The two dissected bodies on the third floor, everything speaks for itself.
But no matter what, when it came to fronting the medical expenses, all the players agreed.
Then, when gathering money, to everyone’s surprise, Water Moon Cave Heaven, who had been pessimistic before, was the one who contributed the most, directly putting in three thousand.
"What?" Water Moon Cave Heaven retorted to the crowd’s strange looks.
"These are two separate matters. I don’t think they can pay it back, but I also think if these two women die because of insufficient surgery fees, you all would damn me for a lifetime."
Such a big person but still so tsundere.
Players coming out of the police station did not say much after hearing this, they all pooled their money quickly. Wildman and others even took the initiative to buy proper prosthetics from the office and sent them to the hospital for surgery.
When elder sister Nina woke up, it was almost midnight. She opened her eyes in terror, looking at the unfamiliar ceiling, struggling to get up, only to find her limbs in casts, completely immobile.
The last memory was of the Tiger Claw gang returning.
Where have I been taken?
The Tiger Claw’s basement?
Am I about to be turned into a sex doll?
Boundless fear climbed into her heart. She wanted to struggle to get up, but soon realized her limbs were powerless, seemingly still under the influence of anesthesia, and her struggling noises quickly drew someone’s attention.
A figure sat by the window, the light outside projecting a human-shaped shadow.
"You’re awake? Seems the surgery was successful."
The light was dim, and she could barely make out the person’s shape with the help of the light outside the window.
Nina’s first reaction was that the person was from the Tiger Claw gang.
But she dismissed this thought the next second.
The aura was different.
The unruly and arrogant air of the Neon Gang, seen everywhere, was missing here.
The person in front had a gentle tone.
Moreover, the surrounding environment clearly wasn’t a basement: quiet, clean, and with the smell of disinfectant, it seemed more like... a hospital.
She was so scared, trembling, trying hard to hide her body under the blanket, pretended to be still unconscious, but it was obvious she couldn’t pretend anymore.
"Who... who are you?"
Her voice trembling with fear.
The person stood up and walked to the door, turning on the light. The sudden brightness made Nina’s eyes unable to bear it, and she quickly closed her eyes, taking quite a while to adjust.
She slightly opened her eyelids, only to find the person now carrying a chair and sitting beside her bed.
She hadn’t noticed in the dim light earlier but now realized her sister was also in the hospital ward with her.
Her gaze returned to the person; dressed in a suit and tie, tall, wearing sunglasses at night, looking down at Nina with a hint of impatience on the face, looking exactly like... a corporate drone.
Lin Miao sat beside the hospital bed, pulling out a pen from his chest and casually picking up a notebook from the table.
"Now that you’re awake, let’s settle this debt properly, Nina Christina."
His face was stern, and his eyes behind the sunglasses cold as he spoke while writing.
"My mercenaries risked their lives to rescue you and your sister from the Tiger Claw hands, seven were severely injured, and the rest were bruised. I had to spend heavily to keep them alive."
"And as a result of helping you, I’ve offended the Tiger Claw and got detained by NCPD. Those folks could retaliate anytime, now I have to spend even more to bail them out and send them out of the city for safety, including those just out of surgery."
"And your and your sister’s medical fees, six prosthetic limbs, bionic intestines, optical eyes... Seriously, if you’d died that day, it might have saved us all a lot of trouble..."
What Lin Miao said made Nina’s head spin, and a tuft of hair popped out as she moved.
It had been pressed down before.
It took her quite some time to understand what had happened.
The group... saved her and her sister... and took them to the hospital for surgery...
This man... seems to be their boss.
But he didn’t look easy to talk to.
She whispered, "Thank... thank you..."
"Thank you isn’t worth much."
Lin Miao tore a page from the notebook and placed it in front of Nina, who struggled to see the writing but was blinded by the balance figure.
One hundred and thirty-seven thousand Eurodollars.
Including medical fees for seventeen players, surgery fees, lost wages, mental damage compensation, prosthetic fees, nutrition fees, bail fees, insurance value-added fees...
Reading through it all, Nina wished she could faint and remember nothing.
This amount was not particularly exaggerated for Night City’s standards, where most corporate drones carried a fifteen to fifty thousand debt needing work to pay off.
But for an ordinary person, it was astronomical, an unpayable debt in a lifetime, even more so for two sisters without jobs.
Almost overwhelmed with despair, Nina bit her lip tightly, her face even paler than when she was wheeled into the operating room; the tuft of hair stuck out straight like an antenna.
But Lin Miao had no mercy, coldly saying,
"How do you plan to pay back this debt?"
If she had the means to repay such a huge debt, she wouldn’t have been dragging her sister to find work on the streets.
Though Nina wanted to say she’d work herself to death with her sister to repay the debt, Night City didn’t recognize that.
Because people who said such things often didn’t live to see tomorrow.
Seeing her hesitant attitude, Lin Miao became increasingly impatient,
"Just because of you two, I’ve offended the Tiger Claw. If you can’t pay up, maybe I should just send you and your sister to the Cloud顶 as compensation to the Tiger Claw."
As he spoke, Lin Miao stood as if to leave.
At this moment, someone tugged at the corner of his coat. Turning to look, it was Nia. Her sister had also woken up without him realizing.
Due to her physical frailty, she was even weaker than Nina. Her thin prosthetic arm seemed like a grass stalk, fragile and easily snapped, yet she struggled with all her might, her voice a bit stronger than her sister, but still fragile in such a situation,
"Please... please don’t do that, sir... My sister and I will find a way to repay the debt. We can... borrow from our father’s friends... try drug testing... we will find a way... we will repay you..."
"Please have mercy, don’t sell us to the Tiger Claw... we don’t want to die, we really don’t... we would rather do anything else, just not become sex dolls or shoot Black Mewtwo films..."
As she spoke, Nia’s tears rolled from her eyes, seeing this, Nina also started to cry.
For ordinary people without the ability to withstand such risks, a small wave might destroy them permanently.
Lin Miao hadn’t spoken yet when someone couldn’t hold back.
Lucy leaned against the door; she’d been listening outside the room and couldn’t bear it any longer, wondering how the guy inside could be so cruel.
Lin Miao replied stiffly.
"She doesn’t owe you money, what’s there to comment on?"
Lucy ignored him, unable to play the stern role while embroiling herself in it.
Besides, they had agreed days ago that this area was under her jurisdiction, meaning who got recruited was up to her... at least in appearance.
Those players had shamelessly pestered Lin Miao, sweet-talking him to agree, nearly hugging his legs calling him daddy.
Lucy walked between the two hospital beds, pulling out two pre-prepared paper contracts and handed them to the weeping sisters.
"Listen, given those mercenaries pleaded for you two, I’m willing to give you a chance."
Lin Miao chimed along,
"Sign it, this will be your future fate."
(What’s the cost of double updates then? Goudan.)