Old Wei looked up, showing a helpless expression: "Why didn't you give me a heads-up? Not today, there's already a surgery scheduled for this morning."
"I see... Niño (kid), what are you here for?"
Jack Wells stepped aside with a smile, making way for the kid.
Meanwhile, Mercer gave him a once-over: "Alex Mercer, or you can call me A, what else would I be here for but surgery... Are you with Valentino Gang?"
He scrutinized the two guys behind Jack.
The characteristics of the Valentino Gang aren't too obvious; first, their outfits fit the Street Kid style.
Secondly, they love all sorts of blingy gold jewelry or religious symbols like crosses or tattoos.
Generally, the most common among them are tattoos related to various religious beliefs.
The two men behind Jack, upon seeing Mercer, spoke with some impatience: "Niño, your surgery is rescheduled. If you want to install any toys, come back in the afternoon."
Inside, Victor didn't even look up, completely uninterested in engaging because he knew Jack would handle it.
"You don't need such a good doctor for installing a big cannon. My schedule's tight too, queue up or find another place, Mano (brother)."
Mercer retorted without hesitation, expressionless, as he stared down the two gang members.
Jack then turned around directly: "Hey, we've agreed, don't cause me trouble, be polite at Old Wei's place."
Jack's words made the two punks look unhappy, yet they only clicked their tongues, glaring at Mercer as if trying to intimidate him into tears.
Mercer merely let out a snort, too indifferent to give them another glance as he walked to the vending machine by the door to buy a can of cola.
Jack eyed Mercer for a moment, saying nothing more, only turning towards Victor: "Then we'll come back in the afternoon, Old Wei."
"Okay, better keep an eye on your people, don't give that kid trouble... unless you want your heads to smoke, don't say I didn't warn you."
Victor stated calmly.
Jack instinctively activated his prosthetic eye, scanning Mercer, who glanced at him before allowing him access to his name.
A set of top-tier Arasaka gear, a standard hacker setup, made Jack click his tongue—one Arasaka single molecular line could buy his life.
"Damn, Niño, the stuff you got is really intense."
Jack complimented with a chuckle, while Mercer smiled back at him: "You're good, big guy. If you need hacker help, call me."
He sent Jack a friend request, which Jack quickly accepted, laughing:
"That's great, you should come by the Wild Wolf Bar sometime, my mom runs it.
The fries there are awesome, and they've got Mexican food, just come, it's on me."
"Convincing a kid to hang out at a bar, you're something else, big guy."
A female voice sounded, Pan'an placing a hand on the grip of her pistol and walking over from a building on the other side of the alley.
Next to the door behind her stood a young girl with smoky makeup, watching the scene with concern—it was Misty, who would one day captivate Jack.
Jack couldn't help but glance at Misty a few times, though he wasn't exceptionally warm, just nodding in acknowledgment.
He currently had a Valentino Gang girlfriend, and the relationship was relatively stable.
"Whew~!"
A punk instinctively whistled, winking excitedly at Pan'an:
"Chica (sister), the kid's no good, but you sure can, how about grabbing drinks this afternoon? You're hot!"
"Drink your mother's head off, you asshole, don't ask for trouble."
Pan'an spoke smoothly, giving the group an icy stare: "Mercer, what's up with them?"
Jack had to concede; while he tried to calm things down, the two fools just couldn't settle down.
As expected, those words set the duo off, their hands on their gun grips, about to curse: "Bitch, give you face and..."
But Mercer sighed at that moment.
Then Jack watched in disbelief as the two brothers screamed in agony and convulsed to the ground before they could finish their sentence.
Simultaneously, Pan'an pointed her gun at their heads.
Jack looked speechlessly at his brothers clutching their heads and howling:
"I told you all to be polite... never mind, chica, that's enough, we're not here for trouble."
Mercer nodded: "Pan'an, let's go, I'm starving."
"Alright." Pan'an eyed the two still twitching on the ground with some astonishment too: "Wow, hackers are that powerful?"
"It's 'cause I'm good, any other newbie, hacking in would take a few seconds."
Mercer explained, then turned around: "Don't worry, it's just the implants going wild, a little nerve pain in the head, have Old Wei fix you up in the afternoon, you'll be fine by evening."
Jack nodded reluctantly, saying: "They're just unlucky today... But, Niño, you've got quite the skills, I've never seen a hacker who could black someone out faster than a quick draw."
"Uh-huh, now you have."
Mercer patted Jack's sturdy arm: "You're good mercenary material, call me if you ever tire of gangs, I'll take you to Rebirth for a couple of drinks, sort you out properly."
"Whoa, Mano, Rebirth?"
Jack's eyes lit up—with the Valentino Gang, but truth be told, deep down, he preferred being a mercenary.
Like the legendary Edgerunners, taking on corporations and gangs, a few brothers braving gunfire together, the whole city trembling at his very name!
And Rebirth Bar was the place only those top mercenary 'bosses' could go!
"Interested? How about I take you there tonight?" Mercer couldn't help but laugh, this Jack was just like in the game.
"Definitely interested... but, let's skip it.
That place, it's worth it to go in on my own merit."
Jack said, glancing at his brothers, who were now recovering, clutching their heads with Pan'an's gun pointed at them, and sighed: "Alright, we're leaving, back in the afternoon."
"Hurry up, the door's open, and the stink's coming in."
Victor's disgruntled voice came through: "Take your friends far away, don't bother my clients, Jack."
"I got it, Old Wei... they're just a bit... uh, new to the game, you know."
Jack bent down, taking a brother in each hand and hefting them up: "Stop embarrassing us, let's go."
The two punks still seemed somewhat indignant but shivered all over when Mercer glanced at them.
They'd never seen such an impressive hacker.
In their minds, hackers were the ones hiding in safe spots, clueless without a cord plugged into their heads, right?
But this guy, just a glare was enough to nearly scare someone to death.
Pan'an spat in the direction of the departing punks:
"Alright, eat while it's hot.
I couldn't find whatever meat burger mess you talked about, only got fried dumplings, from a Japanese vendor...
I ate a few bites before buying it for you, the taste was okay."
"By the way, this is Misty."
Pan'an gestured to the quiet Misty beside her—Misty, now, looked only about eighteen or nineteen, her heavy smoky makeup couldn't hide her naturally delicate features.
Misty smiled: "Hello, Mercer, nice to meet you... did Pan'an just say you know me?"
"Uh-huh, I looked into Old Wei and checked you out, do you do Tarot Cards reading? Once I'm done, how about giving me a reading?"
Mercer's suggestion made Misty smile even more brightly: "Sure! As a new friend, I'll give you a free reading this time."
"Deal then."
Mercer waved, bringing Pan'an inside, eating the fried dumplings while waiting for Old Wei to finish.
The Japanese-made fried dumplings tasted fine, but the dumpling filling's texture was hard to assess.
They claimed it was meat, but it felt like tofu, although the seasoning was alright. He ate a large portion, drank a cola, and watched the boxing match on TV, while Old Wei finished his preparations.
He lay on the bed, closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, even his eyeballs were new.
One of them was connected to the nerve signals but hadn't been placed into the eye socket yet, seeing from his perspective felt quite strange... and a bit horrifying.