Mercer spat silently, feeling a sense of heaviness inside.
He didn't think biotechnology would miss this opportunity to make a fortune, which also meant Night City might truly face another epidemic outbreak.
Mercer didn't want to clean up biotechnology's mess for free, but how could he make biotechnology truly pay the price?
Should he just do the mercenary work like before? Capture the biotech project leader and kill them?
This is completely meaningless; these so-called directors and managers are, in the end, merely interchangeable and replenish-able expendables within the biotechnology company.
As long as there is profit to be made, and as long as no one makes them pay an actual price for their misdeeds, biotechnology will repeat this process over and over.
Mercer didn't want to think too far ahead; he just wanted—even if it meant expelling biotechnology from Night City!
Achieving this solely by himself was utterly impossible.
Frustrated, Mercer waited for another set of experiment results to come out, recorded them, and then disinfected himself and changed clothes to go to the living room for dinner.
By this time, everyone had finished eating, but V had left his portion covered under a pot lid in the pot. Mercer served himself a portion and sat down at the coffee table, mechanically eating while watching TV.
Until a man's figure suddenly appeared in the news on the TV screen—Jefferson Perales.
Watching Jefferson, who was currently speaking extensively, Mercer's body gradually sat upright.
"What I want to say is, as of now, most of Night City's taxes are being wasted... Why do I say that? Well, let's take a simple look at Night City's financial report from last year, what do you see?"
The Jefferson on TV was calmly expressing his political philosophy: "I only see astonishing civil servant salary expenses and public expenditures, but I want to ask all of you, have you really seen this money being effectively implemented in your lives?
The streets are still so ruined; take the road surfaces ruined by the Sixth Street Gang and Valentino Gang in the Haywood District as an example—how long have things been past over there? Until now, no one even wants to re-cement those broken roads!
Every time I drive through there, I have to lower my speed as much as possible, afraid of scratching my car's undercarriage!
Also, what about the mayor's previously promised clean water and food subsidy plans? Why is a gallon of clean water still 99 euros? Where has the clean water gone?
I only see the low taxes on companies have indeed been implemented and large subsidies to companies have indeed been in place, but anything regarding public facility construction or so-called subsidy funds and projects are still in the so-called 'implementation' phase.
Last year, we allocated subsidies totaling seventy-two million euros to seventeen companies, yet out of these seventeen, only four are still operating normally; the rest have either gone bankrupt or been acquired.
And where are the jobs they promised? Our unemployment rate from the first quarter to the third quarter not only hasn't decreased, but has risen by another two percent!"
Jefferson sighed: "And we need not just jobs but also healthcare and poverty assistance! Right now, a full 40% of Night City's population is trapped below the subsistence line!
Can you imagine? In Night City, filled with large companies, there are still 40% of people who can't get enough to eat, while those companies that donate and fold within six months easily take away tens of millions of euros in tax money..."
Mercer watched Jefferson continuously engage in conversation with the host, constantly debating health insurance, employment issues, and the crime issues that everyone in Night City knows about but feels helpless against.
He pondered for a moment and suddenly had some ideas.
Relying on himself alone might achieve nothing—but if he could establish collaboration with a capable city councillor, and they worked with shared interests and similar aspirations, the result might be entirely different.
Whether it's Night City's severe crime issue, poverty problem, water and food issues, or driving out companies like biotechnology, it would have to leverage the power of Night City Hall and other companies to make a complete drive away.
Jefferson Perales, a man of grassroots background who returned to Night City decisively to engage in politics after completing university education funded by a scholarship from Ye Corporation.
Both in terms of background and political philosophy, he is actually remarkably similar to Mercer in some respect.
Being from the grassroots, Jefferson understands the hardships of the common people and is quite resistant to large companies. If they could talk... it might truly be possible to mutually benefit regarding the biotechnology issue.
Jefferson could gain fame, and Mercer wants to expel the biotechnology company, and, preferably, make biotechnology receive nothing and become notorious in any potential epidemic outbreak.
Mercer could earn the medicine fees for them, and the money earned could be further invested in Jefferson, accumulating wealth, while also pulling in companies like Zeta Technology, Sue Petrochemicals, and Trauma Team that have conflicts of interest with biotechnology.
Convinced the more he thought about it, Mercer immediately began arranging a meeting with Jefferson through Venus.