Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 65 The Request (Part Two) [Please Read Further]

V raised an eyebrow. "You're quite clear-headed. What I don't quite understand is... this squad is far inferior to most of the mercenaries in the city. Aren't you considering using someone stronger?"

Lin Yue could only smile wryly, "I can't handle someone too strong... After all, cyberpunks are after money and fame. If you find a middleman in the city to help with this robbery of the Netherhound caravan, a lot of people will follow along. The fact that they were sent by the middleman to do this job means that they weren't given too much information."

"The order found on the Dogtown website is also to eliminate you and that squad. Let me show you something; I intercepted a hacker's online logs." V's eyes lit up, and the words "transmitting" appeared on Lin Yue's eyeballs.

[Hamster]: Have you found out?
[Account Deleted]: The mole in the Ghost Hounds knows them, and Hansen wants to take him down as well, so he uses this person's information to deceive the hacker on the other side.

[Hamster]: You know them? What will you do then?

[Account Deleted]: The city's informants are watching; that mercenary team is coming in. I'll send people to your side then, the Ghost Hounds will handle everything. Give our hackers time to erase the traces, otherwise the company will find too many problems when they investigate.

[Hamster]: How long will it take? Damn it, I admire you guys for using your brains. Making it so complicated, you might as well just kill them one by one.

[Hamster]: By the way, how do you know that Lin Yue knows that mercenary team?

[Account Deleted]: We need about twenty minutes, friend.

[Account Deleted]: Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. Let that hound block the team; when the company arrives, that hacker team will be dealt with as well. You just need to distract the hackers.

Lin Yue stared blankly at the log of this conversation.

Without a doubt, the person whose name cannot be found in the conversation is Hanz.

Lin Yue regretted blurting out a sarcastic remark about Rebecca when he first arrived in this world; his individual combat equipment might have recorded that remark. That old bastard Hanz probably discovered he knew Mann and the others from here.

Back then, I was in a daze, my memories were jumbled. The repeated slaps from reality taught me to grow up in just two months. Now I've even set up a scheme to counter Hanz once, it's like a dream... For those who don't recognize reality, Night City always has a way to make you grow up quickly or die.

V glanced at Lin Yue with a playful expression, "We also investigated you thoroughly, but we didn't find any connection between you and these people... On the contrary, you used the company's name to manage to protect these people from that middleman in Dogtown, and you're doing quite well... Tsk tsk tsk—"

"You're really brave!"

Lin Yue raised an eyebrow. "So Hanz made a mistake in his judgment?"

“Probably, after all, you have no reason to know any mercenaries in the city.” V changed the subject, and information about a character popped up in the transmitted message.

?

Lin Yue stared at the three prosthetic eyes on one side of the guy and suddenly felt as if a dimensional barrier had been pierced. This isn't... Faraday?

V continued, "This guy seems to have some connection with the military science department, but not much. Anyway, he doesn't have much of a reputation. He's the one who assigned jobs to your team. But there's not much point in contacting him now. He doesn't even know who the client is or which company's stuff they stole... As for your mercenaries, they're just incredibly bold."

Lin Yue felt that the counterintelligence department of Arasaka was probably more than just a few tricks up its sleeve. He was also lucky that he was reincarnated into a simple-minded ghost dog. If his predecessor had left any loose ends, he would have been completely doomed!
Lin Yue: "So?"

V chuckled. "I just wanted to let you know, so you wouldn't be unaware of the team's situation. Knowing that Dogtown has few usable players, isn't that to put your mind at ease? Hmm?"

Lin Yue asked somewhat helplessly, "So you have something to ask me?"

V showed absolutely no sign of embarrassment. "I'll help you, you help me, it's very simple. The counterintelligence department has been busy investigating things lately and hasn't had time to coordinate with Dogtown. Jenkins means he needs to schedule time to contact you, and you'll have to go to Arasaka Tower to meet with him in person."

"If there's any work at the military science department that I can't handle, I'll have to ask you to find some mercenaries to help out. Don't worry... there will be compensation."

"As for me... my work schedule is all set until 76, I might have to go on a business trip, anyway, how Arasaka survives depends entirely on you... don't get kicked out then." This Ms. V made the company struggle sound too easy.

Lin Yue: "Getting a promotion and a raise?"

V, with a matter-of-fact expression, said, "What else? Personal credit, assets, company address... I have to climb up the ladder to maintain all of these... Speaking of which, do you want me to help you apply for a company address?"

Lin Yue sighed, "Then I'll really become an idiot who goes to work in Dogtown every day... It's better to pay for things that expose my identity."

V nodded. "Alright. As for what HR told you before, it's best to install the bio-controller; it'll be good for your physical and mental health... You've already connected to Arasaka's subnet, so keep it in normal mode and don't turn it off unnecessarily."

Lin Yue smacked his lips; he had no intention of pretending to be something nonsensical.

As he spoke, he opened the Arasaka website. As soon as he connected, his prosthetic eye was filled with information. The Arasaka logo was at the top left, Night City news and internal work briefings were in the center, and stock information was in the bottom right corner...

V: "The company has dedicated financial advisors, and the money is in your company account, which you can withdraw at any time."

As they spoke, a buzzing sound came from above, the hovercar's engine spewed out a blast of air, and V's hair began to flutter wildly. "If you don't have a car, I have one that I use for business—here are the keys. It's parked in front of the club in front of Victor's shop. Take it."

The hovercar from Arasaka touched down, and V stepped onto the pedal.

Pedestrians around Arasaka avoided the hovercar, while only the NCPD officers opposite stood around the police car, staring at the hovercar and V with hostile eyes. One of them spat hard on the ground.

The hatch gradually closed, and the airship slowly disappeared into the skies above Night City.

Lin Yue looked at the chip in his hand, which was inserted into his neck. The key authentication bar inside the prosthetic eye finished reading... The vehicle information appeared; it was a Hera EC-DI360.

"A classic car model," he muttered.

The reward development panel remained silent. V's gesture of goodwill was not necessarily a sign of affection. People in the company never acted on a whim.

Is this a case of giving yourself a slap on the wrist and then enjoying a sweet treat?
V's purpose in coming over was simply to share information with Lin Yue and, incidentally, to remind him that Arasaka knew everything about him. Finally, there was the issue of the team. What Lin Yue never expected was that Faraday had already connected with Mann and his group in 2075.

Lin Yue began to think carefully about these things and slowly connected them:

Saburo Arasaka, the powerful figure behind the Arasaka empire, has a rather unpopular son—Yorinobu Arasaka. According to Lin Yue's understanding, Yorinobu would use every means to destroy Arasaka. This means that the Ghost Hound arms deal is highly likely a premeditated scheme to incite hostility within Dogtown… If it weren't for the slippage, Lin Yue wouldn't have known that so many people were involved. V and Jenkins are still far from finding Yorinobu.

Meanwhile, in Dogtown, Hansen, feeling tricked, couldn't swallow his anger but had to protect one of Arasaka's partners, so he sent Slider online to clean up the traces... Lin Yue couldn't figure out the details of the intricacies, but the only thing he was certain of was that Hanz, the middleman in Dogtown, might know the whole story. But why did he call himself the lion that Hansen sent to deal with him?
It seems that Hans and the colonel don't have a very good relationship; it may simply be a collaboration.

Unable to figure it out, Lin Yue turned his thoughts to military technology. In his understanding, military technology probably didn't want the Netherhound and Arasaka to make any deals, so it interfered... So why did the hamster die at the hands of military technology?
All I can think of are problems.

Ugh……

Lin Yue shook his head helplessly. He was still in a low position and there were some things he was destined not to see through.

Just like V said, she might still be drowning in the company's sweet poison right now. After all, the first thing V did when her authority was revoked was to complain to Jack that she had lost her assets... She was after status and wealth, and Lin Yue was after the same two things—but mainly, he was after survival!

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, he took a step and gradually disappeared into the crowds of Little Chinatown. Only the red and green lights on the road kept changing, and the notification sound kept repeating:

"Don't walk (cannot pass)...walk (pass)..."

(End of this chapter)