Chapter 762 - 42: The New King

In Johnny’s mind, apart from a big city like Night City, all that was left was a battlefield flooded by a torrent of steel, painted with corpses and black smoke.

Actually, this wasn’t just Johnny’s problem. In the Cyberpunk World, as early as 2020, rural scenes had already faded into history:

If we talk only about Mei Country, the economic collapse caused the prices of life necessities to skyrocket, and internal division made transportation a costly service. Rural areas without industrial capability simply couldn’t support a modern lifestyle. Anyway, Johnny wouldn’t go to such rural areas—

The only reason for the existence of rural areas in the Cyberpunk World is that the land can make money, either through planting ethanol-2 or oil extraction. In both cases, it was just a job; the latter would leave fiery oil wells after abandonment, and the former an expanse of desert after the owner went bankrupt or left for other reasons...

But for whatever reason, after a group of people abandoned a desert, there would always be another group of people who came for the same reasons, repeating the same old story outside the city.

Coupled with rising sea levels, war... and other factors, the once flourishing small rural areas in Mei Country essentially never existed in that world.

It didn’t even exist in Europe: maybe there were views that looked similar to the countryside in Latovia, but it must be some sort of paid attraction.

Johnny gazed at the mountain village outside, the azure sky, breathed in the fresh air, and could even see birds...

[Johnny: Is that... a bird? I can’t believe I’m seeing so many birds, and in the wild too.]

Feeling that Johnny was no longer spouting nonsense as much, Lille reopened Johnny’s chatter section. Once opened, Johnny appeared within the forest.

Lille walked along the forest path, his heavy mechanical body stepping on the dirt, snapping the branches and leaves on the ground. The birds merely looked curiously at Lille without flying away.

[Johnny: Why aren’t they running? Are these your biological weapons?]

"You provided a good idea, but no, they’re just ordinary birds." Lille glanced at the birds on the branches, and with that, they flew away.

"...Maybe because our gardeners intentionally maintained the local ecology, they aren’t too wary of machines and humans."

[Johnny: For what reason? People in Night City say that birds almost all carry avian flu, posing the greatest health threat to the city... Who’d buy that nonsense, but raising birds voluntarily must be for your personal interest, right?]

"It’s certainly not for my personal interest, not even a decision I made. Christopher believes this place needs a good ecological environment to maintain its camouflage.

Meanwhile, collecting biological information can also be part of skills training, as biotechnology is a very important asset here."

[Johnny: Biotechnology... Haha, finally caught your little foible. You’re not conducting some lizard man experiments, are you...]

Lilton paused, wanting to say that Johnny’s guess wasn’t far off.

But these things can be discussed later with him.

[Johnny: But this place is indeed nice... just lacks a bit of excitement. What are we going to do next? Retire here?]

"Of course not. Don’t forget this world’s Mei Country has already been fragmented, and they all say it’s because of me..."

[Johnny: Got it, knew you weren’t the kind of guy to make nice conversations.]

[Johnny: It’s a bizarre feeling, I used to think during my younger days that the fragmentation of Mei Country was all due to corporate colonialism, they tricked me into serving in a company-controlled... federal government army.]

[Johnny: Now I feel the fragmentation is not so bad, I can even watch a giant corporate dog... No, you’re probably the dog handler, watching the handler beat the crap out of New America.]

"You thought that when you were young, what do you think now?"

Johnny leaned against a tree, watching the little bird touchdown on the grass, and said:

[Johnny: Now I feel they’re not as good as this bird. If I could swap them all for a little bird, I’d be happy to see that.]

"Typical nihilistic mindset—a hurt patriot fantasizing about taking revenge on the world."

[Johnny: Say what you will.]

It was obvious that although Johnny was grumbling, he genuinely liked this small Latovian town. After speaking, he sat quietly against the tree, sometimes watching the people singing and dancing in the town square, other times observing the animals in the woods.

Seeing him like this, Lille straightforwardly opened the wildlife database to him, lest he see a squirrel and claims there were rats in the forest.

...

This town was peaceful.

However, everyone in town knew that things were not well—

As a pilot base, Lille had instructed Christopher to ensure the quality and skill cultivation of the first batch of residents, and as for physical disabilities, they were not a concern.

Under this development philosophy, people in the camp received the best education and had access to information channels available to them. They were well aware of everything happening in the world right now.

Even though it felt somewhat disconnected, this town disguised as a medieval village might be the location with the highest education level in the current world...

They sang and danced, full of hope for the future, and could maintain constant learning because they knew that things were dire, especially recently.

Lille rode on a horse fortified by implants along the countryside, with Christopher by his side, discussing recent events:

"Boss..." Christopher paused, "The Grand Duke of Latovia has recently dispatched many patrol soldiers with firearms, and he seems to have gotten outside assistance.

Some of these patrol soldiers have been newly recruited recently, and their only task is to look for our traces.

A group of unbridled poor, in the hands of the Grand Duke of Latovia, they have become demons...

If they don’t get what they want, or if they take a liking to something, they’ll resort to burning, killing, and looting with brute force."

Very typical medieval style.

Lords need people, so they supply gear; the trusted aides familiar with power often resort to burning and looting. Fresh soldiers naturally mimic them, savoring the pleasure brought by violence and control.

However, medieval productivity couldn’t support a tyrant continually mobilizing an army for such acts on a large scale. Without contributors to production, the nation would perish.

Latovia’s situation now is different: as long as the external ’military aid’ continues, the Grand Duke of Latovia could keep organizing a band of bandits only capable of arson and pillage, leveling this land with no chance for ordinary folks to survive.

And even if they wanted, those sponsoring them could turn Latovia into a de facto mercenary army, spending next to nothing.

Of course, it wouldn’t be bad to abandon Latovia once things are done. Anyway, at this rate, this place is doomed.

"This guy..." Christopher pointed at a photo of the Grand Duke, "He even accused us of being traitors on the international stage, breaking local laws."

"Hmph..." Lille had no fondness for that kind of person, "Wonder who taught him that."

"Boss..."

"Speak freely."

Lille lifted his head to look at Christopher.

Since the start of this conversation, he had sensed that the young man had something he wanted to say but didn’t dare— that kind of hesitance wasn’t due to fear of Lille, but from the feeling that any suggestion he could make wouldn’t match Lille’s decisions, so saying anything would be pointless.

In summary, it was a manifestation of a lack of self-confidence.

Christopher’s body shook: Lille’s current physique was too imposing.

Compared to the over-two-meters tall Destruction Shell before, this body under the cloak showed hardly any mechanical features, but its robust shape, nearly one meter nine in height, the force exuded in every gesture, combined with an unfathomable wealth of knowledge, was intimidating.

This oppressive presence didn’t make Christopher frightened; instead, Lille’s commanding encouragement gave him the courage...

To truly voice his thoughts, shared by other compatriots:

"I believe we don’t need to worry about the accusations and perceptions from shameless people, but the people of Latovia need a... new King."

Having said this, Christopher felt all the more right, it should be like this!

"We need a true King!"