Chapter 15

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 Evening.

 The patchy twilight bathed Santo Domingo in its afterglow.

 Inside an apartment in the H4 super skyscraper, the living room ceiling's neon lights cast a blue spectral glow.

 Tang Yu sat comfortably on the main sofa, his suit Jackieet casually draped over his shoulders, a half-empty glass of auburn whiskey on the glass coffee table before him.

 Gloria's tied-up red ponytail seemed deeper in the blue light, and even after a few sips of liquor, she looked tense, in stark contrast to Tang Yu's ease, as if she were the visitor.

 Her home's layout had neither style nor taste and was even somewhat messy. If she could have, she would have much preferred to invite Tang Yu to a fancy restaurant, even at a significant expense, rather than letting anyone see her home's shabbiness.

 She had done plenty of dirty, tiring work outside, but never felt out of place among those toiling crowds. But hosting someone at home felt like being under a spotlight, unable to relax.

 Gloria, unable to contain her nerves any longer and seeing that Tang Yu was neither bringing up matters of cybernetics nor asking for medical fees or compensation—having only made simple small talk about David's condition—forced a smile and said awkwardly, "Mr. Tang, I'm sorry, the apartment is indeed a bit modest."

 "Are you waiting for someone?" Tang Yu didn't answer directly but instead spoke about his past.

 "I too have lived in apartments like this."

 "Back then, I had nothing, but luckily, I met a good buddy, a true friend."

 "Later on, my friend got into some trouble, and we were separated for a very long time, so long that I had almost forgotten what he looked like. Fortunately, he came back."

 "Sometimes I want to change things, but this city often dictates your actions."

 "Now you also have a chance to change something."

 Listening to Tang Yu's reflections, Gloria assumed it was about a long-lost friend's return, which stirred some emotions in her. She didn't fully understand what opportunity there was to change what sort of things, so she said, "You've saved me and David. That in itself has changed a lot, and now whatever you ask, I really have no room to refuse."

 Gloria's expression revealed her helplessness. Poverty left no room for even a single misstep in her life; just one could destroy her already fragile family.

 Taking initiative, she went to the table in the room, took the military-grade Stanwick cyberware stolen, and presented it to Tang Yu.

 "Honestly, aside from this, there's nothing of value left in this place."

 After speaking, Gloria also took out a stack of eurodollars from her person and placed it on the bag containing the cyberware.

 Tang Yu estimated the size of the stack. It was roughly twenty thousand eurodollars. He didn't reach out to take it but said solemnly, "Put the money away. I didn't come here to collect treatment fees."

 "After all, your accident with David is directly related to me."

 At that moment, noise came from the bedroom.

 Weakened, David leaned on the door frame, staring at his mother and the stranger in the living room.

 Seeing David awake, Gloria quickly hid the cyberware behind her back and said with a hint of panic, "David, you're awake. Are you feeling better?"

 David nodded but kept his eye on Tang Yu, puzzled and wary.

 Gloria saw her son's confusion and quickly explained, "This is Mr. Tang. He's the one who arranged our admission to the trauma care center."

 David's expression eased a little. The figure of Tang Yu began to overlap with the memory of the man from the car accident that he had seen just before losing consciousness that day—the man on the sofa was Tang Yu.

 In a soft voice, David said to Tang Yu, "Thank you."

 As if that wasn't enough, he added, "I will repay you in the future."

 Used to hardships, David wasn't accustomed to accepting favors, especially from someone associated with Arasaka. To him, all those Arasaka folks were haughty and looked down on others.

 This debt of life-saving gratitude—he and his mother must repay. But now, so poor they couldn't even afford to run their washing machine, they were unable to repay this enormous debt.

 Moreover, he didn't know why, but he felt a severe pain on the left side of his waist, akin to the pain of a kidney being removed in his dreams. If he hadn't woken up to find no surgical wounds, he might have suspected that he had actually undergone a kidney removal operation.

 Awakening from dreams to feel such pain and heartache felt as heavy as true experience, impossible to brush off.

 Seeing David's less-than-correct attitude, Gloria knew his inherent aversion and stubborn resistance to Arasaka was still strong. She wanted him to apologize properly, but seeing her son's frail state, her heart dropped the matter.

 Gloria had no choice but to look to Tang Yu and sincerely spoke for David, "I'm sorry, please forgive us. David has just come out of a coma, and we are truly grateful for your life-saving grace."

 As Gloria was apologizing, suddenly, the apartment door was violently kicked open. All three looked toward the entrance.

 The leader who burst in was a burly black man with a blonde crew cut and mirrored sunglasses, looking unfriendly.

 Following him was a woman in a lacy Jackieet befitting a gang enforcer, and trailing her, a skinny man with a big beard, also in shades.

 Finally, in strode a tall woman enveloped in a dark red leather coat and mask.

 Gloria gasped, "Maine?!"

 The burly leader, upon seeing the cyberware bag and the bundle resembling currency that Gloria seemed about to hand to the man beside her, asked with a thick voice and unfriendly tone, "You've been dodging calls and gone missing. You planning to give the cyberware you sold to me to him? Don't you know the consequences of breaking trust in this business?"

 At his side, the tall woman in red leather, covering her temple with one hand, stared at Tang Yu and calmly said, "He hasn't installed the cyberware; no data could be retrieved."

 Maine remained silent, still looking coldly at Gloria and her company. Today, if they didn't hand over the Stanwick, a confrontation was unavoidable.

 Gloria hastily stood in front of Tang Yu, anxiously explaining, "It's not what you think! Mr. Tang has nothing to do with this! I didn't deliver because David and I had a car accident yesterday!"

 Maine was expressionless, "So you're awake. Why didn't you answer the phone or come looking for me? I already paid you in advance."

 He had trusted Gloria enough to transfer thirty thousand eurodollars into her account ahead of the deal, only for her to vanish on the day of delivery, making him feel betrayed and deceived.

 Faced with Maine's questioning, Gloria struggled to explain, not wanting not to deliver the item but because Tang Yu hadn't agreed; and she couldn't return the money to Maine because she really needed it now!

 With David witnessing all this, she truly didn't know how to clear the matter. If David found out she had stolen the cyberware, it would make him lose face in front of his peers even more!

 "It's all my fault.".."

 Just as Gloria was hoping that things wouldn't escalate and was preparing to take all the blame herself, she heard a voice from behind.

 "Gloria, it's not your fault."

 "Maine, I wanted to discuss a deal with you."