"You bunch of bastards..." Diana hadn't finished her sentence when Stout mercilessly slapped her, causing her face to turn to one side.
"No nonsense, take her inside." Stout turned his head, and the agents beside him obediently grabbed Diana and shoved her into the armored vehicle's rear compartment.
Stout turned his head to glance at Mercer: "Excuse me."
"No problem, I'm not in a hurry." Mercer appeared very relaxed, casually sitting on the van's hood, keenly observing the Military Science hovercar and the agents, carefully analyzing their equipment.
He was surprised to find that these guys had brought some highly professional electronic countermeasures—clearly to guard against him.
This kind of ICE equipment not only blocks and interferes with network connection signals, but can also automatically launch a counterattack when someone tries to hack in, similar to the hardware Mercer had hacked in the Military Science Behemoth vehicle before.
If a hacker without sufficient skills attempted to hack these agents, there was even a possibility that the ICE could directly counteract and fry their brains.
Hmm... more accurately, Mercer thought that there probably weren't many hackers worldwide capable of single-handedly breaking through this level of ICE equipment.
Even for him, without the advanced hacker prosthetic body he possessed, it would be difficult to contend with this ICE equipment without being at a disadvantage; it wasn't about skill level but purely a hardware gap.
This made Mercer suddenly a bit cautious—now that his fame was rising, many people would certainly know his level as a hacker, and the enemies he would face in the future would undoubtedly guard against him.
Perhaps... before long, the good old days when he could just glare at someone and resolve a battle would come to an end.
Mercer wouldn't overestimate his abilities; he didn't feel safe stepping out without V now, precisely because he understood the limitations of hackers in the real world.
His contemplative look while staring at the ICE equipment made several Military Science agents instinctively tense up, with fingers resting on the trigger, and gun muzzles slightly raised.
Mann squinted his eyes, lifted the gun holster with a finger, and said with a harsh tone: "I advise you not to be too tense, keep your fingers away from the trigger, lest there be misunderstandings or accidents..."
The Military Science agents didn't say anything, but one, who seemed to be equipped with a Network Access Vault specifically assigned to the tactical squad, cautiously kept an eye on Mercer.
"Heh..." Mercer grinned at the hacker, but wearing a mask, the latter couldn't see a thing.
He turned his head somewhat bored, looking at the technical expert still studying the exoskeleton:
"Nothing much to study, except for the gravity device, everything else is at most interesting, like the design ideas of the compressed propulsion and the mind-transfer device on the helmet."
The Military Science technical expert, who seemed to be a real dedicated professional, got intrigued upon hearing this: "Really? You research these things too?"
"Of course, if you get hold of something like this, wouldn't you first research it yourself before using it in combat?" Mercer started chatting with him in a relaxed manner.
"Hmm... I just checked the data, what's the delay on this equipment?" the technical expert asked curiously.
"Up to 0.2 seconds, with an ideal working delay of 0.1 seconds." Mercer did not hide anything.
"This gravity device is quite interesting, simulating gravity with magnetic fields and can alter the magnetic field with electromagnetism..." The technical expert and Mercer continued this way, engaging in conversation.
The more they talked, the more engrossed they became, soon transcending from simple equipment configurations to technical jargon, while Rebecca, cradling Iron Gall, rolled her eyes, not understanding a word, only to stare blankly at the Military Science agents nearby.
Until about fifteen or sixteen minutes later, Pira on the hill suddenly sent a message over the squad communication.
[Pira: Something feels off, Mercer, there's movement at your 1 o'clock... looks like a convoy from Military Science.]
Upon hearing this, Mann casually glanced at Mercer, stealthily shielding him behind.
Rebecca instinctively raised Iron Gall with both hands,
While V kept one hand on the gun grip at the waist, the other slightly raised, maintaining a stance ready to spring the Mantis Blade at any moment.
The Military Science agents, unaware of the situation, instinctively clutched their weapons tightly.
"Stout, come out!" Mercer's voice went up a notch, sounding serious.
Stout slid open the armored vehicle door, looked out with a puzzled frown: "What's happening?"
"You brought a tail, idiot!" Mercer lashed out bluntly, and then quickly moved towards the van. The technical expert was stunned but swiftly tidied up his tools and made room.
Stout's face changed immediately, turning to look at the agents around him. One agent nodded seriously with a solemn expression, got up right away, and looked behind.
This agent, much like Mann, had both eyes directly modified into tactical camera-like prosthetics, now rapidly zooming in on the distance, taking about five seconds to verify the situation.
"1 o'clock direction! Three armored vehicles! One... Demon Lizard! Damn it, battle readiness!"
After seeing clearly what was coming, the agent's face changed dramatically, shouting in alarm.