Mercer isn't worried about having too many people on his team to manage. When you're doing something big, of course you want to have plenty of your own people around.
As for loyalty, well, you'll just have to wait and see, it's during hard times that true feelings are revealed.
V said a bit sheepishly, "I always feel like you might be overestimating my sisters a bit...
Alright then, see you at noon. It's not even eight yet, how about we meet at nine thirty?
Just in time for brunch.
I heard from someone that there's a decent place on Japan Street, plus a pretty waitress, want to check it out?"
"Alright, let's meet there." Mercer pondered in silence—pretty waitress... why are you telling me this?
Feels like I'm being stereotyped.
"Should I bring Qiwei along? She's pretty curious about you, I reckon she wants to meet you in person."
V finished speaking and Mercer thought for a moment: "Sure, if she wants to come, let her come."
"Alright, I'll send you the location in a bit."
V hung up the phone with a cheeky grin.
Soon, Qiwei's message came through as well.
[Qiwei: Thanks for what you did yesterday... I've been thinking, will it be dangerous for us to meet? V told me you're new here, and surely Internet Supervision has flagged you already.
If they follow me and catch you...]
[Mercer: Not meeting you doesn't clear the suspicion either. Night City will soon know there's a new hacking expert here, so Internet Supervision will definitely keep a close eye on someone like me, regardless of whether I've done something wrong.
Let them know, so be it, I've only dealt with some scumbags.
What the Voodoo Gang does is far more troublesome than what I've done, yet Internet Supervision hasn't done squat? In this city, you'd be embarrassed to call yourself a mercenary without tens or hundreds of lives under your belt.
Don't overestimate them, this is Night City. They're not very significant here, and in reality, I have even less respect for them.]
Furthermore, Internet Supervision's stance is different from New America or Arasaka's, so Mercer isn't too worried they'll side with Arasaka or New America. Given his skills and disposition, maybe someday he could even cooperate with Internet Supervision.
[Qiwei:...Alright then, see you in a bit, I'll thank you in person.]
Mercer hung up the phone, tidied up a bit, and immediately got to work.
He first spent ten minutes researching the vehicle system provided by the Old Captain, then used five minutes to write a universal cracking program.
The cracking program includes unlock and vehicle system certification. As long as the target system isn't updated, or loopholes aren't fixed, this program won't fail.
Then Mercer spent another ten minutes writing a remote vehicle hijacking software which can automatically lock onto a target vehicle's network remotely, upload programs, and forcibly change vehicle system certification.
The reason it took this long is that Mercer included a complimentary set of hardware design drawings for the Old Captain.
[Mercer: Got it done, included a set of design drawings. Get the hardware and assemble it yourself, even a fool can use this device to hijack a car.
Efficiency of the hack depends on your hardware's computing power, just make sure to use a good CPU, don't blame the program later.]
[Old Captain: Damn, bro, you're serious, so quick!? Man, Brother A, I'll give it a try right away. If it's good, I'll send the money immediately!]
Mercer sent Cassidy's bank account information to him, didn't say another word, and quickly picked up another storage chip to work on something for V.
Soon, a customized virus program was completed. Its function is that once injected into a server, it helps Mercer link his network to the server's subnet without alerting local ICE.
The specific hacking still requires his own operation, which is more secure.
Just then, Lucy came over while Mercer was busy at the computer: "Mercer, I've collected the Relic chips."
She and Daichi were each carrying two large insulated boxes when they approached.
Mercer nodded: "Store them for now. Once people officially join, these might be developed for other uses to strengthen the team. Of course, only provided to those who have finished their probationary period and are truly part of the team."
Then, Mercer paused, turned his head to Daichi and joked, "Is the game I brought back for you interesting? If it's fun, let me try it later."
"Pretty interesting. By the way, Kyoko was clamoring to watch Mewtwo with you early in the morning, saying she wants to find someone to buy a Super Dream Headband that two people can use together, doesn't want to watch alone..."
Daichi held back a laugh.
Mercer rolled his eyes speechlessly but after thinking for a while, said: "I'll buy it for her. How about you guys, anything you need to buy?"
"No, Leon and I are now taking jobs in the camp, helping them upgrade new vehicle systems and writing some ICE programs.
They also said they could help us transport goods to Night City for sale. With our skills, the chips we write will definitely fetch a good price."
Daichi's eyes filled with hope: "I plan to save up to buy an RV and turn it into both a home and a workstation. In the future, maybe open a shop in camp with Leon.
Then Adcardo folks can help us ship to the city... Mercer, are you interested? I think doing this could be quite lucrative.
I inquired about prices, like in Japan Street, a quick cracking program chip can sell for at least 3,000 Euros, and if the program is solid, prices might reach tens of thousands."
Mercer's expression showed some gratification. These kids weren't going to stop running just because they left him.