On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

"Don't be impulsive! We can talk things out calmly!"

Frye broke out in a cold sweat, cursing himself for being careless. This was no young master; he was more like a gangster. He quickly moved the man's hand away from the call bell and raised it above his head.

"To be honest, Dr. Fred, I was a little hesitant at first, but after hearing what you said, I'm sure my guess was right."

"I'll ask you one last time, what did you do to Ms. Nolan?"

Even with Liao Ji's gun pointed at him, Frederick still stubbornly insisted:

“There must be some misunderstanding. I don’t know what your relationship is with Ms. Nolan, but I can only tell you that Ms. Nolan was picked up from the clinic by her daughter at noon today. I tried to dissuade them, but her daughter seemed to be in a hurry, as if she was about to go on a long trip.”

Fred deliberately threw out this suggestive message of "going on a long trip," which was something he had already prepared in advance as an explanation in case anything unexpected happened.

"As for what happens after that, I really don't know! If you really want to find Ms. Nolan, you should go find her daughter now, a scavenger named Irene! I can give you some information about her; she's said to be quite famous among scavengers, and she frequents the Sea Sand Wine area."

"You're talking nonsense!" The girl who had been silently building up behind Liao Ji finally burst out.

Irene strode past the young man and stood in front of Fred, grabbing the doctor by the collar and pulling him close. Staring intently into his panicked eyes, she gritted her teeth and said angrily, "Look who I am!"

"you"

From a distance, Frederick didn't recognize her at all, since Irene had not only changed her hairstyle and clothes, but her skin had also become much whiter.

But when the girl pulled him closer and he took a closer look at her features, the doctor stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

"You are..."

"That's impossible! How could Kalewa's people possibly let you go back alive?"

When Frederick realized he had let something slip due to his shock, he tried to cover it up immediately, but it was too late. He was slammed to the ground by Irene.

"Kaleva? What Kaleva? Explain yourself!"

As the girl forcefully stomped on him, excruciating pain shot through his chest. Frederick didn't know how Irene could have such strength, but he knew that if this continued, he wouldn't just be unable to breathe, but his entire chest would be crushed.

"I'll tell you everything!"

Overwhelmed by the fear of death, Frederick was terrified and nearly wet himself. He struggled to breathe and then, in a trembling voice, told Irene:

"After you went out with Kaleva's gang, I... I thought you'd never come back, so I sold your mother... sold her to the Cleaners."

"Your mother used to be a nun in the church. With that status, she can fetch a good price. You, you let me go, and I'll give you back the money. I'll return the 100,000 yuan I got from selling your mother!"

"No, 150,000? Is 150,000 enough? I'll add another 50,000 for you. Will that satisfy you now?"

Fred tried his best to beg Irene for mercy in what he thought was the best way, but this only provoked Irene to become even more furious and murderous.

Upon hearing that her mother had been sold for money, and even sold to a cleaner, the girl was consumed by rage. The turmoil within her surged to her brain, and now only one thought occupied Irene's mind.

Kill this scum!

"Go to hell!!"

Just as Irene was about to stomp on the doctor's head, the young man next to her intervened.

Liao Ji stopped Yilin and shook his head at the furious girl before turning his cold gaze to the still-shaken Dr. Fredley.

What is a street cleaner?

"The 'cleaners' are those human traffickers who specialize in collecting living people and then selling them to gangs."

"Is it for organs from living people?"

"I don't know either, but they seem to be more than just organs. I've heard there might be a cult or a church behind them."

Frederick realized that he would surely die if he fell into Irene's hands, so he answered every question the young man asked, racking his brains to tell him everything he knew, hoping that Liao Ji would spare his life.

"This isn't the first time you've done something like this, is it? You have a regular contact number for the cleaners, right? Call them now and have them come pick up the goods?"

"Pick up the goods?"

Where can I buy it now?

Fred was completely lost in thought, looking utterly bewildered. But when Liao Ji pressed the gun against his head, Fred stopped caring about anything else and hurriedly pulled out his communication device. He didn't even need to make a call; he just needed to send an email.

"Okay, okay, I've done as you said. The cleaners will be here quickly, in about fifteen minutes. Now, please let me go! Please!"

Where did you agree to deliver the goods?

"Go out the back door of the clinic, turn one corner, there's a... a small alley over there, he'll park there and wait for me. That's all I know. I... I'm just trying to earn some extra money. Please, please let me go."

Faced with Frederick's desperate pleas, Liao Ji readily nodded.

"Just do one last thing for us."

“You, you say, I’ll do anything!” Frederick was overjoyed and nodded in agreement.

But the doctor's joyful expression quickly froze.

because

"Really? Thank you for becoming our customer."

What does "what do you mean?"

Bang!

Chapter 35 Delivery

Liao Ji struck Frederick hard on the back of the head with the butt of his gun, and the doctor immediately collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Once again in the quiet office, Liao Ji felt his clothes being tugged.

Turning around, I saw a girl who was already in a state of panic and confusion. Irene's face was pale with fear, her eyes were unfocused, and she seemed to have lost her soul.

Her mother was her only family in the world. Without her mother, Irene didn't know how she would go on living. And then she thought about how her mother had been sold to the scavengers, those cruel men who treated human life like dirt.

To meet their clients' needs, they would ruthlessly dismember their victims and sell the valuable "parts".

They won't be "merciful" enough to administer anesthesia; they'll force the victim to watch helplessly as every part of their body is "stripped away" amidst their agonizing screams, becoming tools for them to make money.

thump

Irene collapsed to the ground, too exhausted to even imagine what would happen next.

She trembled all over, tears welling in her eyes. The fear of losing her mother had completely filled Irene's mind, leaving her no energy to think. But the girl's subconscious knew that this wouldn't do; she couldn't let her emotions control her. But she couldn't do it.

The girl is like someone drowning in a storm, but thankfully, she has a piece of driftwood to hold onto. Her subconscious instincts make her hold on tightly to what is her last and only thing to rely on.

however

Liao Ji first took Yilin's hand, and then pulled the girl's hand away from the hem of his clothes.

"Liao Liao Ji?" If I remember correctly, this should be the first time Yilin has called him by his name.

The girl stared blankly at Liao Ji's "heartless" actions.

If even the only plank of wood were to be washed away by the torrential waves and leave her behind, Irene felt herself truly beginning to fall into the sea, enveloped by vast darkness, her body rapidly growing cold.

“Listen up, Irene. If you continue like this, I think you should go back to Brian’s side. Go find Auntie. I can handle it by myself. You’ll only hold me back.” Liao Ji expressed his meaning very bluntly.

"Me, me."

"To say something slightly offensive, the fact that Fredley was able to sell your mother for such a high price as 100,000 dollars, and was still so eager to do so, proves your mother's value. She is definitely not an ordinary commodity to the Scavengers."

"Fredley also said that your mother was once a nun in the church, and she also experienced your father's rampage. There is still lingering turbidity and pollution in her body. Now your mother's illness is very likely caused by the concentration of turbidity and pollution in her body reaching a critical value. All of these factors combined are what make your mother's value."

“A nun deeply infected by the evil spirits,” Liao Ji concluded to Irene.

He said this not to provoke the girl, but to arrive at the following conclusion.

"High-value goods will inevitably be transported with great care, and to realize their value, some preparation is required; it will not be done in a simple and crude manner. All of the above requires time."

"In other words, we found out relatively early. Less than half a day has passed since your mother was taken away by the cleaners, so your aunt is very likely still alive and well."

As Liao Ji said these words, the girl's eyes gradually regained their light. Her gaze was no longer so scattered and unfocused. Yilin seemed to have grasped a lifeline and nodded repeatedly.

"Yes, that's right, you're right, my mom is still alive, still alive! Still alive and well!"

Seeing that the girl had finally cheered up and perked up, Liao Ji took off the watch from Fredley's wrist and put it on himself, while instructing Irene to find something like a body bag to wrap the unconscious doctor.

After doing all this, I glanced at the time. There were still about five or six minutes left before the cleaner I had arranged with the doctor arrived.

"Eileen, I have a plan for the future."

The dark alley corner behind Dane's Clinic.

A pickup truck was parked there, and a man wearing overalls and a baseball cap was leaning against it, smoking and muttering curses under his breath.

"Damn it, that bastard Fredley really knows how to pick his timing. I finally found a decent girl, and I was getting really into it, and he called me out here. Damn it! If this batch isn't good quality, I'll make sure he regrets it!"

At that moment, footsteps sounded in the dark alley. The man immediately stubbed out his cigarette, turned around, and opened the cargo door at the back of the pickup truck, preparing to receive the goods from Fredley. They had been working together on this process hundreds of times.

However this time

When the man looked back, he was met by a completely unfamiliar face.

The scavenger immediately became alert and instinctively placed his hand on the holster at his waist.

However, he breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw that behind the unfamiliar young man was a porter wearing a clinic caregiver uniform and carrying a body bag on his shoulder.

Of course, I'm still angry.

"Hey! Who are you? Where are the Freders?"

The young man in the doctor's coat replied calmly, "He had something come up, so he sent us to deliver the goods."

"To hell with Fredley! How dare you break the rules! Stop! You don't need to come any closer. I only recognize Fredley. If you want me to receive the goods, Fredley himself has to come!"

The man was about to close the pickup truck's cargo door and drive away. As a street cleaner, one needs to be more cautious than those in shady professions, but at this moment...

"Our goods this time are very special. I think you'll absolutely love them once you take one look."

The young man hesitated because, indeed, just this afternoon, Sister Frederick's goods were really good, extremely good, which allowed him to make a fortune in Kaleva and thus enjoy his lavish night at the club.

If a similar good product could actually be found, then...

"Fine, I'll see what kind of product makes you so confident!"

The cleaner turned back, driven by curiosity and greed, and squatted down to unzip the body bag. By the dim light of the nearby streetlamp, the man could see the contents of the bag.

That...that is

It was a face he knew all too well.