[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-cyberpunk-cross-dimensional-science-and-engineer":3,"chapter-cyberpunk-cross-dimensional-science-and-engineer-cyberpunk-cross-dimensional-science-and-engineer-chapter-395":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Cyberpunk: Cross-dimensional Science and Engineering",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},1151886,1495,"Chapter 395 - 367: The Golden Child (Note 1)","cyberpunk-cross-dimensional-science-and-engineer-chapter-395",395,"\u003Cp>Lille had indeed never heard of this thing, which sounded like some far-fetched street rumor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as everyone knows, terrifying urban legends often stem from real events, such as the Soul Killer from Arasaka.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he decided to listen to what Blais wanted to say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In today’s Europe, class was extremely important, and in the technologically advanced year of 2076, the term \"aristocracy\" had taken on even greater significance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If anything, one of Europe’s major powers, Great Britain, played a crucial role in the \"revolution\" of the last century.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Simply put, due to corporate wars and financial crises, the United Kingdom experienced severe division at the beginning of the century and was swept by a plague.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This issue led to massive protests and even armed conflicts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To address these problems, the government established an agency called the Martial Law Bureau, which brutally suppressed domestic unrest, quickly eliminating the rebels planning to take up arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that, the Martial Law Bureau reorganized the police forces into a militarized police organization, using force and high-tech methods to control and monitor the citizens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This kind of frightening surveillance and control even exceeded 100%, as they were also adept at using media to distort facts, propagating specific content, and simply showing opposition could lead to being dealt with.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which is to say, thought crimes were also punished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this totalitarianism extended not only to civilians but also to the Royal Family—they purged the royalty and executed King Charles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the execution, their baseless killing was portrayed by the media as: The great Martial Law Bureau had swept the last remnants of feudalism from the soil of Britain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in reality, the British Royal Family still had heirs overseas, whom they sent Military Intelligence 6 agents to hunt down, but for various reasons, the mission failed and the heirs escaped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, the Martial Law Bureau was unaware of this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eventually, in 2016, those who still harbored intentions of resistance in secret learned of this news.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The royal standard was raised once more, and the people oppressed by the Martial Law Bureau overthrew it bearing the flag of the British monarch, returning power to the British Royal Family and restoring the legitimate monarchy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Queen Victoria II was crowned at Westminster Abbey, knighted some companies and officials who had helped the revolution and had defected from the Martial Law Bureau to join the side of justice, passed a series of privatization decrees, and ultimately formed the Great British Empire we know today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Martial Law Bureau vanished, and new aristocrats emerged while the old aristocrats were brought back by the people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the public’s perception, it was the return of the old aristocracy and the support of the new aristocracy that allowed them to drive away the detestable Martial Law Bureau.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blais spoke of his nation’s history with such ease, and these \"children of gold\" were the creation of these new and old aristocrats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he talked about these matters, his brow was deeply furrowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Overall, the new aristocracy is made up of these new century companies, while the old aristocracy consists of those who have traditionally owned land and other assets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The aristocrats may fight among themselves, but more often they use ancient tactics like matrimonial alliances to consolidate these powers and assets through bloodlines, becoming the rulers of the new era.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These beloved, wealthy and powerful nobles of the new age are what’s known as the ’children of gold.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, there’s a darker theory: They faced two uprisings, the first suppressed by the Martial Law Bureau, which they controlled for sixteen years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second uprising achieved an overwhelming victory within a few months, simply because these new aristocrats were the companies and the powerful who had previously supported the Martial Law Bureau, even its high-ranking officials.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They chose the right moment to withdraw their assets and betray them, leading to the Martial Law Bureau’s swift collapse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, these people, with their hands equally stained in blood, have never been punished; instead, they have become the loved, good-natured nobles.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hence, in the whole bloody campaign, the real decision-makers had betrayed them early on, while those who died were just the pawns below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These top brass transformed themselves into the new aristocracy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hmm... sounds quite like an urban conspiracy theory, but I don’t quite understand why you would have me...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lille pointed at the wall, on the outside of which was equipped with a multitude of jamming devices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This interference wouldn’t bluntly shut down Blais’s prosthetics, but would rather fabricate information, showing in Blais’s work record that he was still interrogating Lucas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This kind of technology required an expert in netrunning, with a certain understanding of surveillance devices, as well as high-grade equipment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Conveniently, Lille had all of these: the Crow Microcontrol chip in his head was top-of-the-line, the driver was net surveillance, which he had thoroughly studied, and the high-grade Interferer...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All were treasures stolen by the Vortex Gang and kept for a rainy day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blais stopped what he was doing and said, \"Because it’s forbidden to discuss these things internally, net surveillance has a psychological health counseling department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rumors go that they might not yet rule the Earth, but they’re definitely trying; they want everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ordinary people in corporate struggles lose wealth, prestige, or even lives, but they... they only lose companies.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When you go to Europe, you’ll find such negative news about the aristocracy completely unacceptable to them, and people worship and adore these nobles.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lille scratched his head: Is this considered negative news and criticism? Indeed, that’s outrageous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...so you’re saying, if someone were to curse those nobles like cursing Ryan the dough stick...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You can discuss it with your own kind, but if you post such information online...\" Blais made a slashing gesture across his own neck, \"This is not a legend, it’s true, because I’ve done it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the reason for erasure won’t be that explicit, because the words ’children of gold’ don’t appear in the legal statutes as a conspiracy term.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I initially thought they were just common criminals, but later it took some time to discover their common link.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Blais finished speaking, he looked at the shattered sniper, expressing complex emotions as he said,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This guy was tough. I’m really curious why he took on this job, but there’s no chance to find out now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was the Golden Child real? Even Blais wanted to know the truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it was true, what was this man’s connection to those people? Why did he kill the Golden Child and his son?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But none of that mattered anymore, because he was dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lille also looked at the sniper’s corpse, somewhat silent—if they hadn’t been on a battlefield, they might have gotten along.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he quickly thought of a question, \"Wait, if the Golden Child is just a legend, how can you be sure he killed a Golden Child?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As a cyber-monitoring agent, we always have some privileges in terms of intelligence,\" Blais said, pointing to his head. \"Add a bit of skepticism, a bit of logical thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Do you know that the Royal Enfield Armament Company, Heckler and Koch, Beretta Company, and Rheinmetall are all members of the same group?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I do, and I know that the group’s weapon output is twice the combined total of Military Technology and Arasaka, but the public knows nothing about it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I can’t confirm it’s true, but if it is, I know at least a few Golden Children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was also because I discovered these facts that I was sent to the psychological treatment room for three full years of therapy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How did you get out?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I volunteered to be transferred to Night City to maintain the Black Wall. Why do you think I always throw shit on that brain-dead Voodoo Gang?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So you haven’t gotten out.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blais walked to the wall, looking at the graffiti on it—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was Six Street Gang territory, featuring a 666 in the color scheme of the American flag, with a line of small print below:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Second Amendment, protect your civil rights!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what if people didn’t want to take up arms, preferring to submit and give up everything?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blais let out a long sigh and pounded his head fiercely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a brief silence, he asked Lille, \"Got a smoke?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lille didn’t smoke, but this place was one of Six Street Gang’s former safehouses, and there was a pack in the drawer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re in luck—regular cryptation though? Watch the time.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He took the cigarettes out of the drawer and tossed them to the cyber-monitoring agent who always had a look of kidney deficiency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The flicker of the lighter illuminated his cheeks, which now looked not kidney deficient, but cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lille could tell, it was a means of hiding bewilderment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The latter lit up the cigarette, quietly saying, \"Before I came to Night City, I always thought it was a shithole, just to escape the endless indoctrination and scrutiny.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But honestly, it’s... not that bad here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Give me 20 more seconds, let me finish this cigarette.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In reality, it didn’t even take 20 seconds; Blais took a deep drag, just one, and the cigarette burned down to the stub, as if his inexplicable emotions were also exhausted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sometimes, I find that I have adapted to life here, and I don’t know which is more fucking annoying, those damned deeds or the Voodoo Gang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But dealing with the Voodoo Gang, at least I can see that the Black Wall is a lot more stable, effort bears fruit, and I guess I still prefer it here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching him like this, Lille spoke with interest, \"I didn’t think you’d be such an angry youth?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Did you know, in Night City there’s a saying: No one leaves this city, unless it’s in a body bag.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once you arrive, you’re a Night City person, and you’re already one of them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blais paused briefly, and said oddly, \"Ryan also told me to pass this message to you at the right time, how strange...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since that’s the case, let’s talk about the second matter.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(To add a bit of context, here is a short excerpt from the original setting to increase immersion:)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(\"They could work two to three days a week, most of which could be done at any time. They only needed to go to work once or twice a month, usually for a meeting with a non-European of equal caliber.\")\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(\"They did a lot of work behind the scenes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike others with such power, they didn’t like to show off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They would indeed flaunt their gold, but they didn’t want people to know too much about them, their assets, or their activities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This helped their PR greatly when the public had no idea who was responsible for the latest ecological disaster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, some local lackeys took the blame and then retired early with a comfortable package, quieting the civilians.\")\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>——European Resources Book)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(It’s well-known that Ye Group in Night City has a standard working week of 80 hours, not counting \"mandatory overtime\".)\u003C\u002Fp>",1840,"2026-06-03T12:33:12.909Z","2026-06-03T12:33:19.803Z",1,"novelbin.me","47e5580b9ce4890d40db44fb8f72f93a79d81ca63e0c3247ce8e90be6c5ed00f","cyberpunk-cross-dimensional-science-and-engineer-chapter-396","cyberpunk-cross-dimensional-science-and-engineer-chapter-394",1068,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fcyberpunk-cross-dimensional-science-and-engineer-cover.jpg"]