"This brain-dead kid believed it, once he comes, both mother and child will be yours."

After hanging up the phone, the doctor at Red Shirt Mental Hospital said viciously to someone hiding behind the curtain.

Just as Lille guessed, there were Scavengers squatting here—not three, but four of them.

"Haha, doctor, it’s about time you came to your senses. You should have done this long ago, talking about professional ethics—just stripping patients of their organs?"

"There’s one more thing—don’t strip those who are underage!"

"Hahaha!"

The companions of the Scavenger also started laughing, mocking the doctor’s ridiculous "professional ethics."

The doctor wasn’t angry; he just wanted that kid David dead—and there was money to be made after the deed was done.

He had treated that woman diligently these past few days just to figure out which underworld path this kid was involved in—

And the result?

A whole lot of nothing!

And to think he had the audacity to point a gun at him?

The kid had to learn why a doctor was the last person he should mess with.

"Stop laughing. I want to watch you tear that kid apart. He dared to slap me; even my dad never hit me!"

"Okay, okay, we get it—but wasn’t your dad dead a long time ago?"

...

"Freedom is a sturdy handgun, but if the guy on the other side is wearing subdermal armor, I suggest you aim carefully."

"You’re supposed to aim carefully with a gun anyway, right?"

David’s hand, holding the gun, was shaking slightly—

Excluding that accidental discharge at the hospital, he had never fired a gun before.

This wouldn’t do.

"Do you have an implant in your arm? Can it be compatible with this?" Lille tossed the newly acquired Kuai Arm 400 chip.

"I don’t know, I’ve only tried the basketball chip..."

"It should be fine, plug it in."

"Huh?"

Lille glanced at the camera nearby, quickly hacked into the hospital’s surveillance network—inside were four Scavengers, two slim, one muscular, and one fat.

The muscular one had cheap subdermal armor implanted in his abdomen, while the rest had their palms and eyes modified, just skirting the edge of Combat Prosthetics.

The fat one wasn’t dumb, intelligence probably around 5, presumably their Ripper to prevent Prosthetics lock-up.

The other two slim ones might be rookies, or vultures assisting the Ripper in surgery.

All in all, their combat ability wasn’t strong, perfect for a newbie to get some practice.

"David—your mom might be dead, and even if she isn’t now, if you screw up, she will die."

"Hey, but..."

"Since you’re here, they have no reason to keep your mom alive. So, you need to be fast once you’re in.

I’ll mark their positions for you, as soon as you enter, I’ll disrupt their prosthetic eyes and Prosthetics, and you’ll have one minute to take out these four guys.

Aim carefully, blow their brains out, otherwise, you’ll die, and then your mom will die too."

David still looked clueless, giving Lille a headache.

Despite his high potential for Prosthetics, his combat and self-awareness were excessively weak.

In this aspect, even Acido, who cried out in pain from just having two prosthetics, was much stronger than him.

"That young brother who saved you before—he sucked, but do you know what he did when he found out his mom was about to die?

He charged out from the barrage of the Six Street Gang, smashed into Valentino’s car, not even caring for his life—

Feet cracked but still pressing the gas pedal, only half of his palm left, gripping the steering wheel."

Listen, kid, if you don’t have this determination now, your mom’s death will only be the first tragedy you face. Even if she doesn’t die today, she could tomorrow.

In short, as long as you remain like this, neither of you will live long."

David’s mind was still blank.

He was just a kid who had been protected far too well—even he felt that way.

He was a poor man who appeared in an aristocratic academy, a poor man who felt he couldn’t escape his cage for life.

Lille glanced at the gun in David’s hand: "The gun is a fine name, Freedom. Countdown starts in 3 seconds, 3... 2... 1..."

Bang!

Lille kicked David in the butt, and the kid stumbled into the hospital’s entrance. A man with a facial projection mask appeared behind him—

"Hehe, looks good, hope it fetches a nice price! Uh—!"

The club in the man’s hand froze mid-air, unable to come down, his arm trembling in the air!

David’s eyes widened, staring at the stick hovering less than 10cm in front of him—

His hand suddenly sprang into action, a scene preloaded in the Kuai Arm 400 chip. He deflected the stick like a kung fu master before smashing a heavy punch into the opponent’s face.

The punch was powerful, and due to the faulty prosthetics, the ambushing Scavenger was knocked out on the spot.

"Hey— is it done?" Another Scavenger’s voice came from upstairs.

David looked up just in time to see a figure with a projection mask appear at the railing—

The Kuai Arm 400 couldn’t be triggered automatically now.

"Damn...ugh!"

The Scavenger suddenly froze, his body convulsing. David raised his gun instinctively, pulling the trigger without aiming!

Bang!

The bullet shattered the Scavenger’s face, but also alerted two other Scavengers.

"Fuck! Shooting even when tying up a minor? Are you all high on Super Dream or what... Damn!"

This Scavenger had just walked out of the operating room to see his companion’s face blown off, and, shocked, froze in his tracks.

For some reason, David also froze, as if he were lost in the sensation of shooting someone dead.

The bullet entered through the left cheek of that Scavenger, and then exited, revealing a large chunk of mangled flesh.

Will he die?

The last Scavenger emerged from the door, trembling on the spot and failing to take down David.

Outside, Lille sighed— this kid had talent, sure.

But it was all physical talent.

Perhaps this was God’s way of opening a window for him but closing a door; David was just the type who would struggle to evolve without sacrificing two people close to him.

The prosthetic malfunction of the Scavengers lasted about 10 seconds, which was more than enough for old hands like Lille to disassemble them into parts.

Yet, David did not shoot again. He swallowed hard and dashed up the stairs, heading straight for the clinic entrance.

By the time he reached those two Scavengers, they were both beginning to regain movement, and that’s when he raised his gun!

"Even hired a hacker... Motherfucker, you’re such trash, not even a hacker can help you!"

The Scavenger drew his gun, too, but at this distance, the Kuai Arm chip was just within range. David landed another heavy punch!

This bizarre fight left the last Scavenger baffled, but he was smart—dazed by the fighting, but sure that the target was the woman.

He dove headfirst into the operating room like a dog eating shit, then drew his gun and pointed it at Gloria’s head—

Gloria’s anesthesia was only effective until now, and being jolted, she woke up dazed.

She awoke to a gun pressed against her head.

"Mom!"

David shouted anxiously.

"David...?!"

"Let go of my mom!"

"Heh... you’re a badass kid, hiring a hacker and all. Arasaka Academy sure is something else—too bad, if I were that hacker, I’d be pissed to death.

You can’t even shoot straight. You might as well be dead—idiot!"

With a tirade of obscenities unleashed,

David felt a sudden pain on his neck—

It turns out the doctor had been hiding there all along—terrified, but it didn’t prevent him from springing out to inject David with an anesthetic at the critical moment.

The Scavenger sighed in relief: "Fuck... finally done—hacker buddy? Can we talk?"

That was the last thing David heard before he lost consciousness.

.....

Lille walked in helplessly—this David was no ordinary troubled youth.

He didn’t fit in at Arasaka Academy, nor did he fit in with the street life.

Lille kicked at David, who was out cold on the ground: "How much of the anesthetic did you give him?"

"Just a little, otherwise it affects the quality of the organ donor—bro, let’s skip the bullshit, this kid killed one of my brothers..."

"That’s sad, but a few more of your brothers are going to die."

The last Scavenger was stupefied for a moment, then his head exploded with electric sparks. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"I don’t even know why you had the guts to speak to me."

Lille watched the Scavenger, half-kneeling on the ground, along with his brothers lying there, then took out Yinglong and finished off the last of them.

After doing all this, he turned to look at the trembling doctor: "What’s your name?"

"I—"

"Forget it."

Lille’s eyes flickered with data, the doctor’s head jerked, sparks flew, and he collapsed to the ground, twitching nonstop.

This place wasn’t far from Evil Land; he’d find someone later to replace the doctor’s information.