Chapter 147: Chapter 142: The Train Home, An Attack on Lin Qi

Doctor Lin replied quickly. Lin Qi figured he was probably either cutting out kidneys or swapping a heart right at that moment.

Doctor Lin always scheduled complex Prosthetic Body surgeries for the evening, keeping him busy late into the night.

"Coming back so soon? Did the company fire you?"

Doctor Lin wasn’t concerned about the hundred thousand Credit Points.

For the No. 1 Prosthetic Clinic, a hundred thousand Credit Points was only about a week’s worth of profit. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

As the most popular underground clinic in the outskirts of Red Fruit City, the No. 1 Prosthetic Clinic’s annual profits exceeded four million Credit Points.

Normally, an underground Prosthetic Clinic that grew to this scale would inevitably be shut down by the corporations. The No. 1 Prosthetic Clinic, however, remained untouched, and had instead become a unique, trusted name.

"It’s complicated and involves company secrets, but the gist is that the company has decided to pull everyone out of Greenfield City."

Lin Qi didn’t explain too much to Doctor Lin. It was best for ordinary people not to pry into corporate affairs.

Inside the Prosthetic Clinic, Doctor Lin mulled over Lin Qi’s words as he removed a pair of kidneys from a client and placed them in a cryogenic case marked "For Liu’s Heavy Industries Cargo Only."

He found a set of filtration-type organ prosthetics on the parts table and placed them where the kidneys had been.

While stitching up the client, he replied to Lin Qi: "The strategic alliance between the Si and Liu Families has fallen apart? That’s actually good news. The price for this batch of materials I have on hand should go up quite a bit on the Greenfield City black market."

Doctor Lin’s gaze fell on the cryogenic cases in the clinic. This was the "cargo" he was talking about.

Lin Qi knew exactly what Doctor Lin’s "cargo" was: parts harvested from ambitious street punks who’d taken Potions.

The company had always been collecting them, but Lin Qi hadn’t known the true purpose of these parts until he’d gained clearance as an A-Class Pharmaceutical Researcher.

Only now could he see the full picture: the company bought them cheap, processed them into Extraordinary Materials, sold them at a high markup, and then turned them into Potions, which were ultimately consumed by those same ambitious punks.

’But how did the old man figure that out?’ The collapse of the Si-Liu Alliance wasn’t a hard conclusion to reach, especially with the Liu Clan’s full-scale withdrawal. ’But a price hike for materials?’

’The old man actually knows something about Pharmacy, too?’ Lin Qi had always thought he was just a second-rate Prosthetic Doctor.

"How do you know the materials will go up in price?" Lin Qi asked.

Doctor Lin didn’t answer directly. "Once you get fired and take over the Prosthetic Clinic for a few years, you’ll understand. People on the bottom rungs have their own information channels."

’Great. The old man has taken up riddles.’

Lin Qi sent one last message: "Remember to transfer me the hundred thousand Credit Points. I need it urgently."

He shut down the projection from the electrode behind his ear.

The very next message Lin Qi received was a transfer notification.

One hundred thousand Credit Points, on the dot. Doctor Lin never shortchanged his own kid.

The money’s origin was clean, so Lin Qi could use it to pay off his debt without any worries.

He transferred it directly to Brother Green Hair with a note: "Been swamped at work and a bit forgetful. The hundred thousand Credit Points have been repaid. Let’s keep in touch when I get back to Red Fruit City."

In the next room, Brother Green Hair felt a pang of guilt as he confirmed the transfer.

He opened his personal memo pad again.

[Lin Qi (a good guy)]

He deleted the numbers jotted down after the name and changed the note in the parentheses.

After witnessing this, Lin Qi withdrew his Spiritual Vision and lay down on his bed to rest.

The moment his eyes closed, Lin Qi fell into a deep sleep.

This was the most peaceful sleep Lin Qi had gotten since arriving in Greenfield City.

There was no immediate danger, and when he woke up, he would be boarding the train home.

...

Lin Qi felt like he hadn’t been asleep for long when his alarm woke him.

It was already five o’clock.

The boarding station for the Red and Green Train was near the Si’s Twin Towers, and it would take Lin Qi about an hour to get there on the public rail system.

As Lin Qi stepped out of his room, Brother Green Hair happened to be opening his own door.

"My protection detail lasts until you board the train. Shall we head out together?"

On this final day, Brother Green Hair was no longer hiding, appearing openly at Lin Qi’s side.

"Sure," Lin Qi readily agreed.

The two of them went to the public transit platform together.

While they waited, Brother Green Hair suddenly mused, "Researcher Lin, I’ve always been curious about something. How did you always see through my disguises? The last few times, I felt my cover was straight out of the bodyguard’s handbook, but you spotted me every time."

’How did I spot him? With Spiritual Vision, of course.’

Lin Qi considered his words before answering. "I watched the reactions of the people around us. I always found you in the outskirts of Greenfield City, and the people there are very perceptive. The quality of your Prosthetic Body is clearly superior to the average person’s, so you drew stares. I just had to circle the area a few times to pinpoint your location."

Lin Qi’s reasoning was sound; it was also a genuine observation he’d made earlier using his Spiritual Vision.

It dawned on Brother Green Hair. "I see."

’As expected of a researcher the company is grooming for big things. His powers of observation and intellect are on another level.’

With that mystery solved, Brother Green Hair started making small talk with Lin Qi.

A little after six, the two arrived at the very heart of Greenfield City, next to the Si Mansion—the sole remaining tower of what was once the Twin Towers.

The tracks for the Red and Green were not concealed; they ran no more than five hundred meters away from the public rails.

The true strategic value of the Red and Green Train lay in the train itself.

It was a strategic-class steel behemoth, built by the Liu Clan at great expense. The Si Clan’s Iron Curtain, cobbled together from Modi Group products, couldn’t even begin to compare.