As the elevator reached the top floor, two Military Science agents stared coldly at the two: "Does maintenance require taking the elevator to the top floor?"
Mercer wore an expression of inevitability, but the hand on the side visible to V lifted slightly: "But if we don't run the elevator in a test mode, there's no way to confirm where the malfunction is."
"There's no need to check here, you should immediately..." The agent couldn't even pull the trigger of the gun in his hand before a flash appeared before his eyes.
The next moment, V turned into a flickering shadow, raising the two on either side into the air.
The mantis blades on her arms pierced through their throats and out the back of their heads, leaving them no time to utter a warning cry before instantly losing the ability to resist.
This was because V's mantis blades weren't just sharp; these Therm Mantis Blades could instantly heat to over a thousand degrees Celsius, capable of searing the opponent's blood vessels to ash in a moment.
Mercer looked around coldly; the security robot beside the elevator hadn't even had time to activate. It still stood in its wireless charging dock until he forcibly hacked in and shut it down. After modifying its friend-or-foe identification, it returned quietly to standby mode.
V casually flicked both hands, and the two bodies were thrown against the wall, sliding slowly down while deep red blood flowed from the wounds, convulsing as they died on the ground.
"Damn, good thing I understood your signal quickly," V complained, giving Mercer a glance: "You could at least give me a heads up."
"I knew you'd get my meaning."
Mercer only smiled as he looked at the two agents' bodies, then said, "The people in the security room definitely noticed the camera image lag. You have to deal with them before they realize something's off and call for backup."
As Mercer spoke, his Prosthetic Eye gleamed as he removed his maintenance worker jacket, revealing the Black Customer Service uniform underneath.
The cooling cover on his back was already open; at this moment, the hallway's cameras and elevators were all hacked by Mercer in an instant, finally connecting to the security room's computer to start commandeering all the security equipment.
Mercer pointed to one side of the hallway leading from the elevator: "The security room is over there, first door on the right."
V flicked both hands, flicking the blood from the Mantis Blades: "Using this thing too much makes self-cleaning ineffective, it's kind of sticky."
"I'll give it a clean and service when we get back, that's a drawback of the Therm Blades," Mercer said multitasking, nodding to indicate the direction she should go, while staying by the elevator doors himself.
The top floor still followed the basic design logic of a hotel: a long corridor stretched out after stepping off the elevator, one side leading to the rooftop, the other to Diana's suite.
The moment Mercer nodded to signal her to act, V was already heading to the hallway corner outside the elevator, activating the Sianwistan and Krenzikov.
In just one second, she was at the security room door, bursting in as Mercer opened the door.
Not even a shot rang out inside, only a few heavy thuds, then V strolled out of the security room, making an OK gesture to Mercer at the hallway corner.
Then, Mercer nodded and walked down the hallway.
"Let's go, quickly, I'm not sure if the guys in the security room immediately called for backup upon noticing something unusual."
Even though Mercer said so, he still believed that he and V remained undetected.
Normally, a person in the security room who noticed camera image lag would first confirm any anomalies, troubleshoot the malfunction, and then check the situation with the agents at the door.
This whole process would take at least three to five seconds, which coincided with the time it took for V and Mercer to take down these guys.
But Mercer cautiously didn't start acting immediately, instead hiding in the security room with V to wait patiently for two seconds, while monitoring the rooftop agents' status via linked cameras.
Seeing the diligent agents still patrolling the rooftop, Mercer relaxed, confident they hadn't been exposed yet.
"The suite is divided into three areas in total: the outermost area has seven agents, three on alert in the foyer, two patrolling, and four are the shift guards resting; Diana's personal living space is in the innermost area."
Mercer paused and continued: "I've already highlighted targets in the Prosthetic Eye; when it's time to act, I'll first deploy a Magic Puppet Program to disrupt communications. Wait for the spell to take effect before acting to prevent triggering an alarm."
"Understood... why are there so many people here?" V asked, furrowing her brow.
"In fact, the first thing Diana Kuno did after the cooperation was secured was apply to stay in this VIP suite and have Military Science provide her security."
Mercer scoffed: "She's probably terrified that we might suddenly come for her, even in her dreams."
V shook her head, then pointed upstairs: "We can quietly take down the ones inside the building, but there's no cover on the rooftop. What do we do then? We're this far in, don't keep me guessing."
"Alright... do you know how those big trash bins in Night City get collected and disposed of?" Mercer shifted topic, asking her a question.