Mercer stood up and stretched; the fried netrunner cyberware in his back had left his entire spine numb, but at least his limbs still obeyed him.
He made a round through the ward to confirm everyone was stable, then instructed Lucy to have them return to base for recovery once they'd rested.
Afterward, he went out, got into a Barghest vehicle, and for the first time went alone to EBM Petrochem Stadium.
Seeing Mercer arrive by himself and slump wearily onto the couch, Hansen didn't waste words. "Where's what Arasaka wants?"
Mercer pulled a Relic biochip from his neural link.
The chip's neurocircuitry had been damaged by the EMP blast. To Mercer, the only remaining value of this Relic chip lay in its architectural template.
Repairing it was practically pointless; everywhere were fused and broken circuits. Rather than painstakingly troubleshooting, building a new one would be easier.
But the materials required for this chip weren't easily obtainable. Core components were largely under Arasaka's monopoly control. In Mercer's view, once the core was damaged, it might as well be considered scrap.
Hansen took the chip, examined it briefly, then frowned deeply. "It's broken?"
"Arasaka hit us with an EMP attack. Not just the chip was affected; a lot of my own cyberware got fried too."
After Mercer spoke, Hansen turned to him with meaningful emphasis. "You don't blame me, do you? After all, if you hadn't attended the banquet, they wouldn't have had this opportunity..."
"No, of course not." Mercer smiled. "I'm just curious... how did they evade my surveillance to bring in large ECM devices and EMP launchers?"
Hansen's brow furrowed tighter. "Are you suggesting there's a mole?"
"I'm just curious... There's considerable surveillance around my place, especially with recon drones on regular patrol. To move that many people and equipment, particularly when I'd taken extensive precautions today..."
"According to security protocols, our route had been checked by Barghest patrols, yet the ambush still happened. You know what that means."
Mercer stated bluntly, "Without inside help covering for Arasaka, they could never have brought so much equipment into Dogtown to attack me. I'm talking about large-scale EMP attack systems and major ECM devices."
"Colonel Hansen, think about it; if their goal today hadn't been to capture me alive, I'd be dead. That means if they ever decide to target you..."
Mercer's words made Hansen's face darken completely. He stared at Mercer for a moment, but ultimately knew exactly where to direct his fury.
"Investigate." At Hansen's command, Bennett, face grim with mingled anger and excitement, left the stadium.
This guy is a sadist, utterly obsessed with interrogation. Those who fall into his hands often endure a wave of horrific torture before meeting their inevitable fate. Now, without a doubt, it was Bennett's bittersweet moment of arrival.
Hansen then turned directly to Mercer and made arrangements. "They plan to capture you alive?"
"Of course, and not just that. They've given me an ultimatum: within ten days, either surrender with the goods, or next time they won't hold back."
After Mercer finished speaking, Hansen frowned deeply. Finally, he looked up at Mercer and asked, "What do you plan to do?"
"First, I need to lay low at the base for a while to avoid the heat." Mercer's words were met with a noncommittal nod from Hansen.
"Second, we need to speed up the production of various weapons and equipment. I'll monitor the factory operations online 24/7 to strengthen Barghest's capabilities as quickly as possible. At the same time, I need you to assign more Barghest personnel, especially those I consider highly skilled, to provide security for me."
After a pause, Mercer added, "I'll develop some anti-infiltration equipment at the base as soon as possible to deal with special situations like today. I need a batch of funds and raw materials to start immediately and counter the threat from Arasaka."
Hansen fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, then suddenly laughed. "You want Barghest's security, a new batch of funds and supplies to further develop new equipment, and you also want to accelerate production to enhance our strength..." He smiled faintly. "Then why not choose to stay with Barghest to do all this? For example, move your residence to the Black Sapphire. I can reserve a luxurious penthouse suite for you there. You can bring that pretty girl named Lucy to live with you, or even a few more; no problem. Or move to the EBM Petrochem Stadium. I'll arrange a dormitory for you here, which will definitely offer better conditions than your own underground base. I'll provide 24-hour security, and it'll be more convenient for you to use Barghest's facilities to develop new equipment. You can also speed up weapons production more efficiently."
The moment he finished speaking, Mercer didn't need to look back to sense the Barghest members subtly adjusting their positions behind him.
Mercer looked troubled but eventually just sighed and lowered his head. "But my people have to stay at the base. I don't want to involve them anymore."
"Not even your two beautiful bodyguards?" Hansen seemed surprised.
Mercer lifted his head, revealing a somewhat dejected and sorrowful expression, and nodded. "Let's just do it this way. I'll move here alone and let them stay safely at the base..."
"No problem. In that case, I'll still send a certain number of people to protect your team members. Don't worry; the security conditions at the Stadium are only better than those at your base." Hansen curled his lips into a smile, one of the rare satisfied expressions he'd shown Mercer recently.
Seeing Mercer yield, he proactively waved his hand, signaling someone to bring Mercer a glass of iced NiCola. Mercer appeared disheartened and slumped onto the sofa, while Hansen wore a gentle smile.
"Kid, sometimes encountering things like this isn't necessarily bad. People need to face some setbacks to understand that one's strength ultimately has limits. That's partly why I formed Barghest in the first place.
Arasaka is terrifying, but trust me, after today, we won't give them another chance to harm you or your friends.
You just need to focus on what you're good at, fully utilize your talents. Believe me, one day in Night City, it won't be Arasaka calling the shots, nor Militech, Kang Tao, Biotechnica... It'll be us, Barghest!"
Hansen comforted Mercer warmly, speaking in an inspiring tone. "Barghest is my home, and it can be yours too. Once you truly integrate into this collective, you'll realize Arasaka isn't actually that frightening.
At least in Night City, we don't need to worry about their power.
Listen, Mercer, go back and get a good night's sleep. I'll arrange a room for you as soon as possible. As for Arasaka's threats, don't worry about them. They are strong, but we have our own trump cards too.
If they dare to force their way into the stadium, I guarantee even Adam Smasher won't make it out alive! And regarding this matter, I'll definitely stand up for you. Dogtown isn't a place where Arasaka can run wild; just wait and see."
Hansen's confident demeanor made Mercer ponder many things internally, but ultimately, he maintained a strained smile.
"Thanks, Colonel Hansen. I'll check tomorrow what I need to bring over... I'll move into the stadium, it'll be convenient for my research and production."
"No problem," Hansen immediately agreed, reassuring him in a very friendly manner. "How are your friends doing? Do they need any help?"
"Most of our cyberware was severely damaged by the EMP weapon attack. We need lots of new cyberware and electronic components for repairs..."
Mercer began listing items as usual, and this time Hansen agreed particularly readily. "These things aren't expensive, I'll get them for you soon."
Mercer sighed, then took a listless sip of his drink. "That's it then. I need Barghest to escort me back to the base, along with my friends."
"Jago, arrange that. Send people ahead to secure the route before departure!" Hansen said.
But Mercer didn't even look up, just nodded with apparent dejection before leaving with Jago.
On the way, Jago played the role of the good guy. "Listen, Mercer, don't put too much pressure on yourself. That was Arasaka we're talking about; while Arasaka's other businesses might be declining, when it comes to assassinations, they're not much worse than Militech. Especially since you faced Adam Smasher directly this time; that's one terrifying piece of work..."
Mercer sighed without responding.
Jago continued comforting Mercer until he saw him into the vehicle. Mercer then returned to the ripperdoc's place, staying there most of the day until Rebecca regained full consciousness. Only then did Mercer have Barghest escort them all back to the base.
Kiwi and the others waiting at the base finally breathed a sigh of relief. If they hadn't been worried about potential Arasaka ambushes, they would have rushed to join them right after Mercer was attacked.
But Mercer didn't give everyone a chance to relax. He immediately called a meeting and announced his next course of action.
"What? You're moving to the stadium? You...!?"
V almost immediately objected as soon as she understood what Mercer was saying. "No! What if Arasaka comes after you again? You don't actually expect that Barghest bunch to be capable of protecting you, do you?"
"Listen, V..."
Before Mercer could finish, Rebecca, who had been lying weakly in her chair, immediately sat up straight. "I disagree too! If you don't feel safe at the base, we'll leave right now, go somewhere anonymous and hide!"
Lucy almost immediately chimed in without hesitation. "Mercer, you're the leader of this team. At a time like this, you want to abandon us and leave alone? What are you even thinking?"
Mercer could only blink, waiting for each of them to voice their objections. Even Pilar couldn't help saying, "If you ask me, if you think we're holding you back..."
"Stop, stop, stop." Mercer waved his hand helplessly under everyone's gaze. "Let me finish!"
V glared at him angrily, Rebecca rarely showed a somewhat dejected expression, while Lucy remained silent, staring at him motionlessly.
Jackie and the others had it easy; these girls had said everything for them. They just needed to remain silent to express their stance.
"There are three reasons why I'm doing this."
Mercer straightforwardly explained his plan.
"First, we must seize control of Barghest as quickly as possible. We don't have time to drag our feet anymore. From this attack incident, it's clear that Barghest isn't as reliable as I thought.
We need to take control of Dogtown into our own hands, while quickly finding ways to take over Hansen's connections, find protection, and truly make Dogtown an impenetrable fortress. Only then can we prevent Takemura from easily infiltrating again."
After speaking, Mercer paused briefly before adding, "But we can't just charge in guns blazing like before, you understand what I mean? If we kill Hansen, the remaining Barghest forces will just split into smaller factions.
If we can't quickly consolidate these forces, that means Dogtown will descend into chaos. When that happens, Dogtown will only become more chaotic and worse; how could we possibly defend against Arasaka's attacks and infiltration then?
The number of Barghest members we're currently on good terms with is still far from enough..."
"But what does this have to do with you moving into the stadium?" Rebecca said, her expression unpleasant, angry yet tinged with sadness. "I can protect you, Mercer..."
"I know."
Mercer smiled at her, but then said seriously, "But if we stay at the base, how are we supposed to increase our strength? Hansen has placed all the armor manufactured at the base in the stadium, along with all the weapons and equipment.
Our armaments haven't been upgraded for some time now. Ultimately, it's because Hansen doesn't trust us to continue upgrading our firepower, which is why he's imposed various restrictions that have even affected Barghest's internal equipment development progress."
"To accelerate weapons and equipment upgrades and prepare for the impending Arasaka assault, I must reassure Hansen and secure his authorization for unrestricted development and production of various devices."
"Moreover, being at the stadium allows me to directly control the distribution of these supplies, making it easier to tamper with the equipment and prepare in advance. We can't just charge in recklessly; our goal is to coordinate from within and without for a swift resolution."
Mercer spoke with a grave expression. "If I had a decent set of armor today, perhaps the situation wouldn't have been so dangerous. But now Hansen controls the raw material supply, and we're trapped here because of Arasaka..."
Rebecca silently lowered her head.
V slammed the table in frustration. "Damn it, I should've taken Hansen out earlier, before Arasaka made their move."
"Killing him sooner would only have made things worse. At least now, after this period of maneuvering, we've established connections with a significant portion of Barghest."
"We've maintained good cooperative relations with Mr. Hands too. Although I still don't think this is the ideal timing..."
"At least we now have some foundation to take over Dogtown, preventing complete chaos after eliminating Hansen."
Mercer tried to calm the situation before continuing. "The second point is also for security reasons... let me finish."
"It's not that I doubt everyone's capabilities; quite the opposite. Precisely because I believe in your strength, I can confidently leave you here at the base for rest and reorganization."
Mercer said quietly, "We're running out of time. Although Takemura verbally gave us ten days to consider, I suspect his next move will depend entirely on when they find a suitable operational window."
"Hansen told me he'd handle security. I doubt he expects Barghest's mediocre forces to protect me; he'll most likely seek help from his Cuban backers."
"Don't underestimate the Cubans as just some criminal gang operating across NUSA; their connections and capabilities shouldn't be taken lightly."
"Furthermore, Barghest will crack down on traitors and weed out those double-crossing spies. I estimate Takemura won't find many opportunities for at least ten days, possibly even a month."
Then Mercer stated seriously, "The stadium is the hub for Cuban-Hansen smuggling operations. If it comes under attack, it would demonstrate to buyers and sellers worldwide that they're unreliable."
"If Arasaka can kill people there today, they can intercept shipments tomorrow. If they can't even guarantee the safety of goods and personnel, what purpose does Dogtown serve?"
"Hansen and the Cubans would never allow such embarrassing, business-disrupting incidents to occur. With me stationed there, I'll be relatively safe in the short term."
"And with you all guarding the base, I won't have to worry about them targeting our headquarters. The Morning Star must remain secure; I'll need to rely on it for negotiations with Night Corp in the coming period."
"Although I don't know what agreement Night Corp reached with Arasaka to sabotage us at this critical moment, I can't give them another opportunity. Since they're looking for trouble, we'll have to fight our way to a peace settlement."
"But that's Night Corp!" V sighed, looking at Mercer. "Do you really want to offend Night Corp before we've even resolved our troubles with Arasaka?"
"Do we have any other options? If we do nothing, they'll still cause us trouble. If we act, we might make them feel enough pain to come to the negotiating table. If I go to them first, who knows what ridiculous conditions they might demand?"
Mercer said bluntly, "I even suspect they're targeting my Morning Star and the ctOS, which is why they're collaborating with Arasaka. Even NetWatch has remained silent about this matter, proving it's definitely not a spur-of-the-moment decision."
"Since everyone treats us like easy targets, we'll just have to break their teeth first!"
For the first time, Mercer showed a somewhat fierce expression in front of them. "In the real world, I might not withstand a sniper bullet, but if it's online, anyone who dares come after me, I'll kill them!"
Everyone felt worried, but seeing Mercer's determined expression, they could only sigh quietly, their hearts filled with unease.
Could he really handle this? How is this any different from declaring war directly on those major corporations?
Mercer then continued, "The third reason for moving into the stadium... is also to confuse Arasaka, increasing the time and difficulty they need for investigation, buying us a precious window of opportunity to seize power."
"What we want isn't a broken Dogtown, but a safer and stronger Dogtown. For this goal, it's just a brief separation of at least ten-some days..."
"I promise, give me at most one month, at minimum fifteen days, and we can take over Dogtown, then move together to The Black Sapphire."
Mercer's words made everyone's expressions look slightly better. If it's only ten-some days...
"Are you really going to be okay going alone? Should V accompany you?" Rebecca said worriedly. "What if they directly place you under house arrest?"
"What value would house arresting me have? Even if they house arrest me, they'd still need me to continue developing equipment and programs. And as long as I can access these things, the outcome won't be up to Hansen anymore."
"Now the third Tank One armor produced in Dogtown is about to be assembled. These equipment are just wasted in Hansen's hands."
Mercer said straightforwardly, "Anyway, I've already made up my mind. During this time, I'll further upgrade the armor. When the time comes, after killing Hansen, all these equipment will be ours."
"If we can equip everyone with advanced armor, when Arasaka comes again, we'll fight them head-on! Meanwhile, I'll quickly master the Blackwall AI in the Cynosure facility. As long as I can hold a Net-nuke in hand, no matter how big Arasaka's temper is, they'll have to yield to me."
Everyone fell silent for a moment. Finally, Rebecca said softly, "So you're going to the stadium tomorrow?"
"My thought is the sooner the better... but I'll wait until you've all recovered, until I've completed all the necessary surgeries for you."
Mercer smiled, looking at Maine who was still adapting to his new 'frail' limbs, at V whose shoulder was still wrapped in bandages, and at Rebecca whose head still bore unhealed surgical scars...
He smiled and clapped his hands. "Alright, no need for everyone to worry so much about me as if I'm heading straight into hell.
Hansen will definitely treat me well with good food and drinks; he still thinks my spirit is shattered and needs comforting right now.
You all should relax during this period too. The most important thing is to recover your health quickly. We talk about coordinating from inside and outside to deal with Hansen, but don't let me succeed inside while you all drop the ball out there..."
V also buried her worries deep in her heart and put on a smile. "Alright, everyone's been busy all day and hasn't had a bite to eat. I'll go make dinner... Who can lend a hand? I got a new bone in my shoulder, and it's still a bit stiff."
Her shoulder had been pierced through, but in reality, the bones in half of her shoulder had been shattered. Mercer had no choice but to repair it with an artificial skeleton and new muscles and ligaments. To get used to it, she would indeed need to rest and recover for a few days.
As for Mercer, his own surgery was still pending.
But he wasn't in a hurry. Once he finished repairing the Octopus Arm, he would rather operate on himself than let that Barghest ripperdoc do it; their skills were truly mediocre.
Mercer reckoned that if Hansen needed surgery, he wouldn't even go to Barghest's own doctors.
No matter what everyone was thinking at that moment, at least on the surface, with Mercer stubbornly finalizing the plan of action and V, the Director of Operations, not objecting, the matter was basically set in stone.
Everyone tucked away their thoughts, put on smiles again, and after eating and drinking, they quickly returned to their rooms to get some rest.
Mercer, however, did not sleep. Instead, he worked through the night, using the equipment on hand to build some more advanced counter-surveillance devices.
This included surveillance cameras designed to counter high-grade thermo-optical camouflage, capable of identifying temperature differences as small as 0.1 degrees Celsius in real-time and issuing alerts.
He wasn't worried about the base's underground structure. It had been designed to the standards of a war fortress from the start, making it highly resistant to both explosions and electromagnetic pulses. It also had emergency backup power and water, as well as an underground tunnel for emergency evacuation.
Theoretically, unless Arasaka used a 500-ton or heavier aerodyne bomb to blast them to death, or deployed specialized bunker-buster missiles, basic howitzers, rocket launchers, and conventional missiles couldn't do the slightest damage to the underground facility.
And all the large-scale weapons mentioned above were explicitly banned in Night City. If Arasaka were to use them, it would mean turning Night City into a warzone from that day forward.
Arasaka Tower had only recently been rebuilt. It was likely that even Saburo Arasaka himself didn't want to start preparing for a third reconstruction of Arasaka Tower in Night City so soon.
But Mercer wouldn't let his guard down. In fact, just like with the ambush this time, Mercer believed he had already made sufficient preparations.
Not only did he have Barghest security clearing the way the entire time, but Barghest also patrolled potential ambush spots along his delta route every hour. Mercer himself also conducted regular patrols with a recon drone, on top of the surveillance from the Morning Star cameras...
All one could say was that setting an ambush was always simpler than preventing one. Unless there was a generational leap in technology that provided a significant advantage, there was no such thing as absolute safety.
This was also why Mercer had been so eager to throw his lot in with Barghest, without even considering whether he could successfully take over Dogtown.
Now, facing Arasaka's attacks, a defensive strategy was untenable. Even if they could hold out for a month, what about the next month? And the month after that? Takemura would not lack patience, and Dogtown was by no means an impregnable fortress.
In that case, it was better to change his approach and use offense as defense. Mercer made up his mind. Even if it meant throwing Dogtown into chaos, even if he couldn't completely take over Hansen's operations and the patrons behind him, and even if he might offend certain factions backing Hansen.
He had to get moving.
Even though this might displace many people in Dogtown and even create a new opportunity for Takemura to act, since a steady and cautious approach had already proven unreliable...
...Mercer could only slam his foot on the gas. After that, it would be a matter of life and death.
For the next two days, Mercer stayed at the base and went nowhere.
Not until Hansen had swiftly delivered the new cyberware and components, allowing Mercer to operate on V and Rebecca again and repair the damage to their armor and equipment, ensuring everyone on the team had begun the recovery process.
Only then did Mercer go to the EBM Petrochem Stadium alone. At Hansen's enthusiastic invitation, he moved into his new home, a dorm room that looked almost identical in style to his room at the Arasaka base, with no difference other than being slightly larger.
Afterward, Mercer immediately initiated three production plans simultaneously in Barghest's equipment production workshop.
The first production plan was for the rapid production of combat armor. This time, he held nothing back from Hansen, fully unleashing his talent and abilities.
Through modular production and assembly line operation, he shortened the production time for a single suit of armor to an astonishing three days. Of course, armor of this level was only the most basic Tank armor model.
The second production plan was for the auxiliary Octopus Arm.
Mercer's excuse to Hansen was that this type of Octopus Arm could be controlled by a computer, have its processes set, and achieve fully automated assembly line production. He claimed it was a type of functional production equipment he had developed himself.
But in truth, besides the fact that these Octopus Arms could all be controlled by an AI, the most crucial point was that their modular design was already compatible with the armor.
He wasn't just aiming to increase production efficiency; he was also preparing for his own personal combat armor.
The third production plan, which Mercer personally led with the participation of several elite researchers, was a development plan for chroming his own cyberware and associated equipment.
Ostensibly, Mercer had applied for funding under the pretext of "manufacturing new types of cyberware and equipment."
Hansen was well aware of this, but considering Mercer was right under his nose and the development progress and equipment information were clear at a glance, he turned a blind eye.
After all, in Hansen's view, everything Mercer developed would ultimately belong to Barghest.
Initially, Hansen was very satisfied with Mercer's diligence. In his opinion, Mercer should have been working this hard long ago.
But soon, Hansen suddenly felt a bit overwhelmed by the immense productivity Mercer had unleashed.
The rate at which he consumed resources while increasing production capacity... was simply too fast.
At first, Hansen had waved his hand dismissively, even taking out a loan of twenty million eurodollars from the bank when his own funds ran short, specifically to provide Mercer with the raw materials he needed. Every day, more than a dozen shipping containers were smuggled into the EBM Petrochem Stadium, exclusively to supply Mercer.
From his perspective, the materials he had purchased were enough to keep the EBM Petrochem Stadium running for three months. So, he simply announced that the entire research budget for the next quarter would be prepared for Mercer in advance.
In reality, however, Mercer used up all those materials in just over ten days.
Because as soon as the first auxiliary Octopus Arm was produced, Mercer began to frantically expand the production capacity of the Octopus Arms.
When Hansen saw the Octopus Arm production workshop two days later, he was so stunned he was momentarily speechless. Can you imagine it?
In a production workshop, human workers were only responsible for transporting raw materials, while the strange, flexible Octopus Arms, like the tentacles of an octopus, assembled another Octopus Arm as if they had a consciousness of their own.
And when a new Octopus Arm was assembled, it would be grabbed directly by the other Octopus Arms, inserted into a reserved slot on the side, and powered on. It would immediately begin working, then produce a new Octopus Arm at an even faster speed...
It was just like monsters self-replicating!
Once the number of Octopus Arms met the workshop's needs, the newly produced arms were sent to the armor assembly workshop, as well as the equipment development workshop where Mercer himself spent a minimum of 18 hours a day.
By simply connecting them to a computer and inserting them into a compatible mounting slot, these Octopus Arms quickly integrated into the relevant production workflows.
Ten days later, there was almost no need for any living person to participate in production and assembly within the entire workshop; one only needed to feed raw materials to this terrifying group of Octopus Arms!
Hansen really couldn't figure out if this was normal. He had asked some of the researchers, but they, as if high on adrenaline, spoke with adoration.
"Don't worry about Director Mercer's business. He's a true genius, and we are participating in a great work that will change the future!"
Those researchers were unaware that all of this was impossible without Morning Star's assistance. In their eyes, the unique bionic structure of the Octopus Arm's hardware, designed and developed by Mercer, was enough to command their worship.
So powerful, so flexible, such a simple and brutally effective modular design, and even its cost could be considered low! Yet its range of applications was so wide, and its efficiency so high!
This was simply a great invention that could promote another leap in productivity in industrial history!
On the software side, however, the development of this intelligent AI was comparatively less eye-catching.
This was because within Barghest's current work system, any programmer who truly understood network technology and code had been transferred by Mercer to other positions, leaving him solely in charge of program development, operation, and management.
So no one knew that Barghest's servers had long been taken over by Morning Star, nor did anyone know that the terrifying production capacity of the Octopus Arms was actually built upon a highly intelligent AI supported by supercomputing power.
But what truly excited and frenzied the group of researchers was not the Octopus Arms or the mechs, but the new generation of weapons and equipment Mercer was developing for himself.
This was the first time Mercer truly didn't have to consider budget or cost-effectiveness, and could develop equipment based solely on effect and purpose.
Although the Kindling Squad earned money, to be honest, when it came to developing equipment, it was far from enough.
This was also why Mercer had been so slow to develop his own armor and new cyberware; it was too expensive, and the cost-effectiveness was very low.
No matter how much stronger he became, he was still a netrunner at the end of the day. If he and V wore the same set of Gyrfalcon armor, his combat effectiveness just couldn't compare to V's.
And if he wanted to have the same combat effectiveness as V, he would have to start with cyberware, get a complete, custom-made set of super cyberware, and then add armor on top of that.
Considering the cost-effectiveness, he couldn't selfishly use everyone's money to invest in himself, spending the amount that could upgrade V three times for a single upgrade of his own.
But now, spending Hansen's money, he had no such concerns.
Thus, under the astonished gazes of the group of researchers who viewed him as a genius, Mercer successively designed a complete set of super cyberware and immediately put it into production without any testing or theoretical experiments.
First was a major overhaul of his netrunner cyberware. When Arasaka designed this set of netrunner cyberware, their priority was that netrunners spend most of their time sitting next to a server, performing network tasks, so they didn't consider many safety issues at all.
This was why Mercer's cyberware was fried by a single EMP blast. No netrunner was expected to face such an attack; most of them fought battles from a thousand miles away, while specialists were responsible for the actual battlefield.
But Mercer faced a severe survival crisis. Even if he wanted to hide in a corner, enemies would come for him. Therefore, he had to make his cyberware not only capable of heat dissipation but also meet his practical combat needs.
The "DevilMayCry" (Devil May Cry, or DMC for short) series of cyberware was the super cyberware Mercer had long envisioned for his personal use but never had the capital or resources to develop.
The reason for the name was very simple; if those corporations were demons wreaking havoc on the world, seemingly invincible, then he would use his actions to prove that demons could bleed, that demons could cry!
Moreover, in terms of combat style, Mercer also really liked the sharp yet nimble feel of the action in the game Devil May Cry.
The entire design philosophy for the set of cyberware was singular: to maximize the advantage of Mercer's intellect and, while ensuring corresponding netrunner capabilities, give him combat abilities on par with V's as much as possible.
This design concept sounded anti-human from the get-go, as netrunner cyberware was already the type that placed the heaviest burden on the body. And to integrate functions like a Sandevistan into this type of cyberware?
This wasn't developing cyberware; it was developing a torture device!
But Mercer simply used the excuse, "I'll handle the load with software," and the researchers, who were already rendered speechless by his skills, lost the courage to question him.
Due to the tight schedule, it was difficult for Mercer to develop a new set of cyberware with a completely new architecture from scratch to meet his needs.
So, he boldly disassembled Arasaka's netrunner cyberware, used the spine from a military-grade Sandevistan, and integrated a large, built-in cyberdeck, piecing together a basic, first-generation experimental version of the cyberware.
Of course, it wasn't just a simple splice. Mercer also made bold modifications to the military-grade Sandevistan spine, increasing the external nerve transmission speed to the absolute limit the current materials could withstand; he certainly wasn't going to consider the limits of human tolerance.
And to address the higher heat dissipation requirements of these integrated functions, Mercer had no choice but to include his entire upper body in the scope of his modifications. He even gave up the option of covering most of it with artificial skin, opting instead for a large number of shark-gill-like heat dissipation designs similar to what he had used before.
Viewed from the back, the rear of this cyberware set was almost identical to Songbird's cyberware from the game.
To prevent EMP attacks, Mercer also racked his brains to develop a cyberware plugin called the Active Surge Suppressor.
This "Active Surge Suppressor" could be understood as a dedicated "circuit guard" specifically for EMP attacks.
Once it detected an electromagnetic pulse, it would, within nanoseconds, proactively sacrifice itself to absorb the pulse and guide it into a "venting unit," protecting the main circuits of the cyberware.
Furthermore, Mercer sacrificed some of the lightweight properties of his shell to design a set of subcutaneous implants for his entire body called an "Inverted Faraday Cage."
This was a subcutaneous conductive grid made of highly insulating nano material. Its bulletproof function was better than nothing, but its main purpose was to act like an electromagnetic lightning rod, allowing electrical currents to slide over the surface of his skin and cyberware without penetrating inside.
With this two-pronged approach, Mercer ran several tests. He could at least guarantee that when facing an EMP shock, over 90% of his functions would remain intact after the initial attack.
That was already enough. Achieving one hundred percent was likely impossible with the current design. Moreover, once Mercer was in a heat-dissipating state with the cover plates open, his EMP resistance would be further reduced.
This defensive gap would have to be compensated for by other equipment.
Mercer named it the "Devil May Cry | Operating System."
This set of cyberware not only had the built-in neural and physical acceleration functions of a Sandevistan.
After repairing Arasaka's Soulkiller Cyberdeck, Mercer integrated it and spliced in an advanced cyberdeck from Militech to increase his network data transfer volume, deploying it directly at the back of his neck.
Furthermore, due to the massive amount of data this cyberware transmitted in real-time, the entire system also had a built-in advanced microprocessor. It utilized the consciousness transfer system Mercer had developed for his armor to optimize the cyberware's data transmission.
This processor was also connected to the cyberdeck, which could further accelerate Mercer's data transfer speeds.
But in truth, this was only the first step of Mercer's self-modification. To become faster and stronger, you couldn't rely on an operating system alone; you had to rely on your body.
And aside from his astonishing intellect, Mercer did not have a gifted body like V's. His physical constitution was even inferior to Rebecca's.
So, what could he do?
He could only continue to get chromed.
Thus, Mercer had to face a difficult choice.
At this point, the only significant advantage of artificial muscles was the trivial one of being "human-like."
In contrast, a mechanical body offered limitless potential for expansion.
Mercer could even get chromed to be more muscular than Maine. That would allow him to fill his chest cavity with better heat dissipation, more interface ports, more integrated functions, and even higher ballistic, explosion, and EMP resistance...
After hesitating and pondering for a long time, Mercer, in a rare move, didn't opt for efficiency and practicality. Instead, he stuck to a human-centric approach to his cyberware modifications.
He would use stronger synthetic muscle, metal bone, artificial ligament, and other cyberware components to complement the Devil May Cry OS.
But in return, Mercer's need for external equipment grew even greater.
If simple chroming wasn't enough to support the upper limits of his pre-designed operating system, then he could only rely on more powerful external equipment, directly linked through the OS, to push his abilities to their absolute extreme.
Without a moment's hesitation, Mercer began developing the "Devil May Cry" series of individual combat armor. His design philosophy and requirements were singular: it had to be strong enough that even if he were attacked again, he wouldn't have to worry about being as powerless and easily captured as before.
And what did "strong enough" mean?
Money. A lot of money. The kind of money the Kindling Squad could never have come up with!
And so, Hansen stared at the financial expenditure report Jago had handed him. With slightly trembling fingers, he placed his cigar on the ashtray.
"Tens of millions of eurodollars... just gone?"
Jago, now the Chief Financial Officer, could only offer an awkward smile, his expression saying it all.
Hansen's vision went dark.
The price of a Militech Chimera, even smuggled in at a high price, was only about three million eurodollars at current market rates. If you weren't buying it in Night City, the price would be even lower.
How many days had Mercer been at the base?
Hansen counted on his fingers. Fifteen days.
Did he fucking burn through ten tanks!?
Furious, Hansen slammed the report down on the table. "This is the research budget for an entire quarter, and you're telling me he used it all up in fifteen days?"
"Uh, looking purely at the output, we actually haven't lost that much. It's a reasonable research expenditure..." Jago said cautiously. "Why don't you keep flipping?"
Hansen suppressed his anger, cursing under his breath as he turned the pages. "Once this is used up, don't expect me to just approve more money. If those bastards don't earn me back three times the revenue, they won't get a single cent. I'd rather spend the money on equipment than continue to..."
He trailed off. Seeing the numbers on the report, his eyes widened, and he sat up straight in disbelief. "Is this written correctly?"
"It is. I went to see for myself and can guarantee all this data is real." Jago flashed a somewhat fawning smile. "You can go see for yourself."
"In fifteen days, he built eleven Tank One armors and eight of his newly developed advanced bots?" Hansen couldn't stay seated now.
If all of this was true, it meant those eleven Tank One armors could fulfill most of the global orders he had secured through the gala's exhibition segment. That was tens of millions of eurodollars in revenue!
And what were these eight new advanced bots?
This was fifteen days, not fifteen months.
And judging from this report, Mercer had also developed a new set of cyberware and a new suit of armor for himself. Just the "wear and tear" cost for that armor on the report reached a staggering eleven million eurodollars!
That was the wear and tear!
And the actual manufacturing cost was a shocking eight million eurodollars!
He spent eight million on a suit of armor for himself?
Damn it...
Hansen was speechless. On one hand, he wanted to curse him, but the man's work wasn't bad; at least his investment hadn't gone completely down the drain. But on the other hand, if he didn't curse him... did this motherfucker really just spend twenty million eurodollars to get himself a new set of gear?
Damn it. He himself had used a Militech Sandevistan and had only piloted a standard Tank One model armor, and even then, his head was throbbing so badly after just seven minutes that he had to take the armor off.
When Hansen arrived at the development workshop, however, he couldn't find any sign of Mercer. His face darkened.
"Where is Director Mercer?"
"He's at the firing range, testing his own cyberware and equipment," a researcher who had originally looked somewhat dejected answered honestly. Then, he suddenly said with some excitement, "Shall I take you to him?"
Hansen glanced at him. This kid clearly just wants to go watch for himself.
"Lead the way!" he ordered nonetheless, demanding the researcher lead him there.
When Hansen arrived at the firing range, his gaze was involuntarily drawn to the suit of armor floating in the air in the distance.
The tall armor was matte black overall, but its joints and energy slots were traced with dark red veins, like cooled lava. The chilling, cold metal armor glinted, flickering through the air at a speed difficult for the naked eye to follow.
The external armor was a seamless whole. The joints featured a multi-layered plate design, ensuring both flexibility and protection for the external joints.
The four compression thrusters on its back resembled the skeleton of a Demon's wings when retracted, but spewed streams of ethereal blue light when extended.
The helmet was like that of a sci-fi alien. Its blood-red eyes left streaks of red light in the air, and on either side of the helmet were black protrusions like horns. Hansen could tell at a glance that these weren't just for show; they were an integrated radar and signal amplifier.
There were also smaller compression thrusters on its hands and feet, allowing it to maneuver nimbly in the air, as agile as a bird in flight.
The thick chest piece didn't look bulky in the slightest. As it gleamed with the luster of sturdy armor, Hansen could faintly see white steam wafting from its back. Was it venting heat?!
To be able to see white steam in the ambient temperature of an underground firing range, just how high was the temperature inside the armor?
But the most crucial thing was...
Hansen's expression turned grave.
He was observing Mercer with his Sandevistan activated, yet even so, Mercer's speed was still so fast he found it a little hard to see clearly...
This guy... what the hell has he created?
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7100words
Bonus chapter @500powerstones