Rebecca and V had mixed feelings about Mercer's new look.
"Cool~ but why didn't you add some lights? It's just too dark, missing something." That was Rebecca's comment.
"Uh, to be honest, with that helmet and your strange Octopus Arm... isn't it a bit too cyberpunk? You look like a weird robot." That was V's jab.
Mercer just grunted, donned his bulletproof vest, ensured that his magazines and grenades were all set, and stood up, saying, "You're just jealous. Wait till my complete form is ready, and try not to drool with envy!"
V dismissively raised the submachine gun, pushed open the van door without a word, and jumped out.
By this time, Mann, Jack, and others had already been fully armed and waiting by the car for a while.
Qiwei's lady cigarette glowed bright in the still dark night: "The situation's been checked, and all the lookouts outside have been taken down. Sasha's getting the door open."
"Then let's move out!" V said excitedly, stretching, and got out of the car.
Mercer and his crew's destination wasn't the high-rise occupied by the Voodoo Gang, but instead a seemingly ordinary church.
This church sat on a street in Taiping Prefecture, with its doors tightly shut and Voodoo Gang graffiti on the walls, and a red neon cross atop the building.
There weren't many people on the streets at four in the morning, yet a few unfortunate souls loitering about were now staring in shock at the professional team.
With V and Rebecca getting out one after another, Mercer also stepped out of the vehicle.
Inside the van, a drone dog, resembling the 'Flathead' from games, and a drone spider, followed Mercer out of the car.
Besides that, Mercer's Octopus Arm casually picked up a large black suitcase filled with his many strange inventions.
Pira didn't get out, instead rolling down the van window and giving Mercer and his team a thumbs-up: "Quick and clean, I found a Chinese restaurant online that offers limited Xiao Long Bao before eight-thirty every morning..."
Lucy simply nodded at Mercer from the passenger seat, then put on a pair of goggles and connected to a laptop—she wouldn't be going inside and would stay in the car to remotely control the drones.
Mercer gave both her and Pira a thumbs-up: "No problem, you guys be careful too. If the Voodoo Gang shows up, you leave first and pick us up once we're out."
For this mission, Mercer didn't plan for everyone to go inside, intending to leave at least half the people outside as a precaution against the Voodoo Gang reinforcements.
Qiwei nodded and stayed outside with Mann and Dolio, Pira, and Lucy.
Mercer then walked toward the tightly shut church door with Jack, V, and Rebecca.
At this time, Sasha was leaning casually against the door, blowing a bubble gum bubble: "The door's open, no electronic lock on this bunch of guys' church door. Good thing Pira's lock pick worked well."
But I'm not sure if there are any other smart security measures inside, so opening the door is up to you guys."
"Leave it to me." As Mercer finished speaking, the eyepiece of his helmet glowed red, projecting the network signals inside through the walls.
The cooling fan behind buzzed for a second, then he nodded and said, "All clear, open the door."
Without saying a word, V pushed open the door, revealing a somewhat clean setup inside.
The church interior was silent, with only the red cross and a few lights illuminating the space. At the farthest point in sight was a large cross bathed in warm yellow light, along with a few rows of benches for prayer.
"Is this the Voodoo Gang's secret base?" V looked around and displayed a disdainful expression: "Doesn't seem like much, there's not even a guard."
"That's because the real defensive facilities are inside. Typically, this is just a genuine place of worship, a church for the Haitians."
Mercer said, then led the team into the building, shutting the door to cut off the outside view.
He wasn't sure if any of the drifters outside were informants for the Voodoo Gang, but he wasn't the type to harm innocents, so to prevent complications, he needed to act quickly.
Jack looked around in amazement: "Compared to the churches in the Haywood District, this place is pretty clean and spacious."
Rebecca just held onto her new shotgun 'Peacekeeper,' looking around: "If we end up burning this place down, would the Haitians come after us?"
"Don't worry, we've still got a ways to go before we hit the Voodoo Gang's main fortress." Mercer said, moving to the side door by the altar.
Once he reached the side, he raised his hand, signaling everyone to quiet down.
The eyepiece on Mercer's helmet glowed as he then made tactical hand signs.
[Mercer: Switch to silent mode now, there's someone inside, but it looks like they're asleep, completely oblivious to our presence.]
[Rebecca: Let me do it!]
Rebecca raised her shotgun, ready for a dramatic break and entry.
[Mercer: Let V go, she's fast and quieter, don't make any noise here, the Sea God Server is inside, and if they decide to burn it down with us... Make sure you don't spray randomly later, especially avoid damaging my server.]