Every red dot signified that the Black Light Virus had successfully entered a human or a device.
Of course, this didn't mean the Black Light program was up and running; it was in a dormant state, ready to activate at any moment.
Why do this?
It's the Black Light's devious infection strategy—currently, the Black Light cannot instantly alter human consciousness data but can only hijack it, meaning it blocks the brain's data.
It issues commands to the human body directly through the brain-computer interface, causing people to enter a coma-like state, or even further, brain death, thus replacing human thought to control body actions.
And this posture looks odd to anyone.
But if the Black Light Virus is dormant, even the person infected wouldn't realize they've been infected, and as they interact online, the Black Light will silently use them as an anchor to spread further.
So, what Mercer needs to do now is wait patiently.
Wait for the Black Light to open a secure pathway for him.
"This thing is way scarier than any gas; terrifying. If this thing erupted on the old net like Bartmos' virus, I'd bet humanity would be wiped out by now."
V said, then sat beside Mercer, draping an arm over the chair and crossing her legs: "So, it's waiting time again?"
"Mm-hmm." Mercer responded, then shared the surveillance footage with V, letting her catch some progress.
"So boring..." V, somewhat familiar with the surrounding 'walking dead' feeling, now felt her eagerness suddenly have nowhere to vent.
This is nothing like the assassinations she was accustomed to.
"Don't get bored too quickly, no matter how powerful the Black Light Virus is, it needs to hack in first... If it's some fully local devices or high-level agents, we still have to resolve it manually."
After finishing, Mercer paused and said: "Of course, if we're lucky, they'll all be connected to a server or intranet, then we just need to throw a Black Light into their network."
"Uh, I was just saying, if I can stay bored until the mission ends, that's not bad either..."
Just as V was about to finish, she suddenly saw a familiar figure in the surveillance footage shared by Mercer.
"That guy is... Adam's Hammer!?" She jumped up suddenly, her eyes filled with coldness, unconsciously clenching her fist: "Ha, didn't expect this bastard to end up here too, perfect, time to settle both old and new scores!"
"Don't get excited..." Mercer squinted, then sternly knocked on the table.
The surveillance in his prosthetic eye started zooming in frame by frame, and soon, Mercer concluded: "It's a clone."
"A clone? Didn't you say even biotech cannot guarantee biological strength, so a clone... Damn, I get it! This bastard hardly has any flesh on him, cloning does make it easier!"
V immediately understood Mercer's implication.
Meanwhile, Mercer observed while speaking: "Judging by the prosthetics on this Adam's Hammer, it's probably a replica of Adam's Hammer's 2075 version, somewhat inferior to the one currently in Night City."
"Don't go hacking this bastard, I want to personally screw his head off!" V felt a surge of anger at the sight of Adam's Hammer.
That bastard gave them a tough time, attacked stealthily, and played up—to her immense irritation. She swore back then, she'd eventually face him head-on and rip his head off to show him who truly is the strongest mercenary!
"You're this excited over a replica?" Mercer laughed.
"Just a little warm-up, sooner or later, I want to screw the real Adam's Hammer head off too!" V said, rubbing her hands together.
Mercer, after a brief observation, delivered some exhilarating news to V.
"Alright—looks like your wish might come true; this Adam's Hammer is in standalone mode, and the advanced ICE he carries makes it hard for other Black Light vectors to hack in... Your chance has come."
After Mercer finished speaking, utilizing the Sky Net System and Black Light System, he had almost taken over the entirety of the Moon Base's first-floor surveillance.
But aside from the dense security, unexpectedly, he couldn't find Arasaka Saburo.
He's not here?
This thought was quickly dismissed by Mercer, and after Venus swiftly analyzed using the Sky Net System, a 3D model of an underground base was roughly constructed.
"A rat in the sewer... Let's go, V, we have to go downstairs, it's another classic setup with two separate servers, we'll need to find him ourselves."
Mercer stood up and extended his hand to V.
Seated, V grabbed his hand and stood up abruptly, her eyes gleaming eagerly: "And what about Adam's Hammer?"
"He's standing guard at the front of the elevator entrance... Remember, this needs to be a swift assault."
With Mercer's command, V eagerly strode off.
"Five seconds! If I don't dismantle this old model Hammer in five seconds, I'll write V's name upside down from now on!"
V confidently declared and strode towards the base's depths.
"The small fry on the way are up to you!" she waved her hand commandingly.
And Mercer simply smirked.
As the door leading from the maintenance workshop into the base's depths opened.
In the corridor, there were already only Arasaka employees standing blankly, eyes empty like zombies, seemingly wandering aimlessly throughout the base.
These people, infected by the Black Light Virus, were left with only one goal in their lives—to infect as many others and devices as possible.
"Alright, so let me... Black Light, don't need to infiltrate stealthily... Take action." At Mercer's command.
The Arasaka employees, who had been wandering or lying dormant with unexposed Black Light Virus, suddenly froze in place.
In the next moment, their eyes lit up with a crimson, bloody glow.
If Black Light was just a simple virus to control humans and devices, why would Mercer be so concerned about its destructiveness?
Thus, in V's vision, a scene far more terrifying than a zombie movie unfolded.
An Arasaka Agent, eyes glowing blood-red, suddenly activated his Frenzy System, and amidst the astonished and fearful gaze, violently tackled the researcher to the ground.
Amidst his screams, this agent shattered his arm trying to resist with a powerful punch, and then, under his horrified stare, pulled out a data cable from his wrist and stabbed it directly into his brain-computer interface.
"Join us..."
"Join..."
"Black Light..."