Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 110 The storm is rising
Mercer stared at Adam's sturdy mechanical body without the slightest tension. On the contrary, he had a researcher's psychological reaction and even wanted to get closer to take a look.

Adam Hammer's highly technological mechanical body held considerable appeal for him, and Mercer also wanted to investigate whether his brain was just a collection of brain cells.

Arasaka Yorinobu stared at Mercer for a long time before suddenly laughing: "Did you see clearly? Alright, that's all, you can go now."

Adam Heavy Hammer glanced expressionlessly at Arasaka Yoriyuki, then at the woman in the distance who looked composed and sexy, and seemed very curious about him. Without a word, he turned around, walked to the elevator, opened the door, and went inside.

Damn it, he's sick in the head—he called me here just to give that woman a proper look?
As the elevator doors closed and Adam Hammer left the top floor, the smile on Arasaka Yorinobu's face gradually faded.

"who are you?"

Mercer tilted his head, and after a moment, laughed: "A staunch anti-corporate fighter, a hacker master who yearns for world peace."

At the same time, I am also your experimental subject who escaped from the Arasaka Canadian base, a guy who was born to stand on the opposite side of Saburo Arasaka.
A freedom fighter against capitalism, a warrior who single-handedly tries to change the world.
Okay, to put it simply, I'm just an ordinary person who hates companies like Arasaka Group, Military Science, and Biotechnology with a passion that I wish they would all go to hell, but unfortunately, no one can do anything about them.

So, I had to do it myself.

His expression turned serious, and as he met Arakawa Yoriyuki's gaze, he said, word by word, "Arakawa Yoriyuki. I have no time for pretense, no time to build trust with you."

To be honest, from what I know, you're not far from death.

You've chosen to join me in rebelling and changing the world.

Or will you accept your fate and await death?

“I’m going to die?” Arasaka Yorinobu only found his last two sentences somewhat absurd, but he did not feel any disrespect for his self-introduction.

Ha, the anti-company freedom fighter, once saw himself in the same light.

"Why do you think Saburo Arasaka is keeping you around? Do you think he really knows nothing about your thoughts and feelings? Do you think he has really forgiven you?"

And they even intend to hand over the Arasaka Group to you, an unfilial son determined to destroy the Arasaka family's century-old foundation?

Mercer chuckled coldly and said bluntly, "He treats you as his backup body. Do you know what he really wants?"

He wants to use the Relic chip to take over your body and continue his empire with the pure Arasaka bloodline! You are just a stepping stone for his ambition to achieve immortality and control the world!
"Do you understand? Once the development of the Relic chip is completely finished, and Saburo Arasaka confirms its absolute reliability, only death awaits you!"

Arasaka Yorinobu's expression changed slightly: "What nonsense are you talking about? If you want to achieve this goal, cloning his own body isn't impossible."

Mercer interrupted him directly: "Then everyone will know that Saburo Arasaka has the secret to immortality. Guess what will happen to Arasaka? Will he still be able to enjoy this immortality all to himself?"

Arasaka Yorinobu's breathing became heavy.

"What Saburo Arasaka wants is immortality for one person! Not to become a thorn in everyone's side, and he doesn't want to share this technology to benefit others!"

He will use your identity as a cover to secretly plot his schemes until he truly dominates the world. Only then can he use cloning technology without restraint and become an immortal emperor for all eternity!

Do you think, given his personality, he would simply clone another body for use? Or would he use his own daughter's body to prolong his life?
It's you! Only you! You possess the purest bloodline of Arasaka, the seed born from the union of himself and his beloved wife, and the current leader of Arasaka's hawkish faction. Even if he takes over your body, no one will suspect a thing.

Because in recent years you have indeed displayed the demeanor of a hawkish leader, yearning for war and expansion, which is exactly what Saburo Arasaka intends to do after taking over your body!

Mercer's words suddenly filled Arasaka Yoriyuki with fear—the aged face of Arasaka Saburo loomed before his eyes, a nightmare he could never escape.

"No! Don't even think about it!" Arasaka Yorinobu suddenly stood up, gritting his teeth, and said, "Where did you get this information from? Don't tell me you guessed!"

"With your abilities, can't you figure out for yourself whether this is true or false?" Mercer retorted. "Who do you think he'll tell? Who would know what he's thinking?"

"You mean Hanako!?" Arasaka Yorinobu asked in astonishment. "Then how did you find out from Hanako?"

"How about this, just consider this as me making a hypothesis, a lie, or a conjecture—how likely do you think Saburo Arasaka is to have such thoughts?"

Mercer asked in return, while Arasaka Yoriyuki trembled and fell silent.

The moment he heard Mercer say this, he had an instinctive judgment, or rather a premonition, that Mercer was telling the truth.

Saburo Arasaka is a man who might actually do something like that!
Mercer's words were just the tip of the iceberg; countless pieces of evidence instantly flooded his mind, corroborating Mercer's 'guess,' and the more he thought about it, the more horrified he became.

No wonder that old man ignored his growing reputation and power among the hawks and allowed him to participate more and more in company affairs.

He originally thought that with his death approaching, Saburo Arasaka had focused all his attention on Relic, trying to find the possibility of immortality before he died.

But now it seems.
Saburo Arasaka didn't miss a thing!
He tacitly allowed Lai Hsuan to take charge of the hawks because he originally planned to continue leading the hawks himself, so that the company could continue to aggressively expand into the future.

He tacitly allowed Yorihiro to accumulate prestige because Saburo had already planned that he would use Yorihiro's body to live another life. So the higher Yorihiro's prestige, the less he would need to do after taking over.
And there's also Hua Zi!

She...she already knew!?
Arasaka Yorinobu was stunned by this bombshell news.

Mercer continued to sting his heart with cold words: "In fact, the development of the Relic chip is already close to maturity, but Saburo Arasaka is just too afraid to gamble on it, if he dares to take a certain risk."
"Ten years, Arasaka Yorinobu, you only have ten years left at most."

Mercer leaned back on the sofa, while Arasaka Yorinobu, suppressing a complex mix of emotions, turned sharply to Mercer: "So what? What can a bunch of mercenaries like you possibly do? If it were internet surveillance, perhaps I could believe they had some ability."

"Besides a bunch of mercenaries, who else would be willing to fight against Saburo Arasaka with you?" Mercer retorted. "Internet surveillance? They only need Ultraman; would they help you fight against Saburo Arasaka?"
Their purpose in contacting you is simply because Ultraman wants the Silver Hand, Ultraman wants the consciousness data in the Divine Vehicle, and Ultraman will naturally give them what they want in return.

What kind of reward can you offer to get the internet regulators to help you, instead of betraying you? Will you sell Arasaka to them after you take office? I guess they might be willing, but are you?

If they fail, can they withstand Saburo Arasaka's wrath and retaliation? Don't be fooled by the fact that Arasaka is getting worse and worse; I believe it's only because that old bastard Saburo Arasaka is now obsessed with immortality.

Once he achieves his goal of immortality, the Arasaka Company will return to its former glory—you are his son, you should know better than I how terrifying this old man is.

I hate him from the bottom of my heart, but it is precisely because I hate him that I know this guy is not an easy opponent to deal with.
This time, I risked my own life, and even the lives of my friends, to ensure that Saburo Arasaka could never continue living in this world and controlling it with the Arasaka Corporation!

Mo Se, equally agitated, shouted, "Besides mercenaries like us who have nothing, who has the courage, who dares to lay a hand on Arasaka Saburo?"
Even you! Arasaka Yorinobu! You had countless opportunities to face him! But did you ever once try to point a gun at his head and send him to hell?

Mercer's question left Lai Xuan speechless, but Mercer then slammed his fist on the table and said bluntly, "Stop talking nonsense! I know you're still the same person you were before, the leader of the Steel Dragon, the biker gang that roamed Tokyo."

Just one damn question: Do you dare gamble your life again?! Hand over the Silver Hand chip; I'll use it to contact Ultraman as an ally, and then we'll fucking kill Saburo Arasaka together!

"Do it! Or not!"

Mercer's blunt words and harsh language left Arasaka Yoriyuki momentarily dazed—he thought of many things.

But after countless thoughts flashed through his mind, his heart, which hadn't been pounding for a long time, began to beat again.

“Done! But we have to take it slow.” Arasaka Yorinobu stretched out his hand.

Mercer, in turn, extended his hand and gave him a firm handshake: "You decide the time, and I'll cooperate with your plan."

After taking a deep breath, Arasaka Yorinobu sat down, chewed on several ice cubes to calm himself down, and then, looking at Moser's face, suddenly asked, "What should we do with this woman?"

“She’s been tricked by internet censors; I won’t let her get away with this.”

Mercer said calmly, "Even if she doesn't die, I will guarantee that she will not remember anything and will not know anything."

Arasaka Yorinobu nodded: "Then take her away now. Leave me your contact information, and I'll keep in touch with you secretly later. Damn it, because of this whole thing you did, I can't even call my sex doll anymore!"

He suddenly showed a hint of pain and irritation—only now did he belatedly realize that after this incident, he would have to worry about whether someone was playing tricks on him when he looked for a sex doll.

Mercer laughed: "Once you've settled things with Saburo Arasaka, you won't have to rely on sex dolls to get by anymore. You can just find a stable partner, right?"

A complex look flashed in Arasaka Yorinobu's eyes, but he just chuckled twice: "Don't worry about me, kid. You should be more worried about yourself than me."

He said quietly, "Do you know why I came to Night City?"

Mercer shook his head; he only had some guesses.

"After comparison and analysis, the agents of the Arasaka Intelligence Department have basically confirmed that you are the real culprit in the Arasaka Canada base massacre."

After multiple confirmations through spies within the military science department, we can basically confirm that the batch of stolen Relic chips is still in your possession.

Arasaka Yoriyuki paused, then looked at Mercer with interest: "So, you can understand it as my purpose in coming to Night City this time is to capture you, the group of fugitives who accidentally escaped from the base, and to retrieve the Relic chips."

To be honest, I've looked at your files, and based on them, you don't seem like someone with that kind of ability.

Arasaka Yorinobu asked, seemingly out of curiosity, "Since you came here, you've committed so many major crimes. Military science, biotechnology, Arasaka—we've all suffered greatly because of you."
Including the individual armor you just showcased, personnel skills, and hacking techniques.”

Mercer, however, was direct: "No need to test me. I can tell you clearly that these technologies and levels have nothing to do with any company."

The equipment was designed and developed by myself, though I did borrow some of the equipment I took from you.

As for the quality of the personnel, it was thanks to my keen eye that I was able to find talented people one by one from the streets.

As for the source of the technology, I have to thank Arasaka and the online textbooks on biotechnology. I've basically studied all of your advanced courses, and I must say, even though I only reached the advanced level, the quality is still quite high.

Mercer's words made Lai Xuan raise an eyebrow: "All?"

"Yes, all of them. Except for those stupid company education and moral education courses that I deleted, I have completed all the technical courses."

Mercer said casually, "Don't ask about geniuses, I'm afraid it will make you feel inferior."

Arasaka Yorinobu hadn't heard anyone speak to him like that in decades, but instead of being annoyed, he was amused, finding in a long time the feeling of having a proper conversation with someone again.

"It seems that Arakasaka's biggest mistake over the years might be missing out on a talent like you?"

After he finished speaking jokingly, Mercer nodded seriously: "That's true. If you had bombarded me with sweet talk from the start, I might have actually worked for you for a few years."

So you used me as a mining card, and even wanted to use me as a guinea pig. You deserve it.

Arasaka Yorinobu pushed up his sunglasses speechlessly, feeling that this guy was a bit too confident to the point of narcissism. He got back to the point and asked, "So, how do you plan to deal with Arasaka's upcoming pursuit of you?"

Mercer stated bluntly, "As everyone knows, I'm in Dogtown. Unless you decide to drop a nuclear bomb on my head, I'll deal with whatever comes my way."

"This time, I'm not just bringing Adam's Hammer with me, but also my father's most loyal bodyguard, Takemura, and a high-ranking Arasaka Special Forces team, all of whom are ninja masters."

Arasaka Yorinobu chuckled: "If you underestimate them, you'll die a horrible death."

“What is there that I can prepare in advance?” Mercer asked.

Arasaka Yorinobu appeared somewhat indifferent at this moment: "If you don't want your father to notice something amiss beforehand, then I can't afford to go easy on you."

“Then come on.” Mercer was not afraid at all: “The reason I stayed in Dogtown was to guard against you. If you really have the guts to come and cause me trouble, then let’s fight it out.”

Yoriyuki Arasaka calmly said, "Don't think Dogtown is safe. If we want to make a move, even Hansen won't live more than a week."

"I'm only afraid that you'll lack martial ethics and use planes and missiles to blow me into the sky. In a head-on battle, our Fire Seed Squad isn't afraid of your so-called elite agents."

So, all I have to do now is take out all the agents that Arasaka sent, right? Mercer said.

Yoriyuki Arasaka nodded: "That's right. I never personally direct my subordinates' actions, and this time is no exception. Therefore, I cannot leak information about the special operation to you in advance."

All I can tell you is that the person in charge of planning the operation was most likely my father's confidant, Goro Takemura, an old-fashioned man who always preferred to plan carefully before acting, but when it came to taking action, he had no scruples whatsoever.

Despite his samurai spirit, he is essentially a ninja, so he will do anything he thinks will safely retrieve the Relic chip from you: assassination, kidnapping, extortion.

I'll find a way to deal with Silver Hand, but how you survive this ordeal and how you ensure your Fire Seed Squad survives the pursuit of Arasaka's highest-ranking wanted poster is up to you.

If you die before we rise up, then unfortunately, I'll have to find new allies.

Mercer nodded, then said, "But if Arasaka plans to use heavy firepower, you must tell me in advance. If your aircraft carrier's fighters come carrying several tons of bombs, even a god wouldn't survive."

“No problem. If Arasaka wants to use force beyond the scale of Night City, he must get the decision-maker’s approval. Currently, only my father and I have that qualification.”

Fortunately, Father doesn't have time to deal with petty thieves like you right now, so if something similar happens, I'll have someone notify you in advance.

After Arakasaka Yoriyuki finished speaking, Mercer nodded with satisfaction.

Then, Mercer suddenly thought of something and said, "Your Arasaka Counterintelligence Department has a female agent named Valerie who deserves our attention. Why don't you fire her and I'll recruit her into the team?"

Otherwise, you could make your move beforehand, offer her promises, and try to get her to join our cause. In short, don't let her ruin our plans.

Lai Xuan became interested: "Valerie? Let me think... Oh right, the first person to discover that your identity highly matched that of the Canadian base fugitive was this agent. Since even you say so, it seems she is indeed quite capable."

Arakasaka Yorinobu, also feeling a sense of appreciation for her talent, inquired about the details: "What is her personality like? Is she trustworthy?"

"As it stands, he's just a typical office worker who's single-mindedly focused on getting promoted and a raise. I bet you know this kind of person better than I do."

As soon as Mercer finished speaking, Arasaka Yoriyuki seemed to lose interest—he had seen far too many people like that in Arasaka.

But since even Mercer said this girl has talent, Arasaka Yoriyuki is willing to give her a chance.

"Understood. I'll transfer her to my special operations department and have her work for me. Consider it a reward for her discovering your identity."

As Arasaka Yoriyuki spoke.

Mercer nodded, but said viciously, "But I'll teach her a lesson sooner or later. Letting her go now, she still dared to secretly investigate and report me. That woman..."

"Heh," Arasaka Yorinobu looked at Mercer and found it somewhat amusing: "You have special feelings for this woman?"

"I have a special interest in girls named Valerie. Okay, let's stop here. The nerve load is quite heavy when the sex doll chip controls the body. Evelyn's head is about to overheat."

Mercer said, his prosthetic eye gleaming, "I've installed a blocking program in her brain, so she can't contact anyone now. Have someone take her back to the entrance of Ritz Bar, and I'll pick her up."

You don't need to worry about what happens after that; I won't give her a chance to leak our conversation.

Lai Xuan nodded, saying somewhat coldly, "I hope we can meet again someday. If you are unfortunately arrested, given your father's personality, you will most likely become one of the many consciousness data in the Divine Carriage."

"Ha, then we'll have to see how good you agents are." Mercer said with a laugh, then patted his head: "I'm logging off now."

Yoriyuki Arasaka raised his glass and nodded.

As Evelyn's body swayed in his line of sight, the woman in front of him then returned to the way she looked when they first met.

After taking a deep breath, Evelyn rubbed her head in pain. The brain-computer interface was still burning hot, which was not a pleasant feeling. But she quickly came to her senses and revealed a charming smile.

"Mr. Lai Xuan."

"You can leave now. Remember, don't say anything nonsense unless you want to die in the car." Arasaka Yoriyuki simply took a sip of his drink with a cold expression, then got up and went straight to his bedroom.

Evelyn sighed inwardly, but then felt a surge of secret joy—she was safe!

Ha! 800,000 euros, plus the European residency promised by the internet regulators, and witness protection.
As for what she told Judy—that she planned to stay in Night City if everything went smoothly—that was all a lie. She had already decided to run away after finishing this job.

Isn't Europe much better than Night City?
Beach, sunshine, sea, a prosperous life
The internet surveillance witness protection agency also provides her with a monthly allowance and free housing.
With her mind filled with bright hopes for the future, Evelyn's headache suddenly stopped bothering her.

Arakawa's agent quickly appeared at the door in the elevator, turning his head expressionlessly to Evelyn to indicate that she could leave.

Evelyn then belatedly realized that she hadn't dressed properly, so she quickly went to the bathroom to change and even had time to touch up her makeup.

"Hurry up, Mr. Lai Xuan needs to rest." The agent's cold urging didn't frighten her much.

Evelyn simply chuckled twice: "Okay~"

After speaking, he calmly took the private elevator upstairs in his high heels—the hovercars were all parked on the rooftop. The agent remained silent the entire way, just staring intently at Evelyn. Evelyn found it boring, but dared not do anything under his watchful eye. Finally, when they arrived at their destination, she breathed a sigh of relief and got out of the car.

[A: See that black sedan next to you? Wait until the hovercar is out of sight before getting in; I need to retrieve the sex-pair chip.]

Evelyn didn't think much of it and even sent him a message.

[Evelyn: Everything went smoothly? So, is my final payment due?]

[A: Once I get the sex chip back, we can talk about the final payment.]

Evelyn smiled and, once the hovercar was out of sight, she eagerly got into it.

She looked around but didn't see the driver. Then, the car started up and the doors and windows locked at the same time.

Evelyn cautiously asked, "What's going on? A? Are you remotely piloting?"

The car was quiet, no one answered, but a sense of foreboding began to creep into her heart.

[Evelyn: A? Are you there? Can't I just put the chip in the car? Where are you taking me?]

She instinctively checked if the background program Judy had installed for her was still running—thankfully, Mewtwo was still recording.

but
Mercer did not reply for a long time.

Evelyn immediately made a judgment: she needed to contact the internet monitoring department right away.

If Mercer tries to silence her, she'll have to rely on the Cyber ​​Police to save her life! If she dies, the Cyber ​​Police won't be able to get her recording of Mewtwo!
[Evelyn: Are you there? I've been picked up by the Fireseed Squad, and I don't feel safe! I need help!]

Evelyn sent a message but received no reply. Then, disregarding the fact that she was now in the car arranged by Mercer, she immediately began calling the internet police's contact information.

The phone rang with a monotonous beeping sound, but no one answered for a long time.

A hint of panic appeared on Evelyn's face. Her eyes trembled as she hurriedly reached out to try and unlock the car door or window.

But the car was as if it were welded shut and couldn't be opened at all. She felt like she was about to break the door handle!

I need to call Judy!

I need her to come and save me!
The thought of calling for help immediately popped into Evelyn's mind, and she dialed Judy's number again.

"Didi."

"Damn it, answer the phone! Judy! Please! Answer the phone!" Evelyn finally couldn't hold back and blurted out the curse. After frantically dialing the number repeatedly on the brain-computer interface without getting an answer, she finally realized that something was wrong.

She immediately activated the brain-computer interface self-test program, but no matter how many scans she performed, or even after restarting, the communication signal could not be restored.

"Open the door! Let me out! I don't want the remaining payment! A! You have to let me out! We had someone vouch for us at the Ritz!"

Evelyn grabbed the car door handle and tried her best to open the door, but to no avail.

Her voice trembled, even choked with sobs: "You can't do this to me! I... I listened to everything you said! How could you betray me like this!?"
"I want to go home! Let me go back! A! You can hear me! Right! I know you can hear me! Open the door! Please!"

But the car remained eerily silent.

In a panic, Evelyn jumped from the back seat to the driver's seat, slammed on the brakes, and even tried to turn the steering wheel.

No matter what she did, the car didn't respond at all; it just drove quietly on the road, heading at a steady speed toward an unknown direction.

"Please! I don't want to die! Mr. A! I'll give you anything you want! Please, just say something!"

Evelyn was on the verge of a breakdown—everything outside the car window seemed normal, but she felt like she was on a special bus to hell.

Fear seeped into her bones; she felt her whole body trembling. She had never been so afraid in her life.

"Is anyone there?! Can anyone hear me?! Help! Help!!"

She tried shouting out the car window, and even tried smashing the window with her high heels and fists—but these bulletproof windows, which could be described as bulletproof steel plates, were not something that a mortal body could shake.
Inside the car, she continued to knock and bang, but no one outside the speeding car paid any attention.

"Ahhh! Help! Help!!"

She finally broke down and screamed, frantically pounding on her surroundings until her hands were bloody and mangled, and she almost tore the car's steering wheel and brakes off. Only then did a woman's voice finally come from inside the car.

"Hey! You have no manners! Even though this car isn't expensive, I bought it with money I applied for myself!"

Polaris's words became her lifeline.

Evelyn, her hair disheveled and her face streaked with tears, pleaded, "Who are you? V? Or which member of the Fireseed Squad? Listen, please, I really haven't done anything to wrong you. I'll give you money, how about 300,000 euros?"
Four hundred thousand! I really only have four hundred thousand euros left! Please let me go, as long as I can get back to Liz, I'll transfer the money to you right away!

“Hmm, but judging from the emails you deleted, you agreed to a price of 500,000 euros with the internet regulators!” Polaris said in an innocent tone, saying something that sent chills down Evelyn’s spine.

Evelyn slumped back in her chair, flustered. "What...what are you saying?"

"Alright, relax, don't be afraid. Master is always very gentle with girls. Even if he decides to kill you, he won't torture you." Polaris said in a cute tone, which made Evelyn even more frightened.

She almost burst into tears: "I don't want to die! Please, let A reply to my message! I know I was wrong! I'll give him back his money, and the advance payment from the internet monitoring department. He can have whatever he wants!"
"I...I really just acted on impulse."

"Oh, sorry, my master told me to ignore you, but please don't smash my car again! If I get angry, the car will speed up!"

Polaris spoke in a gentle tone but with a cruel truth: "Okay, stop crying, it's too noisy. I'll play you a song, listen to the music, look at the street scene. As for whether you can survive, that's none of Polaris's business!"

The radio played soothing music, but Evelyn burst into loud sobs in her seat. Nothing was more despairing than quietly waiting for death to come, especially since she still had hundreds of thousands of euros lying in her account that she hadn't spent!
Please, please!

The sounds of pleas from inside the car were incessant.

But Polaris remained silent, only accelerating relentlessly.

As the car drove out of the city center, Evelyn's voice grew hoarse from crying, and the car pulled into an underground parking lot in Taiping.

Evelyn huddled nervously inside the car, this time gripping the door tightly, not wanting the car to be opened.

As a large hand yanked open the car door, and Mann's cold face appeared beside it, Evelyn let out a piercing scream as if she had seen a ghost.

Mann frowned speechlessly, reached out and pulled the crying and screaming Evelyn out of the car seat. Before she could beg for mercy, he punched her squarely in the chin.

The screams stopped abruptly, and then Mann hoisted her onto his shoulder like a piece of cargo, patted the car door, and said, "We can go now."

"Phew, she really knows how to yell. Remember to close the door tightly for me, she even ripped one of my doorknobs off," Polaris complained.

"Then blame your master for being petty and insisting on scaring her." After saying that, Mann opened the trunk of his car, threw Evelyn in, and took out the chip from her head.

He quickly taped her mouth shut, tied her hands and feet together, closed the trunk, and drove his car back to Dogtown.

When the Ghost Hounds saw Mann, they unexpectedly reached out to stop him.

"Sorry, Colonel Hansen said we need to check vehicles recently," said one of the Ghosthound soldiers.

Mann just looked at him expressionlessly: "Out of goodwill, I must remind you that I advise you to pretend you didn't see it this time."

The hound soldier looked troubled, but another squad leader walked over, pushed the soldier aside, and stood by the car window: "Brother Mann, please tell the director that your vehicles will be subject to stricter checks recently."

This includes things like temporary passes; it's all the same. Especially when it comes to equipment and raw materials, everyone is treated the same. We're not deliberately targeting you.

The squad leader's hushed words made Mann nod knowingly, and he whispered back, "I understand, but transporting one person shouldn't be a problem, right?"

The squad leader pondered for a moment, then coughed lightly: "It should be fine. I'll pretend I didn't see anything this time, but if any metal equipment is detected next time, it must be recorded."

"Thanks, I won't cause you any trouble." Mann nodded, and then patiently waited for the scan to finish.

The squad leader glanced at the soldiers in the checkpoint and waved to them.

The soldiers inside gave a brief report, but the squad leader merely nodded impatiently. Then, the checkpoint's lifting bollard sank down.

Mann started the car, nodded to the squad leader, transferred two thousand euros, rolled up the window, but couldn't help frowning.

This is getting a bit troublesome.
It seems that Hansen is determined to completely shut down Mercer's path of secretly conducting research and development, forcing him to work only in the stadium workshop.

He forbade Mercer from leaving, yet he also forbade Mercer from smuggling goods in from outside, while simultaneously maintaining tight control over Dogtown's smuggling routes.
Alas, at this crucial moment, Mercer provoked Lai Xuan and Arasaka.
Mann shook his head, started the car, and quickly returned to the base.

Opening the trunk, Evelyn had already woken up from her coma. Her mouth was taped shut, and she could only whimper. Her beautiful face was covered with tears, and she looked so pitiful that it truly moved me to tears.

But Mann wasn't having any of it—he expressionlessly hoisted her onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried her inside. Evelyn grew more and more frightened as she looked at him.

Because Mann didn't even try to hide it from her, he opened the hidden combination lock and opened the secret elevator leading to the underground base.

The more she thought about it, the more frightened and helpless she became. She could only cry on Mann's shoulder. When she came to her senses, Mann had already thrown her onto a hacker chair.

Evelyn looked around blankly. The members of the Fireseed Squad were all looking at her with cold eyes. Mercer, who wasn't wearing a mask, was fiddling with various instruments, including surgical tools, like a mad scientist.

"Evelyn, I've told you not to do anything stupid, why won't you listen?" Mercer sighed, looking at her with some regret. To be honest, he had sometimes felt that she was rather pitifully stupid in the game.

But when she actually did something stupid and ended up in his hands, Mercer had nothing to say—he really didn't intend to discard her after she had served her purpose, but unfortunately Evelyn wasn't willing to give him a chance to be a good person.

She sobbed excitedly, and V, after receiving Mercer's nod, reached out and removed the tape from her mouth.

"I was wrong! A, please, let me go! I'll give you all the money back and leave Night City, okay? I shouldn't have been misled by the internet police, they lied to me! Please, I'll do anything!" she pleaded, crying.

Mercer merely turned and glanced at her: "What do you think? You're not a child anymore; you should know the consequences of your actions."

"I was just momentarily blinded by greed," she cried.

Mercer calmly interrupted her: "There's no need to make yourself look so pitiful. You know I'm not going to let you go. So, do you have any last words?"

“You, you’re all a bunch of bastards!” She broke down, crying and cursing, but Mercer just shook his head expressionlessly, took out a syringe, and injected it into her neck.

Just a few seconds later, Evelyn fell into a coma.

Rebecca sighed; she was the most soft-hearted of all: "Why didn't you just shoot her dead?"

"I'm not sure what programs the internet monitor left her with. I'm worried about oversights during remote checks, so it's best to bring her back for a systematic check."

After Mercer finished speaking, he paused and said, "Also, if someone is secretly monitoring Lai Xuan, we'd better make sure that no one knows that we are contacting him through Evelyn."

“I didn’t understand,” V said, frowning.

Mercer shook his head and said, "Simply put, I'm going to use a Soul Killer to upload her consciousness data, then modify and delete all the information related to us and Lai Xuan."

All she'll remember is that we entrusted her to contact a big client, but who was that big client? She'll never find out.

Because it won't be long before she develops severe depression and mental illness, and will eventually either die on the street or commit suicide.

As for Lai Xuan? This is just her private work, and it has nothing to do with us.

Mercer coldly delivered a verdict-like statement: "I need to double-check and see who else she has contacted besides the internet monitors."

"Uh, you mean, by altering her memories, we can ensure that even if someone finds her later, they won't connect the matter we entrusted to her with Lai Xuan?"

V seemed to understand.

"Yes, the only loophole is that the internet monitors know our purpose, but they won't sabotage our plans, provided, of course, that they don't have a mole within their ranks."

"I won't pin my hopes on others, so I need to get ahead of the game and find out who's been contacting Evelyn online. Even if I don't kill that idiot internet monitor, I'll teach them a lesson."

Mercer paused, then added, "Of course, if Evelyn has contacted anyone else privately and mentioned this, we also need to ensure that those who know about it keep quiet."

Mercer pondered for a moment, then said, "Or we could direct our attention to the internet surveillance, making those who have been watching Lai Xuan overlook the fact that not many people actually know that we met Evelyn, and I've already deleted the surveillance footage."

Even fewer people knew about the task we entrusted to her.”

He never gets advice from others on these matters; he's left to figure it out himself.

As Mercer pondered this, he used his octopus arm to take out surgical tools, turned Evelyn over, and began the surgery on the back of her head.

He wanted to install a neural interface on her that would allow for deep-sea diving and consciousness transfer, making it easier for the Soul Killer to modify her consciousness data.

The audience wasn't used to watching such a bloody surgical scene, especially the way Mercer was absentmindedly thinking about something while using his octopus arm to operate the knife—he looked like Frankenstein's monster from a horror movie.

"By the way, Mercer, I was stopped at the door just now." Mann briefly described what happened at the door.

Mercer sighed: "Fine, let's all get together—I understand."

But before he could figure out how to handle the situation, he received another message from Panan through the brain-computer interface.

[Panan: Mercer, do you have some time lately? You remember the Red Ochre tribe, right? They're in trouble again. I wanted to ask if you have any ideas on how to help them?]

[Mercury: You said it.]

[Panan: That's right. Biotechnology poisoned their water supply, causing many of them to become infected with the virus. Biotechnology had promised to compensate for the poisoning incident, but recently they have stopped providing free medication.]

People who use red ochre are now seriously ill, but there are no free medicines available, and the effective drugs that can alleviate their symptoms are very expensive.
The worst part is that we've discovered this disease seems to be contagious. Now, people in Adcado are showing similar symptoms. Mercer, you're the only one I know who understands this technology. Could you spare some time to help out?

We can pool our money to cover the cost; you won't work for free.

[Mercer: What about you? You're not infected, are you?]

[Panam: I'm fine.]

Mercer: I've been grounded by Hansen recently and can't go out. Have someone bring over a set of blood samples and some of their special medicine. I'll analyze them and give you an answer later.

Additionally, if a confirmed source of the virus exists, such as a water source, you can also send me a sample.

[Panam: What's going on? Do you need help?]

[Mercer: No need, it's a small matter. Just bear with him for a few days. I've got some trouble lately, but I'll deal with him when I'm done.]

[Panan: Okay, then you wait, I'll bring the things over for you tomorrow.]

[Mercer: Remember to wear protective clothing properly, and put everything in sealed containers. If you don't know how, find someone who does; don't be silly and try to handle things with your bare hands.]

[Panam: Don't worry! And thanks.]

Mercer: You're welcome.

After hanging up the call, Mercer narrowed his eyes in annoyance, looking at Evelyn beside him, his gaze gradually turning cold.

Alright, Evelyn, I don't have time to waste on you—good luck from here on out.

(End of this chapter)