During Reagan's presidency, the world fell apart when the U.S. government was controlled by a secret organization consisting of the FBI, the CIA, the National Security Agency, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Known as The Gang of Four, this shadow group secretly manipulated the U.S. government and preached "interests over the people," which eventually led to the division of the United States.

The soon-to-be-crushed superpower has been bogged down by the so-called "war against herbs" in South America. The war was essentially about robbing Chile and Bolivia of lithium, but they failed to tell the public that genetically programmed viruses were used to stifle the growth of herbs, leaving global herb traders with no goods to sell. The move led to the discontent of the European mega-corporations that secretly financed herb dealers, and the protracted conflict was bitter in the Western world, culminating in the 1993 detonation of a hand-held nuclear bomb by Colombian drug traffickers in Manhattan.

The following year, it was revealed that the United States was using global markets to launder funds obtained through the illegal arms trade, leading to the collapse of the global economy. In the late '90s, the country was devastated by wars and economic recessions, pandemics and natural disasters, including a magnitude 10.5 earthquake that flooded 30 percent of Los Angeles. With a quarter of the population homeless and most cities abandoned, a group of wandering people emerged, known as the "Wanderers", and a group of prosthetic modification addicted eccentrics were born. With the repeal of the Constitution, martial law was entered across the country, and states such as California and Texas declared secession from the Union and became "Free States."

At the end of the twentieth century, the rest of the world outside the United States fared slightly better, but only a little better. Several countries in the Asia-Pacific region, notably 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 has recovered from the failed imperialist aggression of the United States, but Russia has become a banditarian state, with plagues and famines breaking out around the world, and the Middle East has been transformed into a radioactive wasteland full of radioactive fallout due to a small-scale nuclear war.

Multinational mega-corporations are undoubtedly the best scavengers of global catastrophes. Governments large and small could collapse at any time, and they had to seek help from mega-corporations to stay afloat. In exchange for more power and influence, companies are naturally more than willing to help. In the early 2000s, these companies began their own operations in first-world countries, taking control of many governments and resources. Some of the most powerful companies include the energy giant PetroChem, the Soviet energy giant SovOil, the biotechnology company BioTechnica, the arms manufacturer Military Technologies, and the "predominantly private military, but almost omnipotent" Arasaka Group. In addition, there are many smaller group companies.

But that doesn't mean millennials are falling. At this time, the Central African countries came together to develop a very successful space program, and they also had the largest number of space stations and low-Earth orbit airspace (although this was the result of armed competition with other powers for space resources and lunar colonies). A new renewable fuel, CHOOH, was invented (not with its chemical formula, but with a signature hatched by BioTechnica's marketing division) that 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, and the result is a boom in prosthetic modification around 2010 and 2020.

However, with the advent of cyber modification, it naturally gave rise to "cyber warfare" and "cybercrime", as well as other anti-ethical activities using this emerging technology. In a world where flour has become the staple food, it has become the norm to fight to the death for food or other resources. People have become accustomed to pinning their heads to their belts, and many choose to become cyber-strengthened mercenaries. Whether it's a street kid or a company employee, they will eventually become what people call freelancers, also known as "cyberpunk".

Amid a series of collapses and turmoil, Night City is one of the few megacities that have survived, but it's also full of troubles. When it was founded in 1994, it was known as the City of Colorado, but it was later renamed after architect Richard Night was assassinated by corporate or gangster usurpation (who did it remains a mystery to this day). It wasn't until the 2010s that the city finally stabilized. After years of street warfare between the company's security forces and gangsters, the criminal organization was finally defeated. While Night City is still a highly dangerous place, and some neighborhoods, such as the unfinished Taipingzhou, never recovered from the war, at least the whole place is more like a city than a war zone where daily battles are fought. However, this peace lasted only a few years.

In 2013, rock star and cyberpunk Johnny Silverhand, a 90s Sino-American War veteran, named after him for replacing his injured left arm with a chrome prosthetic hand. He was holding a concert with his girlfriend Ott when he was suddenly attacked by the company's team. They left Silver Hand to die and kidnapped Ott and brought her back to the Arasaka Group's headquarters. This is because the Arasaka Group is not satisfied with its status quo, and it is not enough to be one of the several super companies to dominate the world, and the company's founder, Saburo Arasaka, and his son want to rule the world. At this time, Johnny Silverhand did not know that his girlfriend was a very powerful cyber hacker, and it was she who designed a malware known as the "soul killer".

Originally intended to transfer a person's consciousness into a cloned body, the software has been weaponized to scorch the target's brain and imprison and torture the digital soul of another person. This procedure is one of the most morally corrupt and vicious inventions of modern times, but it is also the key to human beings attaining eternal life. However, the Arasaka group kidnapped Ott more for the former than for eternal life.

Meanwhile, Silverhand survived the attack and formed a rescue squad. They put on an impromptu show in front of the Arasaka company and incited the crowd to riot in order to enter the company. At this point, Ultra activates the Soul Slayer and digitizes his consciousness to escape, but the plans of the two men clash fatally.

Johnny and his teammates storm Arasaka Corporation and inadvertently destroy a control host that connects the network to the flesh, causing Ultra's consciousness to be trapped in digital space from which he cannot escape. Believing that Ultra was dead, they fled the area, leaving Ultra's mutilated consciousness trapped in cyberspace.

There have been three corporate wars before 2020, and it is inevitable that a company with the GDP and military power of a small country will fight for market hegemony. However, the previous three wars pale in comparison to the fourth corporate war.

The reason for the incident is simple, at least compared to the various spy infiltrations between companies. In 2021, a transoceanic shipping company wanted to make a hostile takeover of a competitor. However, the conflict between the two sides intensified, and two of the largest private military companies, Arasaka and Military Technology, were hired to face off against each other, and the two companies had been simmering against each other for a long time, just waiting for a reasonable excuse to fight each other.

Night City was the atomic blast point where this war ended. As a free city within a free state, both the military technology and the Arasaka group have their own forts in the city, and without the jurisdiction of the government, it is natural that this is the core of the 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.

(End of chapter)