Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 120 Dogtown Boss, what a load of bull!

Sitting in his hotel suite in Gemstone Blue, Hansen opened his laptop with a blank expression and began to deal with work emails.

[Slide: If Director Mercer intends to relinquish control of the networks in Pacific and Dogtown, then our Voodoo Gang could step in. But as you know, Director Mercer has always valued his influence in the Pacific network, and my relationship with him is fairly good.]

Hansen glanced at the slider's reply and scoffed, choosing to ignore it—what a fickle opportunist.

Then Hansen looked at the replies from Europe.

[Emerick: The crack program is already written; you can try it yourself.]

[Hansen: Great. If all goes well, the money will be deposited into your account on time. Also, if we can really get our hands on the roving AI, can it really solve the neural overload problem in the armor?]

[Emeric: This idea should be sound. His consciousness data conversion system is ingenious, converting human consciousness data into standard program data. Theoretically, AI, acting as an intermediary, can indeed significantly reduce the mental burden on humans.]

[Hansen: Great. Once this period is over, you can come to Dogtown. The price and treatment will be as I mentioned before.]

[Emerick: Okay.]

After hanging up the email, a look of relief flashed across Hansen's face. He downloaded the cracking program from the email and immediately sent it to a hacker in the stadium.

The hackers in Europe are really skilled. They managed to do things that even the bunch of useless hackers around me couldn't handle in just a few days.

What he now possesses is a dedicated hacking program for Mercer's individual armor operating system—in Hansen's view, Mercer's greatest threat is not even network technology, but the custom-made armor worn by V and Rebecca.

As long as there is no armor, those people are all flesh and blood, and I don't need to worry about him writing any backdoor programs on the armor.

At that time, his own people will be wearing armor, while the members of the Fire Seed Squad will turn their armor into their own coffins due to the program's cracking—as long as they find an expert to take over the Ghost Hound's server permissions again, Mercer will become a toothless tiger.

Let him do as he pleases.

Just as Hansen was happily contemplating the future.

Ten seconds passed, but no one replied to his email. This made Hansen frown slightly. A strange sense of foreboding rose in his heart. Without hesitation, Hansen immediately dialed Bennett's number.

After a few rings, there was no reply.

problem occurs!
Without a word, Hansen immediately stood up and dialed the number of the Ghost Hound leader in charge of the Sapphire Blue's security: "Gather the men and prepare to meet the enemy! Mercer and that group of Fireseed soldiers may have betrayed us!"

"What?" The voice on the other end of the phone paused for a moment, then immediately replied nervously without saying another word, "Yes!"

Hansen wanted to go out, but was then shocked to find that the door was locked.

This is utterly ridiculous! He's locked out of his own hotel room!?
Hansen immediately realized that the situation was probably far more complicated than he had imagined.

"Damn bastard!" Hansen cursed, then yanked out his weapon, the short knife strapped to his belt, and pried the door open with sheer brute force.

As he walked down the corridor, the Ghost Hound on guard duty was still looking at him with a bewildered expression: "Colonel Hansen! What happened?"

"Quickly! Immediately alert everyone! Restart the server! Mercer and the Fireseed Squad have betrayed us!"

That was Hansen's first reaction—and it turned out he was right.

At this very moment, V was in the elevator of the Gemstone Blue Hotel, idly watching it slowly ascend. The floor the elevator was about to reach was the same floor where Hansen's luxury suite was located.

The hounds responsible for security on the first floor received the forged email and notification from Hansen by Mercer and chose to let V pass without any suspicion. At this moment, they could not imagine that V, who came alone in armor, was actually here to deal with Hansen!

The call Hansen made was actually intercepted by Mercer immediately.

Mercer controlled the entire Netherhound network. He sent private emails using his laptop. Mercer didn't panic because he was worried about alerting the enemy, but he never held back with the rest of the Netherhound.

At this moment, although Hansen could still make phone calls and send emails normally, the pack of ghost hounds could not receive them.

The person who answered Hansen's call wasn't the security chief of the Ghost Hound at all, but rather a voice simulated by Qimingxing using AI.

His phone call to warn the security chief to be careful was undoubtedly immediately relayed to V by Mercer.

Mercer: V, Hansen has noticed. Be careful.

[V: No problem, I've already gotten on the elevator without any issues. Hansen can't escape now. Are you sure everything's alright on your end?]

Mercer: I'm currently deep-sea diving in the stadium's server room, keeping an eye on the hotel's network with Morning Star, so don't worry.

Once you're upstairs, I'll cut off all support routes. If things get dangerous, break through the window and escape; we'll switch to a full-scale assault plan.

V: No problem!

Since Mercer was unsure whether there were any other undiscovered early warning devices inside the Ghost Hound, his action plan was to act in tandem.

He dealt with the haunted dogs in the stadium and, with the help of the stadium's servers, blocked all of Dogtown's network and communications, diving deep to assist the other team members in their operations.

Jack, Mann, and Dorio were tasked with heading to the checkpoint, seizing control of Dogtown's checkpoint, and immediately sealing off the passageways to prevent outsiders from taking the opportunity to enter, or anyone inside from trying to escape and inform those outside.

Rebecca led the hackers, under the guise of Hansen's orders to conduct 'equipment maintenance,' to the weapons and equipment warehouse beneath the Gemstone Blue Hotel to block the possibility of the Ghost Hounds using large-scale force.

As for the weapons and equipment of the hounds on this side of the stadium, Mercer was naturally in charge.

Because of the Fire Seed Squad's reputation, coupled with the network of connections they had cultivated over a period of time, most ordinary Ghost Hounds were essentially unaware of the superficial harmony between Mercer and Hansen.

In their eyes, Mercer was the first recipient of the Medal of Honor in Dogtown, and he also received the highest salary and benefits in Dogtown. Hansen almost always granted his requests—at least that's how Hansen and Mercer presented themselves to the outside world.

So no one doubted it at all, or rather, even if they did, they didn't dare to question the Fire Seed Squad's story to their faces. Mann and Jack killed the Ghost Hound Captain, who was in charge of the checkpoint's security and was disobeying orders, on the spot, and then smoothly took over the command of the checkpoint.

Rebecca, along with three hackers, encountered no obstacles and arrived at the weapons and equipment warehouse underground in Gemstone Green under the supervision of several ghost hounds.

Three hackers quickly took over all access to the various armored vehicles, drones, robots, and other equipment parked inside.

To Rebecca's and her companions' astonishment, they discovered that in the underground facilities of the Gemstone Blue Hotel, there was actually a Chimera Tank and a Demon Lizard Armored Vehicle that they had bought at some unknown time!
But whatever the original purpose of these devices, at this moment, they have all become toys for a few hackers.

After Rebecca effortlessly dealt with the few guard dogs, the hackers immediately took action, seizing access to the weapons and equipment, and then stood by in the easily defensible underground facility.

If the situation deteriorates to the worst possible scenario, Rebecca and the others will not hesitate to let Morning Star take over all the equipment here and then engage in a direct battle with the Hound of the Underworld.

Without the support of heavy weaponry, without network control, and even with communication and command authority locked by Mercer, the defeat of this pack of hounds was almost inevitable.

But defeating, or even crushing and destroying, the Netherhounds was not Mercer's goal.

At this moment, the most important thing is to capture Hansen alive!
Just as the others were methodically following the plan and successfully completing their predetermined goals...

V, who was carrying out the most important task, encountered some unexpected minor troubles.

When the elevator doors opened, V was not greeted by the familiar hound, but by several burly mixed-race men of Spanish and Black descent, dressed in suits and with slightly dark skin.

These burly men, dressed in suits, expressionless and exuding a chilling aura, were simply holding pistols.

One of the men, dressed in a black suit and top hat, with a prosthetic eye that shone with a deathly pale light, pointed a gun at V's head and said in a cold tone, "Whenever a cigar is lit in Havana, somewhere in the world, Aguilar..."

"Are you an idiot? What cigar? It's Aguilar. If you don't want to die, don't block my way!" V interrupted the guys' nonsense with a look of annoyance, and unceremoniously raised the smart submachine gun that Mercer had given her, pointing it at the guys in front of her.

If the other party hadn't seemed to be someone other than the Ghost Hound, and hadn't given off an unusual vibe, she would have already fired her gun.

While interrupting the group's nonsense, V immediately sent a message to Mercer.

[V: Damn, a bunch of idiots are blocking my door, spouting weird stuff like cigars and Aguilar. What should I do? Just kill them?]

[Mercer: Cubans? Looks like Hansen's prepared. Tell them I guarantee the Dogtown business won't be affected, but Hansen has to be handed over to us first.]

V looked at the increasingly hostile-looking guys in front of him and recited his prepared statement without changing a single word: "My boss said he guarantees that the business in Dogtown will not be affected, but Hansen must be handed over to us first."

“What if I say no?” Aguilar said expressionlessly, then pointed his uniquely shaped revolver at V’s head without moving.

[V: He asked me, what if I say no?]

Mercer: Alright, I'll talk to him.

V pouted, looking at Aguilar with some displeasure.

[V: Are these the Cubans behind Hansen?]

Mercer: Yes, we'll try diplomacy first, then resort to force.

A dialog box suddenly popped up on Aguilar's prosthetic eye.

【I am A, or you can call me Mercer. I'm sure you've heard my name from Mr. Hans.】

[Aguilar: Yes, I have heard of you, but that doesn't mean you can harm our people right under our noses. Hansen cannot die, or someone will be very unhappy, and if someone is very unhappy, you will die. We will only be more terrifying than Arasaka.]

Mercer: Listen, Hansen must be handed over to me today, but I guarantee he won't die anytime soon. The transition of power in Dogtown will be as smooth as possible. I will continue to do what he did before, and I will only do it better than him.

I know your reputation, Aguilar, but I have to say, you're no match for V—instead of forcing us to fight and make a mess of Dogtown, why don't we consider a win-win proposal?
Now, call your boss and ask for his opinion: do you want me to make a mess of Dogtown, or should I replace him and keep things the same?

After a moment of contemplation, Aguilar finally followed Mercer's suggestion and made a call to his boss to confirm the situation.

However, before Aguilar could get a reply, Hansen walked over from behind him with a cold face.

Without wasting words, one of the hackers beside him, who appeared to be a newly recruited high-level hacker, directly sent V the quick cracking program.

"Go!" As soon as Hansen finished speaking, several hounds pulled the triggers on V without hesitation.

V's face turned cold. At this moment, he didn't care about Aguilar or Cubans. Without saying a word, he activated his armor.

[Mercer: Huh? Someone's hacking. Don't worry, leave it to me.]

V wasn't worried at all—as long as Mercer maintained her network connection, she wasn't afraid that anyone could hack her.

In an instant, three afterimages suddenly appeared in the arena.

The first one was V, who rushed out of the elevator like a hurricane. The Cubans blocking her way were knocked aside without any resistance. This was only because V deliberately held back her speed; otherwise, these few troublesome Cubans could have been smashed to pieces by her!

The second was Aguilar, who instantly vanished to the side, his brow furrowed as he hesitated, holding his pistol.

The third one is Hansen, who is holding a pistol in one hand and a short knife in the other.

"Are you going to watch me die, Aguilar!" Hansen only had time to say this before Aguilar made a decision immediately—yes, although he hadn't received a reply from his boss yet, he absolutely could not watch Hansen get into trouble.

Without hesitation, Aguilar acted and pulled the trigger.

Faced with the powerful bullets from the specially made revolver, V merely revealed a disdainful sneer beneath her helmet. Her gaze was fixed on Hansen, the murderous intent in her eyes almost overflowing from the helmet visor.

"I've been fucking annoyed with you for ages!" V roared. The narrow corridor limited her dodging, but the armor's defensive capabilities greatly enhanced her ability to charge around in this confined space.

With Sianwistan activated, Hansen fearlessly clashed hands with V twice, but bullets bounced off V and knives were knocked away with a single punch.

The smart submachine gun in her hand spewed flames, and the electromagnetic bullets landed precisely on the bewildered hound standing to the side, completely unable to participate in this battle of speedsters.

But to V's surprise, one of the hounds suddenly activated Sianweistan just before it was hit—ha, there was actually a hidden expert.
As for the other Cubans, after activating the berserk system, they also brazenly joined the battle.

These elite Cuban assassins are equipped with cybernetic bodies that are far superior to ordinary hounds; they are essentially high-priced, manufactured killing weapons.

V was instantly put in a disadvantageous situation of being outnumbered, but under her helmet, she just grinned.

After emptying a magazine, she casually hung the smart submachine gun on its holster. Amidst the hail of bullets, V dodged a few times, and two crimson mantis blades suddenly shot out from her arms, piercing directly through the ghostly hound soldier who had activated the Sianweistein.

However, to V's surprise, the moment the knife pierced the hound's chest, the hound gritted its teeth and grabbed her arms tightly.

"emp!!"

The moment he roared, the others immediately dodged to the distance like afterimages. Only V, whose arm he was holding tightly, had time to slam him against the wall.

The instant the hound was violently crushed against the wall by V, an EMP electromagnetic pulse struck V's body directly.

Just before the EMP was detonated, V's armor suddenly burst out in a cloud of white smoke.

"Pfft."

The white smoke exploded almost instantly, filling most of the corridor. Only V's figure could be vaguely seen, trembling under the attack of the EMP.

Aguilar instinctively turned on the infrared detection of his prosthetic eye, but then had to turn it off immediately because the temperature of the white smoke was much higher than that of a human body.

Although no one could be seen clearly through the smoke, everyone immediately began pulling the triggers of their weapons.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound of gunfire.

Without hesitation, Hansen's pistol bullets struck the figure's head repeatedly, causing her head to tilt to the side and her body to fall against the wall.

Aguilar took less than a fraction of a second to think before raising his gun and aiming at V's legs, firing several bullets in quick succession, causing a sharp crack in V's knees.

The other Cubans also aimed their weapons specifically at V's joints. As the smoke thickened, the blurry figure seemed to collapse to the ground, making a clattering sound as armor hit the ground.

"solved?"

Aguilar squinted, then suddenly pulled out a grenade and threw it into the white smoke.

Then, the grenade that had flown past returned from the smoke at an even faster speed.

Without hesitation, Aguilar used his companion's body to shield him from the grenade's explosion, while Hansen's rich combat experience allowed him to immediately smash open a door and crawl into a room on the side of the corridor.

The next moment, a figure suddenly shot out from the white smoke.

With a disgruntled expression, V cleaved two bullets fired by Cubans with his sword, then bent down and spun around, severing the legs of the two Cubans who were in his way. He then launched himself forward, heading straight for the room where Hansen had hidden.

Aguilar tried to stop him, but V simply raised his hand, pointed the pistol at Aguilar's head, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Aguilar instinctively dodged to the side, then raised his hand to retaliate. The two speedsters, armed with pistols, dodged and fired at each other at a distance of only four or five meters, and for a moment neither of them could hit the other.

But soon, as V's Mantis Blade suddenly shot out, Aguilar was forced to retreat several steps and then began to pant heavily—damn it, why is this woman's Sianwistan still going on?

His speed began to slow down, but V's speed seemed to increase. Aguilar fought with V with all his might for two seconds before being kicked away by V and slammed heavily against the wall. One of his arms was also cut off by the Mantis Blade.

Aguilar stared in disbelief at his flying left arm. His nerves were already at their limit, so he had to temporarily shut down Sianwistan to catch his breath. Then, he saw something even more unbelievable.

In the distance, from the white mist, a figure staggered to its feet. The cratered Falcon armored vehicle walked to V's side, and V patted its helmet without any politeness.

After that, the Falcon armor nodded in a very human-like manner, then turned and rushed into the room next door.

However, the moment it rushed into the room, Hansen detonated a smart mine.

The massive smoke and debris from the explosion made it almost impossible to see anything at the entrance, especially the high-temperature white mist that had been spewing out by the Falcon armor, which had almost obscured half of the corridor.

Hansen stood at the corner of the room, unable to hear footsteps outside—it hit!?
But only for a moment, he realized something was wrong, turned his head sharply, and saw the white armored figure bursting through the wall from the next room.

"boom!"

The wall seemed to have been blasted open by a bomb, creating a human-shaped gash, and the figure of the hawk rushed straight out of the gash at a terrifying speed.

What's going on? Didn't she somehow escape from the armor? Can this thing be put on that quickly?

But Hansen didn't have time to think about how V managed to do it, because at that moment, the Falcon armor was already in front of him.

Hansen didn't find the lone Falcon armor particularly troublesome, but the sight of V bursting in through the door brought a flicker of despair to his eyes.

Facing V, who was still at her peak, Hansen only fought her for a few seconds before his arm was smashed by a punch from the uncontrolled Spear Falcon armor behind him.

V gripped his neck tightly with one hand, then turned and pointed his body towards the door, cutting off the Cuban gun line at the door while sneering disdainfully.

"Dogtown boss? What a load of rubbish!"

Without a word, she lifted him up by the neck with one hand, and with the other, without hesitation, punched him in the chin.

Before Hansen could even utter a word, his jaw was smashed and he was knocked unconscious. Seeing that the situation was already decided, Aguilar could only wave his hand reluctantly to signal the other Cubans to stop.

V grinned, swaying the unconscious Hansen, and looked at the Cuban mockingly: "That's it? I thought you Cubans were much stronger."

Aguilar's face darkened, but since his skin was naturally dark, he could only grab his severed arm and say in a somber tone, "You're strong, but I advise you to show us some respect."

"You're asking for it. I'll say it one last time: get out of here, or die!" V glared at Aguilar with a hostile expression, while behind her, several black tanks flew in at high speed, smashed open the window of the room, and landed behind her.

This was Mercer's way of providing V with military reinforcements by immediately using AI to control the armor and utilize its flight capabilities after gaining control of the stadium equipment.

Moreover, a large number of drones are taking off in Dogtown at this moment, flying visibly like a swarm of bees over the streets and buildings.

Numerous robots, armed to the teeth, took to the streets and took over important facilities that were originally managed by the Netherhounds, while the original Netherhounds received different instructions.

Some were asked to assemble at the stadium, while others were asked to wait at Baoshiqing.

Little did they know that these two completely different meeting points represented two completely different fates.

Under Hansen's command, a large number of ghost hounds began to move. The AI-simulated Hansen created by Morning Star was so realistic that it was impossible to tell the difference from the real thing. The video call was also flawless. Hansen's die-hard fans gathered at the stadium.

Meanwhile, some wavering centrists, contract soldiers who had little loyalty to Hansen, or ghost hounds who had good relationships with Mercer and others, were assigned to the Gemstone Blue Assembly.

As for Hansen himself?

After staring coldly at Aguilar for a moment, Aguilar finally gave up his obsession with Hansen.

At this moment, after receiving Aguilar's report, the higher-ups from the Cuban crime syndicate realized that the situation in Dogtown had exceeded their expectations, and they had no choice but to negotiate with Mercer.

Aguilar looked at V with a cold expression and said, "The Boss will call your leader, but you'd better make sure you don't mess things up in Dogtown."

As soon as he finished speaking, Aguilar turned and left, not even glancing at his companion's corpse on the ground. He simply grabbed his severed arm, his face cold, and went straight back to the elevator, pressed the floor button, and was about to leave.

He's really lost face now.

Aguilar was considered the face of the Cuban bloc, a symbol of violence and death for Cubans, and his defeat was unacceptable to the Cuban people.

But since things have come to this, the Cubans can only swallow this bitter pill for now—anyway, apart from Mercer and his group, no one knows that Aguilar's protection operation has failed.

Most importantly, the Cubans must first ensure that Dogtown functions properly.

Losing Dogtown would mean losing the huge smuggling market that Night City had worked so hard to build, and that would be an unacceptable loss for Cubans.

Since Mercer kept insisting that he could guarantee the continued operation of Dogtown, the Cubans could only wait and see.

Only after Aguilar and the remaining two Cubans left did V finally breathe a sigh of relief. Looking at the unconscious Hansen in her hand, she disdainfully tossed him onto the messy floor of the room.

[V: All done, what's next?]

[Mercer: Well done. Take Hansen to the base. We'll try operating on him with Soul Killer—hopefully, everything goes smoothly, otherwise the Cubans will be here before we've even dealt with Arasaka.]

[V: I'm hurt!]

[Mercer: Really?]

[V: Damn! It's EMP again! My eyes are blurry now, I can't see anything clearly, it's so annoying! When are you going to make some EMP-resistant gear?]

[Mercer: It's all done. I'll install it for you when the time comes. Thanks for your hard work. Come to the stadium too, I'll get you a prosthetic eye and a check-up.]

V: Okay!

She then looked at the gyrfalcon, which was walking a little unsteadily, and patted it on the shoulder: "Well done."

The Falcon armor emitted a mechanical voice: "I'm glad I didn't disappoint you."

“Let’s go find Mercer.” V turned his head with great interest to look at the tank armor that Mercer had remotely controlled with AI to fly over: “This model looks similar to mine. I’ll try out what it feels like to have tank armor.”

She couldn't wait to put it on, while the Falcon stood there stunned. After a while, it sadly put the tank-type armor on V by itself.

Then, V, dressed in a mass-produced tank model, grabbed both the Falcon and Hansen, whose propulsion systems were malfunctioning, and took off directly from the window, heading straight for the stadium.

To be honest, she was a little worried after not seeing Mercer for more than ten days.

Rebecca and the others also received Mercer's message, but the message Rebecca received was to take over the Ghost Hounds who subsequently arrived at the Gemstone Blue Hotel, temporarily confiscate their weapons and equipment, and put them under guard pending further arrangements.

Jack and his companions' mission remains unchanged: until Mercer successfully takes over the Hound of the Underworld, Jack, Mann, and the others must continue to seal off Dogtown and prevent anyone from entering or leaving.

When V arrived at the stadium and passed by its training grounds, he couldn't help but gasp.

At this moment, the corpses of the ghost hounds lay scattered all over the training base, among which a blood-red path littered with pieces of flesh was the most eye-catching.

It was as if a high-speed train had crashed through the crowd; V could hardly believe it—Mercer had done it all by himself?

In her memory, when Mercer took action, he usually made people's heads burn and their bodies crackle with electricity, but such a brutal and bloody scene was rare.

V glanced around and saw that there were at least forty dead ghost hounds here. At that moment, some robots were carrying out a cleanup task. Even V couldn't help but shudder as he watched them deftly dig the flesh from the ground.

That's a bit disgusting.
When V arrived at Mercer's server room, he was startled by Mercer's current appearance.

"Holy crap! What's going on with you!?" V practically threw Hansen and Falcon aside and rushed to his side, looking him up and down, touching him as he was now covered in black armor with six octopus arms waving on his back.

Mercer exited the deep dive, opened his helmet visor, looked at her, reached out and wiped the blood that had somehow gotten stuck to her face, and smirked: "Cool, right?"

"He is handsome, quite handsome," V hesitated, then just looked at his face and said, "Why do you look thinner?"

"Sigh~ I can't eat your cooking anymore. The food at the Ghost Hound is really terrible." Mercer's octopus arms supported him on the ground and lifted him up. This somewhat strange way of getting up made V look stunned.

Then, she simply pursed her lips, suppressing the many things she wanted to say, and pointed at Hansen: "I brought him here. Will you use Soul Kill on him right here?"

"No, we'll take him back to the base later. It's safer to use our own servers."

Mercer said, glancing at Hansen, "We need all of Hansen's key memories, and even temporarily, we need him to appear as a living person to stabilize the situation and peacefully transition power."

Therefore, I need to perform a very delicate operation to restore his consciousness. Even I am not very confident. If I were, I would have done it long ago.

But things have come to this point, so we have to bite the bullet and go for it.

Mercer turned to look at her, reached out and placed his hand on her face, leaning closer to examine her closely. V subconsciously held her breath, her mind suddenly going blank. Mercer, however, only looked at her face to face for a while before nodding and withdrawing his body.

"It looks like the circuitry for the prosthetic eye was burned out by the pulse. It was probably damaged when it was hit by EMP before, and this time it's completely broken. I'll look around and see if I can install a new one for you."

After Mercer finished speaking, he saw V looking at him with a somewhat awkward expression, and then he realized that his actions just now didn't seem like he was going to examine her.

But he didn't expose it. He just pretended not to know anything, supported his body with his octopus arms, and crossed his two octopus arms once, walking a distance of four or five meters.

V pointed at Hansen: "What about him?"

“I sent a program into his brain to lock his prosthetic body. A robot will take control of him in a while. Once we’ve dealt with his loyalists and brought the situation under control, we’ll secretly transfer him to the base.”

Mercer paused for a moment, then said, "We don't have much time. The changes in the Ghost Hounds can't be kept secret for long. The people of Arasaka will soon realize that we have taken control of Dogtown, and who knows what will happen after that."

So, come with me to meet those stubborn members of the Ghost Hounds and show them who's in charge in Dogtown now.

V gave an "oh," rubbed his damaged prosthetic eye, and followed, while the Falcon stayed behind to watch over Hansen.

Back at the training base, Mercer and V sat on the edge of the second-floor platform, waiting for the arrival of the other hounds.

Dogtown wasn't big, and the fastest of them all, the Ghost Hound, arrived at the scene in just a few minutes, responding to 'Hansen's' call in his armored vehicle.

The sight of corpses scattered on the ground, the somewhat frightening-looking Mercer, and V, now dressed in tank armor and sitting next to Mercer, immediately put the hounds on alert.

A squad leader cautiously raised his gun and asked, "Director Mercer! Colonel Hansen ordered us to assemble here. What happened?"

Mercer simply said, "Line up and wait for everyone else to arrive before we speak together."

The hound swallowed hard and immediately sent a message to its superior, but the reply it received was still "follow Colonel Hansen's orders." So, it could only stand in line in the open space, trembling with fear, and wait.

As one Ghost Hound squad after another arrived, a highly elite team of over eighty people quickly gathered at the training base.

These are all teams assembled by Hansen's core members, or some people who don't get along with Mercer, or simply a group of good-for-nothings who, in Mercer's eyes, are traitors who only think about reaping benefits all day long.

Mercer gathered this group together, not to persuade them with kind words or patient persuasion.

Therefore, once everyone was gathered, Mercer spoke without hesitation.

"Colonel Hansen has been attacked and is currently receiving emergency treatment. According to Colonel Hansen's orders, I am now the sole leader of Dogtown. All Ghost Hounds, disarm immediately, follow orders, and await further deployment."

These words immediately caused an uproar in the room.

One of the hounds, without a word, raised its weapon, its expression ferocious: "What a joke! How could the colonel possibly let you be the leader? Tell me! Where is Colonel Hansen?"

Mercer didn't speak, but just looked at him with a deep gaze.

The next moment, sparks flew from the man's head, and under the gasp of the others, he groaned and collapsed to the ground.

"Repeat, Colonel Hansen was attacked. Based on the orders he gave before he fell unconscious, I have taken over the entire Ghosthound."

Mercer simply sat high on the edge of the second-floor platform of the training base, staring expressionlessly at the pack of ghost hounds.

This time, the training base fell into a deathly silence.

You can hear a pin drop.

(End of this chapter)