Hansen was seriously ill.
No one knew exactly when it began, but everyone noticed that Colonel Hansen, who had always been full of vigor and prestige, suddenly seemed a bit frail.
At times, they even saw him clutching his head with a dazed expression in public.
And his time spent recuperating due to illness increased day by day, with his once-exclusive responsibilities gradually being handed over to the Netherworld Dogs as his condition worsened.
In this atmosphere, Mercer gradually came to the forefront—he began to frequently attend various banquets and meetings in place of Hansen, took over Hansen's network of contacts, and was responsible for most of the final business negotiations.
Gago, who was originally just the financial director, was also given a significant role, assisting Mercer as his assistant in handling some time-consuming relationships.
Of course, those clients who thought they were keeping in touch with Mercer had no idea that the majority of the time, the person dealing with them and conducting business negotiations was not actually Mercer himself, but rather Venus.
The anticipated issues or downturn in Dog Town's business due to Hansen's severe illness did not occur.
As Mercer gradually gained real power and his control stabilized, the Netherworld Dogs immediately began comprehensive systematic optimization.
Some backstabbing Netherworld Dogs silently disappeared, while certain originally powerful figures were marginalized through repeated reassignment and personnel changes.
In their place, members of the Spark Team rightfully assumed key positions, and with the power shift, a new core team emerged.
Moreover, the entire operational system of Dog Town underwent thorough optimization.
The bug that frequently caused air drops to appear in strange locations was fixed by Mercer, who wrote and built a brand-new navigation and signal reception system, constructing a new intelligent control tower for Dog Town.
All air drops were orderly deployed to the reformed stadium air drop platform under the management of the intelligent system.
As for security issues, they greatly improved thanks to more cameras, more robot patrols, and the more professional work of the Netherworld Dogs' security personnel.
The original Dog Town adhered to Dog Town's rules—if you didn't violate the rules of the Netherworld Dogs, it wasn't considered illegal.
Now, Mercer included commonly seen heinous violent crimes within the jurisdiction.
Crimes such as illegal drug distribution, murder, and robbery were almost suppressed under the ubiquitous surveillance of cameras and robots, hardly daring to surface.
Whenever an incident occurred, or even if a camera was deliberately damaged, the Netherworld Dogs would immediately appear with robots to forcibly imprison the perpetrator—Mercer had no desire to support a group of criminals, so his methods of reform were very direct.
For minor offenses, a first-time offender could choose to pay a fine for bail, but repeat offenders would be subjected to compulsory labor detention.
As for serious offenders, they typically would not be given a chance to survive; once discovered, they were usually eliminated on the spot.
Those who committed crimes in Night City and fled here were not counted; Mercer was only responsible for apprehending those who offended in Dog Town, with no intention of playing cleanup for the NCPD.
These criminals were actually an important source of manpower for Dog Town; many people who fled to Dog Town without work and dared not leave, found themselves under strict crime management in Dog Town, ultimately choosing to sign contracts to join the Netherworld Dogs.
Their criminal tendencies would quickly be eroded under the militarized management of the Netherworld Dogs, while those incorrigible evil doers would be rapidly identified, terminated for breach of contract, and fined.
Mercer was considered merciful; they wouldn't dismantle them to sell for parts if they had no money, but they would be forced to labor until their debts were paid off before being driven away.
In Night City, such actions by Mercer could indeed be considered benevolent—he merely required them to work off their obligations, and they genuinely could repay it, instead of being exploited for life for free or sold for profit.
Even chronic fugitives in Dog Town who didn't join the Netherworld Dogs would contribute to the local economy by consuming in Dog Town, while the Netherworld Dogs would collect monthly rent, utility fees, and property fees (protection money) for all buildings in Dog Town.
Moreover, Mercer expanded the management scope of Dog Town's buildings—a situation of lazy vagrants occupying deserted buildings had become almost unheard of; Mercer brought all buildings under rectification and control.
He also tightly regulated Dog Town's energy systems, including electricity, network, and water supply.
Optimizing Dog Town's street appearance and providing stable water and power networks were crucial for attracting investment and residents.
After all, Taiping Prefecture was full of run-down buildings; those vagrants who only knew how to do drugs and commit crimes should roll out of Dog Town and find another place to lie flat.
For those with some work capability, Mercer was not opposed to them finding a legitimate job; the Netherworld Dogs were always short on manpower, and certain tasks were evidently cheaper to be done by humans than robots.
These subtle changes might not seem significant but, in reality, considerably improved and elevated the living standards in Dog Town.
At least those slum dwellers, after paying Netherworld Dogs, wouldn't have to worry about being bullied; if bullied, they could seek management by the Netherworld Dogs according to security clauses.