Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 101 Equipment Test
"So, we can start testing our equipment now?" V excitedly grabbed Mercer's shoulder and shook him vigorously.

Mercer rolled her eyes, feeling like she was about to shake her brain to its core: "Yes, yes, yes! Stop shaking me!"

V then chuckled awkwardly, before excitedly rushing into his studio. Looking at the black and red mecha not far away, he let out an uncontrollable shout of excitement.

"Quick! How am I supposed to put this on?" She eagerly opened the glass case and effortlessly lifted the hundred-kilogram armor out of it.

“You don’t actually need to carry it. Put it on the ground and I’ll introduce it to you first. Keep a distance of two steps from it,” Mercer said, while looking smugly at the team members behind him.

At this moment, everyone was gathered in his underground workshop, staring intently at the two personal armors that exuded a sense of science fiction and violent aesthetics.

One of them was a heavy armored vehicle that looked a bit bulky and not very tall, only about 1.65 meters.

Since it was a prototype, it was simply painted all black.

No matter who looks at it, this mecha is undoubtedly full of violent aesthetics. The retractable micro missile launchers are hidden in the shoulder armor. At this moment, they are not retracted inside the mecha, but stand on the mecha's shoulders as shoulder cannons.

The six firing ports on each shoulder cannon, with their matte black paint, exuded a somber atmosphere under the light.

The mecha has a large compression propulsion device on its back, and its legs are covered by thick armor, with only the elongated heels visible, which also have the shape of compression propulsion devices.

Well, it is precisely because of these thick armors and heavy firepower configurations that give it a sense of security, combined with its height of only 1.65 meters, that it inexplicably gives people a somewhat rounded feeling.

Or rather, he was short and stocky.

"Tank One, introduce yourself." Mercer crossed his arms in front of him, looking at the stunned expressions on everyone's faces, feeling an indescribable sense of pride.

The tactical visor of Tank 1's black mech helmet lit up with a red light, indicating that the AI ​​had been activated.

An electronic voice rang out from its body.

"BT·T01 is happy to introduce my features to you." The voice was a calm female voice, which sounded somewhat cold.

So, amidst everyone's exclamations of surprise, the bulky mecha actually walked a few steps on its own and arrived at the center of the room.

After raising his left arm, a clicking sound came from his arm, and then a dark gun muzzle appeared above his left forearm.

"Currently, my left arm is equipped with a 14.5mm heavy machine gun. The internal magazine holds 100 rounds of heavy armor-piercing ammunition. The internal magazine uses a modular feeding system, and ammunition can be changed by directly replacing the internal ammunition box."

After the mech raises its left arm, the mech on the arm automatically separates, revealing a replaceable gun barrel and an ammunition box hidden on the side of the forearm.

"At the same time, this part can be replaced with different accessories such as a grenade launcher with twelve rounds of ammunition, a flamethrower, and an electromagnetic weapon launcher."

After speaking, it raised its right arm and said, "The right arm is equipped with a smart weapon connection, which can be adapted to different models of smart weapons or connected to external devices. At the same time, it supports the installation of melee weapon modules, like this."

Tank 01 walked to the wall of the workshop and took down a huge two-handed axe from the wall. The handle alone was 1.4 meters long, and with the huge single-edged axe head, it was almost 1.6 meters long. Yet, in its hand, it felt as light as a fake.

"The high-frequency nano-battle axe, when swung at full power, can cleave through the armored shell of a Behemoth armored vehicle, making it your best choice for close combat. It can be folded and carried with you."

With a casual swing, accompanied by the hum of the supercharger, the axe sliced ​​through the air with a chilling tearing sound.

Rebecca was so excited she almost jumped for joy: "I want to try! Let me try!"

Jack and Mann exchanged an envious glance, but seeing that the mecha was only 1.65 meters tall, they knew that it must have been made for Rebecca, and they couldn't even try it out.

"Don't rush, don't rush. Now that we've finished introducing everything, we need to take it to the Badlands for a test run. This thing can't be properly tested at the base."

Mercer said with a chuckle.

Tank 01 then went on to explain its weapon specifications, armor thickness, range, and other auxiliary functions.

After the explanation was finished, it stood in the corner on its own. Then, V hugged the all-white mecha that it was reluctant to let go of, and its eyes lit up.

This pure white mech looks much more elegant, with a slender waist, long legs, and undulating chest armor symbolizing feminine features. It also has a unique V-shaped tactical visor for its eyes.

The mecha's helmet also has beautiful, crown-like angles that extend to both sides. To be honest, just looking at its appearance alone, this thing is so beautiful that it's unforgettable at first glance.

The mech is only about 1.8 meters tall and has no cumbersome weapon configuration, only various streamlined lines.

The only protrusion is on the back, where the battery is located.

The compression propulsion system is smaller than that of the tank model, but there are more of them: six jet ports on the shoulders, back, and feet, symbolizing six small compression propulsion units.

"Hello, I am BT-Falcon 01." Its voice sounded like a gentle young girl, and you could even vaguely hear a hint of shyness in its voice.

"Cool~" V stroked it lovingly, the smooth nano-metal surface felt slippery to the touch, almost like it was coated with oil.

The Falcon adopted a very feminine and shy demeanor, extending its hands to protect itself in front of it: "I need to introduce myself first. Please wait a moment before checking my metal face, okay?"

V felt a strange sense of embarrassment at being rejected for his inappropriate behavior. He awkwardly smiled and withdrew his hand, while Rebecca suddenly turned to look at her round, dark Tank 01.
Then, she turned to Mercer meaningfully: "It's so nice, even V's armor is so shapely and beautiful."

"There's no way around it. You're not tall, but you need thick armor. A light mech wouldn't be very useful for you. Just shrinking to 165cm is already the limit."

I had even considered reducing the height further to ease your handling, but considering the armor's internal circuitry and compatibility with various weapons, I've done as much as you understand.

Mercer really had no choice; he couldn't just reduce the thickness of her armor for the sake of beauty, could he?

Although her mech looks a bit round and chubby, he assured her it would be incredibly agile and its armor would definitely be much thicker than V's.

Even if V's thing uses expensive nanomaterials, it can't possibly compare to Rebecca's thickest chest armor, which is tens of centimeters thick both front and back.

Her strength was definitely greater—Mercer felt he had done his best. The main problem was that Rebecca was short. If it were Mann or Jack, they would definitely look imposing and extraordinary, instead of the short, stocky, and cute one she was now.

"Tsk," Rebecca glanced down at her figure and gritted her teeth in annoyance.

She thought she could still grow a little more, but even Lucy is already 164 cm tall this year!
But she's still only 1.5 meters tall, damn it.

Hearing Rebecca's jealous voice, V felt even more pleased. He took a step back and stared intently at his mecha: "Tell me, what's so special about you?"

"Yes, I've only installed a shoulder cannon, capable of firing 40mm howitzers with an accurate range of 500 meters and a capacity of eight rounds. My arms are equipped with smart weapon connections and are compatible with your Mantis Blade prosthetic body."

The Falcon began to introduce its weapon configuration, but stopped after only a few words.

"That's it?" V was a little dumbfounded, then turned to look at Mercer.

She had heard Moser boast a lot about how he had spent a fortune on her.

The Falcon whispered, "I also have an electric drive booster system, and I fly very fast, have a long endurance, and my nano-armor is very sturdy."

“Be more confident, Falcon.” Mercer said with a frown, and Falcon immediately straightened up as if startled: “Yes! I’m very sorry! Creator!”

V turned and glared at him: "Don't scare my mecha!"

Mercer stood speechlessly with his hands on his hips—love really does transfer.

"Well, fewer weapon systems are fine, I like it." V reached out and hugged his mech, his eyes full of affection as he said, "As long as it's fast, that's all that matters. As Mercer said, in martial arts, speed is the ultimate weapon!"

"Yes, yes! I'm strong! Really strong!" The forced confidence in the falcon's tone was somewhat amusing.

Mercer shook his head, but just smiled and said a few words for her: "Don't be fooled by her weak voice, she scored very high in the AI ​​simulation test."

"You're even testing the AI?" V asked, somewhat curiously.

"Of course. These specialized mecha AIs not only need to be tested for things like personality stability and intelligence, but they also need to undergo real-world combat tests using simulation programs before they can be officially put into use."

Anything that fails the test will be re-optimized, and those with more serious problems may even need to be redone.

After Mercer finished speaking, he looked at the Falcon and smiled, "Your AI is the one I'm most satisfied with—it's because of the multiple optimizations that it always seems a bit insecure, but I believe it will surprise you in actual combat."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go! Let's go try it out in the Badlands!" V said impatiently, adding, "Let me put it on first, I want to see what it feels like!"

"Alright, you and Rebecca can both try these on and go back to your room! You have to take your clothes off to wear these, uh, not even underwear."

After Mercer finished speaking, he calmly said under V's suspicious gaze, "Because I put a nano combat suit inside. Once you put it on, it will automatically adapt to fit your muscles and body shape. Wearing it through clothing will cause problems with the nano combat suit's sensors."

Don't worry about what happens if the mech breaks down. It's like a bodysuit. You'll need to change into this combat suit before entering the mech. The combat suit can also be taken out and washed separately.

V then hugged his mecha and said, "Then you go drive, Rebecca and I will change into our mechas and we'll leave!"

"Actually, you don't have to carry me." Before Falcon could finish speaking, V carried him back to his room, a sight that made people both laugh and cry.

Rebecca's excitement had waned considerably. She patted her somewhat chubby frame, looked at the mecha that was a head taller than her, and simply said, "Let's go."

Tank strode forward, following beside her like an automated robot, its steady voice revealing little emotion: "While I may not be as aesthetically pleasing as the Falcon, please believe me, I will be your most loyal and reliable combat partner."

Rebecca grinned and patted its thick armor: "No problem, when you come back from this test, I'll give you a good coloring, I'll make sure you look cool enough!"

"Uh, if it's green, I might not like it." Tank's emotions finally showed a slight fluctuation.

Mercer watched the two of them go to change into their mechs, and then, facing the huge group of people staring at him, he smiled and promised, "Don't worry, as long as the prototype is fine, I'll place an order for the raw materials, and we can make two more within a month."

This time I've gained some design experience, so feel free to tell me any designs you like—from now on, when our Fireseed Squad goes out, everyone will have a single-soldier armor set. Haha, even the company's special agents won't have as much style as us.”

Jack rubbed his hands together, saying excitedly, "Really? One for everyone? These things must be expensive!"

"The cost of the individual armor adapted to the Berserk system is only around one million euros. Haha, don't worry, this will be considered part of the team's equipment expenses."

After Mercer finished speaking with a smile, he was still thinking: "When the time comes, I'll remove the AI, use the shell to trick Hansen into buying it, and say that it's a super single-soldier armor with the same design as the Arasaka exoskeleton."
"If we sell one set for three to five million, wouldn't we recoup all the costs?"

The core technology of the entire exoskeleton is actually the built-in AI program and algorithm. Without the assistance of AI and algorithm, this armor is, strictly speaking, a full-body armor version of a more flexible centaur exoskeleton.

Then install the same brain-computer interface driving method as Arasaka on him—this ridiculous direct brain-computer interface operation method can greatly improve the response speed of the personal armor, but the neural load...
In short, let Hansen find some unlucky guy to use it himself.

Moreover, Mercer thought he might be able to sell one to Hanz, and maybe another to Comtasia? He wondered if companies like Tsunami Defense and Midnight Military Industry would be interested in buying one.
Seeing the group packing up to leave together, Mercer quickly pulled two strong men over: "Jack, Pila, help me load the rest of the equipment onto the vehicle. This time we're going to test all the weapons and equipment."

“Uh, all of them?” Pila gasped. During this time, he had been Mercer’s assistant in the development of service equipment. Although he couldn’t keep up with Mercer’s thinking at all, he had done a lot of work for him, such as assembly, splicing and testing.

That's why no one knows better than him how many strange and wonderful weapons and equipment Mercer has come up with during this time, in addition to several major inventions.

For example, Mercer developed the mechanical whip while researching biomimetic mechanical structures during the development of the octopus arm, and made various cold weapons while researching metal materials.

And various electromagnetic weapons, missiles, firearms, grenades, as well as various unmanned robots derived from the development of personal armor.
"Of course, we need to see which of these things have practical value and which need improvement. After that, I will shift my research focus to biology and prosthetic development, drug research, and various chips."

For subsequent improvements to this equipment, I will provide you with the experimental directions and design ideas; you will then implement them.

Mercer said it as a matter of course.

Pila, however, looked troubled: "Boss, I'm not a genius like you. To be honest, I'm fine assisting you, but independent development... even if you give me the design ideas, it's no use. Give me some blueprints and maybe I can put something together."

Mercer patted him on the shoulder encouragingly: "Don't underestimate yourself. You've been following me for the past six months, and you've been using Relic's Deep Blue system to learn relevant knowledge every week."

With the work experience you've gained working with me, you're already on par with the designers and developers at large companies.

Have some confidence in yourself. I believe you have a real talent for technical development.

Mercer's words were half encouragement and half truth. He initially thought that Pira's potential was probably limited to the level of a street tech expert.

But to my surprise, although this guy complained about being tired and overworked all the time, he was actually quite patient when he was working. He had a natural talent for tinkering with various machines and circuit boards, and he was not lacking in talent when it came to equipment development.

Pila's technical skills began to improve rapidly after Mercer developed Relic's learning system, which allowed him to store large amounts of knowledge in his mind every week.

The knowledge forcibly instilled in his mind was digested through practice while designing and developing with Mercer. It can be said that his current level is enough to be a project director, although it might be a bit difficult for him.

However, if one simply follows Mercer's design philosophy and ideas, and completes project optimization and improvement within the established direction, it is not an impossible task for him.

“Uh…” Pila looked into Mercer’s eyes, scratched his head, and sighed: “Okay, I’ll give it a try. But then I won’t have time to go out and play.”
I said, "Boss, you promised I could go to the city and have some fun after I finished all this work, but yesterday I went to Liz and didn't even see a Mewtwo."

He gave a pitiful look: "I haven't even used up the membership card I bought before! I still want to go to Genting Highlands and have some fun."

Mercer slapped him on the back in an annoyed tone: "GO WORK! Keep a low profile for now. If everything goes smoothly after you meet Lai Xuan, we won't need to hide in Dogtown anymore."

"Okay, okay! Work! Work! I feel more pitiful than a company dog." Pila muttered, pulling Jack, who was trying not to laugh, to help Mercer move things. Mercer thought for a moment, but then simply picked up a large insulated box that he had placed in the workroom.

Inside was an octopus-shaped prosthetic arm and a prosthetic connector.

Since he was going to test it, there was no reason for him to leave his own stuff unused. He modified the octopus arm into a pluggable prosthetic and made a standard prosthetic interface himself, planning to install one first and see how it felt.

Mercer had actually considered a foldable, hidden design, but each of the octopus arms was two meters long. If it were folded up and placed on his back, it would mean that his back and shoulders would become even larger.

His hacker prosthetic body has already made him almost the size of a double-door refrigerator. Any bigger and he'll be approaching Mann's size. After thinking it over, he still thinks the plug-in type is the most convenient.

In the future, they might even be able to develop new prosthetic bodies that are plug-and-play and easy to replace, saving a lot of trouble.

Furthermore, standardized interfaces can be added to the mechs in the future, allowing them to be connected to the mechs and achieve a complementary effect between the prosthetic body and the equipment.

After Pila and Jack helped Mercer load everything into the car, Rebecca and V swaggered into the parking lot in their individual armored suits.

Wearing her armor, V nimbly jumped around a few times, struck a boxing pose, and then everyone heard a 'buzzing' sound from the electric drive inside her mech.

At the same time, the sound of her punch was so distinct that ordinary people couldn't even see her punching motion.

"Wow! Mercer! That's awesome! There's no lag at all!" V shouted excitedly, and then with a little effort, he jumped more than two meters high, feeling like his head was about to hit the ceiling.

Rebecca struck a powerful pose. At this moment, she looked like a short, stocky little chubby girl in her mecha suit, but her two thick arms could easily create gusts of wind with a casual swing, drawing attention from everyone.

Pila suppressed a laugh and nudged Mercer's arm: "Did you tell her that during the testing phase we called her armor 'Steel Egg'?"

"Shut up. If you dare tell her that, I'll say the design was your idea."

Mercer was also a little nervous, but his face remained calm as he smiled and said loudly, "Alright, let's try again outside. Get in the car!"

V's mecha was very light and easy to carry, feeling like she was just carrying a small backpack. She sat directly in the back seat of the armored vehicle, and the movements of opening the door and getting in were as easy as if she wasn't wearing any armor at all.

Rebecca is actually just as agile, but because of her limb length and heavy armor, she can only jump onto the bulletproof van loaded with weapons.

The van sank slightly, almost visibly.

Mercer said thoughtfully, "It seems we need to develop a more robust professional armored vehicle. Otherwise, if everyone is covered in armor and carries several tons of weight, ordinary vehicles simply won't be able to move."

As he spoke, he got into the driver's seat of the van.

Pila sat in the passenger seat, shrugged, and said, "Why don't you just contact Polaris? She works for the old captain now, and she probably even knows how to build cars."

Yes, Polaris was often idle and bored, so she eventually asked Mercer if she could find a job. At first, she wanted to drive a taxi, meaning she wanted to have a head-on confrontation with Delaman to see who was the AI ​​driving king in the city.

But Mercer didn't want her to be targeted by internet monitors. What if some idiot tried to cause trouble and sent her a virus as soon as she got on the bus? She was connected to Mercer's server!

So they simply sent her to work for the old captain—as a technical expert, working remotely online.

He was in charge of modifying and repairing cars and the car's infotainment system, and he still managed to contribute at least tens of thousands of euros to Mercer's income each month, with the most he earned in a single month being more than 200,000 euros!
The old captain probably still thinks Polaris is a real tech genius. It just goes to show how powerful AI is, especially highly intelligent AI. If it were used freely, ordinary people probably wouldn't even have a job opportunity to tighten screws.

Mercer decisively assigned the mission to Polaris, who excitedly agreed immediately.

[Polaris: I'm planning to use a reinforced Makino behemoth chassis, add a Behemoth engine, and a blade battery to create a hybrid-drive heavy armored vehicle. What do you think?]

Mercer: Approved. As long as we can guarantee it can move while carrying a truckload of armored soldiers, it's fine.

[Polaris: No problem! I'll send you the quote right away!]

She gave Mercer a quote of 700,000 euros, and Mercer did not hesitate to have Morning Star approve the payment.

Polaris quickly gave Mercer an exact time.

[Polaris: I'll get it done for you within a month! By the way, Master~ your octopus arm design is really brilliant! What if this were used by AI?]

Mercer chuckled twice without saying a word, causing Pila, who was driving next to him, to glance at him slightly.

Mercer: What do you need a robotic arm for?

[Polaris: Then I can assemble cars myself! Would you be interested in investing in my car modification shop? I can use robotic arms to work, and robots to handle the human resources part, sales, etc., all remotely.] She started to enthusiastically promote the shop to Mercer.

Mercer just found it somewhat amusing.

[Mercer: You've been working with the old captain for a few months, you've learned quite a bit about doing business, haven't you?]

[Polaris: Based on my analysis, as well as the clients and reputation I have built, I believe we have a high probability of recovering our investment within six months and earning more than three times the principal within a year.]

It will also allow me to accumulate a lot of experience in modifying cars, and maybe we can start our own car brand later! Master~ Please consider it~

Mercer shook his head, but did not refuse. He simply said, "I don't have time to handle these things. You can discuss it with Qimingxing. If she thinks it's okay, then I'll agree. Have her allocate funds to you from my account. She's in charge of my finances now."

Yes, currently the entire team's finances are handled by Qimingxing. She even knows how to manage money, helping Mercer use idle funds to invest in stocks. The returns are quite good.

Thanks to the ctOS system, she can now make a fortune in the stock market simply by analyzing various insider information.

To be honest, Mercer's research is actually more expensive than V and Lucy know, but he has the Morning Star and North Star secretly making money for him, which is why his research funding has never been lacking.

Qimingxing was like a dutiful wife who supported her scumbag boyfriend, happily telling him every time she earned money that she could buy him things, and Mercer never refused.
But precisely because of this, he has never been able to accumulate enough capital for Qimingxing to make money in the stock market.
But Mercer had a plan – once Arasaka's warrant was lifted and he could walk openly in Night City, he planned to start a company.

With the tax breaks Night City offers to companies, they can treat all the commissions earned by the team as company income and capital. They can then register several patents, conduct several high-value assessments of the company, and use this information to apply for bank loans.
They used all the loan money to invest in stocks for Qimingxing.

Let her fleece the韭菜 (a metaphor for exploited people) and make money from money; that's the right way to operate capitalism.

The car drove all the way from the base to the checkpoint. The Ghost Hounds let the car through without even bothering with an inspection—Mercer hadn't been doing his job with the Ghost Hounds for nothing.

While he was taking advantage of Hansen, he also made sure to pick and choose among the Ghosthounds and win over some friends.

With Qimingxing doing big data analysis for him, he could find the most suitable people to win over with almost no effort. Some were new recruits struggling to make ends meet, some were squad leaders who were suppressed and not valued, and some were researchers.

Besides keeping his distance from Hansen's die-hard supporters, Mercer, though nominally just an equipment design director, actually used money to pave the way to become a hidden, powerful executive in the Ghosthounds.

The equipment design department is very lucrative. As long as there is money to be made, there will be many friends. Even if Mercer is not interested in money, he can use his position to decide which soldiers can use the new equipment first.

Although Hansen was wary—he was just a warlord, and how could a warlord stop his subordinates from extorting money and seeking personal gain?
Relying on strength? Ha, to be honest, with the Mercer Squad's exaggerated achievements in the past six months, which of these Netherhounds, who already believed in prioritizing strength, wouldn't be convinced of the Fire Seed Squad's abilities?

When V has nothing to do, she sometimes goes to the training base of the Ghost Hounds to serve as a guest instructor—of course, in her words, she just gets itchy hands and needs to find a few punching bags to play with.

Mercer was willing to spend money to bribe officials and use his position to give priority to the Ghost Hounds he had a good relationship with, providing them with new and good equipment.

His Fire Seed Squad is incredibly powerful and quite famous.

So even though he was a newcomer and didn't hold any position related to military power, in the eyes of most of the Netherworld Dogs, he was already close to the third or fourth in command within the organization.

They didn't understand Mercer and Hansen's dealings; they only knew that he was nominally a director, had a group of powerful men under his command, had good relationships with many officers, and often gave his men perks.
Hansen also instructed his subordinates not to offend Mercer—he truly couldn't find another person who could technically replace Mercer. At least Mercer was paid to do things, while the other researchers might not be able to produce anything even if they were given money!

This further fueled Mercer's momentum.

"Director Mercer, going out again?" The Ghost Hound soldiers cheerfully opened the gate to let them pass.

Mercer simply rolled down the car window and casually handed over a small stack of banknotes. Although they were all in denominations of 20, they still added up to a considerable sum: "Yeah, take this and treat the brothers to a few drinks."

The squad leader of the Ghost Hound, responsible for guarding the gate, skillfully took the banknotes and saluted without saying a word: "Yes, sir! Thank you, Commander!"

Mercer waved his hand and rolled up the car window, while Pila said with a hint of sourness, "Damn, all these guys know how to do when they see me is ask, 'Are we going to the Ritz or the Big Bird today?'"

"Because you're stingy!" Rebecca, dressed in armor, said in a muffled voice from the back of the van. Then she paused and said to Mercer, "Hey? This AI says it wants to bind my biometric information to mine, how do I do that?"

"It's about authorization. You enable biometric authentication and also grant it access to the prosthetic body's detection program. It will use algorithms to assess your body's condition to work with you, optimize its output, and develop a combat style."

After Mercer finished speaking, he couldn't help but add, "I bet V just agreed to the permission request from AI without even thinking about it."

I'm really worried that one day some hacker will send her a message saying, 'I'm A, send me 50,000 euros,' and she'll be stupid enough to transfer the money right away.

"Haha~ She definitely won't doubt what you give her." Pila chuckled, trying to smooth things over. He dared not get involved in Mercer and V's interaction.

Rebecca glanced at him sideways, the tactical visors on her armored hood flashing a dangerous red light: "Oh, so it was because I didn't trust you enough."

“Uh…” Pila was speechless for a moment.

Amidst laughter and chatter, the three cars drove together toward the Badlands. Only when all that remained was barren land did someone finally ask him where their destination was.

[V: Where are we going to take measurements? It looks like we're heading up Stone Ridge Mountain.]

[Mercer: How can we test equipment without opponents? The Stone Ridge Gang, the local gang that calls themselves Night Wanderers, has their stronghold nearby. We'll find their hideout to test our weapons and equipment.]

[V: Damn! A real battle? But I didn't bring anything!]

[Mercer: Are you stupid? You're here to test weapons, what are you bringing?]

【V：.】

She didn't reply.

What's wrong with this girl? She seems to be getting sillier lately, a stark contrast to the increasingly mature Rebecca, Lucy, and even Apricot.

No, I have to go to Lao Wei's place later and have her tested. I hope she didn't even manage to maintain an IQ of 6.

Or is it caused by muscles that are too strong?
He couldn't help but laugh. Luckily, V sent the message to him in a private chat. If it had been in a group chat, he probably would have been depressed by now.

The car quickly arrived at the designated location, and Polaris automatically parked the car. Then Mercer led everyone to get out of the car on a hillside.

He looked into the distance and soon spotted a group of abandoned buildings along the highway about three kilometers away.

"According to intelligence, that's the hideout of a group of night ghosts. They usually like to hang out here, robbing passing cars or doing dirty work and then resting here."

V, Rebecca, these things are all yours to handle. Take these big treasures and give them a try.

As Mercer spoke, he opened the back door of the van, and Rebecca jumped out, landing on the ground with a slight jolt.

"I feel like I've grown quite a bit taller, and I'm still not used to it." Rebecca awkwardly turned her head to look at Mercer and bounced around on the ground a couple of times.

"The main problem is that if your armor were any shorter, you'd really look like a steel ball." Before Pila could finish speaking, she was startled by the missile launcher on Rebecca's shoulder that automatically turned and locked on, making her eyebrows fly up.

"Damn it! Don't try to scare people with this!" Pila immediately hid behind Mercer, and sure enough, the launcher retracted to its shoulder and canceled the aiming.

Rebecca snorted, then excitedly asked, "Can I fly now?"

"Yes, you guys start by flying at low altitude to get a feel for it. It's not that difficult, because the AI ​​will automatically and dynamically adjust the thruster output to keep you balanced. It can understand how you want to fly through your thought data—damn, wait until I finish!"

Before Mercer could finish speaking, he saw blue flames suddenly erupt from behind Rebecca, her heels also flaming up, and she was sent flying into the air with a whoosh.

She screamed, but quickly and steadily stood upright in the air.

Before Rebecca could even excitedly say a few words, a white shadow suddenly flew into the sky.

V let out a whooshing sound, and in the blink of an eye, it stirred up a gust of wind and flew to a high place. Without pausing at all, it flew to a position of tens of meters, or even hundreds of meters, in the blink of an eye.

Rebecca hesitated for a moment: "Damn, what if this thing runs out of thrust halfway through?"

“Your four engines are all individually controlled. The AI ​​can ensure a single-engine landing. If all four fail, you have an emergency disposable small parachute on your back. Well, if the parachute also fails to open, then it's over.”

Mercer shrugged and said, "Low-altitude flight, huh? Your armor wasn't originally designed for high-altitude maneuvering combat; it only has a ten-minute endurance."

Rebecca glanced at V, who was flying around in the sky and shouting in the team voice chat, and finally couldn't resist. She turned on all the engines and took to the sky as well.

At first I was a little nervous, but I soon became excited and burst into laughter.

Everyone standing next to Mercer was incredibly envious.

"Damn, this is definitely way more fun than riding a motorcycle!" Jack muttered to himself.

Mann's tactical goggles glowed as he clicked his tongue in amazement, saying, "This kind of mobile individual armor is truly invincible in urban warfare. There are tall buildings everywhere, and it's small and fast, so ordinary anti-aircraft missiles simply can't lock onto it and hit it."

"In essence, flight capability is only used for traveling and emergency maneuvering. The original intention of these two suits of armor was to facilitate ground combat."

As Mercer spoke, seeing that the two had flown for a while, he quickly called them down, especially Rebecca, whose thing could only fly for about ten minutes.

V landed gracefully, making a deep crater in the ground, but she quickly got up, touched her knee, and excitedly said, "It really doesn't hurt at all!"

She was extremely satisfied with the cushioning effect of the nanomaterials. Combined with her superhuman physical abilities, she even felt that she could jump directly from a height of twenty meters without getting hurt.

Mercer tossed her a miniature submachine gun: "This was specially modified for you. It's based on the Compton Classic submachine gun. I call it 'Victory.' It's compatible with armored AI intelligent fire control aiming, or V-type submachine gun for short."

The intelligent electromagnetic bullet is specifically designed to deal with certain opponents that are difficult to handle with the Mantis Blade, such as iron lumps like Adam's Hammer.

Sustained hits from electromagnetic projectiles could potentially cause an EMP blast, directly penetrating armor and damaging the enemy's internal circuitry.

V picked up the submachine gun and looked at the pristine white weapon, on which was engraved the beautiful artistic words 'Victory For V'.

Hmph, they're quite thoughtful!

V picked up the submachine gun with a smug grin: "Not bad, it's pretty nice."

"and this."

Mercer rummaged through the van and even pulled out a samurai sword—actually, Mercer wanted to do something fancy for her, like getting her a Mo Dao, Tang Dao, or Miao Dao.

However, considering that the only long sword V usually uses is a samurai sword, Mercer decided not to artificially increase the difficulty for her.

"This knife also uses high-frequency nano-metal technology. When the switch is turned on, the high-speed vibrating blade is extremely sharp and can be used against armored enemies."

Your mantis knife works well under normal circumstances, but it's prone to breaking under high-speed swings. I've conducted simulations, and if swung under the accelerated impact of a mech, there's a 30% chance your mantis knife will suffer mechanical failure.

Mercer looked at V seriously and said, "If it's close combat, use the Mantis Blade. If you need to swing with all your might during a high-speed attack, then use this blade."

V picked up the katana with obvious delight and examined it. From the ratio of the thickness of the blade to the back of the blade, it was clear that this sword was made by a revolving door for slashing. The hilt was wrapped with a beautiful white cloth, and a V and a smiley face were engraved on the tsuba.

"Tsk, why did you put your smiley face on my knife? But, apart from that, it looks pretty good."

V happily took it in his hand, and then discovered that this thing could also be tied directly to the waist, with a special cold weapon hook.

Rebecca stared at Mercer: "And what about me?"

Mercer then searched the van again and took out the large axe first.

Rebecca grabbed it and swung it around a couple of times: "This thing is pretty fun to chop with, but where do you put it when you're not using it?"

"This is detachable. The axe can be removed and hung on the outside of the left arm as a shield, or you can swing it directly with your arm. The long handle can be inserted into this hole on the shoulder. When you need to assemble it, it is all snap-on, which is very convenient."

After Mercer finished speaking, he took out a super-sized shotgun that looked a bit exaggerated from the trunk of the van. At first glance, its appearance was somewhat similar to his Zhuo-style shotgun.

Rebecca glanced at it and immediately screamed excitedly, "What is that?!"

"Hmph, your Ironclad PROMAX!" Mercer laughed after saying that. "To be precise, I call it the Peacemaker."

"It adopts a design similar to my Zoe shotgun, but it is actually closer to Adam Hammer's eight-star gun. Adam Hammer changed the round bullets inside into micro missiles, while mine is a smart dragon breath bullet."

Mercer handed her the big treasure and said, "This thing can fire eight dragon breath bullets at once. When these dragon breath bullets explode on the enemy, they not only contain eight warheads, but also burst with high-temperature flames."

Dragon's Breath bombs typically use large amounts of magnesium to create instantaneous high temperatures, but I added an incendiary agent formulated with alcohol 2.
So theoretically, when this thing is fired, the bullet will first make several holes, then the incendiary agent will fall on the enemy, and finally the high temperature of magnesium will ignite it.

It works perfectly against flesh and blood, and against mechanical units, the high temperature and the flames continuously burning the propellant may also be surprisingly effective.

Rebecca whistled and exclaimed excitedly, "This thing of mine can explode with fire when it's used? That's so cool!"

She looked at it over and over, and even saw her name and a simple message at the end of the gun.

'For Rebecca'.

'For Love and peace'.

There was even an anime-style image of a person with twin ponytails printed on the gun handle.

She held the thing tightly, looking at it from all angles.

But Mann, with his sharp eyes, said at that moment, "It seems like someone at the outpost over there has noticed something's wrong. I saw a figure looking this way on alert."

Mercer smirked, opened his palm, and looked into the distance: "So, ladies, what are you waiting for?"

V and Rebecca exchanged a glance, and then, without saying a word, V raised his katana and excitedly said, "I'll draw blood first!"

This time, instead of flying, she decided to try running on the ground—and so, in the blink of an eye, she was already almost a hundred meters away!

Watching V's compressor thrusters spew fire as he sped further and further away, Rebecca, holding an axe in one hand and a shotgun in the other, cursed in frustration, "If you don't leave me a few today, I'm not done with you!"

Her black mecha's thrusters were also pulled to their maximum. With the activation of Krenchikov and the Berserk System, she sprinted away into the distance, her footsteps echoing like drumbeats.

The series of footsteps was as fast as firecrackers—they disappeared in the blink of an eye, chasing after V's retreating figure.

Jack gasped, his eyes filled with even more envy: "So this tank-type armor can run this fast?"

"Don't you need us to lend a hand?" Lucy was a little envious, not of the armor, but because she could tell that these things, whether armor or weapons, were handmade items that Mercer had custom-made for them.

"Don't worry. Besides, with Rebecca's physical abilities, she can probably run at speeds of 30-60 meters per second now. Of course, in actual combat, the speed can't be that fast. The inertia of a tank is too great, and it's easy to lose control if you run too fast."

As soon as Mercer finished speaking, they saw V had already stormed into the Night Wanderer's stronghold in the distance, and the screams and shouts could be heard from three kilometers away.

What's even more unbearable to watch is Rebecca's inability to stop—she crashed headfirst into a container house, and then crashed out the other end.

She seemed a little dazed from the impact, but then she laughed wildly, raised her shotgun, and fired a shot, setting the dilapidated, makeshift house on fire.

Flames soared into the sky, and screams mingled with V and Rebecca's excited laughter.

The group looked at each other in bewilderment.

"I'm saying, isn't our art style a little... wicked?"

Xingzi, who had only come to join in the fun, felt a little guilty and turned her face away.

Is it evil?
Mercer simply gazed into the distance, his arms crossed contentedly in front of him: "What do you know! An anti-hero is still a hero!"

After watching for a while, he suddenly thought of something and slapped his forehead.

He hasn't tested any of his drones, robots, robot dogs, or robot spiders yet!
Ugh.
He could only open the map and ask the morning star.

[Mercer: Where's the next shooting range?]

[Morning Star: Hmm, here?]

She highlighted an area on the map.

[Mercer: Isn't this the headquarters of the Voodoo Gang?]

[Morning Star: Yes, but this is also the largest testing ground in the vicinity, isn't it? By the way, that Voodoo Gang member has been urging you to lend a hand several times, and my computing power is a bit strained lately.]

Mercer stroked his chin, seemingly lost in thought.

He felt he was getting the short end of the stick by taking down the Voodoo Gang for free.

so.
First-rate mercenaries complete commissions, top-tier mercenaries create commissions.

He squinted and gave a kind smile.

It's time to make a killing.

(End of this chapter)