Chapter 1164: Cheating King Lin Sanjiu
If Lin Sanjiu had the time and opportunity, she would write down the following facts for this moment of reunion:
First, after Hei Zeji recognized her, the furrow of irritation between his eyebrows disappeared as if someone gently lifted it away and tossed it into the air. He looked surprised and even tilted his head like a teenager, as if he saw not her, but a unicorn leaping out of a rainbow.
Second, when Hei Zeji asked her if she wanted to fight this guy, Wushi Ming was already subdued on the ground. A crescent-shaped black blade perfectly aligned with the back of the old man's neck, two crescent tips pressing him against the ground. The thin, cold edge caused a layer of sweat to appear on his thick neck.
Third, the female NPC crossed the counter and took a glance at Wushi Ming but didn't seem too angry. From Lin Sanjiu's perspective, she could see the tension in her shoulders easing. She then looked up and asked, "What are you going to do with him?" as if a waiter were asking, "Have you decided on your order?"
Fourth, she was very, very happy.
"How... How did you end up here?" Lin Sanjiu looked at the linen strip on the ground, which lay there like a discarded snake skin, its end hanging from the edge of Hei Zeji's boots. He seemed to grab whatever came his way, and the things he caught seemed to naturally belong to him and willingly get close to him. Even the bandages wrapped around his hands seemed to have traveled half the world before finally finding their owner.
"Didn't you summon me?" Despite meeting an old friend, Hei Zeji didn't forget the current situation. "Hurry up, I need to finish the first fight before we can chat."
Lin Sanjiu thought to herself, 'Just like a genie summoned from rubbing a magic lamp.' She nodded, saying, "Yes, it's him. Can you temporarily hold him down for me? I need to talk to the NPC."
"No, I have to fight first," Hei Zeji said, surprising her. "The unrivalled weapon is summoned for fighting."
What was all this mess?
Lin Sanjiu had a lot of questions to ask, but Hei Zeji made it clear that he couldn't chat right now. She could only scratch her head and say, "Then what should I do? Should I pull him up and fight him with you? Don't worry, I won't kill him or harm his internal organs."
"Why?" Hei Zeji asked, then waved his hand. "Forget it. It doesn't matter now."
Oh, there was also the fifth fact: During Hei Zeji and Wushi Ming's "fight," to the eyes of the uninformed, it looked like a coach training an athlete. Every time Wushi Ming was knocked down, Hei Zeji seemed quite unsatisfied, shouting, "Stand up!" or "You must have some ability, use it!" But in all fairness, the latter sentence was very unfair to Wushi Ming. It wasn't that the old man didn't want to use his ability, but he simply didn't have the chance to.
With such a show playing out in front of everyone, Lin Sanjiu felt relieved as she jumped down from the rooftop and leaned her arm on the counter. The female NPC glanced at the struggling and moaning figure behind Lin Sanjiu, the continuous flickering light gently shaking her face. Then she looked at Lin Sanjiu as if she had discovered a new species, asking, "What do you want?"
"I have a lot of questions," Lin Sanjiu said, smiling at the female NPC, "but let's start with a process you're familiar with."
"What process?" the NPC inquired.
Lin Sanjiu placed a tiny, almost invisible, transparent plastic organ on the counter. If a kidney could be sold for 5 points, then an eyeball should be worth at least the same price. After all, given the choice between losing half of your vision or one kidney, anyone would choose to lose a kidney, right?
"Oh," the female NPC's plump, pink face showed no emotion, "1 point."
"What? But even kidneys—"
"1 point," the female NPC lifted her eyelids, "kidneys are also 1 point."
The small shopkeeper had lied to her.
So, hearts, brains, kidneys... all these valuable organs were worth only 1 point each. Lin Sanjiu felt discomfort in her throat. Stripping a human life down to its core, she could only repay her debt with these.
"The Lava Player's Handbook..." She had lost hope, thinking it might be another deception from the small shopkeeper.
However, the female NPC nodded. "Yes, we have it for sale. But you probably don't have enough points; it costs 5 points per booklet."
For two eyeballs, two kidneys, and a heart, she could only get one thin booklet.
In the doomsday, human life was worthless, but Lin Sanjiu never imagined it would be this worthless.
"What about blood?" she asked in a dry voice. The thud when Wushi Ming's body hit the ground made her worry if any organs were damaged. After only a short time in the hospital, she had come to think of humans as nothing more than point bags—she was probably not the first to think that.
"10 liters, 1 point, any blood type. Too much blood is worthless."
'In other words, mixing different people's blood is not an issue.' Lin Sanjiu felt nauseated by her own imagination.
The NPCs were indeed NPCs, much more patient than the shopkeeper who only cared about deceiving people. "You can sell survival odds," she suggested, "There are seven levels, from extremely high, high, moderately high, average... to extremely low. One level costs 1 point, so even if you sell five levels, you still have a chance to survive. It's much more profitable than selling organs. Of course, you can buy those as well, as long as you have enough points."
"Survival odds are for preparation in case of encountering lava after leaving the hospital," Lin Sanjiu said and glanced at the payment counter. "But how can I leave the hospital?"
"With a complete body and fully restored combat power." The female NPC didn't seem worried that Lin Sanjiu would ask about all the information and not buy the Lava Player's Handbook. She probably guessed Lin Sanjiu's thoughts and smiled. "The Lava Player's Handbook contains the most critical information about lava. I don't know about it, so you can only buy one to find out. Oh, but the information booklet cannot be recycled."
Lin Sanjiu suddenly frowned.
"Wait," she interjected, "a complete body... What if someone steals one of my organs?"
"It's simple; buy it back."
"Even if someone ends up as an empty shell, I just need to buy enough organs to put back in, and they'll still be able to leave the hospital alive?"
"As long as the conditions are met."
She asked a few more questions and understood. Unless a person was crushed like a bug, taking away organs would only result in them falling into a coma and facing corresponding consequences. They wouldn't truly die.
Lin Sanjiu pondered for a while.
Wushi Fan and her brother looked intact on the outside. Was the reason they hadn't left the hospital because their combat abilities hadn't fully recovered, or had they lost some internal organs? Both Sesame Cake and the bearded man had been to the hospital once, knowing how cruel it was. Why did they still prefer to come back here? The outside world of lava had almost no players, yet so many people were attracted to this general hospital... Why?
In just a few seconds of contemplation, a thought suddenly flashed through Lin Sanjiu's mind.
She had actually forgotten one of her advantages.
She didn't need to consider selling organs. She could—temporarily, even—brush points at no cost.
1