"I didn't! You heard wrong! I didn't!!"
5E desperately argued, but Old Six's face still wore that jesting smirk, devoid of a trace of pity in his eyes.
"PUS, this old guy's parts aren't great, a lot of them are broken, plus he's so old, I'll give you at most 1300 Dogcoin," the woman swiftly scanned 5E's body, reporting the price to Old Six.
"Hey, is that all he's worth? Don't look at him like that now, he used to be a lone wolf mercenary. I need cash urgently."
Old Six stood up to haggle with the other party.
Upon hearing this, 5E, as if grasping at his only lifeline, quickly spoke up, "Kid, I'm not worth much! Just 1300! It's not worth selling me! Is 1300 Dogcoin more important to you than your father's life?"
"Nonono," Old Six shook his finger and looked down at him as he spoke. "This is Metropolis, motherfucker~ you're the one who taught me, in the Metropolis money is life. Money is more important than anything!"
Seeing the money transferred directly to him, Old Six didn't say another word and walked straight out. "Besides, how can one be hypocritical? You can sell mother, why can't I sell father? When you think about it, this is practically a fine family tradition of ours."
5E attempted to follow, but two iron hooks stained with traces of blood flew over, piercing through his collarbone and hoisting him mid-air. As his gaze lifted, 5E finally saw the sign hanging above: Quirky Kitchen.
At the sight of the sign, 5E's cold sweat poured out instantaneously. Knowing what his fate would be if he didn't escape, he shouted at Old Six's retreating figure with all his might, "I know I wasn't a good father! So you must absolutely not be like me!! Kid!!"
Old Six paused in his step, and just as 5E thought he might have a change of heart, Old Six simply opened his own livestream.
"Folks! Today I've got a gruesome gig for you all! Live selling my dad!! Hurry up and start sending those donations!"
5E, seeing this, quickly entered Old Six's livestream and sent the last 150 Dogcoin he had as a tip. Then he said in the livestream, "Kid! You should learn from your mother! Don't you like her? Think about what she would do!"
Old Six, standing by the door with one hand on the frame, looked towards the gradually tearing body of 5E.
"Heh heh heh, I remember, I've never forgotten, but she's no naive goody-two-shoes. My mom taught me something when I was little, 'Treat others exactly as they treat you!'"
With a "clang," as Old Six violently slammed the door shut, he sealed 5E's life inside.
Humming a tune, Old Six walked leisurely in the pouring rain, stopping at a vending machine on the way to exchange all the freshly acquired Dogcoin for Electronic Drugs.
With the intense virtual stimulation surging through his brain, Old Six couldn't help but shout out loud on the street.
"Mmm~ Brothers! Take a look! The stuff you buy with the money from selling your dad really hits different!"
But the high from the Electronic Drugs arrived fast and faded quickly. By the time he returned to the company's entrance, the drug chip slipped out from behind his ear with a "pop," leaving a rush of emptiness that flooded over him.
He wanted to fill this void with hedonistic pleasures, but by this point, he was out of money.
Old Six went into the medical room, caressed Linda Linda's white stockings, and asked with a cheeky grin, "Sweetheart, can you make me feel good? Can I pay you next time?"
Linda Linda glanced at Old Six and tilted her head toward the operation room, walking straight in. "Come on."
Old Six didn't expect her to agree so easily and followed her happily, getting handsy before even reaching the spot while simultaneously advertising his hookup courses on his livestrream.
The moment the operation room door shut, Old Six eagerly pounced.
Linda Linda lay on the operating table and started browsing through the gossip news online, her attention elsewhere as she said, "Get that psychological stress out of your system quickly, I've got other things to be busy with."
Old Six stuck his head under Linda Linda's skirt, nuzzling continuously, "Linda Linda, don't talk nonsense. What stress could I possibly have?"
Linda Linda reached out with a touch of pity in her eyes, gently caressing Old Six's head. "Denial is useless. I've been with more people than you've even seen. I can tell what a john is thinking with just one glance."
On hearing this, Old Six's body stiffened and he stopped.
"What's wrong? Got erectile dysfunction? Premature ejaculation?"
Old Six suddenly pulled back, immediately closing off the live stream and rushed out through the large doors of the operating room.
"Shit! I, Old Six PUS, am a man of principles! I can freeload anything! But I damn well can't freeload sex! When I get the money, I'll come back for you!"
Watching Old Six's retreating figure, Linda Linda scoffed as she straightened her nurse's uniform, walking out from the operating room. "I hit the nail on the head, didn't I? Think I got my title of sales champion at Club 69 for nothing?"
Just then, a mercenary with half of his body ruined, tried to muster a smile, "Linda~, I'm feeling a lot of psychological stress too."
"Fuck, if you're stressed, go to your mother."
"But my mother is a machine."
"So what if she is a machine? Does the presence of a womb make her unusable?"
Linda Linda immediately turned around and continued with the work she hadn't finished before.
As a nurse in the medical facility, her duties were generally to take care of patients who didn't have an appointment for surgery and to assist the Delete surgeons.
However, she had already implanted a medical knowledge chip and was constantly learning, trying to quickly meet the standards of a doctor. The pay difference between a nurse and a doctor was way too much.
She stuck around this dangerous and poorly paid company only because it had great opportunities for advancement. As long as there was a path to move up, she could outwork anyone.
As her shift ended, Linda Linda handed over her duties to the on-call nurse and then walked out the front door of the company with a pink neon light wrapped umbrella in hand, heading outside.
The entire Queens District was wiped clean by a nuclear bomb, and now she rented a small place near Shendong Street, 7 square meters, a room with a bathroom.
After taking a shower, she didn't bother to dry off, lounging naked by the window, looking at the neon lights flickering through the rainy curtain and the virtual 3D advertisements outside.
She told nobody that she didn't actually like human contact. If it wasn't for work, she'd prefer to avoid everyone and live her life alone.
Her wishes were indeed very modest, but in the Metropolis, such modest things were hard to come by.
As her cat ears twitched on her head, the mechanical bird flew over, nestling into her wet hair. It opened its mouth and began to dry her hair.
After enjoying a moment of personal space quietly, Linda Linda transferred her medical knowledge onto the system interface, ready to keep studying and reinforcing her memory.
Once she felt she had learned enough, she planned to use her body as bait, letting those horn-driven guys keep her company as practice partners.