Chapter 147 - 137 Outsider

By evening, Lille’s personal driver, John, drove over to pick him up, and the two chatted sporadically in the car.

If he put aside those familiar figures, Lille might even think this was just an ordinary world.

Even considering the presence of the Osborne Group, the world didn’t seem to have that many unimaginable things constantly thrown in his face.

John drove steadily like a proper driver, reporting to Lille the recent changes in the community.

Overall, with the junior version of ctOS going online in the community and nearby blocks, the cost of crime progressively rose, and the crime rate was rapidly decreasing.

Some ambitious and enterprising cops in the NYPD even volunteered to take charge of the area’s security—

because they almost never faced cases where the perpetrator couldn’t be found, and cracking down on robberies, thefts, and other public order cases were very favorable for their records.

The decrease in crime rate calmed the unemployed, and property owners were more than satisfied—

In the United States, security is a very expensive service, but now they experienced high-quality security services at a price that wasn’t too steep.

But Lille knew that this peace was largely due to Kingpin restraining gang activity, and once he sorted out his cash flow issues, he would inevitably make a comeback.

The ctOS system and crime syndicates were natural enemies—unless the technology itself was in the hands of the crime gangs.

But regardless, there wouldn’t be robberies and shootouts every night anymore.

People still preferred to head home early, so the streets were almost empty—which was just as well.

The car stopped, and they went their separate ways.

After dinner, Lille burrowed into his room and began setting up the "surgery room."

[Technology Points -500]

[Current Technology Points: 120]

A simplified version of prosthesis doctor’s gloves appeared in Lille’s hands, the circular part meant to stabilize was only up to the wrist, half the size of the gloves in Cyberpunk World.

After connecting all sorts of surgical equipment, Lille tested the gloves to make sure they were functioning correctly, the next step was to begin the surgery.

Only, this surgery... it would be better with an assistant.

But in this world... who could he trust with this?

People like Skye, John, and Anthony wouldn’t harm him, but that was just their intention; they almost had no medical experience and could likely cause trouble objectively.

Those with medical experience, he couldn’t let them see his prosthetics, like Professor Conners.

His body had more than just an artificial auxiliary heart, and once on the surgery table, these things couldn’t be hidden—

And right now, Lille couldn’t yet create these prosthetics; it was not something he could explain.

As Lille pondered, he suddenly noticed the footsteps in the living room—that was his mom cleaning.

Maya worked as a nursing aide at the hospital... that counted as medical experience, and she wouldn’t possibly harm him.

It’s just that the surgery would be a rather gruesome sight—would that be a problem?

Lille hesitated for a moment but decided to ask his mom to be the assistant—

The surgery wasn’t something to be taken lightly; he had to use whatever could increase the success rate.

Lille opened his room’s door and gestured to his mom, "Mom! Come here, I need your help with something."

Maya put down the broom in her hand.

"What’s up?"

Lille organized his thoughts, and asked, "Mom, have you ever been a surgical nurse at the hospital?"

Maya nodded, "Of course, like extracting bullets from some poor sod who got hit by a stray, which is pretty common in Hell’s Kitchen."

"...You see, Mom, I have a surgery that I need help with."

Maya froze for a moment, not understanding Lille’s words.

Lille pointed to his chest, "...I need to operate here, there’s an... artificial auxiliary heart, and I need to use it to administer drugs to myself continuously.

The drugs can enhance cell vitality and extend my lifespan."

"If I haven’t misunderstood, you’re saying you have a kind of miracle drug, but its use requires you to perform surgery on yourself."

Maya repeated Lille’s words, trying to remain calm.

But she didn’t quite grasp what Lille was talking about.

"Yes," Lille said calmly, "My medical equipment is quite unique, like automatic mechanical hands, but I need a surgical nurse to help me sterilize the equipment and assist the surgery’s smooth progress."

Maya was as shocked as if she had witnessed the 9/11 event, perhaps even more so!

Lille was very calm, but what he was saying was not simple at all!

"Mom, I know this is hard to accept, but I really need your help."

Lille cleared the bed and then covered it with sterilized plastic sheeting—

A sterile environment was necessary for conventional surgery, but for him, it wasn’t that crucial; it only needed proper setup.

Mom seemed calm enough, and that was sufficient.

It was normal to be shocked inside; the key was to control it, not to act startled or flustered.

By that standard, his mom seemed to have always been quite calm.

Lille connected the gloves to the Prosthetic System and lay down on the bed.

"There’s medical equipment from the lab in the box, Mom—once we’re ready, we’ll start."

Maya felt a bit dizzy, but she listened to Lille.

It was just that she kept looking back as she walked.

...

In Midtown High School, there was a dance—

This was Peter’s last semester in high school, as well as his classmates’.

Despite attending the dance, he was still dressed like a nerd, with glasses, making him seem a bit out of place—

He stood at the entrance, somewhat at a loss, when a burly blonde vigorously slapped him on the back, surrounded by friends: