Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 103 This Voodoo Gang has gone too far.
"So...you mean this was all done by the Voodoo Gang?" Hanz looked at his subordinate, who looked troubled on the video call, and his face darkened.

One of his properties in Taiping was hacked again, and a small server was even burned out.

After receiving an affirmative reply, Hans hung up the phone, his face grim. After a long while, he finally dialed Mercer's number.

On the other end of the phone, Mercer appeared to be lounging on the sofa watching TV.

"A, the Voodoo Gang has been causing quite a stir lately. Do you have any news on your end that you could share?"

Hanz asked, but his eyes were sharply scrutinizing Mercer's expression.

Mercer, however, said weakly, "Recently? I just had prosthetic surgery a few days ago and am still recovering. I haven't been paying much attention. What are they up to now?"

"It's not a big deal, but several of my commissions in Taiping Prefecture have encountered hacker interference. You know, the Taiping Prefecture network is your territory. Didn't you find any clues there?"

After Hans asked the question, Mercer just looked thoughtful and said, "Recently, there have indeed been people causing trouble online, basically causing network fluctuations for one or two hours every day."

But they ran very fast, and I haven't caught them yet. You mean, all of this was done by the Voodoo Gang?

Hanz did not reply immediately, but looked at Mercer in the video. After a while, he suddenly smiled and changed the subject, saying, "You've been cooperating with Slide for so long, when do you plan to take action to eliminate the Voodoo Gang in Taiping State?"
If you encounter any trouble and it's inconvenient to ask Hansen for help, perhaps I can lend a hand?

"Ah, no, it's not that. It's just that we've spent a lot of money on weapons and equipment development recently, and we're almost out of ammunition to deal with the Voodoo Gang. So, I'm planning to do some commissions to raise some money for ammunition first."

Mercer said.

Hans then understood his meaning, inwardly cursing, and after thinking it over, said, "The network in Dogtown hasn't been very stable lately, Colonel Hansen, do you have any objections?"

"It's just network fluctuations, and there's nothing I can do about it. The city's network is controlled by the city hall and the internet monitoring department. Who knows what methods the voodoo gang is using to cause trouble? They just show their faces online and then disappear. I can't stay online 24 hours a day."

You know I'm usually very busy. Anyway, Colonel Hansen's business hasn't been greatly affected. I'm only responsible for maintaining his dedicated network line, and he doesn't have any complaints about that. As for the network security of other people, he doesn't care either.

Mercer's words left Hans with no choice but to say helplessly, "Alright, it seems we'll have to be patient for a while longer."

"Well, if there are any commissions related to the Voodoo Gang, you can give us priority. As long as the money is right, it's not difficult to take care of them in advance."

Mercer's cheerful words left Hans speechless, but he simply smiled and said, "No problem, I'll keep an eye on things."

"Okay." Mercer hung up the phone immediately, while Hans's face darkened after hanging up.

He opened the email, and sure enough, the hacker he had previously commissioned had sent the investigation report.

"According to the investigation, the network fluctuations and other issues may indeed be the work of the Voodoo Gang. Their network technology is very strong, and I did detect multiple network signals located at Voodoo Gang strongholds at the same time."

It cannot be ruled out that the Voodoo Gang is retaliating against the Fireseed Squad in an attempt to regain control of the network in Taiping State.

Hanz sat in his chair with a sullen face, tapping his fingers on the table, clearly displeased.

During this period, the Voodoo Gang suddenly became active online again. They began to openly create network fluctuations and indiscriminately attack and hack into network devices in the Taiping area.

Although Mercer quickly "resolves" each attack, these 24/7 cyberattacks, which could occur at any time, still severely impact many of Hanz's businesses.

Hans initially didn't take it to heart.

He figured that with Mercer's abilities and temper, this group of voodoo enthusiasts just wanted to eat roasted brains again, and he just needed to patiently wait for Mercer to retaliate.

But to everyone's surprise, after a few days, the situation not only did not improve, but the Voodoo Gang's cyberattacks even began to affect Dogtown.

This forced Hans to start thinking about whether something was wrong—and now, the problem seems quite clear.

Mercer's attitude just now clearly indicated that he intended to raise the price arbitrarily.

Hanz has no intention of paying out of his own pocket to maintain network security.

but.
Hans thought about it again and suddenly realized that this might not be such a bad thing for him.

Assuming Mercer intentionally allows the Voodoo Cult to cause trouble online, or even if he himself is pretending that the Voodoo Cult in the Pacific is stirring up trouble, what is his ultimate goal?

Hanz could understand why Mercer hadn't taken action against the Voodoo Gang yet; it was simply a way to maintain his own power and rely on external threats to force the Dogtown Slide to give him money, and Hansen would also have to pay him a network maintenance fee.

Is he planning to raise prices now? Or does he have some other considerations?

After much deliberation, Hanz concluded that the reason might be what Mercer meant—he could take care of the Voodoo Gang, but he needed someone to pay for the ammunition before he would do so.

If no one pays, the trouble caused by the 'Voodoo Gang' will likely escalate until someone can't take it anymore and decides to pay for peace.

Everyone knows who to turn to if they want to take down the Voodoo Gang.

The most renowned mercenary team in Taiping Prefecture today, the famous Fire Seed Squad, would certainly be happy to do their bidding for money.

After figuring out the key point, Hanz immediately began contacting various forces in Taiping Prefecture without saying a word.

Animal Gang, some small and medium-sized enterprises still operating in Taiping, and some clients who have grudges or conflicts of interest with the Voodoo Gang.
Sure enough, these people have recently been attacked by the Voodoo Gang, and some small companies and factories have even been blackmailed and extorted online, with the amounts demanded being quite high.

After a moment's hesitation, Hans first sent an email to Mercer.

[Hans: How much do you think would be the commission fee if you wanted to take down the Voodoo Gang as quickly as possible?]

[Mercer: Three million euros, a permanent solution to the Voodoo Clique in the Pacific. Of course, I want their Poseidon server. As for territory and other markets, you'll have to negotiate with Slide yourself. We're only responsible for dealing with the Voodoo Clique in the Pacific.]

[Hans: It's too expensive. Nobody wants to spend that much money to deal with a gang.]

[Mercer: Then just find a few more people. There are so many clients in the Pacific; surely no one is willing to pool together three million euros for cybersecurity in the Pacific?]

[Hanz: But taking down one voodoo gang doesn't mean the Pacific's internet will be safe from trouble from now on, right?]

Mercer: I'm planning to start a cybersecurity company and charge a service fee every month to ensure everyone can access the internet safely in Taiping. What do you think?
If I have enough customers willing to support me, I might consider resolving the voodoo gang's security threat offline for free, for the sake of everyone's cybersecurity.

[Hans: Good idea, but I still think three million euros is too much.]

[Mercer: Let's see just how annoying the Voodoo Gang really is. Anyway, I've been really busy lately and don't have time to be the cyber police in Taiping Prefecture. If anyone can't stand it, they can contact me to pay for their safety.]

Hanz closed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and then asked.

[Hanz: Then you need to give everyone a service standard and a price standard, and I can try to help you promote it.]

Mercer: Enterprise-level network security services, annual fee of €150 million, including ICE updates, local virus scanning and protection, server architecture, enterprise system security vulnerability repair, and remote network technical support.

If hacked, as long as the network connection is normal, we promise to provide expert-level network support within 1 minute.

How about getting a 20% discount on any other software network security services with your membership?

If Mr. Hans can help me secure clients, I'm willing to offer 10% of the contract price as commission for each client.

[Hanz: I can give it a try. If the Voodoo Gang can wreak havoc in the Pacific or even Night City with this level of force, I think quite a few customers would be willing to pay for peace of mind.]

However, I suggest that if you intend to provide this kind of legitimate online service, you might consider starting a company now.

Mercer: Hmm, I'll think about it—that's settled then. Once we've saved up enough for ammunition, we'll take care of this scourge, the Voodoo Gang.

Hanz hung up the call, and after a long pause, he chuckled.

A scourge?

He shook his head, and unusually, couldn't help but mutter to himself, "I think the real troublemaker is you, kid."

November, 2072.

A cybersecurity service company called 'Giant God' was quietly established without anyone noticing.

The legal representative of the company at the time was V, who happily signed her name—because she thought that by signing as the legal representative, she was the person in charge of the company. Although that's not wrong, a person in charge who bears legal responsibility is still a person in charge.

The actual company president, and Mercer, who controlled 51% of the company's shares, quickly leveraged Hans's connections to sign cybersecurity service contracts with numerous companies and enterprises in Pacific State after the company was founded.

Of course, at present, all the companies have chosen monthly contracts for the services they have chosen, with only Hansen, a major client, opting for an annual fee of 150 million euros.

For Hansen, this actually turned out to be quite profitable – because he previously had to pay Mercer 350,000 euros a month for network maintenance.

The remaining 49% of the company's shares are held by an investment company registered under the name of the Fireseed Squad. Mercer owns 51% of the shares in this investment company, while the remaining shares are divided among the other members.

Strictly speaking, Mercer owns 75.5% of the company's shares, while the rest of the team actually only own a little over 2%.

Of course, it's not an equal distribution, but rather based on when they joined the team. There are more veteran members like V and Lucy, followed by Rebecca and Kivi, and finally Mann and Dorio, and Jack and Anzu.

The group had no objection to this method of distributing the money, since cybersecurity services and company dividends seemed too far-fetched to them anyway.

If you don't know the company's stock price, you naturally won't have any feeling or concept about the shares you hold.

The reason Mercer was able to establish a company that met Night City's standards in such a short time and was directly included in the 'Outstanding Local Business Support' program, enjoying Night City Hall's extremely high tax exemption and extremely low tax rate support for the company.

All of this, naturally, is inseparable from the strong support of a gang—the Voodoo Gang.

Yes.

When you open the internet in the Pacific and see posts from even petty thugs of the Animals Gang complaining, "The Voodoo Gang has gone too far lately. I just bought a protein powder supplement and I got scammed out of 300 euros," you'll find yourself in a similar situation.

You'll then know just how much trouble the voodoo gangs have been causing lately.

Starting in Taiping, the Voodoo Gang went completely mad, launching attacks on Night City's public network.

They relentlessly hacked into the internal networks of various companies and gangs, stealing secrets, openly attacking major companies' public websites, hijacking online shopping interfaces to defraud people, and engaging in cyber extortion.
Then, in the cyber world, they would arrogantly ride the Sea God through the streets, and even cyber police agents were rumored to have suffered heavy losses at their hands.

Despite the Voodoo Gang's repeated denials, claiming that someone was deliberately framing them, few people actually believed their nonsense. Everyone knew that 70% of cybercrime in Night City originated from the Voodoo Gang, so their denials were simply unfounded.

What a fool!

So, in this atmosphere, someone finally couldn't hold back and took the initiative to extend a cooperation signal to Mercer, intending to eliminate the Voodoo Gang, this scourge, in one fell swoop.

Unexpectedly, the person who came to cooperate was not a company owner, nor the Animal Gang which had territorial disputes with the Voodoo Gang, nor a middleman, but someone Mercer had never thought of before.

Internet surveillance.

When the internet monitor sent a message to Moser, his first reaction was—which idiot dared to mess with your grandpa? But after Qimingxing traced the email address, Moser dared to confirm that, good heavens, it really was the internet monitor who took the initiative to discuss cooperation.

Furthermore, presumably because the internet regulators also knew that he was somewhat notorious in the hacker community, he very sincerely applied to meet with Mercer in Dogtown.

Mercer could choose the time and place, but he had to keep it as secret as possible.

After thinking for a while, Mercer simply invited the other party to meet at the base.

The other party agreed without hesitation and guaranteed that they would only send one agent.

After discussing the meeting that day, the internet monitor couldn't wait to schedule it for the afternoon of the following day.

Mercer had a vague feeling that these guys' motives were probably not so simple, but he still agreed without hesitation.

So, the next afternoon, a low-profile black sedan pulled up in front of Mercer's base.

Mercer's base was originally planned as a 'retail service' facility, but it has now been abandoned. The original entrance hall has been converted into a simple reception room.

Occasionally, soldiers from the Ghost Hounds would come over for a chat, or social team members like V would occasionally entertain some friends from who-knows-where, watching TV, drinking, and bragging in the living room.

The meeting between Mercer and the cyber police agent was naturally placed here.

"You must be the famous V? I'm the one who was supposed to meet A, Bryce Mosley."

V, who was greeting people at the door, recognized the agent named Bryce Mosley as soon as he spoke. Holding his smart submachine gun, he pressed down on his lips, put on a cool look, scanned him with his prosthetic eye, and said, "Come in."

This cyber police agent was wearing a suit, and his advanced cybernetic body was somewhat similar to Mercer's, but the degree of modification seemed to be even more exaggerated than Mercer's. From his neck to the back of his head, it was all made of metal, and even his arms were made of metal.

Just by looking at his cybernetic body, you can tell that this guy is definitely very strong in network technology and has a high status. This kind of thing is not something you can get easily.

As V opened the door, a fairly clean living room came into view, with several large sofas and a coffee table. At this moment, Mercer, wearing a mask, was sitting on the sofa, lazily watching TV and sipping iced cola through a straw.

“Hmm,” Bryce unconsciously curled the corners of his mouth—most hackers would act like mice in front of a cat when they see a cyber police officer, but someone like Mercer is really rare.

No wonder he was put on a "Smiling Stranger" wanted list on his very first time online, and to this day, he has even repeatedly outmaneuvered internet censors and agents—a true genius.
interesting.

He smiled and spoke in a refined tone, clearly the voice of a highly educated intellectual: "Nice to meet you, A. I am Bryce Mosley, a senior agent in charge of the Night City branch of the Cyber ​​Surveillance Department."

“A, or you can call me Mercer, it’s up to you.” Mercer simply waved his hand, and then V reached out, picked up a chip, and pointed it at Bryce’s head without any hesitation.

Bryce instinctively wanted to resist, but after calming down and thinking for a moment, he simply remained motionless as V inserted a chip into his head.

As a string of data scrolled past his eyes, and permissions were disabled or locked one by one, Bryce could even say in a relaxed tone, "We've always been the ones doing this to others. Ha, it feels pretty strange."

"It's just a little trick, I hope you won't take offense. It's to make our conversation more efficient, and also so that we can speak frankly about what's on our minds later. Please sit down."

After seeing Mercer nod, V made way for him. Bryce sat down opposite Mercer with a smile and turned to say, "Can I have a coffee? I haven't slept for 39 hours. To be honest, I'm getting old, and this is really tough."

Mercer simply said, "Okay, wait a moment."

But before the coffee even arrived, Mercer cut straight to the point: "The renowned internet surveillance agency sent a top agent to my place. I bet it wasn't just for a cup of coffee. Just get to the point; I don't like beating around the bush."

“Alright.” Bryce sighed, then slowly said, “I’ve come here to talk to you about three things.”

"The first thing is about your AI and your program."

Bryce's words did not affect Mercer in the slightest; he didn't even change the slurping sound of his cola.

Seeing Mercer's composure, Bryce shrugged and continued, "The second thing concerns Ott Cunningham, Johnny Silverhand, and Arasaka Yorinobu."

“The third thing is related to the Voodoo Gang.” After Bryce finished speaking, V couldn’t help but glance at Mercer twice—did this guy know a little too much?
Mercer chuckled lightly: "As expected of the internet monitor, tell me more."

“We know you have more than one AI. Judging from its strength, we believe it is highly likely that it is a stray AI from the old network. Of course, there is also the possibility that you have mastered some kind of highly intelligent core code.”
I think you should know that, in our view, either way, they are extremely dangerous hidden dangers.

After finishing his sentence, Bryce paused and said, "Therefore, you must accept monitoring and strict management from internet censors, especially in accordance with current international laws regarding AI."

“I refuse, next.” Mercer interrupted before he could finish, saying bluntly, “I don’t acknowledge that I have a highly intelligent AI. I refuse to register. You can do whatever you want if you have no evidence. Don’t expect to be pressured by internet censorship and international law.”

Bryce sighed, then calmly said, "But you should understand that if a roaming AI goes out of control, it will cause immense damage, and the Soul Source Code is strictly prohibited from being privately held, distributed, or copied."

“I said, next, if you have evidence, come and arrest me directly, stop with this nonsense.” Mercer rolled his eyes: “Arasaka Military Science, New America Comtasia, I don’t believe that these big companies don’t have unregistered high-intelligence AI.”

"If you're so capable of managing things, then get them all under control first."

Seeing that Mercer wasn't buying it, Bryce remained unfazed and continued, "Alright, about the second thing—we've heard that someone is impersonating us, trying to establish contact with Arasaka Yoriyuki."
I suspect that all of this might be related to Ultraman and Johnny's Silver Hand?

Mercer could glean a lot of information from his questions, but he simply said calmly, "I don't understand why you're telling me all this. You don't think I have anything to do with these guys, do you?"

"The most powerful roaming AI on the internet right now, a dead man, and Arasaka's future heir. Ha, if I really had that connection, I'd be rich by now, why would I be hiding in Dogtown?"

But Bryce simply said calmly, "No, what I'm trying to say is that at least in this matter, we're on your side. To be precise, we've worked with Otto Cunningham a few times, and we're also aware of what happened with Johnny Silverhand."

Mercer simply shook his head and remained silent.

Bryce had no choice but to continue speaking more directly: "Ultraman has already made it clear to us that you and we have the same goal, which is to obtain Johnny's Silver Hand, and ideally, to find a way to deal with the Divine Carriage and release the consciousness data within it."

You gain Ultraman's friendship, while we gain another collaboration with Ultraman Cunningham. This collaboration concerns the roaming AI behind the Black Wall and the future of humanity.

Therefore, we know you're using our name to try and contact Lai Xuan.

Mercer curled his lip and clicked his tongue: "What else did Ultraman say to you?"

"No, in fact, we are very curious about how you managed to contact Ottkeningan, and why she would entrust a hacker like you to help her?"

Bryce stared intently at Mercer: "In fact, the reason we allowed, or even condoned, your actions in Night City is precisely because of this."

We even once thought you might be a high-level AI sent by Ultraman. However, we are now certain that you have nothing to do with AI, which is why we took the initiative to come to you seeking cooperation.

Bryce said confidently, "You don't really think that the internet police have been ignoring everything you do online for so long because they are afraid of your internet skills, do you?"
In fact, ever since you first arrived in Night City and encountered our agents online, we have been observing the changing situation in Night City.

It's safe to say that no one understands your capabilities better than us, and we know just how much you've accomplished during this time.

Mercer said calmly, "So, you're willing to offer me some help? Very well. Regarding the second matter, I have a suggestion—how about giving me some operational funds?"
"Not much, ten million euros will do. I guarantee I'll complete what Ultraman asked me to do, how about it?"

Bryce's lips twitched slightly: "The aid I'm referring to is technical."

"No need for that. Hey, wait a minute. Your prosthetic body is pretty good. How about this, you guys give me a set of your latest hacker prosthetic bodies, including network access modules and the like."

If they can't even offer this kind of help, then forget about any cooperation. I don't like dealing with stingy people.

Mercer's string of words made Bryce a little nervous; you've got guts, kid.
But after a moment of contemplation, he looked at the things on Mercer's body and finally said directly, "If you want some finished products, that's fine. We can even give you some good lab-grade stuff, but we require data sharing."

“No problem, no problem.” Mercer’s attitude suddenly became warm, and even through the mask, Bryce could see the smile on his face.

This guy.
Bryce forced a smile: "I will apply to my superiors later, but if we decide to cooperate, we hope that after you contact Lai Xuan, you can also give us a chance to talk to Lai Xuan. We can share the progress, how about that?"

"No problem, as long as you can bring me something really good that will impress me, anything is negotiable."

Mercer's confident assurances sounded exactly like he was up to a scam.

Bryce could only cough once before changing the subject: "The third point."

"Do you know what the Voodoo Gang usually does?" Bryce asked with a serious expression.

Mercer simply shrugged: "Telecom fraud, undermining the Great Firewall, racist betel nut chewing, violent crime, running a pharmacy—anything else to add?"

"Well, it seems you really know what they're up to—yes, they're digging into the Black Wall."

Bryce said very seriously, "You know exactly what it would mean if the Black Wall broke down."

"Therefore, we must stop their actions. We haven't found a suitable opportunity or any suitable help before, but now we believe that your Fire Seed Squad has the capability."

Bryce, fearing Mercer would make an exorbitant demand, said before he could speak, "You guys help us deal with the Voodoo Gang and take care of those lunatics."

All we need is for those Voodoo Gang hackers to die, and we also want the data on AI and the Black Wall from the Poseidon server.

If you can do it, we're willing to pay you a commission fee of 200 million euros. And you're interested in internet surveillance equipment? Great, we can give you some of the equipment you want.

After a pause, Braxton continued, "I think this is more than enough sincerity, my friend. What you've gained is not just money and equipment, but more importantly, the friendship of the internet police—we rarely make friends with hackers."

Mercer narrowed his eyes and fell into deep thought.

Every gift comes with a price tag.

Internet regulators are no pushovers.

Bryce's generous terms immediately alerted Mercer and prompted him to think.

They certainly wanted to deal with the Voodoo Gang's undermining of the Black Wall, but why would they come knocking on their door just for this?
wrong.

That is, his relationship with Ultraman, and the matter of Lai Xuan and Silver Hand, which put him on their list of people under close observation?

It's possible, but it's definitely not all of them.

So what exactly determines their kind attitude towards me?
Um.
“Okay, I agree.” Mercer didn’t waste any more words and said directly, “We can talk about the first two things later, but I can agree to the third thing now.”

Bryce raised an eyebrow: "Sure, when do you plan to take action against the Voodoo Gang?"

"Tomorrow?" Mercer gave a time.

"Tomorrow!?" Bryce's eyes widened slightly.

"Yes, look at the mess Night City's internet is in now!" Mercer said righteously. "These Voodoo Gang members have gone too far! I must rid the people of this scourge!"

V turned her face away, trying hard to keep a straight expression.

You bastard
This is too much!

(End of this chapter)