"Hmm..." Mercer actually had this in mind. He looked at his hand and thought of the body he had cloned using his core consciousness data code.
Before coming to the Moon, Mercer had already begun considering these things—this body, equipped with the Devil May Cry series prosthetics and armor performance, was, in his view, far from the limit of his abilities.
He needed a more powerful, more potent body capable of harnessing the mysterious power embedded in his consciousness data, to carry his soul.
Conversely, with a stronger body, he wouldn't need to mechanize most of his body like this; moderate modifications would suffice to accomplish most tasks.
The rest could be left to his Super Deep Dive State self to resolve—as it was likely that in the future, he wouldn't need to damage his body and charge into everything.
As for the specific method of execution, whether to restructure his body step by step through genetic modification to match his vision, or directly replace it with a reverse-cloned body based on his consciousness data core code, needed further deliberation.
To him, the so-called body was merely an interchangeable vessel; the only real thing was his soul.
If, when he first came to this world, someone had asked if he wanted to go back, Mercer might have hesitated.
But now, he wouldn't hesitate—he would stay here, even if one day he could only wander the net like Ultraman. He wanted to stay, stay by their side for a long, long time, not knowing what the distant future would hold.
"What are you thinking about?" V noticed Mercer suddenly gazing at her with unexpected tenderness, which made her a bit embarrassed yet reluctant to let go. She just hugged him tighter and snuggled with him on the narrow sofa.
"I was thinking... V, I want to stay here forever, by you all..." Mercer said with emotion.
"Why are you suddenly saying this? Are you thinking of leaving?" V got tense.
Mercer smiled, touching his forehead to hers: "Of course not. I just wanted to say... even if someone wants me to leave, I'm unwilling. No matter what the future holds, how many difficulties there will be, I want to be by your side forever."
"That's more like it..." she murmured, then gave him a soft peck: "... Anyway, don't think of making a run for it. If you ever disappear suddenly, I'll turn myself into an AI like Ultraman just to find you, and give you a good punch."
She waved her fist, but it looked rather cute: "A serious punch, you'll deserve it."
"Tch, it's uncertain who's stronger between us now." Mercer said with a smile, face-to-face with hers. Not long after, it was unclear who couldn't hold back first, and they kissed again.
They cuddled on the sofa for quite a while before V got up, scavenging for some food and drink. The two passed time eating and watching TV shows in the half-intact Arasaka Base.
Seven or eight hours passed, and just as V started feeling sleepy, the manned rocket from Orbital Aviation finally descended from lunar orbit, landing on the ground.
Mercer and V donned their helmets, boarded the rocket, which reignited according to its preset program, launching them back into space.
When Black Light hacked into the Moon Base of Orbital Aviation and compromised the Space Station, Mercer and V chose not to rest further, instead using the assistance of Black Light and Venus to board the return rocket.
The two made no attempt to hide, opting to land directly in Night City.
The long twenty-hour journey back began again, yet this time, their journey back to the city was more relaxed and pleasant than before.
Mercer and V enjoyed their time together on the ship like a date, until the moment the rocket landed, and they stepped out of the airport when V's face suddenly tensed up.
"Mercer!!"
When Rebecca flung herself like a little cannonball into Mercer's arms, unable to resist kissing his face after he shed his armor, V couldn't help but clench her fists.
V had never experienced such a clear sense of jealousy and envy before, realizing her feelings for the first time.
But seeing Lucy, who reached out her hand but then lowered it, turned her face but couldn't help sneaking glances at Mercer, V felt unexpectedly relieved.
Hmm, no matter what, compared to Lucy... I suppose I'm still a bit better, right?
After all, who just played Mewtwo with Mercer... Haha, and she's still underage, right? That's just great!
For the first time, V felt that Mercer still had some principles.
Only Lucy and Rebecca came to greet them at the airport—others wanted to come as well, but Mercer refused, thinking the hour's drive home wasn't worth the fuss.
"Quick, tell me! What exactly did you do on the Moon? Did you deal with that Lilith? What about Arasaka Saburo? Is that old guy dead?"
Rebecca, after having enough kisses, sat in Mercer's lap, excitedly firing questions.
Lucy sat in the back, watching Mercer intently without saying a word, clearly curious about what exactly happened.