Through human eyes, bit by bit, Mercer captured traces of the Soulkiller Program from the tide-like flow of code passing before him.
Lucy forced herself to follow along for about thirty seconds before giving up on this activity which made her feel foolish.
If it wasn't Mercer, and anyone else told her that just staring at the screen full of code would let you find the Soulkiller Program, Lucy would definitely think that person was an idiot.
But if it's Mercer doing it... then Lucy would just feel a bit defeated and accept it, assuming she just lacks the talent.
Mercer's expression at this moment was extremely focused. Even the cooler behind him had opened its lid, starting to hum, while his prosthetic eye reflected the rapidly scrolling numbers on the screen, as he sat completely absorbed like an old monk.
Perhaps every minute, among the thousands or tens of thousands of lines of code that stream across the screen, only a handful would trigger Mercer's 'a-ha' moment.
But after half an hour, Mercer had already pinpointed hundreds of lines that gave him that 'feeling' from the relentless sea of code.
He rubbed his temples and let the laptop rest for a while.
Afterward, he borrowed Lucy's computer, opened the programming software, and began typing, recreating the few hundred lines of code he had memorized.
When these lines were compiled based on Mercer's intuition, he only needed one look to sharply sense where the program was 'incomplete.'
Just like a vaguely pieced-together human figure, obviously missing a left arm and right leg.
Mercer estimated that this time, the program he cobbled together probably covered just about 2% of the portion he could detect.
2% in half an hour...
So a total of 20 hours of work?
This was much faster than Mercer had expected.
This discovery boosted his spirits again, even making him ignore the fatigue from his head. He firmly believed that as long as he could reconstruct this portion of the program he captured, he could surely find a stepping stone to the Soulkiller Program.
This was the Soulkiller Program!
He rested for a while, or actually waited for the laptop and Relic Chip to cool down, giving the hardware some downtime.
Then he turned around, looking at Lucy beside him, who was staring blankly at the program code he was typing on the computer screen. She looked so adorably dazed that he couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"What are you laughing at..." She puffed her cheeks in slight annoyance, stood up, and glared at Mercer: "I'm done watching. Once you finish, show me what this famed Soulkiller Program looks like."
"Then you're in for a wait. I guess using this method alone, we might only capture part of the Soulkiller Program.
I suspect this data is likely used by the Soulkiller for capture and attack.
However, we don't need to fully reconstruct the entire program using this method."
Mercer said with a relaxed tone: "I think I just need to write this portion of the program, then specifically look for loopholes to disable the counteraction and anti-piracy programs set by Arasaka.
After that, we can replicate the Soulkiller Program, turn off its 'predation function,' and use AI to study and crack it directly, which should be much faster."
Lucy continued to glare at him angrily: "You make it sound easy. Why don't you teach me?"
"Hmm... Once I grasp the principles, I'll write a few practice questions for you? With your talent, you might actually pick up quite a lot." Mercer said with a smile.
Lucy looked at him, sighing: "I haven't even fully understood all the things you taught me before..."
"It's only a matter of time. I believe in you." Mercer gave her a thumbs-up.
Lucy rolled her eyes at him: "Are you trying to butter me up like you do with Kyoko?"
"You both have a lot of talent, and I'm not just saying it for the sake of it."
Mercer concluded with a smile, and Lucy shook her head, changing the topic: "I heard you got a deal with Hansen? And got yourself a title as the head of weapon design for the Netherworld Dog?"
"Yeah, I made quite a bit of easy money this time and also got a free weapon design center—when the time comes, I'll make sure everyone gets some nice things through my position."
But Lucy said with some concern: "You have to be careful. If Hansen catches you lining your pockets... he's not an easy person to deal with."
"Neither am I."
Mercer replied with a smile: "Don't worry, I know how to deal with these profit-driven individuals.
As long as you still have value and that value is high enough, he'd be willing to trade even his own parents, let alone let you fleece him a little.
Netherworld Dog has plenty of people making money on the side. If I didn't, it wouldn't look like I'm part of the team—sometimes, you have to give the other side a handle, a weakness, so they think you're trustworthy."
This was also why Mercer continued to live at the base, having everyone stay there as well.
He didn't want to discuss this too much with Lucy, so as not to add unnecessary worries, so he lightly changed the topic: "How's Old Wei doing? I haven't been in contact with him for a while."
"Him? He's doing well, he was watching a boxing match last time, even planned with V to watch a boxing championship live stream at his clinic next week... I'm not that interested."
Lucy said, then looked at Mercer and added: "He's quite concerned about you, urging you to visit him for a check-up when you have time. It seems he's worried about the side effects of those prosthetics you have."