"Although the ctOS System isn't fully developed yet, Venus can temporarily stand in for it to monitor our targets in real-time. So prioritize safety and don't get discovered prematurely."
"Understood." V nodded.
"The car at Old Captain's place is nearly modified. When it's time to move, both the hacker car and the armored car are at your disposal. Rebecca and I will take my Jun Mizutani."
After Mercer finished speaking, V frowned, "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. When the time comes, let Qiwei and Lucy provide support from the hacker car. It's safer for them that way."
Mercer insisted, and V stayed silent for a moment, but it was Rebecca who confidently said, "Don't worry, I'll protect Mercer."
"Not so sure who will be protecting whom." Mercer chuckled and then stood up, "Alright then, V, after we're done with the reconnaissance tomorrow morning, you and I are heading to Old Wei's in the afternoon."
"Got it." V nodded, while Rebecca clicked her tongue, "But V, why are you visiting Old Wei again? Last time, he told you to take it easy. Our squad's cybernetic enhancements are happening too fast."
V casually replied, "Can't be helped. The intensity of Sianwistan is too much. If I don't bring in the corresponding gear, my original parts can't handle it."
"If you ask me..." Lucy hesitated, "If the pressure is getting too much, I think we can give up that biotech deal, right? Mercer?"
Mercer and V both looked at Lucy, then exchanged smiles.
"A told me the same, don't worry, I know what I'm doing." V confidently patted her arm, "It's not like I'm replacing all my limbs, just adding some synthetic parts to boost the strength."
Mercer looked at Lucy, reassuring her, "I'll go with her tomorrow, and if both Old Wei and I think it's too much, we won't go through with it. Don't worry, I'd rather miss out on that biotech deal than let V get hurt."
Before V could respond, Kyoko winked at her, "Exactly, with Mercer around, he definitely won't let V overdo it."
V rolled her eyes, letting out a humph, "Does he need to say it? He's the one who loves overdoing it the most."
The group shared laughs as the meeting adjourned. To conserve energy, everyone put their work aside and turned in early for the night.
Except for Mercer, who was full of energy. Unless faced with a mentally exhausting problem, he could feel completely refreshed with just three hours of sleep a day.
He worked alone in the shop for a long time, solidifying the manufacturing process and part combinations for his "Death Warrior" drones after assembling a few more kamikaze drones.
Starting with the chip section, Mercer found himself at a disadvantage due to not understanding black technologies—the Zeta Technology's micro-lithography machine he saw on the website should more accurately be called an 'integrated lithographic chip manufacturing machine.'
Users can buy oxidized wafers and let the machine handle the subsequent lithography, etching, doping, and thin-film deposition automatically.
Thanks to Cyber World's breakthroughs in computer hardware technology, the entire process can be reduced to under eight hours.
Meaning, as long as the appropriate materials are input, after eight hours, you can use the accompanying automatic packaging machine to encase the chip, producing a preliminary complete chip or integrated circuit board.
Furthermore, it supports continuous batch production. After an eight-hour startup, the machine can cycle through an assembly line, allowing different chips to undergo various processes. A chip can be produced every hour.
After manual soldering and calibration, a power-on test is all that's needed for functionality.
But in practice, Mercer found the lithography machine to be a mere toy.
Mainly because chip production required multiple chemical reactions, repeated lithography, and strict work environments, resulting in a high scrap rate.
Moreover, raw materials could only be sourced from Zeta Technology. Materials for 100 chips cost an astonishing 3,000 Euros, with an equally staggering 70% scrap rate.
Overall, each semi-finished chip averaged over 100 Euros, and the resulting chip quality was poor, requiring manual assembly...
This machine leans more towards allowing individuals to DIY a specialized chip to validate their design concepts rather than mass production.
Considering machine usage costs like electricity, Mercer finally abandoned his plans of manufacturing chips from scratch.
Fortunately, Zeta Technology allowed returns within half a month without reason. Though Mercer incurred material costs, the 300,000+ Euros refunded led him to step away from the purely self-researched path.
He decided to define his current base as an assembly plant.
After this decision, Mercer started purchasing cheap chips and circuit boards from formal factory channels for assembly. With a price of just 300 Euros a piece, they could be directly installed after programming.
For cameras, he chose 'Zeiss' company's old products from ten years ago. Buying in bulk cost only 150 each. Though Zeiss isn't well-known in Night City, their status and abilities are on par with Qilu Optical.
Mercer opted for batteries from a labeled small factory, which specialized in refurbishing used batteries. These were cheaper, priced at just 70 Euros for a shrunken-capacity lithium battery.
Mercer turned his refund from the lithography machine into a professional small metal processing machine, which could directly process metal materials into various parts and raw materials. Unlike 3D printers, it offered higher output and better quality.
Combining the two, full-metal components could be selected for high-strength parts, while 3D-printed polymer components would suffice for less critical sections, keeping costs low and enhancing product quality.
Considering everything, the total cost per drone averaged 670 Euros. In 24-hour nonstop operations involving the printer and metal processing machine, production could yield 40 drones daily.
Of course, assembling drones is manual labor requiring reprogramming and debugging, so this figure is theoretical.
Nevertheless, Mercer felt highly satisfied. If sales expanded, he could hire Adcardans to assemble parts for large-scale production.
In light of Cyber World's meager wages, paying the Adcardans five Euros per drone assembly would seem generous, certainly a great job for those unable to find work.
After all, once adept, it takes less than half an hour to manually assemble a drone—light work not requiring much physical strength, suitable for women and children, enabling them to easily earn close to 100 Euros a day.
Compared to struggling dock workers earning just over 800 Euros monthly, Mercer's initiative seemed considerate.
After finalizing the drone production process and material supply, Mercer returned to his room, intending to soak in a bath before bed.
He connected his room's speaker system to play soothing classical music, closing his eyes in the water to relish rare tranquility, until suddenly a message popped into his Prosthetic Eye.
[Rebecca: Open the door.]
[Mercer: ??]
[Rebecca: It's urgent! Open up quickly or I'll force the door open!]
[Mercer: What's going on...]
He unlocked the door, hearing Rebecca's stealthy footsteps approaching.
When the door closed, Rebecca appeared in front of the bathroom's glass door, "Oh, you're bathing?"
"No kidding... What is it?" Mercer said, feeling an inexplicable yet foreboding hunch.
"Well... I haven't bathed today either." Rebecca said from the door, accompanied by the sounds of undressing, and Mercer could see a silhouette that made his heart race through the glass.
"Don't mess around, Rebecca." Mercer said, though his body stayed perfectly still under the water.
As his imagination began to run wild, Mercer forcefully shook his head, "If there's something to say, say it. Don't joke like that..."
Unexpectedly, what Mercer believed unthinkable happened next.
"Click." The bathroom's glass door opened.