Life Dungeon Game

Zelen Street Star Hospital

The vital signs monitor beside the hospital bed beeped.

The woman lying on the hospital bed suddenly opened her eyes and then sat up abruptly.

"what!"

The nurse who came over to change her dressing was startled and knocked over the medicine bottle.

Only then did the woman realize she was in a hospital. She turned to the nurse, reached out and caught the medicine bottle that was falling from the air, and handed it back to the nurse, saying, "Sorry."

"It's alright," the nurse said, looking at her with some surprise, and began to change her dressing. "You have three broken ribs, but luckily no internal organs were damaged. Now you need to rest and recover."

The nurse's words stirred up some hazy memories in the woman's mind. She looked around and saw the metallic butterfly knife on the bedside table. More memories flooded back.

She immediately turned to look at the nurse.

"Excuse me, is the gentleman who brought me here last night... he must have been an elderly gentleman, still there?"

"Last night?"

The nurse shook her head, picked up the tablet computer next to her and glanced at it. "I wasn't on duty last night, but your medical record only has your signature; there's no one else's."

As she spoke, she handed the tablet to the woman, saying, "This is your medication and diagnosis details, as well as all the expenses. Take a look and see if there are any problems. If not, sign it."

"Oh, okay,"

The woman took the laptop, looking at the list on it as she continued to ask, "Did the person who brought me here really not leave any record or contact information?"

"I have no record of this."

The nurse shook her head.

"Is that so...?"

The woman looked at the tablet in her hand, lost in thought.

Countless images flashed through her mind, then she suddenly paused, looked up at the nurse, and asked, "Was there a fire anywhere last night?"

Chapter 654 Shadow (Long Chapter, Requesting Monthly Tickets)

“These are the urns containing the ashes of Mr. and Mrs. Kavi,”

In the bright and quiet hall of the funeral home, staff members dressed in simple clothes placed two connected urns on the small table in front of He Ao.

"Based on your previous order, your service fee for this trip, including body disposal, cremation, and urn, is 4574 Federal Dollars."

The staff member glanced at He Ao's aged face and placed the ultra-thin tablet computer in front of him. "After deducting the 1000 Federal Dollars prepayment you made earlier, you still need to pay a balance of 3574 Federal Dollars. Here is a breakdown of all the fees. Please take a look."

He Ao lowered his head and looked at the tablet that the staff member handed him.

The tablet listed all the costs in detail, including 500 federal dollars for the couple's urns, 1800 federal dollars for cremation for both of them, 200 federal dollars for an obituary published in the news media, and 550 federal dollars for two sets of funeral clothes and the cost of transporting the remains.

In addition, there is a fee for the body burial, which is 1524 federal dollars for two people.

“Old man, you know,”

Seeing that He Ao's gaze lingered on the cost of the burial services, the staff explained, "The final burial services for your son and daughter-in-law are a bit difficult, so the cost is inevitably a bit high. I've tried my best to choose affordable options for you in other areas, but there's really nothing I can do about this."

"I know,"

He Ao nodded slightly, "Thank you for your trouble."

The high cost of the burial services is understandable, because the bodies of Sito's son and daughter-in-law were already mangled and bloody when they were sent to the funeral home.

Kavi and his wife were not found at the scene of the car accident; they were found by a scavenger responsible for cleaning up unidentified bodies in a corner of an alley in the south of the city.

At that time, Kavi and his wife had been dead for at least two days. They had obvious signs of a vehicle collision, and their bodies were so mangled that their features and shapes were almost unrecognizable.

However, before he died, Kavi and his wife spelled out Kavi's social security card number on the ground. The cleaner found the social security card number, contacted the police, and only then did the police contact Sito.

South City is the most chaotic district in St. John's City, teeming with gangsters. You could find a body at the end of any alley, and there's almost no city surveillance. So, the Kaves only roughly determined it was a car accident before contacting Sito.

When the police from the South City met with Xito, they made it clear to him that given the situation in the South City, it was almost impossible to catch the murderer, and they told Xito to accept their condolences.

In fact, if it weren't for the social security card number that Kavi wrote down at the end, the Kavi couple might have been thrown into a scavenger's hearse and cremated among countless other nameless dead, their ashes taken to some random place in the wilderness and buried.

Sito died without ever knowing where his son was.

He Ao turned his attention back to the expense list in front of him.

This funeral home was recommended by the young policeman who contacted Sito at the time.

It's nothing special, just cheap.

Typically, without a memorial service, the funeral cost for a deceased person in St. John's is between $3000 and $40.

Around 00 federal dollars.

The two of them, the Kavi couple, only spent a little over four thousand federal dollars, which included the cost of burial and makeup for their mangled bodies. It was indeed very cheap.

"Can I use a credit card?"

He Ao raised his wristband and looked at the staff.

"of course."

The staff immediately took out a cash register, entered the amount, and scanned He Ao's wristband.

With a soft 'beep', the payment was completed, and He Ao put away the bracelet.

The bracelet is currently displaying payment information from the credit card company.

As he gets older, Sito rarely makes large purchases anymore, so a lot of his credit card limit is unused.

In contrast, after his wife's serious illness, his savings have become extremely limited. In fact, he now has only 10740 federal dollars in cash savings.

After deducting the 3574 federal dollars he just paid, he actually only has a little over 7,000 federal dollars left in his assets.

"The detailed bill has been sent to your email address," the staff member said as they closed the POS machine after confirming receipt of payment. "Please remember to check your inbox."

He then pulled back the tablet, tapped it, opened a new interface, and handed it to He Ao, saying, "These are the prices for couple's burial plots in several cemeteries in St. John's City. Do you need any of them?"

He Ao lowered his head and looked at the interface displayed on the tablet.

At this moment, the entire screen is mostly filled with a photo of a huge cemetery surrounded by jungle, with the cemetery's advertising slogan below.

[Pure natural plants, enjoy the afternoon sun, surrounded by beautiful forests, semi-open park, beautiful music played daily, allowing your family to sleep peacefully in a comfortable and pleasant environment, special offer at an amazing price of only 19.99!]

Below is a parenthesis containing a line of barely visible print: (Valid for 20 years).

"Oh, sorry, that's not it."

The staff member immediately took back the tablet and tapped it a few more times. "Sir, I just tapped the wrong thing."

Then he handed the tablet back, saying, “These cemetery plots are all quite good. Although the plants are artificial landscaping, the overall scenery is very nice. I am also familiar with the cemetery management companies, and they are all quite reliable. These cemetery plots are very affordable compared to their prices, and they even come with imitation stone tombstones.”

He glanced at He Ao, then at Jiaxi sitting next to He Ao, and said, "Actually, you don't need to be too picky about burial plots. Your child will need money for school in the future, and since you're getting old, having some money for emergencies will give you peace of mind."

He paused, "Anyway, this cemetery plot is valid for twenty years. After twenty years, we have to buy a new one. If our children make a name for themselves in the future, we can also move a good cemetery plot for our parents."

He looked down at the cemetery plots displayed on the tablet. This time, the price of these plots was around 5000 federal dollars.

Xito had previously looked at some double burial plots for couples online, and they generally cost around 10,000 yuan, and the scenery didn't seem as good as what was on this tablet.

He Ao looked up at the urn on the table. "I haven't decided what kind of burial plot to buy yet. I'll contact you again in a couple of days, okay?"

"certainly,"

The staff member took back the tablet. "You have my contact information, you..."

Please contact me anytime if needed, and I will try my best to reserve these burial plots for you.

He then glanced at the urn on the table and said, "Wait a moment, I'll find you a briefcase to put it in."

Then he hurriedly got up and left his seat.

He Ao shifted his gaze to the side.

From the very beginning, Jiaxi hadn't said a word, but was staring blankly at the urn.

At that moment, the girl seemed to realize that she was being watched. She turned her head and gently grasped He Ao's fingers, "Grandpa."

He Ao slowly took his granddaughter's little hand.

As the two were talking, a staff member came over with a black briefcase and said to He Ao, "This is a free gift."

Then he opened the briefcase in his hand, revealing a hollowed-out sea surface inside, placed two urns inside, closed the lid, and handed it to He Ao, saying, "This will make it easier for you to carry."

"Thank you."

He stood up, took the suitcase, picked up the cane leaning against the table, and hung it on the suitcase.

"You're welcome," the staff member smiled. "Please feel free to contact me if you need anything."

He then escorted He Ao to the door, watching as He Ao, unsteady on his feet, led his granddaughter away and disappeared into the crowd.

Finally, he sighed softly, shook his head, and walked back into the funeral home.

······

On her way to the bus stop, Jiaxi kept her eyes on the suitcase He Ao was carrying.

This suitcase isn't entirely black; it's decorated with patterns that resemble stars.

"grandfather,"

The girl raised her head and looked up at the rows of tall buildings above. The sky seemed like a dough squeezed under the buildings, with only a long, thin line remaining. "Are there really many stars in the sky?"

“Hmm,” He Ao looked up at the sky and the dim light beneath his feet, then nodded. “There are many.”

You can't see the stars in St. John's City.

As one of the largest grain-producing cities in the Federation, sunlight is one of the most scarce resources here.

Every factory strives to build tall buildings and adopt the latest light-concentrating technology to obtain more light resources.

These towering steel jungles, like real jungles, strive to grow taller in order to win the sun's bounty.

At night, these factories use artificial light sources to promote plant growth, making the entire city glow, which, mixed with colorful neon lights, obscures the darkness and the stars.

"Grandpa, where can we see the stars?"

Jiaxi tilted her head back curiously until it was almost parallel to the ground, trying to find a trace of stars in the sky through the narrow gaps between the buildings.