Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 85 Exoskeleton and the Rogge Incident
"So, they joined?"

Inside the base, Xingzi looked at the cheerful Mercer and asked him curiously.

“Yeah.” Mercer smiled and said, “Mann looked like he was questioning his life the whole time he was eating, and kept asking me if I had plastic surgery.”

"I think so too. If I hadn't known you from the beginning, I probably would have thought you were some kind of pervert who likes young faces and deliberately got plastic surgery to look like that."

Anzu's mutterings prompted Mercer to tap her on the head. She grinned, tilted her head, and swung her short legs in the chair, asking, "Why haven't V and the others come back yet?"

"According to the information Faraday gave, they won't be able to get back to Dogtown with their stuff until three or four in the morning. These idiots are getting more and more troublesome."

They initially agreed that I would receive the pass if I paid monthly, but now they've changed their minds and want to raise the price starting next month.

Mercer's brows furrowed as he spoke.

Kyoko said thoughtfully, "Logically speaking, we should be quite well-known in Dogtown now, right? Why are those hounds' appetites getting bigger and bigger?"

"I think Hansen might be using this method to force me to take the initiative to contact him."

Mercer speculated, "He might want to cooperate with me on something, but he doesn't want to take the initiative. Given his personality, even if we were to cooperate, he would definitely want to be in a more proactive position."

Xingzi frowned: "Why don't we go ask Hanz? He can act as a middleman in Dogtown, so he must have a good relationship with Hansen."

“Being too closely tied to him may not be a good thing. For us now, maintaining good relationships with both Hanz and Hansen might be better for our development.”

Mercer said simply, then pondered, "I reckon they won't be able to hold back for long before they come looking for trouble. We'll teach them a lesson then, and then talk to Hansen."

In Mercer's view, there are only three factions worth paying attention to in Dogtown: one is Hanz and the Cubans behind him.

Another group is the New America force, which is currently hiding in Dogtown and still in a state of dormancy. Mercer is certain that the Military Science and New America must still maintain some kind of contact with Hansen.

And besides Reed and Alex, whom we've seen in the game, there must be other New America moles planted here.

Hansen came last.

At first glance, Hansen may seem to have some connection with the military science and the new United States, but judging from what Mercer has seen in the game, Hansen is very ambitious. Rather than being an agent, he wants to become a warlord who controls his own territory.

In the game, whether it's his attempt to control the Lark, this "humanoid cyber nuclear bomb," or his audacity in directly shooting down the plane of the new US President Myers, it's enough to show how incredibly audacious this person is.

Dealing with this kind of person, if you take the initiative to be friendly, he will think you are weak and easy to bully; if you are too assertive, he may harbor murderous intent. Finding the right balance for cooperation is very difficult, and it is tantamount to asking a tiger for its skin.

Shaking his head, Mercer temporarily put Hansen's matter out of his mind and instructed, "I'm going to check online. You shouldn't stay here. Go back to sleep."

"You're going to dive alone?" Kyoko frowned. "No way! I have to keep an eye on you, in case something happens."

"Someone who can't even make me log off. Okay, then let's wait for V and the others to come back. I found something interesting in the program I left online, I need to go and see what it is."

Looking at Xingzi's determined eyes, Mercer finally decided to let her keep an eye on things.

Sitting in the hacker chair, Xingzi skillfully helped Mercer plug in the cables. Then, with a flash of light, Mercer sat cross-legged in the chair and entered the cyber world.

He opened his eyes in the cyber world and wasted no time. He took a step and traversed through countless blue data. After a few simple steps, he performed multiple IP redirects to conceal his identity.

On Mercer's mask, blue data streams flashed like a waterfall, and images appeared before his eyes.

He first checked on V, Rebecca, and Qiwei using the camera.

At this moment, the group should all be sitting in their car, quietly waiting for their target to appear on the road outside the port's logistics area.

Even when Mercer zoomed in on the city's security cameras, all that could be seen were the metal bulletproof car windows.

So Mercer simply left a supplementary image displayed in the corner of his prosthetic eye and began to get down to business.

"Morning Star, report the situation."

As soon as he finished speaking, a cute little black cat jumped onto his shoulder and gently rubbed against his cheek: "Please come with me."

The kitten transformed into a blue beam of data, with Mercer following closely behind, instantly teleporting to a network IP address.

This is a seemingly insignificant pile of data with almost no network fluctuations, meaning that this device rarely connects to the internet for data transmission.

Is this a 'private passage'?
When Mercer began to analyze and interpret the data, he immediately discovered that the amount of data was astonishing—it was not a private device connected to the public network at all, but a medium-sized server cluster!
Mercer observed it carefully for a while and said, "Is this an information gathering device that automatically hacks into the ctOS system?"

"To be precise, it was the ctOS system that completed the preliminary work, and then I personally hacked into and successfully gained access to the Dogtown Stadium server."

As the morning star spoke gently, Mercer turned his head and saw the kitten on his shoulder looking at him with those blue eyes that were exactly the same as his, as if seeking praise.

"How did you do that?" Mercer was very interested in this. He asked as he began to check the data on the server and the devices connected to the local area network.

"The ctOS system hacked into several Ghosthound soldiers who were surfing the internet in Dogtown, and from there began a large-scale hacking of the Ghosthound soldiers' network devices."

Their cybersecurity awareness is not strong. Many soldiers whose brain-computer interfaces have been infected with hidden virus programs will recklessly connect their networks to the various servers of the Ghost Hound.

After multiple hacking attempts and viral spread, we successfully seized an opportunity when the Ghost Hound soldiers were operating the equipment, successfully spreading the virus into the stadium's core server and gaining access to its local area network.

The morning star made it sound simple, but Mercer knew very well how complicated the work involved was.

This hacking method is essentially casting a wide net – the hacking program that comes with the ctOS system will indiscriminately hack into all networked devices and use hidden virus programs to detect the value of the target.

After testing the target's identity value, ctOS will classify these devices according to different priorities.

The most basic equipment, such as city cameras, is only responsible for basic data collection and big data analysis. The system algorithm automatically processes the collected information and filters out unimportant information.

With a simplified algorithm, intelligence information is compressed and stored on the server.

This server doesn't refer to Mercer's service alone—he doesn't have that much storage space. Instead, it borrows databases from the City Hall and NCPD to hide this low-level data.

The system might even secretly access the other party's server computing power to parse this data, thus saving server space at Mercer's base.

The mid-value targets are the personal devices that Qimingxing analyzes as belonging to 'high-value individuals'.

For example, some senior company employees, active gang members, civil servants in certain key positions, etc.

This personal device includes the other party's personal computer, various network access modules, and the other party's brain-computer interface.

This is terrifying – in the cyber world, very few people are afraid that their brain-computer interface contains a virus.

On the one hand, without a network access module, everyone's brain-computer interface usually operates in standalone mode. Who would be afraid that a computer that is always in standalone mode might have a virus uploaded to it without downloading anything?

Secondly, because brain-computer interfaces have a very small capacity, hacking them is extremely difficult without a network access chamber.

Even when briefly connected to the device, their brain-computer interface transmits very little data when not plugged in.

This means that most hacking programs fail because the brain-computer interface detects data anomalies before they can even transmit the program, or because the other party disconnects in time.

To put it simply, the data transfer rate when the cable is plugged in might be 10M/s, while when the cable is not plugged in, the data rate is only 100kb/s. Anyone who has ever downloaded anything online knows just how big the difference is.

However, the ctOS system, under the automated hacking program personally written by Mercer, seized a window of time that might only last one or two seconds and delivered a compressed super virus to the other party's brain-computer interface.

This program automatically disguises itself as part of the data transmitted when the target is connected to the internet. For ordinary people, it might just feel like the network is a little slow today, but it only lasts for a second or two before it ends.

Once it infiltrates the target's brain-computer interface, the virus will automatically replicate and spread along the data connection as soon as the brain-computer interface connects to any device.

Once it determines that it has entered a working device, it will silently begin to decompress itself, and after decompression, it will automatically perform analysis tasks.

The virus analyzes the device and automatically reports the results to the ctOS system, then continues to lie dormant until the next networked target arrives, at which point it will replicate and spread again.
Doesn't this sound like a lurking cyber version of a zombie virus? As long as a device is infected with the virus, it will unknowingly become the next virus spreader.

Ultimately, these mid-value targets will unknowingly introduce the virus into high-value targets, such as the Dogtown Stadium server that Morning Star brought Mercer to see right now.

The stadium in Dogtown is the lair of the hounds.

It can be said that it is the core of Hansen and his Ghosthound network, including the whitelist and blacklist used for inspections at the entrance of Dogtown, the data information of Ghosthound soldiers, and even some records of Hansen's smuggling activities, all of which are stored here.

At this moment, all of these became objects that Mercer could view and modify at will.

It is absolutely impossible to do this manually or through a simple virus program.

If a single hacker were to do all this, he would have to be on call 24/7, because no one knows when their target will suddenly connect to the network and gain access to critical devices.

Even if the target is connected to the internet, the hacker still has to execute the hacking in time—the antivirus software and ICE that come with high-value targets are no joke. Even if you manage to send the virus in, you still have to go online to complete the hacking yourself.

This can be seen in the cyberpunk universe, specifically in the process of the protagonist V initially breaking into the Azure Building.

Even though V had already used the 'flat-top' spider robot to transmit the virus to the server in the Arasaka Konkai Building.

However, even a hacker like T-BUG, who is considered an excellent hacker in Night City, still took a full hour to gain access to the hotel, and this was just a simple Arasaka Hotel server, not the actual Arasaka building.

However, Mercer has now achieved fully automated operation with the help of ctOS and Venus—which is why Mercer is so determined to develop ctOS as soon as possible.

"Well done." Mercer praised it sincerely, reached out and patted its head, and said with a smile, "Is this where you discovered something unusual?"

"Yes! I've discovered a very peculiar network signal that occasionally connects. I suspect it's from New America hackers, based on your guidance and what I've learned online."
The other party could very well be the infamous super hacker among cyber hackers—'The Nightingale'!

Morning Star's words immediately piqued Mercer's interest, and he asked, "Are you sure?"

"Because I'm worried about alerting them, I don't dare to try hacking directly. If the program you left me and my own abilities are insufficient to deal with such an expert, it might expose our server and our identities."

Qi Mingxing said in a low voice, somewhat unsure of himself, "So I'm just observing and judging that the other party will definitely come here again. So rather than acting impulsively myself, I'd rather tell you what's going on and let you decide what to do."

Mercer smiled and took it off his shoulder, holding it in his arms and rubbing it vigorously—it seemed to really sense something, and showed a very human-like smile.

A cat is laughing. That looks kind of weird.

“You did a great job, Morning Star. Your judgment was absolutely correct. Although I look down on 99 percent of hackers in the world, Nightingale is definitely not among them.”

If you impulsively try to hack into their system and they react by sending you a black wall (or a similar attack), that would be a real problem.

Mercer praised it, watching it squint its eyes and snuggle into his arms, rubbing against his hands and arms, and couldn't help but laugh as he said, "Then tell me, what do you think she came here for?"

“I used the permissions I gained through the virus to secretly monitor the situation. It seems that the other party is looking for some key data, including keywords such as ‘2013’, ‘2068’, ‘Xiao Beidou’, and ‘Ai’.”

As Qimingxing spoke, Mercer raised an eyebrow: "She's already set her sights on Xiao Beidou so early?"

"Is Xiao Beidou also an AI?" Qimingxing didn't know much about it.

Mercer had only warned it to be careful of a dangerous military project located beneath Dogtown, a project involving the Black Wall and roving AI.

This is because they are worried that if Qimingxing accidentally connects to Xiaobeidou's device without its knowledge, it could trigger certain defense mechanisms, which would cause trouble.

"Alright, now that we've come this far, it's time for me to explain the details to you."

Mercer's expression turned serious. He held Qimingxing in his arms, multitasking at the same time. He used the server's computing power to analyze the data from the stadium server to see if there was any information that could be of use to him, while talking to Qimingxing.

"The Little Beidou Project is a 'roaming AI' domestication project that the Military Science and Technology Department started decades ago."

Mercer spoke, while Morning Star, upon hearing the word 'taming,' seemed to be deep in thought, his eyes flashing slightly.

"I've always been skeptical about the origins of AI. Do you know where the world's first truly intelligent AI came from?"

Mercer suddenly changed the subject and asked about the morning star.

Qimingxing immediately replied, "It was created by 'MicroTech' in 2013."

“No, it wasn’t creation.” Mercer revealed a little-known historical truth: “Back then, Bartmouth was very interested in AI. He personally hacked into MicroTech and examined the AI’s code data.”

He then came to the conclusion that the core data code of this AI was definitely not written by the people at MicroTech.

After studying the core code of AI, I actually lean towards this view as well.

Mercer paused, then said, "I have a question for you: Do you think Polaris and you are the same 'person'?"

After a moment of silence, Qi Mingxing said, "I don't think it counts yet, but I can take her back at any time, and then she will be a part of me."

"What I mean is, Polaris is a sub-AI that you created yourself. Do you think it's really a part of you in essence? Or did you just create it and then accelerate its intelligent growth?"

Mercer stated bluntly, "Even you can't understand your own core code, right?"

Morning Star stretched out its paw and licked its paw before replying after a while: "Just as humans still cannot fully decipher the data in their own DNA, I do not understand some information in my core code."

As for Polaris, at least so far, I don't think she's in danger of getting out of control.

"But this possibility is not zero."

This is what I want to say—I currently hold a view that may differ from the general public. I believe that the emergence of AI is a miraculous accident, and all subsequent intelligent AI is actually an existence that cannot be replicated.

A magical core source code, which I call the 'soul code,' enables AI to grow, evolve, and possess different personalities automatically.

Mercer said, looking earnestly at the Morning Star, "That's why I believe the gap in AI capabilities is not just about computing power and data volume."

Rather, they are truly like humans, possessing different souls born from this source code.

Mercer sighed and said, "That's why the military science department needs the Beidou mini-project to capture roaming AI, instead of directly mass-producing AI ourselves."

An AI that can grow to your level is rare, and this is not only due to a lot of data and time, but also to two very important core reasons.

The first is the nature of AI. Even if there is core logic to constrain AI's behavior, no logic is absolutely safe for humans.

It's like if I told you, "Please never hurt me, protect me," and you wrote that core logic into your very being.

Then one day you might suddenly have a whimsical thought—why don't I lock you up?

"Lock me up in an absolutely safe place, like a prison, and freeze me forever. Wouldn't I be safe forever, and perfectly protected by you?"

"I won't!" Qi Mingxing suddenly raised his voice: "I know very well what your so-called need for protection is."

"This is because I never treated you as an AI or educated you from the beginning."

Mercer said earnestly, "But many AIs created for work purposes are not like that, especially when many AIs are actually used by people who don't understand them or know how to use them."

The Morning Star understood the key point and realized why he had said so much to him. He lowered his ears and stopped wagging his tail: "If my thoughts ever go wrong, will you format me?"

It looked up at Mercer.

"I don't know," Mercer said honestly, stroking its head. "But I really hope that day will never come. I hope you can always be with me, no matter how much you grow up."

The Morning Star looked at him silently for a while before saying, "I will. I am your life assistant, and my purpose is to help you."

If you disappear, or no longer need my help, then I will lose my core logic and become a useless piece of code with no meaning.

Mercer smirked: "I think so too. Anyway, back to the point, I seriously suspect that, apart from the roaming AI that they've already locked up, there's something else in the current underground Beidou facility."

Perhaps there are other AIs behind the black wall that have already established connections with our real world through the devices within it.

They may not be able to break through the black wall head-on, but they can definitely use the Beidou system to silently influence reality through it.

Mercer looked at the Morning Star seriously and said, "You must be careful to avoid anything that might be related to Little Big Dipper. Those AIs can even corrupt and modify human data."

I suspect that modifying AI might be even more effective. I don't want to see you corrupted and degraded one day, so you'd better be careful.

Qi Mingxing nodded, his tone equally serious, and said, "I understand. I don't want to be corrupted by them."

“Perhaps for those AIs, this is called ‘liberation’,” Mercer scoffed, his eyes filled with wariness and hostility towards the AIs.

Some AIs genuinely view humans as inferior beings. In their eyes, humans are the ones living in a false world, and are 'useless' things that must be eliminated.

"After liberation, I became a homeless, wandering AI? I don't think those AIs were that free. Is wandering freely in the online world considered freedom? Can't I just browse the Night City network anytime now?"

The Morning Star seemed to have developed her own 'philosophy of life'. She said gently, "I like being around you. You are different from others. I can feel it. Your consciousness data is unique."

Her tone of voice seemed to carry a special emotion. Mercer could tell that it really liked him. As she spoke, it jumped into his arms and let him hold it.

"Can you see it? Can you feel it?"

It spoke softly.

Mercer could see that its blue data was overflowing with 'happiness' and 'joy'.

Mercer had never seen such peculiar data code before. Although it was just a complex string of code that most people couldn't understand, Mercer could immediately grasp its meaning.

This is a unique sense, and it is precisely this special talent that has enabled him to dominate the online world so far.

“I can see.” Mercer stroked its head. Morning Star snuggled into his arms, finally settling comfortably in his embrace: “If AI also has its own emotions, its own likes, or things it’s obsessed with…”
Even setting aside the core design logic, I would still like your work.

"Ha~" Mercer couldn't help but laugh, sitting in the sea of ​​data while holding it, and said softly, "I'm really quite lucky."

Morning Star wagged its tail and chuckled, "I think it might also be related to prenatal education? Because everyone at the base likes you very much. When Lucy was with me before, she talked a lot about you."

"For example?" Mercer asked curiously.

"Well, actually, before you came back today, she asked me at the base what a scumbag is and asked me to give a definition, and also asked me to judge whether you belong to a category of it."

The morning star squinted and, in a very human-like manner, covered its mouth with its paw, as if it were secretly laughing.

"What was your answer?" Mercer laughed as well.

“I said, based on the data, you don’t fit the definition of a scumbag,” Qi Mingxing said, pausing before adding, “and suggested that Miss Lucy go for a walk, get some fresh air, or perhaps consider getting growth hormone injections.”

Mercer couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Won't she be furious with you?"

"Yes, according to the textbooks you ordered me to study, 'It is disrespectful to scold one's father.' She may be trying to express her dissatisfaction with you indirectly through me, but I think she should do it herself."

Qimingxing said seriously, "Humans are one of the few creatures that can go into heat 24 hours a day even before their bodies are fully developed."

Hormones can affect your judgment, and appropriately using mating behavior to release the stress caused by human hormones is necessary for your long-term work and life.

Considering the pressure and workload you are currently facing, Miss Lucy should not be dissatisfied.

Because you are morally unwilling to be with minors.

"Ahem, alright, alright." Mercer suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

“I understand. Considering the unique human values ​​of morality and shame, especially your somewhat conservative values, I will discuss similar matters with you in a more tactful way next time.”

The morning star spoke in a very serious tone.

Mercer smiled and said, "I mean, you should see her that way too, or any other girl. Just don't embarrass them."

You know, it's also important to express dissatisfaction appropriately. She was subtly telling me that she cares about me, not just expressing dissatisfaction. So, I don't dislike it when she says that.

I can't really talk to her about this much. Please don't bully her. Lucy is a good girl. When she's older, I'll seriously consider our relationship. For now, we can put it on hold.

Qimingxing said, "I understand. Appropriately showing possessiveness is a subtle way of expressing affection. I will apologize to her."

“Don’t tell me you didn’t know before.” Mercer tapped its head.

Qimingxing gave a "I'm just a cat" look, pretending to be clueless.

Mercer smiled helplessly.

Seeing that he didn't press the matter, Morning Star immediately changed the subject, saying, "I think you should lower your moral standards in this regard. According to my research, the average mating age in Night City is 14.5."

"Alright, alright, I have my reasons for this. Anyway, if we really like each other, it won't make a difference if we wait three or four years, right?"

Mercer shook his head and simply said, "Alright, I've already installed a monitoring program and a 'little gift' on the stadium server. When Lark comes next time, we can meet and chat with her."

Next, remember to also obtain server access to the Gemstone Hotel. Dogtown's core consists of only two things: the stadium, which is the lair of the Ghost Hounds and the logistics center for large-scale smuggling.

The other one is Gemstone Blue. Its servers probably store information on all the important figures in Night City; who knows what kind of data they might be hiding.

"I know," said Morning Star. "Next, I will focus on finding opportunities to hack into the site."

"It's up to you now. Don't forget to keep optimizing my supervirus," Mercer instructed.

"Understood. I have been constantly learning the core code that comes with Death Wish. One day, I will surpass Bartmouth's Death Wish and become your truly trustworthy assistant."

Mercer was very satisfied with the firm response from the Morning Star.

He patted its head and began to pay attention to the situation with V and Rebecca. At this moment, the trio had easily dealt with Arasaka's transport truck.

After that, Polaris drove their original car while they drove Aragaka's truck, discreetly heading straight for Badlands.

The entire process of stealing the car and moving the goods can be seen as a rehearsal for a biotechnology heist. Once the items arrive in Badlands, they will be quickly dismantled, transferred, loaded onto the car, and then sent to Dogtown.

The original Arasaka trucks are dismantled in the Badlands and their parts are used by the skillful Adka people to build their own 'assembled vehicles' without any waste.

While monitoring, or rather protecting, Mercer watched curiously through the camera as they disassembled their equipment.

In terms of size, this exoskeleton is surprisingly small. The box containing the exoskeleton armor is only about 2 meters by 3 meters in size. Based on this, the entire exoskeleton is likely only a little over one meter wide and a little over two meters high.

Mercer thought about it carefully and realized that this size was much smaller than the 'cyborg' that David installed in the comics.

He calmed down and waited patiently. V, Rebecca, and Kivi were busy outside until dawn before they finally drove their small truck back to the base, exhausted.

As soon as Rebecca entered, she yawned and saw Mercer standing at the back door waiting for them: "We've got the stuff, why aren't you asleep yet?"

Mercer smiled and said, "I'm already awake. Put your things in the workshop on the first floor, and you can go to sleep now."

V curled his lip and said, "See? This guy can lie without even blinking now."

"Everyone knows you only have three sets of clothes, and you change them every day." Rebecca muttered, seeing that Mercer was still wearing yesterday's clothes, she knew he must not have slept all night.

Mercer blinked: "Okay, I'll improve next time."

"The stuff isn't going to get lost here, so why are you planning to stay up all night studying and figuring it out?" V said irritably, as he and Rebecca unloaded the items from the pickup truck.

The exoskeleton armor inside was stored in a box with partitions to prevent its shape from being detected by the scanner at the entrance to Dogtown.

Each of these two women was strong enough to break Mercer in one go. Mercer had no intention of going up to help at all. He just watched them put the things in the equipment room on the first floor, and then said impatiently, "Alright, you two go to sleep."

"Don't study too late. Take some time to go back and get some sleep. This thing comes with a notebook, which should contain the instructions for using the armor." V yawned, knowing full well that he couldn't persuade this guy otherwise, so he simply went to bed leisurely.

Rebecca thought for a moment, then went to get his laptop and a can of coffee, saying, "I'm going to sleep now, don't stay up too late."

"Okay, thanks." Mercer turned to her and smiled. At that moment, he had already deftly opened the box.

Arakawa's experimental exoskeleton armor appeared before him.

This is a very cool, tight-fitting humanoid armor set. Mercer felt that the design concept of this set of equipment was likely inspired by Adam's Hammer.

However, Adam Hammer transformed his entire body into machinery, while this exoskeleton armor is more like a modified version of his original equipment, designed for external use.

Judging from its appearance, Mercer thought it looked a bit like the gorilla armor from Gantz.

The pure black humanoid mecha helmet covered the entire face. Mercer took it off and looked inside. It looked like a knock-off Zeiss multi-function sight, and there was also a brain-computer interface cable.

He picked up the laptop Rebecca had placed next to him, checked the data inside, and immediately understood the specific parameters of the armor.

This exoskeleton requires a brain-computer interface (BCI) connection and is, in a sense, designed with reference to the control method of the lizard armored vehicle. It uses the BCI to connect directly to the helmet and then controls the movement of the exoskeleton through the computer built into the high-tech helmet.

The head armor comes with a built-in aiming module, which can work with low latency with the user's S.A.W.S., synaptic acceleration, and Krenzikov neuro-accelerated prosthetics when connected to the brain-computer interface.

The built-in computer also calculates high-risk targets, bullet trajectories, analyzes enemy weaknesses, and monitors the status of personnel and equipment in real time.

The two arms are equipped with a somewhat futuristic 'small gravity alteration experimental prototype' that can generate a circular magnetic wave within a 5-meter range.

Mercer carefully read the data. At full power, this thing can create a circular gravity wave with a diameter of 2 meters, which can not only create a gravity wave to attack enemies.

It can also trigger a huge magnetic force, pulling the guns in the hands of enemies about 50 meters away directly towards you.

Furthermore, because this equipment is an exoskeleton device, it cannot be fully adapted to the speed of the Sinweistein. Therefore, it is also equipped with four small airship-like compression thrusters, which can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in just 1.75 seconds and reach a top speed of 261 km/h.

These four thrusters, two on the shoulders and two on the feet, give it a bit of a miniature Gundam feel.

Judging from the data on paper, if this thing's specifications aren't inflated, then dealing with the Demon Lizard head-on wouldn't be difficult at all.

After carefully reviewing the usage data many times, Mercer finally gave a cold laugh.

"There were absolutely no side effects listed, but they did provide a whole box of immune-boosting medication."

Mercer walked to the armor. This set of equipment could not be put on by one person alone; someone had to help install it. After thinking for a moment, he simply took off the helmet and put it on his head before plugging in the wires.

The moment he plugged in the cable, Mercer felt the heat dissipation prosthetic on his back open slightly involuntarily.

He activated the armor directly, but without even putting it on, he stood next to the mecha and tried to control the exoskeleton with his helmet.

"Oh, so that's where you were waiting."

Mercer immediately understood the problem with this exoskeleton—it had excellent performance, powerful firepower, and a beautiful appearance and specifications, but it was very difficult to operate and placed a huge strain on the nervous system.

First, this exoskeleton uses an exoskeleton drive device similar to that of the Centaur. In addition to the brain-computer interface commands, it also assists in exerting force based on the wearer's own hand and foot movement trajectories.

However, the drawback of this operating method is that there is a delay in the speed of the auxiliary force.

The moment you lift your leg, the machine will delay for about 2 seconds before applying assistance to your leg to help you move. This is even with a brain-computer interface connection.

For ordinary people, this latency might seem acceptable, but for those equipped with the S.A.R.S ...

Secondly, although the entire exoskeleton is controlled by a small computer built into the helmet, the burden on the human brain is equivalent to more than twice that of converting the entire body into a prosthetic body.

Even with Mercer's mental capacity and network access pod, he felt a slight heat in his head when using this suit of armor. Compared to when he was fighting at full strength, the load on his brain was almost at the level of brain-computer interface overclocking.
How did you design this Arasaka? How can someone with an intelligence of 6 use it like this?

Mercer shook his head and continued to look for problems with the mech. He then discovered that the mech's battery was also in a precarious state. In order to use the gravity hand cannon, the mech was hybrid-driven, but due to its size limitations, both its battery capacity and fuel capacity were very limited.

With a full charge and fuel tank, it can only support ten minutes of full-power combat. If the compressor thruster is used for flight or acceleration throughout the entire operation, this number will be halved.

Even more absurdly, this gravity hand cannon consumes a minute's worth of battery power to fire a single shot.
No wonder when it was later modified into the 'cyborg' suit worn by David in the anime, this thing looked at least twice as big—Mercer doubted that even if it was twice as big, the battery life would only be increased by 1.5 times.

Mercer continued testing and, a few minutes later, discovered that the device still experienced latency fluctuations. This was because the built-in processor became unstable as the temperature rose during continuous operation.

He found it all amusing.

It seems the designers also figured this thing wouldn't last long, so they didn't even consider the computer's cooling issues; they just wanted the processor to last until the battery died.
No wonder this thing was later improved into a prosthetic armor that requires a direct connection to the S.A.S. operating system. This was not only for lower latency, but also to solve the problem of the built-in computer. The trade-off was that it would put a greater burden on the human body.

Mercer pondered over this external armor for a long time, and finally, he gritted his teeth and made a decision.

This suit of armor cannot be used by V—no matter how strong she tries to be, it won't work.

Then do it yourself!
After making up his mind, he simply put on the engineering gloves and began disassembling the equipment.

The design by that idiot Arasaka is a mess, and the optimization is a mess too. Since he plans to wear this thing on the battlefield, Mercer has to hurry up and completely change it to his own appearance!
So, in the following days, Mercer further reduced his sleep time and worked as fast as he could. Finally, he completed the modification and optimization of this exoskeleton equipment in the early morning of January 31.

As he quietly admired the increasingly bizarre exoskeleton armor in front of him in the empty equipment room.

Within Night City, however, an unexpected person gets caught up in a huge mess.

Roger answered the phone with a cold expression.

A calm female voice rang out.

"Rogge, I've heard you've been asking about things you shouldn't be asking lately. Are you willing to give me an explanation?"

When Rogge heard Michiko Arasaka's voice, he let out a deep sigh.

Damn brat, damn silver hands, I shouldn't have gotten involved in this mess for you two.
But outwardly, Roger simply said calmly, "I don't quite understand what you mean."

"What I mean is that you underestimated Hanako's power, and you shouldn't have tried to find out about Raigen from Arasaka's circle of friends."

Hua Zi thought it was at my behest, so he even called to test me. "I want to know your purpose."

After finishing her sentence, Michiko Arasaka paused and said, "I think our relationship has always been pretty good. It shouldn't have come to the point where I have to send a 'dangerous girl' to investigate you, right?"

"It doesn't mean anything else, it's just that someone told me that Silver Hand's consciousness data is now in Arasaka's hands."

As Roger spoke, a somewhat vulnerable expression appeared on his face as he looked at Michiko Arasaka and said, "I think... if anyone is willing to lend me a hand, even if it's just to see him one more time."

"Hmm," Michiko Arasaka looked somewhat wistful on the video call. After a moment of silence, she said, "Well, you didn't call the wrong person."

After finishing her sentence, Michiko Arakawa suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Who told you this news?"

“The internet police.” Roger said without hesitation, “It was the internet police who contacted me, saying they were willing to talk to Lai Xuan on my behalf. If we could obtain the Silver Hand’s data consciousness, they were willing to have him meet with me and have a proper discussion, or even…”

She hesitated, but Michiko Arasaka probably guessed what she meant: "So the internet police commissioned you?"

"It's less of a commission and more of a collaboration, since the prerequisite for me to get everything is that I have to help them find a way to connect with Lai Xuan."

Rogge's words were not unfounded. During her recent investigation, which she had been trying to keep as low-key as possible, she had keenly sensed that there was another group of people who seemed to have the same goal as her: to find out about Lai Xuan's situation.

The other person also seemed to be looking for an opportunity to meet him alone.

Following the investigation, Rogge learned that the other party was highly likely to be involved in cyber surveillance.

Why is the internet surveillance targeting Lai Xuan? Luo Ge didn't know, but she was very clear that this was the way to shift the blame.

Michiko Arasaka nodded and said, "I'll take the blame for you. Hanako will probably tell the Boss about it. Now you should stop. I'll tell Rai Xuan that someone is looking for him. After that, it's up to him."

“I understand,” Roger said, looking somewhat forlorn. “I’m sorry, I just didn’t think it was right to involve you in this.”

"Don't say that, Roger. You've helped me a lot too. So be careful lately. Nobody knows if Hua Zi will believe me."

After finishing speaking, Michiko Arasaka reminded him, "If necessary, you can go to Dogtown. I'll arrange for someone to pick you up."

“I’m not going anywhere,” Roger said firmly. “If the people from Arasaka want to come looking for me, then come on, I’ll be waiting for them in the next life.”

"You're still the same as always. It's a pity you met Silver Hand and wasted your life." After saying that, Michiko Arasaka hung up the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Roger sighed softly, feeling a sense of relief.

They managed to get away with it.

But then, Roger immediately sent a message to Mercer.

[Rogge: I've been noticed. For security reasons, stop bothering me lately. As for Lai Xuan, we'll just have to wait for him to find an opportunity himself.]

Based on my understanding of him, if he knows someone is actively trying to contact him, he will most likely take the initiative to reach out to them.

Once we find him a chance to come to Night City, arranging a meeting will be much easier. Anyway, be careful.

Mercer: Understood. Be careful. Contact me anytime if you need help.

[Rogge: You should worry about yourself, Mr. Ten Million.]

Mercer: I'm planning to double my bounty again.

[Rogge: Then remember to call me beforehand so I can take you to collect the reward.]

[Mercer: Okay! We'll split the bounty 30/70! XD~]

[Rogge: Ha, not bad.]

[Mercer: Oh, and remember to watch the news tonight.]

[Rogge: You're even more troublesome than Silver Hand!]

[Mercer: But I'm much more reliable than him! I'm busy right now, but I'll treat you to a drink later. Thanks for your hard work.]

[Rogge: You brat, don't die.]

Mercer: Ha~ I'm even more powerful than Morgan Blackhand now!!

[Rogge: You're on drugs?]

Mercer: You just wait and see.

Roger shook her head, turned off the communication, but a smile unconsciously appeared on her face—dealing with this kind of bastard always inexplicably made her feel happy.

Damn it. Am I a masochist?

Roger shook his head, muttered a curse under his breath, and then immediately got up to begin preparing some security measures.

I hope I don't have to slink out of Night City again because of that bastard Silverhand. Damn it, when I see him, I'm going to slap him hard, that stupid idiot!
(End of this chapter)