Chapter 978 - 26: The Conflicted Arasaka Yorinobu (Double 6,000-Word - )

[...It’s the Steel Dragon!]

With an act that screams youth and a similarly youthful shout, Lille watched the video that unfolded in his mind, from two years ago, after Arasaka Tower was breached.

In the video, before his eyes, Arasaka Yorinobu wearing a Japanese gangster-style robe, emblazoned with a Japanese-style Steel Dragon, tossed a Samurai Sword, slicing open Arasaka Saburo’s head...

While pouring some fresh prosthetic lubricant on his neck, Lille silently lamented:

Unexpectedly, despite the dramatic changes in this world’s plot, Arasaka Saburo still couldn’t escape the fate of being slaughtered by Arasaka Yorinobu.

At this moment, he was at the roadside stall in front of Misty’s Spirit House.

This street used to be very bustling, located at the intersection between the city center and Haywood slum, housing many working-class residents. Although the working class throughout the city is in debt, they still have a bit of spare change to come downstairs to eat some... prefabricated food culinary art.

And after dealing with those gangs that might demand protection fees at any time, the freeloaders of the NCPD, and corporate dogs who could pressure anyone at any moment, this street became even more lively.

Even though the city government indirectly increased taxes, at least life has indeed stabilized. As for increased taxes, they could just slightly raise prices...

In short, after two years of diligent governance, the internal situation in Night City has become increasingly stable.

Lille’s actions frightened the stall owner into sitting behind the stall, repeatedly contemplating whether to run immediately: he had seen mercenaries attaching prosthetics to themselves, looking like robots...

But he had never seen a robot speak like a human!

"...This is too youthful." Lille silently commented, then looked at Arasaka Yorinobu in front of him, "How does it feel to kill Saburo with your own hands?"

Yorinobu smiled, and Lille could clearly feel he was suppressing himself...

If he let go, he might estimate to be a laughing cyber-psycho.

"Very good, extremely good. I’ve always wanted to do this, but... my education, my thoughts, my soul, my body, they were all shackled, I couldn’t do it."

Yorinobu downed the beer next to him in one go. Technically speaking, "the prince of the Arasaka Group," someone of this class wouldn’t be used to such inferior industrial products, yet he had no discomfort.

"My teacher, he taught me many things, but he also taught me traditional values, family, father and son...

He wanted to tell me how this world is poisoned by corporations, how many families are persecuted, how many people seek true emotions in hell, and how the companies tear them apart, how parents can regard their unborn children as equivalent to money, and how the children, once grown, calculate how much their parents owe them—

To develop feelings, you must first verify your assets, and the more money you get your hands on, the better, but always wanting more...

Tell me, can a parricide be a good person? If parricide is just to become a hero, to seek revenge, how is that different from someone doing it for money and fame?"

Yorinobu talked as he drank, chattering incessantly as if drunk, both eyes looking at Lille with burning intensity.

Lille quickly thought of how to describe that expression: people will recognize and even idolize others, then fantasize about the people they idolize recognizing them, recognizing the severity of their suffered hardships, recognizing the good things they have done, recognizing their persistence...

Seeking recognition is a very important part of human needs, especially for those without survival pressure, it’s even more so.

A thin mechanical arm covered the maintenance port on Lille’s body then retracted under his cloak, some of the passing people who saw this spectacle hurriedly walked away in fright.

Visually speaking, this mechanical arm seemed ridiculously flexible!

Prosthetics, high technology, these terms symbolize progress in times of development, in this era, they usually symbolize state-of-the-art, highly efficient means of slaughter and domination.

V watched the tacitly fleeing passersby and then looked at Lille: "You scared them off."

"Natural selection left the ones who would run, that’s not on me." Lille shrugged, taking over from Yorinobu’s conversation, "It has nothing to do with me, honestly, you did this, and others would only think you’re a mentally troubled prince who killed his own father.

As for imagining yourself as a silent, rebellious hero, I’d suggest you better not think so.

I’ll be blunt: if you think that way, you’ll eventually end up as a cyber psycho."

Yorinobu froze.

Lille continued, "Your teacher taught you well: do you feel a lot of pressure from people dying innocently?

Do you still feel that when you guys did some outrageous things, it’s inevitably accompanied by the deaths of innocent bystanders, which makes you feel guilty?

This guilt will slowly fade over time because you find that Arasaka easily crushes all of your friends and family, and hatred outweighs guilt. You’re thinking of doing something big...

In the dead of night, thoughts of those teachings arise, fabricating more doctrines: like ’as long as corporations aren’t destroyed, more people will die,’ ’unless Arasaka falls, the world won’t be better,’ to persuade yourself to abandon your own morals?

In the end, you begin to wonder if this makes you no different from corporations, using any means necessary, how can you... save everyone? Save the world?