"Then blame your master for being petty and scaring her," Mann said, and opened the trunk of his car, tossing Evelyn inside and conveniently removing the chip from her head.
Mann taped her mouth shut, tied her hands and feet, and after closing the trunk, drove back to Dog Town.
The Netherworld Dog members saw Mann and unexpectedly stopped him.
"Sorry, Colonel Hanssen said we need to inspect vehicles recently," explained a Netherworld Dog soldier.
Mann just looked at him expressionlessly, "As a goodwill gesture, I suggest you pretend you didn't see anything this time."
The soldier looked uneasy, but another team leader approached, pushed the soldier aside, and stood by the car window, "Please inform the supervisor, Brother Mann, that lately all vehicles, including yours, will be subject to strict checks.
Even temporary passes and the like, they're all the same... especially those involving equipment and raw materials, everyone is treated equally, we're not targeting anyone specifically."
The team leader's low voice made Mann nod knowingly, and he whispered back, "Got it, but transporting a person shouldn't be an issue, right?"
The team leader thought for a moment and coughed lightly, "It should be fine; this time, I'll pretend I didn't see it, but if there's any metal equipment next time, it'll need to be registered if detected..."
"Thanks, I won't cause you any trouble," Mann nodded, then patiently waited for the scan to finish.
The team leader looked at the soldiers inside the checkpoint and waved them off.
The soldiers inside reported a few words, and the team leader just nodded impatiently, then the barrier of the checkpoint lowered.
Mann started the car, nodded at the team leader, transferred two thousand Euros, then raised the car window, but couldn't help frowning.
Things were getting troublesome...
It seemed Hanssen was determined to cut off Mercer's secret development routes, forcing him to work only in the stadium's workspace.
He wouldn't allow Mercer to go out, nor bring anything in from outside, while tightly controlling the smuggling routes in Dog Town...
Sigh, and just at this time, Mercer offended Yoshinobu and Arasaka...
Mann shook his head, started the car, and soon returned to the base.
Upon opening the trunk, Evelyn had woken up, her mouth taped shut, murmuring helplessly, her tear-streaked face looked pitifully beautiful, truly I-couldn't-help-but-feel-sorry.
But Mann wasn't swayed by this—he expressionlessly carried her on his shoulder like a sack of flour and took her inside. Evelyn grew more terrified.
Because Mann didn't even try to hide from her while opening the hidden code lock that led to the secret elevator to the underground base.
She grew more terrified and desperate, crying uncontrollably on Mann's shoulder, and by the time she came to, she had been tossed onto a hacker's chair by Mann.
Evelyn looked despondently around, the members of the Spark Team stared at her with cold eyes, and Mercer, without a mask, looked like a mad scientist fiddling with various instruments, even surgical tools.
"Evelyn, I told you not to do anything foolish... Why wouldn't you listen?" Mercer sighed, looking at her with regret, and honestly, he sometimes felt a bit sorry for her stupidity in the game.
But when she really acted foolishly right under his nose, Mercer had nothing to say—he hadn't intended to burn bridges, but it was Evelyn who refused to grant him a chance to be decent.
She mumbled emotionally, and V removed the tape from her mouth at Mercer's nod.
"I was wrong! A, please, let me go! I'll return all the money to you and leave Night City, okay? I shouldn't have been bewitched by Internet Supervision; they tricked me! Please, I'll do anything!" she cried and begged.
But Mercer just turned his head to glance at her, "What do you think? You're not a child; you should know the consequences of your actions."
"I was just momentarily confused..." she cried bitterly.
Mercer calmly interrupted her, "No need to act so pitiful; you know I can't let you go, so do you have any last words?"
"...You, you're all a bunch of bastards!" she collapsed into tears and curses, while Mercer just shook his head expressionlessly, taking out a syringe and injecting it into her neck.
Within seconds, Evelyn fell into a deep sleep.
Rebecca sighed, her heart the softest, "Why don't you just shoot her and be done with it?"
"I'm not certain what programs Internet Supervision might've left in her; remote checks might miss something, so it's best to bring her back for a systemic check."
After Mercer finished speaking, he paused and added, "Moreover, if someone has been secretly monitoring Yoshinobu, we better ensure they don't find out we're communicating with him through Evelyn."
"I don't get it," V frowned.
Mercer shook his head, "Simply put, I'm going to use the Soulkiller to upload her consciousness data, then modify it by deleting all information about us and Yoshinobu.
She'll only remember that we were hiring her to contact a major client, but who that client is? She'll never find out.