"The Arasaka people are definitely mainly after us, you can survive no matter where you run."
Mercer said weakly, and Sakata Yu saw that Mercer still needed a robot without a weapon to support him and couldn't even hold the gun in his hand steadily...
This made Sakata Yu's breathing immediately become heavy.
In just the blink of an eye, Sakata Yu made a decision in his heart. Run away? And then wait for Arasaka's pursuit? No, he wanted to climb to the top of Arasaka, no matter the cost!
As long as he could catch Mercer, he would definitely be able to—he tried to fiercely swing the Single Molecule Line in his hand, but the Single Molecule Line in his hand felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.
He suddenly widened his eyes, the red warning in his prosthetic eye almost drowning his entire vision.
"No... no!"
He just stammered out a couple of sounds that were like a gasp of shock or a scream, and then, he fell to the ground stiff as a board.
When Mercer passed by his kneeling body, his brain was already on fire, like a kneeling human torch.
"I gave you a chance, more than once, child."
Mercer's voice made him let out a piercing scream even in the last moments of his life.
But Mercer just walked to the room of the last remaining person, the little girl hacker who was still in the room.
He got her name clearly from memory, and he also remembered this little girl's resume from the files scraped off the server.
"Li Yi, do you want to go? Let's leave together."
After a brief silence in the room, the child's voice sounded.
"Where can we go?" Her voice trembled in the room.
"No matter where, as long as we are moving forward, it's all in the direction of freedom." Mercer's voice was gentle.
"Does freedom still exist in this world?" Li Yi's voice carried a hint of sobbing.
"Freedom is not in this world, but in your heart, child." Mercer's tone grew even softer: "Let's go, the world outside is vast, and everyone can find their own place to belong."
"...Freedom."
Li Yi's voice inexplicably calmed down, and then, a sound of inhalation first came from the room: "Mercer, thank you... really, thank you."
Then, suddenly there was a subtle, fragmented sound of the Single Molecule Line being pulled out.
Mercer frowned slightly, instinctively placing his hand on the door handle, a door he had already unlocked in the server.
In fact, he could open it with a little force, but after hesitating for a moment, he chose to just wait quietly.
After a few seconds, the door opened, and a small white hand held out a little wind chime.
"Send it to the winds of freedom; it is Shadow Bear's dream... as for my dream, my freedom..."
Mercer took the wind chime from her hand.
Then, a sound of something slicing through the air came from the room, followed by the sound of something heavy falling, something crashing against the door, accompanied by the sound of water and the girl's indistinct moaning, as if it was leaking air.
"I've finally... felt... freedom."
Her weak voice finally drowned in that seemingly never-ending and annoying ventilation fan in the room.
"May your soul rest in peace."
Mercer clenched the wind chime in his hand, then turned and left, the robot helping him into the elevator as he merely pressed the button for the first floor with a calm expression.
In this world of despair, having the right to choose how to die is also a manifestation of a person's freedom.
Perhaps he could have saved her, perhaps he could have enlightened her, but would that have been robbing her of her freedom of choice?
Wanting to encourage her to overcome all difficulties, to endure all torments, isn't that just imposing one's will upon another's life, an act of self-satisfying charity?
Mercer always felt that he pondered for a long time in that moment, feeling confused for the first time about whether what he had done was right or wrong.
But when the elevator reached the first floor, Mercer immediately stepped forward and sent a command for the robots originally stationed in Director Tanino and Secretary Inoue's rooms to return to their original positions.
Then he set all the security devices in Director Tanino's room to automatically execute an electromagnetic short-circuit program.
He wanted to create an illusion that Secretary Inoue had resolved the robot security, killed Director Tanino, and then escaped.
The concerned greeting from those little hackers rang in his ears once again, and he simply replied to them as he headed towards the warehouse where the hovercar was docked.
But the bodies he encountered along the way made him unable to resist feeling a bit nauseated.
Especially the smell of burnt flesh... he guessed he wouldn't be eating barbecue for a while.
In cyberspace, seeing this group of corpses was as irrelevant to him as NPCs in a game, killing was just a matter of tapping on the keyboard.
But back in reality, looking at the bodies scattered on the ground, an uncontrollable sense of guilt and horror emerged within him.
He laughed at himself, thinking it was a bit exaggerated when he saw Kyoko Lucy and the others with pale faces earlier, but when it was his turn... to be honest, he almost threw up.
What kind of ruthless people are those decisive protagonists in novels, he thought, considering himself to be highly adaptable, thick-skinned, and carefree.
But now he realized, he probably still had a long way to go to fully adapt to the cyberpunk world.
Concerning life and death, justice, and the path he wanted to take...
He actually needs some peaceful time to digest, reflect, and find the answers.
But for now, he must bear all this, and rise for the sake of these little ones, a big brother has to act like a big brother.
"Mercer... Mercer!?"
Lucy, who stood by the hovercar with a Kenshin pistol in her hands and in a vigilant posture, saw Mercer staggering from afar.
Her expression turned tense instantly, and without thinking too much, she ran to him.
Tetsuya Daichi held back Leon and Kyoko, who were also planning to go over, with a look that said, "You know what to do," but his gaze at Mercer was equally filled with worry.
Lucy instinctively supported Mercer, looking at his pale face: "Are you okay?"
"My brain is a bit foggy... get me a Relic Chip, I haven't told you all yet, I've already cracked the program inside.
In a moment, I'll do a flash for you, and afterward, the chip can always stay in place; it can actively initiate neural repairs and passively activate to save your life upon the host's death."
Mercer smiled but did not refuse her help, and with her assistance, he walked a bit faster.
Honestly, she's quite small, but her strength isn't bad.
"Enough, leave the flash for later, you need to rest first..."
Lucy said, but Mercer shook his head.
"No, I still have to drive. I'm just feeling a bit rough, but I'm nowhere near being a patient. A couple of days' rest will have me back in high spirits."
Mercer said, refusing Lucy's suggestion for him to rest at the back, he took over a chip from the smart Kyoko, who, after hearing him speak, immediately opened the box containing the Relic Chip.
Then he directly inserted the chip into his head, quickly clearing out the Soulkiller with the program given by the Ultraman.
After that, he activated the neural repair function built into the chip, opened the hovercar cockpit door, and climbed in, connecting his personal link to the car system.
Only then did he take a deep breath, leaning back in the seat, watching as the whole vehicle passed the verification.
"Hurry and sit down; we're about to head off. Remember to watch our guest, don't let him wake up halfway. He has to sleep until the terminal station."
Lucy pressed her lips tightly looking at him, but ultimately nodded firmly before returning to the passenger compartment.
After closing the door, she also slightly pushed aside the unconscious Secretary Inoue on the ground, who was somewhat blocking the way.
Then the hovercar engine began to roar.
Due to the structure of the hovercar, each of them could only see one another, the cockpit obscured by metal, they could only hear Mercer's voice through the car audio system.
"Don't be so sullen... This is the taste of freedom that many have dreamed of! Get ready, buckle up! We're about to take off!"
"Destination, Night City!"