Cyberpunk: Legendary Life

Westbrook, Cherry Street.

In front of the TURGO small square, several hot food stalls are lit up for business. The warm orange-yellow light curtain isolates the deserted surroundings and creates a lively atmosphere.

Many cyberpunks who were wandering the streets drove here to take a rest after finishing their day's work.

Accompanied by the explosive music, people held up their wine bottles, pushed glasses, and laughed, making it more lively than usual.

"Hey, Pyrrha, I haven't seen you for a few days. Have you changed into a prosthetic arm?"

"Yeah, what happened? It keeps getting longer and longer. Are you a long-armed technology bomb madman?"

"Oh, don't tell me, my hands have become longer and more flexible, right? Haha."

Everyone gathered around the fun man Pila, watching him perform various difficult acrobatics, and joked from time to time.

The bearded Pila seemed to particularly enjoy the attention of everyone, and his performance became more and more energetic. The tray and wine bottle kept flying in the palm of his golden prosthetic body, and he said proudly.

"Hey, you guys have good taste. I just bought it from an old friend. It cost me a lot of money. I even dedicated a whole day to serve him!"

Someone immediately picked up the conversation and said, "Haha, what is the service? Let me tell you in detail."

Pila swung her tongue vigorously, so fast that it turned into a shadow, and she laughed in a unclear voice: "That's it, be fast!"

"Hahaha!"

Everyone was chatting and laughing again.

call out!

A glass wine bottle was smashed over from a distance.

Rebekah looked like she hated iron, and seeing Pyrrha acting weird, she felt ashamed for him, and roared: "Brother! Please restrain yourself!"

Faced with the wine bottle that suddenly hit her, Pila reacted quite quickly. She barely caught the bottle, staggered and continued to play, looking very funny.

"Thank you sister for the bottle of wine!"

Even Mann and Dolio on the side couldn't help laughing and became more and more cheerful.

Mann rarely relaxed a lot today. After completing Gloria's commission, everyone made a lot of money.

One hundred thousand euros is not a small amount of money, it will be enough for them to spend some time.

What surprised him even more was that Gloria promised to compensate Falco for the loss of the pickup.

Mann put his right hand on Dolio's shoulder, leaned against the back of the bench, and couldn't help but think deeply, comparing Faraday and Gloria.

Faraday has always been his regular customer. Although he has taken over work from other middlemen, most of the commission fees cannot compare with Faraday.

Faraday is backed by military technology, so his skills are certainly not small, but his tasks are also not simple, and most of them are company-related.

As a middleman, Faraday has a sinister personality. He puts profit first in everything and never cares about anything other than entrustment.

But Gloria seems different. Even though she is the middleman supported by Arasaka, her acting style is completely different.

Whether it's remuneration or trust, it far exceeds Faraday. At least Gloria has some sympathy.

There are pros and cons to this kind of thing.

In Mann's view, the only person Night City can trust is himself.

He understood the logic, but he couldn't do it.

Mann looked around at his lover Dolio, the living treasure Pyrrha, the firepower Rebecca, the ruthless hacker Qiwei, and Lucy who always kept a distance from others.

They have all joined the Mann team and are indispensable to the team.

As the big brother of the team, Mann naturally has the obligation and responsibility to take good care of them.

So in the final analysis, Mann cannot escape the word 'love'.

Whether it's love or friendship, it makes him feel like he's living in the lonely and cold Night City, and has warmth again.

Perhaps he was such a person that he refused Faraday's call, chose to believe Gloria, and completed the commission.

In short, looking at it now, the result is not bad. On the contrary, everyone cooperates quite smoothly.

But Mann knew that the person standing behind Gloria was the one who decided everything.

Without his intervention, many things would have been rewritten, and it is still unknown whether we would have reached this point.

Mann took a swig of beer, trying to forget these worries, and then threw the bottle in his hand towards Pyrrha, laughing loudly.

Holding a cigarette under her mask, Qiwei walked to the hot food stall and sat next to Lucy. She was sitting alone, playing with a can of green drink with her fingertips, stupid monkey.

Qiwei raised her head and looked under the eaves. The projector was playing the program, and the content was tonight's "Business Talk".

"Matteo, I didn't expect it to be on the news so quickly. Arasaka Company is quite fast. It probably doesn't want to save face for Military Technology and NCPD."

Although Lucy did not look up at the TV, she had been listening to the program host and knew what Qiwei was referring to.

"Maybe, but I can't tell clearly about the company."

Qi Wei glanced at Lucy from the corner of her eye, and found that her expression was still cold and indifferent, and she seemed to be worried.

"After this news is broadcast, I don't know how many chain reactions it will cause."

"Military technology, NCPD, Night City high-level officials, etc., may all get involved, and it will be difficult to end it by then."

"You know, the reason why many things are not put on the table is because major companies follow the tacit understanding they should have, and Arasaka is not necessarily cleaner than them."

"His move is actually a risky move. If he doesn't play it well, he will get burned."

Ding clang clang.

The clumsy monkey at Lucy's fingertips suddenly slipped away from the table and fell to the ground.

On the green shell, a funny big monkey's head is pointing upward, seeming to be staring straight at something.

Her fingertips stayed in the air, and she said after a moment of silence.

"The company has always been like this, and Arasaka is no exception."

Qi Wei nodded, stared at the content of the program and said: "No wonder so many people want to snatch Matteo today. Suddenly, it feels quite dark humor. For a person who is walking on the edge of death, so many people get involved. I’m afraid Dead Man’s Lotto is going to celebrate the jackpot again.”

Lucy also thought about the melee that took place today, in which hundreds of people died tragically on the abandoned viaduct.

She was pulled into Draman's car by Tang Yu, and she was chased by the Animal Gang all the way in the car. Her life was hanging by a thread and she almost crashed the car and died.

It was Tang Yu who took action to deal with the drone swarm and the Animal Gang's off-road vehicle, and escaped with all the people in the vehicle.

To be honest, she knew there would be no problem. After all, Tang Yu had some kind of mysterious power. It was enough to turn on this ability to solve the problem.

But this is his most hidden trump card. If he chooses to expose it at this time, everyone present will see it. There are too many uncontrollable factors, not to mention an uncontrollable intelligent AI.

Even if Tang Yu tries to hide, he will leave clues and become a major hidden danger.

But what Lucy didn't expect was that Tang Yu's method of solving troubles was not to rely on that mysterious power, but to rely on his precise shooting skills to defeat all threats with perfect accuracy.

For some reason, she suddenly recalled the rescue scene that night, carrying Tang Yu in a shopping cart and speeding down the ramp. She found it interesting to see his confused look.

Now that I think about it carefully, maybe I really worried too much and actually regarded Tang Yu as an ordinary person.

Why was he being robbed by street scoundrels? How could those street scum harm him in the slightest?

Not to mention, Tang Yu was running faster and faster, and his marksmanship and mysterious powers alone were enough to protect himself.

For an ordinary person to climb to the top of Arasaka Company, both background and ability are indispensable.

Maybe what Qi Wei said was right, but Tang Yu was definitely not that easy to manipulate.

Lucy laughed to herself.

Qiwei gave Lucy a strange look, not knowing what was going on in her head, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Lucy didn't care about Qi Wei's opinion and replied calmly: "Yeah, I just thought of some interesting things."

She stood up and left her seat, leaned over to pick up the jar of stupid monkey on the ground, glanced at the big-headed monkey's face, and then said goodbye to Qiwei: "You guys are playing, let's go first."

After saying that, Lucy turned and left, still holding the bottle of Stupid Monkey in her hand.

Qiwei looked at her leaving back, her eyes slightly focused, as if she was thinking about her smile just now.

Lucy did not choose to return to the nearby apartment, but strolled towards the seawall, away from the noise. The surrounding area instantly became clear, leaving only the gentle sea breeze.

She lit a cigarette skillfully, then leaned against the railing, tilted her head slightly, and gazed at the night view overseas.

Waves, cruise ships, the open sea, and the rocket launch platform on the sea in the distance, the scenery does not change much at night.

She exhaled a stream of white smoke and lowered her head to notice that the stupid monkey she had just brought was standing quietly on the railing. The big-headed monkey was staring directly at her.

After hesitating for a moment, Lucy held the cigarette between her fingers, gently picked up the Stupid Monkey and opened the bottle cap. The smell of smoked sweet corn wafted out, mixed with the smoke, making her frown slightly.

Can this thing taste good?

Lucy stared at the stupid monkey and finally chose to take a bite.

"Ahem."

The neon pink short hair is messy and beating, and the smell is really annoying.

After Lucy calmed down her cough, she felt the strong smell of corn lingering for a long time, almost cloyingly sweet.

She looked at the stupid monkey in her hand again and smiled helplessly.

at this time.

Tang Yu was sitting on the sofa and suddenly sneezed.

The weather seemed to be getting a little cold, so he quickly wrapped himself in his pajamas, picked up the hot tea on the table and took two more sips.

"Oh, there are a lot of people thinking about me tonight."

Tang Yu joked alone.

The program had just ended, and he was guessing who would call first. He deliberately picked up the glasses on the desk, wiped the lenses, and waited for news.

The ten seconds count has just finished, and it shows that there is an incoming call requesting access.

Little Michiko?

The person responsible for this matter has arrived.

Tang Yu also guessed that there was a high probability that it would be little Michiko. After all, no one except her would care more about this matter than himself.

I have been doing things these days, and I haven't been angry with Michiko. I feel like she doesn't seem to care much. I didn't expect that the matter was done, and I called immediately, which shows that she is still thinking about her.

Tang Yu waited for a few seconds and then answered the phone.

"Tang, the board of directors will be held tomorrow. You can participate in the meeting remotely." Xiao Michiko's tone was calm, and there was no emotion or anger.

Michiko did not express any views on what just happened, and only mentioned that he would be allowed to participate in the board of directors remotely online.

Tang Yu replied calmly: "Okay, Director Michiko."

Michiko didn't say much else and hung up the phone decisively.

Tang Yu looked at the length of the call record just now. It was less than ten seconds before and after, adding up to two sentences in total.

This actually surprised him.

Does little Michiko believe in herself so much?

Don’t you need to ask about the specific details of such a big thing?

Tang Yu also knew that there were pros and cons to exposing this matter, even though he helped Michiko get the handle on military technology.

But this kind of dirty work is done behind closed doors by all major companies, and it’s ugly even on the stage. It’s really just a thief’s cry of catching a thief.

But Tang Yu was too lazy to care about this. He was doing things for little Michiko anyway. If the sky fell, Arasaka would hold him up.

In fact, Tang Yu envisioned two results.

One is that Michiko appreciates the success of this matter. It did not directly conflict with military technology, but also indirectly weakened their influence in Night City and blocked the transaction with NCPD.

The other is that Michiko thinks that things have gone too far and exposed the prosthetic body experiment on the table, which violates the taboos of major companies and will inevitably cause dissatisfaction in other companies.

This makes it very difficult for Michiko. After all, there are not only struggles between major companies, but also business cooperation and common interests.

Michiko plans to hold a board meeting tomorrow, which is obviously the result of careful consideration.

This made Tang Yu a little unsure.

Little Michiko will definitely use this incident to make a fuss, proving to the board members that she is not blindly compromising on military technology, and proving to the family that she is not a capitulator, but a curveball to save Arasaka.

As for causing resentment among major companies, Michiko would either push Tang Yu out of the way to block the attack, or continue to use him to win over the factions.

These two situations are not too bad results for Tang Yu.

In the final analysis, it is just that the major companies can't get along with each other, and there is no open and hot conflict between the companies that seriously threatens each other.

If it didn't work out, he dismissed a deputy minister, which was regarded as a punishment, and he showed it to major companies.

But Tang Yu is more willing to believe in the latter and be further reused, because he knows that he still has full use value, and little Michiko will not be willing to abandon his son so early.

Just as Tang Yu was thinking about it, he was prompted with a new communication request.

Aunt Mei?

Tang Yu estimated that Aunt Mei was a little angry. Although the main department responsible for the military technology transaction was not the Special Operations Department, it did involve some of Aunt Mei's tasks.

The call is connected.

Meredith Stout asked directly: "The news just now was your handiwork, right?"

Tang Yu seemed to be quite calm when she heard her tone, and it didn't look like she was here to question her.

However, as a senior executive of a military technology company, she was not qualified to question an senior executive of Arasaka Company.

So, he replied calmly: "Your information is indeed well-informed."

Meredith chuckled on the other end of the phone.

"I realized something was wrong from the moment you showed up at Mo'er's house, but I didn't expect that I was still a step behind you."

"How about it, can you tell me how Arasaka treats you?"

Tang Yu thought to himself, Aunt Mei, don't even think about it. In fact, victory is only one step away.

If Mann had gone back on his word and chosen to agree to Faraday's commission, Mateo would naturally have fallen into the hands of military technology, and the scene today would not have happened.

Tang Yu saw that Meredith was quite relaxed and didn't seem to care about the success or failure of the mission, so he asked and joked.

"You ask, do you want to recruit me into military technology?"

Meredith heard his teasing and said solemnly: "Make a price."

Tang Yu: "."

Meredith emphasized again: "What you said just now is not a joke. I know your situation in Arasaka. You are a lone wolf. You don't have to sacrifice your life wherever you go. Why hang on a tree? Don't you think so, Don?"

Aunt Mei was serious both inside and outside her words, and she was probably serious about poaching people.

Tang Yu didn't expect that she would dare to call Arasaka's hostile elements in the middle of the night to openly poach people, and the poachers were still company executives.

But he is also a veteran in the workplace, so naturally he will not give up easily, so he smiled and said: "I'm afraid this price is beyond the reach of your company."

Meredith also smiled and said bluntly: "Isn't it just the deputy director of the dual department? I say a thousand words and ten thousand, but I am still the deputy. If you are willing to come to Military Technology, I will reserve my position for you. It depends on whether you want it or not. .”

Tang Yu: "."

The emphasis was placed on poaching people three times and four times, and Meredith’s price was indeed generous.

More importantly, Tang Yu knew that if nothing unexpected happened, she would be promoted to director next year, and the position of director of military technology special operations would naturally be vacant.

"As you said, I'm just a lone wolf. I don't have a big appetite. I just make ends meet in Arasaka, so I'll keep this invitation for now."

Meredith is fishing, and Tang Yu is fishing too. No one can decide whether it is true or false until the last moment.

But Tang Yu will definitely not consider military technology now. The world is as dark as crows, and there are more important things lurking in Arasaka, not just for this high-level position in the company.

Seeing that she couldn't convince Tang Yu, Meredith stopped mentioning the matter, but changed the topic and took the initiative to speak.

"Actually, your idea is good. I personally agree with it. You want to use the exposure of experimental prosthetics to undermine the cooperation between military technology and NCPD."

"But the core of the problem is not actually here. Our transaction with NCPD will indeed be stopped, but there is more than one way of cooperation."

"The reason why I made this call is, in addition to testing your attitude, I also want to remind you that some things that should not be brought to the table should always be covered with a cloth. The person who dares to lift the cloth first can be Be mentally prepared.”

Tang Yu agreed 100% with what Aunt Mei said, but it couldn't be done without lifting the curtain. If Military Technology also wanted to get some dirty information about Arasaka, he wouldn't mind handing over some useful information.

"Well, I'm also waiting for the results of the board of directors tomorrow. If it doesn't go well, I don't mind talking about it again."

Meredith replied, "It's all negotiable."

Finished.

Communication is interrupted.

Tang Yu sat on the sofa and fell into deep thought. This time he was working for little Michiko, and the ugly cloth had just been lifted.

The darkness and filth of Night City are like icebergs silent under the sea.

If you want to break this iceberg, someone must dive to the bottom of the sea and give it a hard blow, causing the iceberg to completely disintegrate and surface, exposing it to the sun and melting.

Obviously, Tang Yu can't do it now, and no one can do it.

He just wanted to try his best to save his boat and carry more people safely away from the iceberg, so as to prevent the boat from being destroyed and sinking to the bottom of the sea.

After the call, Tang Yu received a lot of messages, mostly from people in the company.

Tang Yu threw them directly into the trash can one by one. Apart from coming to inquire about intelligence information, there was no other possibility.

After thinking about it, Tang Yu wanted to go out for a night run to relax again. He hesitated for a moment and sent a message to Lucy.

Tang Yu: "Running at night?"

Lucy: "Sea wall."

Instant Noodles: "The boss of 'Weixia Guozi' rewarded the seventh alliance!!! Johnny!!! Did you see it!!!"

Johnny: "For the sake of the leader of the 'Weixia Guozi' alliance, maybe I should ask Ultra to use Soul Killer on you, upload you to cyberspace, and turn you into a ruthless codeword AI day and night."

Otter Cunningham: "A great being that can accommodate all things."

——————

Thanks to the leader of the ‘Weixia Guozi’, the small theater presents it.

I can't update it due to personal reasons, so I'll try to catch up on it over the weekend. There's also another update tonight, so I'll try to make it as big as possible!

Thanks to the following sponsors for the rewards!

Book Friends 20221111105148027 3.00

Nan Dual Face 15.00

Xuanyuan Five Rivers 5.00

Speechless Alone 1.00