Cyberpunk: Nirvana of Shoko Toyokawa

"that is!"

But he was interrupted again by Mocha's unusually high voice.

"Lan is lost in defeat!" she said. "Lan is running from the fact that Afterglow might lose the upcoming [city-wide battle in Le City]!"

"Mocha!"

Ran asked Moka to stop, but Moka continued.

"Because that battle, in which Lan tried her best but still failed, showed her the limits of Afterglow!"

"Lan is worried about the casualties of a larger-scale war... I know! Lan wants to transfer industries, wants to convert funds into weapons, and wants to plan an exit. He clearly said during the [Phase 1 of Reclamation New Land] that 'we must seize every corner of the City of Joy', but now that Phase 2 has appeared, he is not fighting for it—"

"Those [Scorpions] too! Rather than using them to fight the Toyokawa family, you seem to want to take out Afterglow's assets and exchange them for weapons to protect the rest of us as we split up!"

“——Ran can’t find a way to save Afterglow in the upcoming city-wide war! So, I want to burn everything in the end and create a reason that we can all accept and retreat unscathed!”

"——What else?"

Lan roared! Her voice echoed in the basement—

"Keep operating, fail again, and wait for the nuclear bomb to drop?"

however.

"——Why does Lan feel that he will fail this time too?!"

This was the first time Moka spoke so loudly.

"—"

Even Ran paused for a moment because of Moka's rare persistence——

"…I can't accept Lan's plan."

Moka looked at Lan sadly and said.

Chapter 1 Betrayal and Exile (7k monthly tickets plus more)

"Lan has become timid."

Mocha stood there, looking at Lan and said.

“【We won’t keep failing.】”

"Didn't Lan always say this in the past?"

"As the only band in Le City that started from scratch without the support of a consortium or fame, when we first started out, we were constantly hurt, constantly failed, and constantly struggling on the brink of death. Several times, we were almost wiped out—"

"——But later, didn't we also successfully climb to the top?"

Moka stared at Lan.

“At that time, we could accept failure.”

"Now that your hands are full of things, can't you accept it?"

Moka took a step closer to Lan.

"I know what Lan is thinking."

she says.

"If a large-scale war breaks out in the City of Music, the ones fighting on the front lines will definitely be the bigwigs from our gangs."

"We can't retreat, but we can't not take action either."

"But if we do, only death will be waiting for us—"

"Lan is afraid that we will die."

"So, I wanted to escape."

Mocha stared into Lan's wine red eyes.

"—but I'm not afraid."

she says:

"I'm a member of Afterglow."

"I've made this vow since the day Afterglow was founded."

“I just want to protect it.”

"I don't want anything else."

"Thrush told you that, too, right?"

"Tomoe and Kohiro—"

click.

There was a sound of metal clashing.

"Stop it, Moka."

Lan said.

Lan drew her kinetic pistol [Malorian Company 0410].

however.

"!"

Mocha didn't back down.

Moka also drew her kinetic pistol [Death and Taxes].

……

Lan and Moka pulled out their guns and pointed them at each other's feet.

They didn't point at each other's heads.

Because when Afterglow was founded, it said:

[No matter what the situation, you cannot point a gun at your companion's head. ]

Lan said that he wanted to disband, but he still kept Afterglow's promise.

Moka chuckled softly at that.

"Lan stubbornly hopes to burn out and end all this. Lan, this plan won't work at all."

Mocha said.

"Even if Lan says she wants to end this, I won't let you succeed."

"…The reality is staring us in the face, Moka."

Lan said.

"The 'reality' that Lan is talking about, do you mean the 'reality' that [If Afterglow doesn't retreat, it will definitely lose the next battle]?"

Moka asked back.

"..."

Lan said nothing.

"That's not reality. That's just Lan's imagination."

Mocha said.

"I'll fight till the end, Lan."

She looked at Lan pointing the gun at her feet and said.

"It's not 'try your best' as Lan said, but try your best for tomorrow."

"Afterglow is not just about Lan."

"And Tomoe, Xiaofei, and Tugumi..."

"… and me."

"If Ran can only imagine a bad future like [Afterglow fails], we will surpass that future - just like we started in the industrial zone -"

"--because."

Mocha says:

"In the beginning, it was Lan who told us to "Let's go see the view from the top together," wasn't it?"

……

On the field, Lan and Moka were silent for a while.

The basement seemed to be filled with liquid nitrogen, and the temperature dropped by several degrees.

"..."

Xiangzi, Hailing and Miaomeng, who were standing next to the Columbus freight van, naturally did not dare to speak.

There wasn't even any signal of Miao Meng screaming in the brain computer.

In front, the two "big shots" of Afterglow drew their guns and pointed them at each other, with swords drawn.

The three men from Ave Mujica did not dare to act rashly.

This was already considered an attack.

Xiangzi has met many "big shots" so far and has had personal confrontations with them.

Chisei Shirasagi, Aya Maruyama, Misaki Okuzawa, Kokoro Genmaki...

Xiangzi has met the leader of the band and the members under the leader.

However, no matter how talented the members Xiangzi met were, no matter how much say they had in the band,

They are all devoted to their leader and have no other thoughts.

After Maruyama Aya woke up, Shirasagi Chisei immediately adjusted the direction of Pastel*Palettes' actions according to Maruyama Aya's request.

After being told to stop by Genmaki Shin, Ozawa Misaki gave up the hunt for Ave Mujica.

...But the two people in front of me are not like that.

Moka explicitly defies Lan's decision.

Xiangzi had never seen anyone treat his leader like this.

It looked like the negotiations were about to break down.

"!"

In the field.

Lan moved first.

She walked towards Mocha.

The two of them got very close - almost face to face -

Mocha didn't back off.

He didn't look away either.

This is more than just a provocation.

This can be considered as rebellion.

Lan raised his gun.

"(……)"

Even Xiangzi, who was watching from the side, tensed up.

Because, at this point, the only option is to shoot.

Not shooting is tantamount to tacitly approving subordinates to challenge the authority of the "leader".

No matter how good the relationship with the subordinates is, or how right the subordinates are, it has come to this point, to the point where the gun is used to intimidate, and the other party still refuses to back off -