Chapter 161

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Tang Yu removed his DreamNet headset and gazed at the silver-haired girl beside her with closed eyes.

As the life simulation system confirmed completion, Tang Yu slipped into an even deeper slumber, about to experience a simulation more real than any DreamNet fantasy.

This life simulation was crucial for Lucy's future; whether to remain in Night City or to leave at this moment was to be decided now.

Perhaps the simulated life brought her to something sad, Tang Yu noticed tears glistening at the corner of the silver-haired girl's eyes.

While Lucy was in the midst of the simulation, a loud commotion suddenly erupted outside the yacht—sounds of hovercars and speedboats.

Tang Yu stood up and walked towards the cabin door.

...

At that moment.

Struggling with a severe headache, Lucy tried to open her eyes, dispelling the darkness before her.

"Where am I?"

In her half-closed, hazy vision, she discerned her surroundings.

Unbeknownst to her, she found herself wearing a form-fitting netrunner suit, lying in a stark white laboratory surrounded by cold machinery, connected to data cables at her back.

Suddenly.

Feeling a chilling sensation at the back of her head, she was startled and quickly reached out, only to find a biotechnological neural cable linked to her deep net interface.

What was happening?

With a sinking heart, Lucy quickly unplugged the connector, rolled off the experiment table, and knelt weakly on the floor, barely supporting herself with her hands.

Her eyes trembled with fear, reflecting a logo all too familiar to her.

A single line leading upwards before branching into three, each branch ending with three circular symbols.

"Arasaka."

Her mind in turmoil, Lucy tightly gripped the floor in disbelief that she was actually in an Arasaka lab.

What on earth was happening?

Her head throbbed as fragmented memories cruelly tore through her mind, reconstructing scenes bit by bit.

The intense pain almost left Lucy breathless; her slender arms could no longer support her body as she collapsed onto the cold floor, curled up, clutching her head in painful endurance.

After enduring the torment, Lucy slowly began to remember.

To evade the pursuit of Arasaka's agents, she had chosen to leave Night City alone. After much struggle and saving, she finally collected enough money to travel to the Moon, where she boarded the rocket and arrived.

But instead of the peace and beauty she expected, a group of Arasaka agents greeted her upon stepping out of the rocket.

Thereafter.

Lucy was taken to this experimental base on the Moon, which she recalled was named Sea of Clouds.

The Sea of Clouds lunar base was an international facility, and Arasaka Corporation, after much effort, had obtained permission to build a space laboratory there.

But why would Arasaka wait until now?

Lucy suddenly remembered the interface at the back of her head, struggling to her feet, lying back on the experiment table, and reviewing the nearby recorders, monitors, and other equipment.

The flowing data sent her into deeper panic.

That's when Lucy realized Arasaka's true aim was not only herself but more importantly, Tang Yu.

Suppressing her innermost panic and worry, she rotated the aperture of her cybernetic eye, accessing the sub-layers of her neural network database to search for ICE infiltration records.

Lucy froze, her eyes blank and soulless.

Confirmed.

Her ICE had been breached, and the cache from her core databases had been extracted.

To her despair, the data cache contained extensive information related to Tang Yu.

Lucy's panic intensified, knowing what memories she held in her mind—Tang Yu's greatest secret.

If discovered by Arasaka, he would face an unprecedented catastrophe.

A pure human, without any cyberware, yet able to use abilities surpassing those of a Sandevistan, would indeed draw everyone's covetous attention.

With her memory returning, Lucy's headaches lessened, and her spirits somewhat lifted.

She descended from the table, intending to leave the lab.

Disconcertingly, she saw no one alive, not even to ask a question.

Eager to know Tang Yu's fate, she staggered along the corridors, leaning on white walls for support.

Fortunately, no one in the lunar base barred her path.

Lucy could only roam hopelessly through Arasaka's cage-like hellish laboratory, searching for any chance of escape.

But the realization that the lab lay on the lunar surface crushed her—stepping outside without protective measures meant certain death.

Finally, exhausted, Lucy collapsed in front of a gate, helplessly curling up, tightly hugging her knees.

Suddenly, a mechanical voice asked, "How can I assist you?"

Lucy looked up, her red cybereye markings smeared, realizing this might be the lab's AI. She hastily asked, "Where is Tang Yu?"

The AI coldly replied, "I am sorry to inform you that there is no subject with the code name 'Tang Yu' in the laboratory."

Heartened slightly by these words, Lucy asked, "I want to leave this place. How can I do that?"

The AI responded, "I am sorry to inform you that you are not permitted to leave. If you attempt to do so forcibly, I will restrict all of your actions, executing a cleaning protocol if necessary."

Lucy shuddered, believing the AI capable of fulfilling its threat.

An AI like this usually controlled the entire operation system of the base; eradicating organisms was merely a minor program command.

Daring not to act rashly, be it hacking the AI or attempting escape without understanding the situation, she could face dire consequences.

Her heart steadied, as the AI seemed amenable. She inquired, "This is the Arasaka lunar base, isn't it? Are you aware of Arasaka's situation?"

The AI's cold, mechanical voice replied, "This experimental base is constructed by Arasaka Corporation. It is managed by an independent subnet AI but synchronizes bottom-level databases with Arasaka Corporation for human biological research."

A flicker of hope in her eyes, Lucy pressed on, "Do you know the Tang Yu at Arasaka Tower in Night City? He is the deputy head of both the Counterintelligence and Special Operations divisions."

"Please wait, retrieving relevant mission information for you..." The artificial intelligence answered cooperatively.

"The following records have been found."

"Tang Yu, formerly employed by the Night City branch of Arasaka Corporation, employee ID N9, served as the Deputy Director of the Counterintelligence Department and the Special Operations Department."

"One month ago, he was fired for violating Arasaka Corporation's regulations, and his employee ID and related job benefits were revoked..."

Tang Yu was fired by Arasaka Corporation?

Lucy couldn't believe her ears. Could all of this be related to the memory data stolen from her mind?

Yet Tang Yu was clearly a high-ranking executive with unlimited possibilities at Arasaka Tower. With his means and capabilities, how could it come to being fired?

"Where is Tang Yu now?"

The cold mechanical voice came back: "Currently unknown..."

Lucy was completely numb.

The calm in her mind began to boil over again, and her heart was being fiercely tugged.

Tang Yu really met with trouble, and it was serious trouble.

It must have been a secret he hid that was discovered, causing Arasaka to set its sights on him.

Lucy, unable to believe it, asked timidly again, "How long have I been here?"

"Thirty days," the mechanical voice replied as usual.

Lucy understood everything at once; the outcome matched her speculation exactly.

In the end, Tang Yu couldn't escape Arasaka's clutches and fell into the trap of hell.

The lunar base was used for human biological research, which couldn't be more apparent now.

This isolated research facility seemed tailor-made for Tang Yu; his body was exactly what Arasaka coveted for their studies.

Lucy, holding back an immense emptiness in her chest, requested, "Can I see him?"

The artificial intelligence seemed puzzled: "Besides you, there is only subject 001 here. If you wish to see him, I will grant you access."

"Subject 001..." Lucy murmured to herself.

Suddenly, the green light illuminated the lock behind her, and the steel gates slowly opened.

Lucy stood up, looked behind her with a somewhat vacant look, and stepped inside.

After a security scan and mist disinfection, she finally stood before subject 001.

The sight before her stopped her cold, and she could not utter a sound.

The splendor of her neon-piercing eyes shone upon a colossal glass tank standing steadily in the middle, filled with an unknown blue transparent liquid.

A thin male figure floated silently in the blue liquid, wearing a heavy mask with slender tubes inserted into his back, extracting various nutrients with bubbles of breath occasionally rising.

Probably to prevent any accidents, even in deep slumber, his limbs were still locked by electromagnetic insulating chains, unable to move an inch.

Due to constant nutrient extraction, his body had started to wither, the once-clear face now pallid and haggard.

But Lucy could still recognize him from those half-closed eyes.

Her soul felt torn away, her mind plunged into a great void, devoid of any thought.

Tears silently fell, and the world began to blur.

It felt as if all strength drained from her body, and she collapsed on the floor, fainting.

Her soul seemed to be pulled into a black hole, struggling against the strong, painful pull that tore her soul apart and caused her to nearly lose sensory perception.

It was like floating on the cold sea, with the waves roaring and unpredictable, one higher than the next.

She fought against the waves, gasping for the last bit of oxygen between the surges.

Coldness, helplessness, pain, and unwillingness battered her senseless, and she began to sink into the dark, icy abyss.

As the world in front of her receded and light grew distant, Lucy reached for that remaining luminance, but only the cold seawater slipped tirelessly through her fingers, leaving no trace.

The light before her eyes faded, and she slowly closed them, unwillingly accepting this final arrangement as her tears floated upwards.

Suddenly.

She felt her wrist seized, as if violently yanked, pulling her from the weightless, icy water.

Blinded by bright light, Lucy reopened her eyes.

The blinding light was uncomfortable, causing her to blink and try to dispel the discomfort.

Braindance?

Lucy realized the blinding white light was coming from a braindance headset she was wearing. She took off the headset, and the world before her gradually came into focus.

The soft leather sofa, the luxurious and quiet booth, another braindance headset beside her, and a square plastic bag at her feet.

She momentarily felt out of place, her gaze newly revitalized as she surveyed her surroundings.

Quickly.

She remembered where she was—this was Tang Yu's private yacht!

As if her memory had been unlocked, Lucy immediately recalled everything that had just happened. Although it seemed nearby, it felt as if half a century had passed.

She clearly remembered experiencing a lunar braindance with Tang Yu on the yacht and then waking up in Arasaka's laboratory at the Moon Sea Base.

Was all that just a dream?

But the dream seemed all too real!

Lucy could still vividly remember the dream where she and Tang Yu were caught in another world.

Tang Yu?

Her eyes narrowed suddenly, noticing that Tang Yu was not in the cabin. Her anxious gaze swept around several times.

Then she heard noises outside the boat, and with confusion and concern, she got up and walked out of the cabin.

Upon reaching the yacht's deck, the scene in front of Lucy was unexpected, and she stood frozen in place.

She was surrounded by Arasaka Corporation.

An Arasaka armed aerodyne hung in the air, casting a dazzling red laser grid over the yacht.

Around it, Arasaka boats patrolled the water with agents on board.

On the yacht's deck stood a group of agents dressed in Arasaka tactical uniforms, weapons in hand and lined up neatly.

And in front of the agents stood Tang Yu, in a smart suit.

Sensing movement behind him, Tang Yu slowly turned around in the flashing lights to face an astonished and panicked Lucy.

At Tang Yu's gesture, an Arasaka agent stepped forward, sternly declaring.

"You have violated Arasaka Corporation's legal interests, and you are listed as a key control target for stealing core secrets of the Arasaka high-level management."

"Cooperating with Arasaka Corporation's investigation is a principle you must now follow. Any breach of this, and Arasaka has the right to execute special measures."

Lucy let the agent handcuff her hands with electronic restraints, her gaze still fixed on Tang Yu, filled with confusion and astonishment.