Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 29 From an unknown nobody to a household name?
"What are you thinking about?"

Lucy asked softly, nudging him to sit at the very back of the van.

The van was crammed full of children and boxes, so the people had to squeeze together, shoulder to shoulder.

“I’m thinking about what to do next,” Mercer said honestly. “I’m planning out a detailed action plan.”

"Didn't you think about this all the way here?" Lucy snuggled up to him, leaning naturally on his shoulder, making room for Anzu to make some more comfortable.

"We only had some general ideas before, but now that we're at the action stage, we need to consider the details."

As Mercer spoke, he heard the sound of the van's engine starting.

Once seated in the driver's seat, Norman, who was in charge of driving, reminded him:

"Since you don't want to be discovered, just keep quiet when I slow down. I'm raising the partition now, so no one can see you from my side."

Once it's safe, I'll open the partition first, then park the car and open the door for you.

Don't be afraid, no one will open your car door willingly. If they do, then there's something wrong.

"clear."

Mercer responded, and then noticed that there was a liftable partition inside the van. When this folded partition was raised, it completely blocked the space between the passenger compartment and the driver's seat.

The entire carriage suddenly plunged into darkness, with no light at all, only the sound of the train moving.

The almost completely sealed-off space and darkness made Lucy instinctively move closer to Mercer, practically shrinking halfway away. After confirming his location, she whispered:

"After passing the inspection, does that mean we've arrived in Night City?"

"Yes, if I remember correctly, there are biotechnology farms next to the checkpoint. Just keep walking along the road and you'll get into the city."

Mercer said softly, "But we won't wander around the city this time. Once I've settled on my fake identity, I'll take you all around."

"I really want to see Night City as soon as possible, to see what it's like there."

Xingzi was a little impatient.

Because Mercer had been talking about Night City the whole way, they already had high expectations for the city.

The city of freedom and dreams—this is the Night City that Mercer spoke of.

Tetsuya Daichi, however, was less optimistic, sighing and saying:

"I looked it up online before, and although those people were exaggerating a lot, it was actually quite impressive."
But let me put it this way: Night City broadcasts a show called "Death Lotto" every day.

As the name suggests, they bet on the number of people who die in the city every day.
This city is dangerous, Anzu, don't be careless.

"I know"

Kyoko's mood was dampened, but she still spoke with complete trust:

"Other places aren't much better, are they? And didn't Mercer say that only here can we say goodbye to Arakawa for good?"

"Actually, it's fine to just be a homeless person."

Lyon suddenly spoke.

A sudden silence fell over the car, and Lucy spoke in a somewhat cold voice, "You plan to stay outside? After Mercer helps you get your new identity sorted out?"

“No, I was just saying.” Leon sensed the coldness in Lucy’s voice, shrank back, and lowered his voice considerably.

"Don't do this, Lucy."

Mercer spoke gently, breaking the sudden heaviness in the air. He chuckled and said:
“There’s nothing wrong with being a wanderer. You’ve all seen along the way that Cassidy is quite reliable.”

Staying in Adcado with him is actually quite safe.

In this world, staying in the wilderness and enjoying freedom might indeed be a good way out.

"And what about you? You went through all that trouble to bring us to such a faraway place, and you're just enjoying your freedom in a safe place?"

So you're going to go to Night City alone, facing those gangs and corporations, to be a minor lone wolf?

Lucy sounded a little angry, and even in the completely dark carriage, Mercer could vaguely see that her eyes were staring straight at him.

"Or do you think you can manage on your own? And it doesn't matter whether we help or not?"

As soon as Lucy finished speaking, Kyoko quickly grabbed her hand in the dark: "Lucy! Mercer, she, she didn't mean that!"

The car fell silent.

The car suddenly began to slow down, and Norman in the driver's seat coughed, his voice coming through the partition: "Excuse me, we're almost there. You can talk after we leave the checkpoint."

"Understood, keep quiet."

Mercer responded with a sound of agreement, and then said softly, "Let's talk about it when we're safe. We can discuss separating once we get to the camp."

"Hmm," Leon responded somewhat uneasily.

Mercer closed his eyes and waited quietly for the inspection, but after a while, he suddenly felt Lucy trembling slightly beside him.

He didn't say anything, remained silent, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and wiped her face with the back of his hand. Sure enough, he felt a tear.

Lucy turned her head away from his hand without saying a word, but after a while, she leaned back against him, burying her face in his shoulder and silently shedding tears.

Mercer could do nothing but wait silently for a while until Norman opened the door and got out, then opened the door again, got back into the driver's seat, and started the car again.

About five or six minutes later, a creaking sound came from inside the van, the partition was lowered, and the interior of the van was lit again.

"After passing through safely, go a little further and turn onto the side road. You can then put your things back in your own cars and head to the family camp."

The sudden appearance of sunlight made them squint slightly, but fortunately, their prosthetic eyes automatically adjusted the exposure in an instant, allowing them to quickly adapt to the bright light.

No one spoke. After getting off the bus, the group quietly began unloading their belongings and then returned to their own vehicles.

"Then we'll have Panan lead the way for you, from Santo Domingo directly to the highway, and heading east will take you to our territory."

Norman gave a word of advice, then said, "I need to take Scorpion and the others back and bring our car back. If we leave it there for too long, someone might steal it."

"No problem, just let Panan lead the way for us."

Mercer nodded in agreement, and Cassidy also noticed the strange atmosphere among the children, but he didn't say anything, only telling them not to get distracted and to follow behind the car.

Driving in the city is not like driving in the wilderness. These unlicensed and underage drivers still need to be careful. If they get caught by the NCPD, they'll have to start speeding.

Mercer started the car, and Lucy sat in the passenger seat as usual.

The car began to move forward along the highway.

Mercer turned on the radio and received the city's broadcast signal very clearly for the first time. Relying on his memory, he quickly found the radio station that he was very familiar with in the game: 98.7, the body temperature radio station.

None of the songs on the channel matched his memory, but the somewhat lyrical one playing at the moment made Mercer stop his attempt to change the channel and decide to just listen to it.

".sorry."

Lucy suddenly spoke.

"Hmm? No need, I know you mean no harm."

Mercer genuinely didn't care; he could see Lucy's true intentions, but he felt it was unfair on her behalf.

"I'm just a little angry. You brought us out all by yourself, and after going through so much, we finally got here, and now they want to run away."

We discussed so much together on the way here, but when it really came down to them doing the work, I felt like I'd been betrayed by someone close to me again. Lucy looked genuinely upset, but then she just lowered her head.
"You always tell us to do whatever we want. Don't you feel wronged? We're so good to them, but they don't appreciate it at all!"

"Weren't you very grateful?"

Mercer laughed heartily, turned to look at her, and said in a gentle voice:

"Aren't you putting yourself in my shoes and thinking from my perspective?"

This shows that everything I did was not meaningless, and there was nothing wrong with Leon wanting to stay there.

Lucy, I rescued you and brought you here, not so that you would repay a favor or die in my place.

Fighting against big corporations and making a living in Night City is not as glamorous as I described before.

People die here every day. As Tetsuya Daichi said, they even use the number of dead people to gamble openly and turn it into a TV program.

I am not afraid, but that doesn't mean I have to demand that others be fearless as well.

Lucy, aren't you scared?

We might be driving along when a bullet comes in through the window, piercing my temple and then yours.
This kind of thing isn't impossible in Night City.

The car sped along the highway, and the majestic neon-lit city in the distance was close at hand, but Panan did not choose to lead the team into it, as that was not the road leading to the wilderness.

As soon as they entered the city, they turned into the somewhat dilapidated and old Santo Domingo district.

Most of the houses here fly the flag of the new America; this is Sixth Street gang territory.

Everywhere you look, you see groups of guys who look very 'American' holding weapons, huddled together near their homes, watching the passing unfamiliar vehicles.

"You need to think this through, Lucy. I know you're a very kind and sentimental person, but don't blindly follow me to hell just because of that."

Mercer had a very clear understanding of his future:

"An unknown nobody, or a household name? This is a question that everyone who comes to Night City should ask themselves."

I've already chosen the latter, and in Night City, nine out of ten of those so-called legends are dead, and the remaining one is on his deathbed.

Lucy remained silent, but not for long. She turned resolutely to look at Mercer:

"Just tell me one thing, and that's enough. What do you need to do next? Am I even able to help you?"

"If it were you, I think it would be possible."

Mercer said seriously, "Sometimes I rush in too recklessly, without any regard for others. If just one person could pull me back in a moment like this, it might allow me to live a few more years."

"Then I'll go with you."

After taking a deep breath, Lucy said:

"But you must promise me that you will not fight a hopeless battle. Do not take me with you to die meaninglessly, that's all."

“Okay.” Mercer agreed readily.

Seeing him like this, Lucy frowned and stared at him with unfriendly eyes:
"You yourself must not run headlong toward death."
No matter what you do, the dead are nothing that can be changed.

Even a hacker as skilled as Barthes Moss ended up making a mess of things.
Humans cannot control what happens after death, therefore…

I know I will live well.
At least live as long as possible. Don't worry, I haven't lived enough yet.

Strictly speaking, I wish I could achieve great success, live a long and happy life with a huge sum of money for hundreds of years.

Mercer laughed heartily: "What kind of image do you have of me?"

“...someone who brings hope.” Lucy turned her face away. “So...don’t die, or there will be no hope.”

Mercer fell silent.

He gazed out the window at the Sixth Street Gang members, who were scattered everywhere on the street and rooftops. After a long while, he nodded and finally asked the question:

"If it were up to you to choose, would you rather be an unknown nobody or someone famous throughout the world?"

Lucy was also looking out the window, and after a while, she suddenly laughed twice:
"If it were me in the past, I would rather live a miserable life than die."

But now you've corrupted me; sometimes I think, "Everyone dies eventually, so it's not bad to do something significant before I die."

“But...fame? I'd rather see you achieve that than myself.” She smiled and turned to Mercer: “Let me see the day you become famous, the day when both of us are still alive.”

"A living legend?"
That's not easy. But luckily, I enjoy doing these kinds of difficult things.

However, you'll have to be mentally prepared and get used to it, because…

He laughed loudly, then unhesitatingly rolled down the car window and gave the middle finger to a drunken, bleary-eyed member of the Sixth Street Gang who was urinating in the street, as if drawing on the road.

"So young and still showing skin? Idiot!"

The Sixth Street gang member was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage and tried to raise his pistol, but before he could raise it, he was startled by the 'Hacked' notification that appeared in his prosthetic eye: "Damn it, there's a hacker!"

Then, to his horror, he saw his prosthetic eye suddenly filled with all sorts of wildly jumping smiling emojis.

Finally, he could only angrily shut off his prosthetic eye: "Damn it, which idiot raised this little brat? Quick, someone help me kill the virus! I can't open my eyes anymore!"

Seeing this, Lucy couldn't help but burst into laughter along with Mercer. Before he could find any help, he suddenly convulsed and collapsed to the ground, lying face down in his own urine.

"The cracking speed has increased considerably!"

Mercer exclaimed in admiration, letting the slightly foul-smelling wind of Night City blow across his face.

"You taught well."

Lucy flashed a bright smile, leaned out of the car window, and waved to the group of Sixth Street gang members who were rushing towards them with questioning looks on their faces: "Bye~ Bye~ Don't be so foul-mouthed next time!"

"Damn it, pull back! I didn't teach you that!"

Mercer quickly pulled her back, raised the bulletproof glass, and then sped off.

As expected, the Sixth Street gang members raised their guns and fired after being provoked, regardless of whether they hit their targets. The bulletproof car occasionally made a clanging sound, but Lucy continued to laugh and didn't care at all.

Mercer certainly wouldn't either—he's the one who started this bad trend.

"Alas!"

She couldn't help but shout out the thrill of the high-speed ride, while Mercer laughed and pulled her back to stay still, yelling, "Seatbelt! Seatbelt!"

Panan's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "What the hell are you two kids doing?"

Mercer simply pressed the button on the walkie-talkie and then laughed, saying, "Panan, let's see how you drive!"

"You little brat, come on then! But don't drop your little pearls if you lose!"

Why would Panam be afraid of this?
Poor Cassidy, the old cowboy sighed into the walkie-talkie, "Please, I'm getting old, next time you do something like this, can you at least give me a heads-up?"

"Aha! The race begins! Let's see who can get off this street first!"

Mercer had already floored the accelerator, I didn't care about this or that!

Nobody?

what!
Lao Tzu came into this world to become famous!

(End of this chapter)