"It's our legend," Mercer corrected.
Rebecca looked at him with a grin, "Exactly, exactly, it's our legend!"
Mercer chuckled, "Is this some kind of double entendre joke?"
"It's the truth," she said, casually throwing the Iron Gall aside and leaning back, "Anyway, thanks a lot."
Mercer teased, "A thank-you gift?"
"You want more? Sure, leave the door open for me tonight," Rebecca winked, tugging at her collar.
Mercer clicked his tongue, "Why do you always want to take advantage of me? Is this really a thank-you gift? I wouldn't even bother to talk about you."
"Alright, alright! So what do you want? Coincidentally, I haven't had any real use for money lately," Rebecca rolled her eyes.
"Let me think... treat me to a good meal?" Mercer suggested.
"Alright, wait for it, I'll have Lucy contact the Adcardo people tomorrow to smuggle something tasty," Rebecca agreed with a smile.
The two bantered, and with the help of Polaris and Venus, they easily bypassed all the Sixth Street Gang vehicles that came to support, not even needing to switch cars, and swaggered back to Dog Town.
Mercer didn't even need to call Father; almost as soon as his car returned to Dog Town, Father called.
[Father: Well done, really clean and efficient—my people have received the news. I believe the Sixth Street Gang will certainly be more restrained in the future. I have to thank you on behalf of Haywood's people, A.]
[Mercer: Just a small task, all the target figures have been dealt with.]
[Father: I've transferred the money to your designated account, pleasant cooperation, A.]
[Mercer: Pleasant cooperation.]
After hanging up, Mercer gazed at the new 550,000 Euros in his account with satisfaction.
Great, with this, we have gathered enough funding for the operation targeting the Biotechnology Building.
Once Mercer parked the car in the base's garage, V and the others had safely withdrawn and were waiting for him at the garage.
Seeing that everyone was unharmed, Mercer finally breathed a sigh of relief, smiling, "It's good that everyone's alright. As usual, let's divide the money first, then rest. In the coming days, we'll have to prepare for the Biotechnology Building job."
"Alright," no one objected.
Mercer had Rebecca bring up the tens of thousands of Euros in cash, and they divided the money in the basement, then went back laughing and chatting to rest.
In the days following, Mercer continued refining the ctOS system, while Venus worked on perfecting Polaris and monitoring Diana Kuno and others' actions.
Until a few days later, Mercer suddenly received a text message.
[Mann: We heard from Faraday about a job from Arasaka, wanting us to steal experimental data from the Biotechnology Building. Didn't you warn us earlier to be cautious with biotech jobs recently?
I want to hear your opinion; if there's an issue with this job, we won't take it.]
Mercer directly called Mann via video.
"Did he only mention stealing data from the Biotechnology Building? When does he want you to go?" Mercer asked as soon as the call connected.
Mann thought for a moment, "He didn't specify, probably by the end of the month. He said he prepared a signal jammer for us. As long as we turn it on at night and let a hacker sneak into Diana Kuno's office to hack the data before leaving, that's all."
"Did Faraday ask you to steal experimental data for an immunization agent?" Mercer asked.
"Yes, it's the one Diana talked about on TV earlier," Mann replied. In the video, his expression became a bit grave, realizing Mercer genuinely knew a lot about biotech issues.
"He's always late to the party. Fine, take the job. I have a backup of that drug data; just take it and tell him you stole it yourselves."
After Mercer spoke, Mann cautiously asked, "Is this... really okay?"
"Why not? Previously it was Military Science that commissioned us to steal it, now it's Arasaka... perhaps a senior agent discovered that Military Science and Biotechnology had a collaboration project for this immunization agent, and wants to verify it with the data."
Take the job, then use my data..."
A bold idea suddenly struck Mercer's mind.
Is there a way... to make Faraday take the fall for the Biotechnology job?
Mann didn't sense what Mercer was thinking, only excitedly said, "Great! As long as the data is accurate, we'll give you the larger share of the reward for this job. Does that sound good?"
"Alright."
Mercer had already made up his mind; this opportunity that fell right into his lap instantly brewed a plan in his mind to "drive a tiger to swallow a wolf."
He subtly cast out the bait, "I'll send all the data to you, including some useful information I think you might need. Also, are you interested in teaming up for a big score?"
Mann's heart was pounding. He had hesitated before when Mercer extended an olive branch.
But now, witnessing the rapid growth of the Spark Team, Mann had to consider whether this might be his last chance to catch the express train of his life.
"How big are we talking?" Mann cautiously asked.
Mercer threw out a number, "I can only say the starting share for each of you will be at least 200,000 to 300,000 Euros. If you're willing to get deeply involved and make additional contributions, the more you work, the more you'll earn."