Dragon Clan: Lu Mingfei Doesn’t Want to Become a Night City Legend

Chapter 98 I used Faraday as a scapegoat
"Can I help you?"

"No, but you may not know this, teacher, but I'm actually a bit socially anxious. When I want to drink, I can't speak if there's no one I know around me, and I feel suffocated when I can't speak."

"What a hassle." Qi Wei signaled the bartender, and Lu Mingfei also ordered a cocktail with an alcohol content of less than 10 degrees, the main ingredient of which was carbonated drinks.

"So, what did you come to me to discuss? David's family conflict? That's a problem between the couple and you, their adopted son. I won't get involved."

"First of all, I'm not your adopted son. Secondly, how can you start with such a heavy topic?"

Lu Mingfei, who said not to talk about those upsetting topics, eventually turned the conversation to the two people. Qi Wei just listened to him quietly and chatted with him from time to time.

suddenly--

"By the way, Qiwei's face armor is very handsome."

".Why are you saying this suddenly?"

Qi Wei was stunned, but her expression remained calm.

"I've wanted to say this before, but before I felt that suddenly complimenting a stranger was like hitting on me. Now I can just treat it as a compliment between brothers."

".Brother."

"No, no, no, no! I don't mean to treat you as a man! Although I feel that your lone wolf temperament is quite manly, there is absolutely no suggestion of that!"

"Ha," Qi Wei sighed tiredly, her breath reeking of alcohol. "Compared to that, do you really think we're brothers?"

"Eh?"

This time it was Lu Mingfei's turn to be stunned.

"We've fought side by side so many times, right?"

"As long as you team up with a mercenary on a mission, you can still count it as fighting side by side," Qi Wei said gently. "Night City is just like that. It's actually weird to think you value relationships with teammates."

".Then what does the teacher think of our relationship?"

Lu Mingfei, who originally came to complain, now smelled the scent of a new incident.

He ignored Lu Mingze, who was standing on the table with a yellow napkin folded into an arrow shape and holding his hands on Qiwei's head, and continued to ask.

"It's a cyberpunk team that has worked together a few times and is relatively familiar with each other."

Qiwei gave an inhumane answer.

While answering Lu Mingfei, Qi Wei might also be answering a certain "premonition" in her heart.

[The target we are trying to apprehend is the cyber hacker involved in the Tanaka case]

[The opponent's origin is unknown, but he is able to destroy Arasaka's Netrunner]

[Shrewd means]

Qiwei had seen the methods used by the target of that mission, and a sense of déjà vu continued to arise in her mind.

The target of the mission might be someone he knew.

If that's really the case.
A vague 'friendship' and a path to advancement within the company.

The golden balance creaked with a grinding sound, and both sides rose and fell. As Qi Wei spoke, one side seemed to be tipping over at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"I'm too old, Mingfei."

It was rare for Qi Wei to use such an intimate term of address. Perhaps at this moment, Qi Wei was talking to Lu Mingfei as a 'teacher'.

"I've been through so much, so much, so old that my trust in people has long been worn away by this city."

“Even if I have to do something immoral, I will do it.”

"Ming Fei, do you still remember what I said to you?"

Memories that did exist began to flash back.

Lu Mingfei recalled the past.

When Qiwei guided herself as her teacher for the first time, when Qiwei completed the Whirlpool Gang's mission. Countless times, the teacher in front of her emphasized the unshakable values ​​to her.

[Don't trust anyone. The only person you can trust in Night City is yourself. If you get cheated, it's your fault.]

[Lu Mingfei, although you are rare in Night City, that doesn't mean it's a good thing. No one can change Night City, so the only possibility is that you will be swallowed up by this city, assimilated, or - expelled.]

【Don't trust anyone, Mingfei.】

The only person you can trust is yourself.

It seems that Lu Mingfei's experiences all along have been confirming that.

The experience with the kidney-stripper made Lu Mingfei, who had just arrived in Night City, feel the same as Qi Wei.

Everyone will be taught this simple lesson by this city.

but.
Lu Mingfei whispered to Qi Wei.

"I understand."

"Ah."

After being pleased with Lu Mingfei's answer, Qi Wei seemed to have finally let go of the worry and breathed a sigh of relief.

She has made a decision.

Sure enough, I am still the same myself.

Even if it's 'betrayal'.
I also--

"Then I'll leave first—"

"But I don't care."

Qiwei paused in her movement to stand up.

Lu Mingfei didn't care about Qi Wei's reaction. He looked at the cocktail in front of him, rubbing the rim of the glass with his index finger and thumb, as if he was talking to himself. "It doesn't matter. If Qi Wei really feels that way, then the worst that can happen is that she's just betraying me."

"Well, that's okay."

It doesn't matter what?
Qi Wei was a little slow to react, but Lu Mingfei continued, "In Night City, there's really no way to trust each other, so it doesn't matter. Just betray me, betray David, betray everyone except yourself, it doesn't matter."

"But yeah, that's how I feel."

The boy tilted his head slightly. "After all, if you feel betrayed, that means you 'trusted' the other person before the betrayal was completed, right? Or rather, if you believe you've 'betrayed' the other person, doesn't that mean you're aware that the other person trusts you?"

"What are you talking about?" Qi Wei covered her head and tried to sort out Lu Mingfei's words, but she found it awkward no matter how she thought about it.

What is this child saying?

"It's okay. It doesn't matter if you don't understand. I always talk nonsense anyway, so just treat what I say next as nonsense. Even if there is no one else, you have to trust yourself. That's enough."

"It doesn't matter if you betray me. Since that's the case, why don't we betray each other? It would be even better if we all betray each other!" Lu Mingfei became more and more excited as he spoke, and Qi Wei looked more and more dumbfounded.

"It doesn't matter if you betray me at will! But in return, I will never betray you." The boy's voice gradually became louder. "I will grab your collars and beat you up, so that you will know that betrayal is worse than not betraying, and never think about such things again."

"Betrayal is your business, but what I do is my business."

"It doesn't matter what the rules are in Night City, but I'm with Boss David, so his rules are my rules. This is how I, a lackey, survive!"

These are just repetitions of David's words.

But at this moment, Lu Mingfei had a new realization.

That's right.

Night City can't trust each other, it's the worst prisoner's dilemma.

Then just betray each other.

Don't betray without any psychological burden.

then
I will be responsible for breaking through all the costs of so-called betrayal.

"Look, with the boss and me, we now have mutual trust. As long as the lackeys continue to increase and their will continues to thrive, maybe one day this spark will spread like wildfire."

Looking at Lu Mingfei who said this seriously with his fist clenched.
Qiwei thought for a long time and could only utter one sentence.

"You are not a resident of Night City."

She slapped her cheek and smiled bitterly, "Perhaps having someone like you is a good thing for this city of Cao Dan."

"."

Qi Wei closed her eyes and remained silent for a while, then——

"I have something to tell you."
-
At the end of the conversation, Qi Wei still told Lu Mingfei her vague "guess".

She suspected that the "network walker" Faraday wanted to catch was Lucy, and Lu Mingfei, who had just received information from Lucy, naturally knew that what Qi Wei said was true.

All the clues are connected together.

It seemed as if hidden mines were set in every corner of the story, which were triggered unknowingly when Lu Mingfei tried to solve the internal problems of the team.

Now that he has information about Qiwei, Lu Mingfei will naturally inform Lucy.

[Arasaka hackers have set their sights on her]

This reason was enough for Lucy to stop.

At the same time, David, who was forced by Lu Mingfei to stay at home and had no tasks to accept, gradually recovered his physical condition during this period.

As expected, David is [special].

Although he may not be able to become the protagonist of a Long Aotian story, he undoubtedly has the talent to become a strong man. He can maintain his sanity even though the rate of his prosthetic transformation exceeds 50% and they are all combat prosthetics. This alone surpasses most mercenaries.

And that Sian Westin is even more evidence of his "specialness".

Otherwise, Lucy wouldn't have tried every possible way to delete his record. It seemed that David and Lu Mingfei had a special value that was difficult to express in the [Attribute Panel], which allowed them to raise their acceptance of prostheses to a value that ordinary people could not reach.

But none of that matters now.

The conversation has been opened.

One day——

In the box of [Afterlife].

"Hey, wait, I'm busy right now."

Lucy reluctantly let Lu Mingfei pull her arm and push the door open to enter the bar. She was complaining all the time and didn't have time to see the people in the box clearly until she turned around.

".David? And..Qiwei?"

In the melancholic blues-style box, David was already sitting at the innermost side, while Qiwei was also sitting alone in the corner with her legs crossed.

Not only her, Rebecca and Falco are already here.

Only Lucy was the last one.

And at this moment——

"Snapped."

Lu Mingfei clapped his hands together, making a loud noise. After attracting everyone's attention, he smoothly spread his hands out, palms facing outwards, with a matter-of-fact expression.

"Okay, everyone, gather and talk it out."

"."

The moment Lucy saw David, her whole demeanor changed. She pursed her lips in a complicated manner, but was eventually pushed into the seat by Lu Mingfei, half-heartedly.

Lu Mingfei: "I really don't want to be your messenger. I hate that European and American movie routine the most. If they don't talk properly, everyone is a riddle. Only when they die can they understand each other's good intentions. Why don't we sit down and have a good talk?"

"Wait! I have absolutely no clue what's going on here!" Rebecca glared.

From her perspective, she had just been heartbroken, and then she had been killing kidney-wasting people for three days and three nights. As a result, she was snoring in bed when Lu Mingfei called her.

"indeed."

Falco also felt puzzled, but the mature old man remained calm and waited for Lu Mingfei to explain.

"Simply put, I think we should prioritize addressing the right-leaning problem within our team! In fact, establish David's leadership position in the team!"

"What are you talking about?" Qi Wei smacked her lips. "Let me explain. In simple terms——"

David's prosthetic erosion rate has been confirmed to be excessive.

Lucy secretly attacked Arasaka's hackers, citing David as a potential target for the Arasaka experimental project.

Although David is unlikely to be caught at this point, the Tanaka case is related to Faraday. If the company uses Faraday's power to trap David and others, the situation will become unmanageable.

Not to mention the third step, the first two pieces of news alone are enough to shock Rebecca and Falco.

"Why don't you go to the hospital!"

Rebecca screamed sharply at David. She looked quite angry. Although her confession failed, the two of them were teammates who had worked together for many years. Rebecca watched David grow up. If she couldn't be his girlfriend, she was half a mother.

Rebecca

"Why aren't you treating me? Why aren't you treating me now? Use medical help to interrupt the q (quota) erosion program quota of the prosthetic! Fuck your dad!"

Damn, Rebecca is such a good woman. Knowing David and his mother’s tragic past, she even subconsciously went after Dad to curse him.

"And Lucy secretly offended Arasaka. This is really a big deal."

Falco leaned against the sofa, sweat pouring down his face.

Falco is almost as old as Qiwei. These two old men in Night City understand the power of the company better than anyone else. That is why they are shocked and astonished by Lucy's behavior.

And finally, David and Lucy—

Putting aside the fact that Lucy had more information than him, David certainly didn't know what Lucy had done behind his back.

He stared at Lucy with shocked pupils, unable to speak due to the shock of his emotions.

[List]

【experiment】

【Tanaka】

Combining all the key words together, David remembered that they were the mistakes he made when he was a student at Arasaka Academy.

In order to take revenge on Tanaka, he chose to rush into the school and commit crimes without concealing his prosthetic body at all, which put him on the record.

The momentary recklessness turned into faintly visible threads that connected the killing weapons, and finally wrapped around David's body, trying to wipe him out and cut him off.

If it weren't for Lucy, David might have been buried at the foot of Arasaka Tower no matter how talented he was.

I was speechless. I couldn't offer an apology, but I also couldn't express my sincere gratitude.

Anger, emotion, all the emotions mixed together and eventually turned into an extremely complex expression, leaving the two of them staring at each other in silence.

And facing this scene——

"That's so corny! It's none of my business!"

Lu Mingfei inserted his hand between the two of them, his face full of impatience and redness.

"Stop showing off your relationship! There are still single women here! Let's get down to business!"

"I don't care how much you tried to hide it from each other before, but now I'm exposing it all to you! Isn't that great? Now you have to negotiate a conclusion with me!"

The result, yes, is coming.

Although things seemed calm on the surface, there were actually undercurrents. Qi Wei had been assigned a mission by Faraday. According to the original plan, they would set up a bait to make Lucy reveal herself, but now, Lucy was obviously not allowed to show up.

So, how many means are left now?
Option 1: Escape.

Although escaping is shameful, it is useful. If Lucy does not appear in front of Faraday, then the opponent may think that "this mysterious hacker has discovered that this is a trap and therefore did not come", which will have the effect of making the opponent wary.

“But there are downsides too.”

Qi Wei puffed away, tilting her head back as she wearily spoke, "Under these circumstances, Faraday might also suspect [why he didn't fall for my trick once I asked Qi Wei for help]. In other words, given Faraday's shrewdness, he'll either suspect me or suspect the hacker of some connection to me. If he can't confirm the truth, he'll probably resort to torture."

Faraday, as a ruthless middleman, has always had a bad reputation.

Even things like mercenaries betraying him were reported by him a few times.

When it comes to the company, these hounds are far from honest.

"Well, so this plan basically cannot be adopted, or rather, it needs to be taken further." Qi Wei raised her hand and clamped the cigarette on her face armor.

The fingers holding the cigarette just raised two fingers.

Option 2: Scapegoat
Find a hacker with decent skills in the underworld to disguise him, or to go all out, just find a hacker with military technology and send him to Arasaka as a scapegoat.

When Arasaka really got the scapegoat and was ready to torture him, he hired a group of mercenaries to kill the scapegoat on the way.

With all the witnesses and evidence gone, Arasaka would only think it was reasonable to use military technology to eliminate his own abandoned pawns.

It's a very good method.

But the question is how to catch a hacker using military technology?
Hackers belonging to large companies are not easy to find. After all, they are the best at disguising themselves. The reason why Lucy was able to find Arasaka's hackers before was because she had extracted experimental data from Tanaka's brain. Therefore, once someone recovered, she would track the other party back.

To explain it figuratively using cyberspace, Lucy is equivalent to installing an alarm device in the house, which will be triggered when someone comes in.

But now if they want to target military technology, they don’t have a house in the first place, let alone an alarm device.

Do they want to start another military technology project, get into trouble again, and use company against company?
The company's will is everlasting, right?

“This plan is also very risky.”

"So, I called you out today to discuss a plan."

Qiwei gave a brief summary.

Of course, at this moment, Lucy and David's minds were still hazy, and they didn't know whether they should be angry because Lu Mingfei exposed their secret, but they were more shocked by the realization.

Shocked by what?
Of course, they were shocked that Qiwei, Falco, and Rebecca were actually helping them think about the problem.

Especially Qi Wei, according to David's understanding of them, at this time they should...
Something has changed though.

David stared at the young man beside him.

Messy hair.

The face that always looked a little timid still lacked confidence, but the eyes hidden under the messy hair revealed calmness.

They changed the boy who was like a frightened lamb.

The boy's 'scenery' keeps changing as he interacts with this group of marginalized people.

But correspondingly, the teenagers are also changing them.

There is no subjective consciousness, just use the unreserved truth to collide with them.

In this city embellished with vanity, Lu Mingfei's decline, Lu Mingfei's cowardice, and Lu Mingfei's unreserved madness in critical moments are all absolutely true!
That emotion will exert unimaginable power in this city.

Driving everyone closer to him.

"I have a plan."

Lu Mingfei raised his hand at this moment.

His expression was calm, not particularly brilliant, but he had a sense that 'this plan will definitely work'.

He said——

"How about we just kill Faraday who might know our secret?"

This child has really changed a lot! (Horror)
-
Kill the middleman.

This is a last resort.

In terms of the sheer 'difficulty of implementation', it's actually not high, because David's team is so strong - even if only David or Lu Mingfei is alone, there is a chance to complete this task.

But if instead of killing the middleman, Faraday was killed without leaving any trace, that would be another level of difficulty.

almost impossible.

Killing someone leaves clues.

Arasaka would definitely notice the news that Faraday died just after he contacted him, and would take the opportunity to investigate.

and so--

Of course, Lu Mingfei didn't say this for no reason.

"Then combine it with option 2."

At that moment, maybe it was an illusion, but David really saw the flickering fire in Lu Mingfei's eyes. He was full of energy. It was the first time that he saw "confidence" in this loser.

What he didn't know was that at this moment, Lu Mingfei was trying his best to imitate himself when he was playing StarCraft.

He saw the current situation as a clash of legions, and Faraday and even the Arasaka Corporation behind it as players behind the computer screen.

Strategy, strategy.

Lu Mingfei is by no means a smart person, but if necessary, he will force himself to go crazy.

"We previously thought it was impossible to catch a hacker using military technology to use as bait because we had no connection to military technology, but Faraday does."

The boy rested one foot on the couch cushions and rested his hands on his arched knees.

"However, we could even make Faraday the mastermind behind all this, and then let him die—at the hands of Arasaka, or at the hands of Militech."

"You mean, you want us to sow discord between Faraday and Militech, have him killed by Militech, and then deliberately tell Arasaka that Faraday was killed by Militech, so that the clue will be cut off and Arasaka won't have any further suspicions." Lucy tried to figure out the plan.

"Indeed. If that's the case, we can almost completely clear ourselves of all traces."

“But there are problems.”

Qiwei interrupted.

"How do we do it? How do we get military technology to abandon Faraday?"

“The answer is now, and the solution is right in front of us.”

Lu Mingfei answered decisively.

"Faraday is already working with Arasaka, right? We just need to let Militech know about it."

"How can we be sure that Militech will eliminate Faraday after learning this? They're a company, and they might not care about Faraday at all. They might even offer a higher price to Faraday to spy for Arasaka."

"It doesn't matter if there isn't one. We can hire some gang lunatics through other middlemen to kill Faraday. All we need to do is let the military technology 'have a reason to kill Faraday' and give this reason to Arasaka."

"Then the only thing left is the specific question of how to do it?"

Lu Mingfei nodded.

"I have a plan."
-
【first step】

[First, let Qiwei obtain the proof of the transaction between Faraday and Arasaka - this is not difficult. Faraday thinks he understands Qiwei, so he does not set up too many protections for her, and even looks down on Qiwei.

Qi Wei's transformation indeed occurred only after Lu Mingfei arrived in Night City. It could even be said that it was during these few weeks that the qualitative change took place.

Now that we have evidence of Faraday's deal with Arasaka, the next step is to find a way to hand it over to the military technology guy without leaving any trace.

This part of the task is given to Qiwei.

----

"Didn't come?"

Night City, dark residential area.

Rats and cockroaches crawled in twisted corners, and the dust floating in the air was illuminated by the light shining through the cracks in the wall.

Faraday leaned against the wall, listening to the movements in the next room. He had placed a hacker there as bait, imitating the network intrusion methods used by previous Arasaka employees in an attempt to lure the target into the trap.

but.

"Have you seen through the purpose here?"

Qiwei also contributed to the plan, so Faraday naturally had no doubts.

But his expression was by no means good.

Coupled with the [Arasaka icon] in the upper left corner of the visual window, I couldn't help but feel anxious.

--------

This mistake continued several times, and Arasaka employees finally came to the door.

In a family restaurant that can be found everywhere in the city, Faraday accepted the sarcasm of the Arasaka employees with a gloomy face.

Not far away, Falco received Qiwei's signal and drove through the intersection. Rebecca leaned against the car window and took a picture of the scene.

【Click】

won.

Things are going very well.

Qi Wei is quite good at working as an undercover agent. She can backstab others without batting an eyelid, and her acting is so good that Faraday can't see any flaws.

"If Qiwei betrays me, I will die without a complete body."

"Shut up."

Qi Wei slapped Lu Mingfei on the chest with an angry tone.

"Hehe, then leave the rest to me."

And now.
It's time for the legendary hacker L to take action.

------

"I've already told you that it's not time to inspect the results yet!"

"We've given you a lot of time. It's your fault if you can't do it."

In the dark basement, Faraday and the military technology personnel were talking in a high-end car that was isolated from all signals.

The conversation certainly didn't go smoothly.

Compared to Arasaka, who had just reached a cooperation with Faraday, Faraday had been cultivating military technology for quite a long time without any results, and was about to be abandoned.

"You are not irreplaceable. If you can't produce results, then the deal is over."

The ultimatum ended here, and Faraday, full of anger, slammed the door and left.

The black car watched Faraday leave, slowly started the car, and prepared to leave
"Ok?"

【Balla Lala Lala】

There was a lot of noise, and the corporate dog who was doing business with Faraday suddenly felt his head getting hot.

Hacker attack?!
Bypassing the car's defenses and attacking my brain directly?! What level of hacker could do this?
The car stopped in the middle of the road and did not move out, while the military technology company dog ​​kept repeating the closing and opening movements, with saliva and snot constantly pouring out of its face.

At the same time, he saw an approaching figure through his blurry visual window.

That is--

The red facial transformation, the dark and complicated prosthetic structure, and the unconventional crazy limbs.

The Whirlpool Gang?!

How dare they attack me?!
At that moment, the Militech dog's brain began to think rapidly.

He was following the company dog ​​himself, just to rob his prosthetic body? Impossible. Although the Uzumaki Gang was bold, they were not so crazy. The most important thing was that the prosthetic body on his body was not advanced enough for them to do so.

No, or maybe the target is not me?

Is it Faraday?!
That's right, this is the most reasonable explanation for the information currently held by the company dog.

Do you remember the "Whirlpool Gang Incident" a few months ago?

Because of the actions of David and others, the massive invasion of the Vortex Gang, a group of lunatics, forced Faraday to take sides.

Now, everyone knows that Faraday and the Vortex Gang have a blood feud.

The Vortex Gang probably came to block me because they didn't know that I had military technology.

FARADAY!!!
The Whirlpool Gang is considered to be one of the most adept gangs at network attacks. If they have laid an ambush in advance, installing a virus on the vehicle system would not be particularly difficult.

This isn't the first time the Whirlpool Gang has robbed the company.

Ultimately, it was the company's fault for being careless.

However, what happened next was beyond the company dog's expectations.

"Mr. James from Militech, huh?"

I'm super, box.

The car door was opened by the Vortex Gang.

The controlled corporate dog was unable to negotiate, but just when he was feeling desperate, he saw in the visual window that the Vortex Gang stretched out the data cable around their necks and forcibly inserted it into the corporate dog's brain-computer interface.

[Data is being transmitted]

After waiting for the image to load, what the company dog ​​saw was the record of Faraday and Arasaka's contact.

“We are here to seek cooperation.”

Cooperation?

Is this how you collaborate?! Kidnapping your collaborators?!

The company dogs have no way to express their suffering.

But he didn't know that half a day before he was kidnapped, the Uzumaki Gang had experienced the same thing as him.

The plan is simple.

"It's too dangerous to directly contact the company dogs. It's better to use the lunatics of the Whirlpool Gang as a medium. Anyway, these gang members can be shot to death on the street at any time."

[He directly hid his identity and hacked into the Vortex Gang's brain-computer transmission images. With Lu Mingfei's current hacking skills, the Vortex Gang would have no chance of finding his information. Although these lunatics would be confused, they would eventually happily start preparing their plan.]

[Stop the military technology company that cooperates with Faraday, then give him evidence of Faraday's collusion with Arasaka, and let the military technology company take care of Faraday - this is in the interests of the Whirlpool Gang.]

Faraday's revenge?

【Come on! I've been waiting for you!】

The intertwined interests of many forces were exploited, and finally a network was woven to entangle the enemy.

a week later
Faraday's body was found in a trash can in an alley.

(End of this chapter)