"I know." Mercer just repeated, gently rubbing her forehead with his cheek.
"I... I'm really scared... if you get captured by Arasaka... I don't know how to rescue you, I..."
She spoke somewhat incoherently, while Mercer just kept stroking her short hair, soothing her with simple words, holding her tight, until her crying made it impossible for her to speak, and until her sobs slowly faded, and she calmed down.
Mercer only patted her back when she had completely calmed down, "I won't die, and I won't be captured, and neither will you guys, I promise."
"..." Lucy didn't know what to say, her emotions wanted her to believe everything Mercer said, but the cold facts were in front of her. Could Mercer really guarantee that everyone would survive Arasaka's attack?
But Mercer just smiled and said optimistically, "Didn't this incident already expose many of our issues?
For example, there are many security vulnerabilities in Dog Town that need fixing, for instance, we lack the capacity to resist and counterattack EMP assaults, and lack a complete counterattack system in the face of sudden ambushes.
Yes, fighting too many easy battles always gives us some illusions, that fighting against the corporations doesn't need bloodshed, and it's just those corporate dogs who bleed...
But now that the fantasy has been burst, isn't there just the option to face challenges head-on and fight to the end?"
He smiled and reached out to adjust Lucy's dress, tidying it up to make it look more orderly, "Takemura also exposed many cards this time, maybe he wanted to show off his military strength to me, to achieve the effect of winning without fighting.
But he underestimated my courage—he might have missed the best chance of his life, he should have chopped off my head when he attacked me, but he didn't.
As for me, I absolutely won't give him a second chance."
Mercer seemed to have regained his former confidence, smiling as he said, "He will regret it, regret not wiping us out completely this time, and I'm not going to thank him for showing mercy, if he thinks he can make me bow down and admit defeat, he's got the wrong person."
Lucy looked at Mercer, staring at his face, and after a moment, all she could do was bury her face in his embrace once more. After a moment, she spoke softly, "I understand, but you have to promise me, you can't let anything happen, nothing will happen to any of us..."
"Mm, I promise." Mercer said earnestly, and Lucy could only force herself to believe him, to believe everything he said.
After forcing herself to perk up, Lucy lifted her head, gave him a light kiss on the cheek, then stood up, "You should get some rest while you can, I bet Hansen will come looking for you soon, I'm going to check on V and them, if there's any sign of trouble with their vital signs, I'll contact you."
Mercer nodded, and after watching Lucy leave, he sat back down on the chair in a daze.
And just as Lucy had said, less than half an hour into sitting and resting, Hansen's message came through.
[Hansen: A Pyrrhic victory?]
[Mercer: I think it was more of a crushing defeat.]
[Hansen: Heh, if you still have the strength, come to the stadium now, we need to talk.]
At this moment, Mercer had already prepared for the worst.
Now was Spark Team's weakest moment, if he were Hansen, he absolutely wouldn't miss such a good opportunity.
But after a brief moment of contemplation, he still resolutely gave his answer.
[Mercer: Okay.]