"So... you mean this was all done by the Voodoo Gang?" Hans looked at his subordinate on the video call, his face darkening.
Another of his properties in Taiping Prefecture had been hacked, and a small server was even directly burned down.
After receiving a confirmation from the other side, Hans ended the call, his face somber, and after a while, he dialed Mercer's number.
On the other end of the line, Mercer seemed to be lazily lounging on a sofa watching TV.
"A, the Voodoo Gang has been making quite a fuss lately. Do you have any news over there that you could share?"
Hans asked, his eyes sharply scrutinizing Mercer's expression.
But Mercer just responded weakly, "Recently? I just had a cybernetic surgery a few days ago, and I'm in recovery, so I haven't been paying much attention. What's up, are they up to their tricks again?"
"... It's not a big deal, just that a few of my contracts in Taiping Prefecture have encountered some hacker disturbances. You know, the Taiping Prefecture's network domain is your territory, haven't you noticed any clues?"
After Hans asked, Mercer just showed a thoughtful expression and said, "Recently, someone has indeed been causing trouble online, basically causing network disruptions for an hour or two every day.
But they move quickly, and I haven't caught anyone yet. Are you saying all of this is the work of the Voodoo Gang?"
Hans didn't reply immediately but looked at Mercer on the screen. After a moment, he suddenly changed the subject with a smile, "You've been working with Hua Tiao for so long, when do you plan to make a move against the Voodoo Gang in Taiping Prefecture?
If you run into any trouble and it's not convenient to ask Hansen for help, maybe I could lend a hand."
"Ah, not really, it's just that the recent weapon development took a lot of funds, and I can barely scrape together enough for the ammo to deal with the Voodoo Gang. So, I'm planning on taking a few contracts to gather some funds for ammo first."
Mercer said.
Hans finally understood his implication, and after silently cursing internally, he added, "Recently, the network in Dog Town hasn't been very stable either. Doesn't Colonel Hanssen have any objections?"
"It's just network disruption; I have no control over it. The city network's control is in the hands of the City Hall and Internet Supervision. Who knows what tricks the Voodoo Gang is using to cause trouble? They just show up online and quickly disappear—I can't stay online 24/7.
You know, I have a lot of things to do, and since Colonel Hanssen's business hasn't been significantly affected, I just maintain his private line, and he has no objections. As for others' network security, he doesn't care either."
Mercer's words left Hans resigned, "Alright, it seems like we'll have to endure this a bit longer."
"Hmm... but if there's any commission related to the Voodoo Gang, you can prioritize sending it our way. As long as the money's right, it's not hard to deal with them ahead of schedule."
Mercer's cheerful words left Hans a bit speechless, but he just smiled outwardly, "No problem, I'll keep an eye out."
"Good." Mercer directly hung up the call, and after ending the call, Hans's face darkened again.
He opened his email, and sure enough, the hackers he had commissioned previously had already sent their investigation report.
'According to the investigation, the network disruptions and other issues are indeed likely caused by the Voodoo Gang. Their network technology is strong, and I did detect several network signals located at Voodoo Gang's bases.
It's possible that the Voodoo Gang is retaliating against the Spark Team, attempting to regain control over Taiping Prefecture's network.'
Hans sat in his chair with a sullen face, fingers tapping the desk, feeling somewhat frustrated.
Recently, the Voodoo Gang had suddenly become active on the internet again. They began boldly creating network disturbances, indiscriminately hacking into networked devices across the Taiping Prefecture region.
Although Mercer would quickly 'resolve' each incident, this constant possibility of a 24/7 network attack still seriously affected many of Hans' businesses.
Initially, Hans didn't pay much attention to the matter.
He figured, given Mercer's skills and temper, that this Voodoo Gang was looking for trouble again, and he only had to patiently wait for Mercer's retaliation.
But as days passed, the situation not only failed to improve but the Voodoo Gang's attacks even started affecting Dog Town.
This forced Hans to start considering whether something was amiss—now, the problem seemed more evident.
Mercer's attitude just now clearly hinted at raising the price.
But Hans was not inclined to personally foot the bill for network security.
But...
Hans suddenly thought that this might not be entirely bad for him.
If Mercer was intentionally letting the Voodoo Gang run rampant online, or even pretending as if the Voodoo Gang was stirring trouble all over Taiping Prefecture, what would his ultimate goal be?
Hans could understand why Mercer hadn't acted against the Voodoo Gang—using the external threat to force Dog Town's Hua Tiao to share profits, and Hansen still had to pay him a network maintenance fee.
Is he looking for a price increase now? Or is there something else on his mind?
Hans pondered over it, finally thinking that perhaps it was simply what Mercer hinted at—he could deal with the Voodoo Gang, but he needed someone to pay for the 'ammo costs' before taking action.