"But things have come to this, there's no choice but to bite the bullet and go ahead."
Mercer turned to look at her, stretched out his hand to touch her face, drawing closer for a careful inspection. V instinctively held her breath, her mind suddenly blank, while Mercer merely looked for a moment at such a close distance before nodding solemnly and pulling back.
"It seems like the circuits displayed by your Prosthetic Eye were fused by the pulse. It was probably damaged when you faced the EMP before, and this time it's completely broken. I'll look for a new implant from Qilu Company for you later."
After saying this, Mercer noticed V gazing at him with an awkward expression, only then realizing his previous action didn't seem much like a medical examination.
However, he didn't reveal anything, simply pretending ignorance, and using his Octopus Arm to support his body, which crossed and moved several meters away.
V pointed at Hansen: "What about him?"
"I've sent a program into his mind, locking his prosthetic body. Robots will soon take over his control, and once we've dealt with his loyalists and controlled the situation, we will secretly transfer him to the base."
Mercer paused, then continued, "We don't have much time. The changes with the Netherworld Dog won't remain hidden for long. Arasaka's people will soon realize that we've taken control of Dog Town. We don't know what will happen after."
"So, let's go, join me in meeting those stubborn members of the Netherworld Dog and make them understand who's in charge of Dog Town now."
V murmured in agreement, rubbed her damaged Prosthetic Eye, and followed, while Mao Jun stayed behind to watch over Hansen.
Returning to the training base, Mercer and V sat at the edge of the second-floor platform, awaiting the arrival of Netherworld Dog from other places.
Dog Town isn't large, and the fastest members of Netherworld Dog arrived within minutes, urgently driving armored vehicles in response to 'Hansen's' call.
What they saw was a field of corpses, and Mercer with a somewhat intimidating appearance, and V, who sat beside Mercer in tank armor, made those Netherworld Dogs immediately go on alert.
A cautious squad leader raised his gun and asked, "Director Mercer! Colonel Hansen ordered us to assemble here... Can you tell us what happened?"
Mercer simply replied indifferently, "Line up, wait until everyone arrives, and we'll discuss it together."
The Netherworld Dog swallowed hard, sent a message to the superiors, but the reply remained 'Follow Colonel Hansen's orders,' so they nervously formed ranks in the open, waiting.
As one squad after another of Netherworld Dogs arrived, soon a force of over eighty elite members gathered within the training base.
These were either Hansen's core members or those who weren't quite on the same page with Mercer, or simply were a bunch of opportunists in Mercer's view.
Naturally, Mercer gathered this crowd not to speak kind words or patiently persuade surrender.
So, once everyone was assembled, Mercer didn't hesitate to speak up.
"Colonel Hansen was attacked and is currently receiving emergency treatment. As per his orders, I am now the sole leader of Dog Town. All Netherworld Dogs, disarm immediately, follow arrangements, and await further deployment."
Upon hearing this, the crowd erupted.
One of the Netherworld Dogs didn't say a word, immediately raised his weapon, face fierce: "Are you joking? How could the Colonel appoint you as leader? Tell us! Where is Colonel Hansen?"
Mercer remained silent, only casting a deep gaze at him.
The next moment, sparks erupted from that person's head, and as others gasped, he collapsed in agony.
"I repeat, Colonel Hansen was attacked. As per his unconscious order, I am taking over all of Netherworld Dog."
Mercer simply sat high at the edge of the second-floor platform of the training base, expressionless, staring at this group of Netherworld Dogs.
The training base now fell into a dead silence.
You could hear a pin drop.