When the car stopped in front of V's hotel, and everyone got out.
Pira and V were shocked to find out—Rebecca had already joined the team ahead of them.
"No way, Rebecca!" Pira looked utterly defeated, "Why didn't you discuss it with me!?"
Rebecca scoffed, "Discuss what? Useless brother, now give Brother A a proper greeting; from now on, he's our boss."
"What the... what are you doing..." Pira was taken aback.
He knew Rebecca's personality better than anyone; once she made up her mind, not even ten bulls could pull her back.
Mercer shrugged, "Your brother doesn't seem too thrilled about you hanging out with me?"
"He's just an idiot," Rebecca succinctly replied.
"Damn it, Rebecca!" Pira was inwardly furious at her for making such a rash decision, but he didn't dare bad-mouth Mercer in Mercer's presence.
He was so anxious he looked like an ant on a hot pan, with his mouth open yet unable to find the words.
Rebecca impatiently scratched her ear, "Alright, stop whining. I know what I'm doing... If you're unhappy with it, then leave. I've made up my mind."
She smugly patted Mercer's arm and then looked proudly at V, "Now Mercer and I are on the same team, V, you'd better step up your game."
"Damn..." V couldn't help but curse under his breath, in the blink of an eye, how did he become the outsider?
This group, what were they thinking, agreeing to team up with Mercer without even figuring things out...
Fine, V admitted Mercer was generous and seemed reliable, but...
V irritably flipped his hair, "I was hired by Brother A, what does it have to do with you?"
"Relation?"
Rebecca laughed out loud, feeling like her head that had been hit with a gun butt didn't hurt anymore. She immediately acted chummy and put her arm around Mercer's, "Mercer said that by joining his team, we're practically family~"
"Speak properly." Mercer shivered with discomfort, withdrawing his arm and gave her a light knock on the head, "Don't provoke her; if you get beaten, I won't help."
Rebecca playfully made a face at V; she just felt a bit at odds with V, mainly unwilling to accept having been taken down by V so easily.
And V stomped upstairs in a huff, "A, are you coming or not? Weren't you going to explain the action details to me?"
"In a bit."
Mercer finished speaking but wasn't in a hurry to go up. He glanced at Rebecca, "You can stay here for the next few days, alright? Talk it over about joining the team with your brother, clear things up. I won't interfere."
"No problem!" Rebecca was already tired of being out in the open streets.
She excitedly pulled Mercer with her to get a room. The owner saw their demeanor and only charged the minimum, 45 Euro a day.
Rebecca paid a week's rent in one go; she'd check out later if they didn't stay.
However, the deposit on the hotel was quite high, five hundred Euro.
Yet, as long as they didn't wreck the room in a gunfight, the deposit would be refunded on time.
Other than that, if there were bodies or blood everywhere, they'd still refund the total deposit—it's quite common here.
Then Mercer went upstairs, visiting V's lair for the first time.
Speaking of a lair, that's no exaggeration because it was indeed a mess, unlike in the game where there was at least a smashed-up workspace, with a professionally configured laptop set up.
Currently, V's room contained Just a bed, a sofa, a coffee table, a TV, and a bathroom.
The only table was cluttered with bullets and empty magazines, plus an ancient-looking computer that seemed rundown.
Other than that, there was only the typical vending machine every household seemed to have; doing laundry and using water and electricity were on a pay-as-you-go basis—however much you put in, you got that much electricity and water.
No wonder the owner dared to charge just 45 Euro per day because he really only provided a room, and all expenses inside, except for the TV fee and the network provided by the hotel server, were up to you.
At this moment, V was still sulking, rummaging through to find something to eat, as Mercer's treat was thwarted first by a few Animal Gang members, and she hadn't eaten a bite.
Mercer wasn't rushing, just watched her with a smile for a while, then sat by her notebook on his own.
"Your computer... Well, let's use it first; I'll also upgrade your system while I'm at it."
Mercer opened up the laptop, refraining from plugging in his data line right away, instead spending a few dozen seconds inspecting V's computer, indeed finding a computer virus.
He deleted the virus, then plugged in his data line, rechecked it, rewrote her computer's ICE, optimized the system in it, and only then safely transferred some data prepared for V into it.
"You're something, what did you do on the computer? It's almost 2072, and you still managed to catch a virus? Didn't you notice it lagging?"
Mercer said.
"I thought it was just old and worn-out..." V scratched her head a bit embarrassed; she didn't really understand this stuff.
"Good thing you didn't have a habit of plugging random stuff into your computer. A ransomware virus, moderate power, just a scare tactic. Didn't you get ransom emails?"
After Mercer asked, V naturally said, "Yeah, but I didn't care; who are they to try and rob money from me online?"