filled with piles of garbage parts, intending to climb over the wall and escape completely.

However, the rustling sounds abruptly appeared, followed by heavy footsteps at the entrance, above the end of the trash can. Under the hazy moonlight, the ribbons of a ninja's blade fluttered in the wind, and in the very center stood a figure identical to that guy, entirely black.

A burst of intense light emanating from the man's shoulder suddenly focused on Rebecca's gloomy face.

These guys chasing me are so strange. These guys covered in special ACPA seem to have no emotions, only the sound of silently drawing their knives.

"What the hell are you trying to do? Using Arasaka's name, aren't you afraid of Arasaka's retaliation?!"

The ninja swung his sword downwards.

This was Rebecca's first interaction with the enemy.

The man replied, "They won't find us. This Ara-saka won't last long."

Rebecca sneered. Her full-body combat prosthetic successfully bypassed the bug and activated in just a few words, but her heart was ice-cold, because this was a dead end where she was completely surrounded!

Rebecca leaned against the cold, rough metal wall that could almost pierce through her clothes, her blood surging wildly because of her prosthetic body and gorilla arm!
She saw it: the sudden tightening of the grip on the knife, the constricting curve of the black prosthetic body's markings, and the lingering stench of blood and death that even the stench of garbage couldn't dispel.

The world is left with only a few ever-growing, gleaming blades that seem capable of severing everything!

……

……

(End of this chapter)