Chapter 36: You... you teach me to box!

Weiniya walked out of the black market prosthetic shop, satisfiedly looking at the new illegal prosthetic installed on her arm.

"With it, I should be able to make money faster..."

Weiniya happily thought about it, then immediately recalled the several good prosthetics Zhang Jie had installed for her that had been removed, and her mood sank a bit.

It was thanks to the prosthetics he installed for me that I managed to win several matches in a row and even had extra money to repay him...

But... but those debt collectors forcibly removed them to offset the debt, and they were credited at only half the market price...

Whenever she thought of this, Weiniya couldn't help feeling distressed, even though her life had just begun to improve...

Afterwards, she forced herself to summon fighting spirit, extending her ugly prosthetic to cheer herself on.

"Fight, fight! I must save up... puh!"

A mouthful of blood uncontrollably spurted from her lips; Weiniya lost strength all over her body, and the prosthetics on her limbs felt incredibly heavy.

She could no longer drive these prosthetics; she knew this was her body's rejection reaction, just as Zhang Jie had said.

Her neurons could no longer bear the low-quality illegal prosthetics.

"I... still can't..."

Weiniya forced herself to stand, intending to return to the black market prosthetic shop behind her, but after taking a step she fell silent.

In her current situation, that black‑shop owner wouldn't save her; instead, he'd gleefully strip all her prosthetics away and then sell her, reduced to a human stick, to the organ market.

Moreover, it's not just the shop owner—every prosthetic doctor would do the same!

Weiniya knows this well; she's seen many such cases.

"Can't... fall..."

"Little sister... still needs me..."

Weiniya dragged her heavy body slowly toward the underground boxing arena.

Although she hadn't repaid the kindness or returned the favor... she still didn't want to die.

On the cold winter night, that place was the only bonfire that had ever lit up her inner heart.

Fortunately, the Hei Quan Chang arena lies on the edge of the black market, less than two hundred meters from where she is.

"Come... on..."

"Hehehey, Brother Zhang, the goods have been delivered to your hands; you see if they should..."

The yellow‑haired lackey in front rubbed his hands at Zhang Jie, with a truckload of neatly packed prosthetics behind him.

While Zhang Jie held a cigarette, checked the goods list, and without raising his head handed the lackey a ticket.

"Oh! Thanks, Brother Zhang! So generous, Brother Zhang!"

The lackey, satisfied, unloaded the goods piece by piece and carried them into Zhang Jie's operating room.

After Zhang Jie finished checking the goods, just as he was about to go back inside, a metallic scraping sound came from nearby.

The sound was very familiar; Zhang Jie furrowed his brows and looked sideways, thinking it was another unlucky wretch about to be discarded, but he never expected it to be a silver‑haired figure.

Zhang Jie focused his gaze; that head of short silver hair... was it that poor little thing?

Her blood‑stained cheeks lifted; Zhang Jie could no longer tell if it was Weiniya, only seeing the eyes hidden in the grime flash upon seeing him, then her whole body instantly lost all strength and she lay limp not far from him, alive or dead unknown.

"A poor little stray cat will always go to the person it trusts for food; when there's no one around she can trust, she chooses to seek your help."

"You personally saw that patched‑together welded prosthetic, which looked utterly unusable, fall into contemplation; you spent a full four hours this time dismantling the illegal modifications on her body, and the more you took apart, the more your scalp tingled."

"You don't understand why such a prosthetic could still be used, and you can't figure out the reason, so you can only install her with the new stock you have on hand."

"If it weren't for knowing how miserable this guy's life is, Zhang Jie would have thought she was here to scam his prosthetics."

A sizzling electric current and the regular whir of machinery reached her ears; Weiniya slowly opened her eyes to see a warm yellow light that wasn't glaring at all.

"Awake?"

"You still dare come to me, aren't you afraid I'll rip out all your prosthetics and then sell your organs on the black market?"

Zhang Jie's teasing voice came; Weiniya blinked, glanced at him, then quickly lowered her head.

She started cosplaying a quail again.

"You... you probably wouldn't..."

"That shows you're smart, still knowing to come to me."

Zhang Jie laughed and patted her shoulder.

"Get down and walk around."

Weiniya gave a muffled "uh," obediently hopping about on the ground in a silly way.

"My body feels so light..."

"Right, your previous operating system was rejected by your neurons and burned out; I gave you a new one."

Weiniya stared blankly for a moment, then looked foolishly at Zhang Jie.

"Is... what operating system..."

"It's the Stanweistin EX117, the newest generation from Chentian Intelligent Control."

Weiniya's eyes widened; Zhang Jie's smile in her view seemed to turn into a devil's grin.

She immediately curled up, head in hands, cosplaying a quail.

"It's over, over—I can't possibly repay this now... it's even more than the debt I owe..."

Weilong Technology, Chentian Intelligent Control, Triumph Bio—these three top‑tier prosthetic companies are distributed within the nine remaining human‑held wall zones.

Prosthetics from these three companies' subsidiaries are all top‑notch in effect and equally top‑notch in price.

Only those conglomerates or wealthy clan heirs can afford them; what merit does Weiniya have...

But Zhang Jie was still stimulating her nerves on the side.

"I've warned you before—your neurons can't handle illegal prosthetics anymore; if you'd come to me earlier I wouldn't have needed to give you this top‑tier gear."

"If it weren't for me, you'd never be able to use a combat prosthetic in this lifetime."

Aren't you afraid I won't be able to pay you back?

Gathering her courage, Weiniya shouted at Zhang Jie with the fiercest tone she could muster, but to his ears it sounded at most like a lamb's bleat.

"Repay? When did I ever say you had to pay me back?"

"Do you know how much money a black-market prosthetic doctor makes?"

"I... you..."

Weiniya didn't know what to say—why does this world have such a stupid person as him...

As she thought, Weiniya felt worse and worse, and involuntarily began to shed tiny pearls.

"I... I'm not worthy of you treating me this well..."

"I can't repay you... I can't repay..."

Weiniya knelt on the ground, tears streaming incessantly, no matter how she wiped, she couldn't dry them.

Zhang Jie let out a sigh and helplessly stroked her silver hair.

"There's no such thing as deserving or not deserving."

"I've fixed your prosthetic; you don't need to repay me. After your debt is paid, don't go fight in black-market bouts—nine out of ten who do end up treated like trash."

"And don't use illegal modifications when fighting black-market bouts; come to me and I'll install it for you."

Feeling the warmth in Zhang Jie's hand, Weiniya quietly enjoyed the touch on her head and the nagging, like a father lecturing his daughter.

In this morally collapsed world, even a tiny bit of kindness seems exceedingly precious.

"Alright, alright, I have to get busy. Remember not to let anyone remove your prosthetic again."

Zhang Jie issued the order to evict her; Weiniya stood dazed, suddenly not knowing what she had thought, nor where the courage came from, she reached out with both hands, grabbed the corner of Zhang Jie's clothes, lifted her head, and looked at him longingly.

"You... you'll teach me to fight, right? I... I know you will."

"I can earn money for you to repay the debt...."