In terms of Cyber World's prosthetic technology, even if you've been cut in half, as long as someone reaches you before your brain completely dies, you have a significant chance of surviving.
In fact, as long as the brain death period isn't long, with current technology, it's possible to bring you back to life after emergency treatment.
As for the price...
Mercer can still accept it—Tens of Thousands of Euros per month is a fortune for ordinary people, but for a team like theirs, which has surpassed a simple 'Edgerunners' squad, it's still within an acceptable range.
Next, rather than worrying about monthly expenses, Mercer's bigger concern is how to generate income.
If the money isn't enough, it means you're earning too little.
"Alright, the surprise is over. Everyone can go back to rest. I think, with the noise we've made, it won't be long before Mr. Hans comes to find us for work."
"When you take someone's hand, you have to give something in return. They've provided us with accommodation and various conveniences, so we need to do the job well—everyone should get their state adjusted well in the next few days. The tasks we have to do next are far more than before."
Mercer was discussing the upcoming tasks as he walked with the group into the warehouse: "First is Pira, Lucy, Qiwei, Kyoko.
Pira's task is to provide me with a suitable catalog of weapon equipment. We need to quickly produce some suitable gear and weapons to sell in the shop.
The requirement for this batch of equipment is simple: durable and robust.
We need to create a batch of products that meet the aesthetic needs of street thugs, are affordable, easy to ship, but of solid quality, to capture the mid-low-end weapon market of Dog Town.
The quality of black market goods is inconsistent. If we can provide stable, high-quality, and inexpensive weapon equipment in Dog Town, I believe it won't be long before our shop gains a reputation."
After finishing, Mercer paused and said: "Don't worry about other forces in Dog Town; at least in terms of military equipment, whether it's gang members, ordinary citizens, or even the Netherworld Dog, there's actually a lack of stable, reliable, low-cost firepower.
Dog Town prohibits large-scale external weapon sales, but us selling weapons within Dog Town and even selling them outside is fine."
Pira nodded, somewhat excitedly saying, "No problem, man. I know how to fiddle with those cheap goods really well."
"When it comes to the equipment needed, costs, including aspects like raw materials, you can report to me. We'll use team funds for this, and when the goods are sold, the creators and developers will get bonuses."
After Mercer finished, he paused and turned to look at the hackers beside him.
"Next up are things like weapon chips, program chips, etc. I've already purchased a batch of related equipment, and you can try them out. If needed, we can buy more.
The goal is simple: to create better products than the Voodoo Gang in Dog Town and seize their market."
After Mercer finished speaking, Qiwei, a bit concerned, said, "What if the Voodoo Gang comes to make trouble?"
"They should worry about me causing them trouble. Don't worry; if they have any opinions, I'll make them abandon them. Peace brings money, but before that, we must ensure our products are competitive."
Mercer wasn't too worried about it; if it weren't for wanting to give them a chance to hone their skills and make some money to support themselves, he could crush the program chip market on his own.
Mercer didn't think anyone in today's Night City could surpass him in this technical aspect. Quickly cracking programs, he could write a dozen in an hour; the real hassle was writing the programs into chips and assembling them.
"If our business expands, I want to assign a large portion of the assembly work to the Adcardo people."
Mercer spoke: "Hand-assembling chips, at the current tech level, is more of a manual labor job. We gain some experience and accumulate some skills through these tasks.
Afterward, we need to put our core products on the high-end stuff."
Mercer explained simply: "Besides that, we'll also take on some work like program upgrades, weapon equipment customization, software customization. In short, everyone should be ready to get busy."
Things must be done step by step, first making sure everyone has work and can earn money, and then adjusting the situation later.
In the Cyberpunk world, there are not many ways for common people to earn money. Mercer thought, if you really want to make big money, he must rely on himself. Others can at most contribute labor for him, not solve problems.
Several people entered the elevator. V nudged Mercer with her elbow: "What about me? What am I gonna do?"
"Continue taking contracts. These businesses need time to turn profitable, and creating equipment and researching technology involve significant upfront investment, and that's money we ultimately have to accumulate little by little as mercenaries.
Whether it's running a business or conducting research, the goal is so that one day we won't need to sell our lives to make money.
But for now, we should first honestly think about how to become this city's true legendary mercenaries."
When Mercer finished speaking, V finally smiled: "No problem, I already have an appointment with Old Wei to install the Mantis Blade in a few days."