Currently, both deltas and the base page need to be unpacked before merging can generate a full page. This process is less problematic for internal pages because the keys on internal pages are independent. In such cases, the unpacked keys simply act as pointers to the base image and deltas.

However, this becomes an issue for leaf pages. Leaf pages use prefix compression, meaning that larger keys depend on preceding keys. Consequently, if we unpack them before merging, we need to copy each key individually, which adds overhead.

Ideally, deltas and the base image should only be unpacked progressively during the merging process itself to optimize space performance and avoid unnecessary copying.