Lucy just stared into Mercer's eyes, stubbornly silent, as the elevator slowly descended. She seemed determined to get to the bottom of things today.
"Fine, the rapid cloning device is in the biological laboratory at the stadium."
Mercer, caught by her unwavering gaze, could only sigh helplessly and extend his hand, but she avoided it, refusing his touch: "So, for your insane plan of going to the Moon, you've already started preparing for the mission's failure, haven't you?
You didn't come today for discussions; you came to inform us—it's just you and V? Going to the Moon's Arasaka Base to assassinate Saburo, while also dealing with a super AI entrenched in an alien server and an Orbital Aviation base?"
Lucy couldn't hide her excitement mixed with anger: "If it weren't for the fact I sensed something was off with you recently, were you planning to go all the way to the Moon with V without telling me what you were really thinking?
Or do you think that since you have the final say here, as long as V has no objections, you plan to go send yourselves to death?
You don't care about your life, thinking you can be resurrected with the Relic Chip, but what about V? Did you ask her?"
Facing her barrage of questions and the rare sight of Lucy losing her composure with reddened eyes, Mercer could only try to reassure her by grabbing her hand: "Lucy, listen to me..."
He just realized that although he and Lucy sometimes had cold wars, they never really had a full-blown argument—same with everyone else.
On the one hand, because his temper towards his own people was generally decent, and on the other, everyone somewhat tolerated him, but this time, Lucy was genuinely serious.
The elevator doors slowly opened, and Lucy paused her words, regaining a calm expression, due to a Netherworld Dog standing guard outside the elevator.
No matter how fiercely they argued with the doors closed, Lucy would never embarrass Mercer in front of outsiders. She simply turned and held Mercer's hand, leading the way to the underground garage.
"I don't want to hear it now—I want to go to the biological laboratory and see what you've been up to."
Lucy didn't want to hear his excuses. In fact, with her understanding of Mercer, he would undoubtedly present what seemed like a rough plan as if it were merely an easy task of being a middleman.
But the true danger was making her feel a chilling unease just thinking about it.
"Lucy..." Mercer called her name somewhat helplessly, but Lucy just continued pulling him straight to the garage.
Opening the door of an armored vehicle, she pulled him into the back seat and immediately gave the command: "Polaris, head to the biological laboratory at the stadium."
"Understood, hmm... though I don't know the reason, please, don't argue~"
As Polaris finished speaking, Lucy simply looked at Mercer without saying a word, but her eyes conveyed everything she wanted to say.
The car headed towards the stadium under Polaris's automatic driving, and inside the quiet vehicle, only Lucy and Mercer's breathing could be heard.
Mercer could only sigh, then looked at her seriously: "What do you want to know? Ask."
"I don't understand... Does saving the world have to be your job? Why do you always act like a savior, taking all these responsibilities on yourself?
You say you want to deal with Arasaka Saburo, I can understand. After all, we're still on Arasaka's wanted list, and if we want a peaceful life, letting Saburo die and placing Yoshinobu, who is connected to us, in power, is naturally the best choice.
But what about the rest? If you say you're dealing with biotechnology because they've committed too many atrocities, what about Lilith?
Leave its conspiracy to Ultraman and Internet Supervision to resolve; that's not our responsibility!"
Lucy looked at Mercer, her face showing a vulnerable expression: "Why do you always carry these things on your shoulders?"
Mercer was silent for a moment, then simply pursed his lips seriously before saying: "Because I feel like this world could end at any time, and I don't want any of us to get hurt."
"So your choice is to actively engage with the most dangerous things and then resolve them? Mercer, I don't understand!"
Lucy spoke honestly, with a somewhat pleading tone: "This world has been broken and tattered for many years now. No one can change it; it's not something a single person or organization can solve!
Mercer, we're very safe now, no one is troubling us. You've already protected everyone well, so why do you still feel so uneasy?"
"But what if there are things I don't do, and in the end, we all die? Then what?" Mercer's face rarely showed a trace of frustration in front of Lucy.
This frustration wasn't directed at Lucy but at this cursed world: "If I don't deal with Arasaka Saburo, this old ghost will use the Relic to regain his youth sooner or later.
Then we'll face an opponent curious and greedy about us, cautious yet willing to try anything.
He won't let us go, not just because of the Relic Chip in my hand, but also because of my other displayed abilities—should we run away? Or join another company and become a pawn?
Do you still want to live like in the past at the Arasaka Base?"
Mercer intensified his tone: "As for Lilith, you have no idea what they're really up to!"