"Alright then, relax, girl. The brain-computer interface surgery will just need you to take a little nap... it'll be over soon." Old Wei sensed what Mercer meant and felt a bit sentimental.
Mercer really is good to his own people.
He has seen all kinds of people, including those so-called 'bosses' from some gangs who bring their underlings, talk the talk about getting good stuff, but when it comes to the price, many people's faces change.
They start talking about cost-effectiveness or something.
Someone like Mercer, who is willing to lend money to his subordinates and insists on getting the best stuff, is something Old Wei, in his many years of practice, has only seen once or twice.
Qiwei responded with a hum and gave Mercer one last look before being injected with anesthesia.
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."
Mercer understood her thoughts, and Qiwei, feeling a bit embarrassed, closed her eyes and responded softly, waiting for the anesthesia to take effect.
Once the anesthesia was administered, Qiwei quickly fell asleep.
Victor took out the syringe and injected a stabilizer into his own arm:
"You and V go watch some TV, there's ice beer in the fridge, just don't get drunk."
After Victor spoke, Mercer nodded but suddenly said, "Old Wei, can I use your machine? I want to tinker with my previous Network Access Vault."
"Sure," Victor said nonchalantly.
Most people aren't even allowed to touch his machines, but with Mercer, he showed unexpected tolerance.
How do I put this, Victor might say he treats him as a friend, but in his heart, he sees him more like a kid who evokes a bit of sympathy.
Mercer told V to sit on the sofa and wait, and V obediently picked up a beer to watch a boxing match while Mercer picked up the equipment and found the 'Soulkiller Protocol' Network Access Vault stored in Old Wei's freezer.
Not daring to directly connect his line, Mercer disconnected the machine's network before connecting it to the network access vault, which was also in a disconnected state, and began studying the programs through the screen.
His fingers flew across the keyboard. Even though he couldn't directly connect and use brainwaves to view the data, with his current technical skills, he could deftly manage the computer to complete the programming tasks.
The more he researched, the more serious Mercer's expression became.
Just as he thought, what was stored in there was indeed the Soulkiller program.
Moreover, it was a pre-configured Soulkiller program.
As he delved deeper into the research and carefully analyzed the code structure, he discovered that the program was nested.
After Mercer scrutinized the meaning of the program's code, he furrowed his brow and sneered in his heart: That old woman was really trying to screw me over!
The nested program within Soulkiller is very straightforward: it automatically activates the Soulkiller program the instant this network access vault is connected to human consciousness.
The Soulkiller program would immediately upload the consciousness of the person wearing this connector directly to storage space.
Mercer speculated that the opponent would locally back up his consciousness data and upload it immediately to the Divine Chariot, and then his consciousness...
Would it be modified and re-deployed back? Is this something Arasaka can already do?
Mercer thought about it carefully. It didn't seem impossible. Back when Otter Cunningham was still human, she was directly uploaded to the Divine Chariot by Soulkiller, only to eventually kill her way back.
As long as the connection isn't severed, it's enough not to completely disconnect consciousness from the body.
Or perhaps, the opponent wasn't sure whether he could come back, and their primary goal was to have the Soulkiller upload his consciousness to storage?
And then? Was the old woman's real intent to experiment whether this network access vault could achieve local upload, modification, and return the modified consciousness back into Mercer's body?
Did she have any successful cases?
Mercer continued studying for a while and finally attempted an offline operation to delete the automatic startup code.
Then he discovered—damn, this crappy access vault indeed had an internal mini AI!
Quick as a flash, Mercer pulled the plug, then grimaced as he safeguarded Old Wei's computer first.
Great, it's off the table for now.
Because even if Mercer could confront a mini AI without server computing power by himself, he would still need to connect and use his brainwaves to program.
And once connected, the embedded AI would immediately activate the Soulkiller and launch an attack on Mercer.
Could Mercer withstand the Soulkiller program driven by AI?
Uh, he thought better of it.
He might be a bit insane, but not to the point of challenging Soulkiller head-on.
If he really wanted to die, why not try playing with the Black Wall, like New America's 'Lark,' using the Black Wall to kill? Isn't that better than messing with Soulkiller?
The greatest significance of the Soulkiller program is to fully digitize human consciousness to achieve cyber immortality, but Mercer isn't afraid of death just yet. If he truly wanted cyber immortality, he could just go to Ultraman.
Mercer put down the Network Access Vault, repaired Old Wei's computer, and fell into contemplation.
Or perhaps... just delete this damn Soulkiller program?
Just take apart this thing, find the storage drive, and force a format. No matter how strong the AI is, it won't help.
Once he learned the Soulkiller program, he could write it himself or replicate a copy and swap the AI inside with his own Venus...