Chapter 25
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Chapter 25: Need More Money
"Old Liu, you know, things have been looking bad lately…"
"Dr. Bard, I’ve never begged anyone in my life. Consider this my plea, just sell it to me this once…"
In the dimly lit corridor of the residential building, a balding man earnestly bowed and scraped to a figure hidden in the shadows behind a layer of security mesh, completely ignoring the two Young Men beside him, who were holding homemade guns and laughing at his embarrassing behavior.
The man in the shadows paused, realizing that the other party seemed to misunderstand his intent. He interrupted the man’s pleas with a light cough:
"Old Liu, I’m not saying I won’t sell to you, but things have gotten tense lately…"
"Need more money!"
Hearing this, the balding man fell into a brief silence. He placed the information coins he had prepared into the bi-directional drawer below the security mesh and looked hopefully at the man in the shadows, only to be met with a disdainful shake of the head.
"Old Liu, many doctors have died recently. If it weren’t for you being a long-time customer, I would have definitely hidden away…"
The man in the shadows said.
Of course, this was pure nonsense. The black market doctor named Bard would never put himself in danger for a broke regular, but rather, he stayed because the recent business was quite good.
Seeing this situation, the man started to search his pockets frantically.
He rummaged through his jacket to his pants, from his dirty outer coat to the small handmade pockets inside, but he ultimately came up empty, falling into silence.
Grinding his teeth, he glanced at his ring finger, where a golden ring, almost embedded in his skin, glittered.
He yanked the ring off his finger and tossed it into the drawer with a crisp crash sound, as if he had been drained of his last ounce of strength, slumping back against the wall beside him.
"Scrape."
The metal drawer was pulled into the wall with a scraping sound, and the man in the shadows disdainfully pinched the slightly dirty ring, using a small pair of pliers to examine the fracture’s color closely.
"Scrape."
The metal drawer was pushed out again, and the man quickly stood to look inside, only to see a package of white powder quietly lying within a plastic bag.
He trembled as he grabbed the item and left the door at the end of the corridor, ignoring the derisive laughter and contempt from the two guards.
His footsteps quickened; he was eager to return home and enjoy it, but unexpectedly, he turned a corner and bumped into a man with hoods.
Although he had been walking quickly and not watching where he was going, he still showed a fierce expression, cursed under his breath, and continued downstairs.
The man with hoods completely ignored his threat. Only after the man turned another corner did he spread out his palm, looking at the powder lying quietly in his hand and chuckling.
For someone as delirious as this guy, a mere beckoning gesture would easily secure what he wanted.
He turned the corner and walked straight toward the two guards at the end of the corridor.
"Stop! What do you want?"
One Young Man raised his gun alertly, as if ready to fire if the man took another step forward.
"Here to sell something."
Came a slightly youthful voice.
"Sell what?"
"Of course, selling something fresh… good stuff."
Upon hearing this, the Young Man lowered his gun. "Fresh" was some kind of code; after all, there weren’t many varieties of fresh goods that could be sold on the black market. If he accidentally fired and spoiled his own wages, he would be deducted.
At that moment, the man on the other side of the security door felt a quiet joy at the prospect of business. He had heard that many black market doctors had recently been killed by an assassin, and some of his own students had not escaped this fate. Thus, with such little competition, he could naturally lower his prices.
However, as the hooded man drew closer, Bard’s smirk slowly faded. This person… was odd.
He seemed too calm!
As a veteran doctor who had immersed himself in this line of work for more than thirty years, Bard had dealt with at least two thousand clients, and he knew all too well how people walk when they are about to face fear. Most of them put on a false front of calm, but with careful observation, you could feel their bodies trembling. They couldn’t even walk a straight line, resembling a line of drunken men.
But this man was too composed, so composed that Bard’s sixth sense screamed that something was clearly wrong.
Suddenly, a seemingly absurd yet entirely possible thought crossed Bard’s mind—could it be that the doctor killer had come?
With this thought, Bard’s face quickly turned pale, and he shouted loudly, "Shoot! Shoot!"
What a joke! He had no time to worry about whether the goods would be damaged! Bard was perfectly aware of the urgency of the situation.
"Thud! Thud!"
In response, Bard heard two strange muffled sounds, as the two young men at the door seemed completely oblivious to his command.
Bard looked at the two and saw their bodies trembling slightly before they collapsed to the ground, clutching their chests in a struggle.
Meanwhile, the hooded figure had reached the security door.
As the two young men fell to the ground begrudgingly, the hooded person pressed their entire face against the security mesh above the metal drawer. The dim light flickered, and pale-faced Bard saw a smiling white mask staring back at him from less than a meter away on the security mesh.
The man in the black mask spoke gently, "Excuse me, are you Mr. Bard?"
"I, I’m not—"
Bard struggled one last time, weakly attempting to argue while trying to escape into the further inner room.
"Don’t move. Moving means death."
The voice of the man in the black mask suddenly turned icy.
It is well known that elderly men are always very sensitive to cold. At over fifty years old, Bard couldn’t withstand the unexpected chill, and his body immediately froze in place, caught between fleeing and staying.
"Dr. Bard, do you know Dr. Li and Dr. Valk? They are both renowned doctors in the eastern part of the outer city."
The voice asked calmly and unhurriedly.
Bard nodded.
How could he not know them? These two were his prized students; after learning the complete set of techniques from him, they had sensibly ventured a few blocks away to expand their business, even bringing him fresh goods during festive seasons. They were the embodiment of high emotional intelligence.
However, the way the other party opened the conversation made Bard feel a twinge of unease.
