The silence on the field was soon broken by Mercer's next cold command.
"Everyone, disarm. By my order, you will be temporarily detained as a group. I will re-evaluate your individual situations later and reassign your positions."
As soon as Mercer finished speaking, a Barghest soldier gritted his teeth and said, "We'll make our decision after we see Colonel Hansen!"
"Anyone else feel the same way?" After saying this, Mercer stated bluntly, "Those who accept the order, move to the left. Those who don't, move to the right."
After he spoke, some Barghest soldiers exchanged glances. Some wanted to make a move immediately, but others looked at the bloodstains that had yet to be cleaned from the ground, and at the menacing bots and AI-controlled Tank armor surrounding them, their faces showing their hesitation.
In truth, everyone knew that all this talk about Hansen being attacked and him taking over command was bullshit. Anyone familiar with Barghest's structure knew that even if Hansen died, it would never be a researcher's turn to take over.
What would be the result of laying down their arms?
But if they resisted now...
One soldier gritted his teeth, a sudden impulse rising within him. Just pull the trigger. Throw the situation into chaos, force the other Barghest soldiers to open fire with you. Mercer can't possibly kill them all, can he?
But just as a Barghest soldier abruptly raised his rifle, one of the bots circling the field suddenly opened fire, a single shot hitting the soldier in the head.
"Fire!"
In an instant, more than thirty Barghest soldiers in the field suddenly raised their weapons.
The Barghest soldiers who didn't want to clash with Mercer were clearly at a loss. Some simply chose to drop their weapons, cover their heads, and lie on the ground, while others turned and ran.
But how could Mercer be unprepared?
The instant the enemy pulled their triggers, his figure vanished from the spot.
V's reaction was even a beat slower than his. Activating her Sandevistan in astonishment, she followed his movements without a second thought, clad in the somewhat cumbersome Tank armor.
The automated machine guns and the drones circling the base opened fire instantly. The bots, relying on their mechanical bodies, completely ignored the hail of conventional fire and precisely pulled their triggers on the Barghest soldiers who were raising their guns to fight back.
At the same time, the bots repeated in unison with cold, robotic voices, "Cease resistance. Surrender immediately!"
In response, screams rose and fell across the field.
Mercer moved with extreme speed. What was even more terrifying was that he had no need to use conventional weapons against his enemies like a typical Sandevistan user.
The bodies of the Barghest soldiers who raised their guns to return fire suddenly went out of control, sparks bursting from them. Mercer simply weaved through the crowd with ease. Everywhere he passed, almost every two seconds, a Barghest soldier would scream and collapse to the ground.
Mercer had no intention of holding back.
Any Barghest soldier still standing on the field was facing an onslaught of viral Quickhacks. For the current Mercer, conventional firearms had extreme difficulty even landing a hit, and even if a stray shot was lucky enough to connect, it would merely ricochet off his armor.
"What is this monster..." someone muttered, dropping his weapon in despair. But he was still hit by a Quickhack that disabled his cyberware, and he screamed as he fell to the ground, his body twitching uncontrollably.
Only a few Barghest soldiers who had no intention of fighting Mercer from the start, who had thrown down their guns and surrendered without a word and lay on the ground, were spared.
But at that moment, they too could only lie there, legs trembling, heads covered, shivering in fear. What the fuck kind of monster is this?? These weren't some common street punks! How was it that in front of Mercer, they were like a flock of lambs to the slaughter?!
Mercer remained silent, merely hacking. Empowered by his new Devil May Cry cyberware, he could almost be considered a true mobile, humanoid AI. Without needing the processing power of a server, he single-handedly took care of the entire group of Barghest soldiers.
Once no Barghest soldiers were left standing, the moment for brutal execution arrived.
When Mercer stopped, white steam radiating from his body as he hovered in the air and surveyed his surroundings, the bots began to march in unison, starting the targeted execution of the Barghest soldiers Mercer had hacked.
Every Barghest soldier who had raised a gun at Mercer was, without exception, shot in the head. Those who had tried to flee were roughly thrown aside and sorted.
As for the Barghest soldiers who had cooperated and surrendered at the first opportunity, they were ordered by the bots to walk to the other side, where they formed a line, empty-handed and trembling, not daring to move.
Mercer counted the numbers and sighed internally.
Only thirty men, and among these thirty, there were probably quite a few opportunists who knew which way the wind was blowing. Loyalty was out of the question.
Even including the Barghest soldiers at The Black Sapphire, the number of usable men in Dogtown would probably barely reach a hundred.
A hundred men might be a considerable force on the streets, but in Dogtown, it was completely inadequate.
This was why Mercer hadn't made a move on Dogtown until now. A violent takeover would not only make it difficult to guarantee the loyalty of his men, but the real trouble would come later.
Dogtown's smuggling operations would be affected, and that was the fatal blow. If business couldn't continue, setting aside the clients for a moment, Hansen's biggest backers, the Cubans, would definitely hate his guts.
And for Militech and Arasaka, what Mercer did would be a great favor. Next, many factions would likely turn their eyes to Dogtown. The moment Mercer showed any sign of weakness, the situation in Pacifica would change drastically.
Mercer's head ached... physically. Although he acted like a superhero, he was at best Ultraman, and the warning light on his chest was already starting to flash red.
He had pushed his brain to its limit. He even suspected he would pass out the moment he closed his eyes, but right now, Mercer could only push through.
"Surrendered Barghest soldiers, pick up your weapons now and follow me to The Black Sapphire."
When Mercer's words fell, how could these Barghest soldiers dare to resist? They immediately responded in unison as their training demanded, "Yes, sir!"
But one of them asked with a worried expression, "What exactly is going on? Director Mercer, are we... are we staging a rebellion?"
A smarter Barghest soldier wished he could cut this idiot down. Duh! Do you even need to ask? If you want to live, shut your mouth!
But Mercer simply replied with a deadpan expression, "No. I repeat, Colonel Hansen was attacked and is currently in a deep coma.
Arasaka Corporation has infiltrated Barghest's ranks. I have accepted Colonel Hansen's order to serve as the interim leader of Barghest.
Right now, we are merely purging traitors.
Dogtown will enter a period of martial law, but it will be lifted soon. We'll discuss the specifics after we assemble at the Black Sapphire."
Mercer scanned the group and picked one who looked agreeable, a squad leader who was usually very polite to him. That would be him.
"Captain Steven, you are hereby specially appointed as the temporary company commander, in charge of all Barghest soldiers here."
After speaking, Mercer immediately started walking out.
The Barghest soldier named Steven was stunned for a moment, then nodded ecstatically. "Yes, sir!"
Then, this guy named Steven immediately turned around, his expression stern as he shouted, "Didn't you hear him?! Form up! Keep up, you motherfuckers!"
V walked to Mercer's side and whispered on the squad channel, "Holy shit! How were you so fast just now? Is that set of equipment of yours that insane? How did you do it?"
Mercer didn't say much, just replied faintly, "I tried some bold experiments at the stadium. I'll give you the deets later."
His head was aching badly, and he didn't have the energy to chat with V. Just thinking about what needed to be done next left him unusually drained.
Mercer chose not to fly. Instead, he randomly picked an APC and led the team from the stadium to the Black Sapphire.
At this moment, nearly a hundred Barghest soldiers were gathered in the lobby of The Black Sapphire.
V, now wearing a standard-issue set of Tank armor that barely fit, couldn't drive for him, so for once, Mercer was the driver again.
Sitting in the back seat, she finally couldn't hold it in any longer and asked, "Are you okay? You seem a little..."
"I haven't been resting well here lately. I'll be fine after a good sleep once this is all over," Mercer said, then paused. "How's everyone doing lately?"
"What do you think? You're not at home, running off to the stadium by yourself. Who at home can sleep well or eat properly?" V said.
"Soon, everyone will be able to move into the Black Sapphire. Can you imagine it, V? Not long ago, we were all crammed underground, relying on ventilation fans and air purifiers for air."
Mercer spoke in a gentle tone, "We're going to move to the top floor. We'll knock down the walls of the entire floor and renovate it. Each of us can have a super-spacious flat."
"What's so important about that..." V should have been the happiest one. As a girl from the streets, living in a mansion, driving luxury cars, and having face wherever she went, this should have been the dream life she had fantasized about since she was a child.
But at this moment, she only looked at Mercer with worry.
Mercer, however, just continued to speak softly, "Once we've settled Dogtown and dealt with the assassination from Arasaka's side, and once we get our hands on Johnny Silverhand's Relic biochip, we can work with Alt to take care of Saburo Arasaka. After that, no one will be able to mess with us anymore."
"Hey, are you really okay?" V keenly sensed that his condition was genuinely not right. "Hey, listen to me, is the mental load too much?"
"No... well, maybe..." Mercer didn't know how to describe his current state. He felt terrifyingly calm, as if he had entered the accelerated thinking state of a deep dive. His brain was spinning at high speed and couldn't stop for a moment.
Although he felt somewhat exhausted, both the amount of data being exchanged in his head and his stable body temperature seemed to indicate that he was in some kind of optimal state.
Is this what the onset of Cyberpsychosis is like? A pile of medical literature immediately popped into Mercer's head. He shook his head and then said, "Alright, let's talk after I'm done with this and get some sleep."
V mumbled a few words, too quiet to be heard. Mercer chuckled softly and didn't press her; it was probably just some nagging anyway.
The vehicle soon arrived at The Black Sapphire. At this moment, over a hundred Barghest soldiers were gathered in the first-floor lobby, yet it didn't seem crowded.
Rebecca, wearing her armor, had been on edge for a while. Faced with a group of Barghest soldiers full of questions, if Mercer hadn't told her to be patient and stabilize the situation in Hansen's name, this group would have probably started a riot long ago.
It was only when Mercer appeared in his armor, with more than thirty Barghest soldiers following him into The Black Sapphire, that Rebecca finally breathed a sigh of relief.
As Mercer calmly walked through the crowd, down the red carpet, up the steps, and stood on a relatively high platform, he turned his head to face the Barghest soldiers lined up on both sides of the red carpet.
Rebecca secretly sent him a message.
[Rebecca: Damn, what took you so long? I was about to lose control. These guys kept asking me what was going on, how would I know?]
[Mercer: Where are Lucy and the others?]
[Rebecca: Still watching over the heavy firepower. Don't worry, if needed, they can activate the Militech Chimera at any time and give these Barghest soldiers a big one!]
The Militech Chimera could be operated without a pilot. Just like Mercer's armor, it was more flexible with a human operator but could also act autonomously like a bot. If a high-level AI were to control it, it could even be more efficient than a human operator!
[Mercer: Thanks for your hard work. Leave the rest to me.]
Rebecca watched Mercer walk onto the stage and silently survey the Barghest soldiers in the hall. Her heart inexplicably calmed down, and that equipment of his... it looked really strong!
Seeing Mercer walk onto the stage and remain silent for a moment, Jago, who was now Barghest's financial director, was pushed forward by some of the soldiers to ask questions.
Since joining Barghest, Jago had always played the role of a nice guy. Many of the Barghest soldiers were on good terms with him and knew his relationship with Mercer was decent, so they simply pushed him forward to ask Mercer about the situation.
"Director Mercer?" Jago had only seen this armor of Mercer's being assembled in the workshop. Now, seeing Mercer walk in with his suit stained with blood, wearing a helmet, and his six Octopus Arms moving in place of his feet, he felt a chill in his heart.
How could he not be aware of the facade of friendship between Mercer and Hansen? Seeing Mercer walk in fully geared up, he had already guessed most of the truth.
Holy shit... Jago knew very well how many hidden traps Hansen had prepared for Mercer at the stadium. And Mercer had just zeroed Hansen so easily?
"Form up. I have an important announcement. I will explain the whole story clearly."
Mercer's voice came from within his helmet, and Jago immediately stood ramrod straight. The other Barghest soldiers had their own thoughts, but for now, they remained relatively calm.
"Colonel Hansen was attacked earlier. He is severely injured and is being treated at the stadium. I have been appointed in this time of crisis to serve as the interim leader of Barghest, temporarily handling all matters in Dogtown on behalf of Colonel Hansen."
As soon as he said this, the Barghest soldiers below began to murmur. A Barghest soldier named Leon Rinder frowned and asked, "Impossible!"
"Nothing is impossible. The Cubans have already left. You know what I'm talking about." On the visor of Mercer's helmet, only a blue light wave flickered, but Leon felt as if Mercer was staring daggers at him. A strange chill ran through his body.
"This morning, I sensed danger and reported it to Colonel Hansen. Colonel Hansen then requested protection from the Kindling Squad, but unfortunately, by the time V arrived on the scene, Colonel Hansen had already been attacked."
Mercer said casually, and before anyone could object or ask for deets, he immediately changed the subject. "The stadium was also attacked. More than sixty Barghest soldiers died heroically. The only thing we can be sure of is that this was another despicable attack by Arasaka. Now, Dogtown and Barghest have reached a moment of life and death."
Mercer's tone grew heavier. "We must gather all our strength and will to overcome this crisis together."
"What about Captain Bennett?" someone asked uneasily.
Mercer just opened his helmet, revealing his expressionless face. He looked at the Barghest soldier and said in a low voice, "He's dead. An Arasaka ripperdoc chromed his body and made him blow his own head off with his own shotgun. After the martial law is lifted, we will hold a simple funeral for him to commemorate this outstanding colleague... Any other questions?"
The hundred-plus Barghest soldiers looked at each other. Carl Robinson, a high-ranking Barghest member known as Dodger, asked with a cold face:
"As far as I know, the attack seemed to have happened shortly after V went upstairs, and then V took Colonel Hansen and flew directly away from the Black Sapphire. Director Mercer..."
Before Dodger could finish, Mercer said coldly, "There are rumors within Barghest that you've been secretly dealing drugs and other things on the side, and even set up a small base with your brother..."
Dodger's face changed. "Director Mercer, you can't just say things like that!"
"So you understand that principle. Then you'd best keep your mouth shut!" Mercer said sternly. Dodger opened his mouth, then looked at him resentfully, but for the moment, he didn't interject again, though his eyes flickered.
"From today onwards, all units will obey my orders alone. All weapons, equipment, and logistical transfers must receive my online approval. I will monitor everyone's communications and movements in real-time."
Before anyone could ask, Mercer added with a heavy tone, "Given the increasingly severe infiltration by external forces, I will also specifically deal with certain suspicious individuals according to Barghest regulations. Effective immediately, Dogtown will be under martial law. Certain key positions will be filled by my people until Colonel Hansen recovers and returns, at which point the final personnel changes will be officially confirmed."
Leon frowned. "Director Mercer, according to regulations, martial law means a complete lockdown of Dogtown. Even commercial activities will be temporarily suspended..."
"I mean a complete lockdown. Not a single fly is allowed out, and not a single cockroach is allowed in. Any gang organizations like the Scavengers must also abide by the curfew. All violations will be dealt with severely and strictly. The martial law regulations will be announced via the Dogtown broadcast every hour."
After Mercer finished, Leon stared straight at him and asked with extreme boldness, "What if Colonel Hansen never recovers..."
"At the time of Colonel Hansen's incident, I had discussed some internal issues of Barghest with him, such as the treatment of soldiers and officers, the uneven quality of personnel, and the endless stream of backstabbing bastards..."
Mercer said bluntly, "So, we will most likely sign a new employment contract. The salary will be 10% higher than before, and we will provide Barghest soldiers with new standard-issue weapons and equipment. Officer-level Barghest members will also receive a set of advanced individual combat armor and cyberware modification for free to enhance Barghest's overall strength. And if Colonel Hansen has not recovered after a week, the martial law will be lifted, and everything in Dogtown will return to normal. Do you have any other questions?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the minds of many Barghest soldiers began to race.
From the looks of it... Mercer didn't seem to be just "temporarily taking over"...
Leon pressed on relentlessly, "According to regulations, if Barghest loses contact with its commander, leadership should be established successively by rank. And when an interim commander makes key personnel changes, a vote should be held..."
"I'll repeat this one last time. Colonel Hansen appointed me as the interim commander. He is not dead, and we are not out of contact. The special clause does not apply to the current situation. Understood?"
Leon looked at Mercer and asked in a hostile tone, "Director Mercer, we all know you're an excellent researcher, but the brothers of Barghest..."
Mercer stared at him with icy eyes and said, word by word, "Are you defying Colonel Hansen's order?"
"Of course not, it's just that Colonel Hansen..." Before Leon could finish, Mercer, extremely impatient, walked down from the steps until he was in front of Leon, who was standing at the side of the formation.
Leon looked at the armored Mercer. Before he could react, Mercer's Octopus Arm whipped out like a lash. He subconsciously activated his Sandevistan, only to find in horror that it was too late.
Activating a Sandevistan takes time. Before the system could even boot up, Mercer's Octopus Arm had already snapped both his legs.
Mercer, expressionless, used his Octopus Arm to take a standard-issue rifle from the Barghest soldier next to Leon and aimed it at his head. "Are you implying that I am falsely relaying Colonel Hansen's orders?"
Leon's breath caught. Then, he hurriedly forced a smile. "No, no, no! How could I? I was worried that someone might have that idea... I was just worried."
The cold Octopus Arm swayed in front of his face, its three claws clicking as they moved, as if they could crush Leon's head at any moment. At this point, where would Leon find the courage to continue spouting nonsense?
The level of force Mercer displayed had already exceeded his expecta–damn it, all his attention had been on V.
And the other Barghest men couldn't help but be shocked. What kind of power was this? Isn't Mercer a researcher? How does he have Sandevistan-like speed!? Is it because of this armor? Unbelievable... What kind of equipment is this!?
"Sowing discord in the ranks. Captain Steven, take him away for a thorough interrogation. See if he was one of the people who conspired with Arasaka to harm Colonel Hansen and kill dozens of our Barghest brothers."
As Mercer's voice fell, Leon immediately tried to say something, but before he could finish, an Octopus Arm unceremoniously knocked him unconscious.
The newly appointed company commander, Steven, walked over without a word and dragged the unconscious Leon away. The Barghest soldiers next to Leon wanted to speak but hesitated.
Faced with a sea of gleaming gun barrels and Mercer's icy gaze, they didn't dare utter a single word.
Surveying his surroundings, Mercer used his Octopus Arms to take just two steps, returning to the steps of the hotel's ground floor.
He looked down on the Barghest soldiers below him. "This is a time when we must cast aside our past grievances, unite, and overcome this crisis together.
Any soldier who undermines unity or disobeys orders will be subject to an internal Barghest investigation and punishment. I hope you will all take this as a warning and not bring trouble upon yourselves."
Mercer then turned to Jago and said, "Considering the state of martial law, I am appointing V as the Director of Operations for the duration. All armed forces will be under her command. Jago, you will serve as her deputy."
Jago sighed inwardly but put on a friendly, submissive smile. "Yes, sir!"
"Next, I will announce some temporary personnel changes.
Dogtown's security department will be temporarily managed by Maine, as Director of Operations Bennett and his deputy were unfortunately killed in the Arasaka attack.
The position of Director of Operations will now be concurrently held by V, with Rebecca as her deputy. I will personally oversee the cybersecurity and surveillance department. The checkpoint supervisor will be Jackie Welles.
The original squad leaders will retain their titles and ranks. Further arrangements will be made after the martial law is lifted."
Mercer spoke with deep meaning, "Any soldier who performs well during this period of martial law will have their merits personally reported to Colonel Hansen by me upon its conclusion, and they will be rewarded with a promotion in rank."
A promotion within Barghest meant an increase in base salary and benefits.
"However, if there are serious lapses in duty, or if anyone is suspected of betrayal, incitement, or causing chaos during this period, they will be punished to the fullest and most severe extent of the law."
After speaking, Mercer paused, then continued, "Everyone, pull yourselves together. The enemy won't just stop after harming Colonel Hansen. The Colonel will pull through. With any luck, he might recover in three to five days.
At that time, he will resume his role as supreme commander. But I hope that none of you, just because I've taken command in this crisis, will entertain any improper thoughts. I believe that when Colonel Hansen recovers, he will support the decisions I am making now.
Dismissed. Everyone, return to your posts. The specific deets of the personnel changes will be sent to your personal terminals once they are finalized. Also, Jago, I know you've met a lot of people through Hansen.
Go and inform our clients about the attack on Colonel Hansen. Ask them to wait patiently for a while. Once he recovers from his critical condition, everything will return to normal."
After Mercer finished, Jago, with a pained expression, asked cautiously, "If Colonel Hansen's condition doesn't improve... I... I can't guarantee our business will remain as usual."
He was extremely worried that Hansen was actually already dead. Although Hansen valued Jago, seeing him as his aide-de-camp in the business world, Jago was ultimately just an underling, and Hansen had always been wary of him.
He was in no position to take over Hansen's entire network of contacts and business partnerships.
"It will improve. Even if the worst-case scenario comes to pass, Colonel Hansen will do his utmost to ensure a smooth transition and keep Dogtown running.
Alright, I've been thrust into command in this crisis, and frankly, I have a lot to arrange. For now, just do your best with these matters."
Mercer sighed. "Dismissed. Those who receive a message from me shortly, come upstairs for a meeting."
Mercer sent messages to a few Barghest members he was relatively familiar with, then led the group of Barghest's mid-to-high-level and grassroots leaders to the Black Sapphire's conference room for a brief meeting.
The content of the meeting was nothing special, just future personnel arrangements, placating the troops, promoting some, and making an example of others.
Anyone with eyes could see that Hansen's die-hard loyalists had all abruptly died in the "Arasaka attack." None of Hansen's staunchest supporters were among those now gathered in the Black Sapphire.
Even Leon, whose legs Mercer had just broken, had, to put it bluntly, harbored improper thoughts. He saw that Mercer was likely staging a coup and thus openly challenged his legitimate leadership over Barghest, all for his own ambition.
To think someone was still dreaming of becoming Dogtown's top dog... What a joke. Pulling rank? Sowing internal division?
Trying to play that game with Mercer?
And with Mercer's heavy-handed display of his stance, the other Barghest members understood very clearly that from now on, Mercer would show no mercy to anyone who tried to create chaos.
Even those who were unconvinced or had their own agendas, for now, accepted Mercer's arrangements, submitted to his personnel changes, and accepted his "temporary command."
The meeting lasted about an hour before concluding. Mercer wasted no time. Immediately after dismissing the meeting, he had Jackie, Maine, and the others go to the EBM Petrochem Stadium to change into the new Tank combat armor.
At the same time, Mercer also opened the armory and distributed some of Barghest's stockpiled heavy weapons to the more trustworthy Barghest soldiers.
After reallocating the existing heavy equipment, Mercer began to take stock of the armed forces currently at his disposal.
He had to admit, Barghest had a lot of good stuff.
One Militech Mobile Missile System. The vehicle came with an advanced radar, usable for anti-air and long-range ground bombardment. It was equipped with four small missile pods, each capable of carrying 12 missiles. Furthermore, the four pods could simultaneously fire at different targets, with each pod able to launch two missiles per second. In Night City, possessing such a weapon was no laughing matter.
One Basilisk hovertank. This was an old friend, no need for further explanation.
One Militech Chimera. This six-legged main battle tank, which moved like a mechanical creature, was equipped with an extremely comprehensive weapons system. Missiles, heavy machine guns, cannons, laser weapons, and even a close-range poison gas attack. With its super-thick armor and formidable firepower, it could even be operated without a pilot, treated as a large bionic bot. In Night City, where heavy firepower was restricted, this equipment could be considered nearly "invincible."
Only masters of the caliber of V or Adam Smasher, relying on their superior personal equipment and strength, had a chance of taking down such a monster. Anyone else, even an organized company of dozens or a hundred regular mercs, wouldn't be enough to withstand a single laser sweep from the Chimera.
There were a total of eight Minotaur mechs, Mercer's self-produced combat bots that could be equipped with Octopus Arms. Combined with the number of standard combat bots, the total was forty-two. Mercer planned to modify the standard combat bots as well. Bots equipped with Octopus Arms, in addition to their ranged firepower, would most importantly gain a massive boost to their movement speed and strength from the two arms, completely shedding their "cannon fodder" status to become terrifying close-quarters killing machines.
There were 6 large combat drones, 42 medium drones, and an astonishing inventory of 2,190 swarm drones.
Other items like firearms, APCs, personal rocket launchers, landmines, and grenade launchers weren't even counted. There were even two large-caliber self-propelled artillery pieces.
One airship floated above Dogtown 24/7, serving as a billboard and an aerodyne deterrent. The industrial deterrent value of this old antique far outweighed its practical combat use, but it was still equipped with multiple missile launchers and heavy machine guns.
In addition, there were four advanced armored aerodyne vehicles, twelve Militech Centaur Exoskeletons, and a series of new Tank armor units produced through round-the-clock work.
Well, many of these were originally intended for Hansen to sell, but Mercer was now generously distributing them all. All drones and bots would be under Morning Star's command, patrolling 24/7 to supplement Dogtown's depleted armed forces.
Meanwhile, at Mercer's arrangement, the Octopus Arm production line quickly resumed operation, using existing materials to produce more bots and drones as quickly as possible.
Mercer's ultimate goal was to have the number of drones and bots far exceed the number of Barghest soldiers. This way, he could use more bots to perform tasks that would otherwise fall to Barghest, greatly alleviating the pressure of managing his personnel.
He knew very well that this group of Barghest soldiers was usable but not reliable. If he hadn't said that Colonel Hansen was only seriously injured and in emergency care, some of them might have vanished the moment he said "dismissed."
And the Barghest soldiers who remained hadn't just obediently bowed their heads, they were simply observing the situation.
Mercer had acted too quickly and too suddenly. Even Hansen hadn't expected him to suddenly go berserk and make a move. In his view, what good would it do for Mercer to suddenly turn on him now?
If the Cubans lost Dogtown, they would truly send an unlimited number of assassins to take Mercer's life!
Besides Arasaka, was he going to provoke the Cubans, who were now even more ferocious on the North American continent? Did he have a death wish?
The Barghest high command was also clearly aware that simply suppressing a group of Barghest soldiers with force was useless. The lifeblood of Dogtown was its global smuggling network and its backers.
So, for now, it was less that they had bowed their heads and cooperated with Mercer's arrangements, and more that they were just waiting to see if Mercer had truly lost his mind.
—--
Having dealt with the personnel arrangements and equipment distribution, Mercer immediately took Hansen and returned to his long-abandoned Kindling House.
The empty base left Mercer feeling a bit dazed for a moment. V, Rebecca, and the others had been sent out by him to stabilize the situation and enforce the emergency martial law.
Even Kyoko had been assigned a job, deep diving into the servers to guard against netrunners and assist Morning Star with its online tasks.
Morning Star itself was incredibly busy. Even using the servers from both the EBM Petrochem Stadium and the Black Sapphire, its computing power was barely sufficient, it had to control tens of thousands of electronic devices and simultaneously monitor all personal terminals throughout Dogtown in real-time to prevent any internal sabotage. It was even manipulating the ctOS. It was safe to say that the servers' heat dissipation was cranked to the max. When Mercer arrived at the server room, the noise from the servers sounded like a construction site.
It seemed the servers needed another expansion.
Thinking of this, Mercer had a flash of inspiration, executing Project Cynosure would surely require a massive server to provide the necessary computing power.
Considering the current network situation, the safest way would be to use a local server on a local area network for the project.
That server... it probably hadn't been dismantled by Militech yet!
It seemed that after he took over the Cynosure facility, he might just acquire a large server as well!
But the only risk was... that server was very likely no longer secure. A bunch of gonks trying to control a rogue AI would most likely end up being played like a fiddle by said rogue AI.
No one knew better than Mercer how powerful these high-level AIs were.
Mercer shook his head, temporarily pushing the troublesome matter of Cynosure to the back of his mind.
Looking at Hansen, who was kept unconscious by anesthetics injected by a bot, Mercer rubbed his face, then pulled himself together. He took off his helmet, and his six Octopus Arms whirred, swapping out the mechanical hands at their ends.
After replacing the combat-focused mechanical hands with multi-functional tool hands that could be used for surgery, Mercer, just as he had done with Evelyn, performed a craniotomy on Hansen and installed a neural port.
Then, after inserting a Relic biochip into his brain, Mercer fully immersed himself in the most crucial final step of taking over Dogtown.
Mercer used the Soulkiller program on Hansen.
Unlike when he used Soulkiller on Evelyn to delete and modify her memories, Mercer needed Hansen to retain his complete consciousness, even all his memories, but be completely obedient to him. In other words, this wasn't memory modification, but brainwashing and enslavement.
Could it be done?
To be honest, Mercer himself wasn't very confident. This was a completely different workflow from simple memory modification.
But he could not fail.
If he failed, considering the many risks that would follow, Mercer would not hesitate to liquidate all of Barghest's assets, flee with his team, and start over from scratch.
He would even have to live in anonymity, because the ones hunting him would no longer be just Arasaka, but also the Cubans, whose power spread across North America.
Mercer sighed, then, without hesitation, plugged a cable into his own brain as well.
Since he had chosen to stomp on the gas, the only thing to do now was to keep flooring it.
Soulkiller!
----------------
5800words