Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 33 Adcardo's Campfire

Mercer stretched and left work early. He had already taken care of everything. After he went outside, Mercer noticed that it was already dark.

As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Panan chatting and laughing with Lucy and the others by a campfire not far away.

Mitch was strumming his guitar and singing a not-so-good American country song, while Scorpion remained quietly sitting beside him.

Besides, Cassidy was also chatting with a middle-aged man who looked a bit unshaven. When he saw Mercer, Cassidy waved his hand.
“Mercer, come here. This is Thor, the current head of Adcardo in Night City.”

Mercer smiled and walked over. Thor didn't neglect him because of his youth. He stood up and gently extended his hand to shake his.

“Thor, I’ve heard so much about you. I am Alex Mercer,” Mercer said politely.

“Ha, I was just listening to Cassidy tell you stories about your journey. Mercer, don’t be shy, sit down. We Adcardo don’t talk about those empty words.”

At this moment, Thor still appears ambitious and full of vigor.

He laughed heartily and pulled Mercer to sit down, showing none of the dejected and melancholy look he had in the game when he was desperate and had to turn to biotechnology.

"I know about your friend's situation. Don't worry, the Adcardo family wouldn't let a group of children do anything dangerous."

Those who want to stay can stay. You guys who understand hacking are indeed rare talents in the family right now.

I heard you're going to the city on business tomorrow? Do you need two bodyguards with you?

Thor cautioned, "Night City is no safe place, Mercer. It's more complicated and dangerous than the wilderness."

"Thank you, but Panan is enough. I don't plan to go to any dangerous places tomorrow. I just need to install some prosthetics and meet a few people."

Mercer said, turning to look at Cassidy, "We might need your bank account and our savings tomorrow."

"No problem, use it as you like. We squeezed a lot of money off those bandits on the way."

The weapons and equipment we brought back were also sold at the camp today, bringing in a total of about 40,000 euros.

Cassidy agreed without hesitation.

"Well, I need to use quite a bit here for now. I need to change my clothes and buy some equipment. As for the promised profit sharing, I'll wait a little longer until I sell my prosthetic body."

Mercer paused as he spoke, then added, "You'll each get ten thousand."

"Mercury."

Daichi Tetsuya wanted to refuse, but Mercer waved his hand:

"You have no income at the camp for the time being, and although I killed most of the people, I would have been exhausted if I had to carry all this stuff by myself."

Consider it a small token of appreciation for your hard work. It's only 10,000 euros, which seems like a lot now.

"Now that you're here, you can't just freeload off people. Consider the 10,000 euros as seed money. After that, you'll need to figure out what kind of jobs you're looking for here."

He spoke arrogantly, giving no one a chance to refuse, and then rubbed his head and said:

"Alright, let's not talk about these annoying things. A bonfire party needs to have a bonfire party atmosphere."

Thor smiled, turned to look at Tetsuya Daichi and Leon, and said gently:
"Don't refuse a friend's kindness; just do your best when they need it. This is one of the creeds of a wanderer."

"Hmm, remember this, you'll be following him from now on."

Mercer said jokingly, and then lay down without any hesitation.

Bright stars filled the sky, and a campfire crackled in the distance. He squinted; the evening breeze in the wilderness carried not many strange smells, only the scent of dust.

Mitch started playing again, this time humming a tune, and everyone quickly returned to the relaxed atmosphere they had been in before.

Some chatted, some drank, and no one deliberately tried to talk to Mercer anymore, or rather, they intentionally let him enjoy this pleasant feeling.

Mercer yawned, slowly closed his eyes, and soon began to snore softly.

Lucy stopped talking to Anzu and turned to look at his sleeping profile.

It was because of her actions that the others realized that Mercer had fallen asleep, and the campfire became quiet.

"Looks like this kid is exhausted."

Panan spoke, but there was a hint of admiration in her eyes—she had just heard Cassidy and Kyoko recount their experiences along the way.

In Parnan's opinion, it was quite remarkable that Mercer, who was also only fourteen years old, could bring this whole family from so far away.

From the perspective of a wanderer, this kid is good material to be a clan leader. He is ambitious and has goals. He can take good care of the people around him and respects everyone's freedom of choice.

She's not bad looking, it's just a pity she's a bit too young. What am I thinking?

Panan suddenly realized that he was becoming somewhat abnormal.

"Alright, you've traveled a long way, you should get some rest."

Saul suggested disbanding the group, and everyone readily agreed.

“You should wake him up, or cover him with a blanket. Although it’s not cold here in winter, he can still catch a cold if he stays out all night.”

After Thor finished speaking, Lucy nodded and whispered in agreement, "Let him lie down a little longer. I'll go get a blanket. It's rare for him to sleep so soundly."

“Okay~” Kyoko smiled at Lucy: “Then we’ll go back and rest first.”

Panan chuckled and raised an eyebrow at Lucy: "Looks like this kid wasn't just making things up when he said he was charming."

No. That's it.

Lucy was at a loss for words. She couldn't quite define her feelings for Mercer, but she knew it probably wasn't love—or perhaps a little, but more likely gratitude and dependence. Besides, Mercer just liked older women.
Precocious boy, huh.

In the end, she simply ignored the expressions of the people around her, took a blanket and a pillow, covered him with them, and carefully stuffed the pillow under his head as well.

He then lay down on one side and looked at the stars and the moon.

The moon in the sky emitted a soft and serene light, as if it were a completely different world from this dirty world.

Lucy suddenly had a whimsical thought—if one day she could go up there and see what she could feel there?

As she pondered this, she couldn't help but turn and glance at Mercer again, and then the fantasy of going to the moon suddenly lost its meaning.

He'll probably be too busy to travel to the moon.

A person going to the moon?
Just thinking about it makes me feel lonely.

She drifted off into thought like this until she unknowingly fell asleep under the moonlight.

Until the next morning, a hand was pinching her face.

"I'll sleep a little longer, Apricot."

"You can sleep a little longer, but I have to get up and go to work in the city."

Mercer's teasing voice jolted Lucy awake. She opened her eyes wide and then realized that something had somehow jumped onto Mercer—literally onto his body.

Her head was pressed against his arm, and her body had taken most of his blanket, pressing her whole body against his side, her arm still gripping him tightly.

Her face flushed bright red instantly, and she almost jumped up, stammering, "I...yes!"

"Alright, instead of being shy, why don't you give me a massage? I thought I was haunted by a female ghost in the middle of the night, trying to drag me to hell by the neck."

Mercer laughed and moved his arms around for a while before he felt his arms regain feeling.

Lucy was dumbfounded, because the extinguished campfire was right next to the camp.

Early in the morning, the hardworking people of Adka were already busy.

Upon hearing the commotion, several Adca people nearby gave Lucy and Mercer friendly smiles.

Even Kyoko, who always sleeps in, poked her head out from the tent not far away and stared at her with a teasing expression.

This kind of public execution was too cruel for Lucy, who was only fourteen years old at the time. She turned her head and covered her face, saying, "I'm going to wash my face first."

Mercer couldn't help but suppress his laughter, while Anzu, in the distance, laughed even more unabashedly, hands on her hips, ignoring Lucy's fierce glare.

Panan, holding Mercer's prosthetic body case, checked the time and said irritably:

"Finished enjoying yourself? Then hurry up and get up to help!"

This is the prosthetic body your friend mentioned you need to install. Go check if there's anything missing and load it all onto the truck.

It's already past eight in the morning. Have you made an appointment with the doctor in the city?

Mercer's expression also changed: "I have an appointment with someone at nine o'clock."

"Then hurry up!" Panan raised his chin: "Take my Macintosh and remember to bring your gun."

Mercer hurriedly went to tidy up as well.

After quickly arranging everything, I got into the passenger seat of Panan.

Mercer waved his hand: "Let's go, Little Chinatown."

"Damn, the traffic there is terrible in the morning."
Sit tight, I don't want you to be late—those doctors in the city are all very arrogant.

"If you miss your appointment time, they might get angry and refuse to do it for you, which would be a problem."

Panan floored the gas pedal and sped off.

Mercer, somewhat embarrassed, fastened his seatbelt: "I've always been a light sleeper, only sleeping four to six hours a day before waking up."

"That's a good thing. It seems you were under a lot of stress before, but..."
I saw you two hugging so tightly this morning; you must have slept really well.

Panan laughed and stared at Mercer with an ambiguous look, while Mercer covered his face with one hand, and after a long while sighed:
"It's cold outside at night, and the blanket is being pulled so badly."

Lucy: Mercer, uh, I mean, it was so cold last night that I fell asleep on instinct.
You know.

Anyway, if Anzu asks you, just say that—because it's really cold.

[Apricot: Was it really cold last night? Really? Really?]

Under Panan's suppressed laughter, Mercer expressionlessly shut down the communication software, turned to look out the window, and rolled his eyes.

Love as much as you like.

You know what, even though Lucy is a bit small now, the grass is so fragrant and soft, I'm such a pervert.

The car was floored, heading straight for Chinatown in Watson District, but even with the best of speed...
Mercer was late when he first met Old Vie.

　After the trial period, the system assigned me the lowest-tier data plan.

　　So I can only ask everyone to add it to their favorites and follow it. Only if these two metrics improve can it at least get into the top ten in the category, and then there's still hope for improvement.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)