After the handshake, Mercer looked around, casually picked up an unopened can of Silly Ape soda from the bar, tasted a sip, and frowned deeply: "What a shitty taste, sweet like corn syrup... Does anyone actually like this stuff?"
"Oh~ It seems Arasaka's employee cafeteria really is as bland as the rumors say."
Cassidy reached out and took it, taking a large gulp without a care: "Ha! Not bad, high-sugar drinks are good to have when you're living on the road."
"...Where's little coke? Not the cherry blossom version."
Mercer searched for a while, only finding a can of Ceres Cola. He looked at it with a bit of disdain for a long time, but still opened it and took a few gulps. Hmm, it tasted like Pepsi—he was a staunch Coca-Cola loyalist!
"I'll go get your goods... Once you're ready, just drive straight out. We'll meet up on the highway over there.
Oh, and my advice is to take the same road I was captured on. The Wraiths usually assign one group to one road; they don't overlap."
Cassidy shook his head helplessly at Mercer's disgusted expression, then reached out and took the Ceres Cola that Mercer now offered him.
The cola had the colors of the American flag on it, a patriotic drink for old Americans—he still downed the can in a few gulps without a hint of dislike.
"If you're picky, I do have a few cans of little coke and Real Water in my car. I'll get them for you later."
His words made Mercer beam: "Good brother, thanks."
Although the little coke in this world was more like the Mexican version of Coca-Cola, with a slight difference from the cola taste he was used to before.
But compared to the other weird stuff in this world, little coke still became his favorite drink.
"...Good brother?"
Cassidy looked at Mercer's face, which at most looked fourteen, and chuckled, finally nodding. He then decisively went out to drive and help him get the goods, and also took the jacket Mercer had taken off for rosie
Meanwhile, while the two were chatting, Lucy and Leon had already thrown all the usable firearms, ammunition, and valuable odds and ends into the pickup truck.
Mercer did a final search of the restaurant and found seven rolls of banknotes, totaling about seven hundred euros.
He unceremoniously stuffed all the money into his jacket, and then, with Lucy and Leon, moved all the food and water the Wraiths had hoarded in the restaurant onto the pickup truck.
These supplies would last them at least a week.
"Retreat. We have a car, supplies, and even picked up a reliable guide. We're really lucky."
Mercer contentedly had Leon get into the pickup truck, while he himself got into the 'Falcon Wolf,' which was likely the Wraiths' small boss's car.
After starting the ignition with a key found on a corpse, the data bulletproof metal turned transparent like water waves, appearing exactly like ordinary glass, which surprised Mercer.
And Lucy quietly opened the passenger door and got in, 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, like a little girl who had stolen her mother's clothes—indeed, she was just a child right now.
Mercer started the car, but then had to adjust the seat, pushing it all the way forward so he could barely press the accelerator all the way down.
He almost forgot that he was also a child.
"Do you trust that nomad?" Lucy turned her head and asked him.
"Hmm, I think he's a decent guy."
Mercer nodded, and Lucy said worriedly:
"I heard there are quite a few robbers among nomads... Most robbers, the ones who commit serious crimes, get expelled from their families and become members of the Wraiths."
"Cassidy probably isn't, but I don't think there's anything wrong with your vigilance. You can keep an eye on him with me."
Mercer agreed with her caution. After all, people change, and the Cassidy he saw in the game might only be the tip of the iceberg of who he was. People are complex animals, and he felt that having some wariness was not wrong.
Trust is built gradually, after all.
"...Hmm."
Lucy nodded, then leaned back in her seat, let out a long breath, and then, with a small frown, opened the window.
But then she was hit in the face by what felt like a much stronger wind and sand, and quickly closed the window, her small face wrinkling even more: "This guy's car smells really weird..."
"These lunatics usually do drugs... You guys are not allowed to touch that stuff in the future."
Mercer said, his face showing disdain:
"Although it's said that in this world, if you have money, you probably can't mess yourself up with drugs, but believe me, once you get involved with that stuff, you'll quickly become an idiot or a lunatic.
If you see someone who can't live without these things, then that kind of person is definitely not reliable."
"I know." Lucy understood: "The most important thing for a netrunner is to be clear-headed."
"A wise choice... By the way, do you prefer little coke or Ceres? Or something like Silly Ape?"
Mercer's topic jumps were quite large.
"Me? Hmm..." Lucy deliberately glanced at him a few times, then whispered: "Ceres?"
Mercer gave her a speechless look, but then couldn't help but laugh: "Smile more, you little devil, you look quite cute when you smile."
"Ha... Here we go again. Do you always have to add 'little devil' or 'kid' before every compliment you give?"
Lucy was very relaxed, half-reclining, her body slightly turned towards him, watching him.
"Uh-huh, otherwise I'd feel like I'm committing a crime... You know, I don't want you to misunderstand."
Mercer's words left Lucy with a face full of question marks, then she showed a somewhat disgusted expression, chuckling: "Ha? Are you giving me the 'friend zone' card in advance?"
"Tsk, that's why I'm afraid you little devils will misunderstand... Let me just say this, my preference is for all pretty girls eighteen and older. It's not that pretty girls under eighteen are out of the question... it's just basic moral principles."
Mercer sighed as he spoke. If he were truly a fourteen-year-old boy, it would be one thing, but deep down, he was an adult of twenty-seven or twenty-eight.
He wasn't lying to Lucy.
He genuinely wasn't particular. He liked Rebecca, the fiery loli-mom figure from 'Edgerunners,' and he was also fond of the wild and sexy Panam Palmer from the game.
To be honest, he thought David's mom was also quite attractive... As for a cool and charming beauty like Lucy, who was a protagonist-level character in the anime, he naturally liked her even more.
But thinking someone was pretty and cute was one thing, getting involved with the current Lucy, he would feel like a pervert.
"...I actually believe your psychological age is in your twenties now."
Lucy pouted, her small body curled up in the seat: "I hate being called 'little devil' or 'kid'... You can skip that next time, or I'll get angry."
"Got it, girl." Mercer said with a smile.
"'Girl' isn't allowed either!" Lucy raised her voice: "Also, my birthday is in December, I'll be fifteen soon, and... you're an adult at seventy-five... Ugh..."
"What? Are you in a hurry?" Mercer teased.
"...Huh? What are you talking about?"
Lucy got anxious: "Why would I be in a hurry to get into your preference?"
"I just don't like being treated like a child by you... Our age difference isn't that big, no, aren't you also fourteen?"
"We might even be the same age! No, am I even a few months older than you?"
Lucy saw him look guilty and not at her, and grumbled: "Mercer, honestly, I think you're a bit narcissistic."
The car stopped first—Cassidy and Daichi Tetsuya, with rosie had already driven from the hillside and merged onto the highway.
Then they stopped and switched seats.
Daichi Tetsuya drove the large pickup truck in the middle of the convoy, Cassidy and Leon led the way in the van, and Mercer's car was at the very end of the convoy.
Only after Daichi Tetsuya honked twice and then started driving, did Mercer press the accelerator again and followed him.
With Old Cowboy leading the way, Mercer didn't even need to plan the route; he just had to step on the gas and follow along easily.
Then, he answered her previous question: "Uh-huh, your buddy definitely thinks he's very charming..."
Lucy squinted at him a few times, but in the end, she couldn't help but be amused by his narcissistic words, laughing while saying helplessly: "Anyway, I really don't like it."
"I know, you feel like you can help me too, and you're not a child who needs to be taken care of. You hope to contribute alongside me, otherwise you'd feel like a burden."
Mercer, however, spoke his thoughts frankly:
"But I just feel like I should take care of you guys, how should I put it... You can think of me as being a bit self-important.
You can even call me a chauvinist; in my opinion, it's right for capable people to bear more responsibility. I'm also willing to carry these pressures and move forward. It gives me a more real feeling... I don't know how to explain it, but I always feel that if I came to this world and still let you all suffer, then I would have come for nothing.
My purpose in coming to this world is to make everyone's lives a little better and happier. This is my most desired goal right now.
The scope of 'everyone' is neither small nor large. I want to accomplish this step first, and then consider bigger goals, such as making the world a better place.
Right now, I'm just completing the first step of my life's goal. Compared to the guilt you feel... perhaps I should apologize to you, because I am indeed influencing your life and future based on my own thoughts and will.
But you don't need to feel special. I'll probably do this for many other people later. Some will like it, some won't, but I'll do it anyway, because it's what I like and what I want to do.
So..."
He turned his head and grinned at Lucy: "Just bear with it, adult at seventy-five, huh?"
"...You're a bit annoying."
Lucy rolled her eyes at him, then, however, curled up in her seat, propping her chin on her hand, her bright eyes quietly gazing at him, his radiant smile reflected in her gaze:
"Is a life dedicated to the happiness of others truly happy?"
"It's extremely happy, because making certain people happy and joyful inevitably means certain idiots will suffer greatly... And who says my buddy's life purpose is only this?"
Mercer laughed loudly and opened the window. Outside, the strong winds swept up yellow sand, and a distant yellow sandstorm was vaguely forming.
Lucy was somewhat unable to open her eyes due to the sudden strong wind and sand, but she still tried hard to see him excitedly leaning out, using his hands to capture the silhouette of the storm.
He shouted loudly, preventing his voice from being carried away by the storm:
"Life is a journey, the fun isn't in the destination, nor in whether you can reach it!"
"It's in everything you experience while walking this path!"
"Look, the people around me are laughing and walking towards freedom with me, the Arasaka idiots I hate are probably frowning right now, past difficulties have been conquered by me, and the vast world ahead still holds great potential!"
"My happiness is that simple—do you feel the storm? It's coming!
Haha! I've always wanted to try, to truly challenge this kind of storm myself!
To hell with houses, money, cars, jobs!
Whoo-hoo!!!
Cough, cough cough, ptooey, ptooey..."
He yelled, got a mouthful of sand, then retreated back into the car, spitting out a few mouthfuls of sand, and then closed the window again.
He turned to the somewhat stunned Lucy and gave an embarrassed smile, wiping his lips with his hand, and spitting a few more times.
Damn it, why did the wind speed increase so fast?
"Pfft..."
Lucy couldn't help but laugh, but then, she too laughed heartily like he had just done, stretching her body, pulling open the window, and sticking half of her body out. While feeling the storm, she suddenly inhaled:
"Whoo-hoo!!!"
She also yelled, then got a mouthful of sand, quickly pulled back in, closed the car window, and coughed violently, even gagging twice, then kept spitting endlessly.
The two exchanged glances, then both couldn't help but burst into laughter, their laughter echoing in the car, even drowning out the sound of the yellow sand hitting the car windows.
"Shasha... Shasha..."
Near the car radio, the walkie-talkie hanging by the car's air conditioner suddenly crackled.
"Hello? Kids, can you hear me? You should have walkie-talkies in your cars too, right? Respond if you receive, respond if you receive."
Mercer picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the talk button: "Received, Old Cowboy."
"Received, received!" Daichi Tetsuya's voice also came through, and rosie shouts could vaguely be heard.
"Pay attention to slowing down, maintain formation, and always confirm the taillights of the car in front are within your line of sight!
Never get lost in the sandstorm!
If you lose sight of the target, speak up immediately! The convoy must immediately slow down to cooperate with team members!
Now, I will lead you to a temporary shelter I know for a rest; it will take at least an hour and a half to get there!
Don't get yourselves lost before then.
Don't get excited too early, the thrill has just begun!
Attention everyone! The big wave is coming!"
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