"Dinner's ready!"
V's voice came from outside the door. Mercer didn't even lift his head and said, "Save me a portion and put it in the fridge, I'll come after I'm done."
V outside didn't reply, but after a while, she was in a protective suit, sneaking into the lab.
Mercer glanced at her, shook his head helplessly, and said, "You'll smell of disinfectant all over, can you still eat?"
"Don't worry about it..." V muttered, walking over, but she couldn't understand what he was doing, so she could only watch for a while and then whispered, "I heard from Pan'an."
"What?" Mercer was stunned, then laughed, "Oh, the poisoning thing?"
"Yeah, what do you think?" V didn't accuse him, just calmly asked for his opinion: "Did you just say it casually, or do you really think so?"
Mercer always has some whimsical ideas, sometimes he just has a sudden flash of genius and then says something out loud.
But sometimes it's first a casual remark, then he ponders over it and thinks it's really feasible, and he just goes ahead with it.
Mercer, while looking down at the values in the instrument, said nonchalantly, "I seriously thought about it."
"Are you serious? This could lead to an outbreak of a major epidemic in Night City!" V frowned.
But Mercer just calmly said, "If it breaks out early, we can detonate the bomb ahead of time before Biotechnology is ready, and when they can't produce vaccines quickly, they'll have to face public outrage.
We can cooperate with companies like Kangtao and Trauma Team through media and other channels, sharing virus data and vaccine development progress, while also trying to kick Biotechnology out of Night City...
Meanwhile, we can make a lot of money and take the opportunity to clean out the die-hard loyalists in Dog Town.
As for those innocent Dog Town residents, we can provide free vaccines..."
He said a few words, then suddenly stopped his actions, turned to look at V, and smiled, "What's wrong? Your eyebrows are about to knit together."
"Uh, how to say it, I don't quite understand what's going on in your head, but..." V hesitated to speak.
However, Mercer laughed heartily, "Alright, I'm just messing with you. No matter how many benefits this thing has, I won't do it."
V was taken aback, then she petulantly punched him in the shoulder, "Then why did you say so much? I thought you had made up your mind!"
"It's because I thought too much that I realized I'd better not do it."
Mercer shrugged, sighed lightly, and said, "My rationality tells me that solving problems with this mindset is the fastest and easiest way.
And from my vision, if everything goes smoothly, this matter indeed wouldn't have much impact on ordinary people - but this kind of thing has a slippery slope.
Today I could poison Dog Town for the sake of so-called efficiency, and tomorrow I might start a global biological warfare for the same reason...
In the end, if today I choose this method under the banner of 'for a better tomorrow,' then what's the difference between me and those big companies who say 'for humanity's future' and recklessly sacrifice ordinary people?"
Mercer shook his head helplessly, comforted, "Anyway, don't worry, Pan'an and I were just talking, and as for the vaccine, I'll work overtime for a few days, who knows, maybe with some luck, I'll crack it in a few days?
Vaccine or drug development inherently has a certain element of luck.
You guys should focus on guarding against Agent Arasaka, even though Venus will keep an eye on them, but with ctOS System for such high-level agents, supervision may not cover completely, so be extra careful.
Oh, and don't forget to stockpile survival supplies early, whether it's food or water..."
Now it was Mercer's turn to nag at V again, telling her to take care of the other people at home while he was researching the vaccine.
V suddenly felt a bit embarrassed—Mercer was speaking like this, making it seem as if she didn't really trust him...
She said awkwardly, "Yeah, I know... Just to be clear, I'm not mistrusting you, just a bit worried that you're under a lot of pressure..."
Mercer curled his lips, "Oh~ I know~ You're definitely not worried that I'll turn into a scumbag like Biotechnology."
"...Alright, a little worried, who makes you occasionally look like some mad scientist, huh?"
V snorted, turned around and said, "I won't put the food in the fridge, when you're done with your work, come out quickly, aren't you smart? How can someone so smart not even plan out work time properly?
There's barbecue today, if you don't come, it might be gone in a few days, recently there's no time to buy smuggled beef from Texas for you."
Mercer smiled and said, "Got it, remember to disinfect properly according to Venus's request before going out..."
The lab returned to peace.
Mercer shook his head, not taking the conversation to heart, just turned to look at the instrument's data readout, yet he couldn't help but sigh irritably.
Stupid Biotechnology, just after dealing with them, it's been only how long, and they're already planning something nauseating in Night City again?
They say a dog can't change its habit of eating shit, and Biotechnology seems to have developed a path dependency on this route of first poisoning, then curing to make money.
They're running out of money on the financial report, so they resort to this, increasing revenue, huh?