【Side Mission: 1. Survive the Interrogation Completed, Points +128.】
【Smith's Kind Reminder: Points can be exchanged for coins at the end of this occupation period when you return to the Pure White Space. For more coins, please try to complete the tasks assigned by Smith.】
...
Harper lay in the Second Citizen Hospital for a full three days.
Of course, he did not waste these three days.
As soon as he regained consciousness on the second day, he did his best to gather information while maintaining his role.
For example, the young man he is currently occupying is named Jerome. Jerome's father, Jefferson, is a mechanic who owns a repair shop at B-21 in Sunset Town.
Jerome has been motherless since childhood and relies on his father for life - but since he has been hospitalized for so long and hasn't seen his father come to see him, it seems that the relationship between the father and son is not harmonious.
Because of this, Lillian - a nurse at the Second Citizen Hospital who is currently responsible for his condition and daily care - has been standing up for "Jerome".
Lillian was the nurse in the police station, she was on loan to help there.
She followed Jerome's car back to the hospital.
She has a certain understanding of the Ji family, after all, she also lives on B Street, just a few steps away from the repair shop.
All this is the information that Harper has obtained in the past two days.
Not on good terms with his father?
That suits Harper's intentions.
If the relationship is too good, it would be difficult to impersonate.
"You really were an innocent victim this time."
Lillian helped Harper sit up and changed his medicine: "Fortunately, this time the medical expenses were all paid from the second-class citizen medical insurance, and you can get some
Prosthesis?
But no one here calls it a prosthesis. They call it the "Empire Web."
Harper wasn't sure if it was short for "Empire Interconnected Network" or "Network of Established Connections."
— It's clearly a prosthesis.
During his days in the hospital, he noticed that the control in this country seemed quite stringent.
Certain words were forbidden, like "prosthesis" and "federation."
"You're back, kid."
The man's voice was still deep.
Harper gave him a steady look but didn't respond.
He was loyal to his own character.
The man didn't mind. The three men in the room seemed to have grown accustomed to this mode of conversation.
"Give it to him, Iggy," the man said. "Take a look."
Beside him, a long-haired man named Iggy, with a scorpion tattoo on his thenar, nodded and took out a cylindrical piece of metal from his pocket.
Thin and seemingly well-kept, it shimmered with a silver glow.
Iggy, Harper had heard this name.
He fixed his gaze on Iggy.
Feeling the boy's stare, Iggy turned his head, revealing a mouthful of rotten teeth stained yellow by smoke.
"Heh heh, kid's got a big life!"
Jefferson took the metal rod, pushed his foggy, dirty glasses up to take a closer look. "Extreme Fire T80? Don't your internal mechanics repair this?"
Iggy said, "Heh, small thing, they don't bother."
"Hmph," Jefferson snorted. "The thing is small, but the process is complicated. A bunch of messy anti-piracy circuits, gives me a headache just looking at them."
The man said, "Fix it, if you can. If not, no worries."
"Chester!" Iggy called out, his voice dropping lower. "I don't have spare cash for a replacement."
So his name was Chester.
"Where's your money? Chasing women again?"
"Heh heh, at my age, that's all I've got..."
Chester frowned, seemingly disapproving of Iggy. "Ambition!"
Jefferson seemed to notice his son's return only then, nodding at Harper. "You're back? Go inside."
Plain, simple, even somewhat indifferent.
But his tone didn't sound bad.
Iggy raised his voice, "Hey, Jerome, at least show some concern for your son!"
"I am showing concern."
"This is what you call concern?!"
Harper stared into Jefferson's eyes for a few seconds, then turned and walked towards the house.
A strange, strange father-son relationship.
What does a normal father-son relationship look like?
Harper got along well with his dad when he was alive. Old Harper was very interested in things boys liked, such as games, sports, and anime.
Even when he caught his son secretly playing a risqué GalGame, he just smiled knowingly.
So Harper and Old Harper had a great relationship, always having endless conversations when they were together.
But Harper knew that a dad like Old Harper was rare.
Could a typical father-son relationship be like this?
It seemed like as long as the son was alive, that was enough.
Whether he was doing well or not, what he was thinking about—did it all not matter?
Harper fell silent.
Because of this, he thought of his dad and mom again.
He blinked, suppressing the hint of tears welling up in his eyes.
He needed to focus.
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