After the handshake, Mercer glanced around and casually picked up an unopened can of Spunky Monkey drink by the counter. He took a sip and frowned deeply:
"What the hell is this taste? Sweet like fucking corn syrup. Do people actually like this stuff?"
"Oh~ Looks like the Arasaka employee cafeteria really is as bland as the rumors say."
Cassidy took it from him and took a big swig without hesitation: "Ha! Not bad. High-sugar drinks are a godsend in nomadic life."
"...What about NiCola? Not the sakura edition."
Mercer searched for a while but only found a can of Cirrus Cola. He eyed it disdainfully for a moment but still cracked it open and gulped a few mouthfuls. Hmm, tasted like Pepsi; he was a staunch Coca-Cola loyalist!
"I'll go get your supplies loaded up. Once you're done here, drive straight out. We'll meet up on the highway over there. By the way, my advice is to take the same road where I got caught. These Raffen Shiv gangs usually patrol one road per group, they don't overlap."
Cassidy shook his head helplessly at Mercer's picky expression and took the Cirrus Cola he proactively handed over this time. The can was decorated in the colors of the American flag, a patriotic drink for true red-blooded Americans. He still didn't mind it and downed the whole can in a few gulps.
"If you're picky, I've got a few cans of NiCola and some Real Water in my truck. I'll grab them for you later."
His words made Mercer break into a grin: "Good man, thanks."
Even though the NiCola in this world tasted more like the Mexican version of Coca-Cola, slightly different from what he was used to, compared to all the other bizarre stuff in this world, NiCola had still become his favorite drink.
"...Good man, huh?"
Cassidy glanced at Mercer's face, which looked no older than fourteen, and chuckled wryly before nodding. He headed out decisively to drive the truck and help load the supplies, also grabbing the jacket Mercer had taken off for Kyoko on his way.
While the two were talking, Lucy and Leon had already tossed all the valuable items they could carry, firearms, ammunition, and miscellaneous gear, into the pickup truck.
Mercer did one last sweep of the cafeteria and found seven rolls of cash, totaling about 700 eurodollars. Without hesitation, he stuffed all the money into his jacket. Then, together with Lucy and Leon, he hauled all the food and water stockpiled by the Raffen Shiv in the cafeteria into the pickup truck. These supplies would easily last the group a week.
"Time to pull out. We've got wheels, supplies, and even picked up a reliable guide. Talk about luck."
Satisfied, Mercer had Leon get into the pickup truck while he himself took the Shion that likely belonged to the Raffen Shiv lieutenant. Using the key he found on the corpse, he started the ignition. The bulletproof metal shimmered like water, turning transparent, indistinguishable from ordinary glass. Mercer couldn't help but marvel at it.
—--
Meanwhile, Lucy quietly slipped into the passenger seat, wearing a relatively clean orange jacket. The jacket was two sizes too big for her, and with the zipper pulled up, it looked almost like a dress, making her resemble a little girl playing dress-up in her mother's clothes, well, she really was just a kid now. Mercer started the ignition, then had to adjust the seat, pushing it all the way forward just to fully depress the accelerator.
He almost forgot he was still a kid himself.
"Do you trust that nomad?" Lucy turned her head to look at him and asked.
"Yeah, I think he's alright."
Mercer nodded, and Lucy spoke with concern:
"I've heard that many nomads are bandits or something. Most serious criminals, the ones who commit major offenses, get exiled from their clans and end up joining the Raffen Shiv."
"Cassidy probably isn't like that, but I don't think your caution is misplaced. You can keep an eye on him with me."
Mercer acknowledged her wariness. After all, people change. The Cassidy he knew from the game might just be the tip of the iceberg, people are complex creatures. He felt it wasn't wrong to maintain some level of caution.
Trust is built gradually, after all.
"...Mhm."
Lucy nodded, then leaned back in her seat, sighed deeply, and thumbed the climate controls, letting a breath of filtered air wash over her.
But she was immediately hit in the face by what seemed like stronger wind, blowing sand into her eyes, and she hurriedly closed the window, her face scrunching up even more:
"This guy's car smells really weird…"
"These maniacs are usually on drugs… You guys better never touch that stuff."
Mercer said with a look of disdain:
"Even though in this world, you probably can't overdose if you have the money, trust me, once you get hooked on this crap, you'll turn into an idiot or a lunatic real quick. If you see someone who can't live without it, that person is definitely not someone reliable."
"I know." Lucy understood. "The most important thing for a netrunner is to stay clear-headed."
"Wise choice. By the way, do you prefer NiCola or Cirrus? Or something like Spunky Monkey?"
Mercer's topics jumped around a lot.
"Me? Hmm…" Lucy deliberately stole a few glances at him before whispering, "Cirrus?"
Mercer gave her a deadpan look but couldn't help laughing: "Smile more, kid. You're actually pretty cute when you laugh."
"Ha, here we go again. Do you always have to add 'kid' or 'child' as a suffix every time you say something nice?"
Lucy relaxed into a half-reclining position, slightly turning her body toward him as she watched him.
"Mhm, otherwise I'd feel like I was committing a crime, you know? Don't want you to misunderstand."
Mercer's words left Lucy covered in question marks, and she made a slightly disgusted face before chuckling: "Huh? Are you giving me a 'nice guy' card in advance?"
"Tch, that's exactly why I'm afraid you'd misunderstand, kid. Let me put it this way: my preference is all pretty girls aged eighteen and above. Not that pretty girls under eighteen aren't attractive, it's just basic morals."
Mercer sighed as he spoke. If he were really a fourteen-year-old boy, it might be different, but deep down, he was a twenty-seven or twenty-eight-year-old adult.
He wasn't lying to Lucy.
He really wasn't picky, he liked the fierce, loli-mom type like Rebecca from Edgerunners, and he was also into the wild, sexy Panam from the game.
To be honest, he even found David's mother quite charming and well-preserved…
As for someone like Lucy, who was heroine-tier in the anime, a cool, enchanting beauty, of course, he liked her even more. But finding someone pretty and cute was one thing; getting involved with Lucy as she was now would make him feel like a pervert.
"I do believe now that your mental age is over twenty."
Lucy pouted, her small frame curling up in the seat. "I hate being called a kid or anything like that. Omit it next time, or I'll get angry."
"Got it, miss," Mercer said with a laugh.
"Not 'miss' either!" Lucy raised her voice. "Besides, my birthday is in December, I'll be fifteen soon. Hmm... legally an adult by '75. Ugh."
"What? In a hurry?" Mercer teased.
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Lucy grew flustered. "In a hurry for what? To fit into your preferences? I just don't like being treated like a child by you. It's not like there's a big age gap between us, wait, aren't you fourteen too? We might even be the same age! No, maybe I'm a few months older than you?"
Seeing him avoid her gaze guiltily, she muttered, "Mercer, to be honest, I think you're a bit narcissistic."
The car came to a stop first, Cassidy and Daichi had driven over from the hillside with Kyoko and merged onto the highway.
Then they pulled over to switch seats.
Daichi took the large pickup truck with Kyoko, positioning it in the middle of the convoy, while Cassidy and Leon led the way in the van, leaving Mercer's car at the rear.
Only after Daichi honked twice and started moving did Mercer press the accelerator to follow.
With the old cowboy leading the way, Mercer didn't even need to plan the route, he just lightly pressed the gas and followed along effortlessly.
Then, he finally responded to her earlier remark: "Mhm, I do think I'm quite charming."
Lucy glanced at him sideways but couldn't hold back a laugh at his narcissistic comment. Chuckling helplessly, she said, "Anyway, I really don't like it."
"I know. You feel like you can help me too, that you're not some kid who needs looking after, and you want to contribute so you don't feel like a burden."
Mercer, however, spoke his mind frankly:
"But I just feel like I should take care of you all. How do I put it... you can think of me as presumptuous. Call it male chauvinism if you want. In my view, those who are capable should bear more responsibility, and I'm willing to shoulder these pressures and move forward, it makes me feel more grounded.
I don't know how to explain it... I just feel that if I came to this world and still let you all suffer, then my coming would've been pointless.
The reason I'm here is to make sure everyone can live a little better, a little happier. That's my biggest goal right now.
This "everyone" isn't too few or too many, I want to achieve this first before considering bigger goals, like making the world a better place.
Right now, I'm just completing the first step of my life's purpose. Compared to the guilt you might feel, perhaps I should be the one apologizing to you, because I'm genuinely acting on my own thoughts and will, influencing your life and future.
But don't think you're special, I'll probably do this to many people later on. Some will like it, some won't, but I'll do it anyway because it's what I want to do, what I enjoy.
So..." He turned his head and grinned at Lucy. "Hang in there, you'll be an adult in '75, huh?"
"You're a bit annoying."
Lucy rolled her eyes at him, then curled up in her seat, propping her chin on her hand. Her bright eyes quietly gazed at him, reflecting his radiant smile:
"Can a life spent striving for others' happiness really be joyful?"
"Extremely joyful, because making some people happy and fulfilled inevitably means some idiots will be miserable. And who said that's my only purpose in life?"
Mercer laughed heartily as he opened the window. The fierce wind outside swept in yellow sand, and a distant sandstorm was faintly taking shape on the horizon.
Lucy struggled to keep her eyes open against the sudden blast of gritty wind but still managed to watch him excitedly lean out, reaching his hand as if to grasp the storm.
He shouted loudly, fighting to be heard over the roaring wind:
"Life is a journey, the joy isn't in the destination, or even whether you can reach it!"
"It's in everything you experience along the way!"
"Look, the people beside me are laughing and moving toward freedom with me. That idiot Arasaka I hate is probably sulking somewhere. The hardships of the past are behind me, and there's still so much ahead in this vast world!"
"My happiness is that simple, can you feel the storm? It's coming!
Haha! I've always wanted to try challenging a storm like this firsthand!
Screw houses, money, cars, and jobs!
Woo-hoo!!!
Cough, cough, pfft, pfft."
He let out a yell, drew back into the car with a mouthful of sand, spat several times, and then closed the window again.
Turning to a somewhat stunned Lucy, he gave an embarrassed smile, wiped his lips, and spat a few more times.
Damn, how did the wind pick up so fast?
"Pfft."
Lucy couldn't help but laugh, and soon she was roaring with laughter just as he had. She stretched, opened the window, and leaned halfway out to feel the storm, taking a deep breath:
"Woo-hoo!!!"
She let out a shout too, then quickly pulled back in, coughing violently and even dry-heaving a couple of times before spitting out sand repeatedly.
They looked at each other and burst into laughter again, their mirth echoing through the cabin, even drowning out the sound of sand pelting the windows.
"Shhh... shhh..."
Near the car radio, the walkie-talkie hanging by the air conditioner suddenly crackled to life.
"Hey? Kids, can you hear me? You should have a walkie-talkie in your car too, right? Respond if you copy, respond if you copy."
Mercer picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the talk button: "Copy that, old cowboy."
"Copy, copy!" Daichi's voice came through, with Kyoko's excited shouts faintly audible in the background.
"Reduce speed, maintain formation, and always keep the taillights of the vehicle ahead in sight!
Don't lose your way in the sandstorm!
If you lose visual contact, speak up immediately! The convoy will slow down to regroup!
For now, I'll lead you to a temporary shelter I know. It'll take at least an hour and a half!
Don't get yourselves lost before we get there.
Don't get too excited too soon, the thrill is just beginning!" Attention, everyone! The haboobs are coming!
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Bonus chapter @ 600 power stones.
You guys are killing me with all these bonus chapters, ngl.