4: Why don't you come with me?

The Bystander Bar, one of the few entertainment spots in this settlement.

At that moment, Xi Hai and Xu Chang were seated at a wobbly table in the corner.

Two cups of murky liquid sat on the table, bubbling with an eerie foam and emitting a pungent chemical smell.

It was a cheap brew made from fermented expired energy bars, jokingly called

industrial piss

by the slum dwellers.

"So you're saying it was you who broke into my shack today?"

Xi Hai picked up the tin-can mug, took a sip of the dark brown liquid inside, then immediately frowned and spat it out.

It tasted sour and rancid.

He glanced at Xu Chang sitting across from him.

This guy wasn't picky at all, judging by how he had been downing cup after cup with gusto.

This was Xi Hai's first time in a place like this, but now it seemed rather unremarkable.

A bartender behind the counter, a few rickety makeshift tables—

no mercenaries, gangs, or assassins like in the novels from his past life, just a few junk collectors huddled together, bragging about what they'd scavenged.

He stared directly into Xu Chang's eyes, waiting for an answer.

"Yes, just as I said earlier. It was urgent. I had no choice."

The story was simple.

That morning, the ancient, third-hand (or worse) generator Xu Chang had scavenged finally gave out.

With his sister's life-support device on the verge of shutting down, he had no choice but to "borrow" a power source from a neighbor.

And as luck would have it, Xi Hai's rundown shack had a battery.

"I left an electronic component at your place. If sold through underground channels, it should fetch enough to buy a solid-state hydrogen battery with around 70% health."

"I was already looking for a buyer."

"As for breaking your door... I'm truly sorry."

Xu Chang's voice was soft but clear, filled with remorse and sincerity.

Seeing Xu Chang's attitude, Xi Hai, who wasn't really angry to begin with, had even less reason to hold a grudge.

Look at this guy—proper compensation offered, emotional sincerity delivered.

Seeing Xu Chang looking like he was ready to "accept any consequence," Xi Hai nodded.

At least he was better than certain humanoid creatures who'd say things like "I already apologized, what more do you want?"

"Ahem, let's not dwell on that. How is your sister, Xu Ling, doing now?"

Clearing his throat, Xi Hai tried to change the subject.

As for the battery matter, he'd let it slide.

"She's stable for now, but the situation is still far from optimistic."

The moment his sister was mentioned, a wave of despondency seemed to emanate from Xu Chang.

"This godforsaken place has no doctors. Her illness can only be left to drag on. Who knows... sigh..."

"The secondhandsimple life-support device I bought the other day is already way past its service life, full of malfunctions."

"Watching her suffer in bed day after day, while I... I'm powerless to do anything."

Watching Xu Chang's troubled expression, Xi Hai quietly asked night lamp in his mind,

"night lamp?"

"Present."

"Among those three FG300s, is there anything like a medical bay or something?"

Aside from the battery incident, the siblings had helped him a lot.

Teaching him how to build a shack, telling him which types of sheeting provided insulation, helping him find buyers for recyclables... and so on.

Putting everything else aside, even the simplest thing—they knew he had no personal terminal, yet they didn't report him to claim the 100 credit points reward.

Earlier, when he first arrived, Xu Chang's sister didn't seem to have any major issues—at least not visibly.

It was only this week that he started seeing only Xu Chang moving around every day.

That frail little girl had left a fairly deep impression on him. Xi Hai hoped to save her if possible.

"Yes, Pathfinder, there is."

"Your Warship's medical bay is equipped with a specialized nano-medical pod. TheBionics nanobots can rapidly break down and fuse, generating new tissue to replace necrotic old tissue."

"Simply put, as long as they're not dead, they can be saved."

"Such an impressive medical pod—each FG300 is equipped with six of them."

"So, she can be saved."

"Yes."

Ending the conversation with night lamp, Xi Hai turned his gaze to Xu Chang and said softly,

"I might have a way to help your sister's condition."

Xu Chang, still lost in his gloom, snapped awake instantly.

"What? You have a way?"

Xu Chang's eyes began to burn with intensity.

His sister's illness had been tormenting him for nearly a week.

He stood up abruptly, downed the liquid in his cup, thumped his chest, and declared,

"I've never begged anyone in my life,"

"If you can just alleviate my sister's condition a bit—not even cure it—"

"I'll do my utmost to help you with one thing;"

"If you can cure her,"

"I'll follow you for the rest of my life!"

"My life is yours!"

Watching Xu Chang suddenly become so fervent, Xi Hai let out a soft chuckle. He reached out, placed a hand on Xu Chang's shoulder, and slowly guided him back into his seat.

"Hey, no need to get so worked up."

"We've gotten along pretty well these three months since I came here."

"I can tell you're a good person."

"I've received plenty of help from you and your sister during these three months."

"For your sister, I have a method. It might not work,"

"but it's definitely better than just waiting here helplessly."

As he spoke, a prompt suddenly sounded from night lamp in his mind:

"fleet has reached the designated position."

It seemed the Warship coming to pick him up had arrived.

Living in the slums for the first three months after crossing over—ha, that would be considered utterly outrageous even in the wider transmigration community.

But thankfully, no matter what, the hard days were finally coming to an end today!

Xi Hai stood up from the peeling-paint chair, dusted off the dirt from his pants, and extended a hand toward Xu Chang, saying:

"So, what do you say? Will you come with me?"

Looking at the hand extended before him, Xu Chang thought of his sister still suffering from her illness, then recalled Xi Hai's character.

An opportunity was being presented right before his eyes. Whether he could seize it was up to him.

So, with a "smack!"—

Xu Chang firmly grasped Xi Hai's offered hand, as if taking an oath,

"Alright! I trust you! Let's go!"

"If this works out, I'm following you from now on!"