Welcome to the City of Dust (2)

"I told you that we should have waited before picking up another job. Using your ability and fighting all the time…and you were even injured." complained Thirteen to Jin who was wincing in pain.

"Can you leave me alone for a moment? I'm suffering here, yet you whine in my ears like it was you that got shot," whined Jin in pain as he placed a hand on the area where he got shot.

"Anyway, let's leave the building right now. There's going to be way more of them coming at you, so leave while you can," instructed Thirteen. 

He lacked vision over the cameras, but he knew that even more guards were on their way.

And after hearing the gunfire, they would know to be cautious. Fortunately, there were no cameras inside the lab for them to know what had happened in there exactly.

"Yeah, I'm going to leave in a moment, just wait a minute." Said Jin as he walked right up to the crate full of syringes that contained Cyphon. 

"What are you doing, Jin? You need to leave, right now," urged Thirteen, his tone brimming with urgency, emphasizing the gravity of the situation. 

*Cough* 

Thirteen was coughing, his voice was strained and his exhaustion had only gotten increasingly evident.

"Thirteen, you need to take your meds, don't worry, I can get more… just take them now." Jin was almost begging Thirteen.

"No, you need to leave, right now, Jin!" Shouted Thirteen while coughing, making him difficult to understand.

With a swift motion, he raised his leg high and brought it down, shattering the crate. The Cyphon inside spilled onto the ground, its liquid splashing everywhere.

"I crushed the Cyphon crate, I'm leaving now," Jin informed Thirteen as he began to rush out of the lab.

Injured and bleeding, Jin ran through the hallways, leaving a trail of blood on the pristine white floors.

Despite the pain, he remembered the path he had taken to get there. 

With each step, he moved cautiously, his senses sharp despite the agony coursing through his body, but this was only physical pain, not something that he was unfamiliar with.

Navigating the maze-like hallways with ease, Jin evaded the searching guards, moving stealthily through the building.

As he neared the exit, his path was suddenly obstructed by another guard stationed just before the hallway that would have led him to freedom.

*Tsk* 

"God damn it... I have to kill another one," Jin muttered in frustration, clicking his tongue before swiftly rushing at the guard, feeling even more intense pain.

Caught off guard and unable to react, the guard could do nothing as Jin snapped his neck with a simple movement, before continuing his rush forward.

Not even a word left the mouth of the guard, his body just fell to the ground lifelessly while Jin already left him there.

"Thirteen, we're done here," Jin declared as he exited the building.

Once outside, he glanced back at the structure. It appeared dilapidated, much like every other building in the Tenth District.

Its windows were mostly broken, and the concrete structure appeared weathered and cracked, starkly contrasting the pristine white and cleanliness within. Such conditions were not a rare sight in the Tenth District.

"This is probably a secret base from Genesis," Thirteen speculated, his voice sounding stronger after a moment of silence.

"Did you take your meds?" Jin asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Yes, I did. Stop worrying about me. You're the one who's been shot," Thirteen reassured, his voice regaining its strength.

"Don't worry, I'm going to be fine."

His surroundings were run down, littered with filth, rust, and vomit. The area was mostly dark, with only the distant neon signs casting a dim, eerie light.

High above, at the same height as the towering skyscrapers, a single solid metal track stretched across the sky. Trains floated along this track, gliding through the tent district below.

He hurried away from the Genesis building, disappearing into one of the dark alleyways.

He did nothing but rush through the maze-like alleyways for a long while. Despite their darkness and the maze-like structure, Jin maintained a sense of direction as he navigated them thanks to his watch.

After around ten minutes of constant running, small beads of sweat began to form on Jin's muscular body. Finally, he reached his destination.

Deep in one of the dark alleyways, where light scarcely reached, Jin found himself surrounded by darkness. 

The night sky was illuminated only by a weak half-moon, casting faint shadows around him. 

There were no stars to be seen, it was hard to see them either way from the dark smoke in the sky, it was just a normal part of Dust City.

Approaching his destination, Jin found a rusty metal trash can with trash scattered on the ground around it. Though the can itself was absent, it was clear that it had been full and overflowed onto the ground.

Reaching the can with his right hand, as his left was occupied with the package, Jin plunged his hand into the disgusting mess. 

The can reek of a foul, rotting odor, and a repulsive liquid oozed from its contents. However, Jin was disgusted by the smell and the sight, even after living in the tenth distinct that always reeked just like this all the time.

As Jin reached deep into the trash, his fingers finally closed around what he was seeking. It was a larger bag, barely fitting into the confines of the trash can due to its width. 

With some effort, Jin managed to pull it out, and while doing so, trash scattered everywhere, Jin could only stare at it in disgust.

Jin placed the bag on the ground beside the package and then crouched down to open it. Inside, he found a full set of clothes and a smaller backpack, a smaller pack with a red cross mark on it, but most importantly, a clean rag and a bottle of clean water.

Jin reached for the bag and thoroughly cleaned his hands with the rag for a long time, determined to rid himself of the filth. Then, he retrieved a bottle of clean water from the package and used it to further cleanse his hands, his expression displaying clear disgust.

"Are you still cleaning yourself, you clean freak?" Thirteen, couldn't see Jin, but he knew him well enough to imagine him frantically washing away the filth.

"Of course... you couldn't live with this amount of dirt on you either," Jin replied, clearly disgusted by the filth covering him.

"Yes, I couldn't, but I wouldn't puke from the thought of getting dirty." Chuckled Thirteen from the earpiece, his laughter was echoing in Jin's ears.

Once he felt sufficiently clean, Jin reached for his eyes, retrieving a pair of contacts. As he removed them, his previously blue eyes were revealed to be a pair of emerald green eyes.

Afterward, he reached beneath his neck, and with some effort, he peeled off the fake skin from around his face, revealing a sharp chin, nose, and an overall handsome visage.

Then, as he removed the wig, his short blond hair transformed into sleek, raven black strands. Despite being concealed, his hair remained well-maintained, with a subtle shine catching the light of the weakly shining moon.

Then, he removed the clothes from his body, revealing his muscular frame and his back covered in scars.

The scars bore a strange resemblance to burn marks, but they were shaped like lightning bolts.

He was still bleeding around his stomach, so he carefully applied some gauze, tightly wrapping it around his lower body to staunch the bleeding. 

After retrieving the clothes from the bag, he first took out a pair of blue jeans and a leather belt. Before putting them on, he carefully checked them for any signs of contamination.

Then, he put on the fully black shirt, ensuring it was clean before wearing it, unwilling to put anything dirty on himself.

'Finally, I feel better now.' He was thankful that he could wear clean clothes once again.

After that, he simply put on the white coat from the bag, then placed all of the used clothes on the ground atop the bag. He retrieved a lighter and ignited the bag, along with the clothes.

"Are you done now?"

"Don't worry, I'm done now," said Jin, watching the burning clothes before turning his back on them and beginning to walk out of the alleyways.

"Anyways, let's get our money," Jin said with a wide smile on his face, while the guilt still remained, he brushed that away, just like he always had to…

Yet, even then, Jin had another thought in his mind, something that made him salivate.

The thought of payment.