Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 89 This moon is truly a beautiful moon.

When the elevator reached the top floor, two military intelligence agents stared at the two men with cold expressions: "Does maintenance require the elevator to be raised to the top floor?"

Mercer wore a matter-of-fact expression, but he slightly raised the hand that V could see: "But if we don't start the elevator test operation, we won't be able to find out where the elevator is malfunctioning."

"No need for inspection here, you can start immediately." Before the military agent could even pull the trigger of his weapon, he only saw a flash before his eyes.

The next moment, the V behind Mercer transformed into a phantom, flickering and lifting the two of them into the air, one on each side.

Her mantis-like blades pierced their throats and the backs of their heads, leaving them no time to even scream in warning before they were instantly rendered incapable of resistance.

Because V's mantis blades are not just sharp; these dual thermal mantis blades can instantly reach temperatures of over 1,000 degrees Celsius, instantly charring the opponent's blood vessels.

Mercer glanced around indifferently. The security robot leaning against the elevator hadn't even had a chance to start yet and was still standing in the wireless charging position when he forcibly hacked it and shut it down. After modifying the friend or foe identification, it returned to quiet standby mode.

With a casual flick of her wrists, V tossed the two corpses against the wall. As they slid slowly to the ground, deep red blood flowed from their wounds, and they convulsed and died.

"Damn, thank goodness I reacted quickly and understood what you meant." V gave Mercer a reproachful look: "You didn't even tell me beforehand."

"I know you'll understand what I mean."

Mercer simply smiled as he looked at the two agents' corpses, and then said, "The people in the security room must have noticed that the camera feed is malfunctioning. You need to take care of them before they realize something is wrong and request backup."

As Mercer spoke, his prosthetic eye flashing, he took off his repairman's coat, revealing the black customer service representative underneath.

His back heat sink was already open. At that moment, Mercer hacked into the corridor cameras and elevators, and finally connected to the computer in the security room, taking over all the security equipment.

Mercer pointed to one side of the corridor leading to the elevator and said, "The security room is this way, the first door on the right."

V flicked his hands, and the bloodstains on the mantis knife were gone: "It feels like this thing doesn't work well for self-cleaning anymore after using it too much. It's a bit sticky now."

"I'll give you a cleaning and maintenance check when we get back. You could say that's a flaw of the Hot Mantis Blade," Mercer said, multitasking as he spoke. He then tilted his head to indicate the direction she wanted to go before staying by the elevator door.

The top floor here still follows the hotel's basic design logic. After taking the elevator up, there is a long corridor with one side leading to the rooftop terrace and the other side leading to the suite where Diana stayed.

The moment Mercer nodded, signaling her to act, V had already understood and walked to the corner of the corridor in front of the elevator, where Sianwistan and Krenzikov were both opened.

She rushed to the security room door in just one second and burst in the instant Mercer opened the door.

There wasn't even time for a single gunshot to be heard from inside; there were only a few heavy thuds as V casually walked out of the security room and gave Mercer an OK sign at the corner of the corridor.

Mercer then nodded and walked down the corridor.

"Let's go, as soon as possible. I'm not sure if the guys in the security room requested backup immediately when they noticed something was wrong."

Although Mercer said this, he still believed in his heart that he and V should still be in a situation where they had not been exposed.

When a normal person notices a camera lag in a security room, their first reaction should be to check for any abnormalities, troubleshoot the problem, and confirm the situation with the agents at the door.

This whole process takes at least three to five seconds, and it takes V and Mercer about the same amount of time to deal with these guys.

Mercer remained cautious and did not take immediate action. Instead, he and V hid in the security room and waited patiently for two seconds. At the same time, Mercer was also using the rooftop camera connected to the security room to monitor the situation of the agents on the rooftop.

Seeing the group of dedicated agents still patrolling the rooftop, Mercer breathed a sigh of relief, confirming that he hadn't been exposed yet.

"The suite is divided into three areas. There are seven agents in the outermost area: three are on guard in the reception area at the entrance, two are on patrol, and four are resting after shift changes. The innermost area is Diana's personal living space."

Mercer paused for a moment and then said, "I have already highlighted the target in my prosthetic eye. When we make our move, I will first send a puppet program to block communication. Wait for the puppet to take effect before you make your move to avoid the other side triggering an alarm."

“I understand. Why are there so many people here?” V frowned.

"In fact, the first thing Diana Kuno did after the cooperation was agreed upon was to apply to stay in this VIP suite from the company and have people from the military science department provide her with security."

Mercer scoffed, "She probably dreams of us suddenly showing up at her door."

V shook his head, then pointed upstairs and said, "We can take them down one by one in the building in a quieter way, but there's no cover on the rooftop. What will we do then? We've come this far, so don't keep me in suspense."

"Alright. Do you know how those big trash cans in Night City are usually recycled and cleaned?" Mercer changed the subject and asked her a question.

V was taken aback, and for a moment he really couldn't think of an answer to this question. Who would pay attention to how the trash can is emptied?
After thinking for a while, she said uncertainly, "It seems like there's a drone-like device that retrieved it. Oh my god, you're not planning to use that thing to fly us around, are you?"

V looked visibly resistant: "I think we should just take Diana and fight our way out of here."

"Alright, don't worry. The standard payload of the Huagai drone is 300KG, and the maximum payload is 500KG. Although it flies a bit slowly, there are these things all over Night City. We'll use them to retreat from the sky."

Mercer said with a smile, "I've wanted to try this for a long time. Remember when we first infiltrated the biotechnology building? Back then, I hacked a drone in advance as a backup escape plan."

Now, I can finally use this thing.

"Damn, running around in a trash can, it's filthy," V muttered, but finally nodded with a sullen look: "Fine, but you better pray there's no weird smell in there."

"Just throw Diana in, and we can stand on top of her. We can enjoy the night breeze, look at the moon and stars, how romantic!"

Mercer's words drew a disdainful look from V, but she didn't say much, only gesturing with her fist: "If we fall and die, we'll probably become Night City legends."

"Hahaha." Mercer laughed loudly, but just waved his hand: "Let's go, let's hurry up and catch Diana. The sooner we finish the deal with the military scientists, the sooner we can go home and rest."

V pursed her lips, stretched her body, and then went straight out the door, heading towards the suite.

Mercer spotted the enemy in Yi's eyes. She didn't need to worry about running into an ambush. All Mercer had to do was open the electronic door and cooperate with him to take action.

Mercer always prefers to partner with V not entirely because of personal feelings, but because the two of them are incredibly efficient when they work together.

Just like now—V walks in front, Mercer follows behind her. When they get close to the enemy, Mercer activates his brain-computer interface overclocking and immediately provides the enemy with a batch of rapid hacks.

Once the program that can be quickly cracked appears, in the instant their minds are blanked, V can seize that one or two-second window of time to give them a physical release.

The most critical issue is that if it's a malicious virus, such as a puppet virus that removes the opponent's prosthetic body or causes brain-computer interface synapse melting, then their ICE might be able to withstand it for a while. When the program runs, it can often give the opponent a second or two of error tolerance.

However, if it's a quick hack like 'sonic vibration' or 'memory erase' that Mercer is currently using in conjunction with V, its main focus is on speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness.

If even if a malignant puppet breaks through the opponent's ICE, it still takes a second to run and take effect, then a puppet program like sonic vibration, which directly affects the brain nerves, can be said to take effect the instant it runs.

When an enemy discovers that a hacker has planted a virus in their brain, their first reaction is often to immediately eliminate the hacker rather than requesting support.

By the time they realize how incredibly fast the hacking process is, V is already in their faces, leaving them no time to be distracted.

When the male and female duo work together, their most striking characteristic is their utter irrationality—just like what V is doing now.

Having developed a tacit understanding with Mercer, she wasn't in a hurry to kill this group of skilled enemies, who were even equipped with Sianwistan weapons.

She only needs to wait until the enemy is hacked by Mercer and triggers the brain-computer interface alarm before taking action, and the enemy will often be caught off guard.

Those with quick reflexes can activate Sianwistan and exchange blows with her, while those with slow reflexes are simply killed with a single, effortless strike.

The agent who activated Sianwistan was sweating profusely just from facing V's fierce and rapid attacks. However, after a second or two, he was horrified to find that his ICE had been compromised. The moment the puppet program started running, his mind went blank.

Distracted during the showdown between S.A.W.S. equipment users?
Then there is only a dead end.

V only needs to take advantage of the moment when the other party is confused and loses control of their body to stab them through the head, and he can easily take care of this group of elite agents.

They rushed from the reception room into the living room at almost the same speed as if they had walked there normally.

When the two reached the door of the living room, all that remained behind them was a group of corpses, most of whom had been killed by the two of them before they could even scream.

Only one agent equipped with S.A.S ...

"The person is inside?" V breathed a sigh of relief and rushed from outside into the house. She activated Sianweistan at least four times, each time taking 2-3 seconds.

This kind of stress is not low for ordinary people, but she only seemed to have a slightly fast heartbeat and a slightly flushed face.

"Yes, I bet she's anxiously thinking about her options right now. Let's go, give her a surprise."

Mercer walked to V's side, and the high-tech electronic door clicked open as if welcoming its owner.

It has to be said, these rich people live really well. Half of the space in this penthouse suite is reserved for security, but the remaining living room is about the same size as Mercer's base.

A separate living room, bathroom, and even a kitchen, wine cabinet, and walk-in closet—a rarity in Night City.
Mercer and V checked the rooms one by one, finally stopping in front of the bedroom.

After exchanging a glance, Mercer reached out and stopped her for a moment. V didn't ask why, and they waited quietly for half a minute before Mercer nodded to her.

The bedroom door clicked open automatically, and then V, like lightning, pinned Diana Kuno, who was standing by the window looking bewildered, against the windowpane with one hand around her neck.

"No! Don't kill me!" Before Diana could finish speaking, V pressed a pistol against her face, then turned to look at Mercer.

Mercer smiled and nodded slightly to Diana: "Good evening, Diana."

"Listen to me, A, I didn't mean to!"

Before she could finish speaking, Mercer laughed: "You even found out my name? Not bad."

"You're from the Military Science Department, as you know. That middleman, Faraday, has publicly offered a bounty on your heads, so your physical characteristics are no longer a secret."

Diana's face turned deathly pale, and she pleaded, "Listen to me, A, we can sit down and talk this over."

“Fine, I’ll give you a million to have a chance to speak, what do you say?” Mercer casually pulled up a chair and sat down in front of her.

Diana Kuno avoided his gaze, saying, "I... I'm short of money lately."

"I remember you promised to give me a considerable amount of money to save my life," Mercer said regretfully. "Well, it seems we have nothing more to say then."

"No, no, no! I'm still useful! Listen to me, A, that immune agent, I'm serious, there's really hope it can be developed!"

Diana Kuno looked at Mercer anxiously: "Think about it, how important would this universal immunizing agent be to humanity if it were developed?"
Humans will no longer have to worry about various biological viruses, whether it's a cold or other viral infections. Even if they can't be completely immune, they can minimize the side effects!
No more worries about unclean water sources, nor fears about using it on diseased animals. Once we develop this drug, it will usher in an evolution in humanity's immune system!

She spoke with increasing excitement, but Mercer merely shook his head indifferently, a mocking expression on his face: "Maybe, so what? A conman discussing the future of humanity with a wanted criminal. Ha."

He chuckled, then deftly beckoned with his finger, and V immediately pressed her down in front of Mercer's face. Mercer pulled out the data cable from his wrist and, without allowing Diana any objection, inserted it into her brain-computer interface.

"Don't get agitated, let me check what you've been doing."

Mercer spoke, but Diana had nothing to say. Mercer's data transmission speed was too fast. Just passively providing the computing power required for data transmission to her brain-computer interface made her feel her body temperature soaring.

A few seconds later, Mercer chuckled: "No wonder you're broke. You've spent so much money to book a single-person flight to the moon. You're really cautious. I thought you were far enough away that you'd gone to Europe."

After disconnecting the line, he shook his head regretfully at V: "She really doesn't have any cash left; she used it all to prepare for the future."

V understood immediately: "Then you knock her out, I'm afraid she'll strangle me to death."

“Fine.” Mercer said. Before Diana could even beg for mercy, a scarlet notification appeared in her prosthetic eye. Her prosthetic body was forcibly shut down, twitched, and then rolled her eyes and fainted.

"gone."

Mercer pointed to his head, and V then tossed Diana directly to him.

She was quite heavy. Mercer simply grabbed her arm and dragged her along the ground, which was easier that way.

V gave him a disdainful look: "You should at least get some exercise."

"I shouldn't bother with my eleven-point physique. It's easier to just replace my arms than to train so hard," Mercer said matter-of-factly. "V, I'm not like you. I use my brain."

"When we get back to base, I'll train you." Judging from V's meaningful look, it's hard to say what kind of training we'll do—strengthening your resilience?

Mercer just smiled nonchalantly, and the two returned the way they came. Once in the corridor, they headed straight for the stairs to the top floor.

When they reached the door, V didn't rush to open it, but waited for Mercer to highlight the character.

After marking the prosthetic eye, Mercer said directly, "You take care of the lighter-colored ones closer by, and I'll handle the ones further away."

"Be careful, don't show your face." V took out his pistol, took a deep breath, nodded to Mercer, and then rushed out again as soon as Mercer opened the door.

This time there's no need to worry about being found out—mainly because there are eleven people on the top floor. It's somewhat unrealistic to expect eleven elite agents to be unable to send out a distress signal when attacked.

The rooftop, with only some ventilation ducts and the like as cover, offered virtually no place to hide or conceal oneself. V was spotted by the agents as soon as he stepped outside.

But V moved too fast; almost the instant the door opened, the high-powered pistol in her hand began to roar.

The pistol, which could be described as a hand cannon, only made V twitch her wrist slightly before she could reposition and aim at other targets.

Apart from two elite agents with an operating system installed who could react instantly, the other agents were merely toys for the 'Speedster' at this moment.

They couldn't even see a person clearly, let alone aim.

V's bullets pierced the air, and the speed of several shots reached the firearm's continuous firing limit. To onlookers, it sounded like firecrackers suddenly going off in the air.

Four agents were shot in the head before they could even turn around, while two soldiers with Krenchikov's abilities managed to dodge the bullets by using accelerated thinking and their superhuman physiques.

As for the two military science soldiers equipped with the S.A.S ...

The other one flicked his hands, and two mantis blades crackling with electricity collided without hesitation with the mantis blade in V's hand.

V finally felt a bit strained this time – neither of these guys' Sianwistan nor Krenchikov were cheap; they were top-notch soldiers from within the military science department. At the same time, their physical fitness was also very good, and most importantly, their fighting skills were excellent.

V came from the streets. Although he knew a lot about boxing techniques and was very talented, to be honest, he didn't really understand melee combat.

She used to carry a gun and shoot 'em up with other thugs on the street; she hadn't received any professional training.
Although the military intelligence agent in front of her was slightly slower than her, the strength in his thick, obviously cybernetically modified arms was in no way inferior to V's, and his skills were clearly superior to V's.

For a moment, the two were locked in a stalemate in close combat.

The two exchanged over a dozen slashes in an instant, sparks even flying in the air. V, meanwhile, tried his best to control his position, dealing with the guy in front of him while carefully dodging the bullets that kept coming from his side.

The agent in front of V suddenly turned his head and said rapidly, "Take care of that hacker!"

Without a word, the agent responsible for suppressing the creation of time with his gun also activated his full acceleration and rushed towards Mercer's location.

Without hesitation, V immediately swung his sword, forcing the enemy in front of him away, and then turned around and rushed towards Mercer.

"trap!"

Mercer only had time to utter those two words to her prosthetic eye, but V instantly realized the problem. She suddenly dove down, almost sliding across the ground.

Sure enough, a wrist grenade grazed her upper body and landed on the other side of the rooftop, blowing an agent behind cover into the air.

Mercer simply shielded Diana Kuno from his view with a cold expression, causing the agent who had raised his gun nearby to angrily deflect his weapon.

“ICE can’t hold on.” One agent only managed to utter a warning before suddenly collapsing to the ground, convulsing. Like a domino effect, the other agents began to fall to the ground in unison.

These two special agents, who had operating systems installed, were the focus of Mercer's attention, and sparks flew from their heads.

In fact, it was precisely because the ICE agents who were prioritized to be attacked wasted time that the other agents were able to survive a little longer.

V, panting heavily, turned around and slashed without hesitation. The head of the agent who had just been fighting her flew off, and the other agent holding a rifle could only look on in astonishment and despair.

They never expected that Mercer would be able to break through their ICE prosthetics in such a short time.

Furthermore, it hacked into multiple targets simultaneously in such an unreasonable manner.

V continued accelerating, taking a few steps before angrily plunging his mantis knife into another agent's chest. He then raised the dual blades high, blocking the bullets from the two remaining agents who could still fire, before charging forward with the agent's body in his arms.

This high-ranking agent's body was covered in top-of-the-line bulletproof armor; the bullets that hit him were all deflected with a clang.

Mercer didn't need to hack the remaining agents at all; the berserk V swept them all away like autumn leaves in the wind.

"Phew," V let out a long sigh of relief, feeling genuinely tired now.

She flicked her wrist, the mantis knife drawing a line of blood, then turned her head, looking somewhat annoyed at the two high-level agents equipped with operating systems, and said, "This guy's fighting style is really disgusting. I need to go back and figure out how to deal with these kinds of guys in the future." "They have a fixed battle strategy. The one in front of you is best at defense, delaying the enemy, while the other only activated the lowest level of Sianwistan for firing interference, just to wait for your Sianwistan to reach its limit."

If you activate your cybernetic body for too long without defeating your opponent, and you reach fatigue, another enemy will immediately come to your rescue and take advantage of your exhaustion to finish you off.

Mercer may not be as skilled as V, but he saw things clearly and understood them: "He deliberately made a sound at the end to lure you to protect me and create an opening, giving another guy an opportunity to use the wrist grenade launcher."

"Tsk," V looked a little unhappy.

Mercer chuckled and patted her shoulder: "What? You think you're not good enough to take on two top military intelligence agents by yourself?"

"I'll practice more when I get back," V said defiantly. "Next time we meet, I'll take care of this guy in three seconds!"

Mercer shook his head and then said, "You're already very strong. Not everyone has the ability to take on two opponents of this level in one go."

Mercer wasn't just offering simple words of comfort; he was telling the truth. V, as a self-taught fighter, was already exceptionally gifted to be able to fight two highly skilled agents single-handedly without being at a disadvantage, relying solely on his combat instincts.

But V said with great confidence, "I just don't usually encounter such masters. Wait for me to go back and think about it more, and the next time will be different."

I felt I was faster and stronger than him, but I lacked a bit of technique.

"Then wait for me to go back and think about it carefully. Anyway, once this matter is over, let's keep a low profile for a while and see how I can improve your skills."

Mercer thought of his Relic chip. In any case, this thing would definitely be a high priority in the future research. He might as well think about how to develop something to improve V's combat skills first.

Just as the two were talking, a drone spewing blue flames slowly approached from a distance, carrying a large trash can, and stopped precisely in front of Mercer and V.

Mercer opened the lid, glanced inside, and saw some messy trash, which made V show a disgusted expression.

"Get our VIPs in first." Mercer ordered V around, and V, somewhat used to it, simply lifted Diana with one hand and tossed her directly into the trash can.

Then he simply jumped up and sat on the drone stand on top of the trash can, reaching out his hand to Mercer.

Mercer reached out and was pulled up by her, sitting on the drone's mount. Then, the Canvas drone was restarted, took off vertically, and flew into the air.

You know what, it's actually a bit scary.

This drone wasn't developed as a vehicle. Sitting on the trash can, Mercer could only hold on to the drone's mechanical arm-like thing with both hands to keep his balance. Looking down, the entire Night City seemed to have become tiny.

The evening breeze became somewhat biting high in the sky, and as the Huagai drone gradually accelerated and flew away, the perceived speed became even more frightening.

Mercer could only hurry up and do something else—his prosthetic eye gleamed as it connected to the security camera on the first floor of the biotechnology restaurant.

He took over this thing as he passed by. At this moment, he simply used the camera to lock onto the agent who had asked him and V why they were there and had seen his face on the first floor. Then he began to hack into the device using the camera.

The agent's ICE didn't even react because he was connected to the security system on the first floor. This meant that when Mercer secretly cracked and hacked into the security server and cameras on the first floor, his local area network was already undefended for Mercer.

It took the agent a little longer to find vulnerabilities in the other party's ICE system. Then, he realized he had been hacked when a strange program suddenly started running in his mind.

Needless to say, the result is natural.

"Why is your face so pale?" V's voice brought Mercer back to reality.

He glanced to the side, then unconsciously gripped the drone's robotic arm: "Damn, I should have gone down with you and run away. No, I need to get the drone down as soon as possible."

"Hahahaha!" V was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter without any restraint: "Didn't you want to see the stars and the moon?"

"Wow, this thing is really different. Unlike you, I can do a one-arm pull-up while holding onto a drone with one hand. If I let go, I'm really done for."

Mercer looked around nervously. He had been extremely confident when he flew in his exoskeleton that morning, and he never expected that sitting in this drone would make him feel a little uneasy.

V laughed as she reached out and grabbed his arm: "Okay, I'll hold you tight. Don't worry, even if you jump right now, I can still catch you and you'll fly right out of there. I don't want to be chased around the city again."

“Okay.” Although Mercer felt a little awkward, mainly because he was annoyed by the woman’s joke, he also felt much more at ease.

He looked around, then grabbed her wrist with his other hand, and finally relaxed. He no longer gripped the drone's robotic arm tightly with his other hand.

Mercer gazed at the brightly lit city, now ablaze with neon lights, and at the various drones flying in the low to medium altitudes in the distance. For a moment, he was completely absorbed in watching them.

V was in a similar situation—it was the first time they had seen the city from such a height. At the altitude of the drone, even the faint, pervasive stench of Night City seemed to have faded considerably.

"You know, it's actually kind of pretty," V said softly.

She seemed extremely relaxed at the moment, holding onto the drone's arm with one hand, not worried at all about falling off. Instead, she swung her legs casually, occasionally kicking the trash can and making a clattering sound.

Mercer turned his head to look at the sky. At this moment, the stars in the sky were faintly visible in the clouds, just like the neon lights under his feet, which seemed to be shimmering slightly.

Perhaps it wasn't a star at all, but some kind of satellite—thinking about this, it suddenly didn't seem so romantic anymore.

Mercer turned his gaze and saw V looking up at the stars.

Her fair profile beneath her white hair didn't make her look like a street thug at all; instead, she exuded a cool and aloof aura when she wasn't speaking.

The repairman's clothes she was still wearing didn't make her look down on her; instead, they gave her an air of freedom and ease.

V was humming a tune in a cheerful mood when she turned her head and saw Mercer staring at her. She felt inexplicably uneasy.

She first instinctively looked away, then immediately stared back, putting on a smug look: "What? Am I pretty, sister?"

"You know, you do look quite good when you're not talking." Mercer suddenly felt a little regretful and asked her to switch her expression back—she looked so much better when she was aloof, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she suddenly didn't have that charm.

V snorted and made a move to pull his hand back, but Mercer immediately changed his tune: "Beautiful! Really fucking beautiful! How about we don't go back today and go for a walk somewhere?"

"Get lost! Aren't you afraid Rebecca will strangle you when she gets back?"

V made a teasing face, then her eyes lit up and she smiled and said, "It's not impossible to go on a date with my girlfriend, but you'd better think it over. I don't like my boyfriend being ambiguous with other women."

She leaned closer, feigning nonchalance as she tried to tease him: "If my boyfriend dared to cheat on me, I would crush him with my own hands."

V applied a little pressure to his palm, and Mercer couldn't help but bare his teeth, but then said confidently, "Cheating? Don't be ridiculous, I'm a loyal and good man, V, I think you've misunderstood me."

"Then swear now that if you're lying, you'll fall off this building in a minute."

V smirked and deliberately shook the drone.

The drone shuddered in mid-air, and Mercer immediately shut his mouth, only saying after a moment, "I think I am, anyway."

"Come on you!"

V said irritably, looking at him with disdain: "Just you wait, you'll have your share of troubles later. If you ask me, you little brat should start thinking about the future, instead of just worrying about your unreliable things all day long."

"What's with all this talk about consciousness, soul killers, cloning, and stuff like that? Honestly, why are you even thinking about all this?"

V stopped looking at him and instead looked at the city below, saying, "Are you really planning to fight this city to the bitter end all by yourself?"

We can take down a convoy, we can storm a hotel, but that's all because we're prepared to take advantage of their unpreparedness.

"What if one day we're the ones getting ambushed? Haven't you considered those things?"

V sighed deeply and said with emotion, "Sometimes I really don't know if following your crazy path is the right choice."

"Don't think about me, think about the money. I promise, this time all your money is yours."

I don't have any immediate needs for money. This team fund will be used to upgrade everyone's equipment. My own miscellaneous funds will keep me busy for a while.

Mercer raised an eyebrow at her: "Thinking about this, isn't your choice actually quite correct?"

“I’m willing to risk my life for money, but what about you?” V retorted, looking at him with a night breeze blowing through her short white hair. Her bright eyes seemed to hold a star from the sky.

Why do you risk your life? Is it a sense of justice? Thrills? Or is it simply for the pleasure you feel?

After asking a series of questions, V shook his head and said, "You need to consider the people around you. I mean, can we really play this game with those companies to the end?"

She said somewhat dejectedly, "The company can lose once, twice, or even lose ten, a hundred, or a thousand people. Just the employees of Arasaka alone number over a million worldwide."

But if we fail even once, like if this crappy drone suddenly malfunctions, we'll both be dead.

"Damn it, don't say things like that." Mercer gripped her arm tightly.

V chuckled: "I thought you weren't afraid of death at all."

"If I weren't afraid of death, why would I bother developing biotechnology cloning equipment? My fear of death stems mainly from worrying that I'll die before I finish what I'm doing."

Mercer said, "If it works, I'm really planning to live for two or three hundred years and enjoy myself before I die."

"I didn't realize you were acting crazy all the time, like you weren't afraid of anyone, like the kind of person who just wants to live life to the fullest."

V commented with some surprise.

"That's because I'm not happy living my life right now, that's why I'm going crazy."

Mercer sighed, looking down at the glowing city below, and said, "I'm willing to risk my life just to live one day to the fullest. Even though sometimes—well, often—I think it's fucking exciting, if I really had to choose..."

He thought for a moment and said seriously, "I'd rather find a beautiful girl I like, who is loyal to me, and have a home of my own, not too big and not too small."

If I can eat a couple of bites of meat and a couple of bites of fresh vegetables every day, and take a clean bath every day, I'll be quite satisfied.

Occasionally, I can go out to see a movie or go on a trip with a girl I like.

"Wait until you're in your thirties to have a child, build a stable family, and then pass away in your seventies or eighties, nestled in your spouse's arms. Isn't that a pretty good life?"

But then Mercer just shrugged, dismissing this unrealistic fantasy: "But look at this city, you could be walking down the street and suddenly a gang of thugs would come at you, and a stray bullet could end your life."

The medicine you buy to treat a cold might cause side effects that could kill you at home; the drinks you buy casually might contain excessive levels of addictive ingredients; the meat you eat might be made from insects; and the food you eat might be a byproduct of biotechnology used to extract fuel.

The job you find might require you to take out a loan to work for twenty years, and you'll even have to pay a monthly fee to use your washing machine at home.
In a few years, the company might even use brainwave technology to control your brain, turning you into a complete stranger without you even realizing it—a living being, but a puppet robot in the company's hands.
Is this even a living hell?

Mercer gave the city the middle finger with annoyance: "These stupid companies make me unhappy, so I'll definitely make them unhappy too. I don't know if I can do it, but I definitely can't live like this. I'll go crazy sooner or later."

V fell silent for a moment, gazing at Night City below. After a long while, she sighed with some distress: "I think what you said makes a lot of sense, but with just the few of us, is what we're doing now even useful?"
"We're just a bunch of mercenaries who live on the edge, and the work we do doesn't really mean anything to this city."

"Do you think that someone like Johnny Silverhand, who just keeps yelling about burning down the city and gathering hundreds or thousands of fanatical fans, can actually accomplish this?"

Or do you think that by doing things like Barthez, constantly digging up dirt on the company and exposing it to the public, they'll finally wake up?

Mercer said seriously, "We need money. The only thing that can fight against a system is another system, and the only thing that can fight against a company is another company."

We need to have the ability and capacity to give ordinary people a choice so that they can muster the courage to follow us and choose another way of life.

Mercer and V watched as the drone flew over the city and headed toward Santo Domingo, revealing an increasingly dilapidated cityscape at night.

"So we need to save money first, then study the technology, improve our capabilities, and then wait for an opportunity."

Mercer's words made V glance at him sideways: "What opportunity?"

"Those companies are basically big fish eat small fish. If you want to start from scratch and create a company to play with them, that's just a pipe dream. As soon as you show some momentum, those guys will gang up on you and eat you up."

Mercer said, a determined look in his eyes. He turned to look at V and promised, "Anyway, you don't need to think too much about it now, but I already have a plan in mind. If everything goes well, we will definitely be able to seize an opportunity to change the world."

Arasaka Yorinobu.

Although Mercer felt that his fear of Saburo Arasaka was somewhat deliberate, which lowered Mercer's opinion of him, objectively speaking, aside from that point, he was definitely Mercer's best partner.

If he can help him get rid of Saburo, Arasaka, under the leadership of Yoriyuki Arasaka, will become Mercer's best ally. With Arasaka backing him up, Mercer can confidently and boldly change the city.

At that time, he will no longer need to hide in fear, but can openly and legitimately wage war against those shitty companies like New America, military science, and biotechnology as an ally of Arasaka.

Whether it's a business war or eventually escalating into a corporate war, it's better than the present situation where beneath the glittering city lies only a pool of filthy water.

The catalyst for Mercer's approach to Arasaka Yorinobu was Johnny Silverhand.

He needs to use this incident to establish contact with Arasaka Yorinobu, and he also needs Johnny Silverhand to determine whether Yorinobu is determined to have a final battle with Saburo.

Once Arasaka Yorinobu chooses to cooperate and hands Johnny Silverhand over to Mercer, Arasaka Yorinobu will have essentially made his choice and completely stood on the opposite side of Saburo.

If Arasaka Yorinobu refuses, it means the time is not right; if he agrees but doesn't send the silver hand, it means he hasn't made up his mind yet.

Moreover, through Johnny Silverhand, Mercer can gain a large number of allies, including Rogue. If it weren't for Silverhand, she certainly wouldn't be willing to take such a big risk for Mercer.

This is why Mercer is so determined to rescue Silver Hand from Arasaka Yorinobu.

He is so useful.

"If you can't say, then don't say." V ​​pursed her lips as she watched Mercer not explain clearly and start to drift off into thought again.

"It's not that I don't want to tell you. It's just that if I tell you now, you might think I'm going crazy."

Mercer said helplessly, "If things aren't kept secret, they can cause trouble. There are some things I'll tell you when the time comes. Telling you in advance will only add to your troubles and is pointless."

"Fine, fine, you're intelligent and think far ahead, whatever you want." V muttered, then lazily lay down on the drone and looked at the stars.

Mercer looked at her and smiled: "We can definitely change this city, V."

"I don't care," V said lazily. "If one day I feel that hanging out with you will only lead to my death, I'll just run away."

"Really?" Mercer looked at her with a smile: "Leaving me alone to wait for death?"

"Damn it, if you really didn't want to die, you could have run way faster than me. If you insist on courting death, why should I go with you?"

V stubbornly said, "Rebecca and Lucy might be willing. Why don't you ask them? I bet Rebecca will grit her teeth and go with you."

"Come on, when that time comes, you definitely won't want to leave me either." Mercer smirked.

"Go to hell, dream on." V rolled her eyes. "Go back and get some sleep. I should be very obedient in my dreams."

You're actually quite obedient in real life.

Mercer smiled without saying a word, then hesitated for a moment before lying down as well.

The two of them gazed at the starry sky from the drone, and neither of them spoke again.

The drone continued to descend slowly after leaving the city.

V suddenly blurted out, "Anyway, if you die, I definitely won't be willing to risk my life for this damn city and damn future. If you don't want me to spend your money, take your inheritance, and live a carefree life on my own, you'd better watch your actions in the future."

"You're overthinking it. You'll be last in line for the inheritance."

Mercer grinned, raising an eyebrow: "How about... you cut in line and get a chance to be in the angel round?"

V remained silent, only glancing over with a wistful look in her eyes.

Why are the sisters ranked last when dividing the inheritance?
She thought for a moment, then narrowed her eyes.

"I'm last in line? Looks like you and Qiwei have been getting along really well lately, huh?"

Oops.

Mercer tilted his head and looked at the scenery.

That moon is truly a beautiful moon!

(End of this chapter)