Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 73: Made a fortune, spent it all.

The following afternoon, Mercer took V to the stock exchange and withdrew all the funds originally intended for short selling. After settling the profits, they used all of the funds to buy up biotechnology stocks without adding any more leverage.

Then, he took V to the afterlife.

As usual, Mercer ordered a Coke and a whiskey at the bar. Instead of rushing to see Roger, he stayed with her at the bar and watched TV.

At 6:30 p.m., News Channel 54 began broadcasting a live press conference.

When Diana Kuno took the stage as a representative of biotechnology for an interview, V looked at Diana Kuno on the television screen. She appeared to have a serious expression, but her attire was impeccable. He couldn't help but let out a disdainful sneer.

"Look at this woman, anyone who didn't know better would think she really had nothing to do with this."

V gripped his wine glass with a hint of annoyance.

Mercer simply tucked the straw under his mask, sipped his cola, and calmly said, "This is Night City."

"Ha, well said." Claire wasn't too busy at the moment, and turned to watch TV with Mercer and V, remarking, "I remember when I was young, someone said that biotechnology was being used to poison the water in the Santo Domingo district."

Mercer remained silent because he knew that the cause of the water pollution in Santo Domingo was Arasaka's. It was Arasaka's factory that was secretly discharging toxic wastewater, resulting in the severe pollution of Santo Domingo's water resources.

But even the employees of Arasaka were completely unaware of all this, which shows just how little these companies treat people.

On the television screen, Diana Cuno was still talking animatedly.

"According to the company's internal investigation, we have identified the company executive who will be held responsible for this poisoning incident, and that is Dr. Joanna Koch."

Diana looked grief-stricken: "I am ashamed to say that she was not only my colleague, but also my student, and I was the person in charge of drug development technology in this incident."

Out of trust, I never imagined that she was using this method to test the drugs I was researching and developing.

When I found out that she was secretly plotting and had caused the employees to do such a thing.

My first instinct was to persuade her to turn herself in and actively compensate and apologize to the public and the victims.

What's both saddening and infuriating is that, upon realizing the company was about to launch an internal investigation, Joanna, fearing accountability, immediately fled.

Upon hearing this, V's expression became even more disdainful: "Escaped? I bet she's already dead."

Mercer didn't say anything, he just continued watching TV.

After a barrage of blame-shifting remarks, Diana finally revealed her true intentions to the camera, saying, "But fortunately, Joanna is unaware that we have actually developed an immune response against the virus in the residents of Yucca."

Mercer put down his cola and squinted at Diana on the television.

At this moment, the press conference, which was originally intended to apologize, seemed to suddenly change its tone and become a briefing on new drugs developed through biotechnology.

"This immune agent can not only cure the various toxins that Joanna released in Yucca Town, but also form antibodies in the human body, achieving permanent immunity to these viruses."

Although the cost is high, we promise that we will provide this vaccine free of charge to all residents of Yucca and will also compensate them.

A reporter, trying to sound like a straight man, asked, "Aren't you still using them to test drugs? What if the drugs have side effects?"

"We promise that if the medicine cannot solve the poisoning problem of the residents of Yucca, any resident who gets sick or dies due to side effects or the virus will receive a minimum of 200,000 euros in compensation from us!"
At the same time, we will do our utmost to track down Joanna Koch, who has already fled, and actively cooperate with Night City’s Biosafety Management Committee and the NCPD to conduct a thorough investigation of all those involved.

We promise to handle all involved employees transparently and openly under public scrutiny, and we will never let any criminal go unpunished.

The reporter then asked, "As the person in charge of drug development, are you really unaware of this matter?"

Diana Kuno looked sad: "Yes, in fact, until Joanna fled, she always insisted that she was conducting drug testing by recruiting 'legitimate volunteers' when faced with the company's internal investigation."

As someone solely responsible for the technical research and development, all I could see were the experimental data and results; I knew nothing about the volunteers she mentioned, or the drug's testing environment.

Claire couldn't stand it anymore, so she shook her head and went to mix drinks for the other customers.

V stared at the screen with disgust, saying, "Mercer, do you think anyone would believe such nonsense she's spouting?"

"Does it matter whether ordinary people believe it or not?" Mercer withdrew his gaze, shook his head, and said, "Her goal, or rather, the goal of biotechnology, has been achieved."

"What do you mean?" V didn't understand for a moment.

"The focus of this press conference was not an apology, nor compensation, nor explanation."

Mercer sighed, pointed to Diana who was currently talking eloquently about the data on the immunizing agent, and said, "The key point is the result of this experiment, the key point is that biotechnology has developed an immunizing agent."

"Holy crap!" V finally understood the key point and slammed his hand on the table, exclaiming, "Won't this send biotech stock prices soaring again?!"

“Yes.” Mercer said calmly, “It’s not just the stock price, but more importantly, she announced the news through News 54. I guess even the stock price of Military Science rose in response.”

V grumbled, "And she even became the only remaining drug developer for this immunotherapy?"

"Yes, I guess Diana will probably get a promotion and a raise next, as the project leader in cooperation with the military science and technology department, and will be fully responsible for the further development of this immunotherapy agent."

Mercer said.

V, puzzled, lowered her voice and whispered to him, "Can't the people at the military science institute see that this immunotherapy is a scam?"

"How could you lie? The test results for the immunotherapy are very good, aren't they? There's no such thing as a drug development that's 100% successful. Diana just needs to prove that her immunotherapy has a success rate."

After Mercer finished speaking, V frowned: "So now we can use the evidence we have to expose her to the Military Science Department?"

“I don’t think so.” Mercer tapped the bar lightly, his tone meaningful. “Diana knows we know this immunity agent is a ‘hoax,’ and we have a lot of related evidence. Would she be foolish enough to keep giving us leverage?”

“You mean…” V was somewhat surprised.

"If I'm not mistaken, she has most likely confessed to the military science department that the current immunizing agents cannot achieve full viral immunity."

However, Diana must have used other methods to persuade the military to continue investing in her new project, as for what that new project was.”

Mercer shook his head: "We'll have to wait a while to find out."

"Then what you want is out of the question? If she really secures her position, do you think we can make her obey us with what we have?" V asked, puzzled.

Mercer rested his chin on his hand and shook his head: "Of course not. But it doesn't matter. I guess she'll still obediently send the things over, but she'll most likely set an ambush for us when she does."

"Hmm," V thought carefully and finally guessed the reason: "That's right, she probably doesn't even know who is threatening her."

"It's hard to say, it depends on whether Wakako is willing to keep it a secret for us. But it doesn't matter, even if she knows our names, she won't dare to make the first move."

After Mercer finished speaking, he sneered and said, "If we can't wipe them all out, she'll never be able to eat or sleep properly again. We were able to break through the biotechnology company's security once without anyone noticing, so why can't we do it a second time?"
There's no such thing as a thousand days of guarding against a thief if you're already a thief. If she's not stupid, she'll understand that she only has one chance to betray us.

Before V could ask any more questions, Mercer waved his hand and said, "Alright, don't worry about it. Let's take it one step at a time. I won't let myself fall into a pit. Safety first."

"If you ask me, we should just strike first," V muttered.

Mercer put down his cup: "You'd better stop thinking about it. I'm going to go talk to Roger."

"Go ahead." V snorted and waved his hand, while Mercer slowly walked towards the back private room.

This time, Roger didn't sit in a fully enclosed private box, but in a booth at the very back of the hall. Generally speaking, as long as there are bodyguards watching at the door, there is no risk of the conversation being leaked.

Mercer walked to the door, and her bodyguard reached out to stop her: "Please wait a moment."

"No need, let him in."

Rogge's voice rang out.

Mercer went inside and took a look, then laughed.

"Mann? You guys have gotten in touch with Rogge?" Mercer looked at the burly Mann, Dorio, and Sasha, who was waving energetically at him, and his voice was somewhat teasing.

Mann smiled and said, "I guess so. I feel like I owe it all to you."

“Oh?” Mercer turned to look at Roger.

Roger calmly explained the reason: "These guys came to me and said that after listening to you, they felt that working for Faraday was a bit dangerous, so they wanted to take more work from me in the future."

I think you have a good eye for people, so I'll give it a try.

Mercer understood—Rog probably knew that he had chatted with Mann and the others at the bar for a while and even tried to recruit them.

Mercer looked around and sat down next to Sasha. Mainly, Mann and Dorio were sitting together, so the sofa in that area actually felt a bit crowded.

"So that's basically it. If you think you can handle it, then take it. If you can't, then I'll find A to solve it."

After Roger finished speaking, Mann and the others exchanged glances and nodded: "No problem, let's do it."

"I'll send you the mission details in a bit. Once you're ready, you can handle it yourselves."

After Roger finished speaking, Mann and the others stood up on their own initiative: "Want to have a couple of drinks later? It's been a while since we've seen any of you, A."

"I've been busy settling down and haven't had much time to myself for a while. Oh, and I also opened a shop. Weapon modification, prosthetic body modification, custom programs, all sorts of random stuff, you can come to me for that."

After Mercer finished speaking, Mann became interested: "Then let's have a good chat later."

“Okay.” Mercer nodded and watched them leave. Sasha even gave him a playful wink, giving off the vibe of the charming white cat in “Tom and Jerry” who had Tom completely captivated.

"Tsk, why do you flirt with every pretty girl?" Roger looked at him with some displeasure. She hated men like that the most; just looking at them made her feel like she was about to have PTSD.

"Isn't this them taking the initiative to greet me?" Mercer shrugged, then got straight to the point: "I want to know who commissioned us to steal biotechnology last time."

“Then you should go find Wakako.” Roger said irritably, “She’s the one who gave you the request, why do you keep coming to me for help?”

"Doesn't that make me trust you more?" Mercer laughed, leaning back casually on the sofa. "If you can, please also help me analyze who I should contact and who I should destroy if I want to sabotage the cooperation between biotechnology and military science."

"Damn it, do you think I'm some kind of charity?" Roger cursed, but then said directly, "But you haven't come to the wrong person. I do know a little bit about the situation."

"I knew I'd come to the right person." Mercer smirked.

Roger rolled his eyes: "Look at you, acting like a scoundrel, trying to cling to me, huh?"

"Hey, I already said, just give me a call if you need anything. This is called a mutually beneficial exchange of favors."

Mercer said with a smile.

After a moment of thought, Roger said directly, "Generally speaking, the person responsible for foreign cooperation and investment, and for risk assessment, is Howard, the investment director of the military technology company."

The person in charge of contacting the middleman this time was a senior agent named Anthony Gilchrist.

But ultimately, the final decision rests with the CEO of the military science department.

She lit a cigarette and analyzed for Mercer: "Military Science is a disciplined, semi-military management company. If you want to get rid of someone, you don't need to find their competitors, but rather find a senior agent who is professionally responsible for company discipline."

Let me think... The best approach would be to contact someone in their operations department.

Roger shrugged and said, "Those agents conduct espionage and sabotage activities abroad, and are responsible for discipline and investigation within the company. If anything major happens within the company, these agents have channels to report directly to the CEO."

"I understand. It's similar to Arasaka's counterintelligence department. It can investigate itself as well as outsiders, and it can arrest people beyond its own level in critical moments."

After Mercer finished speaking, Roger nodded and said, "A pack of hounds who rose to power by stepping on corpses. As long as you can let them smell blood, I bet some of them will be bold enough to help you cause trouble."

"Recommend one?" Mercer looked at her with a smile. Even though he was wearing a mask, Roger could tell that the kid's expression was definitely smug.

"Wait, I need to think about it." Roger said irritably, then added, "I've helped you so many times, shouldn't you do me something in return?"

“Hey, don’t tell me you didn’t make money off this insider information on biotechnology,” Mercer said.

Roger curled his lip: "Let's keep things separate. Didn't I also introduce you to reliable investment managers and institutions?"

"Then tell me, what do you want?" Mercer said decisively.

"Have you found a buyer for the batch of information you gave me?" Roger asked.

“Wakako took a liking to a few technical data points, which I’ve already sold for a profit of over 300,000 euros. She said she hasn’t found a buyer for the rest yet,” Mercer answered truthfully.

Rogge nodded and said, "I'll take the rest. It's a fixed price of two million euros. If you're willing to bring out all the inside information you've been holding onto, the really valuable stuff, I can add a little more for you."

Mercer fell into deep thought, but after only a moment's consideration, he nodded and said, "No problem, but I'm planning to keep some insider information that could cause biotech stock prices to plummet so I can make a quick buck from the stock market later."

"I'll contact you in advance. I'll definitely get a share of this stuff. And let me tell you the truth, do you think manipulating a company's stock price is enough just by exposing a few scandals in the news?"

To put it bluntly, you still need some powerful allies to help you manipulate the stock market and make money together.

"Rogge said."

Mercer laughed and said directly, "No problem, one price, three million euros, I'll buy it out for you."

The biotechnology side stole a lot of data, but most of it was actually useless to Mercer and only meaningful to the biotechnology competitors.

After all, this is not the headquarters of the biotechnology company, but only a regional branch. Most of the data consists of drug development and experimental records. The most valuable information is actually some classified intelligence, but no one knows which piece of intelligence is the most valuable.

Being able to dump this huge burden and find a seller is a great thing for Mercer—he was so poor he even sold the Sword in the Stone, so these three million euros are a real lifesaver.

“I need some medium to small-sized mechanical synthesis equipment later. Can you get your hands on these things?” Mercer suddenly asked.

Roger glanced at him: "How big a deal are you planning to make?"

"At least it can meet my needs for researching and developing prosthetic equipment on my own," Mercer said honestly.

“That’s a whole different story. Even high-end small equipment costs millions of euros, not to mention that all kinds of raw materials are tightly controlled. I think that since you’re in Dogtown, it would be more convenient to find a local to smuggle it over.”

After Roger finished speaking, Mercer nodded and stopped pressuring him. It seemed that this kind of thing would have to be done slowly. Smuggling such large equipment from Dogtown and negotiating cooperation with Colonel Hansen was not an easy task.

“Okay, then. Do you want the data on a physical hard drive or will you receive it from the internet?” Mercer asked.

"You're a professional hacker, and you're asking me this kind of question?" Roger chuckled.

“It’s precisely because it’s so professional that I’m not worried about doing things online.” Mercer said, then added, “I’ll have V send you a hard drive tomorrow.”

“Alright, cash on delivery.” After saying that, Roger’s expression suddenly turned serious: “I have some bad news for you.”

“Speak,” Mercer said, sitting up.

"The people from Arasaka have their eyes on you—or rather, you and the kids around you. You stole more than one Relic chip, didn't you?"

After Roger finished speaking, Mercer did not reply immediately, but simply gazed at her, everything unspoken.

Seeing this, Roger could only shake his head and say, "Alright, stop staring at me like that. I can only tell you that even my superiors have started asking me to look for people in Night City. I think there must be other middlemen who have received similar messages."

Do you know how much you're worth in Arasaka?

Mercer seemed quite interested in this: "How much?"

"You are the most wanted criminal, worth ten million euros."

Upon hearing this, Mercer gasped: "Ten million?"

"Capturing you alive is worth ten million euros, and your corpse is worth five million euros. If even the Relic chip can be recycled, a single Relic chip, good or bad, is worth one million euros."
Tell me honestly, did you really just steal something and run away, and didn't do anything else serious?

Roger looked at him seriously, his words carrying a hint of warning: "I don't want to find out one day that you've been setting me up."

Mercer raised his hand and swore, "Dude, I really didn't rip you off. As for why I was offered such a high price..."

He thought for a moment, then finally sneered and said, "Think about it, Otto, Bartmos, which of these hackers caused less than ten million euros of damage while they were alive?"
My value will only increase because I also have connections with AIs like Ultraman. Capturing me would be a win-win situation.

After Mercer finished speaking, he suddenly got a little angry: "Wait a minute, I'm only worth ten million euros? How much are the others worth, even though they're wanted by the police?"

“It ranges from one million to five hundred thousand.” Roger looked at him with amusement: “This is the price of the internal bounty, which is already very good. Do you know how much Barthemos was worth back then?”
Even with all the companies offering a joint bounty, his head would only be worth 30 million euros. Now, Arasaka alone is willing to offer 10 million euros for you, which is quite a lot.

Seeing his reaction, Roger wasn't too worried that he was being scammed. Instead, he joked, "If the price were any higher, even I might not be able to resist the temptation, and then you'd be in big trouble."

Mercer was still a little dissatisfied. Thinking about it carefully, this amount of money couldn't even buy a supercar like the Laker Sword. His life was not even worth as much as a supercar.

Damn it, sooner or later these idiots from Arasaka will see just how much Mercer's bounty is really worth.

"You need to be careful and don't show your face casually. I suggest you get plastic surgery if you can't handle it."

Roger looked him up and down: "You haven't been stupid enough to take off your mask and wander around like that, have you?"

“No, but quite a few people in Adcardo have seen me, but very few in the city, only a handful,” Mercer said.

Rogge pondered for a moment and said, "That's not very safe either. Although the vast majority of Adka people won't betray you, you still have to be careful of traitors."

“I understand.” Mercer sighed. “But I guess it was only a matter of time. After all, it’s impossible for a hacker like me not to be famous. Even without Arasaka, other companies would have their eyes on me because of my abilities.”

“Then you’ll have to figure out how to hide yourself well; just hiding in Dogtown won’t do,” Roger said. Mercer was silent for a moment, then laughed, “I know, there’ll always be a way.”

"Alright, that's all. I'll find the military science personnel you need who can help you get things done, and I'll let you know if I find a suitable one."

As Roger spoke, he began to see the guests off.

Mercer stood up, thought for a moment, and said, "I know a woman named Meredith Stott. I looked her up online, and she's currently the deputy director of military operations. Is that enough?"

"This position isn't low, do you think she's a good candidate?" Roger raised an eyebrow.

"Could you help me see if she's any good? She's a very ambitious woman, bold, and ruthless. After all, what I'm about to do is something a coward wouldn't dare to do."

After Mercer finished speaking, Roger nodded and said, "I'll look into it for you."

“Thanks, Roger.” Mercer gave her a thumbs up and said somewhat exaggeratedly, “You’re the best middleman in Night City.”

"Go to hell, A, don't disgust me. When I need you to do something, don't you dare shirk your responsibilities and let me down."

Roger laughed and cursed as he spoke.

"I'll be there whenever you call." Mo Se waved his hand dismissively and turned to leave.

But after leaving the private room, a slightly solemn expression appeared on his face—Arasaka's pursuers were finally coming.

Considering that he hasn't exactly kept a low profile along the way, some necessary preparations need to be put on the agenda as soon as possible.

However, Mercer did not intend to quietly go into hiding. In his view, evading Arasaka's pursuit was a last resort. The best way was to solve the problem at its root.

The key to solving the problem undoubtedly lies with Arasaka Yorinobu. As long as they can meet with him, successfully kill Arasaka Saburo, and help Arasaka Yorinobu rise to power, then Mercer's wanted status will no longer be a problem.

Furthermore, it is very likely that you will gain a very powerful ally.

This matter sounds simple, but in reality, it requires the right timing, location, and people. Mercer doesn't intend to urge Rogge. In fact, even if he met with Arasaka Yoriyuki now, there would be very little he could do.

While pondering this, Mann and the others returned to the bar, where they found Mann and the others already engaged in a lively conversation with V.

"Is the Sinweistein really that good? Looks like I need to start saving money soon." Mann was discussing the Sinweistein with V at that moment.

“I don’t recommend that you install the S.A.S.A.S. directly.” Mercer’s voice made Mann and the others turn their heads.

As Mercer sat down, he looked Mann up and down and said, "These military cybernetic devices on you are all old stuff. Putting them on S.A.S.S.S.S.S.S.S.S.S.S.S., not to mention whether the incompatibility of the operating system will cause serious neurological reactions."

"The rest of your body can't withstand much acceleration."

Mann sighed upon hearing this and said, "I know, I'm already considering whether I should replace all the prosthetics on my body."

"Don't buy those second-hand, pieced-together items. Someone like you who doesn't know much about prosthetics might not know how many pitfalls are hidden in these prosthetics. I suggest you find a reliable prosthetics doctor for advice."

After Mercer finished speaking, Mann remained silent, but Dorio, who was beside him, sighed: "A, we don't have your kind of ability, where each person can get tens of thousands of euros from a single deal."

After she finished speaking, Mercer glanced at V, who chuckled and raised an eyebrow at Mercer—if she wasn't allowed to show off, what else could she say to people at the bar!

“We usually only take on deals worth tens of thousands of euros, at most a hundred thousand euros. After splitting the money and deducting task expenses, even if it's just three people splitting it, it's often not enough.”

As Mann spoke, he looked at Mercer with some envy and took the initiative to show goodwill, saying, "So if you need any help from your brother, just let me know."

“Okay, but high-paying jobs are also high-risk. Don’t blame me for ruining your life.” Mercer agreed without hesitation.

"Thanks, A. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Mann seemed a little excited—well, even among mercenaries, there are differences.

He's at best a goalkeeper in the afterlife, but Mercer is truly a big brother figure. V just bragged to him about Mercer's amazing feats, like providing free accommodation for everyone and even getting platinum memberships for the trauma group.
Mann was starting to regret whether he had been ungrateful for rejecting Mercer.

Fortunately, Mercer didn't seem to hold a grudge at all and was still very enthusiastic towards them. This relieved Mann and made him think that Mercer was indeed a magnanimous and generous person.

For a moment, the two chatted like brothers, while V couldn't help but suppress his laughter.

Mann is a man in his thirties, and he's on friendly terms with V? No, you should say Mann is almost calling Mercer "big brother."

The thought of this made V feel a little uneasy, but the thought that Rebecca had probably laughed at her in the same way before made her a little angry.

Mercer didn't talk to them for long. After saying a few words, he took V and said goodbye to them before leaving.

But as he was leaving, Mercer glanced at Sasha and hesitated for a moment. Although it was only a brief gesture, it alerted V, who had a keen sense of smell, to something amiss.

The two walked out the door and got into Mercer's new car.

Mercer's current ride is a brand new bulletproof Mizutani Jun, a modified 'Wild Wolf' model that's more fashionable among the wanderers than the previous one. It's more powerful and the all-black color scheme looks cooler and more high-end.

Mercer had already disposed of all his previous cars through the old captain. At the same time, he also ordered a batch of modified cars from the old captain, but the modifications were not yet completed at the old captain's place.

As soon as Mercer stepped on the gas, V couldn't help but ask, "Are you interested in that Sasha?"

"Huh?" Mercer was taken aback. He casually took off his mask and placed it on the center console, then turned to look at her: "I admit, I like pretty younger sisters, but you don't have to be like this, do you?"

“Damn, that look you gave her before you left was definitely suspicious. If you didn’t like her, then you were hiding something,” V said confidently.

Her beastly intuition is truly bizarre.

Mercer clicked his tongue in amazement and said, "You really do have some skills. I won't hide it from you, I do know a bit about her, but since I found out through my special intelligence network, it's not easy to say."

"Your special intelligence network is really something else. It's like you've seen all our resumes before even meeting us; you've figured us out inside and out."

V complained, also finding Mercer's actions in this regard rather unbelievable.

"Hmm, V, we're on the same page. Give me some advice."

Mercer decided to discuss it with V and told her about Sasha: "As far as I know, Sasha's mother died from the side effects of 'Safety Ring,' an advanced painkiller developed through biotechnology."

"Wait a minute? Damn, it's still biotechnology scandals?" V was shocked: "Just how many outrageous things have these idiots done?"

Mercer sighed: "In short, Sasha, out of good intentions, painstakingly saved up money to buy 'Safety Relief,' an expensive painkiller that had just been launched by biotechnology for her mother who had just undergone surgery."

"So, her mother died from the side effects? Did she...did she know that her mother's death was due to the side effects of the medication?" V's eyes showed a hint of pity.

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m so conflicted,” Mercer said.

V then asked, "So what are you worried about?"

"On the one hand, I was thinking that perhaps it would be better for her to keep this a secret, at least so that she wouldn't feel that she was the one who killed her mother."

Mercer said, "On the other hand, I don't know how I know about her family situation, and I'm also worried that she might be emotionally affected."

What if she feels she has to pay for her crimes with blood and fights biotechnology to the death? Wouldn't that kill her?

V fell silent for a moment, feeling that this was indeed a difficult thing to say.

Frustrated, she scratched her head and finally said resentfully, "Well, I don't know either. You figure it out yourself. Damn it, how many disgusting things have these biotech people done?"

"Human experimentation, illegal human modification, large-scale poisoning, illegally adding chemicals to food, secretly modifying dangerous animals and then releasing them back into the wild to harm people."

After Mercer finished recounting his experiences in great detail, V fell silent, sulking for a while before turning to look at him: "Mercer, tell me, how can we make biotechnology companies pay the price?"

Through Diana's case, she realized that simply exposing some scandals and revealing some dirty secrets could not cause any real damage to such a company.

A group of ambitious high-level employees have died, and even more people will do similar dirty work in biotechnology in order to get promoted and earn more money. V doesn't know how to completely stop this cycle.

"Aren't we working on it little by little?" He smiled, turned to V and said gently, "Sooner or later, we will do it and send these heartless bastards to hell."

“Hmm.” V turned her head away awkwardly. “Don’t look at me like that.”

"Is it really necessary? Haven't you gotten used to it yet?" Mercer retorted.

"Damn, if Lucy stared at you like that and said those things to you, would you feel good?" V said.

"Actually, it's alright." Mercer said honestly, and Lucy had said the same thing to him before.

"My problem?" V fell into self-doubt.

"Your question."

After Mercer finished speaking, a long silence fell over the car.

Two days later, the Spark team reunited and held their first 'family meeting' in the underground base.

In the living room, the television volume was turned down to the lowest setting. Mercer, with a smile on his face, sat at the head of the dining table, which was being used as a conference table. He coughed lightly and then spoke.

"This meeting was all about distributing money."

As soon as he finished speaking, Pila let out an excited shout and clapped his hands with great enthusiasm.

Rebecca sat next to Pila, looking at Mercer with excitement despite her disdain for his embarrassment.

Xingzi, who had no money to give, sat obediently next to her and was clapping happily with Pila. She looked more excited than Qiwei, who was sitting at the very end with a smile on her face.

V gave a perfunctory clap, then stared at him excitedly: "Quick, tell me, how much money did we make this time?"

"Not much, just 728 million euros." Mercer smiled and placed his hands in front of him.

The moment the number was announced, everyone fell silent for a moment, as if they were going over the number in their minds.

Then came a series of delighted cheers.

Pila's eyes lit up as he drifted into a daydream—if all this money were his, he could probably die in Genting Highlands forever and never have to come out again. Wow, this is like a dream!
V gasped, leaning back in his chair: "Holy crap... I'm going to be financially free!"

"Freedom my ass, dream on." Mercer rolled his eyes, then chuckled and said, "Alright, enough talk, let's settle the score!"

"First of all, the three million euros that Rogge received for selling intelligence is the remaining payment for the previous biotechnology commission, and it will be split according to the previous ratio."

40% is taken by the team, and of the remaining 60%, V and I each take 30%, and the four remaining attendees each take 10%.

Mercer paused, then continued without giving them time to calculate, "The remaining 428 million euros came from the income from side jobs that V, Rebecca, and I did."

"I mortgaged the Sword in the Stone to the old captain and then made a fortune in the stock market, so I plan to take a 20% cut from my side jobs."

As soon as he finished speaking, V and Rebecca exchanged a glance, and then V spoke up, "Mercer, we've thought about it, and we've decided to calculate the amount based on the team's commission."

Before Mercer could resolve the issue, V said seriously, "Actually, everyone can see that the money spent on this base, inside and out, is definitely not enough from the team's funds alone. You must have personally contributed a lot."

Since we are a team, there's no reason why you should be the one to pay for the subsidies.

So, I won't interfere with what happens after that, but right now the team is in the early stages of development, and there are many places that need money, so let's just take 40%.

Mercer couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this: "Are you sure? That's 20% of four million euros."

"Damn it! Do you think I can't do math? Fine, it's settled then. After deducting this 40%, Rebecca and I will each take 20% of the remaining amount." V glared at him.

Rebecca smiled and said, "But you said we should treat the team like a family, Mercer. We've already received a lot of money."

"Okay, then we'll go with your algorithm."

Mercer quickly went through the ledger in his mind and then came up with the figure for the share.

First, regarding the 428 million euros, after deducting 171 million euros from the team's funds, the remaining 257 million euros will be split between Mercer (60%) and the two of them (20%).

In the end, Mercer took 155 million euros, while Rebecca and V each took 50 euros.

The three million euros earned from Rogge were considered the final payment for the biotechnology commission. Following the previous distribution, after deducting 120 million euros for team funds, Mercer and V each received 30%, and the remaining members each received 10%.

"Well, that means that V's cut is 1.04 million euros and Rebecca's is 680,000 euros."

Upon hearing this, V clutched her heart, leaned back in her chair, and drifted off into a daze, seemingly too weak to even speak.

Rebecca jumped up, laughing and saying, "Six hundred and eighty thousand euros? I never thought I'd see so much money in my life!"

"As for the remaining portion, Pila, Qiwei, and Lucy, each of you will only receive 180,000 euros."

As soon as Mercer finished speaking, Pila jumped up and hugged Rebecca. The two siblings, who hadn't fought in a long time, just stood there with their arms around each other and started making strange noises.

Qiwei and Lucy exchanged a glance, neither of them seeming particularly excited.
Qiwei didn't really feel the weight of the money yet, while Lucy genuinely had little interest in it. Compared to the 300,000 euro income, she was more concerned about whether Mercer's money was enough.

Lucy did the math, and then her brow furrowed slightly.

The person who received the most benefits was, of course, Mercer.

He not only suddenly gained 2.9 million in team funds, but also received a personal bonus of nearly 2 million euros.

Lucy only needed to calculate the cost of setting up the server and the equipment to know that the money was definitely not enough for Mercer to cause trouble.

Seeing everyone's excited atmosphere, Lucy ultimately said nothing, silently thinking that if she didn't need to spend money, she might as well use this money to buy Mercer the equipment he wanted.

"Alright, that's the end of the money distribution. For the next few days, those who want to upgrade their cybernetic bodies can do so, and those who want to go shopping can go shopping. Meeting adjourned."

After transferring the money, Mercer stood up gracefully.

Pila immediately raised her hand and said, "I request permission to go out and have some fun!"

"Don't show off and get shot in the end. My suggestion is, why don't you all go together?"

After Mercer finished speaking, Rebecca smiled and put her arm around his: "How can we leave the boss behind and go celebrate by ourselves?"

"I'm planning to..." Mercer hadn't finished speaking when V, smiling, put her arm around his shoulder and leaned in, "Stop talking nonsense, I'm treating you to real meat, wanna come?"

After hesitating for only 0.5 seconds, Mercer nodded decisively: "Eat."

"Damn, I knew you loved this. Haha, let's go! I've struck it rich today, everything's on me, Sister V!"

V waved her hand generously and picked up Xingzi as she passed by, saying, "Come on over, I'll take you to buy two more pretty outfits today!"

"Sister V! You're so kind~" Xingzi's sweet words were so irresistible that V couldn't stop smiling.

The group drove off in a large group to celebrate, partying from dinner until late at night before reluctantly heading home to rest.

For the next few days, everyone was completely absorbed in the pleasure of unrestrained consumption.

Every day at dinner at home, everyone discusses where they went and what they did that day, what they bought, and shows off their newly installed prosthetic bodies, new cars, and so on. In short, they all exude the joy of having made a fortune.

On the third night, Mercer secretly knocked on V's door.

"What?" She peeked out from behind the door with wary eyes, looking at Mercer, who was only dressed in black, with only his head and half of his fair shoulder showing.

"Um, V, that..."

Mercer looked a little embarrassed.

V chuckled, her expression inexplicably smug and alluring: "Want to come in and sit for a bit? No way! You'd better go find Rebecca or Lucy."

"No, why would I go in? I've seen you before." Mercer looked puzzled.

V clicked his tongue, his expression immediately turning hostile: "Then spit it out!"

"Uh..." Mercer stammered again, finally managing an awkward laugh, his voice sounding strangely weak: "I wanted to ask you... do you still have money?"

V's eyes widened slowly, and she suddenly flung open the door, not even caring that she was only wearing a bath towel.

"What do you mean?" She swallowed hard.

Mercer turned his head guiltily, looking at the corridor lights: "There are still a few small pieces of equipment that will cost a lot of money."

"No! I'm asking you, where's your money?" She placed a hand on Mercer's shoulder, her arm, which was usually trembling even when she was cutting through iron with the mantis knife, was shaking slightly.

V stared into Mercer's eyes, giving him a 'you're fucking kidding me' look: "Where are those five million euros you have in your hands?!"

We've even paid you back all the money we owed you. I gave you 400,000 euros, and Rebecca and Qiwei together gave you 200,000 euros.
You must have close to six million euros in savings, right? Where is that money?!

“The money’s all gone.” Mercer coughed and turned his face away.

"All spent!!?" V screamed like a groundhog.

In an instant, a series of footsteps could be faintly heard in the once quiet corridor—the team members in the dormitory had obviously heard V's unusual shout.

Ok
Now it looks like
Another family meeting is needed.

(End of this chapter)