February 1, 2072. Sunny.
Ghost Town was still dead silent, but for Mercer and the others lying in wait, this was actually good news.
Early in the morning, aside from Lucy who was catching up on sleep on the second floor after her night watch shift, everyone else was up early, preparing to meet with the Militech agent, Scott, for the exchange.
Mercer had thought long and hard about the transaction location, finally deciding on a plain in the Badlands near Rocky Ridge.
Negotiating in a relatively flat area where they could occupy the high ground in advance for observation would effectively prevent Stout from trying any tricks. Only those who have ambushed others know how painful it is to be ambushed.
Mercer had no desire to be double-crossed by Stout. With Militech's capabilities, if they truly intended to catch him off guard, even he wouldn't be able to dodge a tungsten spike fired by an electromagnetic propulsion sniper rifle from a kilometer away.
After getting Diana, Mercer didn't delay. He didn't care what time of night it was and immediately notified Stout to prepare for the exchange.
After just giving her a rough time, Mercer went to scout the negotiation site in person the next morning. In the end, he positioned Pilar on a peak in Rocky Ridge with a sniper rifle to act as an observer and ensure their safety.
Lucy and Kiwi, armed with the missile launcher seized from the merc crew of the one named K, took another vehicle and waited on standby several kilometers away.
If they encountered danger, they could use it for long-range fire support, creating an opportunity for Mercer and the others.
Mercer himself, along with V, Rebecca, Maine, and Dorio, would meet Stout face-to-face for the negotiations.
When Mercer gave Stout the location, the agent eagerly agreed. At this moment, both the Militech and Arasaka corporations in Night City were in deep trouble.
Not only had Militech's people failed to secure the transported equipment, but they had also failed to protect Diana Cuno, the person in charge of the investment project.
Arasaka's people, on the other hand, found the situation even more absurd. They had hired a fixer to commission mercs to sabotage the collaboration between Militech and Biotechnica. The target had indeed suffered, but they themselves had also incurred significant losses.
Once the exoskeleton entered the market or fell into the hands of other corporations, it meant that the most crucial gravitational field generator and the entire design philosophy of the Cyberskeleton project would be exposed to their competitors.
Now, the mercs had vanished, and the fixer, Faraday, had also fled overnight. Arasaka's top brass was fuming, and even the manager who had approved the field test was under internal investigation.
It could be said that for both Militech and Arasaka, anyone who could recover the losses and change the current situation would undoubtedly be a hero to their corporation, with promotions and raises just around the corner.
And the key to recovering these losses lay with Diana and the exoskeleton armor in Mercer's possession.
This was why Mercer was being so cautious, and why Stout was so impatient.
It took only about an hour for Militech's convoy of APCs and aerodyne vehicles to come speeding in from the Badlands.
Stout brought an entire combat team, but when the two sides met, the atmosphere was not particularly tense. She jumped down from the aerodyne vehicle. After glancing at the several variously dressed mercs standing by the bulletproof van, she fixed her gaze entirely on the masked Mercer.
"Where are the person and the item?"
Stout was dressed in a black suit, her short hair still slicked back neatly, but it was clear she was somewhat anxious and impatient.
"In the van," Mercer said without wasting words. He turned his head and nodded, and V walked straight to the side of the van and pulled open the door.
Inside, Diana Cuno, her hands and feet bound, was still unconscious. A black suit of exoskeleton armor was "sitting" propped up inside the van, its shell glinting with a cold, metallic sheen.
Stout didn't waste words either, getting straight to the point. "Give me Diana for half an hour. Also, I brought a tech expert. He'll check your exoskeleton. As long as there are no problems..."
She waved her hand, and an agent behind her, dressed in a standard "American GI" outfit with a military green tank top, camo pants, a buzz cut, and large sunglasses, took out a large chip.
"This holds five million eurodollars. It's an anonymous account, the kind that doesn't need a password to transfer."
She displayed the chip, which was about twenty centimeters long, then tilted her chin slightly at Mercer.
Mercer was equally direct. He just nodded at V, who then grabbed Diana with one hand and lifted her out.
At the same time, Maine and Dorio, who were standing beside Mercer and looked even bigger and taller than the Militech agent, stepped aside to clear a path to the van.
A white-haired, middle-aged man, a little over 1.7 meters tall with slightly thinning hair, wearing rectangular glasses and a suit, sauntered over. His expression was somewhat excited as he leaned in close to the exoskeleton armor and began to tinker with and inspect it.
The man's cyberoptics glowed, and various instruments popped out directly from his hands. After taking out a small computer and connecting it to the helmet's data cable, he became completely engrossed in exploring the exoskeleton.
V tossed Diana aside, and the agent next to Stout caught the woman with a single hand.
Mercer had shut down the program in Diana's head just in time. Suddenly, as if waking from a nightmare, Diana convulsed and her eyes shot open. "Militech... Militech? Quick! That guy is right here! You have to help me get him"
Before she could finish, she turned her head and saw the two sides in the middle of negotiations. Turning her head again, she saw the desolate, remote wilderness around them. Her heart instantly leaped into her throat, and her mouth fell open, her face ashen.
"You bastards" Before Diana could finish her sentence, Stout, who was beside her, mercilessly slapped her, knocking her head completely to one side.
"Cut the crap. Take her in," Stout said, turning her head. The agent beside her obeyed, grabbing Diana and shoving her directly into the back of the APC.
Stout glanced back at Mercer. "Excuse me for a moment."
"No problem. I'm not in a hurry," Mercer replied, looking very relaxed. He sat on the hood of the van, sizing up Militech's aerodyne vehicle and agents with great interest, carefully analyzing their equipment.
Then, he discovered with some surprise that they had brought extremely professional electronic countermeasures equipment, clearly to guard against him. This type of ICE device could not only block signals that interfered with network connections but also automatically launch a counterattack when someone tried to hack it, just like the hardware on that Militech Behemoth Mercer had hacked before.
If a less-skilled netrunner tried to hack this group of agents, they might even get their brain fried by this ICE's direct counter.
Well, to be more precise, Mercer felt that the number of netrunners in the entire world who could breach this level of ICE one-on-one was probably not very high.
Even he, without the advanced netrunner cyberware he was equipped with, would probably have a hard time confronting this kind of ICE device without being at a disadvantage. It had nothing to do with skill anymore; it was purely a hardware gap.
This suddenly put Mercer on alert; now that his fame was rising, many people would surely be aware of his skill as a netrunner. The enemies he faced in the future would inevitably take precautions against him.
Perhaps before long, the good old days of ending a fight just by glaring at someone would be coming to an end.
Mercer wouldn't overestimate his own abilities. He didn't even feel safe going out without V these days, precisely because he knew a netrunner's limitations in the real world.
As he stared at the ICE device, lost in thought, the expressions of the several Militech agents subconsciously turned serious. Their fingers moved to the edges of their triggers, and their muzzles lifted slightly.
Maine narrowed his eyes, his fingers brushing open his holster as he said in a cold, hard tone, "I'd advise you not to be so tense. Keep your fingers away from the trigger. What if there's a misunderstanding, an accident..."
The Militech agents didn't speak, but one of them, who was wearing a cyberdeck and was likely the tactical squad's dedicated netrunner, watched Mercer vigilantly.
"Heh..." Mercer grinned at that netrunner. Unfortunately, he was wearing a mask, so the other person couldn't see a thing.
He turned his head away, somewhat bored, and looked at the tech expert who was still studying the exoskeleton.
"There's nothing much to study. Besides the gravitational field generator, which has some value, the only other things that are even slightly interesting are the design concepts for the compression thruster and the mind transfer device on the helmet."
The Militech tech expert was probably a true professional, the kind of technician who only cared about technology. Hearing this, he perked up with interest and said, "Is that so? You've studied these things as well?"
"Of course. When you get your hands on something like this, how could you dare use it in a real battle without studying it yourself first?" Mercer chatted with him in a relaxed tone.
"Hmm... I just read the data. What's the latency on this equipment?" the tech expert asked curiously.
"A maximum of 0.2 seconds, with a 0.1-second delay under ideal operating conditions," Mercer answered without hiding anything.
"This gravitational field generator is quite interesting. It uses a magnetic field to simulate gravity and can also use electromagnetism to alter the field..." The tech expert and Mercer started chatting, going back and forth.
The more the two talked, the more engrossed they became. They quickly moved from simple equipment configurations to professional technical jargon. Rebecca, cradling Guts, rolled her eyes. She couldn't understand a word of it and could only stare blankly at the Militech agents not far away.
This continued until about fifteen or sixteen minutes later, when Pilar, who was up on the mountain, suddenly sent a message over the team's comms. [Pilar: Something feels off, Mercer. Movement at your one o'clock. Looks like a Militech convoy to me.]
At these words, Maine glanced at Mercer without a change in expression, subtly shielding him with his own body.
Rebecca, meanwhile, subconsciously raised Guts with both hands.
V placed one hand on the grip of the gun at her waist, while her other hand rose slightly, poised to deploy her Mantis Blades at a moment's notice.
The Militech agents, not understanding the situation, also tensed up and gripped their weapons.
"Stout, get out here!" Mercer's voice was stern as he raised his volume.
Stout slid open the door of the APC and poked her head out, her brow furrowed in confusion. "What's wrong?"
"You brought a tail, you gonk!" Mercer cursed without holding back, then immediately headed for the van. The tech expert inside froze for a second before quickly packing up his tools and making way.
Stout's expression changed. She immediately turned to the agent beside her. The agent gave a solemn nod, then promptly stood up and looked behind them.
This agent's face was similar to Maine's, his eyes directly replaced with cyberware resembling tactical goggles. His cyberoptics rapidly zoomed in on the distance, and it took him only about five seconds to confirm the situation.
"One o'clock! Three APCs! One... Basilisk! Shit, prepare for combat!"
The moment the agent identified the approaching force, his face paled and he shouted the warning.
Stout's expression turned cold. Without another word, she yanked Diana out of the APC. "Let's go, we're taking the aerodyne vehicle."
Mercer remained silent, focused only on putting on the exoskeleton.
Even though Lucy and Kiwi weren't there, the Militech tech expert was just as fast as them at helping Mercer don the suit.
"I don't plan on dying here!" Seeing Mercer's lack of response, Stout cursed and turned to get her people onto the aerodyne vehicle.
But Maine and Rebecca raised their guns and aimed at her with cold expressions.
Rebecca chewed her bubblegum, blowing a pink bubble. "My boss didn't say we're leaving, so you'd better stay put."
"Goddammit, you don't think I'm setting you up, do you? Dammit, if we don't go now, we won't be able to once we're in the Basilisk's range!"
Stout said furiously. The Militech agents beside her were hastily forming a combat line and taking up defensive positions facing the Basilisk, while also having to turn their heads to keep Rebecca's group covered.
Mercer's voice came from inside the van. "Can your aerodyne vehicle carry all my people?"
"Have your people split up. You and the gear get on the aerodyne vehicle with me. My people will stay behind to buy time." Stout's words made several Militech agents exchange glances, but none of them said anything, merely tightening their grip on their weapons.
"I don't leave my people behind," Mercer said, then turned his head and shouted, "Buy me thirty seconds!"
Stout cursed under her breath but didn't hesitate to step onto the aerodyne vehicle first. "Suit yourself!"
"You're not going anywhere!" As Mercer's voice fell, Rebecca took a decisive step forward and aimed her gun at Stout.
"If you're going to be fucking crazy, don't drag me down with you to die!" Stout was truly panicking now. "Who the fuck knows if you're trying to pull a fast one. I'm not leaving, and you're staying put too. Wait until I put this thing on. Then we all have a chance to live. If we can't buy enough time, then we all die together."
Stout was so exasperated by Mercer's words that she almost laughed.
But then she saw Rebecca, fearlessly raising her gun with one hand already on the trigger, completely unfazed by the agent next to her aiming a gun practically at her head.
Stout couldn't help but feel a sliver of admiration, were these mercs really not afraid of dying?
One word from Mercer, and this crew was actually willing to risk their lives?
She gritted her teeth, her expression wavering indecisively for two short seconds before she made her decision. "Combat team! Spread out and attack! Get everything out of the vehicles and keep them pinned down!"
"Yes, ma'am!" The Militech agents immediately began to board their vehicles.
Several agents also jumped into an aerodyne vehicle. Trying to hold off the Basilisk with just one APC was impossible.
At that moment, the Basilisk, still just a black dot in the distance, suddenly trailed white smoke, or more accurately, a volley of micromissiles trailing white smoke launched from it!
"Micromissiles!" an agent shouted. The APC charging toward the Basilisk activated its portable anti-air system, while the two high-speed machine guns mounted on the front of the aerodyne vehicle began spitting fire under the gunner's control.
An APC and an aerodyne vehicle counter-charged the Basilisk from the left and right. A few of the micromissiles in the air were intercepted and destroyed, but the rest shot directly toward the APC and the aerodyne vehicle.
Clearly, the enemy's objective was precise: to first disable Mercer's armored units.
At the same time, the Basilisk's own heavy autocannon began to fire. The three APCs not far behind the Basilisk also opened up with their vehicle-mounted machine guns, laying down an unreasonable barrage of heavy suppressing fire from a distance of about two to three kilometers.
Accuracy was hard to guarantee, but against large targets like an APC and an aerodyne vehicle, it was still somewhat effective.
Without a word, Maine and the others ducked back behind the armored van. Stout was no pushover either; with one hand, she grabbed the wailing Diana and tossed her into the back of the van.
Then she ordered the only agent still with her into the driver's seat.
"Everyone get in the fucking van! Hurry up and put some distance between us!"
As Stout spoke, she chose to sit next to Mercer.
In fact, the moment the enemy's micromissiles launched and didn't target Mercer's relatively clustered group, Stout had already deduced their intentions.
They were after the people and the equipment.
Stout had no way of finding out how the information had been leaked, but she knew with absolute clarity that their only chance of survival now might depend on whether Mercer could take out the Basilisk.
Mercer called out to Rebecca, and they scrambled nimbly into the van, all while keeping a wary eye on Stout.
Stout couldn't be bothered with them. She just stared intently out the window at her two vehicles charging forward.
Although Stout's agents were elites compared to ordinary operatives, and the drivers were experienced, maneuvering evasively to create firing lines while trying to suppress the enemy's advance with their own firepower. But the reason the Basilisk is considered by many to be Militech's most important armored force, second only to the Chimera, and lauded as the pinnacle of infantry fighting vehicles, is precisely because of its formidable combat capabilities.
The Basilisk fired a large number of micromissiles. Two of them broke through the defenses and struck the aerodyne vehicle, causing it to tilt to one side just as it was starting to accelerate.
Then came the Basilisk's precise, ultra-long-range strafing run. The powerful autocannon rounds were no less devastating than large-caliber sniper bullets, retaining considerable destructive power even when hitting a target from several kilometers away.
The aerodyne vehicle swayed in the air, and before it could mount an effective counterattack or evasive maneuver, it began to spin, spewing black smoke.
Although the APC on the ground survived the first wave of micromissiles, it only managed to travel less than five hundred meters before its tires were blown out by suppressive machine-gun fire from the enemy's three APCs, causing it to lose control and flip onto its side.
The Basilisk turned, and its autocannon instantly obliterated the APC. The Militech agents hiding inside were like lambs to the slaughter, easily destroyed.
Stout cursed under her breath. The Militech agent driving Mercer's vehicle had already floored the accelerator of the armored van, taking the opportunity to put some distance between them and the fight.
Bullets whizzed past them, and from time to time, they could hear the clang of rounds striking the van's armored steel plates.
This made Stout ponder for a moment. Then, with a sudden exertion of force, she threw open the rear doors and held the still-screaming Diana Cuno in front of her.
"No! Ahhh! Don't kill me!!" Diana's shrill shrieks could probably be heard from a kilometer or two away.
When the distant Basilisk pilot saw Diana's face through the auto-zooming camera, they actually chose to cease fire. The other APCs did the same, instead starting to accelerate in an attempt to close the distance.
At that moment, a ball of red light, trailed by a plume of white smoke, suddenly erupted in the distant sky.
Everyone couldn't help but turn to look. Only Mercer's expression changed slightly.
[Mercer: Run!]
He didn't even have time to send a private message, instead shouting it into the squad voice channel.
It was only when the red-glowing object entered the sky, then arced downwards and shot toward the Basilisk, that everyone realized what was happening.
It was a missile, fired by Lucy and Kiwi, who were providing support from a distance!
The moment the Basilisk's radar detected the approaching projectile, it immediately opened its launch ports again and fired several more micromissiles, these ones specifically designed to intercept aerodyne targets.
Simultaneously, the Basilisk immediately turned to lock onto the missile's launch position, then opened its final launch ports and fired off all its remaining micromissiles.
For a moment, the sky was dense with a web of white smoke trails.
"A stinger missile? Where did you get a missile launcher?" Stout gasped, watching as the missile launched by Lucy tried to break through the defensive barrage at an extremely high speed.
Strictly speaking, a missile with a penetration speed exceeding Mach 1 wasn't exceptionally fast, but being fired at such a close range gave the anti-air systems very little time to lock on and react. After passing through the anti-aircraft missiles, the stinger missile fell straight down beside the Basilisk, blasting the hovering infantry fighting vehicle directly to the ground.
However, before anyone could cheer, the Basilisk wobbled and rose again.
But its dual hover engines seemed to have malfunctioned. It could no longer fly high into the sky and could only maintain a low-altitude float, its speed drastically reduced.
Mercer didn't respond to Stout's question. His eyes were wide, watching the missile fired from the Basilisk arc through the air, heading for the spot several kilometers away where Lucy and Kiwi were supposed to be.
But to his relief, a reply appeared in his cyberoptics just a few seconds later.
[Lucy: We're okay. The car's busted.]
Mercer let out a long sigh, only now noticing the cold sweat on his back.
He turned his head and urged the Militech tech expert, "Hurry up, we're out of time!"
The tech expert was also sweating bullets, the tools on his multi-functional cyberhand spinning rapidly. "I'm going as fast as I can! Ten seconds! Just give me ten more seconds!"
But Mercer was already impatiently putting on his helmet, connecting the data cable without hesitation.
Fortunately, he had charged this exoskeleton yesterday.
The APC and the Basilisk in the distance were both much faster than Mercer's armored van, especially on the terrain of this badlands plain.
Ten seconds was probably all it would take for the enemy to get into a position for a precision shot.
Mercer could see one of the distant APCs suddenly turn, heading toward Lucy and Kiwi's position.
The enemy probably thought the situation was decided and was now splitting their forces just to confirm if the distant attackers were dead or alive.
[Mercer: Lucy, Kiwi! They're coming for you!]
[Kiwi: We see them, but we can't move.]
[Pilar: I'll handle it!]
The direction Mercer and the others were heading was toward the winding mountain road of Rocky Ridge. At this moment, Pilar was on the summit of a small hill on Rocky Ridge.
With a surge of electric light.
The custom Tsunami Defense Systems "Ashura" sniper rifle that Pilar held, confiscated from K, fired a heavy sniper round.
The power of this bullet was in no way inferior to the Basilisk's autocannon.
The range of a weapon with electromagnetic propulsion far exceeded that of power weapons.
After the chip in the weapon automatically calculated the trajectory and point of impact, even someone like Pilar, who had no professional training, wouldn't miss as long as he kept his hands steady.
And Pilar's Sigma Arms might not have any other special abilities, but their stability was first-class!
Thus, almost a second after the shot rang out, a large hole was violently blasted into the window of the APC that had turned toward Lucy's position.
The enemy was clearly stunned for a moment before realizing there was a sniper. They hastily began evasive S-maneuvers, and someone immediately started analyzing the bullet's trajectory to locate the sniper's position.
Pilar started laughing maniacally in the squad's voice channel.
[Pilar: Awesome! So fucking awesome! Shit, I'm gonna take down the Basilisk!]
[Mercer: Don't be crazy, even a missile can't get through that thing's armor!]
Stout couldn't help but lick her lips as she watched, her voice tinged with a certain complexity. "Ha, you even prepared a sniper for me?"
"Just in case. Better to be prepared, and look, we needed one, didn't we? Also... what the hell is wrong with you, you old woman? You didn't even notice something as big as a Basilisk tailing you?"
As Mercer spoke, he began to activate his exoskeleton, powering it up.
The tech expert seized the moment to lock his final arm into place and began securing the armor's connection points.
"I suspect someone planted a tracker on my car or somewhere, goddammit." Stout analyzed, glaring coldly at Mercer. "When I get back, I'll find that guy. Also... don't fucking call me old woman!"
"You'd better not screw up again," Mercer retorted, staring her down without backing off. "You owe me your life now!"
"..." Stout gritted her teeth, unable to argue.
"Done!"
The tech expert finally let go, his hands drenched in sweat. The screwdriver that had morphed from his cyberware was starting to overheat. He couldn't help but complain, "Fucking Arasaka. It's an exoskeleton from 2072, and you still have to fucking tighten the screws by hand?"
"Heh, ever heard of 'artisan spirit'?"
As he spoke, Mercer immediately stood up. Clad in the exoskeleton, his figure became immense.
The van was now crammed with a full eight people, several of whom were quite large, making it incredibly crowded.
After Mercer bent over to stand up, the others wished they could squeeze themselves into a single ball.
"Slow down!" he decisively ordered the agent.
The agent glanced back at him and, without a word, hit the brakes.
When the speed dropped to a certain point, Mercer jumped directly out of the van.
The moment he landed, the clumsy mech nearly fell to the ground. But as Mercer activated his Synaptic Accelerator and quickly adjusted, the compression thruster on its back roared, spewing flames as he shot into the sky.
In the distance, the Basilisk suddenly opened fire.
This time, Mercer didn't dare to arrogantly try stopping the bullets with a magnetic field, he highly doubted Arasaka's gravitational field generator could block cannon-grade rounds like these.
However, the missile fired by either Lucy or Kiwi had done its job. The Basilisk's damaged engine prevented it from taking flight, so as Mercer rapidly gained altitude, its heavy cannon, mounted on the front of the vehicle, lost its angle of fire.
The Basilisk's turret-mounted machine gun could still track him, but Mercer wasn't afraid of its firepower.
He carved a distinct, aggressive trajectory through the air, the blue jet flames making him look like a high-speed blue comet.
In just over ten seconds, he and the distant armored squad collided, rushing toward each other.
Mercer's priority, of course, was the Militech Basilisk. Although the vehicle was somewhat crippled, if it got an opportunity, a single cannon shot could knock him out of the sky.
Like a divine soldier descending from the heavens, this time he didn't need to worry about damaging the equipment. Firing the gravity cannon with full force, Mercer slammed the Basilisk to the ground with practically a single shot.
At the center of the cracked earth, the Basilisk's engine, pinned to the ground, was still humming. But Mercer simply aimed at it, hovered in mid-air, and pulled the trigger again and again.
Once, twice, three times, until the Basilisk's engine went silent.
From the outside, the Basilisk still appeared remarkably intact, but Mercer knew, the people inside were already dead.
The most important reason Arasaka considered this exoskeleton an armor-killer was the devastating effect of its gravity weapon on personnel.
While a machine could withstand the gravitational pressure, the human body and the delicate components of electronic equipment could not. Even chromed internal organs would rupture, or even explode, under the sudden pressure. Mercer stretched out his hand. An invisible barrier intercepted the bullets in mid-air, bringing them to a near-standstill in front of him. Then, without wasting any more power, he leaped up and flew toward the other APCs.
Every time the gravity cannon hummed and glowed with blue light, a circular crater would appear on the ground. The Basilisk could withstand it, but that didn't mean these APCs could.
Mercer only needed to maneuver at high speed above an APC and pull the trigger, and the vehicle would be instantly crushed, turning into a heap of scrap metal in the crater.
Only then did the Militech tech expert, who was peeking out from a nearby van, suck in a cold breath. "Holy son of a bitch, Arasaka. They really made something good this time."
"How would this thing be valued by HQ's rating system?" Stout, unconcerned with the technical details, asked with a grim expression about the value of this exoskeleton.
"No problem. The combat footage recorded by my cyberoptics alone is enough to convince the higher-ups that this thing is valuable enough for us to recoup our losses. Although I don't really like this way of calculating things," the tech expert sighed.
Stout breathed a small sigh of relief. Then, her cyberoptics glowing, she quickly began contacting her old superiors within the corporation.
She probably already knew who was behind this, it wasn't hard to guess. Who was most desperate to recoup their losses right now, had the authority to deploy a Basilisk, and also had the means to track her?
For her, this wasn't a difficult target to find. She wanted to take this opportunity to kill her rival, and naturally, her rival wouldn't just sit back and wait for death.
After dealing with his opponents, Mercer didn't return immediately. Instead, he flew high in the air, quickly heading in the direction of Lucy and Kiwi.
Only when he saw the two of them huddled behind a bombed-out armored van, covered in dust and grime but with only a few scrapes, did Mercer finally relax.
"Why didn't you notify me beforehand?" Mercer questioned Lucy sternly.
Lucy didn't speak, merely pushing herself up from beside the APC, her hands on her knees.
Kiwi patted her pockets but couldn't find her ladies' cigarettes. She turned to look at Mercer, whose face was obscured by his helmet. "No one knew if that Basilisk would open fire on you."
"...Let's go." Seeing the state they were in, Mercer couldn't bring himself to say anything accusatory. He just held out his hands and grumbled resentfully, "If Pilar hadn't helped you take out that APC, you two would be done for by now!"
Kiwi just smiled, while Lucy turned her head away without a word, if it happened again, the two of them would probably make the same choice.
If there was anything to blame, it was that the Stinger-like things fired by the miniature missile launcher were too pathetic to take down the Basilisk in one shot.
Mercer reached out, tucked one of them under each arm, and flew at a low altitude toward V and the others.
By now, Stout had gotten out of her vehicle. She lit a cigarette and was talking to someone, probably requesting backup, while she smoked.
After putting the two women down, Mercer crossed his arms and stared grimly at Stout.
Once she finished her call, he said bluntly, "One hundred thousand eurodollars for the van, three hundred thousand for the miniature missile launcher."
"...I'll pay for it," Stout said, turning to look at him, speechless.
"I also shot down one Basilisk and three APCs."
Mercer continued, his tone self-righteous. Stout looked at him as if he were a celestial being, seemingly encountering someone who dared to demand money from her like this for the first time. In the end, however, her lips just twitched. "I'll add another hundred thousand eurodollars."
"A hundred thousand?" Mercer looked at her, dissatisfied. "One Basilisk! Three APCs! And my people were almost killed!"
"Damn it! Another hundred thousand, and that's it!" Stout snapped, then turned to look at Diana, who was trembling in the vehicle. After a moment of contemplation, she narrowed her eyes.
"Give me this woman," she said.
Mercer refused flatly. "I can't let her live."
"I didn't say I wanted her alive," Stout replied, staring at her with a cold expression. She held out a hand to the agent beside her, who understood immediately and pulled out his service pistol.
Diana begged in terror, "Don't! Don't kill me! Listen to me, I'm still valuable! I..."
Before she could finish, Stout pulled the trigger. Diana's terrified expression was forever frozen in that instant.
After firing several shots into Diana's body, Stout holstered the pistol and handed it back to her agent. "Can you give her to me now?"
Mercer cautiously gave V a look. Without hesitation, V drew her pistol and fired a shot at Diana's head. The large-caliber handgun blew her head clean in half.
"Now you can."
Mercer's caution made Stout's lips curl into a slight smile. "Fine."
She looked at Mercer and casually took out the CredChip worth five million eurodollars again. "Check it. Take off the exoskeleton, and you can go."
Mercer handed the chip to Lucy. She took it, limping slightly. "I'll need a computer to verify it."
"It's fine. She knows I hold a grudge," Mercer said, glancing at Stout. The woman merely nodded. "I can tell. Not only do you hold a grudge, but you're also very stingy."
"What do you mean, stingy? It's only right and proper to get paid for a job," Mercer said, then signaled the tech expert to help him remove the exoskeleton.
It was a hassle to put on, but taking the thing off was relatively simple. Once a few locking mechanisms were released, Mercer could just "pull" himself out of it.
Tossing the exoskeleton and Diana's corpse to the ground, Mercer adjusted his slightly crooked mask and called for his people to get in the vehicle. "Deal with your enemies as soon as possible. I'd like to go back to Dogtown and rest for a few days."
"You don't need to worry about it. Or... are you offering to lend a hand?" Stout asked, turning to look at him.
Mercer immediately refused. "Not interested. Anyway, I'll be waiting for your news."
"Heh... fine." Stout didn't dislike a straightforward guy like Mercer. Aside from him always calling her an old hag, the man was quite to her liking in other aspects.
Seeing he was still wearing his mask, Stout chuckled. "Alright, Alex Mercer. You don't need to wear a mask when you go out from now on. Both Militech and Arasaka have figured out who you are."
"From where?" Mercer was genuinely a little curious.
"Although you've hidden yourself pretty well, Dogtown's identity verification system isn't confidential to everyone." Stout paused, then said meaningfully, "I'd advise you not to get too close to the people in Dogtown."
Mercer nodded, but still didn't take off his mask. It didn't matter if they knew who he was. His photo in the Night City archives was photoshopped; it looked a bit like him, but it would never match the Mercer in Arasaka's archives if they used facial recognition.
Besides, everyone used ID authentication systems to verify identities now, so he didn't need a facial match. He wasn't too worried about his Night City identity being exposed, as long as it wasn't linked to the Mercer from Arasaka.
Moreover, he was now chromed, and his height and other features had changed drastically. Even if Arasaka's people investigated, they wouldn't be able to confirm his identity, unless his cyberware was also recognized.
If that happened, so be it. Recognized was recognized. After all, Mercer had already stolen their exoskeleton. Whether he was identified or not, he was already a wanted man by Arasaka.
Thinking about it this way, Mercer felt that even if everything was exposed, it wouldn't matter. He was going to be wanted either way; it was just a question of how high the bounty would be.
Mercer didn't want to stick around and meet Stout's reinforcements. The woman probably wouldn't be foolish enough to let another accident happen.
So, he simply called for everyone to get in the vehicle, left Stout and her bodyguard behind, and made a stylish exit.
Along the way, they picked up Pilar, who was still excitedly chattering about setting a new sniping record and how beautifully he had hit the moving targets. The group chatted and laughed the whole way, seemingly unfazed by the day's events.
They were all mercs who lived on the edge. As long as they weren't dead, the thrilling events of the day just became another story to brag about.
After returning to the safe house, Mercer immediately found a computer to verify the money Stout had given him.
Five million eurodollars, not a cent less.
Then, he immediately gathered everyone.
It was for one thing, to split the money.
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