Chapter 237: Temptation
“Repairing overdrawn life force requires high-grade extraordinary medicinal materials. Those simply don’t exist in the lower levels.”
That was what the doctor said.
Xu Zhi knew very well that this was the bait being dangled before her—a hook cast with clear intent.
She felt like a small fish being coveted, with many people standing on the shore watching, all trying to reel her into their own nets. And it probably wouldn’t stop with this doctor. Next, she would likely encounter many more “baits.”
But bait was not necessarily a good thing. Most fish that got hooked ended up on someone’s plate.
Still, Xu Zhi didn’t think she was just a “small fish.”
“Then… Doctor, what should I do?” Xu Zhi looked at her helplessly.
The doctor seemed troubled. “Your identity is questionable. There’s no way for you to enter the upper levels through normal channels to receive treatment.”
She hesitated, while Xu Zhi—though looking anxious and at a loss—was inwardly urging her on with interest.
Go on. Say it. Say your conditions. Say what you and the people behind you want.
“However, it’s not completely impossible.”
There it was.
Xu Zhi thought to herself, Isn’t that exactly the sentence I’ve been waiting for?
“What way?” she asked innocently.
The doctor didn’t answer directly. Instead, she looked at Xu Zhi with meaningful eyes. “That’s not something that can be decided right now. Everything will depend on what happens next.”
“And now, let’s continue talking about the issues with your body.”
Wow.
That hook’s been thrown pretty deep.
But “what happens next”—did that refer to the investigation into the killer and the knife by those people from the upper levels?
“Your eyes are very beautiful.”
The doctor suddenly said that.
Almost instinctively, several strands of hair on the back of Xu Zhi’s neck prickled. She remained outwardly calm and kept looking at the doctor. The doctor, seemingly unaware that a single sentence had put the girl on alert, continued,
“A very rare color.”
“Gray. It actually reminds me of moths. But hair and eye color can both be altered. Did you dye them before?”
You can dye your pupils too?
Xu Zhi shook her head. “I don’t know.”
The doctor nodded. “Right. I forgot—you have amnesia.”
“Naturally gray pupils are extremely rare. Usually, it’s either because the individual’s talent is so powerful that it manifests at birth, or because of a special bloodline inheritance. After all, hair and eye color are the most visible markers of bloodlines.”
She sounded as if she were just chatting casually. “Sometimes these colors are related to extraordinary attributes, sometimes they aren’t. Yours should be the latter. But as far as I know, our city doesn’t have any bloodline families with gray pupils…”
Seeing Xu Zhi’s blank expression, she softened her tone slightly. “Or maybe I just haven’t encountered them.”
“Such beautiful eyes, damaged like this—what a pity.”
After circling around for so long, she finally reached the point.
“And the injury is very severe. If it isn’t treated in time, you’ll probably remain at this level of severe myopia for the rest of your life. As you age and your extraordinary power declines, it will eventually deteriorate into blindness.”
Her tone was serious. Xu Zhi could tell she wasn’t exaggerating.
In truth, her eyes were indeed one of Xu Zhi’s biggest concerns. But for some reason, she had a strong feeling that once she retrieved the [Moth] circuit and reclaimed the [Eye of Secret], her eyes would recover along with it.
A blind confidence—without logic or evidence, based purely on instinct.
So even after hearing the doctor say this, she wasn’t truly anxious. Still, she put on the appropriate look of panic.
“I can prescribe you some medication first, including a pair of glasses,” the doctor said. “But can you afford the consultation fee?”
“Your eye injury is extremely serious. It looks like you were directly struck by an extraordinary ability. Glasses made to compensate for this kind of damage aren’t cheap.”
Struck?
Xu Zhi searched her memory carefully, but found no recollection of being hit. She was more inclined to believe that she had seen too many things she shouldn’t have seen at that time, and suffered backlash as a result.
Much like how her most serious injuries weren’t physical blows at all, but backlash and conflicts between extraordinary attributes.
It seemed that even this doctor—and this machine—couldn’t truly detect what kind of injuries she had actually suffered.
Xu Zhi thought quickly, while her face showed embarrassment and unease. “Th-then let’s forget it. I’m sorry, Doctor… I don’t have that much money.”
“Don’t worry. I can advance part of it for you.”
At those words, Xu Zhi looked up at her in surprise.
The doctor smiled and continued, “I’m more interested in the injuries to your extraordinary abilities. If you’re willing to let me observe them—study them a little—don’t worry, only within a controlled range, and it won’t harm you—I can provide the glasses and the first phase of treatment medication for free.”
Almost the same pitch as Zhuang Xu’s.
But Xu Zhi could clearly sense the difference.
Zhuang Xu had been driven by pure curiosity and research desire. This woman, however, had another motive altogether.
“Sure.”
The girl nodded without the slightest hesitation.
That quick agreement made the doctor pause in surprise. “You don’t need some time to think it over?”
Xu Zhi tilted her head slightly, looking puzzled. “Think about what? I want to know what’s wrong with me too. And I get free medicine. Doctor… are you having second thoughts?”
“No. I’m just a little surprised.”
“Then it’s settled. If you ever get a chance to leave the lower levels and go to the upper levels, this agreement can’t be voided.”
Xu Zhi understood immediately.
This was insurance—just in case she took someone else’s bait and swam into another faction’s pond.
“Okay.” She nodded.
Xu Zhi was also very curious about her [Lamp]. And right now, she was a pure [Lamp] extraordinary. This doctor’s equipment wouldn’t be able to see deeper, so she wasn’t afraid of anything being exposed.
If nothing unexpected happened, other factions would come to see her one by one anyway. With multiple forces checking and balancing each other, she was relatively safe for the time being.
It was a risky decision.
But at the moment, there was no perfect choice. And besides, she wasn’t completely without the ability to fight back. If they tried to harm her, she wouldn’t just sit and wait for death.
As for being discovered as a special [Lamp]—
Xu Zhi wasn’t afraid of that.
The more people who saw her, the safer she became, in a sense. And geniuses were valuable.
Judging by this city’s current “style,” if she showed enough talent, they might even overlook her vague background and try to pull her into their camp.
Risky, yes.
But was there any faster way to obtain resources?
And compared to the alternatives, this was already the relatively “safe” path.
“I’ll have someone make your glasses first,” the doctor said. “It’ll take some time, so you’ll have to wait.”
“Your injuries are too severe. A lot of circuits need to be engraved to stop them from worsening and to let you see more clearly.”
“Okay. Thank you, Doctor.”
Xu Zhi knew that from this moment on, half her foot had already stepped onto the ship belonging to this doctor and the faction behind her.
As for whether she would truly board it—
That would depend on how the other ships chose to approach her.
