"Whoa! Mano! This place is so cool!"
Jack has been exclaiming in awe almost since he walked in.
Whether it's the newly established residential area by the Adcardans or the work zone filled with various equipment.
Including the underground entrance, machine room, and work zone that Mercer took him and Sasha to see, everything made Jack incredibly excited.
He's never seen this in a gang before! Even the best turf turns into a dirty mess once a bunch of street punks start drinking and smoking there.
Especially when he saw there's a dedicated garage and a full set of professional car modification tools, he laughed loudly, exclaiming that he must save up money quickly to buy a motorcycle he likes and then modify it heavily.
And after expanding the ground area, everyone got a 35 square meter single dorm, the excitement became even harder to suppress.
Jack, always living at home, had a room for himself for the first time — yes, in the game Jack and V duo had at least a garage to live in.
But now in 2072, Jack hasn't even moved out from home. With gang life not making any money, he occasionally gets caught and put behind bars for months by the NCPD.
If he rented a place, his mattress would probably be sold off while he's in jail.
Sasha was much more composed, though it seemed like it's the first time she's lived with so many people, and Mercer's team had many hackers, all female.
This allowed her to easily blend into conversations, rarely finding peers she could truly connect with, keeping a smile on her face.
Especially Kyoko, who had a strong anime style, charming and kind. Sasha took a great liking to her cute nature.
They quickly became close, even sticking together during mealtime.
Mercer was equally in high spirits.
Seeing Mann, Dolio, Jack, Lucy, Kyoko, Qiwei, Sasha, along with V and the Rebecca siblings all gathered, laughing and joking at the table, gave him a satisfaction like completing a 'character roster'.
Uh... if V could stop being so gloomy, it would be even better.
"Didn't I tell you beforehand? Jack and Sasha were coming this afternoon, so I asked you to tidy up a bit and welcome them, but instead, everyone waited for you for several minutes."
In the kitchen, V took advantage of the moment Mercer helped serve dishes to sternly glare at him, whispering.
Mercer chuckled quietly, whispering back beside her, "Alright, alright, my bad."
"Hmph..." V glared at him, handing him the drinks while complaining, "My mom used to say, if a family can't gather for meals, they'll eventually drift apart.
I'm not asking you to be punctual every day, but at least don't be late for formal gatherings."
"Okay, okay, next time for sure. Thanks, V." Mercer quickly grabbed the items and escaped, not giving V a chance to continue her lecture.
V rolled her eyes, muttering behind him, "I'll deal with you after the meal."
She always found him unreliable in daily life, as if he's a completely different person when busy with serious matters.
And V always gets irritated seeing his unorganized lifestyle, can't quite explain why, clearly others are similar but she particularly enjoys picking on him.
Whether it's not changing clothes regularly, wearing the same outfit for days, irregular sleep, irregular meals, constantly drinking cola, she always nags Mercer — just like his mom.
What's even scarier is Rebecca is similar, constantly buying him clothes and shoes, urging him to go out when he's worked too long...
Uh, feels like suddenly having two moms with different personalities.
Mercer's choice, like many helpless middle-aged husbands, is to use work as an excuse and quickly run away when they start nagging.
After bringing the items to the table, he soon laughed and joined the others in chatting, now not even lifting a finger, acting like a true boss.
V watched this scene, shook her head, but never complained about him in front of outsiders, only setting the table with the girls and sitting beside him, deciding to address him later when alone.
On the table were Mexican-style dishes, American-style home-cooked meals, and various stir-fries and Japanese dishes based on the preferences of Mercer, Lucy, and others made by V.
It's a table full of various dishes, each looking quite authentic, making Jack praise endlessly.
"I say, V, your cooking is really good! Mercer, why didn't you mention all these delicious dishes earlier, I would've come much sooner!"
Jack complimented V's cooking.
V sat beside Mercer, leaning back in her chair to relax — preparing such a large table of dishes was truly exhausting, if not for Dolio, Qiwei, and Lucy helping, she'd have been busy all day.