Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 57 Cybernetic Body Upgrade (1.66 Million Views, Seeking Monthly Tickets)
"Physical potential 20?"

"Reaction potential 20?!"

"Calm 16"

Intelligence: 6.

After Old V finished speaking, V was taken aback at first, then looked at Mercer and asked, "How are these numbers calculated? What level is 21?"

"This means you do have the potential to rival, or even surpass, Adam's Hammer."

Victor was amazed and for a moment didn't know what to say.

Mercer slowly said, "6."

"What?" V was stunned for a moment, then realized what she meant, her pretty face turning bright red.

Mercer was wearing a mask, so V couldn't see his expression, but he could tell from his trembling body that he was about to burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Intelligence 6, hahaha!"

Mercer finally burst into laughter, while V clenched his fists in frustration: "No! No, no, no! Something must be wrong with the machine! 20 points, I've heard people say that, isn't it full?"
"The machine is definitely not measuring accurately, Dr. Victor. Test him again!"

Victor was both amused and exasperated; it was the first time someone had ever doubted that his machine was malfunctioning.

“There won’t be any problems, V.” Victor said gently, “Your physical attributes are excellent, and your intelligence attributes don’t fully represent you. I mean, they don’t completely represent your IQ.”

This attribute refers more to the computing power your brain can provide for a program, which is more important for hackers. For ordinary people, an IQ score of 3 is normal.

"What about him? What did he get?" V asked, clearly unconvinced.

"Oh dear, it's better if you don't know the specific numbers, I'm afraid you'll feel inferior." After Mercer finished speaking, V turned his head away angrily and stopped talking.

Qiwei, puzzled, asked, "Isn't this value of 20 points a bit too high?"

“It is indeed very high.” Victor sighed. “This is the first time I’ve measured this value. Judging from the data, it’s almost reached the maximum value of my machine, just like Mercer.”

Mercer, the reason her data is slightly worse than yours is because my machine actually uses 21 to represent exceeding the limit, while V is only slightly higher than yours, not reaching that limit value yet.

Strictly speaking, 20 points is the upper limit that my machine can measure, and it's also what people generally consider the human limit.

He glanced at Qi Wei, then said in a deep voice, "Let's put it this way, if I hadn't already removed the company's backdoor from my machine, the company would be calling right now."

Qiwei fell silent, glancing at Mercer and V in silence.

Upon hearing this, V became excited again: "So, you really are a genius, sis?"

"Yes, you are indeed a genius."

Victor spoke frankly: "Before the prosthetic body was installed, you might have only felt that you were a little stronger and had a little faster reflexes."
But once you get a prosthetic body that allows you to unleash your physical potential, you'll soon discover just how big the gap is between you and other people.

Let me put it this way: if you put a guy with a physical potential of 10 into the same S&M system as someone else, he'd probably only last three or four seconds once or twice before his nose started bleeding, his body went limp, and he'd get dizzy.

You, on the other hand, can probably easily hold out for seven or eight seconds, then stop, catch your breath, and continue driving. After doing this four or five times, you'll just be exhausted.

Moreover, prosthetics like S. A. ...

An average person might only be able to run twenty meters in the one second that is slowed down, but you could run at a speed of nearly thirty or forty meters per second under stimulation.

Or you could say it's like having a gorilla's arm. Even if an ordinary person modifies their entire arm, they can only weigh a maximum of three or four hundred kilograms per arm, but you can achieve an astonishing seven or eight hundred kilograms with the support of your own physical abilities.

And this is far from the limit of your physical strength.

At this point, Old V shook his head with a sigh, but then looked at V with a serious expression and said, "But I absolutely do not recommend that you transform yourself into someone like Adam Hammer, who is all machine."

He turned to look at Mercer, his words also addressed to him: "Even a gorilla arm is essentially just strengthening your own muscles with more muscle-enhancing components, but if you replace your entire body with machinery like Adam's Hammer..."
This means that your physical potential is meaningless, and your physical strength is only related to the power of the machines in your body.

Mercer, it's alright for a hacker like you, your brain is the most important thing. But for a genius like V with unlimited physical potential, it's best to make the most of his original physical qualities and modify him in that direction.

I'd rather have my whole body reinforced with muscle than casually replace all my flesh with artificial parts, and I'd rather have ordinary gorilla arms replace her arms.

That could very likely cause permanent damage to the physical potential of her arm.

Mercer nodded, indicating his understanding: "I know, it's best to use only various enhancement components, rather than replacing the entire mechanical parts."

“However, if there are some really strong components, they should be replaced.” Victor changed the subject, saying, “Humans are still too fragile in some areas, such as joint cartilage and Achilles tendons.”

"Given her physical potential, if she doesn't have a matching artificial prosthetic body after the muscle enhancement is installed, her original parts will soon be worn out, leading to sports injuries such as Achilles tendon tears and cruciate ligament tears."

This is one of the troubles of geniuses.

Victor looked at Mercer and smiled helplessly: "Just like you, if you don't have a way to cool yourself down, the better you unleash your brain's potential, the easier it is for you to burn out your own body."

V's breathing became heavy as she listened—was this girl really a super genius?
She subconsciously looked at Mercer. Before today, even she herself didn't know that her potential was so exaggerated, but Mercer...
How should I put it? It's as if he knew my potential the moment he saw me.

According to this logic, are people like Qiwei, and even that little girl Rebecca, also geniuses among ordinary people?

His eye for talent is amazing! How did he do that?
“Alright, V, if you don’t have any questions, let’s prepare for the surgery.” Victor turned his head, picked up the tablet on the table, and began to discuss business with Mercer.

Friends are friends, but business still needs to be conducted properly.

"First of all, her prosthetic eye is terrible. I suspect that with her reaction speed, she would see afterimages when looking at certain things, like there are missing frames."

After Mercer finished speaking, V looked surprised: "How did you know? Uh, I do sometimes feel like there's afterimage when I see things that are moving very fast."

“Because I’m smart.” Mercer’s words left V speechless. She turned away in annoyance, feeling a sense that Mercer would probably keep nagging her about her IQ of 6 for the rest of her life.

"Hehe, how about this one from the Crossroads Division?" Victor knew that Mercer understood prosthetics, so he discussed it with him first.

V trusted Mercer, but she couldn't help but sit up and watch with him, mainly because she was excited and didn't know what good things Mercer would arrange for her.

"It's a bit too ordinary. Aren't there any special models like the 'Oracle'?"

Mercer glanced at the list that Old Vie had given him.

"No, those high-end items are usually too expensive for most people to handle. I would need a special refrigerated box to store them after I buy them. But I can order now, and given their efficiency, they can deliver them to my door within half an hour."

As Victor spoke, he opened another page of the list, which contained purchase orders from suppliers for doctors like him.

Mercer looked at it for a while and finally made a decision: "Let's equip her with this Crossroads Petrified Chicken Snake. Its built-in intelligent analysis and scanning can help her see the enemy's weaknesses more accurately."

Moreover, the 10x zoom and ultra-high frame rate also allow her to react faster.

Although its ability to scan electronic devices is a bit lacking, she doesn't need it. This prosthetic eye is probably top-of-the-line for close-combat applications, right?

"It's a bit expensive, though. The standard version costs 70,000 euros. I heard they'll be releasing a high-end custom version of the 'Petrified Chicken Snake' later. Why don't you wait a bit?"

Victor couldn't help but shake his head at Mercer's extravagant spending: "My suggestion is to just get a regular high-end prosthetic eye, like this ordinary optical prosthetic eye. With two plugs, it's no worse than the petrified chicken snake."

Not many people are using the petrified chicken snake now; I think its technology needs another one or two more versions to become stable.

"Then let's use the 'Thousand-Mile Eye' from the Crossroads Division, and add a tactical scanning plugin. This will allow V to quickly highlight targets in the chaos of battle, scan for danger, and help her make judgments."

After Mercer finished speaking, Old Wei nodded: "This is good. It only costs 50,000 euros in total, and I also have a lot of supporting mini-programs, such as the same one as the one you saw that interferes with cameras."

"Hmm, once I've got the NCPD's library sorted out, I can also install a scanning program similar to the NCPD's. Old Wei, how about I sell you the program cheap then?"

After Mercer finished speaking, Victor chuckled twice: "Okay, if you can really get your hands on the scanning program for NCPD data, those street thugs will love you to death."

They're afraid of getting into an argument on the street and not knowing who they've offended.

"Okay, V, what do you think?"

Mercer turned to look at V.

V looked bewildered: "Qianlimu looks quite expensive, but is it necessary? I think the basic model, the one that costs a little over 20,000, is about right."

"First, the zoom speed is much faster than the ordinary one. Second, the scanning speed is about 1.4 times faster than the ordinary one, and it also has a portrait highlighting function."

Most importantly, although it is primarily designed for remote observation, when you activate Sinweistein, there will be no frame drops. Its ultra-high refresh rate and resolution perfectly match your accelerated body.

"With a regular prosthetic eye, I'm worried that if you accelerate too quickly using the Sianwistan, your vision might blur, which would be disastrous."

After Mercer finished speaking, Old Vie nodded, acknowledging his statement: "That's right, your speed is probably much faster than the average person."

V said no more, only clicking his tongue in amazement.

How much money will I owe Mercer now?
“Brain-computer interfaces aren’t expensive; I can just get the same one as mine. But Lao Wei, I’d like to add an extra storage slot for her. I need to add one too; two slots aren’t enough.”

From now on, my men will be equipped with three slots as standard.

Mercer and Old Vie continued their discussion.

"Yes, that's fine, it's not difficult." Old Wei nodded.

“Subcutaneous armor. Old Vince, do you have any suggestions?” Mercer asked.

Old Wei thought for a moment and said, "I don't recommend installing heavy subcutaneous armor. Biotechnology-based nano armor would be better."

This subcutaneous nanoarmor uses nanoinjection technology to form a nano-protective layer under the skin by injecting nanorobots.

Its bulletproof capability may be slightly inferior to heavy subcutaneous armor, but it is very tough, providing excellent cushioning against impacts, and it also has a certain degree of self-repair capability.

Most importantly, it is flexible enough and does not require major surgery to dissect the skin; it only requires injecting nanorobots into the skin.

For current street fighting, defense against conventional firepower is sufficient; she has Sianwistan, and there's no need to directly confront heavy firepower.

In fact, when facing heavy firepower, even heavy subcutaneous armor has limited effectiveness. Against such powerful weapons, it's more useful to wear thick body armor than to have a thick layer of subcutaneous armor.

Mercer nodded, somewhat tempted: "Get me one too."

"Let's talk about it after you've installed the hacker prosthetic," Old Wei shook his head.

“This is so expensive! The basic model costs 70,000 euros,” V couldn’t help but say. “Regular heavy-duty subcutaneous armor only costs 50,000 euros.”

"Is life more important than money?" Mercer retorted, and V fell silent.

"And Krenzikov, we need to settle him too, right?"
It can effectively help her control the acceleration of Sianwistan, and can also maximize her reaction speed and physical strength when Sianwistan is not activated.

Combined, her combat strength during the time-slow period should reach the highest level.

After Mercer finished speaking, Old Vie sighed, "How about we take it slow? At least let's not go up against Krenzikov with Sianwistan. Let her get used to it first, Mercer."

"Alright, Vee, I'll listen to you. Let's not install the Krenzikov for now, but just add a hand-supporting cushioning accessory, along with matching artificial joints and tendon reinforcements, and replace the S.A.S.A.S. with it."

After Mercer finished speaking, Old V turned to look at V: "Are you sure you want to listen to him?"

Although I think your physical condition should be able to handle it, the 'cell adaptation' injection itself is quite a burden, and the addition of joint and tendon modifications could easily trigger inflammation and rejection reactions.

In addition, with a prosthetic like the S.A.S ...

You might have a headache for several days, and the inflammation will make you feel terrible.

“Come on.” V gritted his teeth and agreed.

She felt that Mercer wouldn't harm her.

When the moment came, Mercer suddenly hesitated: "How about we pretend to be Sianwistan first and get used to it for a while? I'm not really sure about your tolerance."

Seeing his hesitation, V relaxed and laughed: "It's okay, just come on, at worst you'll be gone for a few days. I still have the pain editor, if it doesn't work, I'll just increase the values ​​in the pain editor."

"No, this definitely needs to be lowered. It's best to just uninstall that thing. While numbness to pain can improve your performance in actual combat, it can also make you easily ignore your physical discomfort."

By the time the problem is realized, it's often too late.

Mercer shook his head decisively and said seriously, "Listen to me, V, how about we just download the Pain Editor directly?"

"Fine, it's just junk anyway, so I won't install it."

V behaved unexpectedly well.

Victor glanced at Mercer and smiled: "She trusts you a lot."

“Absolutely, my charm is undeniable.” Mercer laughed heartily, then said, “That’s all for now. We’ll talk about the ICE for the cortex in a week. I won’t overcharge you.”

Victor complained, "If you're any harsher, I still won't agree to the girl. If he's in a lot of pain, just yell at him—do you really think everyone is as thick-skinned as him?"

"Haha, it's okay, Lao Wei, I can handle hardship." V said, affectionately calling Lao Wei.

Victor shook his head and began contacting suppliers to deliver goods to him.

Mercer reminded him, "Old Vince, do you have a new network access bay? Don't forget I have a girl here."

"Yes, I have all the good stuff, except for the new MK3 from Arasaka which hasn't been released yet. Other good stuff like Zeta and Internet Security products are all here."

Old Wei nodded and glanced at Qi Wei: "Why don't we do it for her first? It's just replacing the brain-computer interface and network access chamber, it won't take much time."

“Okay.” V got up from the operating chair.

"I," Qiwei looked somewhat troubled, "it must cost a lot of money, Mercer, and my things are still usable."

"I know it can be used, but that's a different concept from being easy to use. Okay, I'm not giving it to you for free. What I'm giving you is a loan, which you also have to pay back."

"Don't blame me for insisting you spend money to upgrade your cybernetic bodies."

Mercer said.

Qiwei shook her head: "How could I blame you? I just... never mind, thank you, A, I will pay you back as soon as possible."

Mercer counted his wallet. He was grateful that he had made a profit from the old captain, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to upgrade the two of them's cybernetic bodies today.

Fortunately, the entire setup cost nothing for V. Even so, the prosthetic eye, subcutaneous armor, joints, tendons, and brain-computer interface would still cost around 150,000 to 160,000.

A network access warehouse costs forty to fifty thousand yuan.

Sigh, I'm so poor, so incredibly poor.

V scratched his head and remained silent—mainly because he didn't know what to say.

The money spent on this prosthetic body modification is enough to buy her.

"Alright, Qiwei, go get a checkup."

Mercer had Qiwei lie down as well and did a check-up first.

Old Wei scanned for a while and came to a conclusion.

"Intelligence 14, reaction 12, composure 13, physical potential 9. Finally, I've met an ordinary genius."

Old Wei breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Am I considered a genius?" Qi Wei was a little confused.

"Yeah, don't compare yourself to Mercer and V; their stats are not relevant."

Victor said casually, "I'll just say this: for most ordinary people, their stats will not exceed 8 points."

A score of 6-8 is considered acceptable.

A score of 8-10 is already considered excellent among ordinary people.

10-12 basically represents the stats of some of the best mercenaries and street fighters you'll encounter.

He smiled at Qiwei and said, "If you plan to become a mercenary in the future, with your intelligence, as long as you focus on mastering the skills, you can keep up with the equipment."

Then you could definitely become a very good hacker in Night City.

In many large companies, network technicians are typically assessed based on their attributes, and those with scores of 12 or 13 are considered to have potential. Higher scores, such as 14 or 15, can directly enter the company's talent database.

"If you don't believe me, go ask Mercer; he knows more about these things."

Mercer nodded and said, "Pretty much. In Arasaka, as long as you are under ten years old and your attribute is found to be greater than 10 points, you will be sent to receive training."

Those who graduate between 12:00 and 14:00 can generally be hired as full-time employees directly.

Those who are at a higher level are generally sent to participate in special projects or receive special training, which can be quite complicated, but they can usually get direct entry into specialized departments like counterintelligence after graduation.

Mercer believes that the average skill level of the hackers participating in Project Star is probably in the range of 14-16. Any lower and their technical skills are not enough to mess around with the old network, while those with higher scores would be too wasteful to use as mining cards.

In other words, Qiwei is indeed a genius among ordinary people.

"Hmm, your health isn't very good. Although your potential stats aren't bad, you look very unhealthy."

Old Wei gave Qiwei his evaluation.

Qiwei nodded silently, without explaining why.

Mercer simply said, "She had a tough time in the past."

"It's obvious that you've had a lot of unnecessary treatments and injuries from seeing prosthetic doctors. But thankfully, you haven't had any weird prosthetics installed. You've had part of your skin replaced."

Some of the bones were also replaced.

"I'm saying this."

Qi Wei lowered her head calmly and said softly, "For some injuries, we don't have the money to treat them, so we can only use some cheap medicine."

During their time as sex dolls, the shop's employees would force some of the dolls who did not meet the appearance requirements to undergo surgery. These dolls would be forced to have plastic surgery, adjust their body shape, and even be injected with certain drugs.

Qiwei escaped death because of her natural beauty, but she also suffered more because of it. If a prosthetic body breaks, it can be replaced, but what about her?
The only solution is to replace a portion of the bone if the bone is broken, and replace a portion of the skin if the skin is torn.

“Hmm,” Victor was experienced and could tell what had happened to her just from some physical data.

He didn't have the habit of poking at people's sore spots, he just said, "I need to replace and repair all the damaged parts for you, and I'll also replace those artificial skins with better ones, so you'll feel like you've never been injured."

As for the rest, just take some rest and you should recover. Most hackers aren't exactly in good health anyway.

Qiwei didn't speak. She hated surgery—she had seen some of her sisters go to the operating table and go insane shortly afterward.

Some women, because they had cheap prosthetic bodies installed, are always very uncomfortable, vomiting blood, and even experiencing ulceration at the surgical site, making it impossible for them to open their eyes or mouths.
She has seen a lot, a lot.

Broken sex dolls usually don't last more than a month before being disposed of as garbage or repaired until they break down completely.

But Qiwei glanced at Moser beside her and found herself unexpectedly calm, so she said softly, "Okay, I'll listen to you, Doctor."

“I’m right here, don’t worry,” Mercer reassured her.

Qiwei smiled and then relaxed and lay back in the chair.

What do you plan to replace the network access bay with?

Victor began preparing for the surgery.

"As long as it keeps up with the version, that's fine. Is this from the internet monitoring department? What model do you have here?"

Mercer asked curiously.

Victor said, "The commercially available models of cyber surveillance are generally much worse than their agents. The Ripple 3 with four-phase power transmission, the Raven Microcontroller 2, and the 'Parallel Lines' 3 with military technology are all quite good."

They won't update the version for another year or two.

But if you ask me, you can just pick any one. The network access warehouse updates its version quickly, so no matter which one you choose, there will be new stock every few years.

The Arasaka Mk2 you're using is pretty good. Once the Mk3 comes out, you can upgrade to the MK3. It should last two or three years without any problems. Now that the new version is coming out, the older versions are being cleared out, and the prices are cheap.

"How much does the MK2 cost?" Qiwei suddenly asked.

“I’ll offer you an internal clearance price, only 27,000.” After Victor finished speaking, Qiwei nodded and looked at Mercer.

Mercer thought for a moment and said, "What about the Parallel Line Type 3 from the Military Science Institute?"

"That one is a bit more expensive, at 36,000. It's mainly because it's only been out for a short time, and its performance is similar to the upcoming Arasaka Mk3."

After Old Wei finished speaking, Mercer said, "Then let's use Parallel Line 3. There's no need to save money on a difference of ten thousand dollars."

"Replacing her prosthetic eye with the 'Oracle' from the Crossroads Division won't require any additional plugins; the built-in electronic scanner is sufficient."

Qiwei could only nod, but thinking that Moser himself was still using the MK2, she didn't know what to say.

"That's settled then, relax, girl. You'll need to take a nap for the brain-computer interface surgery. It'll be over in a bit." Old Wei understood Mercer's meaning and felt a little sentimental.

Mercer is really good to his own people.

He had met all sorts of people, including so-called "big brothers" from certain gangs who brought their underlings. They would talk a good game and promise to bring good stuff, but when the prices were actually revealed, many people's faces would change.

People are starting to prioritize cost-effectiveness.

In all his years of medical practice, Lao Wei has only ever seen one or two people like Mercer, who are willing to lend money to their subordinates and even proactively request to supply them with high-quality goods.

Qiwei hummed in agreement and took one last look at Moser before being injected with the anesthetic.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

Mercer saw through her thoughts, while Qiwei closed her eyes a little shyly, softly agreed, and waited for the anesthetic injection.

After the anesthesia was administered, Qiwei quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Victor took out the injection medication and inserted a stabilizer into his arm:

"Why don't you and V go watch some TV? There's some ice-cold beer in the fridge. Just don't get drunk."

After Victor finished speaking, Mercer nodded, but then suddenly said, "Old Victor, can I use your machine? Let me think about my old network access module."

“Sure,” Victor said nonchalantly.

Most people would find it annoying to even touch his machine, let alone use it, but he showed an unexpected tolerance for Mercer.

Well, although Victor said he considered him a friend, in his heart he really saw him as a child who was a little pitiful.

Mercer told V to sit on the sofa and wait, and V obediently took a beer and went to watch the boxing match, while Mercer picked up the equipment and found the 'Soul Killer Protocol' network access container that Old V had stored in the refrigerator.

Not daring to connect his own line directly, Mercer disconnected the network using Old Wei's machine, then plugged it into the network access bay, which was also disconnected, and began studying the programs inside through the screen.

His fingers flew across the keyboard. Even though he couldn't directly control the data with his brainwaves, his current skill level allowed him to use the computer with ease to complete programming tasks.

The more Mercer studied, the more serious his expression became.

Just as he suspected, what was stored inside was indeed the Soul Killer program.

Moreover, it's a pre-programmed killer program.

He delved into the research and carefully studied the code structure, only to discover that the program contained a nested structure.

After Mercer carefully studied the meaning of the program's code, he frowned and thought to himself: That old woman really did try to trick me!

The program inside the Soul Killer is very simple: the moment the human consciousness is connected to this network access pod, the Soul Killer program will automatically start.

The Soul Killer program will immediately upload the soul and consciousness of the person wearing this access device directly to the storage space.

Mercer guessed that the other party would immediately back up his consciousness data locally and upload it to the Divine Carriage, and then his consciousness...
Will it be modified and re-released? Is that something Arasaka can do right now?
Mercer thought about it carefully and it didn't seem impossible. Just like when Otcanian was still a human, she was first uploaded to the Divine Carriage by the Soul Killer, but she was able to kill her way back.

As long as you don't disconnect the wires, you can completely sever the connection between your consciousness and your body.

Or perhaps the other party didn't actually know if he could come back; their primary goal was simply to have the Soul Killer upload his consciousness into the storage device.
And then what? What that old woman really wanted to do was to test whether this network access pod could achieve local upload, then modify it, and then stuff the modified consciousness back into Mercer's body?

Does she actually have any successful cases?
Mercer continued his research for a while, and finally tried operating offline, deleting the code that started automatically.

Then he discovered—damn it, this lousy access module really does have a built-in mini AI!

Mercer, quick as a flash, immediately unplugged the cable, then, with a sour face, hurriedly saved Old Wei's computer.

Great, it's not going to happen for now.

Even if Mercer could directly fight against a small AI without server computing power support on his own, he would still need to connect first and program it using his brainwaves.

Once connected, the built-in AI will immediately activate Soul Killer to attack Mercer.

Can Mercer withstand the soul-killing program driven by AI?

Well, he thought he'd better forget about it.

He's a bit crazy, but not crazy enough to insist on taking on Soul Killer one-on-one.

If you really want to die, why not try playing with the Black Wall? Learn from that "Nightingale" from New America and kill people directly with the Black Wall. Isn't that much better than playing Soul Killer?

The greatest significance of the Soul Killer program is to achieve the complete digitization of human consciousness and realize cyber immortality. But Mercer is not afraid of death now. If he really wants cyber immortality, he can just go find Ultraman.

Mercer put down the network access bay, repaired Old Wei's computer first, and then fell into deep thought.

Why don't we just delete this damn Soul Killer program?
Just take this thing apart, find the storage hard drive, and force format it. No matter how powerful your AI is, it won't help.

Once I've mastered the Soul Killer program, I'll either write it myself or make a copy, and then replace the AI ​​with my own Morning Star.
Or you could just set up your own server and create a Soul Killer program, then you could have your own 'mini-shrine'.

The AI ​​that can control Soul Killer is far inferior to the AI ​​that can control the Black Wall in the Type 6 military science project. Mercer doesn't really need one or two more wandering AIs.
Assuming the AI ​​he raised wasn't strong enough, it shouldn't be too difficult to ask Ultraman and the others for help in capturing a stray AI, right? The more Mercer thought about it, the more convinced he was that his judgment was correct. At least as long as the AI ​​was eliminated, the network access pod could be used right now!

The hardware of this network access module is comparable to the Type 6 military-grade system, featuring a massive 11 standard memory units, ultra-fast network transmission, and top-of-the-line CPU and GPU.
What kind of bike do you want?

“Old Wei, what do you think about just formatting the programs inside?” Mercer said.

Victor gave a soft "hmm": "Sure, but if you do that, your network receiver will only have hardware left. You'll have to figure out the software yourself, and you'll have to redo the basic operating procedures."

However, I think this is actually better. As for the program here, to be honest, I didn't understand it after looking at it myself.

Arasaka's software is a bit of a pain, but the hardware is really top-notch; it's arguably the best network access module I've ever seen.

You can simply port your MK2's operating system and programs over, optimize them, and it should be compatible.

Mercer was a man of action, saying directly and decisively, "Then I'll format it myself and install it today."

"Today? Mercer, your previous surgery hasn't fully healed yet, has it?" Victor said disapprovingly.

Mercer, however, was determined: "I feel great. You can see that I don't feel uncomfortable at all. You could say that the extra parts I had installed were just like replacing a part. They were no burden at all."

"You're really crazy."

Victor stopped what he was doing because the people from the Crossroads Division had delivered the goods to his door.

He said to Mercer, "Go and get it. The prosthetic eye I ordered has arrived. I'll have them leave it at the door and leave. The thing is right outside the door."

Mercer got up and helped him retrieve the items. The delivery speed of the Qilu Division was truly impressive; in just over twenty minutes, the items had been delivered directly to this secluded alley.

V offered to help, and while they were moving the refrigerated box containing the prosthetic body, she whispered to him, "Just listen to the doctor, is it really that urgent to change equipment?"

"Firstly, because I feel I don't have much of a burden. Secondly, we're going to do that biotechnology business, so I need to make sure I'm in top condition."

After Mercer finished speaking, V fell silent, only glancing at him a few times. He then carefully put his things away, looking somewhat preoccupied, and returned to sit on the sofa.

Mercer hardened his heart and formatted all the programs in the 'Soul Killer Protocol' network access module.

He borrowed Old Wei's spare nanomechanical gloves, put them on his arms, and also gave himself a dose of stabilizer.

Victor was a little worried that his skill level wasn't high enough, but seeing Mercer's skillful movements, he was also somewhat surprised: "Have you used something similar before?"

"In Arasaka's prosthetic courses, they also teach you how to perform surgery. They use the Mewtwo headband to perform hands-on practice. I've done similar procedures during my learning process."

Old Wei, I'm a graduate of the intermediate course, and I've even completed half of the advanced course. It's a pity I didn't have enough time to finish it.

However, in Arasaka's naming convention, your approach is called an 'emergency measure.' They don't use these external robotic arms anymore; they've simply modified their own arms for greater efficiency."

“I’m not like you. I’m not interested in modification. But you’re really amazing. It’s not easy to graduate from Arasaka’s intermediate course.”

Seeing that he was skilled at the work, Victor stopped worrying and focused on replacing Qiwei's prosthetic eye while she was sleeping.

I don't know how long I've been busy.

Old Wei announced, "Qiwei's surgery is over."

"Qiwei, you should rest for a while." Mercer said without looking up.

He has now disconnected the network access module from the power supply and removed the program chip and storage chip separately, intending to format them one by one.

This chip is extremely delicate, and Mercer had to be extra careful to avoid any misprogramming that might cause the AI ​​inside to engage in a fierce electronic battle during formatting, ultimately burning out the chip.
The simplest and most direct method is to first disassemble the chip to ensure that it cannot access the CPU and GPU in the access module, and then limit the power supply voltage to ensure that the chip cannot be overclocked.

Finally, try to see if there's a way to format it. If not, then you'll have to delete and rewrite the chip program altogether.

Qiwei hummed softly, rubbed her head, and was helped by V to the sofa to rest, while V immediately lay down.

Old Wei gave himself another injection—V, seeing this, asked curiously, "I see that many doctors change their hands, Old Wei, why don't you try it? Getting injections all the time must be quite uncomfortable, right?"

"It's alright. Actually, I have plenty of strength in my arms. It's just that the surgery requires a high degree of precision, so I'm just in case, especially since I'm getting old."

Old Vil smiled gently: "Don't be nervous."

V shook his head, glanced at Mercer, and whispered, "How much is he going to pay me for Ansean Wiestan?"

Victor smiled and said, "It's hard to say. If it were a company-sold item, it would probably cost several hundred thousand, but this one is second-hand and has been repaired, so the price isn't too expensive."

"That would cost at least two or three hundred thousand," V said somewhat anxiously.

"Yes, a typical secondhand item might cost tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, but this is indeed a bit more expensive."

After Old V finished speaking, V couldn't help but glance at Mercer again: "Has he always been this nice?"

"I thought you knew him better than I did."

Victor picked up the tablet and began setting up the program: "Okay, I need to take your pain editor out first, then replace the brain-computer interface and the prosthetic eye, and finally the Ans-Anwistan, inject the cell adapter. The surgery will take an afternoon."

"understood."

V was a little nervous, not because she was worried about the surgery, but because the thought of becoming a street tough girl who could drive a S&M made her a little impatient.

However, before the surgery, Old V suddenly said to V in a somewhat joking tone: "Seanwistan is fine, just a back will do, but cell adaptation will require taking off all your clothes and injecting the whole body."
How about we have Mercer do it? This is one of the simplest surgeries; I'm sure he learned it in Arasaka. I'll go visit Misty later.

Mercer looked up blankly, his mind racing before he realized what Old Wei meant. He scratched his mask awkwardly, and for reasons unknown, nodded: "I'm fine with it. I'll just treat it as practice."

V suddenly blushed bright red: "Old V! No, we're not like that, Mercer!"

"Then you choose yourself, who will perform your full-body surgery?" Mercer said matter-of-factly, handing her the choice.

Old Wei found it amusing, watching the two young people acting so awkwardly.
He was just joking, but he didn't expect V to blush, and Mercer actually had some feelings for him.

Now it seems he really has to give up the operating table.

V was speechless for a moment, her face turning red. She really didn't have those feelings for Mercer.
It's not that she felt absolutely no affection for him; she just thought Mercer was quite nice, but at most she had a little bit of goodwill towards him.

Who would like a short guy wearing a mask?
V, anyway, felt certain that she wouldn't.

What a joke! The kind of guy she likes has to be muscular, handsome, and reliable, unlike Moser, who's a lecherous old man who likes to "save" pretty girls.
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
But, well, V glanced at Old V, then at Mercer.

It's just surgery anyway. Instead of having this old man do it, we might as well let Mercer do it.

While one shouldn't worry about the doctor when having surgery, if given a choice, it would be better to choose Mercer.

"Are you sure you can do it? Don't let my surgery fail and I end up on the operating table, or I'll really become a laughing stock."

V muttered to himself.

Mercer, however, said with a serious expression: "The surgery for subcutaneous nano-armor is not difficult at all. As long as the nanorobots can be precisely injected into your subcutaneous area, it will be done with seven or eight needles all over your body."

All that's left is to check the machine, make sure the robot is spread out evenly, and guide it with surgical equipment if necessary.

Don't worry, this kind of surgery is at the beginner level in my course.

Mercer had to admit that, upon reflection, he didn't really like V being seen by others, even if the other person was a doctor.
Well, an anime waifu is still a waifu, right? He has to admit that he has a slight crush on V, whether in the game or in real life. This carefree and beautiful girl is indeed likable.

If he had no other choice, that would be one thing, but he just happens to be a skilled surgeon.
Then why don't you do it yourself?

By gaining experience, he can perform surgery on Lucy himself in the future.

Qiwei, standing to the side, wore a complicated expression. She was now somewhat convinced by V's nonsense—was this guy really not just being nice to them because they were pretty?
"Well, I really just wanted to practice." Mercer's self-deceptive statement made Old Wei and Qiwei burst out laughing.

V turned his face away, his eyes darting around: "Then you can do it. But you'd better have some medical ethics and not touch me inappropriately."
My friend is just trying to help you gain experience.
But if I wake up and feel something's wrong, I'll turn on you. Heywood's women are not to be trifled with.

Mercer turned and met Qiwei's gaze. Qiwei's complicated look made him a little embarrassed, but then he thought for a moment and said confidently:

"What do you take me for? I'm mainly here to gain experience so that when we have the resources, we can perform surgeries on our own people."

V, I'm a good man with principles!

"The main thing is to accumulate experience in performing surgery on girls, right? If it were Pira, you'd probably be too embarrassed to even touch him," Qiwei said meaningfully.

"Don't be so dirty about doctors performing surgery!" Mercer said righteously.

Victor said in a teasing tone, "Really? Then I'd better be careful."

"Hey, Old Wei, why did you come along too? Good deeds never get rewarded," Mercer muttered.

V rolled her eyes, made up her mind, and decided to let Mercer do the injection: "Should I change into a surgical gown?"

"Go ahead and change. There's a bathroom in the room. You can just change your clothes there and come over."

V got up, grabbed his surgical gown, and went to change. When he returned, he saw Mercer engrossed in tinkering with the network access pod again.

Her mind was a bit of a mess, and she didn't understand. It was just a surgery, and she hadn't thought much about it. But after what Old Wei said, she kept thinking that Mercer was going to see her naked.

This is surgery! What am I thinking?

Lost in thought, V sat down in a chair and, adopting an ostrich-like mentality, said, "Old V, hurry up and anesthetize me, I can't wait."

Victor suppressed a laugh, said nothing, picked up the anesthetic and injected her with it, knocking her unconscious.

Mercer, after a brief moment of awkwardness, focused intently on his work.

He worked swiftly, performing a simple format. Without any AI interference, he completely restored the network access bay to factory settings within an hour, turning it into a blank slate.

After reassembling and running it several times on the test machine to confirm that there was no data residue left in the network access chamber, Mercer finally dared to plug in the data cable and start programming with his brainwaves.

This made things much faster. Mercer first studied the original software program, then compared it with his MK2 system software, and finally did not choose the simpler porting program.

Instead, they borrowed the original program architecture and wrote a new operating system, while retaining the original program architecture that could support AI.

Instead of simply stuffing the Morning Star into his network access module, Arasaka wrote a special program and paired it with hardware specifically for AI on this special model, allowing AI to more effectively access the data in the network access module.

After fiddling with it for another half hour, Mercer finally got the thing working properly and named the operating system inside 'Morning Star V1.0'.

Afterwards, he disinfected the inlet again, put it back in the refrigerator, and waited for Victor to finish his work.

Victor quickly got the brain-computer interface and prosthetic eye working, and also took out the junk pain editor that V originally had installed.

He probably thought Mercer was really interested in V—otherwise he wouldn't have spent so much money on her.

Therefore, I was extra careful not to cut open the surgical gown and make the surgery as I usually do with patients.

Instead, they turned V over, carefully cut only the surgical gown covering the area requiring surgery, and then opened his back to perform the S.A.W.S. surgery.

After the installation was completed and he tested it, Victor breathed a sigh of relief and sat up.

"Mercer, the rest is up to you. After you finish the injection, the anesthesia will have worn off. Remember to adjust her prosthetic eye and calibrate it. Don't forget the other tests either. Call me if you can't handle it."

After Victor finished speaking, he stood up leisurely, took a cigarette and a beer and walked out: "I need to have a drink and relax for a while."

"Drink less, Lao Wei, you still have to perform surgery on me later."

Mercer gave some instructions and took over Old Vie's shift.

Victor chuckled twice: "Don't worry, this is the first time I've ever had someone switch surgeons during an operation. Don't ruin my reputation."

"Don't worry, I'm confident. I can play around and joke around, but I would never joke about V's body."

Mercer's expression was very serious. He picked up Old V's stabilizer and injected it into his own arm as well—then put on surgical gloves, put on surgical gowns, and familiarized himself with Old V's equipment.

Then, he operated the instruments with great professionalism, setting and checking the data.

Seeing this, Lao Wei happily took his beer and went outside.

He thought it would be good if Mercer really liked V. He felt that although V seemed carefree, she was actually quite thoughtful.

Moreover, he is quite capable and can withstand the troubles brought by Mercer.

It's perfect for someone like Mercer, who has a lot on his mind.

Although V doesn't say it, he seems quite grateful to and trusts Mercer. Maybe if he plays matchmaker, they'll get together?

Of course, if Old Vince knew about Rebecca, Lucy would definitely never have gotten involved in Mercer's relationship.

Mercer unceremoniously ripped open V's surgical gown to prepare for the surgery, looked him over, and nodded to himself.

She has a really good figure.
But he only glanced at it. A doctor should act like a doctor. V trusted him and entrusted the surgery to him. If he had really been looking at it endlessly with the mindset of a pervert, he would have felt disgusted with himself.

Mercer quickly became completely absorbed in the surgery, treating V as one of the 'virtual NPCs' he had encountered in the Arasaka tutorial, and began the surgery without any emotion.

The only requirement for the injection procedure is a steady hand and accurate needle insertion. Mercer had no problem with this. With the assistance of the surgical robotic arm attached to his arm, he accurately injected the drug under V's skin.

The instrument monitors the nanorobots' extension in real time and occasionally opens V's skin for minor adjustments.

The skin injection was completed in about twenty minutes, which was incredibly fast.

Mercer stitched up V's skin. In the cyber world, stitching doesn't even require sutures; a biological adhesive suffices, followed by an anti-inflammatory and disinfectant spray.

Finally, use the biotechnology-based 'All-Powerful Treatment' topical spray, and the skin will be almost completely healed. No need for rest; you can walk and jump again after the surgery, once you recover.

Mercer then covered V with the surgical gown again, turned on the instruments to check V's vital signs, and used a scanner to check the condition of the other prosthetics.

"Did the surgery go smoothly?"

Seeing this, Qiwei asked curiously.

Mercer nodded: "Yes, it's all set. Now we just need to wait for the anesthesia to wear off and for her to wake up, then we can calibrate the prosthetic body and that's it."

"You're pretty quick. I thought you'd have to admire it for a while," Qiwei joked.

Mercer glanced at her speechlessly: "I like to watch, but it's only interesting if people show it to me openly and generously."

Sneaking around and peeking is perverted.

Qiwei wasn't sure what her intentions were, but before V woke up, she casually asked, "Are you interested in V?"

"I'm interested in pretty girls," Mercer said honestly. "But if we're talking about real feelings, I don't know. I just want to have a few girlfriends."

"Talk to a few more? In order, or all at once?" Qiwei smiled.

"That's not important. Anyway, I won't refuse or take the initiative. If anyone wants to fall into my trap, then don't blame me."

Mercer smiled and said frankly, "It's a rare opportunity to come to this world, with so many beautiful girls, I have to have an open mind—after all, nobody in this world cares about the future anyway."

“Then you’ll have a lot of trouble in the future.” Qiwei said very clearly, “I have to tell you, girls like V may seem carefree, but they are actually quite traditional.”

She's different from those girls who sleep with you one night and then go about their business after waking up.

If you're with her and then go out and mess around, she might actually fight you to the death with a gun.

"I know, but who cares? Things will fall into place." Mercer finished speaking and smiled, "Anyway, it's not like I'm not unpopular."

"It seems you've made up your mind not to be a good man," Qiwei commented.

"I'm just kind-hearted and can't bear to refuse a girl. What man is better than me?" Mercer said shamelessly, and then he saw the data on the instrument fluctuate.

V is about to wake up.

Qiwei shook her head, unable to describe her feelings. She glanced at Mercer and then at V, saying, "I'm going out for a smoke."

"Go ahead, but draw less blood these next few days; it'll be better for the wound."

Mercer said.

Qiwei nodded and walked out.

When V woke up, all she saw was Mercer, dressed in surgical scrubs and wearing a mask, sitting next to her.

Her mind was still a little foggy: "I..."

"Don't get excited, take it slow. Your surgery is over, and everything went smoothly." Mercer's tone was very gentle.

V blinked, looking dazed, and mumbled, "Mmm."

"Don't move around, just lie down. Once you're a little clearer-headed, we'll start calibrating the prosthetic eye," Mercer said.

V lay still for a while, and when her mind came back to normal, she said softly, "I feel much better."

"Then we'll begin the calibration. Your vision will be blurry at first, then gradually become clearer. Once you feel you can see very clearly and the image has stopped changing, we'll move on to the next step."

Mercer tapped the instrument.

V's vision quickly became clearer, clearer than ever before.

She blinked again: "I feel like I can see it very clearly."

"Great, let's start the program. Can you scan me and let me try?"

Mercer said.

V began to attempt scanning with the prosthetic eye, and soon Mercer's silhouette was highlighted. In addition, many connected devices were also highlighted.

And a lot of detailed information—wind speed display, distance display, item analysis.
"It's a bit confusing, isn't it? You can customize the display mode using the brain-computer interface, such as wind speed and distance. You can turn it off when you don't need it to avoid eye strain."
It looks stable; Old Wei's surgical skills are impeccable.

Next, we'll try out Sinweistan. I'll start it remotely once. If you experience any problems, remember to let me know and I'll stop. This is mainly to test the safe operating time of your Sinweistan.

You can use your prosthetic eye to look around during the process, and I'll check the compatibility between the two.

Mercer spoke in a soft, gentle voice, which made V a little uncomfortable, but it also made her exceptionally obedient. She simply nodded and said, "Okay, you can come now."

V then noticed that Mercer's movements had suddenly slowed down.

No, she's gotten faster!
Mercer's chest heaving with each breath appeared as extremely slow motion to her, and his blinking was clearly visible. V excitedly turned her head left and right, feeling as if her mind had suddenly become very intelligent.

How to put it? It was as if many details that she had previously overlooked were now flooding into her mind. As her brain began to work at high speed, her body also felt as if it wanted to break free from its constraints.

V reached out her hand and felt it was a little more difficult than usual, as if her arm was moving slower than she expected. She swung it a few more times before she could muster the strength to reach out.

“Mercury?” she tried to speak.

Mercer's voice came through, sounding like a drawn-out, slow-motion audio recording: "Speak slowly."

He seemed to take five seconds to finish his sentence, and V almost couldn't hear what he was saying.

Looking at Mercer's mask, she suddenly felt a strong urge for the first time—to see the face beneath it.

V reached out, eager to touch Mercer's mask, but then hesitated, thought for a moment, and finally put his hand down.

Instead, they playfully tapped his head lightly, which made the mask clang.

Mercer's backward tilt of his head made V feel a little guilty—as if he was much stronger than he thought.

The sound of his "damn" made V feel even more guilty.

So, Sianwistan's strength also increases after she accelerates?

But thinking about it, speed is also a part of striking power, isn't it?
Oh dear, I forgot, I forgot.

V felt her mind was racing, until a pressure came over her, making it hard to breathe and causing a slight headache.

She immediately raised her hand: "Stop."

Then, time suddenly resumed its normal flow.

The sudden change made V feel a little uncomfortable, but she recovered in just one breath: "I had a slight headache just now, and it was hard to breathe."

"Logically speaking, once the Sianweistein is activated, most people will feel a lot of pressure when breathing the moment it is activated, and then they will soon feel a headache."

After Mercer finished speaking, he sighed like Old Vie: "Seven seconds, you held on for a full seven seconds before you felt the pressure when you first activated Sianwistan."

Based on the data, your theoretical safe startup time is probably in the range of 10-13 seconds, and exceeding this time will not suddenly increase the burden on you by much.

It only shut down for a few seconds and then came back to normal? V, you're something else... I'm so envious.

He also wanted to stop the Sword Saint back then!
V was a little embarrassed by his praise and gave a slightly awkward smile: "So, the result was pretty good?"

"Hmm, it's pretty good, but don't be tempted to try it out secretly later."

You should wait at least a few hours until you're sure your wounds have healed before proceeding.

Don't strain too much and tear the skin off, that would be troublesome.

You also need to be careful about inflammation and nerve discomfort.

Mercer skillfully began to instruct V, including telling her not to use the dirty water from that run-down hotel to take a bath today, and not to eat random things, among other post-operative precautions.

V nodded obediently, thinking that Mercer was quite reliable at this moment, no different from a real doctor. Thinking of this, she suddenly realized that Mercer actually knew quite a lot.

His hacking skills are beyond question; she didn't know whether they were good or bad, only that everyone praised him as awesome.

He also understands prosthetic body modification and can perform surgery.

He's also quite skilled with a gun. Although his physical abilities aren't great, his combat skills and awareness are quite high, and his reactions are quick.

His ability to make money is remarkable, and he's also quite generous with his money. Wait, what am I thinking?

V quickly shook his head: "Then can I go down now?"

“Okay, take a sip of the anti-inflammatory medicine and then go change your clothes. I’ll call Lao Wei to pack my things too.”

After Mercer finished speaking, he thought for a moment and said, "You and Qiwei go outside later and sit with Misty for a while. After my surgery is over and I get my money, we'll go out for dinner together and talk about the work of the Wakako faction."

V then said somewhat embarrassedly, "How much did this surgery cost? I'll work hard with you as soon as possible to pay it back."

"Let's calculate it as 200,000."

After Mercer finished speaking, V glared at him unhappily: "I'm not stupid! Your S.A.W.S ...

"These are my spoils of war; they're worthless if they don't sell," Mercer said casually.

“Consider it a four hundred thousand euros, even if I owe you four hundred thousand euros.” V said, his heart bleeding.

That's 400,000 euros!
That's enough for her to buy a decent used sports car, move into a luxury apartment building in Haywood, and live a carefree life for a long time!

"Okay, then it'll be 400,000 euros."

After Mercer finished speaking, he laughed: "Even if you become stronger, you're still working for me. If you think about it that way, there's no difference between me and the company. I forced you to take out a loan and put a really good product on your plate."

"Thanks, A." V looked at him earnestly, her tone sincere: "I'll definitely work hard with you from now on."

"I wouldn't agree if you wanted to slack off. Okay, stop being so sentimental, I'm not comfortable with it."

After Mercer finished speaking, he couldn't help but smile and look her up and down: "But to be fair, you have a really nice figure."

V was startled, then looked down and realized her surgical gown had fluttered to the ground: "Damn it! Why didn't you put it on properly?"

"To get the clothes off, I only need to use a knife to cut them open, and to put them on, I have to do it myself."

Mercer didn't even blink, abandoning his act: "I'm just afraid you'll get angry."

"Close your eyes! Close your eyes! You're still looking!" She angrily reached out to poke him, and while he closed his eyes, Sianwistan, activated!
The girl completely forgot about the things Mercer had told her to pay attention to and slipped into the bathroom in the blink of an eye.

"Don't reopen the wound!" Mercer quickly reminded her.

She was incredibly fast. With Mercer's reaction speed, he could only see her afterimage flash before his eyes. Before he could even turn his neck, she disappeared like a gust of wind from his side.

By the time Mercer turned around, she had vanished without a trace; her speed was chilling.

"I'm taking my time!"

Her voice came from the bathroom.

A few minutes later, she wiped the blood from her nose and came out, saying, "Holy crap, why did my nose bleed?"

"You should be glad you didn't bleed!" Mercer stared at her with an unfriendly tone: "Come here, let me see."

She could only laugh awkwardly, straighten her clothes, lie back down, and let Mercer scan her.

"It's alright, it's just that my body isn't used to it yet. After a few more times, I'll get used to it and the nosebleeds won't happen anymore."

Mercer said irritably, "If you tell me to close my eyes, I will. What's the rush?"

"Who knows!" V's face flushed red. "You didn't secretly take pictures with your prosthetic eye, did you?"

"Damn it, what do you take me for? Do I need to take a picture?" Mercer said matter-of-factly, "V, I'm highly intelligent and have a photographic memory!"

"Go to hell! A, I should have just let Old V do it!" V raised his fist in embarrassment and anger: "You've never been hit before, have you?"

"Getting impatient," Mercer chuckled.

V suddenly stopped talking, and then slowly narrowed his eyes.

(End of this chapter)