"And I also have to enhance my skeleton, ligaments, and so on, which is like replacing my own flesh and blood."
He pointed at V, saying, "Your type is like adding a bunch of stuff to your original muscles. It's still your own muscles being enhanced, without replacing all your flesh with various random things.
It might look like a big change, but in essence, it's still your own muscles at work."
V suddenly understood, "So, I won't feel anything strange?"
"Yeah, you can even get stronger through exercise."
Mercer nodded and said, "Only those with inadequate talent would need to fully replace their muscles with synthetic ones to gain greater strength.
You don't need to go that far. You just need to replace consumable parts like ligaments with durable ones, bones with metal, reinforce the joints, and put some enhanced muscle strands on parts prone to tears and injuries for flexibility support...
The Animal Gang does this; they build muscles like crazy with drugs while replacing their joint bones and ligaments with synthetic ones to avoid being crushed by their own muscles.
Oh, don't bother about it; you wouldn't understand even if I explained. Anyway, whatever you need to install, I'll sort it out for you."
V rolled his eyes, "What about the mantis blade? Didn't that almost replace my entire forearm?"
"No choice, mechanical structure decides that, but you could opt to replace the mantis blade with melee weapons to preserve your arm."
Mercer looked at her calmly after speaking, "But your forearm's strength can't match that of a purely mechanical prosthetic. Don't you already feel it's stronger now?"
After Mercer spoke, V relaxed, muttering, "Feels like from what you're saying, it's better to replace the whole body with mechanical parts to be stronger."
"You'd have to find a set of mechanical body parts even stronger than Adam's Hammer to do justice to your physical talent."
After Mercer finished speaking, he smiled, "The surgery Old Wei and I set up for you definitely won't be at the cost of draining or wasting your body's potential. Rest assured."
V nodded, and beside him, Jack quietly asked, "Wouldn't that cost a lot?"
Mercer scanned him with his prosthetic eye; his whole body was in rags, the subdermal armor model couldn't even be scanned, probably some junk he picked up somewhere, no wonder any gun could punch two holes in him.
No muscle enhancement module either, just some shock-absorbing and cushioning stuff on his palm.
"In any case, it's not cheaper than replacing everything with synthetic muscles. The key is labor; enhancing your muscles is much more troublesome than replacing them entirely."
After Mercer finished speaking, Jack said nothing, just rubbed his face in frustration, "I need to think about this, Mano, I never thought about leaving the gang."
"Didn't you join the gang to make a living, to make a name, and start something?"
Mercer seriously advised Jack, "Both being a mercenary and being in a gang are risking your life. At least working with me, the pay for risking your life is higher, plus there's a chance to level up quickly."
"I know, Mano, it's just that things aren't as easy as you think... I don't know if I'm ready to embrace a new life, you know what I mean?"
Jack sighed.
Mercer smiled, "I'm not in a hurry, take your time to think about it, there's still plenty of time. Just be careful not to fall easily; that would be such a waste, brother."
Jack nodded gloomily.
Then, Mercer finished the last fry, "Let's go, time to prepare for work."
V also stood up, "Alright, I'll head back early to get some sleep. Tomorrow, I'll head to Old Wei's with you... We still have money, right? Did Hans pay you separately for that commission?"
"Yes, saved some money. You spent a lot buying equipment before, consider this a repayment."
Mercer finished with a smile, hands in pockets, "I've got to get some subdermal armor before the action. Don't want to die from a stray bullet; that would be a ridiculous way to go."
"I feel like your chest is already bulletproof," V teased.
"But my head and limbs aren't... I feel I need to discuss with Old Wei about replacing my skull with a bulletproof one, to protect my brain."
After Mercer said this with a smile, he bid farewell to the still troubling Jack and patted his shoulder, then left Wild Wolf Bar with V.
He needed to hurry home to tell Rebecca the good news and arrange their operation plan based on the information sent by Father.
...
As soon as Mercer and V got back to base, they called everyone to the living room for a meeting, and everyone thought it was about the biotech heist, but what they didn't expect was Mercer's first words shattered their expectations.
"Got a job, Father from Haywood gave me a commission to launch a bloody retaliation against the Sixth Street Gang who attacked them."
Just as Mercer finished speaking, Rebecca frowned, looking around and seeing nobody speaking, she raised her hand, "Now? But aren't we still preparing for the biotech hit?"
"Yes, now." Mercer smiled, a mysterious look that made Rebecca keep her doubts to herself for the time being.
Mercer paused, seeing no one else speaking, continued, "We need to eradicate three strongholds of the Sixth Street Gang and handle three high-level targets, which are also high-risk units, requiring extra caution."