The insult turned Brigitte's face livid, making her want to speak but hesitating.
Mercer deliberately used the Haitian term for "doormat," clearly intending to humiliate her with the insult they loved using on outsiders.
Rebecca raised her hand and looked at Mercer.
As Mercer reached out to remove the jamming chip from Brigitte's head, then nodded toward Rebecca, Rebecca pulled the pistol from V's thigh, aimed it at Brigitte, and pulled the trigger.
After the gunshot and Brigitte's death, Rebecca handed the pistol back to V, who rolled her eyes — she didn't like others using her gun.
V looked at Brigitte, who lay limp and dead on the hacker chair, then glanced around: "What's next? What are we gonna do?"
"Have Hua Tiao's people move the server back to Dog Town for me, and then... slaughter them all," Mercer said lightly. "This time, there's no need for assassination. We'll drive over to their base and kill everyone."
And just as he finished speaking, a warning came through the prosthetic eye from Venus.
[Venus: It seems Voodoo Gang from other places got the message and are currently organizing combat personnel to approach your church location. The nearest group will arrive in three minutes.]
[Mercer: Oh... I guess someone in Dog Town's Voodoo Gang messed up?]
[Venus: I think this is the most likely, though it can't be ruled out that spies around the church reported the situation to the Voodoo Gang.]
[Mercer: This makes things easier.]
He turned to look at V and Rebecca, shrugging: "Voodoo Gang reinforcements are here."
"So... we just fight in the streets?" V asked, surprised.
Mercer nodded, casually, "Just right to show our allies some force... Then use your battle footage to get some money from Hans and Hansen."
"Ha! You better not try to steal it from me!" Rebecca rushed outside without a second thought.
V didn't bother competing with her and just turned to confirm with Mercer: "The commotion we're gonna cause isn't small... If those corporations see your invention, they might target you again."
"Aren't I already under many people's watch? Sometimes, the value you show makes you safer."
Mercer seemed to understand this thoroughly.
Like that hacker sibling duo in the game's DLC, they were famous international hackers but were directly executed by Agent Li De for two convenient fake identities.
However, Lark, who was involved in assassinating the New America President and staged the whole Dog Town event, survived due to her strong hacking skills with the Black Wall.
Though she might only become a short-lived tool bird when New America captures her again, at least she's alive, right?
The New America President even risked breaching the ceasefire agreement to attack the orbital aerospace airport, showing how sought-after truly valuable talents are.
The more valuable the corporations find Mercer, the less likely they are to kill him. They'd rather take him back and try to brainwash him into a tool than let him die casually.
In short, if Mercer truly exposed all his capabilities now, some forces might prefer Night City being bombed to oblivion rather than letting him die.
The Internet Supervision's cordial attitude, Military Science reconciling with him, and even Hansen's respectful treatment in Dog Town, all stem from him displaying enough value.
Mercer now targets Arasaka Yoshinobu, which is actually very risky. Should his plan be exposed, especially to Arasaka Saburo...
Then, given Arasaka Saburo's character, sending a nuclear bomb his way wouldn't be impossible... Arasaka's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier still patrols the Night City waters regularly!
So Mercer has to start considering finding a fallback, just in case things go awry, he needs someone to pull him out to safety, and at the very least, protect those around him from unforeseen events.
Big corporations don't care for morality in their actions.
V seemed to guess something from Mercer's words, and after observing him for a moment, said nothing but stretched her hands: "Alright, you call the shots. If things get out of hand, sis will take you and run."
"Stop with the ominous talk, I came to Night City with no intention of moving!" Mercer laughed, putting his hands in his pockets, and walked out confidently.
V pouted and sped up to walk ahead of him: "Just stay in the church later, leave outside to us."
"Alright." Mercer said indifferently, not planning to go outside to fight alongside them — the Voodoo Gang reinforcements were probably at least fifty or sixty, and certainly not without heavy firepower.
Going out and getting blown away by a sniper or grenade launcher would turn him into pure comedy.
Jack seemed a bit tense: "Damn, are we really fighting the Voodoo Gang here? On their turf, waiting for them to surround us?"
"This is called 'encircle and strike support,'" Mercer said, to which Sasha couldn't help but laugh: "Is 'encircle and strike support' having the enemy encircle you?"
"Same thing~" Mercer said, casually and happily returning to the church with them.