Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 50 Erasing the Secret [2.8K Reads, Please Continue Reading]

call out! ——

A bullet flew past the slider's scalp almost grazing it, knocking off the thick mesh cable that the slider was hanging from the back of the chair.

"Blind Fury of Cyberspace, Wilkie Raguel..." Blood would gush from Lin Yue's mouth when he coughed, and his red and white teeth made his smile somewhat terrifying.

"You regret not being able to use the Crossroads, don't you? That's the downside of a brain injury. It's like a mercenary like me standing in front of you, and you can't deal with me."

As Sliding listened intently to Lin Yue's words, his suspicions about the young man's identity as Arasaka were answered—it was a bullet.

This Arasaka seems to know his opponent very well and is also familiar with hacking techniques.

For some inexplicable reason, he thought of the ancient prophecies of the Voodoo Cult, that followers of the prophets knew everything, and the fantastical stories he had scoffed at seemed to be reflected in the young man in front of him.

Slide smiled wryly, muttering to himself, "I thought I was going to die at the hands of those bastards in the Joint Logistics Department, but I never expected Arasaka could find out so much about me—"

"But I clearly fooled your Arasaka hackers, so how did you end up here? Heh... It makes perfect sense that a lone wolf like you is an Arasaka dog."

"The dogs from Arakawa are definitely the fiercest!"

Lin Yue didn't think so. Putting aside whether he was a dog or not—V was even fiercer than him, and he wanted that woman to come and talk to him in person?
Seeing that Lin Yue didn't speak, Slide also lay down on the hacker chair like he was giving up: "How did you know about my occipital lobe injury? Let me die knowing why, buddy?"

Lin Yue adjusted his posture. "Your quick cracking technique is [Cyber ​​Mental Illness], right? You were pretty ruthless; you almost killed me."

Lin Yue avoided discussing how he knew about the slider, as he always had, since his memories from his reincarnation were his greatest asset.

The slider was also very surprised that Lin Yue was able to regain his senses. "Such a breakthrough... not many people can withstand it. It seems you are very confident in your prosthetic body. Ah, or rather, you are a... beast."

“You have no compassion or humanity at your core. This world will turn you into a tireless machine. To be honest, the moment you stopped indiscriminately killing my men after the hack was cracked, I already knew my hack had failed.”

"If a prosthetic body of this size could fight its way in, I can't imagine what it would be like if you could load up with a real, commercially available one..."

Lin Yue felt that what the eccentric hacker, Slider, said was completely inaccurate; he was a very emotional person.

What's unsettling is that this hacker realized from the beginning that he had escaped cyberpsychosis, but didn't take any further action, probably because he considered himself a member of the Joint Logistics Command. It's a case of good and bad fortune intertwined.

Lin Yue interrupted his rambling, "Alright, I have something to tell you now."

"The prosthetic faceplate is in the automatic drawer on the left, along with a complete set. You'll need to find a doctor you trust who understands this prosthetic technology to install it." The slider moved, and a cabinet popped out containing a silver-white prosthetic box, surrounded by cold air.

"Furthermore, you also need to collect the target's behavioral characteristics, which is quite difficult to obtain... There is a training manual inside."

I'll accept the slider; it's a piece of cake that won't earn me a penny and has only caused me a lot of trouble.

Hanz, who owns this thing, is a complete bastard.

"No, it's not just that." Lin Yue saw the behavioral characteristics on the face and finally felt relieved.

The slider was somewhat puzzled. "My life is in your hands, what more do you want?... Don't tell me about some bullshit deal."

"What did Hansen ask you to apply online more than a month ago? I will pay for the prosthetic body, and if that's not enough, I can even make up the difference. You can leave that question unanswered for now and hear my terms before making a decision."

The slider froze. "I knew I was going to get bitten by the company dogs!"

Lin Yue ignored Slippery's complaints. "The new U.S. Joint Logistics Command has people in Dogtown right now. I can't tell you who they are, but they already know your location in Sanctuary. If you're still planning to stay as an informant for the Joint Logistics Command—"

“If I can be their rag, then I can turn around and leave right now… You can hide somewhere I can’t find you and wait for Arasaka or the Joint Logistics Department to send someone over.”

"You mean, the Joint Logistics Command now knows my location too?" Slide's expression was a little unpleasant for the first time.

Damn it, these bastards never let go of their own tails!

"Not only that, the Joint Logistics Command can use you without any burden, and no one will care if you die. If you want to get rid of the Joint Logistics Command alive, then tell us what you did online that day. In the end, leave here or find another place where no one knows you."

After saying that, Lin Yue let out a deep breath.

The hacker chair with the slider moved, and Lin Yue thought the guy was going to connect the network cable, but he didn't expect him to turn around and just take a discrete chip from the pile of boxes and throw it behind him.

"See for yourself. It has my personal digital identity, so the company can explain things reasonably." Lin Yue caught the chip. "You trust me? Aren't you afraid of being silenced?"

Slider spread his hands, "If I were you, I would just shoot this blind hacker to death, then take the prosthetic body and leave. No money, no burden. Why are you making a fuss here? Besides, I can tell that your purpose in wanting this prosthetic body is that you don't want to work for Arasaka."

Lin Yue smiled easily. He's a normal person, and there's nothing wrong with his brain.

Moreover, he knew that people like Slippery were driven by money; he could easily sell Hansen, or even the entire Voodoo Gang.

In the City of Night, the only thing that doesn't exist is trust.

"The chip contains emails, transaction records, and data storage that Hansen sent me. He said: 'Arasaka and Military Technology were causing trouble on Dogtown's website that day. Those few half-baked hackers in Dogtown couldn't handle it and asked me to save them.'"

Lin Yue nodded, this was consistent with the information Arakawa had. "Hmm, go on."

"...A hacker from Arasaka got in, planted a puppet in the subnet, cracked Hansen's action record database, and pulled out the information of a Ghost Hound soldier...uh, it seems to be you...and a mercenary squad."

Lin Yue knew that V's ability to find him was not random, so he wasn't surprised. He could even guess that the team was most likely Mann and his group.

Slide: "Then something went wrong, buddy. They were going to erase a database, and there was a list in it—an arms list. As for which company that list belonged to, you can probably guess..."

Lin Yue: "It's Arasaka, I know that."

After a long silence, the slider suddenly asked, "What would happen if the emperor's son committed a crime?"

Lin Yue knew that the intelligent hacker in front of him wouldn't tell a fable without a beginning or end, so he replied, "The prince is subject to the same laws as the commoner, but that's not the case in Arasaka—in the paradise of the local tyrant, there are no laws."

Slide thought the mercenary in front of him was fucking smart!

Lin Yue's heart sank even further.

The person who refers to the slider is simply one person—

[Yorinobu Arakasaka]!
“There’s a guy named Barreto in Arasaka, do you know him? It’s okay if you don’t… The arms list was done by one of his underlings. He asked me to erase a Sapphire Blue video. This idiot underling has a peculiar fetish; he likes to watch his own ‘performance’ on the security cameras and even records it as Mewtwo to watch—I’m the one who went online to delete this dirty-eyed video. The name and backup are in the separate chip.”

"So when you mention 'the emperor's son' to me, do you mean you saw something else?" Lin Yue decided to get to the bottom of it. V was also investigating this matter, and he needed to make sure he stayed away from the vortex of power struggles.

The slider chuckled dryly. "Some things are better deleted completely, don't you think? Here's a suggestion, buddy: just find this guy's underlings—you spared my life, I'll save yours. We're even. You've been patient enough to keep a blind man like me company."

"If you think there's nothing wrong with the chip, then please leave." The hacker chair with the slider moved back to its original position.

After verifying the digital identity and content, Lin Yue's gaze turned deep. The grand drama of the Arasaka faction's struggle? That was indeed something he couldn't get involved in, and neither could V.

"How much does this prosthetic body cost?"

Lin Yue is a man of his word. Even though he fought his way into the clutches of the slider, it doesn't mean he won't pay for it.

Slider is a bastard, that's true, but Lin Yue only wants to live. He just needs to give V an explanation for what happened to Arasaka.

With his back to Lin Yue, the slider said, "It cost 15 euros to smuggle it in... Never mind, buddy, if you..."

The words are not finished yet.

Two hundred thousand euros were deposited into his account, and the mercenaries behind him gradually disappeared into the distance.

The slider smiled helplessly and shook its head.

In this world, even madmen are starting to reason, while the voodoo gang in Taiping Continent is still digging at their own walls. It's truly bizarre!
[Unable to use the Crossroads]: The slider's brain was injured in the occipital lobe area, and all the Crossroads prosthetic eyes cannot restore his sight.

【Cyberpsychosis】(plugin): A hacker's quick hack in 2077 that can induce cyberpsychosis in the enemy.

[Digital Identity]: In 2077, besides facial features, digital identity is the decisive means of identification. (Note: Behavioral features and facial features can alter appearance, but the most powerful ability is to change the user's digital identity, which cannot be detected by scanning.)
【Arasaka Yorinobu】: Son of Arasaka Saburo, the head of the Arasaka Company.

[Barreto]: In the game 2077, he is the Demon Ending character and a member of the board of directors at the Night City Arasaka High-Level Meeting.

　Those who have played Shadow of the Past should know that the character "Slide" doesn't actually have a conflict of interest with the players. As for the "Cyber ​​Psychosis" trope, everyone feels it's unfair to the protagonist, but honestly, I feel wronged. Even powerful characters like V and Ridley fought their way in, while the protagonist fought his way in alone and even killed Slide. Game players will only feel it's overpowered and jarring. Also, if you think the author's portrayal of the complex cyberpunk situation and the struggles of human nature is decent, please consider following the story. You can let the book run its own time, but please check the latest page daily! Qidian recommends following the story's progress, so please help! You can also join the group via the synopsis to chat, thank you!
　　

(End of this chapter)