Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 71 Settling in Dogtown
[Diana: I've taken care of everything. If all goes well, Channel 54 news at 7 PM tomorrow will expose Joanna's poisoning of the Yulean town and the poisoning of the red ochre water source.]

[?: So where is what I want?]

[Diana: Don't worry, once I get rid of Joanna, I might even be able to become the regional director through the cooperation agreement I made with the military science department. At that time, you'll definitely be able to get whatever you want.]

【?: I've been waiting for you for a long time, Dr. Kuno.】

[Diana: I know, please believe me, it's not that I don't want to do it, but what you need is something I, as an associate director, can't apply for. Once Joanna is dealt with, I'll apply for it for you immediately.]

【?: I won't wait for you too long.】

[Diana: I know! Don't worry, if everything goes well tomorrow, she won't be able to keep this up for two more days. I'll get there as soon as possible.]

Mercer did not reply to Diana.

Because he and his team are busy inspecting the house.

The main reason for the long delay was Mercer's fault—he not only revised the design multiple times, but also kept cutting back on the budget.

What should have been a basic renovation costing a few hundred thousand euros was turned into a huge deal costing over three hundred thousand euros, and that only included the basic renovation and hard furnishings, not including equipment.

He not only had the Adca people very patiently and secretly renovate part of the basement.

Even the surface warehouse was transformed by Mercer into a relatively high-end workshop and shop.

At this moment, the warehouse, which originally looked dilapidated, had been simply repainted by Mercer, and a simple neon sign had been added to the outside of the store.

The signboard doesn't have a store name or anything like that; it just has a few simple words and a bright little flame as its logo.

'Weapons, equipment, procedures'.

It is easy to understand and clearly explains the business that Mercer plans to be in charge of in the store.

First, there's the hand-crafted modification and even creation of some private weapons—Pila enjoys doing this, and Mercer is also very interested in these things.

Secondly, there's the sale of some equipment. Mercer might be involved in things like hand-made drones and hand-made mechanical dogs. Besides using the products himself, he could also sell some simple, cheap, and durable ones for money.

The equipment also includes some cybernetic modifications. Mercer may not have the ability to create cybernetic bodies from scratch yet, but he can certainly try to modify some cybernetic bodies by hand and add some black technology.

It's not that Mercer lacks the technical skills and the idea, but producing weapons and equipment is not the same as modifying and piecing together a weapon or equipment.

The former requires raw materials and production equipment, while the latter only requires some readily available parts and a high-end workbench for private use.

Finally, there's the programming component, which includes not only the plug-in chips used in weapons and prosthetics, but also various programming chips that hackers like Mercer are most skilled at, including ICE programs and fast-cracking programs.

After a quick look around the outside, V impatiently urged, "Hurry up, let's go inside and take a look. I have no idea what you've done to the inside of this warehouse!"

Mercer smiled confidently: "Then you'll just have to watch!"

He walked to the main entrance, and the thick metal door, which had been replaced with an automatic door, opened automatically, revealing a somewhat narrow space to V and the others.

What comes into view is a huge counter and a new cement wall blocking the way, with only a small metal door on the side.

The counter is made entirely of reinforced concrete and extends to the ceiling, with a large bulletproof glass window in the middle.

This thick bulletproof glass is about six meters long and one meter high, with only a small rectangular opening that can be opened. It looks more secure and robust than a bank counter.

A few sturdy stainless steel tables and worn-out sofas were casually placed in front of the counter as a waiting area for customers.

Behind the bulletproof glass, there were only a few display shelves and two not-so-small screens behind the glass, which were dark and unlit at the moment.

"This will be our shop's storefront from now on. We won't need anyone to watch over it normally. See behind the counter? There's a workspace right next to the wall."

There are cameras and microphones outside the warehouse and at the counter. We just need to use a tablet to greet customers. We don't even need to greet customers ourselves. I plan to let AI handle the sales and explanations at the front desk.

We're only responsible for handling certain emergencies.

As Mercer spoke, he pointed to the corner of the bar: "This warehouse is too tall, a full four and a half meters, so I redid the ceiling."

The electrical wiring, water pipes, ventilation system, and even the heat dissipation channels reserved for the basement server room were all incorporated, and of course, hidden automatic turrets were also included.

The group followed his finger and saw two hidden automatic turrets concealed in the ceiling.

"This thing costs more than 20,000 euros each. Military Science really knows how to make money. I didn't buy more, but I left a few extra slots. We can just make a few ourselves in the future and save a lot of money."

Mercer said, and led them in through the side door, which also required identity verification and had an automatic door that opened and closed.

What appeared to V and the others was a long corridor.

The warehouse is ten meters wide and more than thirty meters long, and the length of this corridor is roughly the same as the length of the warehouse.

"The first door leads to the counter you just saw. There's nothing inside now, so let's skip that and look at the work area in the back."

Mercer said, walking to the second door and pushing it open.

Then, Pila, who had been marveling at her surroundings, exclaimed with shining eyes, "Wow, this is the workshop? It's huge!"

It can be said that Mercer used most of the first floor of the warehouse as a workshop. This room was a full eighteen meters long and nine meters wide, occupying nearly half of the entire first floor space.

The workshop, which is over 100 square meters in size, does not have tiled floors, but it is equipped with lighting fixtures, central air conditioning, several large tool tables, a sink, and large trash cans for waste disposal.

Among them, the large work desk, where Mercer had already set up a computer, along with other basic modification equipment, was neatly arranged.

"Yes, this place will be responsible for handling heavy equipment and weapons, the kind that are difficult to move around. I left a large gate at the back door of the warehouse, and also reserved more than 100 square meters for parking and storage. The back door is right there."

Mercer showed them around; there was nothing special to say. It was just a simple space used for parking and storage. The main entrance was a sturdy, automatically lifting metal roller shutter door, and it also had provisions for automatic turrets and defensive facilities such as cameras.

"Where are the rooms?" Rebecca, who had never been here before, asked excitedly. "Don't we have a basement? I can't see any stairs."

Mercer smirked and led them back to the corridor. At the end of the corridor, he knocked on the wall and casually pressed a button. A small section of the wall suddenly flipped open, revealing a rather old-fashioned numeric keypad.

"This is so cool! Isn't this just like those spy movies?" Kyoko, who came along, couldn't help but exclaim excitedly.

She's been staying at the camp lately, spending her time online and watching various Mewtwo movies. Seeing something like this now is incredibly exciting for her.

"Don't let its age fool you. The amazing thing about this thing is that it doesn't connect to the internet. You have to press a password, and only if the password is correct will it activate the internet mode and call the elevator up. Even if I scan it with my prosthetic eye, I can't detect any signal from this thing."

Mercer chuckled and said, "You can also open the door directly from the basement. Even if this thing breaks, as long as the basement server is still running, just call the AI ​​and it will open the door for you."

As Mercer pressed 20720101 on the keypad, the wall at the end of the corridor suddenly opened up, revealing a metal elevator wall.

"This used to be a staircase, but my friend thought it wasn't cool enough, so he replaced it with an elevator. Anyway, even if there's an unexpected power outage, a superhero like V can just pry open the door and jump down. The elevator has some maintenance space, so you can just climb down."

As Mercer spoke, the elevator doors opened.

"Wow, that's awesome! This money was well spent! A!" V exclaimed in amazement.

Mercer rolled his eyes, wondering who had been nagging him every day about how fast he spent money.

After he went in, Lucy, Pila, Qiwei, Rebecca, V, and Anzu followed him down to the underground, full of anticipation.

When the elevator doors opened, even the usually quiet Qiwei and Lucy were startled, their eyes lighting up and they seemed quite excited.

Those who are more lively, like Apricot and Rebecca, rushed out with a whoosh.

"Wow, this is really good!" Pila's eyes widened, and he waved his arms excitedly. "Damn! I actually got to live in a house with a living room!"

Mercer didn't design the basement to be brightly lit; instead, it used a darker color scheme to create a more homely atmosphere.

After the elevator comes down, all you can see is a square living room that is eleven meters wide on the left and right and ten meters deep, connected to an open kitchen.

Mercer painted the walls gray and had a talented Adka multiplayer spray paint colorful graffiti of the Fireseed Squad on the wall behind the sofa.

The large black sofa was also a rare new item. It was an L-shaped sofa that was eight meters long, enough for the entire team to sit together. There was also a large coffee table that was four meters long and more than one meter wide, and a 100-inch TV was chosen for the television in the distance.

There are even fake green plants on both sides of the TV—AR projections that make some bamboo stand upright against the wall, adding a touch of life to the basement. You can change them if you get tired of them; you can choose to see cherry blossoms, peach blossoms, or whatever else you want, but you have to pay extra to unlock the patterns.
To avoid feeling oppressed in the basement, Mercer placed a large screen on the other side of the sofa, where there would normally be a window. The screen played a simulated forest landscape on a loop, which also served as lighting.

The lighting was also deliberately chosen to be a warmer, yellowish color rather than too bright or glaring.

"It's pretty good! It has a bit of a homey feel, but it lacks some decorations and cabinets, so it looks a bit empty."

V said something.

Mercer simply said, "I thought this would become a place where everyone would gather together, so I left a lot of space. You can put in things like game consoles, pool tables, or other random things."

V looked left and right, and realized she was the first person to show interest in the kitchen. She walked over and touched and looked around: "Refrigerator, oven, an induction cooker and a gas stove? It's quite complete. Where are the tableware and such?"

“In the cupboard,” Mercer said.

V immediately opened the cabinet: "Are they all ceramic plates? These things must be expensive."

“It’s not expensive, a set in Little Chinatown costs a little over a hundred euros,” Mercer said.

"Tsk tsk, the tableware is quite complete, and the pots and pans are all bought. You're quite detail-oriented. Have you ever cooked before?" V exclaimed in amazement.

She wasn't making this up—in the cyberpunk world, very few people cook for themselves, not because they're lazy, but because ordinary people simply can't afford the ingredients.

Whether it's vegetables or meat, the prices are far higher than those of commercially available ready-made meals.

"Of course, my cooking is really good. Come with me first, I'll introduce the facilities, and then everyone can choose a room."

After Mercer finished speaking, he first pushed open the door at the back of the living room, and what appeared in front of everyone was another corridor leading to the distance.

On both sides of the corridor are the doors to various rooms.

He first pushed open the nearest door, revealing a room: "This is the gym. If you're bored and have nowhere to vent, come here and mess around. My suggestion is that everyone go find V to work out."

V grinned: "Wow, there's a boxing ring? Great, I actually quite like boxing."

Rebecca grinned, rubbing her hands together, and said, "Sure, I'm not afraid of you now!"

"Hey, boxing isn't just about having the strength to be good," V said confidently. "I'll give you a handicap!"

"Don't let me break you!" Rebecca said fiercely.

This gym is over five meters long and eight meters wide, with a room of nearly forty square meters containing some exercise equipment, exercise gear, and a boxing ring, which looks like enough to keep you busy.

"Go further in, and you'll find our most important hacker workspace."

Mercer said, pushing open the second door. As soon as the door opened, a buzzing sound of heat dissipation and a mixture of hot and cold air rushed towards him.

Upon seeing the interior clearly, even Qi Wei couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "You must have spent a lot of money on this, right?"

In the same five-meter-long but nearly thirty-meter-wide space, the first thing you see when you open the door is a huge array of server units that cover an entire wall.

Or rather, currently only one rack is filled with Zeta Technology's small servers, while the other twenty-odd racks are still empty, with only pre-installed wiring and cooling lines.

In addition, there is a row of hacker chairs, which were bought by the group members themselves, and they are of different models.

However, considering that server rooms are now available, these hacker chairs are mainly used for cooling down the computer while hacking clients, so computing power is no longer important.

There are also many workbenches—mainly used for chip processing and manufacturing—as well as some small mechanical creations, such as drones and mechanical dogs, which can be made directly here without having to go upstairs.

Mercer said with a slight toothache, "It's not a small amount. Not to mention the cost of the servers, just the cooling channels, racks, and related accessories we're preparing now cost over 200,000 euros."

Behind this server rack are dedicated ventilation channels that connect directly to the twelve ventilation vents above the warehouse. This helps with the water cooling of the unit. High-powered cooling fans are also installed at the air intakes; the electricity cost for running at full cooling capacity will reach tens of thousands of yuan per month.

Lucy was a little puzzled: "Why not just buy one server rack to use? So many server racks must cost a lot of money, right?"

“I pawned the car,” Mercer said succinctly. “I pawned the Stone Sword to the old captain and had him raise three million euros for me.”

Don't complain about the low price. Supercars don't fetch high prices on the secondhand market anyway, and this is all the money the old captain can get. He usually does business with no initial investment, so this is one of the few times he's actually made a profit. It's not easy for him.

I plan to use this money to make a quick buck in the stock market by leveraging biotechnology, and then build a server room to the standard of a mid-range server in one go.

"Shi Zhongjian's car is really cool, and the modifications are pretty aggressive, but our team really can't afford to use a car of that size in battle. If we just chip a piece of paint, one of my small servers is gone."

Mercer pointed excitedly at the server cases that covered an entire wall and said, "If we could cover it all, my computing power would be twenty times, or even thirty times, more than that of my hacker chair."

You should know that my hacker chair is much more powerful than a typical low-end server!
With this computing power, even the most sophisticated hackers from large companies won't be able to breach my servers online. Running AI, large programs, or testing new algorithms will be more than enough.

"Um, how much are you planning to spend on this?" V asked cautiously, one hand unconsciously clutching her heart.

"Of course, we'll spend whatever we have! Lend me the money from selling the car to get the server set up; I need it a lot. I'll pay you and Rebecca back our share once I've made some money."

After Mercer finished speaking, Rebecca put her hands on her hips and said somewhat unhappily, "I told you not to split it up, but you have to give me a few hundred thousand euros."

"We agreed on one-third each," Mercer insisted, but even V, who was clutching his heart, shook his head and said, "Forget it, I feel like this money came too easily, and I don't feel comfortable taking it."

You can just consider it forgiven my debt. To be honest, no one else would have given us this much. You were the one who got the intelligence. With you around, the mission wasn't difficult at all.

Rebecca and I will each receive a few hundred thousand euros, enough for us to furnish a room and tinker with our prosthetic bodies.

Mercer shook his head: "We'll see."

“I wouldn’t take it even if you gave it to me.” Rebecca frowned and looked at him, saying, “Even if we split the money according to merit, we got the Sword in the Stone mainly thanks to your intelligence, right?”

You also contributed your efforts, taking charge of the operation planning, execution, and evacuation along the way, so it's only natural that you get 50% or 60%.

V and I are definitely not going to take the money according to your so-called 'equal split' approach.

Seeing how determined they both were, Mercer chuckled: "Tell me, do you two even know how much money that is?"

“How big it is has nothing to do with the two of us,” V said bluntly. “If you’re going to insist on distribution according to work, then don’t do this nonsense.”

“Okay, okay, then I’ll give you both 20%, and I’ll take the rest, alright?” Mercer said.

“That’s more like it. Anyway, isn’t your server used by everyone in the base?” Rebecca finally laughed.

Looking at the room full of screens, hacker chairs, and workbenches, Rebecca shook her head and quickly said, "Is there anywhere else? This place is full of hacker stuff, it makes me dizzy just looking at it."

"The rest are everyone's own bedrooms. There are seven in total, each over 20 square meters, with a private bathroom and walk-in closet."

The innermost one is the base's backup generator room. In the event of an emergency power outage, the large generator inside will automatically start; a full tank of fuel can last for an hour without any problem.

After Mercer finished speaking, Rebecca asked in confusion, "How big is the generator? It can only last for an hour?"

"Do you think this server room will use a lot of electricity per hour when all the servers are running? I only managed to get a dedicated line because Hans bribed that idiot Ghost Dog. Otherwise, there would be power outages and circuit breaker trips all the time, which would be a nightmare."

Mercer said, pointing to the room next door: "There are seven of us now, so each of us can have a room. Pick your own spot. All the rooms are the same type, so decorate them yourselves."

"Where are you planning to stay?" Rebecca asked, moving closer to him with a smile. "How about we stay next door?"

"I don't care, I'll probably be in the server room most of the time anyway, so I'll just go back to my room to sleep."

Mercer said.

Rebecca simply pointed to the room opposite the server room: "Then you can sleep there so it's convenient for you to go to the server room. I'll sleep in the room to your right."

“Okay.” As soon as Mercer finished speaking, Lucy silently pushed open the door to his left, which was the first room, and went inside.

Qiwei didn't hesitate and chose the innermost room. V thought for a while and moved to the room next to Rebecca's, so Pila could only stay in the second to last room.

However, Pila didn't care who his neighbors were. He just rubbed his hands together somewhat slyly and asked, "How's the soundproofing here?"

“It’s enough, all solid walls.” Mercer glanced at him: “Let’s make this clear first, no outsiders are allowed to come back to the base, only with my permission.”

Mercer doesn't plan to hold a vote on this; he can't stand a bunch of annoying idiots suddenly showing up in his house.

Who knows what kind of extraordinary people these street urchins know?

"Hehe, I was just saying, uh, never mind, it's nothing." Pila, being stared at by Rebecca with narrowed eyes, wisely shut up and raised her hands in surrender.

Ever since Rebecca got her gorilla arm, he's really lost his temper. Before, if she punched him, he'd at most grimace, but now if that thing hits him, he'd have to go straight to the prosthetic doctor.

"Alright, you guys take care of your own rooms, do the access control yourself when opening and closing the doors, bring all your luggage, and we'll have a nice dinner together tonight. From now on, this is our home!"
And I also have a gift for everyone.

Mercer's mysterious demeanor made them somewhat expectant, but seeing that he didn't intend to say anything beforehand, they all excitedly went to their own rooms to take a look.

Mercer could hear Rebecca's cheerful laughter from next door even from his own room.

"Hahaha! A bathtub? Mercer! I love you! Did you hear me?"

Mercer shook his head, ignoring her, and instead admired his own room.

Although there were no windows, it still felt a bit stuffy visually, but Mercer was still very satisfied. At least the room was large and the mattress was soft, so even his hard back didn't feel uncomfortable when he lay down on it.

Most importantly, he provided a bathtub so you could take a hot bath!
Since transmigrating, he hasn't taken a bath even once. For a northerner who loves taking baths, this is really unbearable.

Mercer's prosthetic body is not afraid of water.

Soon, the sound of people carrying luggage could be heard outside. It was a bit pitiful, but all the luggage they had could probably fit in one car.

Even for V, in her rented apartment, all she had was that broken laptop and the stored guns and ammunition; the clothes belonged to her.

Mercer left the room, and since there was nothing much to do, he simply went back to the living room and opened the refrigerator.

Then, he took out all the treasures that he had smuggled in through Adka and others beforehand and thawed them.

A large piece of beef weighing about five kilograms, a box of chicken wings, and some fresh vegetables and seasonings that I never usually get to eat.

When V finished carrying his luggage with satisfaction and went to the kitchen, his eyes lit up and he rushed over: "Wow, A, where did you get this? Synthetic meat?"

"Real meat! And chicken too! It's all top-quality stuff smuggled from Texas. The Adcado guys spent over a week scouring the wilderness for me to get it!"

Mercer said smugly, "Today I'm going to eat fried chicken wings, cola chicken wings, stewed beef, and roast beef."

“I’ll do it! I’ll make you some Mexican food!” V rolled up her sleeves and nudged him: “Go outside and stay there, don’t waste good ingredients.”

"Who do you think you are? I'll conquer you today with my cola chicken wings."

The two were playfully bickering, and when others passed by and saw them, they all stopped involuntarily. Rebecca, Pila, and Apricot even went straight to the edge of the kitchen, and with nothing else to do, they just stared at the fresh meat and drooled.

Even Lucy and Qiwei chose to stay in the living room, and after turning on the TV, they would occasionally glance in this direction.

It wasn't until V raised an eyebrow and brandished the knife a few times that the drooling guys sheepishly went to sit on the sofa in the living room to rest. Before long, the aroma of food wafted from the kitchen.

Even a high-powered range hood I bought couldn't completely eliminate the aroma.

Mercer and V worked together for two hours to quickly prepare a large table of dishes and put them on the dining table next to the kitchen.

The long dining table could comfortably seat ten people, and everyone unanimously reserved the only head seat at the top of the table for Mercer.

When Mercer's confidently prepared cola chicken wings were served, everyone stared at him, especially Rebecca, whose eyes practically gleamed with envy.

"Alright, let's make a long story short and say a few words." Mercer said with a smile, "First of all, congratulations to all of us for finally having a place where we can live in peace, a home that can shelter us from the wind and rain, a home of our own."

Secondly, I swear, sooner or later, we will move out of this filthy dog ​​town together, leave this dreary basement, and move into a penthouse apartment in Night City, where we can enjoy the night view from the window and have a more delicious dinner together.

I want to emphasize that we are all working together; no one will be left behind, and there will likely be even more people joining in.

After he finished speaking, he paused for a moment, and then said with a smile, "Finally, I wish our Fire Seed Team a smooth journey to become a legend in this city, so that everyone in this city will remember our names!"
"That's all for now, let's eat!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Rebecca picked up her fork and forked a piece of cola chicken wing without saying a word—the sweet and savory flavor, along with the fresh and delicious taste of chicken that Rebecca had never tasted before, immediately made her eyes widen: "Delicious!"

V looked at her suspiciously: "Really? I saw it with my own eyes. Is this dark reddish-brown color he made with cola really right?"

"Delicious!" Rebecca didn't even have time to say anything, she just repeated it again and continued to wolf down her food.

V carefully picked up a piece, tasted it, and her eyes lit up: "Hey? Not bad, it tastes a bit like it was stewed in red wine."

"Right?" Mercer said with a smile, picking up his chopsticks and taking a few pieces, but he put them on a small plate and passed them to the other side of the table so that others could also try them.

Only after seeing that everyone gave positive reviews did he finally take off his mask with satisfaction, and then he started eating himself.

Spanish burritos with roast beef, vegetable salad, cola chicken wings and spicy fried chicken wings, plus a stewed beef dish—while not a particularly extensive selection, it was an absolute culinary delight rarely seen in Night City.

V ate several bites in a daze before suddenly realizing something and abruptly turning his head away.

Then, as if struck by lightning, she slowly opened her mouth, her movements somewhat stiff.

In V's line of sight, Mercer's somewhat youthful face, as he ate with relish, appeared with unparalleled clarity at that moment.

"I, I fucking... you, is this what you look like?! You must be kidding me!"

(End of this chapter)