"Okay, okay! Work! Work! I feel worse off than a corporate slave..." Pira mumbled, pulling Jack, who was stifling a laugh, to help Mercer move things. But Mercer thought for a bit and just picked up a large thermal box he had in the workshop.
Inside was an Octopus Arm prosthetic limb, along with a prosthetic interface.
Since he needed to test it, there was no reason to let his stuff just sit unused. He modified the Octopus Arm to be a plug-and-play prosthetic and made a standard-sized prosthetic interface, planning to attach one for a trial run.
Mercer had also considered a foldable hidden design, but the Octopus Arm was two meters long by itself. Folding it and putting it on his back would make his upper back and shoulders much bulkier.
Given that his hacker prosthetics already made him look like a double-door fridge, going any bigger would make him Mann-sized. After thinking it over, he felt that the plug-and-play design was the most convenient.
Might even develop new prosthetics in the future, plug and play for easy swapping. How convenient!
Plus, they could standardize the interfaces on mechas in the future, allowing prosthetics and equipment to be interchangeable for complementary effects.
Once Pira and Jack helped Mercer load everything into the vehicle, Rebecca and V, each wearing their Single Soldier Armor, swaggered into the parking lot.
V was wearing her armor, bouncing nimbly in place, striking a boxing pose and throwing some shadow punches, accompanied by the 'zzzz' sound of electric drives from her mecha.
Meanwhile, the punch she threw produced a very distinct whistling sound. Regular folks couldn't even catch her punching movement.
"Whoa! Mercer! This is awesome! Zero delay!" V shouted excitedly, then used a bit of force to jump over two meters high, almost smacking her head on the ceiling.
Rebecca struck a power pose. In her mecha, she looked like a short, stocky dumpling, but her two mighty arms simply creating significant gusts with a flick, grabbing the attention of passersby.
Pira, stifling a laugh, nudged Mercer's arm: "Did you tell her we call her armor 'Steel Egg' during testing?"
"Shut up. If you dare tell her that, I'll say the design idea was yours."
Mercer struggled to keep a straight face but smiled loudly, "Alright, time to test it outside. Get in the car!"
V's mecha was super light; it felt just like carrying a small backpack on her back. She directly sat down in the backseat of the armored vehicle, getting in effortlessly as if she wasn't even wearing armor.
Rebecca was also equally agile, but due to the limb lengths and heavy armor, she could only hop into the bulletproof van loaded with weaponry.
The van visibly sank a little.
Mercer pondered aloud: "Looks like we really need to get a sturdier professional armored vehicle. Otherwise, with everyone wearing armor, carrying a few tons of weight, regular cars just won't move."
As he spoke, he climbed into the driver's seat of the van.
Pira, shrugging, sat in the front passenger seat, "Why not just get Polaris? She's working with Old Captain now; she probably knows how to build a car by now."
Indeed, Polaris, feeling idle, eventually volunteered to Mercer that she wanted a job—she initially wanted to drive a taxi, meaning to challenge Delaman head-on to see who was the real AI car king in the city.
But Mercer didn't want her flagged by Internet Supervision, fearing that some jerk boarding her taxi might upload a virus... after all, she was connected to Mercer's server!
So, he simply arranged for her to work with Old Captain—under the title of tech expert, working remotely online.
She was responsible for modifying and repairing cars and car systems, surprisingly bringing in a minimum income of Tens of Thousands of Euros for Mercer monthly, peaking at over 200,000 Euros in a month!
Old Captain probably still thinks Polaris is a real tech genius... AI is truly formidable, especially high-intelligence AI. If utilized fully, regular workers wouldn't even be needed to tighten screws.
Mercer decisively assigned the task to Polaris, and she excitedly accepted it immediately.
[Polaris: I'm planning to use the reinforced chassis of a Majino Giant Beast, combine it with a Behemoth Engine, and a Blade Battery to create a hybrid-powered heavy armored vehicle. What do you think?]
[Mercer: Approved, as long as it can move with a load of Armored Warriors.]
[Polaris: No problem! I'll send you the quote right away!]
She sent Mercer a 700,000 Euro quote, to which Mercer unhesitatingly had Venus approve the payment.
Polaris swiftly provided Mercer an accurate timeline.
[Polaris: Within a month! I'll have it ready for you! Oh right, Master~ Your Octopus Arm design is fantastic! You say, if this were used by AI...]
Mercer chuckled speechlessly, which caught Pira's attention as she glanced over while driving.
[Mercer: What do you need a robotic arm for?]
[Polaris: Then I could assemble cars myself! Would you be interested in investing in a car modification shop? I could work with the robotic arm and let robots handle the manpower, sales, etc., remotely controlled...]