Great, we're doomed now!

Carmilla narrowed her eyes slightly, a flash of dark golden light passing through the depths of her pupils.

The rust on the railing was pressed off by an invisible force, and tiny iron filings drifted through her fingers, only to be blown away by the night wind before they hit the ground.

The dark energy emanating from its body began to leak out uncontrollably—

"That's enough. If you had slapped me, this whole neighborhood would be gone."

Ye Shou's voice came from behind, carrying a hint of teasing.

Carmilla didn't turn around. She took a deep breath and suppressed the surging energy... None of the residents of Night City knew that they had just brushed past death.

No joke, the Dark Queen doesn't have as many concerns as Ye Shou; a sudden thought could cause her to destroy a city.

"How have you been these past few days, Miss Carmilla?"

Ye Shou walked to her side, leaned on the railing with one hand, and held two cans of beer in the other hand, handing one of them to Carmilla.

She glanced down, her brows furrowed, and the corners of her mouth turned down.

"There's no black tea here." Although Ye Shou had brought some from his spatial storage, he still pushed the beer can forward again. "Coming to this place means you have to consume alcohol. For the residents here, alcohol is as indispensable as air."

Carmilla stared at the can of beer for two seconds, then, mimicking Ye Shou, she pulled the tab, brought it to her lips, and took a sip—before her whole face scrunched up.

“I’ve been here for several days now, and you told me to look carefully and listen attentively.” Carmilla turned to look at him, her golden pupils gleaming faintly in the shadows. “I’ve listened to you and done my best, but this place—”

She paused for a moment, as if searching for a suitable word to describe it, and then said frankly:

"It's the sewers!"

Ye Shou smiled upon hearing this: "Very insightful!"

"People here live in the sewers, eat synthetic garbage, and breathe air that's like poison gas... Residents treat their own body parts as replaceable parts, and they themselves are also parts of this city, ready to be replaced at any time... Even death here has a price tag."

And what I find most unbearable is—"

Carmilla's eyes widened: "Everyone is perfectly at ease with it, nobody thinks it's wrong!"

She raised her hand, and dark golden particles of light gathered in her palm, like a small, restless flame, making half of her face flicker between light and shadow.

"Do you know how many times I've had the urge to wipe this city off the map these past few days?"

The dark golden light particles suddenly surged in her palm, then abruptly contracted. She clenched her fist and extinguished the ball of light in her palm.

Carmilla's tone held a hint of dissatisfaction: "I don't understand why you brought me here?"

"I'm here to destroy this world."

Ye Shou looked casually at Night City, speaking in a relaxed manner, while Carmilla's expression brightened—

"But not the kind of destruction you're thinking of."

—The Dark Queen is in a bad mood again.

Ye Shou raised his hand, his five fingers spread out, as if he were grasping something unseen.

"Erasing a city off the map is something a big monster could do, but it makes no sense."

He clenched his fist, then released it.

"I'm not going to destroy Arasaka or those glass buildings in the military technology sector." He turned his head to look at Carmilla, the neon lights reflecting in his eyes like tiny specks of light.

"What I want to destroy is the 'order' itself that has made all of this this way, the rules that turn people into parts, lives into numbers, and souls into prices."

From the deepest slums to the highest boardrooms, from street gang deals to corporate court rulings—I'm going to smash all the logic that takes these things for granted!

David would probably be very excited if he were here, but Carmilla's reaction was rather lukewarm:

That would be too much trouble for her.

Carmilla felt that what Ye Shou said was far less simple than her taking a few laps around Earth at faster-than-light speed—that was truly "efficient".

That's why I brought you along.

Ye Shou saw through Carmilla's thoughts and smiled helplessly but gently.

“I also think that would be great, but I can’t let you do that.”

"Okay, okay, I know we can't drag innocent people into this."

Carmilla was well aware of Ye Shou's style of doing things and was not surprised.

However, Ye Shou put away his smile, thought seriously for a moment, and said, "It's not just that... more importantly, I want you to see with your own eyes what the depraved side of humanity looks like."

“…What do you mean?” Carmilla turned around in surprise.

"Carmilla, why did you change your mind, from looking down on humans to now wanting to protect them?"

"I... I never said I loved humans... To me, Earthlings are just rather cute pets..."

"Yes, that's the essence of it—you see the beautiful part of humanity, which makes you feel good about this species on an emotional level."

Ye Shou shook his head: "But the main world you see is a beautiful civilization with material prosperity and cultural flourishing."

Even in the ancient times, humanity had merely lost its fighting spirit... but the current state of this world is the true result of their depravity.

"Carmilla... tell me, can you protect the humans of this world as you would the main world?"

The Dark Queen fell silent. She wanted to say that she didn't care at all, that she treated all kinds of humans the same, but she also knew that was just a fit of pique.

totally different.

She simply admires the beautiful side of humanity and feels no liking for the bloated, decadent, and disgusting world before her; on the contrary, she has an urge to completely destroy it.

"What about you?"

Carmilla didn't answer, but instead retorted defiantly, "How can you still love humans in a place like this?"

"I'm afraid... that won't work either."

Ye Shou shook his head, and just as Carmilla was about to speak sarcastically, he added:

"So, in order to prevent the main world from becoming like this or even worse... lend me your power, Carmilla!"

Chapter 469: Time is about to accelerate (4K)

Carmilla curled up on the sofa, her short silver hair loose and a few strands hanging down from Ye Shou's knees, gleaming faintly in the dim light.

Her eyes were closed, her breathing was calm and even, and her eyelashes trembled slightly with the rise and fall of her chest. Her usually indifferent face softened considerably at this moment, her lips were slightly pursed, as if she were thinking about something in her sleep, but it probably wasn't anything serious, because a gentle smile would occasionally appear at the corners of her mouth.

Her fingers unconsciously hooked around Ye Shou's corner, as if afraid that something might suddenly disappear.

"..."

Ye Shou looked down at her, subconsciously counting each eyelash, while slowly running his fingers through her hair, from her forehead to behind her ear, the movement so light it was almost imperceptible. His gaze lingered on her quiet profile, but his eyes were unfocused, as if he were looking through her to something far away.

Apology – The man wore a slightly sorrowful expression.

This was quite unusual for Ye Shou. Even when he was pierced by a weapon or sent flying into space by an enemy, he would only grit his teeth and retaliate with a burst of energy. He rarely acted so "sentimentally" as he did now.

...Carmilla's eyelashes twitched, but she didn't open her eyes.

However, Ye Shou does feel guilty towards Carmilla now, probably because he lied to her.

He previously said that he brought Carmilla to save the world so that the Dark Queen could see how rotten it was, and then, as a warning, better protect the main world—that's not entirely true.

In reality, Ye Shou had no intention of saving the Cyberpunk world!

He loathed this place from the bottom of his heart...

He already possessed the power to change the world. Although funding, technology, intelligence, and manpower had been strained due to TPC, he had, without a doubt, the power to become the "savior" after evolving into the Giant of Light.

But he never did it... not because he couldn't, but because he didn't want to.

There are, of course, many reasons!

For example, a lot of effort might be invested in the main world, focusing on how to manage TPC. Or perhaps they don't want to cause too much trouble and hope to initiate a change gently, so they proceed step by step.

I can convince myself no matter which reason I give.

But deep down, Ye Shou knew this was just an "excuse".

The reason for this is...

Protecting beautiful things is simple; all you need to do is summon courage and a sense of justice, and your body will take action.

But changing a terrible world requires a thousand times more awareness, because you will be constantly questioned by reality and doubt the meaning of what you are doing!

Ultimately, to shatter an old world, you must first imagine what a new world would look like...

Cyberpunk is different; the more you learn about it, the more you realize how hopeless it is!

Is it only the top management of companies that are rotten to the core that has led the world to this state?

Do not!

Criminals and drug addicts exist widely in all kinds of people. It is not that the poor are necessarily innocent, nor that the rich are necessarily deserving of death. It is impossible to distinguish between them.

Are Mann's team, David, and even Lucy... really good people?

Did they harm ordinary people during their missions? Was every instance of espionage aimed at ill-gotten gains?

—That idea is too idealistic.

Lucy is one of the kinder ones among the "Fringe Walkers." Firstly, as a hacker, she is considered to be in an "office job," and her missions are mainly related to corporate espionage. Secondly, due to her childhood experiences, she deeply despises the behavior of those in power who harm or control others.

Even so, her "illustrious resume" is enough to keep her in jail for decades!

However, in most cases, the various businesses in Night City are extremely unethical, while Lucy and her friends, who make money by stealing corporate secrets, seem relatively righteous...

This is the problem:

In a world where even corpses are treated as recyclable resources and dismantled at will, even the most hardworking ordinary people have had their values ​​distorted.

They may appear to be exploited and oppressed, but they are also part of this society and wholeheartedly accept this logic!

Ye Shouzhen had made in-depth contact with residents of Night City from all walks of life, so he knew very well that what bound them was not only the "KPIs" imposed on them by the company, but also the instincts that were already engraved in their DNA.

The company simply took advantage of this and turned it into a sophisticated social machine... even the company itself is a part of the machine, only a larger one.

The fact is, even the most wicked capitalists cannot change this logic. While they possess vast resources, they can only satisfy their own or collective desires, but they cannot refuse the domination of some higher entity.

That is "capitalism"!

A demon, a capitalist demon, roams the skies above Night City and the entire cyberpunk world.

Kill one company executive, and another will quickly take their place. Even if you go all the way and destroy all businesses, new capital will sprout from the ruins like weeds.

The poor don't suddenly awaken just because they've been freed from their shackles; they'll simply continue living by the same rules because, in their minds, there are no other options. The difference is that more living space has been freed up, and they'll feel considerably "happier" in the short term.