Inside the restaurant, Faraday lounged comfortably on the sofa, his four eyes appraising the mercenaries in front of him.
Today Mann didn't bring Dolio and Sasha, and Mercer only brought his two most capable girls.
Mann needed no further introduction, Faraday merely greeted him and then ignored him.
Faraday's gaze was sharp as he examined the masked Mercer and the leisurely V and Rebecca seated at the bar in the restaurant.
"Mann rarely recommends other mercenaries to me," Faraday spoke slowly.
Mercer crossed his legs, hands resting on his knees, also lounging on the sofa, his tone calm: "That means he has good judgment."
"I hope so... I've heard about you from others. You've been in the scene for a short time, but you've done quite a lot. Voodoo Gang was so beaten by you they don't dare go online nor do the Cleaner Fish from Dog Town...
But this time, the task you need to complete is entirely different from your previous small skirmishes with gangs."
Faraday spoke with a deliberate air.
Mercer responded without expression: "Of course, I understand the difference between dealing with professional soldiers and ordinary Street Kids, but I trust you wouldn't send ordinary mercenaries to face a large group of soldiers head-on… so, what support do we have?"
"Before discussing this, let me confirm... are you and the Mann Squad certain you don't need support from other mercenaries?"
Faraday asked, his expression serious: "We need more than just dealing with them, it's crucial to extract a piece of key equipment and the entire operation must be swift.
If military science and biotech support block your way, no one will rescue you."
Mercer's tone remained calm, sounding as though discussing dinner plans: "Certainly."
Faraday pondered, turning to glance at Mann one last time.
He had to admit, Mann had left him with a great impression previously—steadfast in his work, minimally paid, and as someone with a military background, he wasn't like mercenaries who grew up as ordinary gangsters prone to spin tall tales.
Ultimately, combining what he found out from others about Spark Team, Faraday made up his mind.
To infiltrate Sixth Street Gang territory for an assassination mission and leave unscathed; to take down the Voodoo Gang in Dog Town from online; reputedly having good relations with Hans and Rogue, two notorious, sharp-eyed middlemen with impressive backgrounds.
Using them wouldn't be impossible.
Moreover, Spark Team usually mingles with other middlemen, so even if all members perished, he wouldn't be heartbroken, after all, they're just a group of daredevils after money.
Yes, in Faraday's eyes, Spark Team, which chased smells here, was undoubtedly a pack of money-hungry maniacs.
"Let's reiterate our mission flow—biotech and military science escort convoy will enter Night City's border on the afternoon of the 31st.
Your task is to take advantage of their assembly near the border, to catch them all at once."
Faraday's expression turned serious as he detailed the mission brief, Mercer and his team all pretended to listen intently, waiting for him to outline his plan.
"After you've dealt with those soldiers, a transport truck will 'coincidentally' pass through, and your task is to transfer the most important equipment inside the truck before other support arrives.
After that, you don't need to intervene further; you can return to Dog Town and keep a low profile for a while—wait until things settle, then resume as usual."
Faraday finished speaking, noticing Mercer wanted to say something, he directly added: "I know dealing with those armored vehicles and Demon Lizards is tough, so to tackle these soldiers and their armored units, we'll need some professional weapons."
Mercer showed interest and sat up straight.
Faraday didn't hold back, speaking plainly: "I've already investigated—tonight at two-thirty AM, at Night City port, you need to hijack a truck at the logistics area entrance, it should be transporting a set of Arasaka's experimental armor.
I'll provide you with specific vehicle information, inside besides the armor, there should be complete instructions for use, just seize the armor and quickly master its use."
"Armor?" Mercer raised an eyebrow slightly.
Faraday nodded, speaking casually: "To my knowledge, it's a newly developed Arasaka secret single soldier armor device.
Though specifics aren't clear, the armor should be designed to enhance single soldier armor confrontation capabilities.
The combat purpose is to enable soldiers equipped with this device to have single armor confrontation ability; from the design perspective, its initial intent was to tackle military science's Chimera Main Battle Tank.
Shouldn't be a problem to handle a Demon Lizard and several armored vehicles.
With it, I think you should have no problem dealing with those military science soldiers."
Mercer suddenly became wary.
Had it been ordinary mercenaries unaware of the context, they might have fallen for Faraday's scheme, but Mercer knew well that his employer behind the scenes was Arasaka's.
Would Arasaka be so kind as to provide them with a whole set of experimental armor weapons used for armor confrontation?