Dane Clinic

"Achoo!"

Irin suddenly sneezed and inexplicably felt a chill run down the back of her neck.

The girl instinctively wrapped her clothes tighter around herself, then looked around.

By now, she and Liao Ji had reached the Gray Zone of the Black Cave Settlement. This district lay between the wealthy neighborhood and the gang territory. It served as a buffer, but was also a natural underground market.

The rich provided money, and the gangs provided services. One shady deal after another went on here, and over time, they had even spurred the development of this strip of land between the two districts, turning it into a major hub for the gray-market industry.

There were unlicensed back-alley shops, black markets dealing in contraband, arms dealers, human traffickers, brothels, and dance clubs. Basically, anything that indulged people's desires or catered to their needs could be found on Gray Street.

The Dane Clinic, where Liao Ji and the girl were headed, was just such a place: an unlicensed, unregistered black-market clinic the Church didn't know about.

Irin looked around, but didn't notice anything unusual. It was now half past nine at night. In other parts of Black Cave, it was the dead of night, with no one in sight. But for Gray Street, the time was just right. People hurried along the street, and it was one of the few places in the settlement that stayed brightly lit late into the night.

"Did you catch a chill? Want to buy a scarf?"

The young man's concerned voice came from beside her. Irin shook her head.

"No, I'm not that delicate. Let's hurry. I don't know why, but I suddenly have this creepy feeling."

"Uh, do you get that feeling often?"

"Of course not!"

Irin shot the young man an exasperated look and picked up her pace. She had always trusted her instincts. It was a habit shared by every scavenger.

A few minutes later, after winding through several alleys, the sign bearing the words "Dane Clinic" finally came into view.

The clinic wasn't particularly large, but it seemed to have plenty of patients. Even at this hour, people were still coming and going.

From what Liao Ji could tell, most of them had superficial injuries. The more serious cases might have involved broken bones that needed bandages and casts.

For injuries that weren't life-threatening but couldn't be left untreated, a cheap black-market clinic like this was definitely the most cost-effective choice.

They reached the ward area. The only person at the front desk was a nurse dozing off. Irin didn't disturb her as she walked straight on. The girl had been here many times and knew her way around.

The third room from the end of the ward corridor. Irin gripped the doorknob, her heart pounding with excitement. Too impatient even to knock, she pushed the door open.

"Mom! I—"

"Mo-mom?"

The girl's delighted voice cut off abruptly. She froze in the doorway. When Liao Ji caught up and looked into the room, he understood why.

The bed was empty, and the sheets and blankets had clearly been tidied by a nurse in preparation for the next patient.

"H-how could this be?" Irin came to her senses and hurried back out, then checked the room number.

It was 108.

That was right.

This should have been her mother's room.

But where was her mother?

Where had her mom gone!?

Seeing Irin panic and nearly start opening every ward door one by one, Liao Ji grabbed her.

"Don't panic. Maybe the doctor changed your mother's treatment plan. Let's ask at the front desk first."

"Right, right—the front desk!"

Irin dashed over to the desk, startling the nurse on duty, who had almost fallen asleep. The girl didn't care about that, of course. She anxiously asked,

"Doctor, Nolan—what's Nolan's room number?"

Normally, they would have had to follow procedure to ask about a patient's information. But this was where the effect of Liao Ji's forced "disguise" came in handy.

Seeing that the girl was dressed like someone with money, the nurse figured she was probably not to be trifled with. She didn't say much, just picked up a tablet and started scrolling.

But soon—

"Nolan? Sorry, miss, there's no patient by that name at this clinic."

"W-what did you say!?" Irin wondered if her ears were playing tricks on her.

The nurse repeated herself.

"Miss, I can't find the person you mentioned in the current ward records. Are you sure you're in the right place?"

"Impossible! How could that be? Dane Clinic, room 108! My mom was right here! You—you!"

The commotion drew glances from several patients. Even the nurse at the front desk frowned at the agitated girl, starting to wonder if she had come to cause trouble.

Just then, a hand reached from behind and rested on Irin's shoulder.

"Sorry, doctor. My sister's just a little emotional. Here's what happened: our mother was staying in room 108, but we just went to check on her and found it empty. You're saying you don't have anyone by that name, so..."

"Could you help us check the transfer records for room 108? Just the past couple of days would be enough. Sorry for the trouble."

Dressed in a high-end suit and standing tall, Liao Ji made an excellent impression on the nurse, both in appearance and in the way he spoke. She hesitated for a moment. Technically, clinic records of ward transfers weren't something outsiders were allowed to see.

But...

The nurse sneaked a few more glances at the handsome young man. Liao Ji obligingly gave her an apologetic smile, as if to say he was sorry for the trouble. Her heart fluttered. Most people who came to a black-market clinic were either gangsters with thick necks and menacing faces or poor wretches in threadbare clothes, gaunt and sallow. She had never seen anyone as clean-cut and refined as Liao Ji.

Besides, he had said he was the patient's immediate family member, and his sister did seem genuinely worried. In the end, the nurse nodded to the young man, granting Liao Ji a little special treatment, then lowered her head and tapped away at the tablet.

A little while later—

"Sir, I found it! Your mother—Ms. Nolan—was discharged at eleven this morning. Um... her daughter, Miss Irin, came to pick her up."

As the nurse said this, she gave Liao Ji a strange look, wondering whether the young man had another sister.

Meanwhile—

Irin stared wide-eyed, completely dumbfounded. This was obviously nonsense, but just as she was about to angrily speak up, the power of the Contract hit her. She couldn't make a sound or move.

This was her mother—the only family she had, the person she had depended on all her life. Liao Ji understood why Irin was so agitated, but acting on impulse wouldn't solve anything. So he used the Contract to make her stay quiet for the moment.

"I see..."

"Could you also check who made this entry in the transfer records?"

"It says—huh? It was Director Fredre?"

Even the nurse at the front desk was surprised. It was rare for the director himself to enter a record like this.

"Understood. One last question, then, miss. Is Director Fredre at the clinic right now? And which room is he in?"

The nurse hesitated again. It would have been fine if it were another doctor, but if it was the director... that wasn't something she could just answer casually.

Fortunately—

The young man seemed to notice her dilemma. He smiled and reassured her in a relaxed tone.

"Oh, don't worry. Dr. Fredre and I are friends. We get along quite well. Otherwise, he wouldn't have personally handled the registration for us, would he?"

"Right, that's true."

If they were friends, then there was no problem, was there?

The nurse even became more respectful toward Liao Ji and hurriedly said,

"Sir, go up this way. Once you reach the third floor, turn left. The fourth room at the very end is Director Fredre's office. Our director usually doesn't leave until around ten, so if you hurry, you should still be able to catch him."

Liao Ji glanced at the clock on the wall. It was a quarter to ten. He nodded.

"Thank you very much."