It was already evening when Chu Mu returned to the Clinic.
He had spent a long time wandering around Boulder Town and witnessed far too much suffering.
By then, the Clinic had grown much quieter.
When Chu Mu pushed open the door and entered, Natasha was leaning against the windowsill, studying a medical record.
She looked up at Chu Mu and said wearily:
"Sorry. It was so busy today that I neglected you."
Chu Mu shook his head and typed:
"I walked around town. Everyone's having a hard time these days."
"This is already the best Wildfire can manage," Natasha said, shaking her head. "This place was abandoned thirteen years ago. Every year since then has pushed the limits of survival further."
After a pause, Natasha said softly:
"That's why tomorrow's operation is so important. The future of the Underworld depends on it."
What the Underworld wanted was not the Upper District's condescending charity, but the dignity of being treated as equals.
Chu Mu sat at the Clinic for a while longer.
Meanwhile, miners finishing their shifts began returning to the Clinic to pick up their children.
Hook emerged from the back room, and the moment she saw Chu Mu, her expression turned gloomy.
She said in her childish voice:
"Hook spent the whole afternoon doing homework."
Chu Mu gave her a thumbs-up.
Hook looked at Chu Mu, embarrassed and annoyed, then rephrased her words:
"Hook was forced to spend the whole afternoon doing homework!"
Chu Mu raised both thumbs and flashed a picture-perfect smile.
"You're such a blockhead! Hook's not talking to you anymore!" Hook stamped her foot and ran outside.
An old man with a white beard stood outside the door, his back stooped and his face weathered.
But the moment he saw Hook, his eyes lit up.