Samsara Space: They're all begging me to heal them one more time.

Night City, top floor of Arasaka Tower.

"Cheers."

Zhang Yuan stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the smoke rising from the distant barren land, and elegantly raised his wine glass.

"What a brilliant empty city stratagem!"

Yoriyuki Arasaka sat on the sofa, toying with a red chip in his hand—[Original Sin: Pride].

Although he was smiling, there was an unsettling frenzy in his eyes:

"But this is just stalling for time. That madman will call back sooner or later. What do you plan to do then?"

"That happened later."

Zhang Yuan turned around and his gaze fell on the chip in Lai Xuan's hand.

Now that we've returned to base camp, and since the external threats are temporarily contained by the desert, it's time to deal with the internal troubles.

"Mr. Lai Xuan, I've noticed that your mental state seems somewhat unstable."

Zhang Yuan put down his wine glass and slowly walked towards Lai Xuan, his eyes behind the mask slightly narrowed:

"Is that 'old man' (Saburo's) voice again?"

"In order to prepare for the upcoming major battle, we need an absolutely rational leader."

"So... could I keep that chip for safekeeping for a while?"

Lai Xuan tightened his grip on the chip, his eyes instantly turning sharp:

"You want to seize power?"

No, I want to save you.

Golden light began to gather in Zhang Yuan's palm.

The play about the badlands is over, now... it's time to perform the "releasing military power over a cup of wine" act.

……

Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the lights of the city at night resemble a burning neon sea.

But in this room, which represents the highest power in the world, the air was as cold as a morgue.

Arasaka Yoriyuki stared intently at Zhang Yuan, the "Kongo" pistol in his hand still trembling slightly as it pointed at Zhang Yuan.

In his other hand, the blood-red [Original Sin - Pride] chip was throbbing wildly, like an external heart.

"You want to save me?"

A nervous smile crept across Lai Xuan's face, and the muscles at the corners of his eyes twitched.

"Zhang Yuan, do you really think I don't know what you're thinking?"

"You're just like those old fogies on the board, trying to control me. You all think I'm crazy, a patricide..."

"No, you're crazy, but that doesn't matter."

Ignoring the gun barrel, Zhang Yuan strolled leisurely to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass of sake.

"The important question is, can you still tell the difference now?"

"Was that thought of killing me just now your own, or was it from that deadbeat old man in your head?"

Lai Xuan paused for a moment, a hint of struggle flashing in his eyes.

Yes.

Since the chip was implanted, his personality has become increasingly violent, and he's become more and more like... Saburo Arasaka.

That desire to rule everything and to enslave everyone is eroding his original intentions.

"I am the Emperor of Arakawa... I don't need this thing to..." Lai Xuan gritted his teeth and tried to pull out the chip.

But his hands wouldn't obey him.

Arrogance had taken hold of his nerves.

It refuses to leave its host.

"Look, you can't even control your own hands."

Zhang Yuan put down his wine glass and turned around.

At this moment, he did not activate any combat stance, and even the halo behind him was retracted.

But Zhang Yuan exudes an aura that is purer and more suffocating than Lai Xuan's.

That was the aura of a higher-ranking predator, amplified by the two original sins of greed and lust.

"Lai Hsuan, true monarchy does not need chips to prove it."

Zhang Yuan walked up to Lai Xuan and extended his right hand, which was wearing a white glove (he wasn't wearing the fox-head costume at the moment):

"Give me the 'crown.' It's too heavy; it'll break your neck."

"you……"

Lai Xuan gritted his teeth and looked into Zhang Yuan's eyes.

In those eyes, calm as an abyss, he saw neither greed nor fear, only a sense of entitlement... domination.

It's like a god demanding offerings from mortals.

"Get out...get out of my head..."

Lai Xuan let out a painful growl.

Under the long-term conditioning of the [purification potion], his remaining rationality finally overcame the chip's desire for control.

Click.

With trembling hands, he forcefully pressed the eject button on the neural interface.

hiss--!

With a soft click as the airtight valve opened, the red chip popped out.

Lai Xuan collapsed onto the sofa as if his spine had been removed, panting heavily, and the gun in his hand fell to the ground.

"A wise choice."

Zhang Yuan gently picked up the chip with two fingers.

[The original sin chip, Pride, has been detected.]

[Effect: Grants absolute dominion over all "Submissives" or "lower-tier units," and the highest level of backdoor access to Arasaka-based technological creations.]

"Is this... Saburo Arasaka's perspective?"

The moment Zhang Yuan grasped the chip, he felt as if the entire data flow of the Arasaka Tower had opened its doors to him.

Countless surveillance cameras, countless automated turrets, countless security mechs... at this moment, they all became his puppets.

He looked at Lai Xuan.

At this moment, the nominal Emperor Arasaka was no longer a partner in his eyes, but an NPC who could be crushed at will...

"Will...will you give it back to me?"

Lai Xuan raised his head, his eyes somewhat vacant.

"certainly."

Zhang Yuan smiled and bent down, patting Lai Xuan's shoulder as if comforting a frightened pet:

"The day you truly become a 'god,' I will personally crown you."

(Subtext: If you live to see that day.)

……

One hour later, at the secret laboratory of Arasaka Tower.

V, Johnny Silverhand (phantom state), Ah Qiang, Lin Qingyue, Li Mo... everyone is present.

The atmosphere was somewhat heavy.

On the operating table, Herman was already under deep hypnosis and was cooperating with Li Mo to adjust the huge divine carriage access chamber.

"Boss, are we really going to do this?"

V stared at the terrifying-looking machine, then at the three chips in Zhang Yuan's hand that shimmered with different lights (pink for lust, green for greed, and red for arrogance), and his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

"This is the only way."

Zhang Yuan inserted the three chips into the slots on the control panel one by one.

Om-!

Three massive energy streams converged, constructing an extremely complex alchemical array on the holographic screen.

Listen, V.

Zhang Yuan pointed to the simulation diagram on the screen and began his pre-battle explanation:

"To remove Johnny from your mind, we need three steps."

"First, use [Arrogance] to suppress Johnny's data stream and make him 'obedient'."

"Second, use greed as a source of attraction to extract it like water from a pump."

"Third, use [lust] to reshape a body as a vessel."

"But..." Zhang Yuan changed the subject.

"But what?" Johnny floated in the air, looking annoyed. "Don't exhale so loudly, you charlatan."

"But this process is extremely painful and unstable. If the data stream 'jitters' during transmission, you two will both become idiots."

Zhang Yuan looked at V:

"We need a fourth regulator. Something that can slow down time, or even 'freeze' the state."

V's prosthetic eye flickered, and he instantly realized:

"Is there still one chip missing?"

"That's right."

Zhang Yuan pulled up a map of Night City and pointed to the southernmost part of the city, that chaotic area known as the "lawless land"—

Taipingzhou.