Mother and child

"An underground clinic?"

Jackie looked at the yellowed medical sign in front of him. He hadn't expected an underground clinic to be hidden here. More importantly, someone actually dared to come here for treatment; they must really be tired of living.

"Hey, kid, who are you sitting here waiting for?"

Jackie's gaze shifted to the seat at the entrance of the clinic.

A young lad with a mohawk, wearing a tattered school uniform and a face full of bruises, slowly raised his head. His dazed eyes seemed to be asking:

Are you talking to me?

"Is there anyone else here?"

Jackie noticed the Arasaka emblem on the boy's chest. His brow furrowed, and he became even more puzzled.

"You're a young master from Arasaka Academy. How desperate are you to dare come to a place like this?"

"I'm not... forget it, it's none of your business."

David instinctively wanted to explain, but he really wasn't in the mood to deal with Jackie right now. His mother was still inside being resuscitated.

"That's not necessarily true."

Jackie sat down next to David, his burly frame immediately crowding the somewhat thin and weak boy to the side.

Already irritable, David flared up for a moment, but after glancing at the cyberware on Jackie's body, he silently endured it.

"What kind of hospital do you think this is?"

Jackie handed his unfinished drink to David, his tone laced with a hint of mockery.

"What do you mean?"

David's heart suddenly skipped a beat, giving him a bad premonition.

"This is a Scavengers' slaughterhouse. That medical company, R.E.O., has been rotten to the core for a long time."

The R.E.O. company Jackie mentioned was actually where David's mother worked, specializing in providing medical services for the poor.

Years ago, the company's business was still decent. However, with the establishment of the Trauma Team seizing a large portion of their business, the company fell into decline.

Just as Jackie said, they even began collaborating with the Scavengers.

"Then my mother?!"

David stood up abruptly, his expression filled with panic.

Just then, a burst of gunfire suddenly rang out inside the clinic.

The previously tightly closed emergency doors were kicked open.

A medical staff member wearing a transparent scarf and baring his upper body rushed out, his face filled with sheer terror.

However, his expression froze in the next second.

Jackie's La Chingona was already aimed at the man's forehead. The gunshot boomed, making David jump in fright.

But he had no mind to fear what was happening before him; his head was filled with thoughts of his mother's safety. In a flash, he rushed into the emergency room.

Jackie was a bit surprised and instinctively reached out to grab him, but only managed to pull off a piece of the tattered Arasaka uniform. By the time he looked up, David had already charged into the emergency room.

"Damn, this kid runs pretty fast."

Seeing this, Jackie couldn't help but lightly tap his own head with the butt of his gun, looking a bit troubled.

He wasn't worried that David would cause trouble; he was worried that Chen Nuo inside might accidentally gun David down out of habit.

As a street veteran, Jackie could naturally see the naivety in David; he was like a child who hadn't grown up yet. There was no way he was involved with this black clinic.

But Jackie couldn't easily follow him in. He needed to block the door to ensure no one escaped, so he could only wish David luck.

Inside the emergency room, David didn't dare move or even breathe. The tight sensation around his neck made him taste the threat of death profoundly.

This was a Monowire that hadn't even been preheated yet, but even so, it could easily slice through David's artery.

If Chen Nuo hadn't suddenly called out to Lucy, David's throat would have been slit by now.

"Let him go. This guy clearly isn't part of the contract."

Chen Nuo waved his hand and said. Only then did Lucy retract the Monowire and return to his side.

David's gaze lingered on Lucy for a second, his heart filled only with the relief of a narrow escape. He was absolutely certain that she had really intended to kill him just now.

The aftertaste of fear still lingered in David's heart, but he could only force himself to look at Chen Nuo with feigned composure, raising his voice to mask his internal helplessness and fear.

"I'm here to find my mom..."

"Your mom?"

Chen Nuo interrupted David, pointing his finger at the female corpse on the operating table that had been torn to pieces, and continued.

"Are you referring to this one?"

"Mom?!"

Looking at the bloody, mangled scene, David's vision went dark, and he nearly fainted. He scrambled and crawled to the side of the operating table.

When he saw a strange face, a trace of color finally returned to his pale face.

Thank goodness, it wasn't his mother.

"Not her? Then why don't you go look over there."

Chen Nuo pointed to the pile of scattered body parts in the corner.

Hearing this, David suppressed his nausea and dived into the pile of corpses, turning over body after body with trembling hands. His fear and tension were so intense it felt like his heart was about to be squeezed out of his throat.

After a while, David knelt on the ground, his expression somewhat lost.

He didn't find his mother. He had clearly seen her being pushed into the operating room with his own eyes; how could she be gone?

But now all the medical staff were lying on the floor. Who was he supposed to ask?

David unconsciously looked up at Chen Nuo.

"Alright, alright, don't look at me with those eyes. If you were a girl, it would be one thing, but I'm not into guys."

As Chen Nuo spoke, he gave Lucy a look. She understood immediately and began hacking into the network to review the footage. She confirmed that the only female admitted recently was currently in the morgue.

The doctors here hadn't intended to save her at all. They had simply dumped her in the morgue, not even bothering to harvest her while she was still warm.

After all, David's mother didn't have any valuable cyberware on her; she was even less valuable than the Sex Dolls lying around here.

Furthermore, you couldn't expect a poor person living in the Santo Domingo district to have healthy organs. The pollution in that area was quite severe, having permeated almost every inch of the soil.

Rich people could easily choose cloned organs or high-end cyberware. Who would be so desperate as to swap in a poor person's organs?

Poor people also rarely chose such an inefficient method.

After learning the situation from Lucy, David rushed to the underground morgue. This time, he indeed found his mother.

Fortunately, Gloria was still alive; unfortunately, she wasn't far from death.

David held Gloria, wanting to run out to seek help, but he was called back by Chen Nuo just as he stepped out of the operating room.

"Use your brain. If you had the ability to save your mother, she wouldn't have been sent here."

David's body stiffened. Knowing Chen Nuo was right, he retreated and knelt before Chen Nuo while holding his mother.

"What are you kneeling here for? Put your mother on the operating table."

Chen Nuo was somewhat speechless. He hadn't expected to run into this plotline while he was just here for a contract from Wakako to clear out this Scavenger hideout.

Speaking of which, it was also a revenge contract for someone else.

When it came to cleaning out Scavengers, Chen Nuo had a stellar reputation; he left no one alive.

David struggled a bit to get his mother onto the operating table, then stared straight at Chen Nuo, waiting for his next instruction.

Chen Nuo scanned Gloria's condition with his Cybernetic Eye.

The injuries on her body weren't actually fatal, otherwise she couldn't have held on until now. But this was the final straw that broke the camel's back; her body had long since been overburdened.

"You don't look much like your mother. She's much better looking than you."

This was the honest truth.

Gloria's looks couldn't compare to Lucy's, but she had a certain matronly charm that the latter lacked.

"..."

David was silent, not knowing what to say. His mother's life was in Chen Nuo's hands; he couldn't beg fast enough.

Chen Nuo ended the topic, not because of David's silence, but because of Lucy's stare from beside him.

"Get out."

Chen Nuo reached out to take off Gloria's jacket, threw it to David, and urged him.

"...Can't I stay here? I can help."

David bit his lip. He didn't dare let his mother out of his sight now.

"How the hell could you help? Get the hell out of here."

Chen Nuo's gaze was indifferent, his tone a bit rude. He was about to cut Gloria open; he wasn't in the mood to listen to David's chatter in his ear.

"...I understand."

David took one last look at Gloria before walking out of the operating room. Outside, Jackie breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him walk out alive.

"Take these surgical instruments and disinfect them."

Chen Nuo said to Lucy, while simultaneously injecting Gloria with a shot of MaxDoc Mk.3 to stabilize her condition.

The surgery was a success. Chen Nuo's first-aid knowledge hadn't been learned in vain.

But if Gloria wanted to recover, she would need a long time to recuperate. Her organs were already showing signs of failure due to the environment and exhaustion. It would be best to replace some parts with cyberware.

Otherwise, even if she survived today, she wouldn't live much longer.

"...Who are you?"

Gloria regained some consciousness and struggled to open her eyes. Seeing Chen Nuo's blurred face, she asked instinctively.

"Don't move. The wound hasn't been fully stitched up yet."

Chen Nuo pressed Gloria back down as she tried to sit up.

"Where am I?"

Gloria noticed the dark surroundings and asked uneasily.

"Scavenger territory."

"..."

Gloria's heart immediately sank, and her vital signs fluctuated, nearly startling Chen Nuo. He didn't want the person he'd spent so much effort saving to be scared to death, so he quickly comforted her,

"Don't be afraid. If we really wanted to do something to you, you wouldn't be able to resist anyway."

"..."

Gloria felt somewhat comforted. Truly, her body visibly relaxed quite a bit.

"Kid outside, come in."

Chen Nuo shouted toward the door. As soon as he finished, David rushed in impatiently. Seeing the conscious Gloria, he was about to throw himself into her arms, but was caught by Chen Nuo by the collar.

"Do you want her to die? I worked hard to save her!"

"Sorry..."

David's head cleared, realizing his behavior just now was impulsive and reckless.

Seeing David, Gloria finally felt at ease. Using her remaining strength, she stroked her son's head, soothing the fear and helplessness in his heart.

"Alright, I'm fine now. Hurry and thank this gentleman."

"...Thank you so much."

David suppressed the urge to cry and spoke to Chen Nuo with a choked voice.

"Since I'm saving someone, I'll see it through. Jackie, take this mother and son back."

Chen Nuo said to Jackie outside. He knew the guy had been lurking by the door eavesdropping.

"Small thing."

Just as David was about to push the gurney out, he was called back by Gloria.

"Wait, I still don't know your name."

"He's BT."

Jackie spoke up for him, then was glared at by Chen Nuo.

"The famous BT."

David looked bewildered, but Gloria had a look of surprise; she had clearly heard of this name before.

She had dealt with Edgerunners quite often.

How could Gloria afford David's tuition on her ordinary medical job alone? It was by selling cyberware.

This was actually a hidden benefit of the R.E.O. company.

Since they could no longer pay salaries, they practically gave tacit approval for medical staff to make some extra money from patients.

Gloria still had some standards; at least she wouldn't actively help patients die early.

"Alright, go on. See you if there's a chance."

Chen Nuo waved his hand and said to Jackie. He then got into the car they arrived in with Lucy, where Falco had been waiting for a long time.

Jackie went downstairs, found the underground clinic's ambulance, and pushed Gloria onto it.

"David, where's my jacket?"

Gloria seemed to remember something and suddenly asked.

"It's here."

David handed the jacket he was holding to his mother. Gloria held it close, and feeling that the items in the lining were still there, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

If this thing was lost, then living wouldn't be much different from being dead.

This was the confidence for her son to go back to school and for their future life.

Gloria estimated she wouldn't be able to continue her medical job; how to make a living next made her a bit troubled.

However, Gloria soon couldn't think anymore. The exhaustion and pain of her body made her fall back into a deep sleep.

David brought Jackie to his front door.

At this moment, he was extremely grateful to have Jackie's company. Without this tough-looking Edgerunner escorting them, who knew what the people around would do to them.

However, the boy's expression of relief froze in the next second.

(NO ENTRY!)

The red warning projection in front of the apartment door was exceptionally eye-catching.

A sudden car accident had disrupted the mother and son's originally normal life. The lower-class citizens of Night City had almost no ability to resist risks.

Just as David was at a loss, Jackie paid three months' rent for him.

It wasn't much, just over three thousand Eurodollars.

"Consider it a loan; remember to pay me back."

Jackie gave David's back a push and urged him.

"Hurry up and open the door."

"I'll remember. Thank you."

David felt a surge of gratitude and opened the door to lead Jackie inside.

After settling Gloria, Jackie didn't intend to stay long. He simply left David a contact method and departed.