Scavenger

As he climbed the stairs, Liao Ji sorted through the information he had gathered.

First, Brian, the owner of Haisha, had said that he'd sent someone to visit Irin's mother just yesterday. That made the nurse's scheduling record—that Irin's mother had been transferred out at noon today—seem fairly credible.

With that as a starting point, a new question arose: why had she been transferred at noon? Why then? Had something unusual happened at that time?

The answer was obvious. Liao Ji only had to work backward a little to figure it out. That was probably when Irin and Kalleva's people had left the settlement for the Relic Cave to dig up his "grave."

That left one question: why had Dr. Fredre sent Irin's mother out of the clinic right after Irin and Kalleva's people left?

Liao Ji already had a grim answer in mind.

I hope I'm wrong.

The clinic's third floor was quiet and deserted. There was no one in the hallway, and perhaps to save electricity, even the lights overhead seemed a little dim.

Following the directions given by the nurse at the front desk, Liao Ji and Irin reached the room they were looking for. The girl was about to knock, but the young man beside her had already pushed the door open and walked in.

"Wh-who are you!?" someone cried from inside.

Fredre, seated at the desk, had clearly been startled by the two people who'd suddenly barged in.

Liao Ji looked at the middle-aged man in a white coat and black-framed glasses, who gave the impression of being a mild-mannered intellectual. He didn't waste time on pleasantries and got straight to the point.

"Dr. Fredre, where is Ms. Nolan now?"

"N-Nolan?"

The man was taken aback at first, but seemed to recognize the name a moment later. His brow furrowed. After noticing that Liao Ji and Irin were dressed in a way that clearly didn't fit in the slums, he said bluntly:

"You two don't look like family members of a patient. As a doctor, I have a duty to protect every patient's personal information!"

"Besides, this is a restricted area of the clinic. Outsiders aren't welcome, so I suggest you leave at once. Otherwise, I'll have someone escort you out!"

As he spoke, Fredre reached for a button on his desk that looked like a call bell.

But to his utter disbelief, the young man across from him, who looked like some rich young master, simply pulled out a gun and aimed it at him!

"Dr. Fredre, do you think your people can get here faster than my bullet?"

"D-don't do anything rash! We can talk this out, slowly!"

Cold sweat broke out across Fredre's forehead. Cursing himself for his carelessness, he realized this wasn't some young master at all. He was practically a gangster. Fredre quickly pulled his hand away from the call bell and raised both hands beside his head.

"Honestly, Dr. Fredre, I was still a little uncertain at first. But after hearing what you said, I'm sure my guess was right."

"I'll ask you one last time. What did you do to Ms. Nolan?"

Even with Liao Ji's gun pointed at him, Fredre stubbornly insisted, "Th-there must be some misunderstanding. I don't know what your relationship with Ms. Nolan is, but I can tell you that her daughter took her out of the clinic at noon today. I even tried to stop them, but her daughter seemed to be in a hurry, like she was going on a long trip or something."

Fredre deliberately planted the misleading suggestion that Nolan had gone on a "long trip." He'd already prepared it as an excuse in case something went wrong.

"As for what happened after that, I really don't know! If you insist on finding Ms. Nolan, you should look for her daughter, a scavenger named Irin! I can give you her information. I hear she's pretty well known among scavengers. She often goes to a place called Haisha Tavern."

"You're full of **shit!" The girl, who'd been silently simmering behind Liao Ji, finally exploded.

Irin strode past the young man and stopped in front of Fredre. She grabbed him by the collar and yanked him close, staring into his panicked eyes as she ground out each word through clenched teeth. "Look at me! Do you know who I am?"

"You—"

Fredre hadn't recognized her from a distance. After all, Irin had changed her hairstyle and clothes, and even her skin had become much fairer.

But now that the girl was right in front of him, he got a closer look at her features. The doctor's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You're—"

"That's impossible! How could Kalleva's people have let you live and sent you back—"

Realizing he'd let something slip because he was so shocked, Fredre tried to clamp his mouth shut at once, but it was already too late. Irin slammed him to the ground.

"Kalleva? What do you mean, Kalleva? Explain yourself!"

Pinned beneath the girl's foot, Fredre felt a stabbing pain in his chest. He didn't know how Irin could be so strong, but he understood that if this continued, he wouldn't just be unable to breathe—his entire chest would be crushed.

"I-I'll tell you everything!"

Terrified of death, Fredre was scared out of his wits. He struggled to breathe, then shakily told Irin, "I—I saw you leave with those people from Kalleva, and I thought you weren't coming back. So I took your mother and... s-sold her to the scavengers."

"Your mother used to be a nun with the Church. With that identity, she could fetch a good price. P-please let me go, and I'll pay you back! I'll return all the one hundred thousand I got for selling your mother!"

"N-no, one hundred and fifty thousand! Is that enough? I'll give you fifty thousand more. Surely that'll satisfy you!"

Fredre begged Irin for mercy in the only way he knew how, but all he did was fan the girl's murderous rage.

The moment she heard that someone had sold her mother for money—to the scavengers, no less—rage surged through Irin. Corrupt Calamity rushed to her head, and only one thought filled her mind.

Kill this piece of trash!

"Die!!"

Just as Irin was about to stomp the doctor's head in, the young man beside her intervened.

Liao Ji stopped Irin and shook his head at the enraged girl. Then he turned his cold gaze on Dr. Fredre, who was still reeling in terror.

"What do you mean by 'scavengers'?"

"Th-the scavengers are people who specialize in... in collecting living people and selling them to the gangs. They're human traffickers."

"Is it for the organs of those people?"

"I—I don't know, but it seems to be about more than just organs. I once heard that there might be a connection to the Ch-Church behind it."

Fredre realized that Irin would kill him if he fell into her hands. So now, he answered every question Liao Ji asked and racked his brain to reveal everything he knew, hoping Liao Ji might spare his life.

"This isn't your first time doing this, is it? You have a regular contact among the scavengers, right? Call him now and tell him to come pick up the goods."

"P-pick up the goods?"

Where was he supposed to find any goods now?

Fredre couldn't follow Liao Ji's train of thought and stared at him blankly. But when Liao Ji pressed the gun to his forehead, Fredre stopped caring about anything else. He hurriedly took out his communicator. He didn't need to make a call; he just had to send an email.

"D-done. I did what you asked. The scavengers get here fast—about fifteen minutes. Can you let me go now? Please!"

"Where do you meet to make the handoff?"

"Go out the back door of the clinic and turn the corner. There's a... a little alley there. He'll park there and wait for me. I really don't know anything else. I was just trying to make a little extra money. Please, please let me go."

Faced with Fredre's desperate pleas, Liao Ji readily nodded.

"You just need to do one last thing for us."

"Y-yes, what is it? I'll do anything!" Fredre nodded eagerly, overjoyed.

But the joy on the doctor's face soon froze.

Because—

"Is that so? Then thank you for becoming our goods."

"W-what do you—"

Bang!