The banquet hall of Gem Cyan still looked extraordinarily luxurious, without any renovation changes made for today's special banquet theme.
Just a slight decoration was added to the center of the stage in the banquet hall, with some religious elements like crosses, and the lighting was adjusted to be slightly brighter.
Hansen's body lay quietly in a half-open coffin, showing a well-preserved half-body that appeared as if he was just asleep, placed in the center of the stage.
Some white flowers were placed around the coffin, and the Father prayed in a low voice in front of it. The hall, usually filled with music, was now accompanied only by a somber violin and piano concerto.
Men and women dressed in black formal wear, regardless of their identity or purpose, took turns stepping forward with a sorrowful expression, offering a small white flower as a tribute.
Mercer stood beside the coffin, receiving 'condolences' from the guests.
They were nothing more than platitudes like 'don't be too sad,' 'I believe you can take on Colonel Hansen's responsibilities.'
Mercer's face was full of grief as he repeatedly said 'thank you,' 'thank you for coming,' until the ceremony finished.
There were many who came to 'mourn' him.
The mayor of Night City, Lucius Lane, his deputy, Vice Mayor Weldon Holt, several city hall councilors, or socialites including Jefferson, TV hosts, some wealthy individuals from Europe, some company executives...
And of course, journalists from major TV stations were also present.
Mercer didn't even need to send out invitations. Once he released the news and publicized Hansen's death,
almost every TV station, even radio reporters, proactively sent emails to his work inbox, hoping to record some content to broadcast in the news.
Of course, Mercer wasn't foolish enough to actually let a bunch of reporters come over. If he did that, many social figures, like Mayor Lucius, who was feigning lament over fate, wouldn't have shown up.
Hansen was somewhat of a figure in Night City, but everyone was well aware that some relationships couldn't be publicly exposed.
Just like the NCPD director who also came to feign mourning—he didn't have an ounce of goodwill towards Hansen. Mourning? He wished for Hansen's death sooner.
But he still came under this guise for a very simple reason; NCPD isn't just a civil service organization, but a publicly listed company.
Yes, NCPD, as the official body responsible for Night City's security, is a security company whose name can be found on the stock exchange.
Simply put, Night City had hired NCPD to work, and while maintaining security, NCPD still had to be financially self-sustaining.
Hansen's former attitude towards NCPD was by no means good—he covertly supported and incited forces in Taiping Prefecture to expel NCPD, driving them out of the prefecture, openly harboring NCPD's wanted criminals, and even explicitly refused NCPD's entry into Dog Town.
All of these had a significant impact on NCPD's business, precisely speaking, both on revenue and stock price.
The new director naturally came with clear intentions—he wanted to gauge Mercer's stance; if possible, he certainly wished for NCPD to return to Taiping Prefecture.
Mercer greeted each guest with different thoughts and purposes until the basic process ended. He then slightly nodded to the Father who was invited.
Father stopped praying, put away the Bible, and stepped aside.
The music in the banquet hall paused.
Mercer walked to the center of the stage, beside Hansen's coffin, and spoke in a heavy tone, "Under God's love and mercy, we gather here today to offer our last blessings to a warrior who didn't succumb to fate..."
Everyone solemnly remained silent, while Mercer read through a standard eulogy, prepared in advance by Venus, verbatim.
Once the speech concluded, the Father personally closed the coffin for Hansen, and then a group of Netherworld Dog soldiers in black suits carried it along a predetermined route outwards.
Everyone remained silent, stepping aside to make a path until Hansen's coffin disappeared at the door, and then uniformly turned their gaze back to Mercer on the stage.
"Firstly, I want to thank all of you guests for your support of Netherworld Dog and Dog Town."
Mercer's face returned to calmness, the stage's lighting returned to its clean illumination, and his slightly youthful face in a black suit surprisingly appeared a bit more mature at this moment.
Now, he no longer appeared like a child at first glance, but more like a young man in his early twenties.
Looking at the audience with varied expressions, Mercer was well aware that they weren't here to listen to empty formalities.
So, after a brief chit-chat and transition, Mercer directly proceeded to the main point, "Before Colonel Hansen passed away, he entrusted Dog Town to me—for me, this is both an opportunity and a challenge.
I'm very clear that Dog Town's development to this day relies not only on the efforts of Netherworld Dog top to bottom, but more importantly, on your support.
Firstly, I want to make a promise to everyone."
Mercer showed a gentle and confident smile, "Although Colonel Hansen has unfortunately passed, the steps of Dog Town's development will not halt because of that, and those who have always supported Netherworld Dog will continue to be our friends.