74: Chapter 73 Lai Xuan reveals his hand, intending to "tear down" Arakawa and start over.
Upon hearing Lin Yi's straightforward opening remarks, Yorinobu not only showed no displeasure, but instead, as if he had finally met someone he could communicate with normally, a flash of relief crossed his eyes.
He leaned back into the sofa, his fingertips unconsciously tapping against the side of the crystal glass in his hand, producing a crisp sound.
"Straightforward... very good." He let out a low chuckle, the sound tinged with a weariness and mockery toward the internal atmosphere of the corporation. "You know, Lin Yi-san, after staying in this company for a long time, everything I hear and see every day is lies and calculations wrapped in countless layers of sugar-coating and silence. Everyone wears a mask, forced to learn how to speak insincerely, fighting tooth and nail, bleeding for insignificant shares of power. Sometimes I even feel that the air in this building is viscous, filled with the stench of hypocrisy, making one feel nauseous."
He paused, his gaze drifting toward the tiny cityscape outside the window, as if piercing through time and space, returning to a specific moment.
"On the day I just came of age, my father, Saburo Arasaka..." When this name was mentioned, [Insight] keenly captured the instantly tightened nerve bundles within Yorinobu and a trace of barely perceptible energy fluctuation—a kind of disgust and resistance deeply rooted in his bone marrow. "That old bastard once called me to his side and told me a principle he held as gospel. He said that everything of value in this world is like duckweed in the wind; seemingly free, but actually rootless."
Yorinobu turned his head, his gaze refocusing on Lin Yi's face, his eyes as sharp as a knife. "And that wind is fear. He controls fear, so he controls everything." He pulled his lips into a cold, mirthless arc. "Guess what he did at that moment? He just did that, blew a puff of air at me, gently."
He mimicked the action, then withdrew his hand, his tone carrying a kind of rebellious certainty: "But that time, he was wrong. This trick might be very useful on others because they fear him, their fear ingrained deep in their bones. My older brother Kei Arasaka is like that, my younger sister Hanako Arasaka is also like that, but I am different." [Insight] confirmed that this statement contained absolute, soul-deep truth, without a shred of wavering.
Lin Yi listened quietly, his brain processing this information at high speed, while [Insight], like a precision probe, continuously analyzed every micro-expression, vocal cord vibration frequency, and energy field change in Yorinobu.
He captured that genuine disgust, as well as a certain tragic determination hidden deeper within.
"So what?" Lin Yi spoke up at the right moment, steering the topic toward the core, which was also the key point he had to confirm. "You gave up the 'Steel Dragon', gave up the resistance outside, and returned to this core of power. For what? In the end, is it still for... power itself?" He threw out this question, both as an inquiry and a probe, with [Insight] operating at full capacity, prepared to capture any ripple of emotion inconsistent with his words.
"Power?" Yorinobu seemed to have heard an absurd joke; he let out a short, cold laugh and downed the remaining liquor in his glass, as if what he was drinking was not a rare vintage, but some bitter sacrifice. "Fifty years ago, a group of terrorists, carrying their self-righteous convictions and a nuclear bomb, blew the old Arasaka Tower into ruins! That scene was spectacular enough, right?"
His voice rose a few notches, carrying a long-suppressed indignation. "But what was the result? Did they learn their lesson? Has the world become better because of it? Did Arasaka withdraw from Night City? No!" He slammed the wine glass onto the coffee table with a dull thud. "To completely defeat Arasaka in the Fourth Corporate War, how much did I pay in secret? I even went so far as to..." His words faltered, as if touching upon a deeper secret, left unsaid, but [Insight] captured the violent ripple of emotion in that instant, a mixture of pain and determination.
"...But look at it now! It's still here! Even larger than before, even more deeply rooted as a parasite on the lifeblood of this world!" He pointed at the giant tower outside the window, symbolizing Arasaka's supreme authority, his tone excited and sorrowful. "From that moment on, I understood a principle. External forces, whether terrorist attacks or wars, cannot truly destroy a monster like Arasaka. It is like a malignant tumor; if you cut it from the outside, it won't necessarily be eradicated, it will only metastasize, or even become worse."
Yorinobu's body leaned forward, his eyes burning as he stared at Lin Yi. That restrained confidence now turned into a raging flame, and [Insight] fed back a powerful, almost paranoid signal of conviction, without any false components.
"So I came back. I returned to this den of devils, returned right under my father's nose. I am not here to inherit power, Lin Yi-san," his voice lowered, yet carried an ironclad strength. "Now, I am going to be the bomb that blows up the old Arasaka! A bomb that detonates from within, to send it, along with those rotten foundations, straight to hell!"
His words were like a thunderclap, exploding in this luxurious and oppressive space.
[Insight] transmitted data pointing to the same conclusion—this was his true heart, the sole logical core of his actions, and the ultimate goal he would achieve at any cost.
No deception, no concealment, only a naked, almost destructive confession.
Lin Yi looked at the man before him, whose eyes burned with the flames of destruction and reconstruction, and finally understood completely.
He understood all of Yorinobu's contradictory behaviors, understood why he was at the top of the corporation yet so out of place within it.
The man before him, in his bones, was still that rebel who had created the 'Steel Dragon' and dared to swing a blade at the behemoth.
He had merely changed his method, a more extreme, more dangerous, and potentially more effective way.
"You want..." Lin Yi slowly spat out that heavy word, "...revolution?"
"Yes! Revolution!" Yorinobu affirmed without hesitation, his voice as firm as iron. "Not for myself, but to liberate all those still struggling under Saburo Arasaka's theory of fear, to save them from this endless nightmare! To smash this damn world, even if it's just trying to chisel open a tiny crack!"
His gaze locked onto Lin Yi, carrying a kind of anticipation of finding a kindred spirit and an earnestness that could not be refused. "Therefore, I need allies. I need someone like you, Lin Yi-san. Capable, courageous, and most importantly, you have not been completely twisted by the company's ways. You are a powerful, clean 'anomaly' that does not belong to any corporation!" [Insight] at this moment clearly felt the strong signals of "approval" and "desire" in Yorinobu's emotions; his evaluation of Lin Yi was extremely high, and his willingness to seek cooperation was extremely strong and genuine.
"Join me, Lin Yi-san!" Yorinobu reached out his hand to him, not just in a physical sense, but an invitation of philosophy and path. "Let us burn this damn thing to ashes together! There can be no construction without destruction!"