Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 345 A Young Rock Kid Arrives in Night City

"Recently, several of the biotechnology and military technology subsidiaries announced the termination of their projects; the military technology agency in the European branch failed to renew its land lease on time due to the expiration of the lease, and the land has returned to its owner... a venture capital firm - and remains under the continued control of its largest shareholder, biotechnology."

Next to Arif Iqbal of WNS News are holographic images of two major companies that have been making a lot of moves recently.

Let's turn our attention to North America...

"Several free states have expressed strong condemnation of the military technology hegemony and called on more companies to impose sanctions on military technology products. Some media outlets have also reported that the relationship between military technology and biotechnology has reached a freezing point because of the accumulated contradictions caused by years of unequal cooperation. The irreconcilable contradictions between the two companies have further exacerbated the outbreak of instability in the region."

"In Night City, the biotechnology company's intelligence officer was attacked by criminals, resulting in one death and three serious injuries, including three civilians with minor abrasions."

"The NCPD has initiated an investigation in accordance with procedures and stated that it will ascertain the truth as soon as possible—"

"Biotechnology was the first to publish its investigation results, demanding that military technology be held responsible for the incident. At present, Night City Military Technology Division has not responded to this incident."

Jefferson Peralres, Night City’s mayoral candidate who has been recovering from injuries for several months, delivered a televised address, urging the two corporations to calmly address the issue and abide by the agreements made since Night City’s rebuilding in 2045. He urged them not to further escalate the regional unrest, to cut their losses, and to be responsible to the people of Night City.

"This is also the first time that Congressman Perares has appeared in the public eye in months since his wife took over his voice."

Stay tuned to WNS News for more news!

The radio station that was switched to was [Shout FM], the favorite station of rock 'n' roll boys.

"Damn...we almost thought you were going to die there."

"Uh, to be honest, I..."

Perhaps the bassist wanted to express his apology for the rock band's quick retreat after the assassination without taking the lead singer with them.

But the deed was done. Regardless of the crisis at the time, leaving his teammates behind was an irreparable "scar" among rock 'n' roll kids who valued team spirit. That's how he saw it.

"Don't even mention you, even I thought I was going to kick the bucket. Damn it—it was like being punched by an NCPD mech on the side of the road. My ribs almost pierced my heart. If it weren't for a few fans taking me to Watson to find a decent prosthetic doctor... I probably wouldn't be seeing you guys now."

Lin Yue is quite understanding.

They had agreed before each performance that if any of the company's henchmen came to assassinate them, these "dangerous individuals," they should retreat immediately if they couldn't be saved.

Keep singing.

A simple sentence encapsulates the life of most of those daring rock kids.

For record companies, a scandal involving an idol is an issue requiring urgent public relations and is intolerable, but for a rock star…

The more black marks there are, the more damn authentic the rock and roll vibe!

Everyone gathered around curiously, looking at the man's muscular body covered in bandages, the bloodstains of which had turned yellowish from age, and how he grimaced with every movement.

"Then put double the amount of chili in today's wine."

The drummer picked up a bottle of tequila soaking in ice from behind him; it was covered in roasted chili peppers with all the capsaicin released.

Night City doesn't care about illnesses or needing rest; all they care about is a drink. A drink expresses far more sincerity than any greeting.

"Sorry, buddy."

Lin Yue waved his hand and looked seriously at the bassist who still wanted to apologize.

"I made the playlist, I wrote the lyrics... If you're willing to sing along, I owe you something, there's no need for an apology—if a sniper rifle were to shoot you first and then point it at my head, I'd run faster than a car thief, trust me!"

Lin Yue's half-joking words clearly dispelled much of the bassist's worries.

"To good luck, to... damn life!"

The bassist raises his glass.

The keyboardist was a woman whose face was half hidden under the spoiler. "And K—to be honest, I thought the only rock 'n' roll guys with guts, besides those from Europe, were that idiot Silver Hand who's probably long gone."

"But now it seems you're quite the big shot, daring to sing and write, and I'll continue to follow you."

He raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp, without any hesitation.

Lin Yue swallowed the bitter liquor that burned his throat and nerves in one gulp.

The band will continue to perform and keep going, which is a good thing.

Rock kid types are always inherently rebellious, fabricating their past, hiding in the crowd, and yet their goals coincide with those of attacking the company.

Currently, Lin Yue's efforts to evade the company's investigation and divert the attention of major companies from Dreamers are considered completely over.

Now, he uses the microphone to further weaken the company's long-standing control over Night City, leaving more people wondering why they are fighting yet still having to continue fighting—that's the reason for the existence of the rock kid.

It must be said that V and Roger's arrangements were extremely appropriate. Emma's operations at the corporate level have created the "illusion" that the Dreamers have lost their leader and are barely surviving in Pacific.

There is still plenty of time.

Company, we'll take it slow...

Compared to other transmigrators he knew, Lin Yue felt he was probably the one who worried the least about money—the salary from the Netherhound was enough to guarantee his livelihood, and after getting involved with Arasaka, his basic material life was guaranteed. As for now… Lin Yue, who appeared to be hiding in the underground rock bar in Santo Domingo, was actually a financially independent guy.

But this does not mean it is a way out.

He highly agrees with Lai Xuan on the point that there are some things that must be done and faced.

For rock bands like Lin Yue's, making a living is often a problem, and they also have to write some high-energy rock music that's all about getting hyped up... But they don't need to worry about that, because the money comes from a "kind person" in Night City; Emma will deposit the money in cash at the pickup point on time, as part of the band's basic needs.

If you ask who "secured" the band's funding, the answer is undoubtedly the bassist.

Online chat always reveals people who share similar thoughts. It's not just the poor; some rich people also harbor dissatisfaction with Night City and the world as a whole. Some companies even fund rock stars to attack competitors.

Fortunately, the money has already arrived in my account despite the incident this month.

The bassist took out the money and divided it equally among everyone.

500 euros per person.

When it was Lin Yue's turn, the bassist hesitated for a moment, then took out another bill from his five-note hand and pushed it across the table in front of K.

The others, understanding the unspoken agreement, pulled out a hundred-euro note from their own pockets…

"After paying rent, what else can you do with the little money left besides food?"

Lin Yue was both amused and exasperated.

Although they ate together but didn't live together, they all rented houses in the shantytowns of Santo Domingo. The houses had virtually no soundproofing and the power would go out frequently, and the rent started at least at two hundred euros... If they didn't want to eat the signature vegetarian meat rolls every day, then it would cost at least one hundred and fifty euros. And the bassist was a smoker...

Thinking of this, Lin Yue shook his head repeatedly.

Even someone like him, who isn't particularly picky about taste, couldn't stand the vegetarian meat rolls every day. He would occasionally take the train to Watson District to eat a bowl of synthetic ramen to satisfy his craving. How much more so for a rough North American man who prefers meat?
If you have health problems, you'll incur medical debt.

Prosthetic doctors don't charge a low price...

Unfortunately, Lin Yue pushed all these things onto his fans, saying, "I'm fine, just take care of yourselves."

After several rounds of polite refusals, everyone blushed and accepted the money. The drummer was the most generous, but he kept asking the fans if they were male or female.

Rock kids also love to tell dirty jokes.

However, as the eldest member of the team, the bassist thought for a moment and said, "K, how about we stop doing street performances from now on?"

His expression was very serious when he said this.

"The company has its eye on you. We're a bunch of daredevils who'd rather die than risk our lives, but quite a few fans were killed or injured that day..."

This matter weighed heavily on everyone's minds. They were "lucky" when they evacuated that day, managing to break out of the area just before the Biotechnology Lockdown Valley... Of course, it was all arranged.

However, they also witnessed firsthand the surge of biotechnology soldiers. If they hadn't been prepared in advance, their fate after being detained would likely have been extremely tragic.

The keyboardist leaned against the table, arms crossed, and sighed. "The company is everywhere. You can earn around 80 euros a night singing in a small-town bar, but safety is still not guaranteed—ugh, damn it. Let me be blunt, we're all asking for trouble, we're going to get fucked anywhere, it's just a matter of time."

Lin Yue laughed and said, "Then why are you still following along? I heard... your parents bought a shop in Watson?"

The keyboardist scoffed, "To put it nicely, it's a shop; to put it bluntly, it's a Mewtwo experience club for office workers... They haven't acknowledged me as their daughter for a long time, so what?"

So the bassist finally made his point clear at this point.

"The response to our new song on the forum has been good. I'm thinking of trying to sign with a record company, at least that would make our performance venues more stable..."

The drummer said lazily, "Are you dreaming, Mendelsohn? You think you're not ambitious enough? It's already a miracle that any legitimate record company isn't interested in us—you actually want those idiots to sign us?! Hahahaha, you moron!"

Mendelsohn blushed.

"This isn't what I wanted, Li... Look at the buzz K's song on the forum has generated—"

"Look at them, they're like a new generation of samurai bands, the lyrics are awesome..."

The woman fanned herself, revealing that some of the paint on her cheap manicure was peeling off.

"Stop, stop! I'm getting goosebumps! Help me out! We're an original artist, don't compare us just because we sang songs by the Samurai Band! The Samurai Band died a long time ago, the moment they returned to Night City from Arasaka!"

She said seriously, "We are who we are, KIA—no proof needed. If the lyrics are good, then KIA is awesome. It has absolutely nothing to do with that bumbling, idiotic lead singer, Silver Hand."

Outsiders would assume they had a fight.

But Lin Yue knew this was normal.

Drummer Duke, who is commonly known as A, named KIA, which was inspired by a combination of his own name and the letters in his name.

It seems that rock musicians are all rather arrogant, regardless of whether they're veterans or not, they just have that "I'm the best" attitude. No wonder there are guys like Silver Hand.

Lin Yue was thinking this...

Li glanced down at the time on his phone. "Damn, my restaurant part-time job is almost over. Send me the performance schedule!"

Just then, Lin Yue's phone, which was next to his wine glass, rang. He glanced at it and saw that it was a text message from the nickname he had given Emma.

[There's a surprise in store!]

Just as Lin Yue was completely confused, there was a knock on the door.

The bar owner, looking melancholy, said to the people outside who couldn't see him, "Look, they're all here."

As soon as Lin Yue looked up, he saw a strong, muscular man walk in.

With his hands in front of him, his ears tucked in like dumplings, and his shoulders constantly hunched over... he's a true martial arts expert.

Although Lin Yue's face showed curiosity, he subconsciously became wary...

"You are…"

Mendel looked puzzled.

surprise?

Lin Yue was already wondering if this was a warning message from Emma…

"Our boss wants to talk to your band about a deal, not a one-off one... but there's one condition: which member of your band writes the songs?"

Judging from this description, the person is most likely an amateur.

Lin Yue raised his hand, "Me."

Li's attempt to stop him was a beat too slow...

The man chuckled. "Mr. K? Our boss. Everyone outside calls him Captain. Sorry, I can't reveal his real name. He's built up his career in the last six months. We used to be gangsters."

Honest enough…

But Lin Yue immediately knew who this guy was talking about—it was none other than the "Old Captain, the Good Car Middleman" from Night City!

Wasn't the old captain only interested in cars? When did he start liking music?

I wonder what Emma was doing connecting people...

Lin Yue looked helpless.

"What does the old captain want me to do? A deal requires mutual consent."

The burly man held up a finger. “Three benefits: help our boss write a song, money is no object; second, we'd like to invite you to Santo Domingo for some inspiration; and third, a long-term contract, our boss will sponsor your venue, and security will be handled by us, the employees of the boss.”

The expressions on everyone's faces became quite interesting.

Li, in particular, had a look on his face that said, "Mendro, you're amazing!"

Lin Yue looked at the bassist and drummer, their faces full of hope as they looked at him. Even a rock starving kid like him had to face reality; this was no different from a windfall.

Li, on the other hand, was somewhat displeased.

"Writing songs for your boss to glorify gangs? They're all a bunch of scum..."

This statement poured cold water on the two hot-headed guys.

Creativity cannot be distracted from its direction; a rock 'n' roll kid would rather starve than write something he doesn't want to create.

The big man shrugged.

“We guarantee at least ten concerts a month at well-known venues in Santo Domingo. The revenue will be split 60/40 between you and us. This won’t interfere with our creative direction, but you have to speak up for the people of Santo Domingo—isn’t that what you’re doing this for?”

"or…"

The big man was already considered one of the better-tempered bodyguards, but he saw that Li was about to retort.

“Talk to our boss directly. He thinks you guys have investment potential, but record companies won’t sign you…”

"Why not do it?"

Just as Mendero was carefully considering whether this was a trap—

"Okay, I agree."

Lin Yue twirled the lighter in his hand. "But there's one condition: we'll set the time."

Unexpectedly, the big man nodded quickly.

"Okay, the boss will contact you about the details. I've heard there's a really awesome rock kid in Night City..."

The burly man stared silently at Lin Yue.

Everyone else felt uneasy, but Lin Yue remained calm.

"Also... could you give me your autograph or something?"

"I'm a big fan of yours."

Everyone was shocked.

……

……

　[The Old Captain]: The only middleman in 2077 who explicitly expressed his intention to rebel against the company. Coming from a poor background, he harbors the greatest animosity towards Arasaka, and the people of Santo Domingo are his biggest supporters. Of course, the cars the Old Captain steals are all high-end vehicles!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)