Marvel: The game I made invaded reality.

Chapter 338 Guaranteed.

During Reagan's presidency, the world fell apart as the U.S. government was controlled by a secret organization composed of the FBI, CIA, NSA, and DEA. This shadow organization, known as The Gang of Four, secretly controls the U.S. government and vigorously promotes "interests greater than the people", which ultimately leads to the division of the United States.

The soon-to-be-crumbled superpower is mired in a so-called "war on herbal medicines" in South America. This war was essentially to seize the lithium resources of Chile and Bolivia, but they did not tell the public that they used genetically programmed viruses to stifle the growth of herbal medicines, leaving global herbal traders with no goods to sell. The move led to dissatisfaction among the European megacorporations that secretly funded herbal traders, and the protracted conflict simmered in the Western world for a long time, culminating in 1993 when Colombian drug traffickers detonated a portable nuclear bomb in Manhattan.

The following year, the United States collapsed the global economy after it was revealed that it had used global markets to launder funds obtained through illegal arms trade. In the late 90s, the country was devastated by successive wars and economic recession, coupled with epidemics and natural disasters, including a 10.5-magnitude earthquake that caused 30% of Los Angeles to be submerged in seawater. . A quarter of the people are homeless, and most of the city is abandoned. A group of homeless people has emerged. They are "vagrants". At the same time, a group of weirdos who are addicted to prosthetic modifications have also been born. Following the abolition of the Constitution, the country entered a state of martial law, and states such as California and Texas declared their secession from the Union and became "Free States."

Things were a little better in the rest of the world outside the United States at the end of the twentieth century, but only a little. Several countries in the Asia-Pacific region, especially China, South Korea and Japan, remained largely stable, as did the European Union (known in this world as "United Europe"), so the euro subsequently became the world currency. South America recovered from the failed imperialist aggression of the United States, but Russia turned into a gangster state, plague and famine broke out around the world, and the Middle East became a land full of radioactive dust due to small-scale nuclear wars. Fallout wasteland.

Multinational giant corporations are undoubtedly the best scavengers of global disasters. Governments large and small can collapse at any time, and they have to seek assistance from super corporations to continue functioning. In exchange for more power and influence, companies are naturally more than happy to help. In the early 2000s, these companies started their own operations in first world countries, controlling the governments and resources of many countries. Some of the most powerful companies include the energy giant PetroChem, the corresponding Soviet energy giant SovOil, the biotechnology company BioTechnica, the weapons manufacturer Military Technology, and the Arasaka Group, which "mainly focuses on private military business but is almost omnipotent." In addition, there are many smaller group companies.

But that doesn’t mean millennials are doomed. At this time, Central African countries united together and developed a very successful space project. They also owned the largest number of space stations and low-Earth orbit airspace (but this was the result of competing with other forces for space resources and lunar colonies). . A new renewable fuel, CHOOH, was invented (not its chemical formula, just a brand name thought up by BioTechnica's marketing department), which replaced gasoline within a few years. Although there are many disabled veterans who have returned from the South American War, this tragic situation has also pushed the development of biotechnology to a new level. The result is a boom in prosthetic transformation from 2010 to 2020.

However, with the emergence of cybernetic transformation, "cyberwar" and "cybercrime" have naturally emerged, as well as other anti-moral activities that use this emerging technology. In a world where flour has become a staple food, life-and-death fights for food or other resources have become the norm. People have grown accustomed to wearing their heads in their belts, and many have chosen to become cyber-enhanced mercenaries. Whether they are street kids or company employees, they will eventually become what people call freelancers, which is the so-called "cyberpunk".

In a series of collapses and turmoil, Night City became one of the few surviving megacities, but there were also a lot of troubles here. When the city was founded in 1994, it was called Colorado City, but it was later renamed because the architect Richard Night was assassinated by a corporate or gangster usurpation (specifically who did it is still a mystery). The city didn't finally stabilize until the 2010s. After years of street war between corporate security forces and gangs, the criminal organization finally retreated. While Night City remains a highly dangerous place, with some neighborhoods such as the unfinished Pacific never recovering from the war, at least the whole place feels more like a city than a war zone where battles are fought every day. However, this peace only lasted a few years.

In 2013, rock star and cyberpunk Johnny Silverhand, a veteran of the 90s Central American War, was named after a chrome-plated prosthetic hand to replace his disabled left arm. He was holding a concert with his girlfriend Ott when he was suddenly attacked by the company's team. They left Silverhand to die and kidnapped Ultra, taking her back to the Arasaka Group's headquarters. This is because the Arasaka Group is not satisfied with its current situation. It is not enough to become one of the several super companies that dominate the world. The founder of the company, Saburo Arasaka, and his son want to dominate the world. At this time, Johnny Silverhand did not know that his girlfriend was a very powerful network hacker, and it was she who designed a piece of malware called "Soul Killer".

This software was originally used to transfer a person's consciousness into a cloned body, but it was weaponized by others. It can not only scorch the target's brain, but also imprison and torture the digital soul of others. This program is one of the most immoral and vicious inventions of modern times, but it is also the key to mankind's eternal life. However, the Arasaka Group kidnapped Ultra more for the former than to gain immortality.

Meanwhile, Silverhand survived the attack and assembled a rescue team. They held an impromptu performance in front of Arasaka Company and encouraged the crowd to riot and gain access to Arasaka Company. At this time, Ultra activated the Soul Killer and digitized his consciousness to escape, but the two plans fatally conflicted with each other.

Johnny and his teammates rushed into Arasaka Company and inadvertently destroyed a control host that connected the network and the physical body, causing Ultra's consciousness to be trapped in the digital space and unable to escape. They thought Ultra was dead and escaped, leaving Ultra's incomplete consciousness trapped in cyberspace.

There have been three corporate wars before 2020. When a company has the GDP and military power of a small country, it is inevitable to fight for market hegemony. However, the previous three wars pale in comparison to the Fourth Corporate War.

The cause of the matter is simple, at least compared to the various spy infiltrations between companies. In 2021, a transoceanic shipping company wanted to conduct a hostile takeover of a competitor. However, the conflict between the two sides intensified, and they hired two of the largest private military companies, Arasaka and Military Technology, to fight each other. The hostility between the two companies had been brewing for a long time, and they were just waiting for a reasonable excuse to decide. High or low.

Night City was the ground zero for the end of this war. As a free city in a free state, both Military Technology and the Arasaka Group have their own fortresses in the city. Without the jurisdiction of the government, this place has naturally become the core area of ​​war between the two sides. Finally, in August 2023, the war reached its climax with the detonation of a small nuclear bomb at the Arasaka Group headquarters.