When V was finally satisfied with moving his luggage and glanced at the kitchen, his eyes lit up immediately as he moved closer: "Whoa, A, where on earth did you get this? Synthetic meat?"
"Real meat! There's chicken too! All smuggled from Texas, courtesy of Adcardo's people, who spent over a week in the wilderness to get these!"
Mercer boasted gleefully: "Today, we're having fried chicken wings, cola chicken wings, beef stew, roast beef..."
"I'll do it, I'll make you some Mexican dishes!" V rolled up his sleeves and nudged him aside, "You just stay out there, don't waste the good ingredients."
"Who do you underestimate? I am going to conquer you today with a dish of cola chicken wings."
The two joked and tussled, and when others passed by and saw them, they couldn't help but stop. Rebecca, Pira, and Kyoko even gathered by the kitchen, with nothing else to do, drooling over the fresh meat.
Even Lucy and Qiwei chose to stay in the living room, and upon turning on the TV, their eyes occasionally glanced this way.
It wasn't until V raised an eyebrow and waved the knife a few times that the drooling ones sheepishly grinned and went to sit on the living room sofa to rest. Soon, the aroma of food wafted from the kitchen.
The specially purchased high-power range hood couldn't fully dissipate the scent.
Mercer and V busied themselves together for two hours, swiftly setting up a large table full of dishes, placing them on the dining table beside the kitchen.
The long dining table was more than enough to seat ten people facing each other, and everyone naturally left the head seat, the only main spot, for Mercer.
When Mercer's very confident cola chicken wings were brought to the table, everyone focused their gaze on him, especially Rebecca, whose eyes almost sparkled green.
"Alright, let's keep it short," Mercer said with a good-humored cough and smile, "First, let's congratulate all of us for finally having a place where we can live peacefully, a home that shields us from the elements, a place of our own.
Secondly, I swear, someday we will all move out of the filthy Dog Town, leave this stifling basement, and move into a penthouse in Night City, where everyone can enjoy the view outside the window and savor even better dinners together.
I want to emphasize that we'll all be there together, no one will be left out, and even more people will join us."
He paused after speaking, then laughed and continued, "Lastly, let's wish that our Spark Team will smoothly become the legend of this city, making everyone in this city remember our names!
That's it, let's eat!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Rebecca unhesitatingly grabbed a piece of cola chicken wing with a fork—the sweet and salty taste and the fresh flavor of chicken that Rebecca had never experienced before instantly widened her eyes: "Delicious!"
V looked at her skeptically, "Really? I saw him cook it with cola... Is this black-red color really right?"
"Delicious!" Rebecca could barely stop to speak, just repeating herself as she continued devouring.
V then cautiously picked up a piece, tasted it, and his eyes lit up: "Hey? Not bad, kind of like a taste stewed with red wine..."
"Right?" Mercer smiled, taking some with chopsticks, but he transferred it to small plates for others at the table to have a taste.
Seeing everyone's positive responses, he contentedly took off his mask and started eating himself.
Spanish tortillas with roast beef, vegetable salad, cola chicken wings, spicy fried chicken wings, and a beef stew—although not extremely diverse, were undeniably a rare culinary delight in Night City.
V, a bit silly, took several bites before suddenly realizing something and turned her head briskly.
She then, as if struck by lightning, slowly widened her mouth in a stiff movement.
In V's view, Mercer's somewhat youthful face enjoying the meal clearly emerged in her sight.
"I, what the heck... you, you really look like this!? You must be kidding!"