Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 90 Attacked
February 1, 2072, sunny.

The ghost town remained deathly silent—but for Mercer and his men, who were lurking there, this was actually good news.

Early in the morning, everyone except Lucy, who was on night duty and still catching up on sleep on the second floor, got up early to prepare for their meeting with Military Science Agent Scott for the deal.

Mercer pondered the location of the transaction for a long time before finally deciding to hold the meeting on a badlands plain near Stone Ridge Mountain.

Negotiating in a relatively flat area, where one can seize high ground for observation in advance, can effectively prevent Stott from playing any tricks—only those who have ambushed others know how painful it is to be ambushed.

Mercer didn't want to be outmaneuvered by Stott. With the military's capabilities, even if he wanted to outmaneuver someone, he couldn't dodge a tungsten-tipped sniper bullet launched from a kilometer away by an electromagnetic catapult.

After acquiring Diana, Mercer did not delay and, regardless of the time of night, immediately notified Stott to prepare for the transaction.

After telling her the approximate time, Mercer went to inspect the negotiation location the next morning. In the end, he arranged for Pira to be on a mountaintop in the Stone Ridge Mountains, using a sniper rifle as an observer to ensure her safety.

Lucy and Qiwei, carrying the miniature missile launchers they had seized from the mercenary squad called K, were waiting in another vehicle a few kilometers away.

If danger arises, this thing can be used as long-range fire support to create opportunities for Mercer and the others.

Mercer, accompanied by V, Rebecca, Mann, and Dorio, personally negotiated with Stott face-to-face.

When Mercer handed over the negotiation location to Stott, the agent eagerly agreed. At this point, both Military Science and Arasaka's companies in Night City were in deep trouble.

The military science personnel not only failed to protect the transportation equipment, but also failed to protect Diana Kuno, the person in charge of the investment project.

The people of Arasaka felt it was even more absurd—they hired a middleman to commission mercenaries to facilitate Huang Junke's collaboration with biotechnology, but the other party ended up suffering a loss, while they themselves also suffered considerable losses.

Once the exoskeleton enters the market or is acquired by other companies, it means that the most important gravity device and the design concept of the entire equipment in the Prosthetics project will be exposed to competitors.

Now, the mercenaries have vanished without a trace, and the middleman, Faraday, has also fled overnight. The higher-ups at Arasaka are furious, and even the project manager who approved the practical testing has been placed under internal investigation.

It can be said that whether it is Junke or Arasaka, if they can reverse the losses and change the current situation, they will undoubtedly be heroes of the company, and promotion and salary increase will be just around the corner.

The key to recovering the losses lies in Mercer's possession of Diana and the exoskeleton armor.

This is why Mercer was so cautious, while Stott was so eager.

In about an hour, a convoy of armored vehicles and hovercraft equipped with military technology sped from the wilderness.

Stott brought an entire combat team, but when the two sides met, the atmosphere was not particularly tense.

She jumped off the hovercar, glanced at the several mercenaries in various outfits standing next to the bulletproof van, and then focused her gaze on Mercer, who was wearing a mask.

"Where are the people and things?"

Stott was wearing a black suit, and his short hair was still neatly slicked back, but at this moment you could see that he was somewhat impatient and eager to get started.

"In the car." Mercer didn't waste any words, turned his head and nodded, and V walked directly to the van and opened the door.

Inside, Diana Kuno, bound hand and foot, was still unconscious, while a black exoskeleton suit of armor 'sat' inside the van, its outer shell gleaming with a cold, metallic light.

Stott didn't waste any words and went straight to the point: "Give me Diana for half an hour. Also, I brought a technical expert with me. He will examine your exoskeleton. As long as there are no problems..."

She waved her hand, and the agent behind her, dressed in a standard 'American soldier' ​​outfit—military green vest, camouflage pants, buzz cut, and large sunglasses—reached out and pulled out a large chip.

"There are five million euros in here, in an anonymous account, the kind where you can transfer money without a password."

She showed off the chip, which was about twenty centimeters long, and then slightly raised her chin at Mercer.

Mercer didn't waste any words either, he just nodded to V, and V then lifted Diana out by one hand.

Meanwhile, standing next to Mercer, Mann and Dorio, who looked even more robust and tall than the military intelligence agent, also stepped aside to make way for the van.

A middle-aged man, about 1.7 meters tall, with slightly balding hair, wearing flat-rimmed glasses and a suit, walked over leisurely and excitedly approached the exoskeleton armor, starting to tinker with and examine it.

The man's prosthetic eye gleamed, and his hands produced various instruments. After taking out a small computer and connecting it to the helmet's data cable, he became completely immersed in exploring the exoskeleton.

V casually tossed Diana aside, and an agent next to Stott caught the woman with one hand.

Mercer promptly shut down the program in Diana's mind, and then, as if waking from a nightmare, Diana suddenly opened her eyes with a spasm: "Military Science... Military Science? Quick! That guy's right here! You have to help me get him!"

Before she could finish speaking, she turned her head and saw the two sides negotiating. Then she turned her head again and looked around at the desolate wilderness. Her heart skipped a beat, and her mouth gaped open, her face ashen.

"You bunch of bastards!" Before Diana could finish speaking, Stott, who was standing next to her, slapped her across the face without any mercy, making her face twist to one side.

"Stop talking nonsense, take her in." Stott turned his head, and the agents beside him obediently grabbed Diana and stuffed her into the back of the armored vehicle.

Stott turned to look at Mercer and said, "Excuse me."

“No problem, I’m not in a hurry.” Mercer appeared very relaxed, sitting on the hood of the van and looking at the military science team’s hovercraft and agents with great interest, carefully analyzing their equipment.

Then, to his surprise, he discovered that these guys had brought extremely professional electronic countermeasures equipment—clearly intended to protect themselves from him.

This ICE device can not only block signals that interfere with network connections, but also automatically launch a counterattack when someone attempts to hack in, just like the hardware device on the military Beacon vehicle that Mercer previously hacked.

If a less skilled hacker were to try to infiltrate these agents, they might even end up getting their heads burned by the direct confrontation with ICE.

Well, to be more precise, Mercer thinks that there probably aren't many hackers in the world who can break through this level of ICE devices one-on-one.

Even he, without his advanced hacker prosthetics, would probably find it difficult to fight against this ICE device without being at a disadvantage. This has nothing to do with skill level; it's purely a hardware gap.

This made Mercer suddenly wary—now that he was becoming famous, many people would be aware of his hacking skills, and the enemies he would face would inevitably be on guard against him.

Perhaps it won't be long before the good old days of ending a fight with just a glare at someone are coming to an end.

Mercer doesn't overestimate his abilities; he feels unsafe going out without V, precisely because he knows the limitations of hacking in the real world.

The way he stared at the ICE device in deep thought made several military intelligence agents instinctively become serious, their fingers hovering over the triggers and their guns slightly raised.

Mann squinted, his fingers unholstering his gun, and said in a cold, hard tone, "I advise you not to be too tense. Keep your fingers away from the trigger, just in case something goes wrong, or an accident occurs."

The military intelligence agents remained silent, but one of them, wearing a network access pod and presumably a hacker specially assigned to the tactical team, kept a close watch on Mercer.

"Heh," Mercer grinned at the hacker, but unfortunately, he was wearing a mask, so the hacker couldn't see anything.

He turned his head, somewhat bored, to look at the technical expert who was still studying the exoskeleton:
"There's not much to study. Apart from the gravity device, which is valuable, the only interesting things are the design concepts of the compression thrusters and the mind transmission device on the helmet."

That military science expert was probably a true professional, the kind of tech worker who only cared about technology. Upon hearing this, he said with great interest, "Really? You also study these things?"

“Of course, if you get your hands on something like this, how can you dare to use it in actual combat if you don’t study it yourself right away?” Mercer chatted with him in a relaxed tone.

"Hmm, I just read the data. What is the latency of this equipment?" the technical expert asked curiously.

"The delay is at most 0.2 seconds, and even under ideal working conditions, there is a delay of 0.1 seconds," Mercer said without hiding anything.

"This gravity device is quite interesting. It uses a magnetic field to simulate gravity and can also use electromagnetism to change the magnetic field." The technical expert and Mercer chatted back and forth like this.

The two became more and more engrossed in their conversation, quickly moving from simple equipment configurations to technical jargon. Rebecca, clutching her iron-clad body, rolled her eyes, unable to understand anything, and could only stare at the military science agent not far away.

About fifteen or sixteen minutes later, Pila on the mountain suddenly sent a message in the team voice chat.

[Pira: Something feels off, Mercer. There's movement around your 1 o'clock position. It looks like a military convoy.]

Upon hearing this, Mann glanced at Mercer discreetly and then subtly shielded him behind him.

Rebecca instinctively raised the iron bladder with both hands.

V had one hand on the gun handle at his waist, and the other hand slightly raised, maintaining a position where he could launch the mantis knife at any moment.

The military intelligence agents, bewildered, instinctively gripped their weapons tightly in tension.

"Stott, come out!" Mercer raised his voice seriously.

Stottara, inside the armored vehicle, opened the door, frowning in confusion as he poked his head out: "What's wrong?"

"You brought a tail with you, you idiot!" Mercer cursed mercilessly, then immediately walked into the van. The technician was stunned for a moment, then quickly packed up his tools and made way for him.

Stott's expression changed, and he immediately turned to look at the agents beside him. One of the agents nodded seriously and then stood up and looked behind him.

This agent's face resembled Mann's, as both had their eyes directly modified into tactical goggles-like prosthetics. At this moment, the prosthetic eyes quickly zoomed out to look into the distance, and it only took about five seconds to confirm the situation.

"One o'clock! Three armored vehicles! One... a Demon Lizard! Damn it, prepare for battle!"

Once the agent saw what the newcomer was, his expression changed drastically and he shouted.

Stott's expression turned cold, and without saying a word, he pulled Diana out of the armored vehicle: "Let's go, we'll use the hovercar."

Mercer remained silent, simply continuing to wear the exoskeleton.

Even though Lucy and Qiwei weren't there, the military science expert was just as quick as they were when putting the exoskeleton on Mercer.

"I don't intend to die here!" Stott cursed when Mercer didn't respond, and turned to lead his men to climb into the hovercar.

Mann and Rebecca, however, coldly raised their guns and pointed them at her.

Rebecca chewed her bubble gum and blew a pink bubble: "My boss didn't say he was leaving, so you'd better stay put."

"Damn it, you guys don't think I'm fishing, do you? Damn it, if we don't leave now, we won't be able to escape once we're within the lizard's range!"

Stott spoke angrily, while the military agents beside him were urgently forming a combat formation to guard the direction of the demon lizard, while also having to turn around and support Rebecca and the others.

Mercer's voice came from inside the van: "Can your hovercar take my men with it?"

"You send your men in different directions. You take the equipment and come with me to the hovercar. My men will stay behind to buy time." Stott's words made the military agents exchange glances, but they didn't say anything, only gripping their weapons tightly.

"I'm not going to leave my men here," Mercer said, then turned and shouted, "Give me thirty seconds!"

Stott cursed under his breath, but stepped onto the hovercar without hesitation: "Do as you please!"

“You’re not leaving!” As soon as Mercer finished speaking, Rebecca took a step forward without hesitation and pointed her gun at Stott.

"Don't drag me down with you if you're fucking crazy!" Stott was now truly panicked.

"Who the hell knows if you're trying to play a trick on me? I'm not leaving, so you stay here too. Once I put this thing on, everyone will have a chance to live. If we can't buy time, then we'll all die together."

Mercer's words made Stott almost laugh in exasperation.

But looking at Rebecca, who was holding a gun without any fear, with one hand on the trigger, seemingly unafraid that the agents around her were practically aiming their guns at her head.

Stott couldn't help but admire them a little—these mercenaries were really fearless!
Mercer's words made it clear that these people were truly willing to fight to the death.

She gritted her teeth, her expression shifting between light and shadow, and hesitated for a mere two seconds before making her decision: "Combat team! Split up and attack! Take everything out of the vehicle and use it to hold them off!"

"Yes, sir!" The military intelligence agents immediately began boarding the vehicle.

Several agents immediately jumped onto the hovercar, trying to restrain the demon lizard; it was impossible to do so with just one armored vehicle.

At this moment, a small black dot of a demonic lizard in the distance suddenly emitted white smoke—to be precise, a row of miniature missiles emitting white smoke were launched from the demonic lizard!

"Miniature missiles!" an agent shouted, and the armored vehicle rushing towards the Demon Lizard activated its portable anti-aircraft device, while the two high-speed machine guns mounted on the front of the hovercar began to spew fire under the control of the machine gunners.

An armored vehicle and an airship charged towards the Demon Lizard from the left and right respectively. Several micro-missiles in the air were intercepted and destroyed, but the rest attacked the armored vehicle and the airship directly.

Clearly, the enemy's objective was very clear: to first cripple Mercer's armored units.

At the same time, the heavy machine guns mounted on the Demon Lizard began firing, and three armored vehicles not far behind the Demon Lizard also opened their vehicle-mounted machine guns, launching an unreasonable barrage of heavy firepower from a distance of about two or three kilometers.

Accuracy is difficult to guarantee, but it can still be effective against large targets such as armored vehicles and airborne vehicles.

Without a word, Mann and the others retreated to the back of the armored van. Stott, however, was no ordinary woman. She grabbed the screaming Diana with one hand and threw her into the back of the van.

Then he let the only agent who was with him get into the driver's seat.

"Get the fuck on the bus, and get some distance between us!"

Stott said, choosing to sit next to Mercer.

In fact, Stott deduced the enemy's intentions when the enemy's micro-missiles were not immediately targeted at Mercer and his group, who were positioned relatively close together, after they were launched.

The other party is after people and equipment.

Stott had no way of knowing where the news had leaked from, but she was certain that her only chance of survival now might depend on whether Mercer could defeat the demon lizard.

Mercer called out to Rebecca, and they quickly got into the car, while keeping a wary eye on Stott.

Stott didn't bother to argue, and just kept his eyes glued to the two cars rushing past his side outside the car window.

Although Stott's agents were considered elite compared to ordinary agents, and the pilots were also experienced, they attempted to suppress the approaching enemy's speed with firepower while drawing a line of fire in their mobile vehicles.

However, the reason why the Demon Lizard is regarded by many as an important armored force second only to the Chimera in military science, and is touted as the ultimate infantry fighting vehicle, is precisely because of its formidable combat capabilities.

The Demon Lizard launched a large number of miniature missiles, two of which broke through the defenses and hit the hovercar, causing it to tilt to one side as soon as it gained speed.

Then came the Demon Lizard's precise long-range strafing—the powerful machine gun bullets were no less powerful than those of a large-caliber sniper rifle, and even at a distance of several kilometers, once they hit, they still possessed considerable power.

The hovercar swayed in the air, unable to mount an effective counterattack or containment maneuver, and could only spin around, emitting black smoke.

Although the armored vehicle on the ground survived the first round of bombardment by micro-missiles, it only traveled less than 500 meters before being suppressed by three enemy armored vehicles with machine guns, its tires bursting out and it overturning out of control.

The lizard turned the vehicle around, and its machine gun instantly destroyed the armored vehicle. The military intelligence agents hiding inside were easily destroyed like lambs to the slaughter.

Stott cursed under his breath, while the military agent driving the Mercer vehicle had already floored the accelerator of the bulletproof van and sped away a distance.

Bullets whizzed past, and the clanging sound of bullets hitting the van's bulletproof steel plates could be heard from time to time.

This made Stott ponder for a moment, then he suddenly opened the rear door and lifted the still screaming Diana Kuno in front of him.

"No! Ahhh! Don't kill me!!" Diana's piercing scream could probably be heard from a kilometer or two away.

After the driver of the lizard in the distance saw Diana's face clearly through the automatic zoom camera, he actually chose to cease fire—the other armored vehicles did the same, and instead began to accelerate, trying to close the distance.

At that moment, a burst of red light and a trail of white smoke suddenly appeared in the distant sky.

Everyone turned to look, except for Mercer, whose expression changed slightly.

Mercer: Run!

He didn't even bother sending a private message, but instead sent it to the team voice chat.

When the red-glowing thing entered the sky and then made a downward turn, shooting towards the demon lizard, everyone realized what had happened.

It was Lucy and Qiwei, who were providing support from afar, who launched a miniature missile!
When the lizard's radar detected the approaching object, it immediately reopened the launch port, and several miniature missiles were launched. These were miniature missiles specifically designed to intercept aerial targets.

At the same time, the Demon Lizard immediately turned the car around, locked onto the location of the launched missile, opened the last launch port, and launched all the remaining micro-missiles in the car.

In an instant, the white smoke in the sky was as dense as woven threads. "Stinger missiles? Where did you get these miniature tactical missile launchers?" Stott gasped, watching as Lucy launched miniature missiles into the air, attempting to break through the miniature missile defenses at an extremely high speed.

While a miniature missile with a penetration speed exceeding Mach 1 is not technically very fast, its launch at such close range leaves air defense equipment with virtually no time to lock on and react.

After passing through the anti-aircraft missile, the Stinger missile landed directly beside the Lizard, blasting the levitating infantry fighting vehicle to the ground.

However, before the cheers could even begin, the demon lizard rose up again, wobbling precariously.

However, the twin-engine hovering system seemed to have malfunctioned and could no longer take to the sky, only able to float forward at low altitude, with a sharp decrease in speed.

Mercer didn't answer Stott's question, but just stared wide-eyed as the missile launched by the magic lizard flew through the air and headed towards the place where Lucy and Kivi should have been several kilometers away.

But to his relief, just seconds later, he received a reply in his prosthetic eye.

[Lucy: We're okay, the car broke down.]

Mercer let out a long sigh of relief, only then realizing the cold sweat on his back.

He turned his head and urged the military science and technology experts, "Hurry up, there's no time!"

The technician was also sweating profusely, his multi-functional prosthetic hand spinning rapidly: "Fast enough! Ten seconds! Give me ten more seconds!"

Mercer, however, couldn't wait to put on the helmet and connected the data cable without hesitation.

Fortunately, he charged the exoskeleton yesterday.

The armored vehicles and the demon lizards in the distance were much faster than Mercer's bulletproof van, especially on the road conditions of the villainous plains.

Ten seconds is probably enough for the enemy to reach a position where they can fire accurately.

Mercer could see an armored vehicle suddenly turn in the distance and drive towards where Lucy and Qiwei were.

The enemy probably felt that the overall situation was settled, and the reason for splitting up their forces at this moment was to check whether the attackers in the distance were alive or dead.

[Mercer: Lucy, Kivy! They're over there!]

[Qiwei: I saw it, but I can't walk anymore.]

[Pira: I'll do it!]

Mercer and his group drove towards the winding mountain road of Stone Ridge Mountain, where Pila was currently located on the summit of a small hill.

A burst of lightning erupted.

Pila fired a heavy sniper bullet from the 'Asura' sniper rifle, a custom-built version of the Tsunami Defense rifle she had seized from K.

The power of this bullet is no less than that of the Demon Lizard's machine gun.

Electromagnetic catapults have a much longer range than kinetic energy weapons.

After the weapon's program chip automatically calculates the bullet's trajectory and impact point, even someone like Pila, who has not received professional training, can keep the bullet from missing as long as he keeps his hand steady.

Pira's engineer arms may not have any other skills, but their stability is top-notch!

So, almost a second after the gunshot, a large hole was suddenly punched in the window of the armored vehicle that was turning towards Lucy in the distance.

The enemy was clearly stunned for a moment before realizing there was a sniper. They hurriedly began to move in an S-shape, and someone immediately started to analyze the sniper's position based on the trajectory of the bullets.

Pila burst into laughter in the squad voice chat.

[Pila: Awesome! So awesome! Damn, I'm going to shoot down all the magic lizards!]

[Mercer: Don't go crazy, even armored missiles can't shoot that thing down!]

Stott couldn't help but lick his lips, his voice tinged with a hint of complexity: "Ha, you even prepared a sniper for me?"

"Just in case, better safe than sorry, and here it comes in handy, doesn't it? And what's wrong with you, old woman? How come you didn't even notice such a huge demon lizard following you?"

As Mercer spoke, he began to activate his exoskeleton and turn on the electricity.

The technical experts worked quickly to fasten the last arm and began securing the connecting parts of the armor.

"I suspect that someone put a tracking device on my car beforehand or somewhere else."

Stott analyzed, giving Mercer a cold glare: "When I get back, I'll find that guy. Also, don't fucking call me an old woman!"

"You better not mess me up again." Mercer stared at her relentlessly, "Now you owe me a life!"

Stott gritted his teeth, unable to refute.

"All right!"

The tech expert, sweating profusely, finally loosened his grip. The screw-tightening tool that his prosthetic body had transformed into was getting hot. He couldn't help but complain, "Idiot Arasaka, in 2072, an exoskeleton still requires manual screw-tightening?"

"Ha, do you even know what craftsmanship is?"

As Mercer spoke, he immediately stood up, his figure becoming incredibly tall in his exoskeleton.

At this moment, the van was crammed with eight people, especially a few big guys, making it incredibly crowded.

After Mercer bent over and stood up, the others wanted to squeeze together completely.

"Slow down!" he decisively ordered the agents to slow down.

The agent glanced at him and slammed on the brakes without a word.

When the speed decreased to a certain level, Mercer jumped directly out of the carriage.

As soon as it landed, the mech almost fell to the ground clumsily, but as Mercer activated the synaptic accelerator and quickly adjusted, the compression jet device behind it suddenly spewed out flames and soared into the sky.

The demonic lizard in the distance suddenly opened fire.

Mercer dared not be so careless as to try to stop the bullets with a magnetic field this time—he doubted that Arasaka's gravity device could stop these machine gun-level bullets at all.

However, the missile that Lucy and Kivi didn't know who fired still played a crucial role. Because the damaged engine of the Demon Lizard was unable to take off, the heavy machine gun positioned at the front of the vehicle lost its aiming angle when Mercer rapidly increased its altitude.

The vehicle-mounted machine gun that the Demon Lizard raised could keep up, but Mercer wasn't afraid of its power.

He drew a distinct trail in the air, his blue jets of flame making him look like a high-speed blue comet.

In just over ten seconds, he collided with the armored vehicles rushing towards him from both directions.

Mercer's priority was naturally to deal with the Military Science's Lizard—although the vehicle was a bit out of order, once it found an opportunity, a single machine gun shot could shoot Mercer down.

Like a divine warrior descending from the heavens, Mercer no longer needed to worry about potentially damaging the equipment. He unleashed his full power by firing the gravity cannon, almost instantly slamming the demon lizard to the ground.

In the center of the cracked ground, the engine of the demon lizard, which was pressed to the ground, was still humming, but Mercer just aimed at the demon lizard, floated in mid-air, and pulled the trigger again and again.

Once, twice, three times, until the lizard's engine stopped working.

From the outside, the lizard appeared to be in a fairly intact state, but Mercer knew very well that the person inside was dead.

The most important reason why Arasaka regards this exoskeleton as the bane of armor is the destructive power of this gravity weapon against personnel.

Machines can withstand the pressure of gravity, but the delicate components of the human body and electronic devices may not. Even modified internal organs can rupture or even explode under sudden pressure.

Mercer stretched out his hand, creating an invisible barrier that intercepted the bullets in the air, bringing them to a near stop in front of him. Then, without wasting any energy, he simply leaped up and flew towards the other armored vehicles.

Every time the gravity cannon emitted a blue light and a buzzing roar, a circular crater would appear in the ground. Just because the demon lizard could withstand it didn't mean these armored vehicles could.

Mercer only needs to maneuver at high speed to the front of the armored vehicles, pull the trigger, and these armored vehicles will be crushed and turned into a pile of scrap metal in the crater.

Only then did the military technology expert who was peeking out from the van not far away gasp: "Holy son of a bitch Arasaka, this time he's really got something good."

"If we use headquarters' rating, how much is this thing worth?" Stott didn't care about the technical issues; he just asked about the value of the exoskeleton with a gloomy expression.

“No problem. Just this set of combat footage recorded by my prosthetic eye is enough to convince the higher-ups that this is sufficient for us to recover our losses. Although I don’t particularly like this method of calculation.” The technical expert sighed.

Stott breathed a slight sigh of relief, then, his prosthetic eye gleaming, he quickly began contacting the company's former leaders.

She probably already knew who was behind her scheme—it wasn't hard to guess, who was most eager to recover their losses, had the authority to mobilize the magic lizard, and was capable of tracking her?

For her, this was not a difficult target to find. She wanted to take the opportunity to eliminate her rival, and her rival, of course, would not sit idly by.

Mercer defeated his opponent, but instead of returning immediately, he flew high in the sky and quickly headed towards Lucy and Qiwei's location.

Mercer breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the two men huddled behind the wrecked armored van, covered in dust and dirt, with only minor scratches.

"Why didn't you notify me in advance?" Mercer questioned Lucy sternly.

Lucy didn't say anything, but simply propped herself up on her knees as she got up from beside the armored vehicle.

Qiwei patted her pockets, not finding her cigarettes, and turned to look at Mercer, whose face was obscured by a helmet: "Who knows if that demonic lizard will fire at you?"

“Let’s go.” Mercer looked at the two of them and couldn’t bring himself to say anything to blame them. He could only reach out his hand and mutter resentfully, “If Pila hadn’t helped you take down that armored vehicle, you two would be finished by now!”

Qiwei just smiled, while Lucy turned her head away and didn't say anything—anyway, if they had to do it again, they would probably make the same choice.

The only thing to blame is that the poisonous stinger fired from that miniature missile launcher was so ineffective that it failed to take down the demon lizard in one shot.

Mercer reached out, tucked the two into his arms, and flew low towards V and the others.

At this moment, Stott had already gotten out of the car, lit a cigarette, and was talking on the phone with someone while smoking, probably requesting backup.

After Mercer put the person down, he crossed his arms in front of him and looked at Stott with a deep gaze.

After she finished the call, she said directly, "One car costs 100,000 euros, and a miniature missile launcher costs 300,000 euros."

“I’ll pay.” Stott turned to look at him speechlessly.

"I also shot down a lizard and three armored vehicles."

Mercer continued speaking with an air of self-righteousness.

Stott looked at him with an astonished expression, as if it were the first time she had ever encountered someone who dared to ask her for money like this. But in the end, she just twitched her lips and said, "I'll give you another 100,000 euros."

"One hundred thousand?" Mercer looked at her with displeasure. "One magic lizard! Three armored vehicles! My men almost got into trouble!"

"Damn it! Add another 100,000, that's about right!" Stott said irritably, turning to look at Diana, who was trembling in the carriage. After a moment of contemplation, he narrowed his eyes.

"Give this woman to me," she said.

Mercer flatly refused: "I cannot let her live."

“I didn’t say I wanted him alive.” Stott stared at her coldly, then reached out to the agent beside him, who immediately drew his sidearm.

Diana pleaded in terror, "No! Don't kill me! Listen to me, I still have value! I..."

Before she could finish speaking, Stott pulled the trigger, and Diana's terrified expression was frozen in that moment forever.

After firing several shots at Diana, Stott holstered his pistol and handed it back to his agent: "Can I have it now?"

Mercer gave V a cautious look, and without hesitation, she pulled out her pistol and fired a shot into Diana's head, the large-caliber gun splitting her head in two.

"it's OK now."

Mercer's caution made Stott smirk: "Alright."

She looked at Mercer and casually took out the five million euro money chip again: "Check it out. Once the exoskeleton is removed, you can leave."

Mercer handed the chip to Lucy, who took it but limped slightly: "We need a computer to verify it."

“It’s alright, she knows I hold grudges.” Mercer glanced at Stott, and the woman simply nodded: “You can tell she not only holds grudges, but she’s also very stingy.”

“What do you mean by being stingy? You should get paid for the work, that’s only fair.” Mercer said, then gestured for the technical experts to remove his exoskeleton.

It's difficult to put on, but taking it off is relatively easy. Mercer can simply 'pull' himself out of it by removing a few fixing devices.

Mercer tossed the exoskeleton and Diana's body to the ground, adjusted his slightly askew mask, and beckoned his men to get in the car: "Take care of your enemy as soon as possible. I want to get back to Dogtown and rest for a few days."

“Don’t you need to worry about it, or would you be willing to lend a hand?” Stott turned to look at him.

Mercer immediately refused: "No interest. Anyway, I'll wait for your news."

“Okay.” Stott didn’t dislike Mercer, a straightforward guy. Apart from Mercer always calling himself an old auntie, he was quite to his liking.

Seeing that he was still wearing a mask, Stott chuckled and said, "Alright, Alex Mercer, you don't need to wear a mask when you go out anymore. The Military Science Institute and Arasaka have already figured out who you are."

"From where?" Mercer was genuinely curious.

“Although you’ve kept it relatively well hidden, Dogtown’s identity verification system isn’t secret to just anyone.” Stott paused, then said meaningfully, “I advise you not to get too close to the people of Dogtown.”

Mercer nodded, but then still did not remove his mask.

It doesn't matter who he is; the photos in the Night City Archives are all photoshopped. They look somewhat like him, but if you use facial recognition, they definitely won't match Mercer in the Arasaka Archives.

Since everyone uses identity verification systems to identify themselves now, he doesn't need facial recognition, so he's not too worried about his identity being exposed in Night City, as long as he doesn't get involved with Mercer from Arasaka.

Moreover, he has undergone cybernetic modifications, and his height and other aspects have changed drastically. Even if the people from Arasaka were to investigate, they wouldn't dare to confirm his identity—unless his cybernetic body is also recognized.

Well, there's nothing we can do about it then. If they recognize him, so be it. Anyway, Mercer has already stolen their exoskeleton, so whether he's recognized or not, he's already a wanted criminal by Arasaka.

Thinking about it this way, Mercer felt that it didn't matter if everything was exposed. He would be wanted anyway, it was just a matter of how high the bounty was.

Mercer didn't want to stay and run into Stott's reinforcements; that woman shouldn't be foolish enough to cause another accident.

So, he simply called everyone to get in the car, left Stott and her bodyguards behind, and drove off in style.

They picked up Pila on the way, and he was still excitedly talking about how he had broken the sniping record and how well he had shot the moving target. The group chatted and laughed all the way, seemingly not taking the events of the day to heart at all.

They were all mercenaries who had lived on the edge of death. As long as they weren't dead, everything that had just happened would become something for them to brag about.

Upon returning to the safe house, Mercer immediately checked the computer to verify the money Stott had given him.

Five million euros, not a penny less.

Then, he immediately gathered everyone together.

Nothing else—just dividing the money.

(End of this chapter)