Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 86 Faraday, what are you doing!
"K, stop fiddling with your crappy sniper rifle, look at my big one. If you ask me, a real man should use this!"

In the barren, border region, a black Russian-made Caucasian Bratsk truck speeds across the wilderness.

As an armored transport truck positioned similarly to the Behemoth, it may look a bit shabby, but in terms of practicality, it is by no means much worse than the Behemoth.

Its enormous forward-driving force allows it to accelerate recklessly on dirt roads even when carrying a tank. Perhaps, in some ways, this truck would be even more robust and durable than a Behemoth when traversing rough terrain.

The only drawback might be that the cockpit's bulletproof armor and the updated internal networking equipment are relatively outdated.

At this moment, an elite mercenary squad is using this vehicle to head to a designated location to ambush and wait.

K, a retired sniper and leader of a mercenary squad, looked helplessly at the gunner beside him who was showing off a large missile launcher. He sighed and said, "Hey Dave, you've been playing around for days, aren't you done yet?"

"Damn, this is a high-end item that I didn't even have many chances to play with back in the army!"

Dave looked at the big treasure in his hand and happily stroked its barrel—a device that at first glance looked somewhat like a man-portable rocket launcher.

In fact, it is a miniature missile launcher that can launch missiles via electromagnetic catapult and launch them via secondary ignition in mid-air.

Compared to ordinary man-portable rocket launchers, its biggest advantage is that it can be launched covertly beyond visual range, accurately striking any target within a range of 3-15 kilometers. After the missile is launched, it will first accelerate upwards and then enter high-altitude cruise.

At this point, the user only needs to use the visual guidance system built into the missile launcher, and through the visual sharing after the brain-computer interface is connected, to connect the camera on the missile via the prosthetic eye for aerial aiming. After confirming the target, the missile will automatically lock onto the target and strike it.

With a power far exceeding that of a man-portable rocket, coupled with a strike speed exceeding Mach 1 after locking on, it can be said to surpass the air defense capabilities of the vast majority of infantry fighting vehicles.

"I actually hope I won't need it."

The other mercenary sitting next to him shrugged. His Ajax assault rifle was painted in desert camouflage, and his standard combat uniform with a full-coverage helmet made him look no less than any elite soldier.

"Don't jinx it. If we don't get a chance to use it, we'll have to return it to Faraday. That guy is really stingy; he takes back the equipment he's given out."

As Dave spoke, the two mercenaries sitting in the driver's seat and the passenger seat simultaneously laughed and cursed: "Don't you dare jinx it, you're perfectly safe hiding behind the bulletproof steel plate."

"If I were ambushed, this Russian-made cockpit would probably be penetrated by a single armor-piercing round."

"I was talking about the other team's failure, K. I heard that Mann is also going to join another mercenary team. What do you mean?"

Dave turned to look at K.

K coldly held the modified cat in his hand: "This was his own choice. If the mission reaches the point where we need to take over, according to Faraday's requirements, we must ensure that they all die."

"Hey, I really hope to see that guy's regretful face."

As Dave was speaking, he suddenly heard something strange. He narrowed his eyes and immediately turned to look at the mercenary in the passenger seat. By this time, the mercenary's expression had already turned serious.

"Silence! Prepare for battle!"

The mercenary in the passenger seat had his prosthetic eye gleaming. After rolling down the window, he quickly peered out. His prosthetic eye and hearing system had been modified, giving him a detection range far exceeding that of ordinary people when activated.

"An unidentified flying object is approaching from 3 o'clock, 2.1 km away!"

"K!"

Without saying a word, the mercenary in the driver's seat turned the steering wheel to the left and floored the accelerator.

Before Dave could finish speaking about the "decoy reconnaissance drone," he saw K swiftly open the back door of the truck, revealing the firing window, and kneel down on one knee, raising his sniper rifle.

His custom-made sniper rifle from Tsunami Defense had no scope, because K's scope was his prosthetic eye. At that moment, as his prosthetic eye magnified the target flying in from a distance, K cursed, "Drone!"

He immediately pressed the firing button on the sniper rifle, but then, a dense ring of tiny black dots, visible to the naked eye, made him gasp for breath.

“That’s a suicide drone swarm! Drive faster, did we bring any small EMPs?” K turned and asked, but Dave had already opened a box: “No, only two EMP grenades.”

"Then pick up the machine gun and start spraying!" K said, firing a shot that blew up a drone in the distance.

However, his precise sniping was largely ineffective against the dense swarm of drones.

"Damn it!" Dave cursed, using his arms to lift a heavy machine gun and standing at the back door. With a powerful thrust, the gorilla pulled the trigger, and roaring bullets flew towards the drones filling the sky.

The mercenary in the passenger seat also plugged the brain wire into the vehicle's infotainment system, and then the folding vehicle-mounted machine gun popped out of its bulletproof cover and began firing upwards.

Even so, a few of the densely packed drones still managed to break through the barrage and land on their pickup trucks.

The bulletproof armor withstood the explosion, but the enormous impact still made the mercenaries in the back seat dizzy, lightheaded, and nauseous, their consciousness becoming somewhat blurred. Fortunately, Dave reacted quickly and closed the back door, preventing the drone from getting in.

"At nine o'clock, a vehicle is rapidly approaching. Be careful! We've been ambushed! Enemies are coming from both directions!"

The driver suppressed his dizziness, but even with the accelerator floored, the speed wasn't as fast as he had imagined. The powerful engine allowed the truck to move freely through the rough terrain, but the speed of such a truck was ultimately limited.

Compared to the two armored vehicles rapidly approaching at this moment, the gap between the two sides is decreasing at a visible speed.

The mercenary in the passenger seat tried to operate the vehicle-mounted machine gun, but the next moment, the car window suddenly shattered with a loud cracking sound. Something seemed to fly past his ear, and the car suddenly jolted and began to shake violently.

The mercenary in the co-pilot turned his head and couldn't help but roar, "Sniper!!"

The driver was now slumped silently over the steering wheel, his head smashed into a pile of minced meat. The bullet had not only pierced through the driver but had also nearly skewered him like a candied hawthorn.

The mercenary in the co-pilot's seat, disregarding his grief or disgust, swerved to turn the car around, positioning the back seat towards the oncoming vehicle to create a firing window for the three mercenaries in the back.

However, as soon as he turned, Dave shouted in terror: "Rocket launcher!"

He only had time to pull up the armored door at the back before the entire back of the car exploded with a loud bang. The tires were blown out, and a hole was blown through the rear door.

Fragments of shattered armor flew everywhere, about 80% of which were blocked by the burly Dave. One shard even pierced his head directly. Fortunately, his heavy subcutaneous armor allowed him to survive, but even so, Dave still felt excruciating pain all over his body.

He gritted his teeth, opened the pain editor, reduced the pain level to 10%, and then injected himself with adrenaline.

"I'm going to go all out! I'm going to launch my precious baby!"

He was about to open the door with his rocket launcher in hand, but K stopped him, saying coldly, "Let them in, TJ, use your S.A.S.T ...

"Damn it, we should have driven our own car. This piece of junk doesn't even have a firing window!"

Dave cursed angrily, picked up the machine gun, and gritted his teeth as he listened to the clanging sound of the machine gun fire hitting the armor.

The mercenary, who was holding Ajax, threw the gun aside, and two mantis blades sprang from his arm. His prosthetic eye gleamed with an eerie light: "Then let him in to fight!"

K also put down his sniper rifle; his body was also equipped with S.A.S ...

The mercenary, who had taken over as driver, said breathlessly, "We have no choice but to get closer. The rear tires are completely flat. Damn Faraday, we've been ripped off!"

"Wait...it looks like those mercenaries called the Fireseed Squad!?" The mercenary looked closely, then said with a mixture of anger and shock, "We've been attacked by our own people?"

"There are no of our own people here!" K instantly realized the key point and immediately called Mann, but the other party did not answer.

Without saying a word, K also sent a message to Faraday to report the situation, but then he found that the back door was suddenly pulled open by someone.

A dark figure suddenly appeared behind the car—it was a white-haired woman running wildly!

V extended his mantis blade from his arm. At this moment, the open truck bed was already covered by Rebecca's heavy machine gun fire. Inside the truck bed, all the mercenaries immediately activated their operating systems.

Dave's berserk system was activated, but it had no effect whatsoever, because his thick build made him the most conspicuous target in Rebecca's eyes. The heavy machine gun's firepower was practically non-recoil-free under Rebecca's arm control.

With Rebecca also activating her Berserk system and Krenzikov accelerating, Dave had nowhere to hide in the cramped carriage and could only be turned into a sieve in a second.

K and another mercenary leaped down from Dave's side. K was wielding a short knife about the length of his forearm, while the other mercenary was using mantis knives with both hands. The three of them fought at a speed that was impossible for an ordinary person to see.

To avoid friendly fire, Rebecca had to abandon the idea of ​​using the heavy machine gun to help V fight and continued to suppress the enemy's position with firepower until she pierced through the driver's seat and killed the mercenary on the spot.

“Mercury!” Rebecca shouted.

Mercer's voice remained calm: "We've already cracked one of the prosthetic body's permissions."

The moment he finished speaking, the mercenary who was flanking V, the one wielding the mantis knife, suddenly lost his footing and knelt on the ground.

V's laughter faded with the wind, and with a single, effortless kick, the mercenary's head flew off like a ball.

K felt a chill run down his spine and his scalp tingle.

They were all equipped with military-grade ICE cybernetic bodies! And their cybernetic body permissions were hacked off in just over a second?

What the hell is this joke?
"Where are you looking?" V's voice suddenly appeared in his ear.

In K's view, V's already fast speed suddenly increased even more strangely. The next moment, a mantis knife, accompanied by V's cold smile, became his last memory.

V easily stopped Sianwistan, and with a flick of her wrist, she sent K's corpse, which had been lifted up by her two heated mantis knives, flying away.

"Clean the battlefield."

Mercer said casually from the back seat, praising the shot in team voice chat: "You sniped pretty well."

"Hehe, the chip program you wrote is really awesome. It's like playing a game for me. Just aim the crosshair and fire."

In another car, Pila proudly put down the cat-shaped toy she was holding, then rubbed her hands together excitedly and said, "I wonder what kind of gadgets these guys are using."

Mercer's chosen tactic was very simple: use a drone to feint an attack at the opponent's three o'clock position to draw their attention, while he himself would set up an ambush at the nine o'clock position using a reverse slope.

When the enemy gets close to him to avoid the drone, he directly drives an armored vehicle to rush in and attack.

Pila's precise shooting of the driver and Rebecca's use of a rocket launcher to puncture the tires made the attack exceptionally successful. The moment the attackers had no choice but to get out of the car and fight back, they had already lost their threat to Mercer's team.

Once the distance is closed, V only needs to delay the opponent by 1-2 seconds, and Mercer can guarantee to hack one of them.

In the modified bulletproof hacker vehicle where Pira was, Qiwei and Lucy also breathed a sigh of relief and unplugged the cable connecting to the drone control system.

"I feel that the control of the swarm is still not precise enough, and too much of it is wasted in the face of this kind of firepower suppression."

Qiwei commented.

“I think we can involve more intelligent AI,” Lucy suggested directly.

Mercer nodded and said, "I'll have Qimingxing take a look at how to solve this problem later. It feels pretty good when I use it myself."

"Heh," Lucy glanced at him speechlessly. "Don't you know how many things your brain can control at the same time?"

Mercer shrugged and said, "Alright, hurry up and see if there's anything valuable. Once we've looted it, we need to leave as soon as possible. We have to be ready before the biotechnology people arrive at the ambush site."

"Wow, look at this!" Pila suddenly exclaimed.

He took something from the back seat of the truck that looked like a large man-portable rocket launcher.

"Damn, thank goodness we chose to ambush. If we'd been hit by one of these a few kilometers away, we'd all be done for!"

Pila clicked his tongue in amazement, picked up the object, examined it carefully for a while, and said, "This thing is a damn man-portable missile launcher!"

"Let me see, let me see!" Rebecca loved these high-powered gadgets.

Pila continued searching with her head down, finally picking up a large sniper rifle: "Holy crap, a Tsunami Defense custom Asura? This thing looks twice the size of a regular Asura!"

"Anti-materiel sniper rifle, this thing is specifically designed to take down armored vehicles." V clicked his tongue in amazement, but also casually picked up an Ajax.

She picked up the Ajax and played with it for a bit: "It's alright, it's a custom-made one too, Zeiss sights, modified military-grade folding grip, it suits me quite well, I'll take it."

“You’re playing with this knife too.” Mercer picked up K’s short knife from the ground, examined it for a while and said, “Arasaka’s nano knife is just as sharp as the Mantis Knife. If the Mantis Knife malfunctions, you won’t have to use your hands again.”

The group quickly stripped the mercenary squad of all their belongings.

Then, a message box popped up in Mercer's psychic eye.

[Mann: Faraday contacted me, asking why we were attacking our own people. I didn't answer the phone. What should I say?]

A: I'll call him back.

Mercer waved to the group and returned to the hacker vehicle. In the back seat of the vehicle, a set of black individual armor was quietly piled up in a corner.

Considering the device's battery life, Mercer did not choose to use it when dealing with the mercenaries, but instead reserved it for the biotechnology convoy.

As he walked to the armor, he waved to Lucy, signaling for her help.

At the same time, he called Faraday.

As soon as the video call connected, Faraday glared angrily at Mercer: "A, you have to give it to me."

Before he could finish speaking, Mercer shouted, "Faraday! What are you doing? Why is there another group of unidentified armed men at the ambush site? If we hadn't scouted them beforehand, do you know what they have?"
A man-portable missile launcher! If we're foolish enough to go over there and get hit by one of these, we're all done for!

Faced with Mercer's preemptive accusation, Faraday was initially amused and then asked, "Why didn't you contact me beforehand?"

"Contact you? Because of these guys who suddenly appeared, we missed our planned ambush area and ambush time. Now we have to hurry to the second ambush point. How could I possibly have time to contact you?"

Mercer retorted, staring at him with a cold expression: "You need to explain this to me—are they your people? I remember we agreed that this deal was ours!"

"This is just a backup plan!" Farah wasn't so confident at first, but she was inwardly cursing the guy named K for ruining things.

We sent you to provide backup and act as a second line of defense. How could we allow you to run into Mercer's men head-on?

"A backup plan? If it's a backup plan to pick us up, why didn't you say so beforehand? I suspect it might be to silence us! Faraday, I'm warning you, I will continue with this job, but you must give me an explanation and compensation later."

If you think we're like other mercenary squads, easily manipulated and used as your tools, you're mistaken.

Mercer stared fiercely at Faraday in the video, saying aggressively, "This isn't over. We'll have a proper chat after the commission ends."

He immediately ended the video call.

Lucy watched as Mercer removed his mask, revealing a relaxed expression, and couldn't help but smile. "What did he say?"

"He looks furious, but he deserves it," Mercer said nonchalantly, adding with great enthusiasm, "Remember to tighten the armor on both arms, otherwise my hands won't fit into the hand transmission."

“I said,” V stood in the doorway, looking at him with a hint of envy, “why don’t you just let me use this thing? You don’t have any experience in close combat, what if something goes wrong?”

Mercer laughed heartily, watching Lucy and Qiwei put on their armor one on each side: "Come on, you're just jealous."

"Get lost, I was worried about you!" V rolled his eyes. "Don't you know how many times you've crashed these past few days while practicing this?"

"No problem, I can drift in this thing now." Mercer confidently stretched out his hand. At this moment, his left hand was covered with armor, which looked just like the giant gorilla arm that Rebecca wore in the anime.

The black exoskeleton armor, standing 2.2 meters tall, with its two massive arms reaching down to its knees, exudes an aura of immense power.

The gravity device in the palm of the hand is full of sci-fi power. Not to mention V and Mercer, even Anzu and Lucy have been looking at this thing a lot these past few days.

Mercer concealed the load during the brain-computer interface connection. He was a superhuman in terms of mental capacity. Even if the load was at its maximum during the ten-minute battle, at most his brain would feel a little 'familiar', but it wouldn't be a big problem.

As for issues like cyberbullying—Mercer had absolutely no idea.

He genuinely felt nothing. Instead of feeling more overloaded, he felt himself becoming calmer and his thinking more efficient, much like when his brain was overclocked, with his brain constantly operating at full power.

He felt that the only possibility was that he would burn out his own brain, but not that he would lose his mind and go crazy.

To some extent, Mercer felt he might be more suited to full-body modifications than V. Adam's Hammer? That brain-dead guy couldn't even compare to him.

Lucy patted his back, and the armor clanged twice: "Sit down, I'm going to put your leg armor on."

Mercer sat down obediently, while Pila and Rebecca had already cleaned up the battlefield, tossed everything into the hacker car, and then said, "We have to go!"

“V, you and Rebecca stay in the armored vehicle. Wait for a round of fire coverage, then I'll clear the way. You two can then team up with Mann and break in from the rear to sweep the battlefield, making sure no one escapes.”

Mercer said.

V nodded and punched him in the chest, the black outer armor making a crisp sound: "Okay, but it's a deal, after this is over, you have to let me play with this too."

"No problem, no problem," Mercer said with a smile.

Then we can remove all the overloaded parts and use it as a kind of power armor like a centaur armor for her to play with.

Mercer thought the design of this armor had some merit; at least the fact that the four compression thrusters on the back could actually make a person fly really satisfied his fantasy of an 'armored warrior'.

If this armor were a few sizes bigger, it would be like Gundam; if it were a few sizes smaller, it would be like Iron Man. In Mercer's opinion, there's a lot that can be researched after this thing.

If everyone can wear a set of custom-made armor, damn it, who in Night City can stop them?
V glanced at him, said nothing, and quickly returned to the armored vehicle with Rebecca, while Pila got back into the hacker car and stepped on the gas.

They had to race against time to get back to their designated ambush site on the outskirts of Night City.

Mercer was sitting in the car, and Lucy and Kivi, who had practiced several times, still took a full five minutes to help him put on the armor.

He removed his mask, put on his helmet, and the full-coverage helmet began to display various parameters in front of his eyes. After a simple check, Mercer switched the machine to standby mode.

At this moment, wearing an exoskeleton, he suddenly transformed into a black mecha warrior, filling most of the hacker car even while sitting.

"Have you checked it?" Lucy picked up a laptop, plugged it into the exoskeleton armor, and continued to carefully check the precautions.

"Don't worry, it's fine." Mercer raised his hand, and a 'whoosh' sound came from the mechanical hydraulics. The brain-computer interface was like controlling two bodies with different delays at the same time, but Mercer was able to skillfully control this sense of dislocation.

He stretched out his palm, his five fingers barely outstretched, and it looked like he could grab Lucy's head: "See~ Isn't that scary?"

"Alright, stop acting like a child," Lucy said, unplugging the cable before sitting down and looking worriedly at the scenery outside the car's camera on the screen.

Mercer reached out and gently tapped her head: "Why are you so nervous?"

"How can I not be nervous, you're a hacker." Lucy sighed, "Never mind, I've said it so many times before."

"It's okay, just trust him." Qi Wei smiled, seemingly not too worried: "We've prepared so much, we're prepared for the unexpected, the chances of failure are slim."

“Mmm.” Lucy bit her lower lip lightly.

The car quickly returned to the main road and accelerated along the highway.

Despite their best efforts, they arrived at the outskirts of Night City just five minutes before the biotechnology convoy.

This is on the south side of the city, near a familiar biotechnology protein farm.

"Are Adcardo's men in place?" Mercer asked, opening the voice communication.

Panan's voice came through: "Don't worry! Do we need to close the road now?"

"Almost there, let's seal it off and cut off the traffic." Mercer gave the order.

“No problem, Scorpion! Go and prepare to block the road!” After giving the order, Panan looked at Mercer’s fully armored appearance in the video call: “You better not mess up, kid. If things go wrong, run. We can get you out of here anytime.”

"Don't worry, it's not me who's going to run away." Mercer smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

Then, Panan nodded, hung up the phone, and began blocking the road.

While it's called a road closure, it's actually just creating artificial traffic jams. Panan will order some Adka people to fake a vehicle collision, then block several cars in the middle of the road and start arguing. This is to prevent innocent civilians from getting involved in the conflict.

Ambushing dozens of fully armed soldiers is no small matter in modern warfare. Even in total war, the attack and defense of a stronghold usually involves only twenty or thirty people.

Unlike the large-scale battles of ancient times, in today's era of integrated information and fire warfare, large-scale armored assaults are simply too cost-effective unless they are unmanned armored vehicles.

At the same time, Mann's voice came through: "I see the convoy! No Demon Lizards, but Behemoths are still there, and I suspect the two Centaurs are also there."

"Understood. Have Sasha contact Adcardo and start blocking the traffic behind the biotechnology. Our goal is to finish the battle within five minutes."

The road blockade naturally involves blocking both sides: one side is responsible for blocking the direction out of the city, and the other side is responsible for blocking the direction into the city from near the checkpoint.

However, the two sides used different methods. On the route from the checkpoint to Night City, Adka would disguise themselves as NCPD officers and set up roadblocks with fake police cars, only letting the biotechnology convoy pass through.

“The enemy is expected to arrive at your location in three minutes, A. Be careful.” Mann’s voice was serious.

“No problem.” Mercer said with a light laugh, “After this deal is done, I’ll invite you to my house for dinner.”

“Don’t say things like that before you’re even doing anything,” Mann said helplessly. “Are you doing this on purpose?”

"Haha! Don't be so serious, relax." Mercer was genuinely not nervous at all.

On the contrary, his heart was pounding, and the excitement was making his adrenaline surge.

Just two minutes later, the convoy finally appeared in the middle of the road in the distance.

A long convoy of vehicles carrying biotechnology and military technology was approaching the highway where Mercer was located.

Leading the way were two small armored vehicles, followed by a modified large military-grade armored vehicle, then three military-grade Behemoths, and three armored vehicles bearing biotechnology logos.

"The landmines have been placed," Pila's voice finally rang out.

"Ready for action!"

Mercer had gotten out of the car long ago and was standing on the side of the road waiting for the convoy to arrive.

He stretched his arms and legs, and watched as the Pira vehicle in the distance turned onto the dirt road beside the road and drove into the wilderness.

What they were going to do was to launch a long-range attack on the convoy using drones and rocket launchers, while Mercer's job was to confront them head-on.

As for Mann, V, Rebecca, and the others, they disguised themselves as private cars and stayed at a distance behind the convoy. Once the firefight began, they would rush in from the rear.

As for the man-portable missile launcher, Mercer didn't plan to use it—mainly because he wasn't sure how to use it or what its specific power was. Rather than figuring out how to use this new gadget to attack the convoy, he figured he might as well stick to the original plan.

He stood quietly on the side of the road, waiting for the right moment.

The first sound was that of a drone—a buzzing drone suddenly appeared from the side of the road and headed straight for the convoy in the distance. Then, the lead vehicle of the convoy ran over a landmine and was blown into the air.

At that moment, on the desolate plains on one side of the road, Pila excitedly aimed the multi-barreled rocket launcher, which had been pre-positioned there, at the convoy.

"Try my precious treasure!"

He laughed loudly, pulled the trigger, and the multi-barreled rocket launcher, which was modified and spliced ​​together from multiple individual rocket launchers, ignited and fired in sequence like a rocket artillery, blasting towards the locked armored vehicle.

Only three Behemoths were deliberately spared.

The convoy of biotechnology and military technology had already reacted when they noticed the drones. A large number of soldiers quickly formed a counterattack position using armored vehicles, and the vehicle-mounted machine guns and portable anti-aircraft missiles on the armored vehicles were also activated.

In an instant, artillery roared and bullets gushed forth, turning the sky red in an instant. Even from a kilometer away, Mercer could feel the sudden increase in wind pressure and smell the gunpowder.

Of the nine rockets fired by Pira, only three hit the enemy position; six of them were intercepted in mid-air.

The enemy's anti-aircraft missiles are extremely accurate. Against man-portable rockets with limited flight speed, it's like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. If the Demon Lizard were here, it could probably intercept all the missiles with just the automatic anti-missile system on its vehicle.

While missiles could be defended against, Mercer's well-prepared swarm of drones still managed to breach the enemy's defenses.

Small drones darted through the hail of bullets. Although most of them were destroyed on the way, the few hits still caused huge losses to military personnel and vehicles.

The two armored vehicles were set on fire. Although they did not explode, they lost their power and the onboard machine guns.

Soldiers are the most helpless when facing drones. They can only try their best to shoot down drones by using cover, but when the drone is right in front of them, they can only pray that their comrades can shield them from the explosive force of the drone.

In just one encounter, more than half of the forty-odd soldiers and the convoy of nine vehicles were lost.

"Mercer! It's your turn!" Pila's voice came through the earpiece, and he could still hear the whooshing of bullets in his ears. "Damn it, I need to get away. Those idiots are going to bomb me with vehicle-mounted missiles too!"

"Don't worry, I'm here." Mercer's voice remained calm.

The compressor thrusters on the back of his armor suddenly emitted a somewhat ear-piercing buzzing sound. Then, with a slight push of his feet, he leaped into the sky, transforming into a shooting star and hurtling towards the convoy in the distance like a missile.

The moment his fully covered helmet began to illuminate the enemy, the military science and biotechnology personnel also immediately noticed yet another unidentified flying object that had suddenly appeared.

After they could see clearly what was flying in the sky, the military intelligence agent in charge shouted in an incredulous voice, "Activate the vehicle-mounted missiles and shoot it down!"

As the small missiles, resembling a honeycomb, hurtled toward Mercer, Mercer merely raised his hand.

As a blue electromagnetic light flashed in the air, the small missiles flying from afar were as if they were pressed into the sky by hands, and even the bullets flying towards them seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall of air, freezing in place.

Then, Mercer reached out and turned his hand slightly.

"Holy Fuck!" The leading military technology agent could only stare wide-eyed, dumbfounded at what was happening.

Mercer, meanwhile, stared at the bullets and missiles that were turning around in front of him, and clicked his tongue as he glanced at the battery indicator in front of his face.

This seemingly impressive maneuver caused his armor to lose 30% of its power.

Fortunately, the enemy was dumbfounded and even unconsciously stopped firing – what's the point of firing now?
A smirk appeared on Mercer's lips beneath his helmet.

Next.
It's time for the long-awaited real-world testing by Arakasaka!

(End of this chapter)