"When it comes to things you plug into your brain, V, you need to think twice."
Mercer said earnestly, "Nowadays, you might just be watching some street-side Mewtwo, and it could end up getting you stripped and handed over to Cleaner Fish.
Not to mention things you plug into your brain... You can use my stuff freely, but if it's something given by someone else, with your level of intelligence, don't just stick it into your head.
My suggestion is, if it doesn't work, get a phone or a portable computer with a card slot."
"Damn, am I that brainless?" V said discontentedly, "Is it wrong that I trust you?"
"I just worry about you trusting everyone so easily," Mercer said seriously.
V snorted, "You're overthinking it. Your Sister V is smart... Damn, alright, don't look at me like that. Old Wei said it himself, intelligence isn't the same as IQ!"
But Lucy spoke up, "Don't ever tell anybody about this chip. What I mean is, if someone tries to take it out of your head, you'd better destroy it immediately rather than let it be discovered."
Seeing even the usually reticent Lucy say this, V nodded and promised, "Alright, I swear, unless I suddenly drop dead, I'll destroy this thing even if I die doing it."
"No need for that; your life is way more important than this chip." Mercer finished and paused for a moment, "It's incredibly useful, you know, not only did I modify it into a badass ICE plugin, but it'll have many more uses in the future.
In any case, I'll explain it to you slowly when I figure it all out. For now, just treat it like a badass ICE chip.
Otherwise, it'd be hilarious if you, the main combat force, got taken down by hackers."
He looked around before making up his mind, "Prepare for the next few days. I'll contact Old Captain to see if we can borrow his hijacking equipment temporarily.
Then when biotechnology makes another trip to Sillan Town, we'll make our move and hijack their vehicle, infiltrating the building that night.
Don't go out to mess around these days. Rest up; when the job's done, we'll all go to Rebirth to have a blast and then move to Dog Town."
As Mercer finished speaking, the others all smiled. With Mercer around, the once invincible Behemoth Armored Vehicle and those professional biotech soldiers seemed like insignificant riffraff.
V watched as Rebecca dawdled, not planning to leave, and snorted, wrapping an arm around her neck without a word, "Let's go, head back, and grab a meal together."
"Damn! Don't drag me! I can walk on my own!" Rebecca glared at V in annoyance.
"Oh really? Stop bothering Mercer, let him prepare well." V let go, unafraid of Rebecca's reaction.
Rebecca grit her teeth at V for a while and then snorted herself, before turning her head.
She glanced at Mercer but didn't feel as bold as when she was drunk with so many eyes on her. Even she felt a bit shy.
"Alright, I'm heading back to rest. Once this job's done, let's celebrate and chat." Rebecca giggled, winked at Mercer, and turned to call Pira away.
V was a bit annoyed but couldn't pinpoint why, ultimately blaming Mercer, shooting him a glare, and dragging Qiwei away.
Lucy sat cross-legged on a chair, arms folded, and looked at Mercer wistfully, "Looks like you've got quite the charm."
"Of course," Mercer said, not missing a beat, picking up his computer and standing up, "Rebecca's straightforward; if she likes something, she likes it, and if she has feelings, she admits it...
Even if I had a girlfriend, she'd still go for it bravely. It's admirable, isn't it?"
"Why did she suddenly become so enthusiastic?" Lucy was confused, "You've only known each other for a few days..."
"Who knows," Mercer shrugged, "Kids are like that; feelings come quickly and heat up fast. She's more innocent than you think."
"Here we go again..." Lucy whispered, standing up, "I suggest you be a bit more cautious. You never know what those street girls are after with you.
Anyway, is there anything else you need us kids to do?"
Mercer smirked as he looked at her, then said, "Nope, but you might start writing some quick hacking programs and learn to tinker with chips."
Lucy, feeling a bit embarrassed under his gaze, nodded and turned to leave.
With a sigh, Lucy thought, Mercer's great in many areas, but he's always just speaking nonsense in this regard, and who knows what's really going on in his head.
Lucy sighed inwardly but didn't mull over it.
Now really wasn't a good time to discuss feelings. She trusted Mercer knew that too.
Lucy left the room, heading to the other side of the camp. She needed special equipment to work on chips and had to check if she could buy it at the camp.
After she left, Mercer pondered a bit himself, unable to figure out why Rebecca suddenly became so enthusiastic about him.
Previously, there was some good feeling, but it seemed to be only the kind of affinity rare to find in a kindred spirit.
Could it be because after drinking and being emotional yesterday, she just had the urge, and upon sobering up, thought she'd just go for it?
But what can you say? It felt pretty good to be openly favored by a pretty girl. Happily, Mercer picked up his notebook and returned to the tent, getting into contact with Old Captain.
[Mercer: Is that hijacking equipment of yours ready? I happen to need to hijack a good car, so it looks like I need your help, Old Captain.]
[Old Captain: Just having the experts work on it, will probably take another day or two. Can you wait? What's the good car you're talking about? Business has been booming lately!]
[Mercer: Should be in time. The good car... a Behemoth. You up for it?]
[Old Captain: Damn, you're gonna hijack a military tech vehicle?]
[Mercer: Nope.]
[Old Captain: I can't take that, can't even be driven without the proper permits, no use for those paupers in the Evil Land for such a conspicuous hunk of metal. Buy it and you'd only sell it in parts, it's too conspicuous to sell even with modifications. My advice is, if you don't want trouble, just dump it. I guess you're after more than the car itself.]
[Mercer: Shame, one of those cars costs a few Million Euros.]
[Old Captain: It's not about the money; I'd be able to sell anything like the Sword in the Stone or Lady of the Lake's Sword, no matter how expensive with some mods, but military gear I don't want to mess with. You could maybe get rid of it in Dog Town; someone might take it off your hands. But honestly speaking, Hansen's an old bastard in Dog Town; if you drive that in, he'll hack your car first, then sell you to the company—I'm assuming you're pulling a job on a big firm this time around.]
[Mercer: Alright then, looks like we'll be burning a few Million Euros to ash.]
[Old Captain: You can borrow my team's equipment; I'm not charging you. Consider it a free test run, if it can even handle a Behemoth, then mate, this hijacking setup you drew for me is the real deal.]
[Mercer: If you hand it off to rookies or rely on hardware to run programs solo, it'll probably be a hassle. I'm handling it myself this time, only borrowing the hardware, so the results will be different.
So better not overestimate this setup's capabilities.]
[Old Captain: Got it, it really takes someone like Brother A to make it shine! Once I sell this batch or find something nice, I'll contact your people for help. We'll earn together!]
[Mercer: Sure, if nothing else, I can earn some side cash here, and feel free to contact me for big jobs.]
[Old Captain: No problem! Once it's done, I'll message you.]
[Mercer: Thanks.]
[Old Captain: Haha~ I like making friends with capable people, so don't hesitate when you have needs.]
[Mercer: Likewise.]
After ending the call, Mercer took off his jacket, wearing only a Black Customer Service outfit, sat cross-legged on the hacker chair, plugged in the cooling and connections, and dived in deeply again.
He'll continue wandering around the biotech company's servers, looking for any exploitable openings, and at the very least, he can take this opportunity to verify the info Wagako gave him.
Wagako not only provided intel on the biotech company's convoy but also gave him blueprints of the biotech company's buildings and security details.
But Mercer still decided to verify it personally just to be safe.
...
Time flew by, and four days later, as the biotech company's vehicles once again left Night City and headed for the border town of Sillan Town.
The Spark Team was all set, launching the well-prepared ambush targeting biotechnology.