The people chasing after him were joining Jiu Ming in tempting fate. Why were they even after him? Didn't they know that people died when they were killed... and that he could easily hand them one-way tickets?
All right, what Jiu Ming really wanted to know was how they kept catching up to him. He'd already done his best to minimize the jolting as he moved, and he hadn't left a single drop of blood on the ground. With his speed, he should've been able to leave them several blocks behind!
But flies were always such a nuisance. Unless you swatted them dead, no matter how you tried to drive them away, you'd find them buzzing back from who knew where before long.
At least it was nighttime. If it were broad daylight—if it were broad daylight, Jiu Ming really would have been glad! He could just run into a crowded place, and he really didn't believe those guys could be so utterly deranged that... Never mind. If they really did that, he'd be the one at fault.
"You guys... are really annoying!" Jiu Ming's eye twitched as several cars appeared from who knew where. If this dragged on much longer, he'd be fine, but Misaka 1 couldn't take the strain of slowly losing blood for much longer.
Clones were people, too.
As the driver stared in disbelief, the car he was driving was suddenly flipped into the air and sent rolling off to the side. The next few cars met the same fate as the first. Jiu Ming charged straight into the last car, then dragged everyone inside out of it except the driver.
"Skinning, dismemberment, or having your bones broken—which would you like to try? Don't doubt me. If you want to stay alive, take her to the best hospital around. If you take her somewhere else..."
The driver swallowed, staring in panic at the arm that had passed through his chest and grabbed him by the neck. He could feel himself choking. The arm had really gone through his chest—he just didn't know why he couldn't feel anything wrong.
"I... I understand!"
Without hesitation, the driver slammed down on the accelerator. The car shot forward at full speed.
"Smart." Jiu Ming pulled his arm back and sat down again. At last, he had time to properly take in the surroundings... It was a huge city. As the car drove on, the streets grew less deserted, and lights began shining everywhere. Here and there, he could see a few students—students, and more students...
Was this place full of nothing but students?
Oh, and there were things running around that looked like trash cans... What were those?
Jiu Ming knocked on his head as he looked at the weakened Misaka 1. How had he forgotten about this? He took out the Century Egg Card, which had been sealed away for ages, and crushed it in his hand. "Here, be a good girl and eat this. It'll stop hurting..."
"...Is this a fossil? Misaka refuses to eat something of unknown origin." Misaka Sister turned her head slightly, clearly wary of the strange thing. Seeing that she didn't want to eat it, Jiu Ming didn't force her.
For one thing, the thing really did feel like a rock. And then there was the food-poisoning effect. Maybe it would cause food poisoning for some people, but the poison in a super century egg worth a hundred Origin Power...
Ah, forget it. Better to save it for someone who wasn't normal. Ordinary people could pass.
"W-we're... here." The driver turned around, drenched in sweat, and spoke. Jiu Ming's earlier threats had kept him from trying anything.
"A little slow, but whatever."
Jiu Ming looked at the hospital and nodded. He didn't care whether it was the best; as long as it looked like the biggest, that was enough. There were plenty of doctors inside. Surely a few of them could help... What, they wouldn't? Jiu Ming quickly assessed his condition. He could still throw another punch like the one he'd landed earlier.
When Jiu Ming got out with Misaka 1, the driver finally let out a breath. He'd been afraid Jiu Ming might go one step further and kill him once they arrived, like a farmer slaughtering the donkey after it had done its work...
"What's going on?" Jiu Ming moved Misaka 1, but she didn't react. His heart sank. Had he taken too long? Damn this place. It was so big it was like a maze, and he'd even gotten lost earlier!
"Whew, thank goodness." So she'd just passed out. Still, her condition definitely wasn't good. Jiu Ming had noticed that his own body was becoming unstable, as if he might disappear at any moment. If his employer died, he'd have no reason to exist in this world. Either the Mysterious Shop would pull him back, or the world would kick him out!
"Doctor! Where's the doctor!? Is there anyone still breathing?"
"What are you shouting about?" It was nighttime, and many of the patients here were resting. Naturally, Jiu Ming's shouting drew complaints. The man who came over was a slightly chubby, middle-aged, balding... frog?
No, no, that was a very rude thing to think. Still, that was the impression he'd made at first glance. Jiu Ming saw faint displeasure in the man's eyes. Understandable, since nobody would be in a good mood if someone made a racket here in the middle of the night.
But there was more than displeasure in his gaze. There was also a deep belief in the importance of life.
"Of course I'm here to save someone!" Jiu Ming stared intently at the middle-aged doctor. If the man dared to say anything about money, Jiu Ming would hit him! Even if he had a good temper, he'd still hit him. What did the man think this was, asking for money at a time like this!?
"Uh... young man, you have a very dangerous look in your eyes." Frog-faced Doctor seemed a little confused by the threat Jiu Ming was giving off. Then his attention shifted to the girl in Jiu Ming's arms. She was badly injured. "How did this happen? How could you wait so long before bringing her in... This girl?"
"You know her?" Jiu Ming didn't mind Frog-faced Doctor's slightly reproachful tone. It was partly his fault that he'd taken so long. What interested him more was what the doctor had said afterward.
"You don't know her?" Frog-faced Doctor asked in surprise. The girl's identity should have been easy to recognize. Still, it was strange that she'd suffered this kind of injury... A gunshot wound?
What a joke! She was one of the people in Academy City least likely to suffer a gunshot wound!
"Let's not talk about that. Save her first." Seeing the haphazard bandage on Misaka 1's abdomen, Frog-faced Doctor frowned again. But the boy in front of him was young, too, so he didn't say anything for now.
Frog-faced Doctor's seasoned eye immediately picked out that the girl's wound had been treated in some special way. It showed no signs of worsening. How had the bullet been removed!?
The boy had done a pretty good job with that.
After expertly treating the girl's wound, Frog-faced Doctor found another problem. There was something abnormal about her body... No, there definitely was something abnormal!
"I underestimated you. The bullet was removed perfectly." Frog-faced Doctor didn't comment on Jiu Ming's utterly terrible bandaging. Then he seemed to notice something even more interesting. "Young man, would you like to have a checkup... No, could you tell me about this little girl?"
"Oh? She's my employer. Well... something went a little wrong along the way. She's going to be all right, isn't she?" Jiu Ming's body had stabilized, and the feeling that he might be kicked out of this world at any moment had disappeared. But the way Frog-faced Doctor was looking at him was kind of creepy!
"Just so you know, I don't have any money."
"I became a doctor for reasons other than money... There's something strange about your body. Trust my medical skills, and—"
"Wait, no need. I've always been like this, and I don't need any strange tests."
Jiu Ming took two steps back and shook his head vigorously. He also glanced toward the doorway. No suspicious people were chasing after them. Good. If things looked wrong, he could just grab the girl and run.
"What are you worried about?" Frog-faced Doctor asked when he saw Jiu Ming acting so wary of the outside world. "Let's talk about the girl first. I gave her a checkup while I was at it, and found that she..."
"She's a clone. I know. But she's my employer now." Jiu Ming waved a hand, unconcerned. "By the way, since she's a clone, are there any side effects? Like some hidden mechanism that could put her in danger?"
Seeing nothing suspicious, Jiu Ming turned his attention back to the doctor.
"Don't worry about any danger. Nobody would cause trouble here." After thinking briefly about the circumstances under which Jiu Ming had brought Misaka 1 in, Frog-faced Doctor quickly understood what he was concerned about.
"Really?"
"Haha, who do you think I am? Relax. It's safe here." Frog-faced Doctor smiled and pointed at a seat nearby. "Sit down and let's talk about the defect she has."
"I'm all ears."
"I found that drugs were used to force her body to grow faster. The consequences are severe, and her lifespan has been drastically shortened." Frog-faced Doctor's expression was grave. "That girl has, at most, another year or two to live!"
"Holy shit!?" Thinking of the dozens of other Misaka Sisters just like her, Jiu Ming wanted to help—but he couldn't see how he could manage it. If there were only one of her, he'd have no trouble making sure she lived to a hundred!
Was it hard?
To put it bluntly, was buying someone's life with money a difficult thing?
Hehahahaha... There seemed to be plenty of people desperate for cash. Would they trade one day of their lives for ten thousand?
You could beg, act pitiful, and hurt yourself all day long and still not make that much money!
One person could give up ten days, another a week. What was living to a hundred? If Jiu Ming wanted, he could make a whole nest of thousand-year-old monsters...
But when he thought about how there might be a hundred or more Misaka Sisters, he couldn't help thinking: this was what it meant to want to help but be powerless!
"...What are you doing?" Jiu Ming's eye twitched as he watched the hand reaching toward him. He'd been distracted, and that hand had already passed through his shoulder as if it were grabbing empty air.
"As I thought. I noticed something was off about you from the very beginning. This state you're in—it isn't your ability, is it?"
"Don't change the subject. Is there any way to fix her condition?" Jiu Ming scratched his head. If there really wasn't a way, he'd do everything he could.
"You don't need to worry too much. Since she's my patient, I'll make sure to resolve this problem." Frog-faced Doctor's words carried an unshakable conviction.
Was this something to admire?
"Don't change the subject. What's wrong with your body? How did it end up like this? Have those research institutes developed some new weird thing again?" Frog-faced Doctor seemed to know quite a lot.
Before you continue