Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 58 I'm Not Human Anymore! (1.2 Votes Requested)

Mercer grabbed V's hand that was pressed against his neck and, before he could roll his head back, raised his hands in surrender: "I'm going to die! I'm going to die!"

V finally let go, her face still red: "Hurry up and forget about it! You'd better delete all data related to me from your brain! Don't overthink it, you hear me?"

"I didn't think much of it. Okay, okay, I won't mention it again, I promise."

After Mercer finished speaking, V blushed and stood up from her chair: "I'm going out for a drink, do you want one?"

"Drink, iced cola, small cola, not the Cyrus kind, thank you." After Mercer finished speaking, V quickly walked out as if he were escaping.

Old Wei arrived late and brushed past her, teasing, "Why did you make her blush so much? What's wrong with you, doctor?"

"She suspects I took the photo using a prosthetic eye. This person with an IQ of 6 is just hopeless; she completely doesn't understand what a maxed-out IQ means. Do I need to take a photo to remember what I want to remember?"

Mercer joked, and Victor chuckled before his expression turned serious: "You really want to fill the rest?"

"Come on, let's get this done in one go. I probably won't have time to come for a while afterward."

Mercer said directly, his expression firm: "You can see that the previous installations didn't affect me at all. Since that's the case, let's get it right the first time."

“I hope you won’t regret it,” Victor sighed.

"Don't forget, I also know about prosthetic surgery. Don't worry, I'm aware of the consequences of the surgery." After Mercer finished speaking, Old Wei didn't say anything more.

When V came in, Mercer took the Coke from her and took a sip: "V, go and sit with Qiwei at Misty's place."

"Alright, you mysterious old V, is he really ugly?" V looked at old V, his heart itching with curiosity.

Want to see it!

Damn it, I showed him all my nakedness, and I still don't even know what he looks like.

That's unfair! That's unfair!

"Well, in my personal opinion, he should be considered good-looking." Victor said honestly. Although Mercer's face was still young, his features were basically set. Once the childishness was gone, he would definitely be considered a very handsome young man.

"Damn, then why are you hiding it?" V muttered.

Mercer laughed: "How about this, after we finish that biotechnology deal, I'll take off my mask in front of you all, okay?"

"You keep your word?" V exclaimed excitedly.

"I keep my word." Mercer nodded.

V then walked out of the clinic happily, pulled Qiwei, who was smoking at the door, and went to sit with Misty.

Mercer turned to Old Vieux and asked, "Old Vieux, how much did they spend?"

"Let me calculate," Old Wei gave a figure: "Just give me 180,000 euros for your two girls' surgery fees."

"But you haven't made any money from me." Mercer felt a little ashamed. He had seen Old Wei's purchase price and he hadn't made a single penny from him on the prosthetic body.

"Alright, I know you're just starting out and need money everywhere." Victor chuckled twice. "Once you've made it big and things are on track, you'll have to keep supporting my business."

"Don't worry, old Vince," Mercer assured him, "I can't possibly take over your job entirely."

“I see, so some girls are planning to do all their own full-body surgeries, right?” Victor suppressed a laugh. “What’s going on between you and V? Do you really like her?”

"I have some feelings for him, but it's not as serious as saying I like him. How should I put it? I'll just let things take their course."

After Mercer finished speaking, Old Wei shook his head: "If you're in this line of work, I'd say you have to be proactive and quick to avoid regrets. It's just that your face is definitely a disadvantage."

“I’m a genuine eighteen-year-old! So what if I look a little younger?” Mercer said matter-of-factly.

"You've got to be kidding me, eighteen years old," Old Wei scoffed.

“Even if the Heavenly King himself came, I would still be eighteen years old. It’s written in the household registration of Night City.”

Mercer wasn't ashamed at all.

"Alright, alright, eighteen is eighteen." Old Wei picked up the equipment, his expression turning serious: "The network access chamber and synapse accelerator are fine, but the heat dissipation modification... you'll have to get used to mechanization."

At that time, your entire chest cavity will be a mechanical structure, with only a little skin and flesh, and some blood vessels will be real.

If you want to switch back, that would be a real hassle; it would require major surgery to reconstruct your bones, flesh, and blood vessels.

I've done some research, and that thing puts a lot of strain on your heart. Given your small frame, your athletic ability will probably decline significantly afterward.

"Come on, at worst we'll replace the coronary heart and stuff, and give me a huge boost of muscle-enhancing components too," Mercer said nonchalantly.

“You need to add some muscle-enhancing components, otherwise your small frame won’t be able to handle such a large amount of heat dissipation. And looking at the heat dissipation design, your original lungs probably won’t be able to withstand it either. You’ll have to replace them with synthetic ones sooner or later.”

Old Wei sighed: "This is the surgical plan. Take a look. We'll have to remove your entire shoulder and neck, along with the back of your skull."
Then, use muscle-enhancing components and titanium bones to strengthen your shoulders, neck, and spine, expand your frame, and you'll look a size bigger.

Cooling also needs to be connected to your heart and lungs. Finally, coolant must be injected.

Otherwise, if the heat is dissipated directly through your blood, the cooling efficiency will hardly meet the preset targets of this cooling system, unless you want to use your brain a little and turn the cooling power up to the maximum.

After reading it, Mercer nodded without hesitation: "Let's do it this way. I brought a syringe of coolant with me anyway. According to the instructions, one syringe should be enough for several months."

"Oh, right, Lao Wei, you also need to install a smart handpiece for me. I bought a smart weapon."

"Okay, compared to your hacker prosthetic body, that thing is no burden at all. Lie down, I'll start with the network access module."

Seeing that he had made up his mind, Victor could only sigh inwardly and begin preparing for the surgery.

This was the first time he had ever done this kind of rehabilitation for a minor, and he felt really bad about it.

Even if Mercer could bear it, he didn't like seeing a child like this. Just looking at it made his heart ache.

But seeing Mercer, as the team's leader, build such a team in just two days, find a genius like V, and gain their trust, is truly remarkable.
Victor knew that Mercer had a heavy responsibility on his shoulders, so he couldn't bring himself to say anything to stop him.

Mercer's heart wasn't as calm as he appeared; the mechanization of his body made him a little uneasy.

The feeling of abandoning his physical body was not as wonderful as he had imagined. If he could, he would still prefer to live as a complete human being.

But Mercer cannot stop.

Oh shit!

I'm not going to be human anymore!!

He closed his eyes, received an anesthetic injection, and then fell into a deep sleep.

When Mercer woke up, he saw a machine rotating around his arm, running automatically, drawing circuits and welding prosthetics into his palm.

"This is installing a smart connection on your hand. It'll only take a few minutes. Are you uncomfortable? Don't move yet." Victor asked with concern.

Mercer remained motionless, closed his eyes, and sensed it: "My back feels chilly, and my neck feels chilly too."

“They’ve all been hollowed out by machines, and the blood has been mixed with coolant, so it’ll definitely feel chilly,” Victor said in a heavy tone.

"Hmm, my head feels swollen too. Is it because of the synaptic accelerator I installed?"

Mercer said, quickly regaining full consciousness from the anesthesia: "I need to try connecting to the internet, overclock my brain-computer interface, and check the heat dissipation."

"You need to sit up. Once your cooling system is activated, the shark gill-like vents on your back and neck will expel hot air."

From now on, don't dress too conservatively; be prepared to wear backless dresses.

After Lao Wei finished speaking, Mercer was not in a hurry and patiently waited for the smart hand connection to be installed: "It's no big deal. I even bought modular ones specifically for the customer service team, just to be compatible with this heat dissipation system."

When the time comes, we just need to align the heat dissipation on the back with the correct position and create a perforated design.

I'm just a little curious about what I look like now.

Mercer reached out and touched his neck with the hand that wasn't in surgery, but only felt a layer of cold metal.

He was silent for a moment, and the image of the inhuman-like lark in the DLC suddenly came to mind, but then he just smiled and said, "Pretty cool, isn't it?"

"I hope you truly believe that."

Victor could see his expression: "A prosthetic body isn't something you can't take off once you install it. Even with your level of modification, with current technology, you can turn back into a flesh-and-blood body at any time."

"I know, but... let's leave it at that."

Mercer smiled, and after the smart connection on his palm was installed, he withdrew his hand and stretched it out: "It feels good. I think the strength in my arms has increased."

"The muscle-enhancing components will definitely make you feel much stronger; you're noticeably bigger now."

After Victor finished speaking, he pointed to the bathroom: "Go take a look. When you come back, test the heat dissipation and the performance of your network access bay."

Mercer hummed in agreement, then got up and went to the bathroom.

Looking at the guy in the mirror, his first thought was—he's grown taller.

His entire upper body, starting from his stomach, was a whole size bigger.

The stitched skin shows obvious black lines, and the chest and shoulder muscles are noticeably larger.

He's grown almost four or five centimeters taller, and looks to be about 1.73 or 1.74 meters tall.

Black heat dissipation material replaced the skin on his neck. It looked normal from the front, but when Mercer turned around, his back was almost entirely black machinery.

From his shoulders down to his lower back, all that remained was cold metal. At that moment, with a thought, a heat dissipation system, like shark gills or scales, lifted the cover, revealing the cold mechanical structure inside.

There was no flesh or blood to be seen; all that could be seen was a complex pile of machinery and bright red wiring.

Mercer's original internal organs, which had not yet been modified, were also covered and interspersed with many mechanical components.

It was a strange feeling—I could still feel my back, and my sense of touch and temperature were still there, just a little dulled, but my back didn't look human at all.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Mercer felt weak for the first time. His muscles had clearly become stronger, but his body felt limp.

"How is it?" Victor asked, looking at him.

Mercer nodded: "It's alright, but after a few steps I felt a bit weak."

"You need to eat more these next few days, and you need to keep up with the nutritional supplements. This prosthetic body takes a much bigger toll on your body than you think."

You need to adapt for a while. If you feel that your heart and lungs can't handle it, then you'll have to come back for further modifications.

The original goal of this cooling system was probably to mechanize your heart and lungs as well. I can't get the matching mechanical components for you, so I can only use synthetic lungs and heart.

"Come on, let's test the efficiency of your prosthetic body and see how effective it is."

As Victor spoke, Mercer returned to the operating chair.

After connecting the data cable and setting up the scanner, Lao Wei's voice came from beside my ear: "Let's first measure the rate of time slowing down of your synaptic accelerometer."

Mercer hummed in agreement; with just a thought, the synaptic accelerator in his brain was activated.

Like Krenzikov, synaptic accelerators are devices that accelerate the nervous system and can put a person into a bullet-time-like state after activation.

Mercer felt everything before him suddenly slow down, but this scene suddenly seemed somewhat familiar to him.

A thought flashed through his mind and he realized why it felt familiar—wasn't this the state of accelerated thinking that he instinctively entered when he was deep diving?

He could feel his brain become incredibly active in that instant, and at the same time, the heat dissipation cover on his back suddenly popped open, and a mechanical buzzing sound emanated from within him.

Mercer could clearly feel the cool liquid beginning to circulate within his body. He couldn't tell if it was blood or coolant; the fluid was rapidly cooling down through high-speed circulation under the machine's operation.

My heart was pounding violently, and a large amount of blood was almost squeezed out of my body by the machine to participate in circulation. My lungs also seemed to be forcibly enlarged by the prosthetic body, which enhanced my breathing.

Mercer could hear the sounds of exhalation and inhalation coming from his back; the heat dissipation prosthesis connected to his lungs was almost directly oxygenating his lungs like a machine.

At the same time, the pipes are also using wind power to dissipate heat, and a large amount of hot air is being directly expelled from the body, while the cold air outside is being drawn into the prosthetic body and circulated within the body.
This series of powerful heat dissipation technologies brings Mercer an even more powerful ability to accelerate thought processes through the synaptic accelerator.

Mercer remained silent, but patiently observed for a while. After about seven or eight seconds, he turned off the synaptic accelerometer on his own.

After his thoughts returned to normal, he felt a little dizzy, and his lungs and heart also ached slightly.

"How about it?"

Victor looked a little nervous: "I think the data is a bit exaggerated."
In theory, although your synaptic accelerator's theoretical data can achieve a maximum time slowdown of 72%, this does not mean that everyone can directly adapt to such a speed and directly reach the peak.

You're practically overclocking your synapse accelerator! How's your body? Can it handle it?

"I could handle it. It felt similar to what I experienced while deep diving—I once connected directly to a large server and, with its computing power and professional cooling, I had a similar experience while deep diving."

"That's fantastic, Vee! This means I can now accelerate my thinking in the real world just like when I'm deep-sea diving!"

Mercer looked very excited: "Let's try connecting to the network again. I need to try out this new network access pod!"

"Okay, take it easy. It's best to slow down and let your body adjust."

Victor looked worried.

"Let's test how much of my capabilities this network access module can achieve," Mercer said, and then eagerly connected and activated the network access module in his head.

Mercer's eyes gleamed: "Fantastic! The data transmission speed and volume are almost double that of my previous piece of junk!"
The latency is very low, extremely low! It's almost as low as the latency I experience during deep-sea diving!
I need to test the maximum power output after brain-computer interface overclocking.

Before Lao Wei could speak, he immediately activated brain-computer interface overclocking.

Mercer's back heatsink started humming mechanically again. He sat cross-legged in his chair, and Old Vi could even feel the heat emanating from his back.

"Very good, excellent! For the first time, I didn't feel my head getting hot the moment I started overclocking. The heat dissipation is sufficient to support me in completing brain-computer interface overclocking for at least fifteen seconds without any impact!"
What if we add synaptic accelerators?

Mercer activated the synaptic accelerator in his brain while his brain was overclocked.

In that instant, he felt as if the world had stood still.

Brain-computer interface overclocking already accelerated his thinking, but with the addition of a synaptic accelerator, the speed at which his brain operates and processes information has even surpassed the speed he used during his previous deep dive!

His brain began to heat up uncontrollably again.

The humming sound from the cooling system behind him almost turned into a roar, and Mercer even felt as if a car engine was roaring inside his chest.

Mercer tried to transmit data using the network access pod. He looked toward Old Vieux's clinic and stared at the equipment in his room.

The camera was hacked in 0.2 seconds and connected to the display signal of the prosthetic eye.

The networked computer in Old Wei's room hacked into the target subnet, uploaded the puppet, and gained control in just 0.5 seconds!
This wasn't Mercer's limit; rather, the machines themselves could only receive a limited amount of data per millisecond. If he hacked any faster, the machines would overheat from receiving too much data.

For Old Wei, what was happening before his eyes was a bit frightening—Mercer's heat dissipation suddenly roared like an engine, and the hot air spewing from his back almost formed white mist.

All the networked devices in the room were emitting a whistling sound that would never normally be heard, as their processors and heat sinks were working overtime.

Hey! Mercer!

Victor nervously raised his voice.

Mercer blinked and stopped what he was doing. Before he could speak, his expression suddenly changed.

Old Wei reacted quickly, grabbing a trash can and handing it to him: "You're a madman."

"Ugh!" Mercer was too busy to speak, the heat sink behind him was still working, and he vomited violently, even bleeding from his nose.

The blood from the nose is no longer a deep red; it has become lighter, with a faint bluish tinge.

After a while, Mercer wiped the blood from his nose, took a deep breath, and said, "I think I understand. Running brain-computer interfaces and synaptic accelerators at the same time is still quite a burden for me."

When I'm deep-sea diving, as a conscious being, I can use the computing power of the hacker chair to share the computational burden, but now it's all on my head. Even if the heat dissipation can handle it, my brain will still malfunction due to overclocking.

The human body is so fragile! I feel my heart pounding and my lungs burning. It seems that artificial hearts and synthetic lungs will be necessary in the future.

Mercer assessed the situation and concluded, "Theoretically, the current maximum operating time is three seconds, but I think it's best if I don't activate brain-computer interface overclocking when the synaptic accelerator is on in the future."

Alternatively, once enabled, I should control the amount of data I receive and output while my thinking is accelerated.

The state I was in just now made me feel like I had become a machine with no limits. Even if my heat dissipation and brain could handle it, my other physical components couldn't keep up.

But this network access warehouse is really good; it can handle such a large volume of data exchange, has ample memory, and the built-in coprocessor's computing power is also quite high, at least 40% higher than before.

He coughed twice.

Victor quickly helped him lie down to rest: "You tested it too extreme! Did you use the equipment in my room to do the test?"

"Uh, I just instinctively wanted to try out any connected devices I saw. Sorry, Lao Wei."

Mercer offered a sincere apology.

"It's nothing, I'm just worried you'll get hurt."

Victor frowned, looking at the data. After a long while, he sighed and said, "It seems I was being a bit too optimistic."

Mercer, when you use this experimental prosthetic body, you have to be careful. Even compared to Arasaka's advanced hackers, they can only reach 60% of your instantaneous computing power at full power. I'm talking about their peak performance, while you're comparing your average performance.

The actual power of the network receiver you are using while it is running exceeds even the maximum power originally designed for this prosthetic body.
This prosthetic device has no power limit protection. In other words, once you enable brain-computer interface overclocking, all the protection limits of your prosthetic device will be invalidated, which means you will completely unleash your brain's computing power.

If you then activate a synaptic accelerator to further accelerate your brain's processing power, it will reach near its theoretical limit, or even exceed it.

Even if your brain is accelerated to its limit, the amount of data that the network access chamber can receive and transmit per second is limited, even if it is a regular network access chamber.

However, your network access bay has a very large design redundancy, which I suspect is to reserve space for built-in AI activities.

But you've used your brain to fully utilize that part of the space!

This is not the amount of data that humans can process in a short time!

Forcing your brain to such an overclocked level, even with cooling systems to help cool it down, will still overwhelm it due to other factors.

My suggestion is that if you absolutely must use both simultaneously, it's best to add a limit to the network access module, reduce your maximum data transfer volume, artificially add power protection to your brain's power, and lower the maximum frequency when overclocking.

Or, you could take it easy.

Mercer nodded, having grasped the key point.

Synaptic accelerators and brain-computer interfaces can be used together.

However, in this state, it's not acceptable to act recklessly as if connected to a large server.

This is no longer a problem that can be solved by heat dissipation; rather, the human brain has its limits. Exceeding that limit will cause permanent damage to the brain with every extra second.

His body also cannot support his brain working in that state; his heart, lungs, and nerves will all be damaged due to overworking.

The best way to use it is to keep the brain's output power close to its limit during the time slowed down after brain-computer interface overclocking and synaptic acceleration.

but
"Ha, that's enough. As long as you control yourself and don't get caught up in the accelerated thinking time after overclocking and recklessly use your brain's computing power, but instead keep your brain's computing power to its limit."

Then I can demonstrate at least twice the strength I had before without diving deep!

With the computing power of a server or hacker chair, plus better heat dissipation, my performance during deep dives will be greatly improved!
"Old Wei, I feel like if I could activate my synaptic accelerometer while deep diving, I could take on a roaming AI right now!"

After saying that, Mercer happily added, "I don't need to worry so much about those enemies with Sianwistan anymore. Their bodies accelerate, my brain accelerates; if he runs twenty meters a second, I'll blackmail him twenty times a second."
"As long as their ICE program isn't too overpowered, I'll basically be able to go toe-to-toe with that enemy in terms of speed, even with brain-computer interface overclocking and synaptic accelerators!"

Victor looked at him with a complicated expression: "Only you, Mercer. Besides you, I don't know of any other hacker who could use this cybernetic body to such an extent."
I suspect this equipment was designed for one-time use by ordinary hackers, because if they did what you did, it would only take them a few seconds to cause permanent brain damage.

Or perhaps the design of this network access warehouse was simply intended for the AI ​​within it.

Ordinary hackers only need to provide computing power and cooperate with AI to complete the pre-programmed tasks while in an overclocked and accelerated state of mind.
Unlike you, you weren't just providing computing power; you were also using your brain to precisely utilize that computing power.
To be honest, before meeting you, I never imagined a hacker could do what you did; it's illogical!

Mercer smiled, rubbed his chest which was still aching slightly, and said, "I think it can still be improved. At least I haven't made full use of the computing power provided by the computing chips in this network access warehouse."

If I put an AI in the network access warehouse, I can save a lot of mental energy. It can control part of the data processing in the access warehouse, and my brain's computing power can be used to support the AI ​​while I control a small part myself.

Compared to meticulously controlling all the computing power myself, the burden will be much, much smaller.

Mercer unplugged the data cable connected to the monitoring equipment, and his legs went weak as he stepped onto the ground.
"However, I need to rest well for the next few days, familiarize myself with the prosthetic body and the network access module, and find a suitable way to use it and the optimal power range."

Before Victor could finish speaking, he saw that Mercer had transferred 190,000 euros to him.

"Old Wei, thanks. You still have to collect the surgery fee. You didn't do any business all day because of me. If you don't want to make money off me from the prosthetic body, then make some extra money for your hard work."

Mercer smiled, put on his mask, and dressed again, making him look even more mysterious than before.

Beneath the pale hockey mask, only a pair of prosthetic eyes flashing with blue light can be seen. Apart from that, the neck and back of the head are also made of black metal, making it look more like a cold machine wearing a mask than a human.

"Don't forget to get your medicine. Besides yours, get the girl's too. Just like before, it's all for reducing inflammation and suppressing neuralgia. Especially for you, don't be careless this time, and take your medicine on time."

After Victor finished speaking, Mercer laughed and asked, "Should we prepare some more lubricant?"

"Your prosthetic body needs proper maintenance; it's very delicate. Just to be on the safe side, come to me for maintenance once a month. I doubt you can find the original coolant for your blood, but you should be able to find a cheaper alternative, which will just reduce its efficiency."

In short, you need to come to me for regular checkups. Your system is too sophisticated; even a slight malfunction can make repairs very difficult.

Victor didn't take his words as a joke.

Mercer nodded obediently and agreed: "By the way, can you help me sell my old MK2? That thing will soon be worthless."

Victor nodded: "I usually charge around 10,000 euros, but your MK2 is pretty new, it looks like it's only been used for a little over a month, so how about 12,000? I'll sell it for 16,000 or 17,000 and still make a profit."

He earned another 12,000 for Mercer.

Mercer readily nodded; Old Vie's price was truly honest.

After saying goodbye to Old Wei, he put his hands in his pockets and walked out with a somewhat unsteady gait.

His body suddenly grew a size larger, and his center of gravity shifted when he walked; he needed to adjust.

Upon arriving at Misty's psychic shop, V was excitedly chatting with Misty, while Qiwei seemed to be lost in thought.

"Busy working?"

V subconsciously turned her head, and then couldn't help but widen her eyes: "Wow! You've grown taller?"
"Hey, I don't mind that you're short, so why did you suddenly get so bulky? Come on, let me see what you've got installed!"

V casually stretched out her arm and hooked it around Mercer's neck. To be fair, Mercer had grown a bit taller, and standing next to her didn't look out of place.

Mercer rolled his eyes and gave her a push, annoyed: "Don't press on me, I'm still soft after I just finished installing things. As for what I installed, just think of it as getting a new computer, cooling system, and synaptic accelerator."

"Are you sure you can handle this? You seem so weak. I don't feel anything at all!" V said, winking and making faces, having already forgotten what had just happened.

Mercer chuckled: "Well, I can't help it, I'm an intelligence-based player."

"Damn! I admit you're intelligent, okay!" V immediately quieted down, afraid that he would tell Misty about his intelligence of 6 as well.

Misty smiled at Mercer, a hint of worry in her eyes: "It's only been two days since you had your prosthetic body installed, right? Mercer, how are you feeling?"

"It's nothing, Misty. V hasn't bothered you here, has he?" Mercer greeted her warmly as well.

Misty smiled and said, "V is a good person. Mercer, you have a good eye for people."

"Then I definitely won't chat with you much today, I have a friend who wants to treat me to dinner," Mercer said.

Misty nodded: "Sure, come anytime you're free."

After saying goodbye to Misty, Mercer walked out of the alley with V and Qiwei.

“So what do we do now?” V turned to look at Mercer.

“Rebecca is treating me to dinner, so you two can come along for a free meal. Come to Adcardo’s camp tomorrow afternoon, which happens to be Christmas Day.”

The people of Adcado will throw a big party at Christmas. We'll spend money to buy some good food and beer, and then use Adcado's camp as a base for an internal meeting.

Now that everyone has officially joined, we need to set the rules for the team.

Whether it's compensation distribution, the obligations and responsibilities of team members, or of course benefits, we need to sit down and discuss it properly.

I also need to introduce you to a friend of mine—she's the first member of my team. Let's all sit down and get to know each other.

Then, we need to start preparing the commission.

Mercer stopped being coy and said directly, "In the early stages, you need to verify the intelligence. Once the intelligence is confirmed to be correct, I will begin to formulate an action plan."

The goal is to complete Wakako's request within a week, get the money, and then officially move into Dogtown and set up a safe base for us.

"After that, we need to take on commissions and find ways to make money so we can upgrade everyone's cybernetic equipment. You can't just have Sianwistan, you can't do it alone."

You'd need to install a synaptic accelerometer, or a mind-accelerating prosthetic like Krenzikov, to fully control your speed.

Mercer said, and V's fighting spirit was visibly high: "No problem! We'll do biotechnology! By the way, did Wakako mention how much our pay is?"

“Starting at 300,000, you can get valuable data, and the price is negotiable.” After Mercer finished speaking, V’s eyes lit up, as if he couldn’t wait to leave.

"Holy crap! Three hundred thousand euros?! You really have to be a proper mercenary! How many jobs would you have to do on the streets to save up that much money?"

V clenched his fist excitedly.

Mercer simply smiled, then gestured for her and Qiwei to go see Rebecca together.

Rebecca and Pila finished their work in the afternoon, without any major incidents. Pila pointed a gun at the security guard's head, and then Rebecca went to drive the car away from the underground parking lot.

Drive away the NCPD members who wanted to join the fun, park the car in the garage designated by the old captain, and the mission is complete.

I only heard from Mercer that he was with the prosthetic doctor, so I didn't bother him. Instead, I said that once Mercer was done with his work, we would go to a restaurant near their motel and Rebecca would treat us.

Mercer didn't refuse and took V to find Rebecca and Pila. The five of them had a simple synthetic meal at a restaurant, bickering and joking around, and thankfully, no more trouble came up along the way.

Having successfully completed a lucrative and hassle-free commission, Rebecca was overjoyed. She had never seen her bank account surpass five figures in her entire life, and she was so happy that she couldn't even eat in peace.

Pila even performed acrobatics with her long arms, tossing three wine glasses around like she was playing with a juggling ball, which made V clap and drink heartily, finally getting a free meal and drinks.

After getting to know each other better over the meal, Mercer returned to Adcardo's camp, having eaten and drunk his fill.

"What's going on with you?"

As soon as Mercer returned to the camp, he ran into Panan, who had just driven back from outside looking travel-worn.

Panan stared in shock at Mercer, who had grown noticeably larger in just one day, his gaze lingering on Mercer's exposed black metal neck for a long time.

"Dr. Victor said you should wait a week before doing anything else. How come you've already installed everything?"

Panan looked worried and said somewhat irritably, "What's your rush! If there's any trouble, just stay in Adcado. Your sisters will protect you. Even if the company comes, we won't be afraid!"
Why abuse your body like this?
Look at your little body, look what they've done to you!

"Panan~" Mercer drawled, removing his mask and looking at her with a smile: "I know what I'm doing, why are you in such a hurry again?"

"I'm not in a hurry! You don't even care about your own health, so look at who else cares about you."

Panan stormed off, but after a couple of steps, he turned back: “I’m going to have Lucy keep an eye on you. You’d better rest these next few days and don’t even think about going out. If anything happens to you, I’ll drive you to see Victor.”

"Okay, I do need to stay at the camp for two days."

Seeing Mercer's decisive agreement, Parnan looked at him suspiciously for a few moments before finally nodding.

"Don't blame me for being angry. I know I shouldn't treat you like a child, but even as a friend, I can't just watch my friend get into trouble."

Mercer laughed: "I know, Panan, I keep my word. You just got back from work?"

Panan hummed in agreement: "I made a small job, hauling a truckload of contraband from outside. I just delivered the goods. Damn, I drove all day, and the gas cost several hundred euros. They only gave me two thousand euros. They're so stingy."

"You might get some work in a few days, so keep an eye on your schedule."

After Mercer finished speaking, Panan's eyes lit up: "No problem! Working for you is much easier than working for those people. Less work and more money. I'll wait for your news."

Mercer chatted with her as they returned to the camp, and also mentioned that V and Rebecca would be coming tomorrow.

Panan readily agreed: "Your friends are my friends too. Come on over. We Adcado people never refuse our friends. Just don't forget to tell them to bring some food and drinks too. A case of beer will do."

At our Christmas bonfire parties, we share food with each other. As long as you bring beer and barbecue, no one will mind if you're from Adka.

"Okay, I'll see if I can get some real meat to eat later," Mercer licked his lips, his mouth watering again.

Panan gave him a speechless look and chuckled twice: "I didn't realize you liked eating so much. A pound of real beef must cost two or three thousand euros, right? You should save your money."

Mercer sighed and gave up the idea—his savings weren't much these days, so he'd better be careful for now.

After we settle down in Dogtown, we'll have a proper celebration and a good meal together as a family.

After exchanging only a few words, Panan waved and went back to his room to pack his things and take a shower. When Mercer returned to his tent, he saw two little girls lying on the mattress, hugging each other.

Lucy and Anzu were holding hands, both wearing Mewtwo headbands, and it was unclear whether they were watching a movie or playing with the Moon Interactive Mewtwo.

Mercer didn't disturb them. Instead, he sat down in the hacker chair, took out the hacker client, laid it on the box, and began to modify it.

I did a simple DIY with the tools provided by the manufacturer, changing the black back panel to a hollowed-out design, sacrificing some heat dissipation performance, and matching it with its own heat dissipation prosthesis.

After that, Mercer picked up the delivery boxes piled up at the door, which were being delivered by military technology.

The boxes were full of drones and accessories, so he lined up all the shipping boxes to make a workbench, borrowed some tools from the guy at the camp who did mechanical repairs, and started assembling the drones.

While assembling the drones, Mercer pondered his next steps.

Mercer plans to split his forces into two groups to complete the biotechnology commission.

First, V, Rebecca, Pila, and Panan, who is familiar with the Badlands, will set off to investigate and verify the route of the biotechnology transport vehicle, and figure out when and where to hijack it.

He, on the other hand, wanted to try to delve deep into the internet and hack into the servers of biotechnology companies.

Infiltrating a server without alerting others is no easy feat.

Just like the most high-level business battles often involve shooting the other company's boss, or watering his money tree and stealing his company seal.

The most advanced hacking techniques always involve going directly offline and inserting a program chip into the target's server.

Besides, trying to breach the opponent's ICE defense system directly from the internet, like Barthemos did back then, and find vulnerabilities to sneak into the server, is an extremely difficult task.

Especially after many companies were tormented by Bartelmos for several years, they all learned their lesson and put the truly critical information on local servers that were offline.

Even on company computers, only a few people have LAN access to connect to the server. These computers are usually not connected to the external network and are only used for connecting to the local server, so there is virtually no possibility of hacking them from the public network.

This doesn't seem like a server in the city hall that stores household registration data. Although it's said to be a local connection, many computers in the city hall building have access to the server's local area network so that staff can easily process and update household registration information for citizens.

But Mercer decided to give it a try anyway.

Even if he can't hack in directly, he needs to obtain as much detailed information as possible to confirm whether there is any valuable data on the biotechnology server before taking the risk.

At worst, I'll only earn 150,000 euros; taking a portion of the samples will be enough to complete the mission.

You must not be foolish enough to rush over only to find that you have fallen into a trap, or that there is nothing of value at all.

If it is confirmed that there is something worth visiting, Mercer will consider continuing the operation plan where V will carry out the infiltration, while he will be responsible for remote technical support.

Mercer was multitasking, assembling the drone while reviewing the various materials and information Wakako had given him. Once the drone was assembled, a rough plan began to take shape in his mind.

He nodded with satisfaction only after transforming the harmless, home-use version of the Pterodactyl drone, which was no bigger than a file folder when folded up, into a killing machine capable of high-altitude flight and equipped with a drone gun.

Each of the two drones can be folded up to look like a plain black handbag, but when unfolded, they can become brain-controlled drones with a maximum stable control distance of 15KM.

These two drones will greatly enhance Mercer's long-range reconnaissance and long-range fire support capabilities.

Furthermore, if connected to a network signal while submerged, and provided the network is within the coverage area of ​​the public network and is not subject to electromagnetic interference, it is possible to control the equipment from an extremely long distance.

Of course, if a drone is remotely controlled in this way, it will always be connected to the public network and can be remotely hacked by other hackers.

That's why drones have a maximum stable range of 15km, because that's the furthest distance at which the drone's built-in operating signals and the operator can maintain a stable local area network connection.

However, this still allows Mercer to provide remote support via drones from the comfort of his home when necessary.

Furthermore, Mercer has some bold ideas for modifying drones, such as whether they could be modified into a network relay station, allowing Mercer to use drones to initiate remote hacking.
Or could it be modified into a specialized electronic warfare machine, specifically designed to provide real-time ICE protection for teammates on the battlefield? Or used for electronic warfare against enemy electronic equipment and units?

As a well-tested and reliable UAV from the military, Moser believes that the Winged Dragon is a valuable reference and modification tool. If he can master the technology of the Winged Dragon UAV, Moser may be able to open up his own path of "handcrafting UAVs".

Of course, these parts will need to wait until the base is established, and many specialized equipment, components, and materials will be required before we can begin experimenting with them.

"Mercury? When did you get back?"

A somewhat surprised and uncertain voice came from behind Mercer.

He turned around and saw two astonished little faces.

"What? Don't you recognize me?" Mercer greeted him with a smile.

Lucy opened her mouth but couldn't say anything, while Kyoko said with a worried look on her face, "These are the things we took from Arasaka that you have on you."
Have you had a thorough check-up? Do you feel any discomfort?

No one knew better than them how much strain this prosthetic body would bear, or just how daring Arasaka's 'experiment' truly was.

Mercer smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm feeling pretty good right now, just a little unwell. Lucy, where's my guiding star?"

"It's still running the program on the computer. I check it about once an hour. It's quite well-behaved and only runs according to the program's rules."

Lucy pursed her lips, looking at Mercer now dressed in black, his back completely transformed into a black mechanical form, and felt inexplicably sad.

She reached out and tentatively touched Mercer's back: "Can you still feel it?"

Mercer tilted his head: "Yes, it's possible, but the sensation isn't very noticeable. After all, there are no skin nerves, and the integrated circuits are all placed inside the metal surface. It feels like you're touching me through a thin layer of metal."

"Why are you in such a hurry all of a sudden? Didn't you say you'd wait a few days?" Lucy hesitated, then stopped herself from speaking.

Mercer, however, suddenly became serious and lowered his voice earnestly: "Lucy, human abilities have limits. I've learned one thing from my short life."
The greater one's intelligence, the more one will discover that human capabilities have limits, unless one surpasses human abilities.
So, I'm not going to be human anymore, Lucy!

(End of this chapter)