Chapter 16: Such a Place—Is There Even a Slum?

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Lian Fei followed the medical staff into a hospital specially set up in the black market. She waited outside the examination room, her heart filled with unease.

Ten minutes later, two men and two women hurried over.

"Is Ling... K inside?" The boy with dazzling, exaggerated red hair who led the group asked anxiously.

Lian Fei: ...

She heard it—K’s real name was Ling.

Lian Fei nodded helplessly.

These few hadn’t bothered to hide anything; it was clear they had rushed here in a hurry.

They must be K’s close friends.

If she guessed right, they were the ones who had been following K in DOL today.

"You are... who exactly?" A girl about 1.5 meters tall, with a doll-like face, tilted her head curiously at Lian Fei.

"What happened when K went into the passage with you?" The bespectacled boy frowned deeply, his gaze sharp and threatening as he looked at Lian Fei.

Lian Fei: "Nothing happened. He just suddenly collapsed on his own."

"Maybe his psychic energy got disturbed again." The girl with glasses pushed up her spectacles. "Dorothy, did K bring his psychic energy supplements?"

Dorothy nodded, pulling a bright green vial from her rabbit-shaped shoulder bag.

"Reporting to Officer Song Shuyu! Dorothy is carrying them!" With that, Dorothy flashed a playful salute.

Song Shuyu nodded. "Once the examination inside is done, just give K the supplements... And you—"

Pausing at the awkward name, Song Shuyu continued, "You’re quite impressive."

Lian Fei: "Thank you for the compliment. K is impressive too."

"Come on! Not just impressive." The red-haired boy interrupted indignantly. "He’s super invincible, the best in the entire galaxy!!!"

Lian Fei: ...

"You’re right," she replied.

Confirmed: K’s number one fan.

And a particularly fanatical one at that.

"Alright, Zeller, stop embarrassing yourself." The bespectacled boy held down the flailing Zeller.

Zeller clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

"Dorothy’s right, Mu Qi, you’re like a nagging mother."

"Yeah, yeah." Mu Qi rolled her eyes.

The lights in the examination room went out, and the door was pushed open. Before the doctor could fully peek in, Zeller eagerly grabbed hold of him.

"Doctor! Doctor, how’s Ling?!"

Lian Fei: ...

Alright, alright, no more pretending.

The doctor, dizzy from being shaken, still managed to finish speaking: "Preliminary examination shows no physical issues, just some psychic energy disturbances... Did he bring any special medication?"

Upon hearing this, Dorothy immediately entered the room with the vial, and Zeller released the doctor, rushing inside as well.

Lian Fei glanced at the room, then at the two still outside, hesitating.

If she didn’t go in now, it would seem rude after coming this far.

But if she did, their friends were here; she wasn’t anyone to K—why intrude?

Song Shuyu seemed to sense Lian Fei’s hesitation and said, "If you want to go in, then go in."

Lian Fei looked at Song Shuyu in surprise.

"But on one condition," Song Shuyu added, "you have to take off your mask."

Of course, K would have removed his disguise for the examination, and these people had no masks on. Compared to them, her hiding her face seemed disrespectful.

Thinking this through, Lian Fei removed her mask.

Song Shuyu raised an eyebrow and exchanged a glance with Mu Qi.

They didn’t recognize her.

A stranger.

Without a special signal from Song Shuyu, Mu Qi decided to check this person’s identity later.

"Let’s go in together," Song Shuyu said.

Lian Fei nodded and followed behind her.

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Upon entering the room, Lian Fei was stunned by the person lying on the bed.

"Truly a Persian cat," she whispered softly.

At this moment, K’s face was completely uncovered. His exquisite features paired with fiery red eyes and long silver-white hair made him look noble and proud.

It seemed his mask not only hid his face but also changed his hair color.

"What should I call you, Eight Directions Qianlai, or that one?" K asked.

Lian Fei snapped back to reality, pondering briefly before cautiously asking, "Your name is Ling, right?"

Ling raised an eyebrow and looked at Zeller.

Zeller glanced left and right but avoided looking at Ling, his guilty expression amusingly ridiculous.

"My name is Lian Fei," she quickly said.

"Alright, Lian Fei," Ling replied, "Thank you for bringing me to the hospital."

Lian Fei hurriedly waved her hand. "I... didn’t bring you here; the medical staff did."

Ling said nothing in response.

Lian Fei asked again, "How’s your body?"

Ling shrugged indifferently. "The usual problem. I forgot my psychic energy supplements, that’s why I fainted... You don’t think I hit you, do you?"

He looked at Lian Fei as if she were an idiot.

Lian Fei was silent.

Ling stared at her in disbelief and disdain. "Come on, with your amateur skills, you couldn’t hurt me even if you tried!"

Lian Fei made a sound of acknowledgment, swallowing the rebuttal she wanted to make.

Forget it; he’s already a patient, no point arguing.

However, her indifferent attitude immediately set Ling off.

"What do you mean? Fine, fine, no need to wait for next time—I’m going to beat you up now!!!" He threw back the blanket and tried to get up to hit Lian Fei.

Zeller and the others quickly stopped him.

"Ling! Calm down! You just took your medicine; don’t get excited!" Zeller held Ling’s waist.

Song Shuyu pressed on Ling’s shoulder, urging, "Exactly, Ling, don’t lose your temper. Your mech is broken and hasn’t been fixed yet... Qi! Take the mech for repairs!"

Mu Qi understood and immediately grabbed Ling’s mech.

"Ling, I’m off to fix the mech; you behave, okay?"

She quickly left the room.

Dorothy grabbed Ling’s shirt, pouting angrily. "Ling, just get some rest! Stop causing trouble!"

Lian Fei saw things weren’t looking good but didn’t know what to say.

After a moment, she finally said, "Don’t get worked up. I’m not running away. After you’ve rested, we can fight again."

Ling struggled a bit, panting heavily.

"Forget it!" Ling forcefully shook off the people holding him. He tossed his hair back, took several deep breaths, and finally restrained his temper.

He glared at Lian Fei. "Go back. No need to stay here; you’re an eyesore. If you linger, the interstellar flight will close for its annual maintenance, reopening only after ten hours."

Lian Fei was puzzled. "The interstellar flight closing has nothing to do with me."

Ling looked confused too. "What? You bought a place on this dump?"

Lian Fei suddenly realized he must have mistaken her for someone from another planet. She quickly explained, "I’m from this planet."

Then she saw four confused faces.

Ling: ?

Song Shuyu: ?

Zeller: ?

Dorothy: ?

Song Shuyu exclaimed in shock, "You’re from Gessero?"

Zeller said, "No way? Such a lousy place could produce someone as amazing as you?"

Dorothy added, "Wow, even bad bamboo produces good shoots!"

Lian Fei: ...?

What does "bad bamboo produces good shoots" mean?!

Lian Fei asked, "Which planet are you from?"

Zeller said, "We’re all from Sarenfo. We came to the Gessero black market because we..."

"Ahem!" Song Shuyu immediately interrupted with a cough.

Zeller covered his mouth, glancing nervously at his companions. Seeing their warning looks, he shrunk back and said no more.

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"In short, we’re just here on vacation," Song Shuyu said.

Lian Fei: ...

They call this place a dump, yet they say they’re on vacation.

Couldn’t they come up with a more believable lie?

But Lian Fei didn’t press further; she wasn’t interested in their reason for being here.

"Since you’re all fine now, I’ll leave first," Lian Fei said.

It was clear they needed some private time as a group.

She wasn’t tone-deaf; she promptly suggested leaving.

Ling and the others didn’t stop her. After adding their contacts to her lightbrain device, Lian Fei left the room, closing the door behind her.

Seeing that Ling and the others’ nicknames on the lightbrain weren’t their real names, Lian Fei finally understood she could modify them herself.

She pondered quietly as she walked out of the hospital.

Passing a corner, a sudden voice startled her.

"Congratulations on making new friends."

Lian Fei turned to see Lilith leaning against the wall, arms crossed, smiling at her.

Lian Fei shut down her lightbrain and replied, "They’re not friends, just acquaintances."

Lilith pouted but said nothing.

Recalling that Ling and his group said they were from Sarenfo, and that Lilith once lived there too, Lian Fei asked, "Do you know them? They said they’re from Sarenfo."

Lilith glanced at a room at the corridor’s end and nodded.

"Of course. Ling is famous—the king of Sarenfo’s slums, a rare 3S-level psychic."

"Ah?"

Slums?

Lilith ignored Lian Fei’s puzzled look and continued, "The people around him are all illegitimate children of noble families from Sarenfo or those cast out after family conflicts."

So complicated!

Lian Fei thought to herself.

"But Sarenfo actually has slums?" Lian Fei asked.

Lilith raised an eyebrow. "Where there are rich, there are naturally poor."

She paused, then added, "Calling it a slum is just a group of commoners oppressed by the nobles. Among the aristocracy, it’s a place of exile. Those expelled from noble families have their psychic powers suppressed and are dumped there."

Lian Fei watched Lilith’s mood grow heavy, scratching her cheek.

Perhaps Lilith was reminded of herself.

Although Lilith never said she was thrown into the slums, she must have endured hardships.

So Lian Fei comforted her: "Don’t be sad; it’s all in the past."

Lilith looked at Lian Fei helplessly. "You’re really bad at comforting people."

Lian Fei smiled awkwardly.

"I’m not that sad. One day, I’ll make them pay!" Lilith’s eyes shone with determination.

Lian Fei raised her fist. "Keep it up."

"With you by my side, I’ll definitely succeed!" Lilith smiled and grabbed Lian Fei’s arm.

Lian Fei: ?

Huh?

With me?

Lian Fei awkwardly smiled, pulled her arm free, and asked, "Do you know why Ling’s psychic energy is unstable?"

Lilith grabbed Lian Fei’s arm again, holding it tightly.

"Oh, that... I don’t know the details, just that his psychic energy is very unstable. Sometimes it drops to zero, sometimes it’s at A, but mostly it stays at 3S... For now, he seems to be taking a custom-made psychic energy supplement to stabilize it."

Lian Fei nodded, half understanding.

"It’s late; let’s go back to sleep," Lilith said. "There’s a class tomorrow—an explanation about Eden."

She took Lian Fei’s hand and started walking out of the hospital.

Lian Fei gave up struggling and let Lilith lead her away.