Cyberpunk: Legendary Life

Westbrook, Cherry Street.

In an old apartment, the internal elevator slowly rises to the twelfth floor and stops, and the elevator door slides open automatically.

Tang Yu walked out of the elevator and took a moment to look at the situation on the entire floor.

The floor layout is very simple. A corridor leads directly from the elevator entrance to the opposite end. There are steel doors on both sides of the corridor, and only a few scattered room doors are tightly closed.

The entire corridor is dimly lit, the walls are covered with various patterns and text, and vending machines are piled in the corner and are no longer functioning properly.

Black plastic garbage bags were piled haphazardly in the aisles. There was a sour smell in the air, and it looked like it had been abandoned for a long time.

There are many similar old high-rise apartments in Night City, which are basically in a semi-abandoned state.

These old apartments, with aging infrastructure and unmanaged buildings, have gradually become a hiding place for homeless people.

Some mercenary groups or gang members will also like these places and occupy a floor or several large rooms as a base for secret activities.

Tang Yu had some impressions of this place. Not long after his debut, he received a commission to rescue Sandra Dorsett, an employee of Ye's Company.

Sandra Dorsett was kidnapped by scavengers and was brought to this abandoned apartment.

If Tang Yu remembers correctly, it should be on the fifteenth floor, relatively close to a bathroom inside.

But just now.

From entering the door of the old apartment to taking the elevator upstairs, Tang Yu found no trace of the activities of the scavenger group.

After all, where there are scavengers, crime and filth are bound to breed, leaving some fresh blood stains or body bags.

Tang Yu put away his thoughts and stepped into the dim corridor.

He stopped in front of a door and looked at the door number.

"1236"

After confirming that this was the specific room number given by Mann, he reached out and pressed the electronic access control screen.

The surveillance camera on top of the door was pointed at him, seemingly confirming his identity through video.

soon.

The access control is unlocked, the green light turns on, and the steel gate slides open automatically.

Mann had been waiting at the door for a long time. When he saw Tang Yu arriving as promised, his expression seemed a little complicated. This meeting had been long awaited.

"Mr. Tang, you are here."

Tang Yu nodded slightly, stood up and walked in, observing the situation in the room.

In the middle of the living room, there was a table with a few boxes of residual instant noodles still steaming.

Three shabby sofas surrounded the table, and some empty medicine cans were scattered on the floor.

Tang Yu withdrew his gaze and then said: "Let's take a look at Joanne Koch's situation first."

The top priority is to confirm the safety of the target person, and no mistakes can be made to Joanne Coach now.

Mann responded solemnly, then walked into the house and came to the door of a bathroom.

Tang Yu also walked to the door. There was no door, and the situation in the bathroom was clear at a glance.

The target, Joanne Couch, had passed out and was tied to a stool, with the bio-neural data slot connected to the computer.

Next to the target person is a large bathtub filled with cold water and crushed ice.

A slender body was soaking in the ice water, as if sleeping.

Tang Yu had an impression of her. Although they had not communicated with the hackers in Mann's team, they had met several times.

Qiwei was lying in the bathtub, her graceful curves covered by a layer of floating ice, vaguely revealing her proud figure and two blueberries.

She still wore the pink mask, tilted her head up and leaned on the edge of the bathtub, closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

A black biological nerve data cable extended from the port on the back of her head, connected to the terminal computer, and was undergoing a deep hacking dive.

Tang Yu is no stranger to hacker diving.

Qi Wei has already sneaked into Joanne Koch's brain consciousness data stream, trying to break into her ICE to mine more data.

Dolio and Falco were monitoring the situation to prevent sudden changes in Joanne Kochi and prevent any unexpected events.

Hackers are extremely vulnerable and dangerous when they are in the process of deep diving. Unless they are very trusted companions, they will not easily conduct deep dives in person.

Tang Yu did not disturb Qiwei's deep diving process, but stood at the door and continued waiting to ensure that no accidents occurred during the entire process.

Qi Wei can't have any problems sneaking in as a hacker, and Joanne Kochi can't have any problems as a target person.

Qiwei's deep dive process was not easy, mainly because the target's ICE protection level was very high, and there were many obstacles to overcome.

Every time she gets closer to the core database, Qi Wei spends a lot of effort to avoid ICE. If there is no other way, she can only solve it through hacking.

She must try to destroy the overall structure of ICE as carefully as possible to avoid destabilizing the flow of consciousness data in Joanne Koch's brain.

Tang Yu noticed that Qiwei's deep dive time seemed a bit too long, so he walked to the control terminal and glanced at the electronic screen.

He casually called up the consciousness data code of Joanne Kochi's brain and found that her ICE had been upgraded for protection, especially for deep diving, and had specially reinforced anti-tampering programs. These programs would actively attack the intruder.

During the deep dive, Qiwei must avoid or defeat ICE while also dealing with the counterattack of the anti-tampering program.

Only by breaking through these levels can we finally reach the core of the consciousness data flow and get what we want.

After Tang Yu understood the situation clearly, he began to write the implant code on site, modified the Joanne Kochi anti-tampering automatic attack program through the terminal, and set Qiwei's deep subconscious into the anti-tampering program whitelist.

Relying on the experience of hacking in her previous life, this reinforced anti-tampering program lost its effect on Qi Wei once it was executed.

Joanne Kochi in the conscious data space.

Qiwei was struggling to deal with the attacks of anti-tampering programs. Suddenly, all the programs attacking her stopped automatically.

She frowned slightly, feeling a little confused and not knowing what was happening.

Could it be that someone modified the program through an external terminal?

Qiwei quickly guessed the reason. Now that she had been whitelisted by the anti-tampering program, she could even gain permission to control the program to decode ICE, greatly speeding up the progress of the deep dive invasion.

Qiwei walked through the maze-like consciousness data matrix, carefully breaking through layers of code walls.

finally.

Without destroying the ICE system, Qiwei successfully sneaked into the Joanne Kochi core data center library.

She quickly accessed the database with her hand and began to retrieve relevant information. She turned her prosthetic eyes around and searched continuously.

Qi Wei also knew that if she infiltrated for too long, the high temperature load on her brain would increase, causing damage to her brain nerves.

In addition, if the body is soaked in ice water for a long time, there will be a risk of frostbite, so the diving process should be fast rather than slow.

In fact, the commission to kidnap Joanne Kochi did not involve deep dives by hackers.

The main reason why Qiwei did this was because Mann asked her to search Joanne Koch's consciousness data to see if there was any information about Sasha.

at this time.

Qi Wei frowned and quickly searched for keywords such as Sasha Yakovleva, biotechnology building explosion, antibiotics and superbugs, and biochemical weapons.

The light spots in Qiwei's eyes kept flashing, and strings of codes, pictures and texts, and data all scrolled past and were recorded and stored at the same time.

Sudden.

Joanne Kochi's consciousness data space began to become unstable. The deep dive connection took too long, and the other party's brain gradually recovered and slowly woke up and became active.

Qiwei immediately accelerated the speed of data retrieval and storage. Suddenly, a top-secret plan caught her attention.

Project Nightingale?

A search of related content shows that it fully matches keywords such as antibiotics, super viruses, and military technology.

Obviously.

This project, which Joanne Couch was responsible for, was most likely the source of the Red Ocher Tribe infection.

Qiwei suddenly thought of something. Before the deep dive, Mann had interrogated Joanne Koch after he captured her.

But the cunning Joanne Kochi only revealed some information, focusing on the research and development of new antibiotics, which is related to the interests of major companies.

She also threatened Mann and others that interfering with this plan would not only be against biotechnology, but also against major companies, including military technology.

Joanne Koch even threatened and coerced her into saying that as long as Mann let her go, she could even arrange for them to join the company and solve all the prosthetic problems for him.

She claimed that if she died here, everyone would be buried with her.

Mann didn't follow her lead at all. He beat her unconscious and injected her with a sleeping pill to put her into a deep sleep. Qiwei then hacked her in.

Now.

Qiwei tried to read the specific content of the 'Nightingale Project', but access to the specific content of the plan was prohibited, and only Joanne Koch herself had access rights.

Qiwei no longer has time to break through this program and can only continue to collect other relevant information.

In the bathroom.

Tang Yu noticed that Joanne Kochi seemed to be acting strangely, and her drooped eyelids began to tremble.

He realized that the potion had expired, so he picked up a brand-new orange potion on the table and stuck a needle in her neck, causing her to fall into a deep sleep again.

It didn't take long.

The electronic screen of the terminal lit up to indicate that Qiwei sent a signal to indicate that she wanted to end the deep dive. She should have escaped safely from the ICE protection.

Tang Yu clicked on the electronic screen to confirm the safe exit from the consciousness data connection.

Three seconds later.

Qiwei took a sudden breath and sat up from the bathtub. The ice cubes mixed with cold water slid down the texture of her skin and fell into the bathtub with a plop.

She seemed to have fallen off a cliff in a dream and suddenly returned to the real world. Her pupils gradually condensed and returned to life.

Heat steamed from the back of Qi Wei's head, and the high temperature of her body evaporated the cold water droplets on her body surface.

She unplugged the connector from the back of her head and stood up from the bathtub, shaking the blueberry without caring about the people present.

Dolio quickly picked up a dry blanket and put it on her, concerned about Qiwei's physical condition.

Qiwei suddenly saw Tang Yu here, standing in front of the connection terminal. She seemed to realize something, and a flash of surprise flashed in her eyes.

She picked up the blanket and wiped her hair, walked to the computer desk, picked up the cigarette case and lighter on the desk, and turned her head slightly to look at Tang Yu.

"Thanks."

After saying that, Qiwei took out a cigarette from the cigarette case, lit it by herself, and started smoking through the mask.

She knew that when infiltrating, Joanne Kochi's anti-tampering program suddenly stopped attacking, which was Tang Yu's method.

Without his help outside, I'm afraid she would still be in a deep dive state, continuing to struggle with those damn ICE and attack programs.

Mann was a little anxious. When Qiwei's expression recovered a little, he quickly asked: "How is it? Is there any result?"

Qiwei sat back on the computer table, holding a cigarette in one hand, flicking the ashes, and the blueberries swayed slightly.

She said calmly: "There is no information about Sasha, and it should not be under Joanne Koch's responsibility."

"But in addition to developing antibiotics, she also developed neurotropic painkillers before, which should have harmed many people, most of them veterans."

Qiwei turned to look at Joanne Koch, who was still sleeping, and then said: "There are some records of the explosion in the biotechnology building, but there are not many specific details, but what is certain is that the subsequent handling of the explosion It’s not biotechnology, it’s Arasaka Corporation.”

As soon as these words came out.

Mann quickly realized something and continued to ask.

"Biotech security is indeed outsourced, but the contractor is Kangtao Company. Why was Arasaka Company the one who ended up handling the explosion?"

Qiwei continued to explain: "According to the information obtained, Arasaka has cooperation with biotechnology in the field of neurotropic drugs. To be precise, it is the research on brain consciousness."

"There is no specific content of the cooperation, but it may be related to the explosion. After all, the office where the explosion occurred belongs to senior biotechnology personnel, and should also be responsible for research on brain nerve drugs."

After hearing this, the truth behind some of the things began to gradually emerge.

Qiwei didn't care about everyone's reaction. When she mentioned Arasaka Company, she specifically observed Tang Yu's expression beside her. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, so she continued.

"In addition, I found a top-secret plan in Joanne Koch's consciousness data, which may be related to using the red ocher tribe to conduct antibiotic research."

"However, this plan has been individually encrypted and no one except Joanne Koch herself can access it."

"But what is certain is that the plan involves antibiotic research and development and is related to military technology."

Military technology?

Mann and others were lost in thought, but they didn't expect that Joanne Kochi was not a stubborn person, and what she said was actually true.

The Red Ocher Tribe’s antibiotic trials, and the creation of superbugs, really involve military technology.

This kind of disaster-level biological and chemical weapon would probably only be used in one place.

battlefield.

Tang Yu kept silent, listening to the information Qiwei got from the deep dive, and asked in a deep voice: "Qiwei, what is the code name of the plan?"

Qi Wei was a little surprised when she heard Tang Yu speak. It seemed that only military technology could attract his attention, so she replied.

"Project Nightingale."

After Tang Yu learned the name of the plan, even if he didn't know the specific content of the plan, he could piece it together in his mind.

He speculated that the general situation is that military technology wants to enhance its dominance and deterrence on the battlefield.

I want military technology soldiers to transform into biochemical warriors and be immune to superbug infections.

So we found a biotechnology company to cooperate with and funded the development of a new type of antibiotic and the cultivation of superbugs to treat it.

If the research and development of biotechnology is successful, military technology will have a killer weapon, and other forces must weigh the consequences if they want to compete with it.

Biotechnology is also thinking that if superbugs spread, at least before they mutate, they can make a lot of money from new antibiotics.

It is equivalent to using military science and technology money to engage in research and development. After the research and development is completed, you can continue to make money from antibiotic drugs.

Even if the research fails, it can be attributed to the scientific research level. After all, no one can guarantee that the experiment will be successful.

This cooperation can be said to be a sure profit for biotechnology.

Think about this.

Tang Yu couldn't help but feel pity for military technology. He was obviously being taken advantage of but didn't know it yet.

The Red Ocher Tribe experiment has confirmed that new antibiotics developed through biotechnology are ineffective against superbugs and can have serious side effects.

Then why does Joanne Koch continue to spend money and conduct crazy experiments on the wanderer tribe in the bad land? Isn’t the corpse sample data enough?

Even if only a few people die, it’s time to realize that there are problems with new antibiotics.

Once military science and technology purchases this type of new antibiotic drugs on a large scale, what they want is not just passing results.

Even if the cure rate of new antibiotics reaches 60% or even 70%, it is still far from enough.

Military technology requires a death rate of one in 10,000, or even one in 100,000.

Judging from the effectiveness of this new antibiotic, if it were injected into military technology soldiers, they would probably be tortured to death by the antibiotics before they were infected with super bacteria.

Tang Yu glanced at Joanne Kochi and found that this thin woman looked gentle but had an extremely vicious heart.

It is clear that there is a problem with the experimental product, but it is still tested on tribes. It is obviously a pretense to show investors and tell the military that the scientific and technological experiment is still going on.

She attributed the failure of the experiment to insufficient sample data and the need to invest heavily in it.

So Joanne Kochi took advantage of the greed of major companies and directed and acted in a scientific research drama.

Through this drama, Military Technology invested a huge amount of money to help Joanne improve her performance, secure a high-level position in the biotechnology company, and obtain the position of regional director of technology and development.

Moreover, according to Joanne Kochi's personal information, her scientific research mentor, scientific research staff, and follow-up public relations manager have recently died mysteriously one after another.

I'm afraid it was all because she knew the inside story of the new antibiotic experiment and was eliminated as a hidden danger by her.

In this drama, Joanne Koch made money, the biotechnology company made money, Luandaohui made money, and Kangtao also made money.

Every force is in this chain of interests and grabs its own interests.

The only real culprits are military technology. Every penny spent from beginning to end becomes the support of others.

But the only ones who really deserved mercy were the Red Ocher Tribe, and the Thousand-Man Tribe was almost wiped out.

Tang Yu figured out the twists and turns between these companies, and the context of the whole matter naturally became clear.

Before he figured things out, he was a little worried, but now he calmed down.

Tang Yu always believes that if you grasp the context of the whole matter, you will grasp the most critical and important intelligence, and intelligence is one of the most useful trump cards.

With information, there is room for gaming.

Now he not only controls the life and death of Joanne Couch, but also understands the business of biotechnology and military technology.

He can play this card well.

Suddenly I realized that I had overestimated myself. I tried my best to cry in the storm.