Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 67 What I Request (Part 4) [Please continue reading]

"Well……"

In Rebecca's blurry vision, a man with roses and Spanish characters tattooed on his arm was busy. When he saw Rebecca wake up, he reached out and plugged the human-computer interaction circuit into Rebecca's brain-computer interface, reciting some data.

"You're awake?" Old Wei smiled slightly. The girl in front of him had a confused look in her yellow-pink prosthetic eyes, clearly having just come out of anesthesia.

Another face came closer, its brows furrowed slightly, and strands of hair on its forehead were sticking to its surface with beads of sweat.

She murmured, "Lin...Lin Yue?"

Lin Yue glanced at Lao Wei skillfully operating the equipment and quickly asked Rebecca, "Are you alright, Rebecca?"

Rebecca nodded subconsciously, raising her arm to reveal a somewhat crudely designed mechanical arm...

Ok? !

Rebecca was startled; how had her hand suddenly turned into a giant robotic hand?!

Lin Yue's expression darkened as he looked at the girl's startled face. He thought to himself, "Rebecca, being a girl, probably wouldn't like this style of prosthetic body." Thinking about it, it made sense. Rebecca was petite, and now her hands were almost as big as her head; anyone unprepared would be terrified!

After all, this seemingly strong girl only got the gorilla arm that could resist the recoil of the "Iron Gauntlet" after losing her brother Pila.

Old Wei kept an eye on Rebecca's emotional changes while watching the data on the machine.

Lin Yue clenched his fists slightly, unsure of what to say.

Rebecca stared at her hand in shock. "Holy crap! Lin Yue, my arm..."

Lin Yue hesitated, unsure how to explain.

Rebecca burst out laughing, "That's fucking cool!"

She was overjoyed.

what?
Lin Yue was stunned—

Old Wei chuckled, "It seems you made the right decision; this little lady really likes this arm."

Rebecca was still under the effects of the anesthesia and couldn't move her legs or waist for the time being, but her expression was very rich, with an expression that said, "Lin Yue, you're such a smart kid." "Not bad! Lin Yue, how did you know I've liked this one for a long time? That arm from Dogtown is useless."

6. Whatever makes you happy.

Lin Yue felt he had worried for nothing, so he simply plopped down on the operating table next to him, giving him a helpless look that said, "Do whatever you want."

He felt something was off. If Rebecca had been fitted with her arm in 2075 and V had connected with him in Dogtown, would everything in the future have gone according to plan?
However, to be fair, the aesthetics of the cyberpunk world are indeed... hard to define.

Rebecca looked at the arm as if admiring a masterpiece. In a daze, Lin Yue saw a normal little girl looking at her favorite nail art. He must be crazy. He, who could now smash someone's head with his fist without any psychological burden, had such thoughts.

These cyberpunks rarely showed any other emotions besides fighting and shooting, which undoubtedly gave Lin Yue a sense of disorientation—as if the world was still relatively normal.

"How much does this prosthetic body cost?" Rebecca seemed to remember something and looked up at Old Vince.

Old Wei nodded, "Lin Yue approved it, no need to worry."

Rebecca slammed her head on the prosthetic operating chair, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling. After a long while, she said, "Lin Yue, you're not trying to hit on me, are you? Pila doesn't even know I like this kind of arm."

Lin Yue nearly choked on his breath, drenched in sweat. He thought to himself: What do I want from you? Your flat chest? Your tendency to slap me on the head when you're angry? If it weren't for the meager rewards on the panel—forget it!
The more Lin Yueyue remained silent, the stranger the atmosphere became.

Old Wei couldn't hold back any longer. He laughed out loud twice and reached out to pull out the soft thread. "Try moving it. Your arm should be fine now, but pay close attention to the system's self-check... Understand? See a doctor immediately if anything happens."

Rebecca, who usually has a loud and boisterous voice, nodded obediently and said in a soft voice, "I am very grateful."

Old Wei packed up the various prosthetic materials and told Lin Yue that he was going to the garbage dump to dispose of the junk. Lin Yue wanted to help but was refused. Just like the American culture that Lin Yue knew, in his hometown this was called being polite, but in this cultural atmosphere, it would be presumptuous to offer help for such a small matter.

Rebecca jumped off the operating chair, her hands clapping and opening with a soft metallic clanging sound. Surprisingly, she ignored Lin Yue and started playing by herself. "Wow! The strength is just too—perfect!"

As they were talking, they started hitting the sandbag that Old Wei had hung inside the prosthetic clinic.

After she had played enough, she excitedly bumped her fists together and hopped over to Lin Yue. She found Lin Yue staring at her expressionlessly and said teasingly, "Are you shy?"

Lin Yue sighed, "It was too dangerous. Mann and the others didn't have time to support you, and you almost got into trouble, you know?"

Rebecca slowly wiped the smile off her face and waved her hand dismissively:

“We’ve all been through this. If the problem isn’t solved, someone will always die. But that person—it can’t be Pila. Only I can kill Pila. No one else can.”

"Pira's aim is terrible, you know? My goofy older brother can only stay home tinkering with parts and hanging out with pretty rock girls at bars..."

Lin Yue sighed, "You're afraid Pila will die there, right?"

Rebecca buried her face in her collar, her voice low and somber. "There are too many people, Lin Yue... I know we've taken on a job we can't handle. Mr. Rin wants us to kidnap Marta. Dorio said... it'll be dangerous, but that's how it is for everyone out here to make a living. In Night City, everyone wants to get through the gates of life, to become a big shot driving a sports car..."

"We also want to make a name for ourselves in Dogtown."

Lin Yue crossed his arms, feeling a mix of emotions. He knew the team had a high chance of dying there. Lin Yue wasn't heartless, but when it came to competing with Hanz, he couldn't be soft-hearted.

The hacking was an accident, and the team's performance exceeded his expectations. But surviving such a close call shouldn't be just about being thankful; it was a reminder to himself: could this team truly become his core force? He fell into deep thought.

Rebecca raised her arms to show off her muscles, saying, "With arms like these, I can confidently use heavy firepower. I'm not Pila, I'm a very accurate shooter!"

Lin Yue looked at this quirky "legal loli" and smiled helplessly: "When the distance is too close, if the other party has smart weapons, good marksmanship is no longer an advantage."

Rebecca scoffed, saying irritably, "Hey, hey, hey... stop looking down on us, you jerk! Not everyone can afford smart weapons! By the way... uh, where are Mann and the others? Aren't they here fixing their cybernetic bodies?"

Lin Yue shook his head, "One doctor couldn't handle it all, so they found a relatively experienced doctor in the Japanese neighborhood."

Rebecca said "oh" and nodded.

"Here's the money. I don't like owing people. But thanks~ We can dance together next time~" Rebecca's eyes lit up, and she spun around on one leg, looking quite pleased with herself.

Lin Yue felt that Rebecca's personality was really unpredictable, sometimes sunny and sometimes gloomy.

At that moment, he heard a notification sound indicating a change in the amount in his account. Lin Yue initially tried to ignore it, but then noticed that the number of digits was off, and his lifeless eyes suddenly widened.

Take less?

+60000 euros

She didn't spend a single penny of her own salary?! For a team member like her to save so much money, it seems like her only hobbies are drinking, oh right, and dancing.

[Balance: €320000]

I don't know why, but the sound of money going into my pocket is really satisfying. Just watching it without spending a penny is exciting enough.

Rebecca saw Lin Yue craning his neck and looking at her strangely, and then burst out laughing, "Here you go, here you go."

This guy is just like Mann said, a miser. He doesn't buy cars or guns, he just loves to equip himself with prosthetics.

Kind of cute.

Lin Yue was naturally unhappy with Rebecca's attitude towards this reward. What kind of talk was that?! He was the boss, wasn't he?

Just as the two were exchanging verbal attacks, a new message scrolled through the information bar inside the prosthetic eye of the Arakasako network—

[Night City News: On October 13th, a cyberattack occurred on the City Hall database, resulting in the loss of some business information. The likelihood of Arasaka's intervention is 30%. // NCPD Warning: A case of cyberpsychosis has been reported in Westbrook's Japan Street. The Terrorist Response Team is en route. Employees in the vicinity are advised to ensure their personal safety and check that the trauma team's procedures are functioning correctly. //...]

(End of this chapter)