Actually, Mercer's first reaction was to see her fight first — to get a sense of V's real combat power today.
But when he turned on his prosthetic eye and scanned V, he suddenly found himself at a loss for words.
First, there's a pair of off-brand prosthetic eyes, hmm, to be exact, it's old military science equipment from ten years ago, not sure where she scavenged them from.
Then there's the Pain Editor, which is basically standard for most mercenaries, as it reduces the sensation of pain during combat and maintains combat readiness.
But as Mercer looked her over, this too seemed to be old tech from biotech companies about six or seven years ago.
Other than that...
She only had a pistol.
How should I put it? It has a certain retro aesthetic — back in the early 21st century, when Johnny Silverhand was still a band's guitarist, there was a legendary mercenary, named Morgan Black Hand.
Morgan Black Hand was a staunch physical warrior, believing that as long as he had well-honed muscles and a smart mind, along with handy weapons, he could face any enemy.
And judging by his record, Morgan Black Hand certainly lived up to that belief. He not only made a name for himself in the early 21st century but at one point became the top mercenary for military tech.
Moreover, he was the lifelong enemy of the mechanically-obsessed hulk, Adam's Hammer.
And V...
Well, it would be great if she was that impressive.
Mercer just watched as V and those mercenaries shouted and were about to duel outside the bar, sighed, and stepped forward.
"V, my time is precious..."
V heard Mercer, turned her head to glance at him, then looked at the group of mercenaries, pointing a finger at the biggest one, still looking fierce:
"Big guy, I'll come find you when I'm done, then you'll see what I'm made of!"
The big mercenary sneered: "Don't worry, I'll make sure you're left with just a spine before I chuck you into the trash heap."
V made a neck-slashing gesture at the big mercenary, then casually turned to size up Mercer.
"You're Client A?" She said, and Mercer just nodded and turned to walk toward the bar counter.
V pursed her lips, but remembering her bank account, she eagerly followed. As she reached the bar, she heard a woman chuckling.
"Mercer, is this the numskull you brought in? Impressive, it didn't take her three minutes to start a fight... you're not really considering hiring her, are you?"
Pan'an thought Mercer might have misjudged this time. With how recklessly she came in, what could she possibly handle?
V coldly glared at Pan'an: "Is this woman with you?"
"Pan'an." Mercer gave Pan'an a look, then Pan'an shrugged and started sipping her beer quietly.
Mercer turned to face V, studied her briefly, then spoke in a flat tone: "V... can I know why you came in looking for trouble with others?
If you wanted to find me, couldn't you have called? You seem to be looking for a fight on purpose."
V's eyes wandered: "It's nothing else, just wanted to get a read on your situation first..."
After she spoke, Mercer continued to stare at her, not moving, his pair of prosthetic eyes she's never seen before, glowing with blue specks, fluttering in his pupils like fireflies.
Mercer didn't speak, just kept staring at her.
V felt a bit uncomfortable and turned away, then quietly said: "Alright, honestly, I was just a bit excited... so many famous people here, all the big shots I've heard of, I couldn't resist striking up a conversation."
Mercer gave her a deadpan look: "Didn't you think about what would happen if you got into trouble?"
V just laughed carelessly:
"No fear, worst case scenario, I'll just run. When you weren't looking, I scoped out a back door for a quick escape.
Even if I can't win, I can't give in. On the street, if you back down once when someone mouths off to you, no one will take you seriously afterward.
Besides... that idiot had the nerve to call me girlie and invite me for drinks?
Honestly, I'm not scared, so what if he's big and crammed full of gear?
You may think that big lug's intimidating, with all his heavy subdermal armor, gorilla arm, and head nanocushions or whatever he's got on.
But just from the way he moves, I can tell he's no good in a fight.
He probably wobbles even when walking!
If guns were drawn, I could put three holes in his head in a second.
Even a fistfight, thirty seconds tops, I could have that big guy on the ground unable to move."
After V finished speaking, she confidently looked at Mercer and said, "Really, otherwise let me deal with him and come back, I'll take out him and his goons for you and then return!"
Quite the blowhard... Mercer, to some extent, understood how Rogue must have felt dealing with him.
"Those aren't gorilla arms."
Mercer couldn't bear it anymore, interrupting her expressionlessly: "That's a wrist grenade launcher disguised as gorilla arms."
V's eyes widened slightly, mouth agape, and her previous boast was cut short.
"Couldn't see that, could you? Exactly."
Mercer sighed and tapped the table: "Also, that big guy isn't the boss, he's at best the second in command...
See that skinny guy who's not talking next to him? That's actually the leader of their team.
Sianwistan, Muscle Enhancement Module, and there's a Smart Submachine Gun tucked into his back...
He's intentionally only showing part of his prosthetic info. The rest, your Prosthetic Eye can't scan—but I can see it: Mantis Blade, auxiliary heart, plus military-grade ICE components added to his cortical.
Hmm... There are two more prosthetics, one on his back and one on his thigh.
I need to study what components they are specifically, the network signal shape is quite unique, likely custom mods from a small shop or crafted by a top expert.
Don't let his human-like appearance fool you, he's actually the most heavily modified, I bet even his internal circulation has been tweaked."
Mercer's words made V even more silent. She clenched her fist, lowered her head, and kept quiet.
But Mercer kept pressing: "What you learned on the streets, bringing it here is just seeking death, V.
This isn't your usual little bar, it's Rebirth... weren't you excited when you first heard that name? How come you forgot everyone here isn't a push-over?
See that idiot four-eyed guy? The one with extra eyes installed just to show off, he's a hacker.
You better believe your signal's already been locked by him, he's just waiting to hack you when you're ready to leave.
He's holding back because he saw me...
Oh, that idiot thinks he's clever, hiding his network signal fluctuations into Rebirth's server signals...
Wait... he's planning to sneak his signal in... asking for death!"
Mercer's eyes flared with a blue light, his gaze beneath the mask glowing intensely: "Let me first give him a warning, make him scram... what kind of moron dares mess with me."
Without hesitation, he tapped into the disguised bar subnet as the network signal tried sneaking in.
Then, Mercer's brain went full throttle, launching a counter-intrusion against the opponent.
Instantly, the opposing hacker felt a flood of data overwhelming him from Mercer's network. By the time he realized he was being counter-hacked, Mercer's ice-breaker program was already chiseling through his ICE.
The hacker couldn't spare a word, eyes wide, brain working at full speed—confident until now, who would dare counter-hack him?
No longer concealing, he fully activated his brain, hacker prosthetics at peak!
But soon, he discovered an anomaly in horror: "No, impossible!"
Mercer's hacking speed was frighteningly fast, and by the time the first virus program breached his defenses, more Mercer programs were executing the intrusion!
Instinctively, he pushed his ICE program to start electronic warfare, hoping to compete with Mercer in computational power.
But then, the hacker's expression grew increasingly terrified, like he'd seen a ghost.
Dammit, how many programs is he running simultaneously? One, two, three... no, no, no!
Can't stop it... can't stop it!
"Ahhhh!"
He screamed, face flushed, eyes rolling back, as his brain overloaded, body convulsing like a fish out of water, slipping off the booth sofa onto the ground.
Everything happened so quickly not even his companions had time to react.
The hacker hadn't considered he'd be instantly defeated, thus provided no warning—obviously, he guessed wrong.
As the hacker's screams filled the room, the mercenaries all turned to look at Mercer and the mercenary group.
Mercer flipped the mercenaries a middle finger, openly admitting he acted:
"Try hacking me again and I'll fry all your dumbasses' brains!"
Watching the spectacle from the bar, Claire could no longer remain idle, hastily advising: "Hey! Don't start trouble here! Take it outside if you must."
The mercenary team shot to their feet in an instant, handguns and submachine guns aimed at Mercer.
The big man mercenary extended his arm, his Gorilla Arm transforming abruptly, revealing a dark cannon muzzle:
"Shit, you fried his brain!? Looking for trouble!"
"He fried his own damn brain," Mercer sneered coldly: "Using his pig brain to match against me... does he even have the capability?
There's still time to save him by sending him to a hospital, but if you keep aiming those guns at me...
The result won't be pretty."
Meanwhile, Mercer stealthily tapped into their subnet.
A hacker is the network core for a team. As Mercer overwhelmed the hacker in digital combat, he successfully infiltrated their subnet.
No surprise, this mercenary team highly trusted their hacker, everyone connected to the hacker-core subnet.
Now their brains were on the chopping block—Mercer was ready, and should the opposition hint at battle, he'd unleash all viruses in an instant.
"Fuck... Quick, get him medicated! Go to a prosthetic doctor!"
The big guy, urgent and furious, fire blazing from his eyes.
And the emaciated mercenary at his back, glared at Mercer coldly, tone steady: "You guys take him... I'll have a nice chat with this hacker friend."