Chapter 15: The City Folks’ Schemes Run Deep

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After bidding farewell to the Hunter, everyone returned to Spark Town without further incident.

Beneath the dusk, the small town remained as it always was; most of its people moved about listlessly, as if drained of all vitality.

The slums still reeked of curry, and the crowds wandered like the living dead, their faces empty and spiritless.

It was not the first time Ren Zhong had witnessed this scene, yet he could not help but feel a sense of discomfort.

Even though he now understood much more about this world and knew of the threat posed by the Ruin Beasts, he still could not comprehend why, in such a technologically advanced age, society could be so shrouded in gloom and despair.

With a worldview shaped by twenty-first century China, even if he could do nothing more than online discourse, he believed there were ways, however small, to improve the atmosphere of the town.

On a street corner, a frail old man suddenly collapsed silently to the ground.

The passersby merely glanced at him and then continued on their way, showing no concern for his fate.

Ren Zhong had seen this happen once before.

Once again, his heart was stirred; his lips trembled as if to speak, but in the end, he remained silent.

If one cannot sweep a single room, how can they sweep the world?

Here on this planet, he had never survived longer than twenty-four hours, not even worthy of being called an ant—he was but a mayfly. What right did he have to criticize the world or point out its flaws?

…

At the boundary between the white inner wall and the slums, Ren Zhong stood with his hands behind his back outside the Miracle Hands Clinic.

This time, he arrived half an hour earlier than before.

According to his original plan, he intended to head straight to the clinic upon entering the city, but a minor change in circumstances delayed him.

He had wanted Zheng Tian to sell the crystal-winged dragonfly carcass for him, and then transfer the money back to him.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Tian awkwardly pointed out that this would not be cost-effective.

She explained that if one wastelander transferred funds to another’s personal account, it would be seen as a transaction and would be taxed at ten percent.

She was able to transfer money to others in the team because the squad was officially registered as a professional unit, and the transfers were annotated as distribution of hunting proceeds.

Normally, if anyone else in the squad wanted to borrow money from her, the transfer would also be taxed.

Zheng Tian believed that, as a “disguised inspector,” Ren Zhong had never experienced the hardship of having to pay taxes on private transfers, and was unfamiliar with the struggles of the wastelanders, so she thought she should warn him.

Ren Zhong’s takeaway was that, since he was penniless, even 0.08 contribution points counted as money, and every bit saved was worth it.

In the end, he followed them to Spark Resource Recycling Company, finished his business there, and then went straight to the clinic, saving half an hour he would have spent gathering information.

Ren Zhong stepped inside and found Sun Miao reclining in a rattan chair with his back to the door, feet crossed on the table.

In the corner, a projector shaped like a flashlight cast rapidly changing scenes onto the wall.

At first glance, the images looked strikingly similar to a fantasy drama.

A couple, dressed in ancient costumes and appearing like immortal lovers, exchanged flying blows in midair.

In the room, the speakers blared with a cacophony of white noise, grating sound effects, and abysmal dialogue.

“Hongxia, I have crossed the Tianchuan River for you and slain the Sea-Devouring Whale. How could you leave without a word…”

“Haichen, just go. Stop following me. I have decided to join the Beast Sect; from now on, I will walk with the beasts. You and I are destined to be strangers.”

“Impossible! I won’t listen! I won’t listen…”

The lines sent a shiver down Ren Zhong’s spine. He moved forward to interrupt Sun Miao’s dreadful entertainment. “Doctor Sun, hello. I’m here to see a doctor.”

Sun Miao did not even turn his head. “Go cool off somewhere else. I’m off duty today.”

Ren Zhong’s mouth twitched; this doctor’s temper was truly foul.

Surely he wouldn’t wait for him to faint or die before offering treatment.

“Doctor Sun…”

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Sun Miao whipped around, glaring furiously. “Didn’t I say I’m off duty? Can’t you see I’m busy? Fine, if you insist on treatment, you’ll have to pay three times the normal fee. Deal or not?”

Ren Zhong was taken aback.

He began to replay last time’s events in his mind.

Two seconds later, he decided to come clean. “Sorry, I only have 0.8 contribution points.”

“If you’re broke, what the hell are you doing here? Get lost.”

Sun Miao waved his hand as if shooing a fly.

Ren Zhong tried one last time: “Doctor Sun, please help me. I’m in the late stages of lymphoma, I don’t have much time left.”

Sun Miao paused mid-motion.

“Hm?”

He thought he must have misheard.

After a moment, Sun Miao asked skeptically, “You’re really in the late stages of cancer?”

Ren Zhong nodded. “It might be worse than late stage—it’s probably terminal.”

Sun Miao abruptly switched off the projector, stopped watching the drama, and rubbed his chin in thought. “Let me think… well, since you’re truly in a tough spot, I’ll do my duty as a doctor. Lie down on that chair, I’ll run a full-body scan first.”

Ren Zhong controlled his emotions, quietly watching the subtle shift in Sun Miao’s attitude as he leaned back on the chair. “Doctor Sun, is cancer treatment expensive? Will my money be enough?”

Sun Miao: “Of course not!”

Ren Zhong decided to take a gamble. He stood up and feigned sorrow. “Sigh, then I’ll go save up and come back.”

“Nonsense! Do I look like the type to let someone die over money? If you’re really that sick, how could you possibly save up? Here’s the deal: if you really do have late-stage cancer, no matter what the treatment costs, I’ll let you pay it all on credit. Pay me back when you can, no rush. Settled!”

As he spoke, Sun Miao pushed Ren Zhong back onto the recliner.

Ren Zhong weighed his options for a moment, but in the end, his desperation for treatment won out and he lay down as instructed.

…

Two minutes later, the projector that had earlier played the melodramatic fantasy drama lit up again, displaying a three-dimensional scan of Ren Zhong’s body on the wall.

In the image, red patches representing abnormal cell clusters spread throughout his lymphatic system, some lymph nodes so densely packed with red dots that they looked like storm clouds.

Sun Miao sucked in a breath. “Damn! You really are half dead. Just how tough is your life? How have you dragged it out this long? What’s going on in your head?”

Ren Zhong smiled wryly. “I didn’t expect it to be this bad.”

“Well, you’re lucky. I can cure you.”

The treatment proceeded much as Ren Zhong had imagined.

Sun Miao first injected a neural inhibitor into his wrist vein.

After waiting five minutes for the inhibitor to take effect, Sun Miao told Ren Zhong to pinch his own thigh—he felt nothing. Then, into the same vein, Sun Miao injected a solution labeled as a “cell devourer,” followed by a brown bottle.

“This is nutrient paste. Take it three times a day with meals. Finish it in two days.”

“Yes,” Ren Zhong nodded. “Thank you. What’s the cost?”

“In total, 102 contribution points. Give me your eighty cents first, then write me an IOU.”

“Alright.”

Ren Zhong took the paper Sun Miao handed him, wrote out the IOU, and made to get up.

“Wait a moment, keep lying down. Here’s an immune modulator—consider it a free bonus. It’ll help boost your immunity.”

“Hm? Okay.”

There hadn’t been any immune modulator last time, but Ren Zhong, confused, complied.

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Sun Miao, calm and collected, picked up a syringe filled with a colorless solution and administered an injection to the side of Ren Zhong’s neck.

Thanks to the neural inhibitor, Ren Zhong felt no pain, but he noticed the syringe, which Sun Miao quickly tried to hide, showed a faint tinge of red.

Suspicion flared in his mind.

A free immune modulator?

Do you think I’m a fool?

You were clearly extracting fluid from my occipital lymph node!

You’re collecting samples!

Ren Zhong, no stranger to laboratory work in his student days, instantly understood what had happened.

A series of vague suspicions snapped into focus.

In that instant, the image of Sun Miao as a benevolent doctor shattered completely in his mind.

“Doctor Sun. You… you weren’t injecting medication just now, you were taking a sample, weren’t you? Didn’t you just cure me? What do you need a sample for? Are my cancer cells valuable to you?”

Sun Miao tried to hide the syringe behind his back. “Nonsense.”

“But I saw it. There’s still plenty of fluid in the syringe, and a trace of blood spreading through it. The spot you punctured was my occipital lymph node cluster. That’s where the scan showed the highest concentration of cancer cells.”

Sun Miao was silent for two seconds, then, realizing he could not fool Ren Zhong, immediately changed tactics. “Get out, get out, get out! You’re cured, so get out of here and stop asking so many damn questions.”

“Doctor Sun, I’m just curious.”

“Curious my ass! You’re not a doctor—what do you need to know for? Oh, no! I had a bad lunch, my stomach hurts! Hurts, hurts! Help yourself, I’m leaving!”

Seeing that he couldn’t get rid of Ren Zhong, Sun Miao clutched his stomach theatrically and hurried up the stairs.

He fled.

Ren Zhong, ever observant, noticed that Sun Miao’s knuckles were white from gripping the sampling syringe.

In truth, he was inwardly elated, as if he had just won the lottery.

Ren Zhong thought, So you treat me, but quietly take a sample without saying a word.

Something’s definitely off.

Last time, he must have sampled my occipital lymph node too, but never mentioned it, and I didn’t notice.

It’s not really a big deal—tests and blood draws are routine in medicine.

But the fact that he was so secretive, and got so excited after collecting the sample, suggested something more.

My cancer cells must be valuable.

I’ve been played!

Glancing at the IOU still lying on the small table beside the recliner, Ren Zhong picked it up and left the clinic.

Clutching the IOU in his hand, he thought to himself, I shouldn’t try to take advantage of the man who saved my life, but as a newcomer with nothing to his name, survival is not easy.

Sun Miao certainly isn’t short of money either.

In this world, one’s fate is often out of one’s control, so, forgive me.

Next time, I must find a way to make a tidy sum off him—at the very least, enough to gain a foothold in Spark Town!