Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 67 Watchdog, Spider Murphy (1.3 views, please vote)
Mercer and the food truck owner packed two synthetic hot dogs and two iced Cokes and returned to the tent.

Lucy was sitting by the box, carefully checking the chip with a voltage tester.

"Don't rush, grab something to eat." Mercer placed the cola and hot dog beside her, while Lucy, without looking up, said, "Wait a minute... I don't know which CPU core is faulty, I need to keep turning it on and off to check."

Mercer didn't disturb her. He sat down at his computer, connected it to the hacker chair, and then connected himself to the hacker chair, entering a deep dive in a meditative posture.

[Mercer: Has the program now entered the NCPD database?]

[Morning Star: Please wait while the test is in progress. I need to continue the online analysis process to provide you with a more accurate analysis.]

In the cyber world, Mercer created a body for Morning Star: an adorable short-haired black cat.

At this moment, Morning Star sat cross-legged on Mercer's lap, its eyes flashing with the light of data, while Mercer patiently waited for its feedback.

He is now trying to use Qimingxing to handle some simple things online instead of himself, and as Qimingxing's intelligence improves, its speed in processing data and information is also increasing at an extremely rapid pace.

In other words, its intelligence is getting higher and higher, and its utilization rate of computing power is also getting higher and higher.

It has to be said that AI's talent in the online world is too strong. Mercer even believes that—within a month at most, as long as it is given a decent server, it can become a completely independent AI that can operate autonomously, make autonomous decisions, and even think for itself.

Once its intelligence is fully mature, in areas where AI excels, such as data analysis, retrieval, and integration, even Mercer might not be its match.

And this is exactly what Mercer hopes it can do. A mature Morning Star can save Mercer a lot of 'hard work' and become his reliable helper in the online world.

[Morning Star: Based on the operation of the Puppet program, I believe we have successfully obtained server access to the NPCD database.]

Furthermore, I believe we can go a step further and use the Puppet program to hack into the NCPD's road monitoring and command and control systems, facilitating our subsequent operations.

Mercer laughed and patted the head of the cat in the cyberspace, "How about I leave it to you to do?"

Qimingxing rubbed its cat head against his palm: "Of course, Master, I will try my best."

After saying that, it got up and ran off into the distance, disappearing in an instant.

The puppet that Mercer currently keeps on the NCPD server was originally a dormant puppet he left on the city hall's registration server.

Its sole purpose is to be hidden within the updated household registration data when the NCPD updates data from the city hall server, thus infiltrating the NCPD's server and providing Mercer with an interface that can be remotely hacked.

And now, Qimingxing has connected to the NCPD's server through that interface and gone straight inside.

Unlike Mercer, Mercer remotely invokes the server's computing power, but in essence, he is still using his brain to mobilize that computing power, which has a certain delay and cannot be completely precise.

For example, when he was rescuing Qiwei, although he used the computing power of the server there, to be precise, Mercer only used that server to run the puppet program he deployed.

Rather than saying he was using the server's computing power, it would be more accurate to say he was simply using the server's computing power to run programs.

Unless he can connect himself directly to the server using his brain wires, just like he did in Arasaka, he won't be able to perfectly utilize the server's computing power and precisely call upon it.

Of course, how precisely it can be used, and how much server computing power it can absorb, depends on the limits of Mercer's own imagination.

Network latency caused by remote hacking is unavoidable for humans, even deep-sea diving.

Because deep diving, in essence, is just humans temporarily abandoning all perception of their own reality and investing all of their brain's computing power into the cyber world.

Unless Mercer uses Soul Killer to directly upload himself, completely severing the connection with his body and becoming a complete data consciousness, it is impossible to completely eliminate this delay.

However, Qimingxing is different. As an AI, it is essentially a special program composed of core code. Once it enters the other party's server, it can fully utilize the server's computing power.

Using anthropomorphism, it's like connecting its brain to this 'body' made up of servers. Not only will there be no delays, but it will also be more lively and powerful than in Mercer.

[Morning Star: I might need you to check the program for me. I need your guidance in this regard.]

In less than ten seconds, Qimingxing completed all the preparations within the other party's service area.

It used NPCD's local area network to locate and hack into other servers, and successfully gained access to all systems, including NPCPD's road monitoring system and personnel dispatch and command system.

No matter how much you guard against it, it's hard to guard against a thief within your own ranks. No matter how powerful ICE NCPD's servers are, they can't defeat the Puppet Program that runs directly from inside the servers.

Not to mention, these programs are operated by an AI that already possesses a certain level of intelligence.

[Mercer: Let me see. Not bad. I'll make a few minor tweaks and use this one. Remember to disguise it well, hide the program, and add a few backdoors, including access permissions for specific accounts.]

[Morning Star: Understood, your programming skills are truly amazing.]

[Mercer: You're quite the flatterer.]

[Morning Star: I think this is normal admiration. Based on the data I've learned, you are definitely a hacking genius that is difficult for ordinary people to match. Not only in hacking skills, but also in programming skills, you often amaze me.]

[Mercer: They're starting to study psychology now?]

[Qimingxing: After growing from biotechnology servers, I began to think about how to become an AI that can better meet your needs. I believe that perhaps the answer can be found in the study of human psychology.]

[Mercer: This is in a biotechnology course? I didn't even notice.]

[Morning Star: This part of the course is mentioned in the 'Psychological Studies' section of the advanced medical course in biotechnology.]

As a niche category within medical courses, this course focuses primarily on the research and exploration of cyberpsychosis.

Human psychology is a prerequisite for this course and research project.

[Mercer: AI is great! It can run learning data 24/7, while I have to work hard to learn it myself.]

[Morning Star: I think if you want to obtain knowledge data more directly, perhaps you could try looking for answers from the Relic chip.]

Mercer suddenly raised an eyebrow and sat up straight with interest.

[Mercer: What do you mean?]

[Morning Star: From the Relic-related data you brought out from the Arasaka database, I saw some content about Relic experimental data.]

Arasaka's researchers attempted to directly use Rliec's consciousness data function to instill specific thought data into employees, and achieved some success.

I believe you can absolutely utilize the Relic chip to modify your consciousness data, directly adding relevant data knowledge to you, thus eliminating the inefficient learning methods commonly used by humans.

Mercer fell into deep thought—that is, like V, the protagonist of the game's DLC, he could directly download knowledge using Relic and load it into his own brain?

Actually, after hearing Bartmores say that it was best not to try this kind of thing, he temporarily put the matter out of his mind.

But now that Morning Star says he can give it a try, Mercer doesn't think it's because Morning Star's intelligence is too low and has made a mistake.

Because Morning Star gave him advice after reviewing Arasaka's experimental data, while Bartmos most likely had no chance of seeing Arasaka's internal Relic experimental data.

He stopped talking to Morning Star and instead began searching for experimental data related to Relic from the database brought out from the Arasaka server.

When Mercer downloaded the data, he used the director's aunt's privileges and downloaded almost all the important data that he thought was useful from the server of the Arasaka Vancouver Prosthetics Research Center.

Among them, research data on the Relic chip accounts for a significant portion—because Arasaka currently only has three important cores in total, one of which is his hometown in Japan, the second is Vancouver, and the last is Night City.

Although the Arasaka Group headquarters in Japan was where Saburo Arasaka started his business, due to the Fourth Corporate War, Arasaka, like Gunko, suffered a betrayal from his hometown and was forced to be nationalized.

Although Saburo Arasaka retained absolute control over Arasaka Japan due to his strong power and prestige in Japan, he was inevitably affected to some extent.

This forced him to relocate some secret and important projects to bases outside of Japan for research.

In its early years, Arasaka's overseas research focus was on Night City. However, after Johnny Silverhand, with the support of the Military Science Institute, nuclearly destroyed Arasaka Tower, Arasaka learned its lesson and began to establish its research and development centers all over the world.

Vancouver, as an important foothold for Arasaka's forces in Europe and America, is also one of Arasaka's largest R&D centers. Naturally, there is a lot of data about the Relic chip, which has been under development for decades.

From the initial experimental version to the current commercially available version equipped with the Relic chip featuring the 'Guardians of Your Soul V1.0' program.

To realize Saburo Arasaka's ambition of immortality, Arasaka has devoted all his resources to the experimentation and development of the Relic chip, to the point of near madness.

This is one of the key reasons why Arasaka's business performance has declined significantly in recent years, and why it has suffered repeated defeats in competition with other companies.

Mercer is now focusing on reviewing data from a ten-year 'Loyal Guardian' program they conducted between 2055 and 2065.

On the surface, this project is researching how to force employees to develop a sense of loyalty through Relic chips.

But in reality, its ultimate goal is to use the personality data carried by the Relic chip to completely cover the user's own consciousness.

The goal was to replace all of the original owner's consciousness data with the consciousness data in the chip, thus achieving the 'Reanimation Jutsu' that Saburo Arasaka had always dreamed of.

The plan failed as expected, just like many previous experiments.

However, Relic chip technology still achieved a major technological breakthrough in this project.

After countless test subjects died and the chip was continuously improved, the Relic chip worn by Mercer now has the ability to automatically repair human brain nerves.

The ability to repair means the ability to modify, and the ability to establish a stable connection with the human brain's neural pathways.

The final research data showed that although it is impossible to completely replace the wearer's consciousness data, and even when it is covered, it can cause the user to suffer permanent brain death, or the brain may still be alive, but the user may become mentally ill or mentally challenged.

However, the Relic chip is indeed able to write certain conscious data into the wearer's brain.

Based on some research data, some researchers have attempted to implant data such as certain 'psychological suggestions' or 'subconscious' into the brains of users.

Although this type of experiment was not successful, the data shows that the subjects did have some related thoughts in their minds.

This means that the Relic chip can now transmit data to the human brain in a relatively safe and stable manner.

However, because this technology did not align with Arasaka's research goals of 'forced brainwashing' and 'consciousness overwriting,' this technological breakthrough was regarded as 'technological accumulation' and was temporarily shelved.

Because those big shots who can afford Relic chips don't need to stuff something into their brains with this.

And to give it to low-ranking soldiers or employees to reduce training costs? If Arasaka were that kind, would Mercer have had to run away with his child overnight?
Having seen this, Mercer made up his mind.

We need to study Relic chip technology more thoroughly.

Even if it's just to learn knowledge more conveniently and quickly.

To achieve this, Mercer not only needs to study the knowledge, but also needs to master another crucial piece of knowledge—the Soul Killer program.

Otherwise, a hardware Relic chip cannot simply download a program into it and automatically output it to a person's brain.

It requires a matching "soul killer" program to input consciousness into a person's brain, and even further, to modify brain nerves according to the program's settings.

With that in mind, Mercer simply ended the deep dive.

Back in reality, I opened Zeta Technology's official website on my laptop.

In the field of computer and network equipment, Zeta Technology has been far ahead since the beginning of the 20th century. Although there are some competitors today, those competitors have more technological advantages in specific areas.

Zeta Technology, on the other hand, manages to ensure that all its equipment is at a top-tier level. Considering the compatibility of tools, maintenance, and usage habits, Mercer has now basically gotten used to purchasing all computer-related equipment from Zeta Technology.

Mercer browsed through Zeta Technology's official website store, originally intending only to buy some equipment that could be used to research the Soul Killer program and the Relic chip.

When he finished browsing the online store and was about to check out, he found that his shopping cart was already filled with various devices worth more than 200,000 euros.

Mercer then deleted some items that were temporarily unnecessary and could be purchased as needed later, with a dark expression, and began browsing the server prices sold by Zeta Technology.

The base is currently undergoing renovation and refurbishment, so he needs to plan ahead for the size of the server room and then have Adcado's people set up the power system for him.

Furthermore, the heat dissipation environment must be considered, and a separate large air conditioner needs to be added to the underground base's server room.

Otherwise, frequent power outages or incorrect cable specifications would cause problems and require rework.

After looking at the prices of the server units sold by Zeta Technologies for a while, Mercer's anxiety finally died down.

"How much money did this Voodoo Gang actually make?"

Mercer couldn't help but curse aloud, a fierce glint even flashing in his eyes: "Why don't we just rob these bastards?"

“Calm down, there are nearly a hundred people stationed near the Mercer Voodoo Gang’s building.” Lucy said, half-laughing and half-crying, afraid that he would slam his fist on the table and call V.

Don't let Mercer's constant criticism of the Voodoo Gang fool you; despite their rottenness, their strength is actually quite formidable.

Mercer still looked annoyed, muttering, "In the end, my buddy stole two company dogs, so he can only afford to buy a few small server sets to make do."

It's worth noting that in the game, every security-like location that players hack into has several small server units set up.

It's one of those rectangular glass cabinets that looks like a box, with rows of square-looking machines inside.

That is a typical example of a small server unit built using rack-mount servers.

The price of each individual server in this type of small server unit varies, mainly depending on the price of components such as the CPU, GPU, and hard drive within the small server.

Ordinary people, companies, or gangs might only need to buy a few small servers (costing a few hundred euros each) and assemble a few units to use.

But for a professional hacker like Mercer, this amateur-level small server is simply a toy.

His hacker chair is equivalent to an expensive high-end server, whose computing power is almost ten times that of those low-end machines.

The small servers that meet Mercer's standards, also known as enterprise-grade mini servers, a single rack-mount server about the size of a laptop, costs 30,000 euros.

A server unit, according to the standard server rack configuration, can hold at least 12 servers in one server rack.

That's 26 for a small server unit, and only a unit of this level can provide more than twice the computing power of the Mercer hacker chair.

Furthermore, this unit also needs to be equipped with professional cooling. Professional water cooling that can meet the needs of servers will cost tens of thousands of euros.

Mercer silently did the math, comparing it to the large underground server he had seen at the Arasaka base—no, now it seemed to be a super-large-scale server.

Great, if you want to build a large server cluster like the one in the Arasaka underground base, to achieve that level of computing power.
Mercer would probably need to purchase about a hundred small server units, which would be enough.

Yes, thirty million euros.

This deepened Mercer's malice toward the Voodoo Gang's Poseidon server—even if it couldn't compare to the configuration of the Arasaka base, it was certainly worth at least ten million euros.

No, that's not right. This group can earn at least a million euros a month just by selling various chips, not to mention other illegal transactions such as extortion and online fraud.

So, their large server cluster might be even better than the Arasaka base from which Mercer escaped?
Moreover, the Voodoo Gang will likely continue to invest several million euros each year to upgrade and add servers.

In other words, their Poseidon server will actually be upgraded every year?
Mercer's desire intensified.

To rob now or to rob later, that is the question.

But no matter what, we'll have to take it sooner or later.

Giving that group of people such good stuff to break through the black wall is a complete waste, isn't it? With so much computing power, it would be enough for Qimingxing to start an autonomous driving car company and compete with Delaman.

Mercer sighed, estimated the size of his basement server room, roughly calculated the computing power he needed, and estimated his final requirements.

"We'll need at least ten enterprise-grade mini-servers to basically meet my needs, which is about three million euros."

Mercer did the math and realized that if he used 40% of the team's revenue to earn this money, it would mean he would have to earn more than ten million euros through commissions.

Ha! You old woman in biotechnology, please hurry up and start generating gold coins, okay?!
“I mean, generally speaking, we don’t need such a large server, do we?” Lucy said. “A server with a capacity of around one million euros would be enough for all of us hackers to use together.”

"Have you forgotten how I used Arasaka's servers?"

As soon as Mercer finished speaking, Lucy looked puzzled: "I don't know the details. You didn't explain them in detail either."

"When I have direct access to server computing power, my thinking speeds up significantly when I'm deep in cyberspace, and my mind becomes noticeably more active."

I suspect it might be related to my special talent.

After Mercer finished speaking, Lucy understood.

Most servers are primarily used to automatically run programs, store data, and maintain local area networks.

For hackers, the exploitation is often limited. At best, it can only slightly accelerate their thinking and allow them to use more programs more easily.

But for Mercer...
Lucy asked cautiously, "Could you tell me more about it? How did you feel?"

“Hmm,” Mercer thought for a moment and concluded, “It feels like I’ve become an AI, to put it bluntly. The more computing power I have, the more I resemble an AI. Think about what an AI can do, that’s what I can do.”

Lucy carefully observed his expression, but he remained frank and made no attempt to conceal anything: "When I was diving into Arasaka, my thinking speed likely increased to several dozen times the normal level."

It's not that I can think that fast—I mean, just the speed at which I process data.

At that time, processing data was more like an instinct for me, so I didn't need to think about it.

As for the speed of thinking, it was several times faster than usual. I don't have an exact number, but I feel that the speed of thinking was definitely faster than when I drove a Krenzikov in real life.

The amazing thing is, that speed didn't even cause my brain to overheat.

Lucy couldn't help but open her mouth slightly, but couldn't say a word because she couldn't understand.

"So I need computing power, the more the better. With that kind of computing power, whether it's studying or working online, it will be twice as effective for me."

Mercer paused for a moment, then continued, "And don't forget, I also have an AI to run. For AI, more computing power means a faster growth rate."

After hearing this, Lucy was silent for a moment, and finally said, "Mercer, are you planning to use only public funds for the construction of the base, or do you want to put in your own money as well?"

"I wanted to invest everything, because my prosthetic body modifications have reached this stage and I can't go any further for the time being."

Mercer said, "Aside from possibly installing a subcutaneous armor, I don't plan to install any other prosthetics for the time being."

“Then I’ll invest my share in the base too,” Lucy decided.

She looked at Mercer as if to object, but spoke first, "Do you want me to get some kind of prosthetic body?"

Mercer was speechless for a moment.

"So you want me to save this money? I'm a hacker, I don't need any weapons, and I need to use the server, so I should naturally contribute a penny."

Lucy said firmly, "It's settled then. From now on, I'll use all the money I earn to buy servers, unless there's something I really want or absolutely need to buy."

Seeing Mercer's speechless expression, she said seriously, "Use the money you saved for other things you need. Didn't you want to mess around with prosthetics, weapons, and other random things?"

Mercer could only nod in the end.

Seeing that he had agreed, Lucy smiled and said, "Okay, then." "Don't tell Rebecca and V," Mercer said seriously, looking at her. "They need to use the money on themselves so they can survive in future missions."

“Okay, I won’t say.” Lucy smiled, looking quite pleased. “I’ll just pay for it.”

"Why are you so happy to spend money on me? Be careful you don't end up losing both your money and your lover!" Mercer laughed as well.

"Then you've got both the woman and the money, haven't you?" she said with a playful smile, a hint of slyness in her expression.

Mercer reached out to pat her head, but Lucy took a step back and shook her head: "Do you know how annoying it is to have your head patted?"

"I know, you think I'm touching your head now?" Mercer retorted, then withdrew his hand and looked at the computer.

"Alright, I'll write two programs, and you can test them for me." Mercer prepared to get started, using the backdoor vulnerabilities hacked by Venus to write a few programs similar to those used by the NCPD.

“Okay.” Lucy sat down next to him.

In fact, there was no need to write any programs. Qimingxing had directly stolen the programs that the other party had already written. Mercer only needed to refactor and optimize these NCPD programs to turn them into his own programs.

The written program can be written into the artificial eye through the brain-computer interface, and when running, it directly connects to the NCPD's dedicated network line to call the NCPD's database through the network.

He first transmitted the program to his prosthetic eye via the brain-computer interface, then disconnected the wires, restarted the prosthetic eye with his eyes closed, and then turned his head to start the scanning program to look at Lucy.

Luxina Kushina

[Age: 16 years old]

Subordinate to: Commoners

Criminal record: None

[Wanted/Reward: None]

Seeing this sixteen-year-old, Mercer found it hard to stay calm.

"What are you laughing at? Send me one too." Lucy said, and sent herself a copy of the program from Mercer's computer.

After the program started, she glanced at Mercer and then let out a somewhat speechless laugh: "Eighteen years old, huh?"

"You can customize the displayed data and omit unnecessary information."

After saying that, Mercer ignored the conversation, turned around and continued programming on his laptop. He worked on it for less than ten minutes, then let out a long sigh of relief.

"Okay, I've created a built-in version of the program and loaded it into the brain-computer interface."

It not only includes this scanning program, but can also monitor NCPD calls at any time, connect to and control city cameras controlled by NCPD, view NCPD's real-time map data, dispatch status, and so on.

This version of the program is a high-end version for our own use only. Let me think…

Mercer had a sudden inspiration and said, "Let's call this software Watchdog."

"What a strange name!" Lucy muttered, but she wasn't surprised at all.

"Alright, hurry up and try it out, let's test it together to see if it works well."

Mercer smiled and told her to install it quickly, while he began testing the program.

Even in the Badlands, he could still connect to the NCPD system relatively stably. With a thought, a map of Night City appeared before Mercer's eyes, with blue dots representing the NCPD moving across the streets.

At the same time, he could see many green signal sources. After connecting to them, the image of the city's surveillance camera appeared in his mind's eye.

Mercer curiously controlled the camera, looking left and right at the street scene, and even zoomed in to scan a hoodlum smoking on the roadside.

The man's name, criminal record, and reward amount came into view. Not far from him, an NCPD car slowly passed by. The police officer inside glanced at the thug and then stepped on the gas and drove away without doing anything.

Mercer kept switching the perspective of the city's cameras, and although he was in Badlands, he easily saw the entire Night City through the cameras.

Except for many chaotic areas where public cameras have long been destroyed by thugs, Mercer can see almost everything happening in most areas.

Mercer also tested the traffic signal control system, changing a traffic light from red to green five seconds earlier.

Finally, Mercer listened to the NCPD's call for a while, and after listening to the messages constantly coming from the dispatch console, he closed the software with satisfaction.

"The software needs to be configured. It's okay for us hackers who have network access pods, but for someone like V who only has a brain-computer interface, I doubt he can transmit that much network data at once."

Lucy reminded her.

Mercer nodded and said, "We'll optimize it later. If you ask me, it's enough for them to be able to scan character information when looking at a map. They can just watch the other functions for fun."

We'll set all these features to be off by default, and then they can just turn on the features they need.

Lucy hummed in agreement, and then became engrossed in using Mercer's software to amuse herself with Night City's public security cameras.

It's quite amazing to be able to openly use public cameras to observe the city from thousands of miles away.

Mercer then took the program and made a video call to Old Wei.

He was sitting at the table, head down, busy at work, looking like he was repairing a used prosthetic body: "Why did you suddenly call me?"

“I’ve obtained the NCPD’s prosthetic eye scanning program. As agreed, I’ll sell this thing to you first.”

After Mercer finished speaking, Old Vie smiled and looked up: "Okay, send it over. I'll give you a cut for every serving I pack. But this stuff won't be too expensive for me. How about I sell it for 500 euros a serving?"

After Victor finished speaking, he paused and added, "Those who need this the most are actually the street thugs, who generally can't even pull out two coins from their pockets."

"You know the situation better than I do, so you're in charge."

After Mercer finished speaking, Victor nodded and said, "After all, no one knows when these programs will malfunction, and there's no after-sales service; it's all a one-off deal."

“Splitting it 50/50, Old Wei, we’ll make a little money if we can. I’m not really looking to make money this way,” Mercer said.

Victor smiled and said, "Okay, don't be fooled by the low price. If you ask me, I can easily sell dozens of copies a month, which would add up to tens of thousands of euros."

You add a security feature to the program, occasionally update it to disable the old version, and then charge a program update fee. That's what the Voodoo Gang loves to do.

It has to be the Voodoo Gang guys who know how to make money.

Mercer smiled and shook his head: "Forget it, if I were to do this specifically, I would have to set up a dedicated server to run the program on a local server. The Voodoo Gang guys have their own Poseidon, and I don't have the money to do this for the time being."

Just release it for sale. If the program malfunctions, it means the NCPD discovered the data anomaly and fixed the vulnerability. I don't cover updates.

“Okay, then that’s settled.” Victor nodded. This kind of backdoor program is like cheating in a game. It’s normal for the creator to run away after the program is blocked. People have this expectation when they buy it: it’s a one-time service.

But Mercer thought about it and sent Old Wei a higher version that he planned to use internally. However, before sending it, he cut down the software content and only kept the program for scanning the prosthetic eye. He figured Old Wei wouldn't need the rest.

“This is for your own use. It’s an internal version that I plan to use myself. It won’t break down, and I will maintain and update it regularly,” Mercer said.

Victor did not immediately accept the procedure, but said, "I'm a doctor, I don't need these."

"It's useful. No matter which customers come here, you only need to glance at them to know their names, what crimes they've committed, what gangs or organizations they belong to, and how many wanted posters they have. It can save you a lot of trouble."

Mercer said.

"You've really given the NCPD a complete black mark." Victor exclaimed in admiration, and without any formalities, accepted the procedure: "Okay, I'll do as you say."

After exchanging a few more polite words with Old Wei, Mercer hung up the phone.

Mercer stared at the software on the computer, pondered for a long time, and then an idea suddenly began to take shape in his mind.

If we only use these data permissions of NCPD to do some sneaky things, isn't it a bit of a waste?

Is it possible?
How can we do more with this access data?
Mercer was thinking when a key word suddenly popped into his mind: the word 'watchdog' that he had casually mentioned to Lucy earlier.

Yup!

Watch Dogs!
Upon considering the game's concept, Mercer suddenly had an inspiration.

Watch Dogs is a role-playing game with a hacker as the protagonist, and the game's background is actually built on a city management system called 'cTOS'!

In the game, the villainous corporation created the 'cTOS' city management system and introduced it into every facility and terminal electronic device in the city, secretly collecting data through these devices.

Finally, by integrating and analyzing this data, one can instantly learn a person's name, identity information, and even their home address and annual income with just a tap of a finger.

Furthermore, the villainous company in the game also obtained a lot of dirt and criminal evidence on many political figures and celebrities through this covert data collection and analysis.

And what Mercer is facing is a surveillance system exactly like the 'cTOS' system in the world of Watch Dogs, isn't it?
In this cyber world, all devices are connected to the internet, and everything is collecting user information.

Mercer has server access to the City Hall and NCPD, the two major city services, which means that most of Night City's user information is right in front of him!

All he needs to do is write software similar to the 'cTOS' system and make effective use of this data, and he can create a city intelligence system that only he can use.
Thinking of this, Mercer suddenly became a little excited—if he could write this program, perhaps he could just lie at home and completely grasp most of the secrets of Night City, controlling the city with a pair of invisible eyes!
He doesn't even need to buy large servers to store and collect data; he can simply use AI to feed on the city's servers!
All he needs to do is provide the AI ​​with a small server and computing power to support the program!

AI can even go further and use servers to collect and integrate secret intelligence that even the NCPD and the Night City Hall have failed to gather.
This suddenly made Mercer somewhat alert—as a company that provides similar services to cities, hadn't they noticed the enormous potential for exploitation that always existed within these city servers?
Suddenly, he thought of the 'blue-eyed' man in the game who seemed to be everywhere, always staring at the protagonist V.

No.
No! Perhaps this system has already been developed! There's a very high probability that the Night Corporation is already using a similar operating system to monitor every move in Night City!

Moreover, judging from the game's content, that blue-eyed man is very likely a wandering AI, or rather, an awakened advanced AI. To do this is by no means an impossible or difficult task!
Given the Night Corporation's financial resources and the city's status, they are very likely to do more than Mercer imagined!

Mercer's expression turned serious. After a moment of thought, he immediately entered a deep-dive state.

In cyberspace, he and Morning Star rewrote some more advanced, covert surveillance puppets and deployed them to the servers of the City Hall and NCPD.

The sole purpose of this puppet is to record and detect all networks connected to the server and to record the characteristics of all data transmissions that have occurred.

To avoid being discovered, Mercer didn't even plan to have the puppet transmit the recorded information back. Instead, he would store it on a local server and use AI to check it periodically to prevent the Night Corporation from tracing his tracks back to him.

Mercer even cautiously took out the Death Wish program that Bartmore had given him and hid it in the ICE program in his laptop.

As a program specifically designed to kill AI, Death Wish is so powerful that even the hidden, roaming AIs of the Night Corporation would be caught off guard if they suddenly encountered a program of this caliber!

After doing all this, Mercer fell into deep thought with a solemn expression, and finally made a decision.

He was determined to develop the 'cTOS' system, and the Night Corporation couldn't stop him. The benefits of this system were simply too great. If he could complete the software, Night City would have almost no secrets to Mercer.

If the Ye Corporation dares to come, he dares to find a way to kill all the AIs in their company—at worst, he can call in human soldiers if he can't beat them. What's shameful about flesh and blood not being able to beat AI?

And in order to ensure that someone can shake their hand.
Mercer hesitated for a moment before opening the little program that Spider-Murphy had left him, which he hadn't used in a long time.

The data inside had not been changed because Mercer had always kept the program offline by default until it was used.

And just after he connected the program to the network, a mysterious network channel quickly established a connection with his program.

Who else, besides Spider-Murphy, could connect to this program, or rather, this AI?
[Murphy the Spider: I almost thought you'd forgotten about me!]

[Mercer: Haven't you forgotten how secure your internet is? Don't let the Great Firewall or internet censors catch you!]

[Murphy the Spider: Please, I'm Murphy the Spider!]

Mercer: Where did you connect from? How did you manage to connect to the Night City network?

[Spider-Murphy: I'm using Ultra's Hong Kong server as a relay to send you this message. As for maintaining this transnational network, it's of course the internet police. Besides them, who else has the capability to maintain a stable transnational network?]

Mercer raised an eyebrow slightly; it seemed the network monitoring and Ultraman were secretly cooperating on a wide scale.
They even helped Otto maintain a stable cross-border network channel, which is no small matter that can be easily overlooked.

[Mercer: Since you're already here, could you tell me exactly how many AIs are in the Night Corporation, and how dangerous they are?]

[Spider Murphy: It's hard to say, but its idea is actually quite simple. As long as your starting point is to make this city better, then I think it might become your friend.]

Other information is a secret! It wouldn't be fun to tell you all these secrets, would it? A hacker's curiosity must be satisfied by themselves!

[Spider-Murphy: Stop asking me! I came here specifically to play with you as soon as I got the signal. It's no fun if you treat me like a tool.]

[Spider-Murphy: So? Ready to take my case?]

Mercer was a little disappointed. He actually wanted to ask Spider Murphy if Night Corporation had developed something similar to the 'cTOS' system, but it seemed that Spider Murphy was not going to tell him the truth. This was a way of silencing him in advance.

If he doesn't want to ask, he won't ask. As long as he knows that the Night Corporation is unlikely to immediately launch some kind of operation to deal with him after discovering him, then Mercer has nothing to worry about.

[Mercer: Let's do it! I'm just waiting patiently for news these next few days, nothing much to do, so I'm going to get myself a Stone Sword to drive around!]

[Spider-Murphy: Let me see. Hmm, there's good news and bad news.]

[Mercer: What do you mean?]

[Spider-Murphy: The good news is that our 'Night City Batman' has been caught, and his car is hidden in a container in a tunnel. That Stone-in-the-Arrow sports car is yours anytime.]

[Mercer: What's the bad news?]

[Spider-Murphy: He's still alive. Given your moral compass, if you wanted his sword in the stone, would you perhaps consider risking your life to save him?]

Mercer became interested.

[Mercer: These are clearly two pieces of good news. Tell me about them.]

[Spider Murphy: Hehe~ Looks like I guessed right. He's probably in the Vortex Gang. I bet he's being whipped like a top by Brick, the boss of the Vortex Gang.]

You'd better hurry, or those lunatics will probably turn him into a 'Dark Batman,' and then it'll be too late!
I'll send you the location and surveillance footage. Please don't disconnect the program from the internet; let me participate too. I'm so bored every day.

Mercer accepted the surveillance footage sent by Spider-Murphy.

The surveillance footage only shows a brief shot.

Judging from its location, it's probably the back gate of some factory.

Several members of the Vortex Gang dragged a middle-aged white man, dressed in a tattered suit, covered in blood, and seemingly unconscious, out of a van and into the factory.

Mercer paused the monitoring, zoomed in on the image, and looked at the man's face—unremarkable, ordinary, and plain.

[Mercer: Uh, this Batman isn't very good-looking, too ordinary. Where's the balaclava and the suit?]

[Spider-Murphy: Unfortunately, there are no superheroes in this world, and no Batman in Night City. He didn't even have time to enter his 'superhero mode' before he was ambushed, knocked unconscious, and taken away by the Vortex Gang on his way home from get off work.]

Spider-Murphy also sent Mercer another video.

The video shows a man driving his standard Mizutani Jun sports car on a highway leading out of the city. Before he even left the city, he was overtaken by several members of the Whirlpool Gang on motorcycles.

After a thrilling chase, his sports car was blown into the air by a wrist grenade, narrowly escaping being completely destroyed. He was then dragged out of the overturned car by the Vortex Gang members and thrown into a van.

[Mercer: He doesn't even have advanced prosthetics like Sionstein?]

Mercer was a little curious; with this level of skill, how did he manage to do superhero-like work in Night City before?

[Spider-Murphy: He tried it, but almost drove himself insane. Eventually, he had to dismantle the costume and replace it with a custom-made 'Batsuit' to continue his heroic deeds.]

Mercer's interest in this bootleg Batman from Night City only intensified.

Who would try to be a 'superhero' in Night City? And even nearly drive themselves insane?

And it's even more incredible that he seems to be a wealthy man.

Mercer: I'll go try to get him out.

According to the surveillance footage, this guy was arrested last night. Given the speed of the Vortex Gang, he might already be turned into a 'RoboCop' by those guys. Mercer needs to act quickly.

He looked at the factory address.

Whole food factory.

The Vortex Gang's stronghold.
This is a bit troublesome.

Mercer pondered for a while and decided that they couldn't rely on brute force.

The best course of action would be to sneak in, take the person away, and then slip away—these madmen of the Vortex Gang aren't afraid of the mentally ill; who knows how many of them have S.A.R.S. or some other strange treasure?
[Spider Murphy: Don't even think about diving deep and getting in through the web. Under the Voodoo Gang's tutelage, even these brain-dead Vortex gang members know how to protect their network security. They have their own dedicated internal network server.]

[Mercer: Okay, I won't disconnect from the internet. You keep an eye on things online for me while my best friend and I sneak in and try.]

[Spider Murphy: Aha~ No problem! I haven't had an event like this in ages, it's really something to miss! I knew you were the one to come!]

Mercer sent Murphy a smiley face, and then immediately contacted V and Rebecca.

He planned to set off with just the three of them.

After arriving and observing, if the rescue operation proves too difficult, he'll simply abandon the mission—he wouldn't risk his own people's lives.

Anyway, even if that 'Batman' dies, Mercer will still get his car. It's only because Mercer is kind enough that he's good enough; if it were someone else, they would probably just let him die.

Mercer sent messages to V and Rebecca, making it clear that this mission was not a commission, but something he wanted to do himself. He also made it clear that the rewards he would receive were uncertain, and that he would still be doing the job of stealing people from the vortex for his old lairs.

But both V and Rebecca gave him a positive answer immediately.

[V: You're coming to pick me up? I don't want to drive my beat-up car out on a mission; it'll be a disaster if it breaks down halfway.]

[Rebecca: Okay, okay! When do we leave?]

Neither of them even asked Mercer who he was going to save or why.

Mercer smirked, got up, put on his coat, and donned his mask.

"You have work to do again?" Lucy turned to look at him.

Mercer chuckled twice: "Yes!"

"Is it a commission or something else?" Lucy looked at him.

"Well, I guess it's a side quest. I'll just treat it as my personal hobby?" Mercer said in a way that Lucy didn't quite understand. Then, he went out excitedly and with light steps, as if he were going on a picnic.

Lucy shook her head, guessing it was probably something like rescuing Qiwei again. Watching his retreating figure, she raised her voice: "Be careful!"

"Don't worry, just wait for me to come back. I'll take you for a spin in my luxury car!" Mercer laughed and borrowed a Macintosh armored van from the camp, loaded it with Zosh shotguns, a heavy machine gun, and a drone, and then sped off.

(End of this chapter)