Mercer said, while Victor sighed, "Forget it... in this messed-up world, having kids doesn't guarantee happiness. And as for girls... do you think I'm the type who's short of them? It's just that I'm getting old, tired of playing around, it's not interesting anymore."
"Unlike you, lucky enough to meet nice girls... the older I get, the harder it is to open up..."
Victor lamented, then started chatting with Mercer about life.
The two chatted for over half an hour before the biotech delivery arrived.
After checking the synthetic organs, Victor called Mercer over to start the surgery.
This time, Mercer again cut off nerve perception and then watched as Old Wei gave him an auxiliary heart, replaced the original heart with a synthetic one, even upgraded his lungs, and then his kidneys...
When the surgery was over, Mercer curled up on the couch for a while, then took a few puffs of pain relief spray and waved goodbye to Old Wei.
However, as soon as he stepped outside, he saw Jack sitting in Misty's room, chatting happily with her.
Seeing Mercer, Jack waved nonchalantly, though there was a hint of 'shyness' recognizable only to those who knew him well.
"Yo, what brings you here?" Mercer teased.
"V said you went to see Old Wei alone, probably cramming yourself with a lot of stuff again, worried you might not feel well, so asked me to pick you up back home."
Jack winked at Mercer, while Mercer raised his eyebrows with a grin, "Oh, is that so? I thought you came specifically for Misty."
"Ahem..." Jack didn't deny it, instead he glanced at Misty's expression sneakily.
Seeing her still gently smiling, but with a slightly shy look in her eyes, he quickly said to Mercer with a laugh, "How about we have dinner together tonight?"
Mercer gave him a disdainful look, "Get out of here, you two go have a date, I'm not in the mood today."
"You better take him back first, he looks shaky on his feet... I bet he had some sort of internal surgery, V had to rest for days after his organ swap."
Misty looked at Mercer with concern, then turned to Jack, "V asked you to come, surely thinking of that."
"Nah, no need, all my cars are self-driving, I can just close my eyes and sleep once I'm in the car, wake up and I'll be home, why would I need anyone's help?"
Mercer waved his hand with a smile, "He rarely has a reason to come over, why don't you have dinner with him?"
Ever since I've been having surgeries at Old Wei's, this guy's been asking when we're going back for check-ups whenever he's free...
You know."
Mercer's words caused them both to exchange a glance, Misty looking away, "What about that Valentino girlfriend he had? I heard they were on and off."
"That's completely over," Jack replied affirmatively, sighing, "When I first said I wanted to join the mercenaries, she got mad and said I was crazy, wanted to break up.
For two months straight, no matter how I coaxed her, she just accused me of being useless.
Then she somehow found out I was making money, still hanging around with Mercer's crew.
Suddenly her face changed, asked me to buy her a car, said she'd back me up, kept nagging about wanting to visit our base. I told her no outsiders allowed, she threw a fit, pressed me to hurry up and get married.
My mom quite liked her, said she might be a bit vain, but which street girl doesn't care about appearances?
But I just felt uneasy inside, she's always talking about me making money and then pulling out, going back to Valentino to be some big shot, starting a business, but... you know, too many conflicts."
Jack shook his head, "Anyway, we're completely done, and now she's going around saying I've become successful and ungrateful. Whatever, let her say what she wants."
Misty nodded lightly, while Mercer playfully punched Jack on the shoulder and said to Misty with a smile, "Alright, you two keep busy, I'm heading back."
Jack chuckled, "You better tell V that you're the one who didn't want me to escort you!"
"Damn, alright!" Mercer rolled his eyes, picked up his octopus arm, and headed out.
Jack probably couldn't hold back any longer—he'd been chatting with Misty online for months and likely came with the intention of confirming their relationship today.
Mercer didn't want to be a third wheel.
Watching them joke around, Mercer felt inexplicably happy too. He got back into his car, cheerily had Polaris drive back to the base.
Misty's a good match for Jack; hopefully, they'll make it this time.
Mercer's smile didn't fade until he got back to the base. V was sitting in the living room watching TV, and she couldn't help asking why he looked so cheerful.
Upon learning that Jack was probably going to confirm things with Misty today, V raised an eyebrow, looking pleased too, "I told you those two would likely work out! Damn, I asked him to go over and he still pretends and asks if he should switch with Rebecca to check on you...
Hey, so, any interesting conversations you heard?"
Mercer looked at her a bit surprised, "I thought you really sent him because you were concerned about me."
V rolled her eyes and said a bit grumpily, "Why would I care about you! If you really wanted me to be there, you would've asked me before the surgery. Why would I have to go tag along?"
"Then should I ask you to accompany me next time?" he laughed, but V waved her hand dismissively, "Go find your Rebecca and Lucy."
Mercer shrugged, wobbled his way back to his room.
"Where are you going? It's almost time to eat!" V called after his back.
"No appetite today, going to sleep." Mercer waved, went into his room, lay on the bed, watched TV, planning to rest well and wait for his organs to adjust.
But after just an hour, someone knocked on the door so loudly it shook.
He opened the door exasperatedly, only to see V toss a tray on his table and then sit down with her legs crossed, "Eat!"
"Really not hungry," Mercer said lazily, cuddling his blanket.
"What did you say to me when I had surgery? How can you recover if you don't eat? Hurry up, you're not expecting me to spoon-feed you, right? Or should I call over Rebecca? She'd love to."
V gave him a sidelong glance.
Mercer could only sigh, sitting up, "Fine, I'll eat, alright!"
She even cooked some porridge for him... quite nice.
Watching Mercer slowly finish a bowl of porridge, eating some light vegetable salad, she was finally satisfied and cleaned up, "You better eat on time tomorrow too, don't always wait for someone to nag you, at your age!"
After V left, Mercer shook his head with a smile.
V, what a good woman.