Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 108 Honest Mercer

Mercer decided to give the Lark a surprise—mainly to let the other party understand whose territory Dogtown was now. He needed to flex his muscles first to facilitate negotiations, a tried-and-true communication tactic for Mercer with the new Americans.

Although the other party has most likely mastered the black wall gateway protocol and can use the black wall to kill someone else, with Mercer's technology, they are prepared to defend themselves.

Even if the Blackwall AI really went crazy and tried to mess with him, let alone with the help of the Blackwall gateway, he was confident that he could safely go offline.

Well, forget about the confrontation. The server where the Black Wall AI is located is probably the size of a city. No matter how strong Mercer's technology is, he can't withstand being crushed by the numbers.

Mercer, who always loves to crush others with numerical power, is well-versed in this art and will not give others the opportunity to overwhelm him with computing power.

Just in case, he also called Lucy, who was still angry, back and told her to wait for the morning star signal so that if anything went wrong, she could just disconnect Mercer and switch the server back to LAN mode.

Once everything was ready, Mercer entered the deep dive and headed straight for the Ghost Hound's server domain.

Mercer had just switched to the other party's IP address when he spotted a short-haired woman among a bunch of data.

At this moment, the other party was looking at him with some surprise and wariness, but as a top-notch hacker, she didn't immediately disconnect upon being discovered like an ordinary hacker. Instead, she looked at Mercer with interest, sized him up, and then took the initiative to speak:
"I bet you're A."

Her attire in the cyber world was very ordinary; she wore a street-style jacket, long sleeves, and trousers, and looked to be only in her early twenties—even though in the real world she was already a woman in her thirties.

"Lark, I've long admired your name." Mercer directly addressed the other party by name, his mask revealing a standard pixelated cartoon smiley face.

"Oh, you know my name? I thought not many hackers knew me these days." Nightingale was clearly more surprised; her eyes gleamed slightly as she searched for data.

In just a few words, the lark exclaimed in amazement, "So you discovered me a long time ago and even put a detection program on the server. Your programming skills are quite good; I didn't even notice."

"Perhaps you've gotten too old and become incompetent?" Mercer put his hands in his pockets and tilted his head with interest. "Tell me, what are you trying to do by coming to my turf?"

"Your territory?" The lark laughed in exasperation at his old age and retorted sharply, "Isn't this Hansen's territory? To be more precise, before Hansen and you came here, this was always my territory."

"So, having barely escaped death and made it back to Washington, why come back here?" Mercer said nonchalantly.

But the lark looked at him warily: "You seem to know more than I thought. These are not things that a street hacker can easily learn."

Before the new United States decided to sign the armistice agreement, Lark, as a senior FIA agent, was ordered to establish a base in the Pacific State of Night City, along with agents such as Reed and Alex.

However, with the sudden signing of the ceasefire agreement, they all became expendable pawns—the Arasaka agents began to purge the military science and New America intelligence forces in the city.

In order to survive, the lark even had to betray Li De in order to gain the right to evacuate and escape death.

Li De was ambushed by Arasaka's agents on the train home and was shot several times, but he was unexpectedly spared and survived.

The one who spared his life was none other than the new American president, Miles. Perhaps considering the difficulty of finding loyal dogs, and also considering that the new America needed to leave a few hidden hands in Night City, he tried to save Li De's life and keep him alive through some unknown means.

All of this is highly confidential. The conflict between Arasaka and the agents of New America is all top secret. How could Mercer, a mysterious little hacker, know about these things?
This made the lark subconsciously begin to speculate that perhaps Mercer's identity was far more complex than what they had discovered.

"Is there anything in this world that hackers want to know but can't understand?" Mercer just smiled and said, "Everything that exists leaves a trace."

The lark warned, "I don't know where you got this information, but I'm giving you a piece of advice—sometimes, the more curious a hacker is, the more likely they are to get themselves killed."

You have absolutely no idea what you're investigating and what you're dealing with!

"It's nothing more than being approached by various companies, who use threats and inducements against you, threatening your personal safety, your family, friends, and loved ones."

Mercer shrugged, the data beside him surging, coalescing into two sofas and a coffee table within the server.

He sat casually on the sofa and said nonchalantly, "It's nothing special. What, are you having a bad time at work in New America? I've heard you're now Miles's most important hacker."

Mercer said meaningfully, "Logically speaking, given your current status and position, you wouldn't need to secretly use a dedicated internet line to hack into Night City for such trivial data mining."

The lark stared at him silently for a moment, then smiled and sat down on the sofa, a somewhat melancholy smile on her face: "Yes, working alongside the President is no easy task."

Then, to Mercer's second question, she gave only a vague answer:

"As for why I came here, well, you're a hacker too, you should know that no hacker is just working honestly when they're online every day, right? I always have to find some fun for myself."

Mercer squinted at her and suddenly said, "What kind of data are you looking for here? To be honest, I've looked through every single piece of data here. If you need help, I wouldn't mind making friends with you."

The lark simply smiled slightly: "Alright, I actually came to check some information on VIPs, to see who Hansen usually interacts with."

This woman really doesn't tell the truth.

A pixelated soybean face emoji, sweating, appeared on Mercer's mask: "Hmm, I believe you. You're here to check the VIP list regularly."

After saying that, Mercer chuckled and said, "Anyway, you can't find any other data. I don't mind if you waste your precious time looking for something that doesn't exist."

The lark's gaze sharpened: "What did you discover?"

"Who knows?" Mercer shrugged, crossed his legs, and leaned back on the sofa in a languid posture. "Guess?"

"Well, it seems you probably know more than I thought."

The lark put on a serious expression and said, "Listen, A, what I'm about to tell you is not a joke, but something that concerns your life and the lives of those around you."

I don't know what you found out in Dogtown, but believe me, once people find out you know some secrets you shouldn't know, you're finished!

Mercer's mask displayed a tense, sweating emoji: "What do you mean?"

The lark said earnestly, "Listen to me, A. A long time ago, I was just like you, thinking that my hacking skills were invincible and doing whatever I wanted online."

I actively sought out many secrets, some to sell for money, and others simply out of curiosity.

However, because of one incident—forgive me for not being able to tell you the details—my life was completely ruined because I learned something I shouldn't have known.

She showed a somewhat melancholy and sad expression: "The FIA ​​agents found me before the internet surveillance and recruited me into the FIA ​​under the guise of protection. Since then, I have had no freedom to speak of."

Friends and family—they will distance you from everything around you.

No matter how skilled a hacker is, we are still just mortals. Do you know how those company employees and high-level agents assassinate those deeply hidden hackers?

They won't be foolish enough to rush into the range of our network access bay that we can hack. They will use sniper rifles, or even explosives, shells, or even use aircraft to drop bombs and use land-based missiles to physically destroy you!
It would allow elite agents to use a specially designed brain-computer interface, making it impossible to hack, to use S.A.W.S ...
You're in Dogtown, and there's a very conspicuous group of them. This means that your safety actually depends on whether or not someone wants to completely eliminate you.

The lark said a lot of frightening things, and then looked at Mercer sincerely: "So, if you find out any secrets, never tell anyone."

You must keep it to yourself, preferably forever, and never let anyone know what you've discovered.

"Okay, I understand." Mercer looked genuinely frightened.

The lark looked at him gently with concern: "To be honest, when I first met you, I felt that you really resembled me when I was young. Talented, proud and confident, and highly skilled."
But you must believe me, when those agents knock on your door, you'll realize that no matter how powerful we are online, our bodies are still just mortal. Even someone as strong as Barthez died young, let alone you and me.

“Okay, you make a lot of sense.” Mercer seemed convinced by her.

Seeing this, the lark comforted her, "Don't worry, I won't ask you what you know. I came here purely for my own personal reasons."

You know, for a hacker, having lost their freedom in real life, they always need to vent online.

I won't report your matter to the FIA. As for your data intelligence, I'll pretend I didn't hear it. But I have to tell you, New America has been keeping an eye on Night City all along.

Especially regarding secrets related to military science and the New America itself left behind in Night City, they've always kept a close watch on them, so don't act rashly.

Mercer nodded obediently, even his sitting posture became a little more docile.

The lark then changed the subject and chatted with him about other everyday matters. It seemed as if she had really been lonely for a long time, and she took the initiative to share her life with Mercer, complaining about the miserable working environment of working for the president and going hungry twice a day.
The two discussed hacking techniques for quite a while. It has to be said that the nightingale really has some skills, and Mercer learned a lot of hacking tricks from her.

The lark was equally astonished by Mercer's proficiency in hacking and programming at such a young age, and also learned some of Mercer's own skills and knowledge.

Putting everything else aside, the long-lost feeling of being able to chat with someone whose technical level is not much different from their own really made the two of them lose themselves in the conversation.

More than half an hour later, the lark said reluctantly, "I have to go back. I can't let anyone find out that I'm secretly using a dedicated line to connect to Night City's network."

I really enjoyed chatting with you this time. To be honest, it's been a long time since I've had such a relaxed chat with anyone. How about this, leave me your email address, and we can chat again in the future and exchange technical information.

Of course, don't expect me to reply on time—most of the time these days, I'm not in control of my own destiny.

Mercer readily left an email address, and then said just as enthusiastically, "No problem. There's no one in Night City who can discuss these high-end technical issues with me. It's not bad to chat with you occasionally."

But next time, don't try to sneak away on your own. My advice is to give me a heads-up beforehand. If you fall into a trap I set, I can't guarantee your ICE system will let you log off unscathed.

The lark raised an eyebrow and smiled confidently: "Ha, then I really want to give it a try. Next time, next time, let's pick a break and have a proper match to see how good we are."

Mercer was equally confident: "Sure, then we'll use the computing power of the Ghosthound server to have a competition and see who breaks the other's ICE first."

The two agreed on a time, and the lark smiled and waved to him before logging off and leaving.

The smile on Mercer's face vanished the instant she left.

[Morning Star: Hmm, you don't really like this Nightingale lady?]

Mercer: Not really. Actually, I feel quite sorry for her, but this guy was just laying the groundwork by chatting with me to use me when the time was right.
Being schemed against is certainly not a pleasant feeling.

[Morning Star: So how do you plan to use this scheme against Lady Nightingale and do something with her?]

Mercer: Of course it's for Little Beidou—she definitely came to Dogtown for this, and she must have already obtained a lot of information and data about Little Beidou.

As the top hacker in New America, it's incredibly easy for her to uncover any inside secrets once she sets her mind to it.

She wants to use me, most likely to gain control of the Beidou system or find a way to escape and gain her freedom.

I also want to use her to obtain data related to Xiao Beidou, and most importantly, information about the mysterious forces that are secretly colluding with her.

If she wants to get away, she has to come to Dogtown first, and once she comes to Dogtown, then I'll be in charge.

However, you should pay close attention to your surroundings during this time; she might have other ideas.

[Morning Star: I'll keep an eye on Dogtown's network for you.]

He sighed, disconnected from the deep dive, and returned to reality. Lucy, who had been watching him closely and was ready to disconnect at any moment, saw him open his eyes, gave a soft snort, and turned to leave without saying a word.

Mercer smiled and said to her retreating figure, "Thanks, everything went well."

Lucy simply left without saying a word.

Mercer thought about it and decided he needed to go and have a good talk with her.

Even raising fish requires feeding them, let alone Lucy, who is inherently an insecure girl. He needs to be more proactive and not always let her deal with this jealousy and anxiety alone.

With nothing else to do, he simply got up and chased after her: "What do you need to do today?"

“Nothing to do, take a break.” Lucy’s reply was somewhat cold, but she walked out much slower.

Mercer caught up with her effortlessly and walked alongside her: "What are you resting for? Watching Mewtwo? Watching TV? Reading novels?"

"Look at you flirting with Rebecca." As soon as she said it, she regretted it a little—didn't saying that make her seem extremely jealous?

Mercer, as expected, turned to the side with a smile, looked at her profile and laughed, "When have I ever flirted with her in front of you? Don't talk nonsense."

"Oh~" Lucy drawled, "Anyway, she's the one who initiates everything, and you're just passively accepting it. I understand. So, is there anything else?"

"It's been a while since we hung out. How about we find something fun to do and go relax together?" Mercer winked mischievously.

Lucy simply turned her face away: "Do you think that every time you're even slightly nice to me, I have to be grateful and accept it? And then you can go off and play around with other women without feeling guilty?"

“I’ve never thought of it that way,” Mercer denied seriously.

“But I just feel like I should leave it at that. I don’t want to cause you any trouble. You have a lot on your plate right now, so go ahead and get busy. I’ll figure things out on my own in a few days anyway,” Lucy said.

Mercer knew exactly what he should do at this moment. He reached out and took her hand. Lucy tried to pull away, but stopped struggling once she couldn't.

Then she stopped and stared at him intently. After a long while, she sighed and said, "Let's talk, what do you think?"

Mercer nodded hesitantly.

Looking at her beautiful eyes under her short hair and light red eyeshadow, Moser carefully examined her face and suddenly felt that she was both familiar and somewhat unfamiliar.

It seems like in the blink of an eye she's grown from that little pudding in the deserted base into the charming young woman she is now.

According to her current ID card, she will be an adult next year. Even according to her real age, she will be an eighteen-year-old girl in about three years.

Thinking about it carefully, he realized that he and she had been somewhat entangled since they were little puddings. Well, thankfully he held firm to his principles.

Lucy didn't say anything, but he took her hand and led her upstairs in the elevator. At this time, everyone was either sleeping in their rooms or entertaining themselves, or working out in the gym. Only V was in the kitchen humming a little tune and preparing ingredients for lunch in advance.

Seeing the two holding hands, she raised an eyebrow and joked, "Oh, that's a rare sight."

Lucy didn't speak, but Mercer winked at her. Although V felt a little uncomfortable for some reason, she still put on a righteous act, nodded knowingly at him, and didn't ask any further questions.

Mercer and Lucy went to her room and saw that a lunar colonization propaganda poster taken by orbital spacecraft had appeared on her wall at some point.

"An immigration poster? Didn't you say you weren't interested in going to the moon?" Mercer broke the silence by speaking up.

Lucy simply picked up her coat, which she had carelessly tossed on the sofa, and put it aside, asking, "Coke? Or would you like some coffee?"

“If it’s coffee you ground yourself, then I’ll choose coffee,” Mercer said with a smile.

Lucy couldn't help but roll her eyes: "How about I plant some coffee beans for you at the base myself?"

"No need for that, homemade is fine too." Mercer chuckled, sitting on the sofa and looking around her room.

There weren't many cute elements typical of girls, and unlike Rebecca, there weren't display shelves with various shotguns and submachine guns, nor were there things like boxing posters on the walls of V's room.

Only one moon poster could be considered decoration; the rest were practical items such as books, chips, laptops, and dream machines.

Even Qiwei keeps some pretty lingerie and toys in her seemingly simple room. Anyway, Lucy's room is probably the kind that you could move in with just a suitcase.

“Okay.” Lucy picked up the cup and walked straight to the coffee machine. This instant coffee machine could make a cup of instant coffee with just one button, which was extremely convenient.

Lucy, who had made two cups of coffee in just over ten seconds, placed them on the table and then sat down at the other end of the sofa next to Mercer, crossed her legs, and gently blew on the coffee cup.

The aroma of coffee and the rising steam from the hot water filled the air, and Lucy's eyes, peering through the mist from her coffee cup, were fixed on Mercer. "Hmm," Mercer suddenly felt a little lost, mainly because he hadn't figured out how to start a conversation with her—he had always been trying to stall, thinking he would eventually come up with a solution.

Moreover, Mercer believes she should wait two or three years before she can start talking about feelings with him.

But the truth is, no one can wait forever when it comes to feelings. Rebecca could shamelessly take the initiative to get close to him, but Lucy wasn't that kind of girl.

She could only watch and sulk, then process her emotions on her own. Before she knew it, she had reached her limit.

Lucy knew that if Mercer spoke first, he would give her the same old evasive answers, so she simply asked directly, "How exactly do you view our relationship? Family? Friends? Someone you like? Someone you flirt with?"

"You and me? Or everyone?" Mercer asked, seeking confirmation.

“Let’s start with you and me.” Lucy sighed, put down her coffee cup, then turned to the side, leaning against the sofa, propping her cheek up with her hand. “How do you view our relationship?”

“He’s family, a friend, and someone I could even say I like.” As Mercer finished speaking, Lucy couldn’t help but frown slightly, her eyes becoming somewhat tense: “You could say I like?”

"Because I don't want to say that I've fallen for a girl who isn't even an adult, but I think I do... like you quite a bit."

Mercer sighed and said frankly, "And you have indeed grown up a lot now. When I'm with you, I don't really see you as the little girl you used to be."

Lucy felt a little pleased by his words, but she tried hard to keep a straight face so he wouldn't notice: "Oh."

“I know you always like to keep your emotions to yourself, including the fact that you like me quite a bit. Well, I think that's common knowledge. I am indeed the most popular good man in the team.”

Mercer tried to lighten the mood, but Lucy couldn't help but whisper, "You're right about being the most popular, but when it comes to good men, even Pira might be more reliable than you in that respect."

Mercer raised an eyebrow: "Putting everything else aside, Pila's better than me? Hey, can't you be reasonable?"

"At least when they go out, they don't talk about feelings. It's a fair trade, and most of the time they're just having fun in Mewtwo."

Lucy looked at him with some disdain: "What about you? I won't go into your relationship with Qiwei, but what about Rebecca and V?"
You know I like you, Rebecca likes you, and even V might have a bit of a crush on you, but what did you choose to do?

Lucy mercilessly exposed his actions: "You say you like me, but you must have told Rebecca you like her too, and you must have said some ambiguous things to V occasionally."
You don't actually think that no one can see through your little schemes, do you?

Mercer coughed. "I wasn't hiding anything."

“Yeah, you can openly be a scumbag, and nobody can do anything about it, but what about me?” Lucy started angrily, but then suddenly sighed dejectedly, “What am I supposed to do?”

"I can't accept Mercer. You know I'm a very insecure person. How do you think a troublesome woman like me would feel seeing the person she likes spending time with someone else?"

Lucy spoke candidly, sharing her feelings and troubles with him for the first time: "Sometimes I try to understand you, and I think about how difficult it must be for you, because we are not just friends, but also family and comrades-in-arms."

Rejecting anyone means hurting or upsetting them, and could even affect the stability of the team.

On the other hand, I can't understand why, even if it's just for the sake of team stability, you should refuse everyone equally?
And you know perfectly well that I care about you, but when Rebecca takes the initiative to approach you, you'd rather watch my expression than push her away even slightly, and you seem to enjoy it immensely.
Including the matter with Qiwei, I have no idea what's going on between you two. Is it really just a simple roommate relationship?
Mercer, do you really care about me?

Her question left Mercer momentarily speechless. He looked at Lucy's expression, and after a long while, he sighed and decided to tell her his true thoughts.

First of all, I really care about you.

Mercer answered seriously, sitting up straight and looking directly into her eyes:

"Secondly, regarding Rebecca. Well, I'll talk to her about it later. At least until you're an adult, I'll keep a certain distance from her, but actually... how should I put it?"

Mercer hesitated for a moment, but finally said directly, "Just like Rebecca said, we are actually doing work with no future every day. Nobody knows whether the final result will be as smooth as I think."

Although I'm quite confident, I sometimes wonder, if I make a mistake somewhere, could I lead everyone down another dead end, a dead end?

He rarely showed such a lack of confidence, and sighed, "I haven't studied politics, I don't know anything about business, and I'm not even used to street violence or bloodshed."
At first, I could only treat everything like a game, in order to get used to it.

But as time went on, it became increasingly difficult for me to face reality with this playful mindset. Consequently, the challenges of being a team leader, or even a...
The pressure of being a savior who saves the world often makes me feel suffocated.

You all advise me not to be too hasty, not to overthink things, and most people don't really agree with my so-called 'savior' view of wanting to change the world.

Most of you just follow me with the mindset of 'Okay, since he said that, and it's a good thing anyway, let's just go with him'.

And me? I'm actually quite confused myself.

Mercer lowered his eyes and said in a low voice with some helplessness, "Sometimes I think, maybe I should just settle for what I have, make some money, invent something, and then work for a big company, or just find a place to enjoy a financially free retirement early."
But just thinking about what might happen next terrifies me, and I don't dare stop.

"What is it?" Lucy asked, but without realizing it, she sat closer to him, reached out, and gently took his hand.

"For example, the upcoming fifth corporate war? Or the threat posed to humanity by roving AI? Or some of my own secrets."

Mercer glanced at Lucy, and finally decided to say whatever came to mind: "Even Anzu knows that I am very different from the Mercer of the past, and there is a reason for all of this. I want to find that reason and figure out what exactly happened."

"Tell me, if I take you all and run away to retire, but then a world war breaks out soon after, and a nuclear war wipes everything out, what good days will we have left?"

Mercer began to express his concerns:
"Or, what if roving AIs begin to decide the fate of humanity, all connected devices start to go out of control, those roving AIs take control of all nuclear buttons and production factory equipment, and then humanity is forced back a century to the past?"

"For many people, they don't actually need to consider these things at all. Even I sometimes think to myself, screw it, what does this have to do with me? If the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. Why should I be the savior?"

But then I thought again, what's the difference between this and handing over my life and death to someone else? When the sky falls, tall people need to hold it up, but to this world, aren't I just one of those tall people?

Mercer held Lucy's hand and sighed, "So it's for Rebecca and for Kivi, too."
My attitude is the same: I hope to enjoy life while I can before I lose everything. That's the mainstream philosophy of the world.

Who knows if I can succeed? Who knows if I'll be assassinated by some secret agent who suddenly appears out of nowhere tomorrow? Or be blown up by a nuclear bomb from Saburo Arasaka?
Am I supposed to wait until I die to regret it? Damn, I've never even kissed a woman in my life. Wouldn't that be such a waste?

So when Rebecca wanted to get close to me, I didn't want to tell her—hey, calm down, girl, I'm a good man who thinks big and is responsible, so wait a few years, wait until my heart settles down, and then think about the future properly.

The only thing we can do is at least keep a minimum distance from minors and maintain a minimum level of boundaries.

Mercer finished speaking in an exaggerated tone, then gave a self-deprecating laugh: "Actually, for me, Rebecca taking the initiative to approach me is one of the few times I can relax."

At least at that time, I didn't have to think so much. If a girl I liked took the initiative to throw herself at me, I'd just accept it.

He looked at Lucy and sighed, "But... I'll be more careful from now on. You're right, I do tend to think more about myself than about your feelings, that's a fact, because I like more than one girl."
So what can I do? I like him, and I can't lie to myself, nor do I want to lie to you, so I can only shamelessly accept it. And then we'll just have to see how things go. Who knows if we even have a future?

Lucy was silent for a moment, and finally could only sigh, "I understand."

But she doesn't actually know anything right now; her mind is a mess. But at least for now, she doesn't want to upset him.

Forcing him to make a choice now is pointless; he doesn't want to choose in the first place. If you push him further, he'll at most keep his distance from Rebecca and continue to drag things out.
"And then what? Let's say I'm an adult too, I mean... you can't just keep going like this forever, can you?"

Lucy bit her lip lightly: "I can wait a little longer. I can be patient. But even Rebecca can't let you get away with this forever, can she?"

Upon hearing this, Mercer suddenly laughed and whispered to her:

"Actually, Rebecca... I feel she's quite generous in this regard. I guess she's seen too many sluts when she was out on the streets. My being a little fickle with her isn't a big deal."
She still cares more about my attitude and whether I truly like her. Uh, that's it.

Mercer's words startled Lucy. Her eyes widened slightly in disbelief: "How could that be? She usually looks like she wants to devour you whole."

"You think she can't tell that there's something going on between me and Qiwei? Even V can tell."

Mercer frankly said, "But she never asked even once—it's true, not even once. She just pretended not to know anything, not in a self-deceiving way, but in a genuinely indifferent way."

She's never asked anything about you, really. You even get jealous of her and think about how she'll behave in our relationship.
Rebecca never thought about it, at most she'd say a few words occasionally, just to tease me. Don't be fooled by her daily arguments with V, it's simply because she and V are just naturally at odds.
But they were the kind of couple who bickered and teased each other, the kind of lovers who were always at odds. Deep down, she actually quite liked V.

Mercer's words shook Lucy's worldview—she genuinely didn't know.

She always felt that Rebecca, who seized every opportunity to be clingy with him, seemed to be the most possessive one, but...
Qiwei and Moser are roommates.

Rebecca, however, was completely unconcerned about the situation around Mercer.

V is simply deceiving himself by pretending nothing happened.

It seems like I'm the only one who's been acting up.

Could it be that I'm the only one with a problem?!
Lucy quickly shook her head: "I don't believe it!"

"Really? You believe it or not, if I texted her right now and said that you were upset and depressed because she kissed my face with lipstick this morning, she would actually come and chat with you."

Mercer, however, confidently assured him.

Lucy looked somewhat bewildered. After a long pause, she gritted her teeth and said directly, "Then send her a message. If she really comes, then I'll..."

She was a little confused.

Mercer reached out and gently squeezed her hand, laughing, "You don't need to imitate her. It's okay to be jealous, I don't dislike you. Isn't it because you like me?"

She remained silent, but Mercer pressed his advantage, leaning down and gently embracing her: "I'm not saying this to make you compare yourself to her. I just want to say that our relationship should just focus on our own things."

Other people's business is my business and other people's business. You just need to care about your own feelings.

I'll be more careful in the future, at least I won't make you jealous and upset all the time.

As for the future, if we really do live to see the future together, I will definitely find a way to keep you by my side. Didn't we promise to be family for life?
That's the issue I need to consider, anyway.

Mercer said with a smile in Japanese, "Even if we don't talk about feelings for now, we'll still be a team for life!"

Lucy didn't know what he was talking about, but as he held her in his arms, her body involuntarily went limp. She leaned on his shoulder, listening to the sound of his two hearts beating in his chest, and after a while, she sighed as if helpless.

"Do you want to go to the moon?" she suddenly asked.

Mercer was taken aback for a moment, then immediately agreed.

"Okay."

He let go, and Lucy took out the Mewtwo Device. Just like the first time the two of them entered Mewtwo, they lay side by side on the bed and entered the Moon Mewtwo.

After Mercer entered the moon in Mewtwo, he couldn't see Lucy online for a long time. He frowned and closed the program. The moment he logged off, his senses returned, and he immediately noticed that his face was a little wet and his lips were a little sore.

A pair of soft hands gently caressed his face, and Lucy's fragrance was right next to him.

She didn't say anything, but lowered her head, leaned against him, and hugged him, their necks intertwined.

"Never mind, I suddenly don't really want to play. I'm a little sleepy. Just take a nap with me tonight, like we used to do at the Adcado camp. Just lie down next to me."

Mercer pretended to know nothing, took off the Dream Machine, wiped his face, and then hugged her tightly.

"Go to sleep, I'll still be here when you wake up."

"Um"

She changed her position, lying face to face and snuggling into his arms—perhaps she was asleep, perhaps not.

But no one spoke; they remained silent until V sent a message urging them to go to the living room for dinner.

Lucy got up and, feigning composure, told him to go straight to the living room, saying she needed to wash her face.

Mercer, clueless, only realized when he arrived in the living room that the moment everyone saw him, their eyes suddenly turned strange.

He immediately realized what had happened.

Lucy followed him leisurely, nudging Mercer who hadn't yet sat down: "You made steak for lunch? It looks delicious."

Rebecca grinned and remained silent for a moment before bursting into laughter, clutching her stomach. This immediately broke the silence, and everyone joined in the laughter.

"Hahaha~ Not bad, Lucy!" Rebecca laughed heartily, "How come I didn't think of that! Hahaha!"

V looked at Mercer with disdain, laughing and complaining, "Go wash your face, it's time to eat."

Mercer, his face dark, looked up at the camera in the room, then switched to the camera's view and zoomed in to examine his own face.

Sure enough, not only were there lipstick marks all over her face in the shape of lips, but most importantly, someone had also drawn the Japanese word 'BAKA' (idiot) in Romanized form on one side of her face with lipstick.

Lucy smiled demurely, but also glanced subtly at Rebecca, who was currently laughing heartily.

He really never lies.
For a period of time afterward, aside from keeping a low profile and making initial contact with people from the Military Science and Technology Agency and Kangtao online, Mercer spent his time further optimizing weapons and equipment at the base.

On December 3rd, an email arrived that completely shattered the tranquility of life.

Agent Mark: Congratulations! A big shot has taken a liking to your girl. He wants to meet his chosen one tomorrow night, so hurry up and tell your girl to get ready.

Since the other party is a big shot in Arasaka, they were responsible for all transportation, and the price was split 50/50 between us as we had agreed.

[Jeffrey: No problem, bro! But what kind of big shot is this Arasaka? You need to give me a heads-up, I need to let my girl know beforehand.]

[Manager Mark: Okay, anyway, your girl won't keep it a secret from you after meeting him, so... to tell you the truth, you're about to strike it rich. The guy who's got his eye on your girl is Arasaka Yorinobu!]

[Jeffrey: Holy crap! No need to say anything more, my girl is definitely going to be famous this time!]

[Agent Mark: Who says otherwise? Haha, once he's tired of you, we'll use Arasaka Yorinobu's 'handpicked' status to create some hype, and your value will increase tenfold!]

[Jeffrey: Give me a time and place, and I promise my girl will be there on time!]

[Agent Mark: OK! The exact location isn't clear yet, but we've agreed to go there at 7 PM and wait, and it will be delivered back the next morning.]

Jeffrey: Okay, I'll wait for your news tomorrow.

[Agent Mark: No problem!]

After hanging up the email, Mercer, who was using the pseudonym Jeffrey, fell into a brief moment of contemplation.

A moment later, he sent V a message and asked her to come to him.

Mercer: We've got some work to do. Come find me.

[V: What kind of job?]

[Mose: Lai Xuan has taken the bait.]

【V: !!! ! ...

[V: I'm coming right away!]

(End of this chapter)