For her, this wasn't a difficult target to find. She wanted to take the chance to wipe out her rival, while her rival naturally wouldn't just sit there and wait for death.
Mercer dealt with the opponent but didn't immediately return. Instead, he flew high in the sky, swiftly heading towards where Lucy and Qiwei were.
When he finally saw the two of them huddled behind the blown-up armored van, covered in dust but only with some scratches, Mercer breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why didn't you notify me in advance?" Mercer sternly questioned Lucy.
Lucy didn't speak, just supported herself on her knees as she got up from beside the armored car.
Qiwei fumbled in her pocket but couldn't find her cigarettes. She turned to look at Mercer, whose face was obscured by a helmet: "No one knew if that Demon Lizard would open fire on you..."
"...Let's go." Mercer looked at the two of them and couldn't bring himself to say anything accusatory, so he just reached out and grumbled, "If Pira hadn't helped you take down that armored vehicle, you two would be done for!"
Qiwei just chuckled, while Lucy turned her head away without speaking — they would probably make the same choice if given another chance.
If there's anything to blame, it's that damn Stinger missile launcher for failing to take down the Demon Lizard in one hit.
Mercer extended his arms, tucked the two of them under his wing, and flew low towards where V and the others were.
At this moment, Stout had already gotten out of the car, lit a cigarette, and was on a call with someone, presumably requesting reinforcements.
After Mercer put the people down, he crossed his arms in front of him, looking quietly at Stout.
When she finished her call, she spoke directly, "One car, 100,000 Euros; one mini missile launcher, 300,000 Euros."
"...I'll pay." Stout turned to look at him, speechless.
"I also took down one Demon Lizard and three armored cars."
Mercer continued to assert confidently.
Stout looked at him with an expression of awe, as if it was her first time encountering someone daring enough to ask her for money like this. But in the end, she just twitched her mouth: "I'll add another 100,000 Euros on top."
"100,000?" Mercer looked at her dissatisfied, "One Demon Lizard! Three armored cars! My people almost got killed!"
"Damn it! Another 100,000, and that's about it!" Stout said irritably, turning to look at Diana, who was trembling inside the cabin, then squinted after pondering for a moment.
"Give me this woman." She said.
Mercer flatly refused, "I can't let her live."
"I didn't say I wanted her alive," Stout said coldly, staring at her, as she extended her hand to the agent beside her, who knowingly pulled out his pistol.
Diana pleaded in terror, "No! Don't kill me! Listen, I still have value! I–"
Before she could finish, Stout pulled the trigger, and Diana's terrified expression was forever frozen in that instant.
After firing several shots at Diana, Stout put away her pistol and handed it back to her agent: "Now, can I have her?"
Mercer gave V a cautious look, and she hesitated not a second to pull out her own pistol, aiming at Diana's head and fired, splitting her head in two with the large-caliber handgun.
"Now you can."
Mercer's caution made Stout twitch her mouth: "Alright."
She looked at Mercer, casually taking out the money chip worth five million Euros: "Check it out, take off the exoskeleton, and you can go."
Mercer handed the chip to Lucy, who took it, albeit limping a bit, "I'll need to find a computer to verify it."
"No worries, she knows I'm vengeful." Mercer glanced at Stout, and the woman just nodded, "I can tell, not only vengeful but also stingy."
"What do you mean stingy? You get paid for your work, it's only fair." Mercer spoke as he called for the tech expert to help him take off the exoskeleton.
Putting it on was a hassle, but taking it off was relatively simple; just remove a few fixtures, and Mercer could pull himself right out.
Throwing the exoskeleton and Diana's body onto the ground, Mercer adjusted his slightly askew mask, then motioned for his people to get in the car: "Deal with your enemy quickly, I want to get back to Dog Town to rest for a few days."
"No need for your concern... or would you like to lend a hand?" Stout turned her head to look at him.
Mercer immediately refused: "Not interested, just let me know."
"Heh... alright." Stout didn't mind Mercer's straightforward nature; aside from always calling her an old lady, the rest of him matched her vibe just fine.
Seeing that he was still wearing a mask, Stout chuckled lightly: "Alright, Alex Mercer, you don't need to wear a mask when you go out anymore, now that Military Science and Arasaka know who you are."
"From where?" Mercer was indeed a bit curious.
"Even though you hid it well enough, Dog Town's identity verification system is not kept secret from everyone." Stout paused, then spoke meaningfully: "I'd advise you not to get too close to the people of Dog Town."
Mercer nodded but still didn't remove his mask.
It didn't matter if people knew who he was. The photos in Night City's archive were all retouched, resembling him a bit, but face recognition would never match him with the Mercer in the Arasaka archive.
Everyone uses identity verification systems for ID now, so he's not worried about his identity in Night City getting exposed, as long as he doesn't get associated with Arasaka's Mercer.
Moreover, his height and other features have changed significantly after cybernetic enhancements; even Arasaka's people couldn't be certain of his identity — unless his cybernetics got recognized too.
There's nothing he could do about that, and if he got recognized, so be it. After all, Mercer had already stolen someone's exoskeleton, recognized or not, he was already a wanted criminal by Arasaka.
With that in mind, Mercer figured it wouldn't matter if everything got exposed; wanted is wanted, it's just a matter of bounty amount.
Mercer didn't want to stick around to meet Stout's reinforcements; surely she wouldn't be stupid enough to make any more mistakes.
So, he simply called for everyone to board the vehicle, leaving Stout and her bodyguards behind as they drove off with style.
On the way, they picked up Pira, who was still excitedly rambling about resetting his new sniping record and how beautifully he hit moving targets. They joked and laughed all the way, seemingly not letting today's events bother them in the slightest.
As mercenaries who live by the sword, as long as they're not dead, all the excitement from earlier would just become stories to brag about.
And once they returned to the safehouse, Mercer immediately found a computer to verify the money given by Stout.
Five million Euros, not a penny short.
Afterwards, he immediately gathered everyone.
No special reason—just to split the money.