"I’m here to see my uncle. Uh..mander Hunter." Jason pointed toward the door. "He should be inside, right?"
The soldier gave him a thorough once-over before turning to knock on the door.
"What is it?"
The mont the familiar voice rang out from inside, Jason’s eyes lit up with excitent. Before the soldier could even continue speaking, he blurted out loudly, "Uncle! It’s ! Jason"
"Jason? Quick, get in here!" The commanding voice from inside carried a rare trace of excitent.
The soldier imdiately opened the door, and Jason hurried inside.
The mont he entered, he saw Isaac sitting on the bed.
Compared to the last ti they t, Isaac had clearly lost weight. His face looked pale, though his posture remained upright and imposing.
There was also another man in the room, soone Jason had never seen before.
The middle-aged man wore a long black coat, sporting a thin goatee and long hair tied neatly behind him. He carried an almost otherworldly air, like so villain from a comic book about superheroes.
Jason smiled politely at him as he passed by, catching the strong scent of dicinal herbs lingering around the man. But he had no ti to think further about it.
What mattered more was Isaac’s condition.
"Uncle, Robert said you were sick!" Jason hurried over anxiously.
Isaac still looked fairly spirited despite his pale complexion.
"It’s nothing serious. Just a minor injury." Then he looked Jason up and down before snorting. "So the brat’s still alive, huh?"
Jason nearly choked to death from those words. "Uncle, how can you say that?!" he protested loudly.
What did he an by the brat’s still alive?! Was this really his biological uncle?
"You little rascal." Isaac laughed heartily. "Last ti Robert sent people to pick you up, they waited all day and never saw you. Then we couldn’t contact you either. Of course we thought sothing happened to you."
"My life’s tough. I’m not dying that easily."
Jason twitched helplessly.
"I knew your stubborn ass wouldn’t die so easily."
Isaac burst into booming laughter and slapped Jason heavily on the shoulder. Unfortunately, he clearly forgot to hold back his strength.
After several brutal pats, Jason nearly felt his shoulder shatter on the spot. His face twisted in pain, and he instantly retreated several steps away from his uncle.
He had almost forgotten that ever since childhood, his uncle had been monstrously strong, the kind of person who accidentally injured people just by patting them too hard.
Even sick, he was exactly the sa.
Honestly, with how energetic he looked, Jason could hardly believe he was ill at all.
Backing away several more steps, Jason nearly bumped into the middle-aged man standing nearby before rembering the other person was still there.
He quickly smiled apologetically before lowering his voice and asking his uncle, "Uncle...who is this gentleman?"
Isaac introduced him casually. "This is Doctor Riato; he specializes in... holistic thods of healing. He has been with for many years. He’s currently treating my condition."
Jason was stunned.
Damn. So he was basically his uncle’s friend...
"Nice to et you, Doc!"
Riato rely gave a calm nod, his attitude polite but distant.
Jason did not take offense. Powerful experts usually had eccentric temperants anyway.
His attention quickly returned to Isaac.
"Uncle, you still haven’t told what kind of injury you got. Is it serious?"
The smile on Isaac’s face faded slightly. "Just so external wounds that got infected. Don’t worry. The doc is here, I’ll recover soon enough."
When he said the last sentence, his expression carried a faint trace of distraction, as though he was not only reassuring Jason, but also convincing himself.
"That’s good." Only then did Jason finally relax.
He dragged over a chair and sat beside Isaac, chatting with him about everything that had happened during his ti outside.
Naturally, the topic soon shifted toward Suzy and the others.
Jason’s storytelling was practically identical to the speech he had given Robert earlier, endlessly praising Suzy to the heavens.
"Enough already." Isaac waved him off impatiently. "Quit rambling in my ear and just tell what you actually want."
Jason grinned sheepishly.
"It’s like this, Uncle. My friend wants so cent. She said she’s willing to trade food or other supplies for it. Could you help her out?"
Oddly enough, Jason felt far less nervous speaking to Isaac than he did around Robert.
To him, Isaac was actually the easier one to talk to.
"Fine. She saved your life. That ans we owe her a favor." The man spoke decisively. "If we can help, of course we should help. So tell , how much cent does she need?"
"Uncle, you’re the best!"
Jason imdiately flashed a grateful smile and held up a number with his fingers.
"A hundred bags? Hm...fine. I’ll have soone set aside a hundred bags for them."
Jason coughed awkwardly and shook his head. "Not a hundred."
"More?" Isaac asked.
"Yes," Jason said weakly.
"How much exactly? Just spit it out."
"A thousand bags."
"Get the hell out!"
Isaac’s first reaction was exactly the sa as Robert’s. He thought Jason was joking.
"Uncle, I’m serious!" Jason protested quickly. "She really needs that much."
"A thousand bags of cent? Impossible. We can’t spare that much. At most, a hundred bags."
Jason’s mouth twitched. How was he sohow negotiating the amount lower and lower every ti?
"Enough." Isaac waved him off. "Talk to your brother about this later. He’ll handle it."
Jason’s face instantly fell. He had co here hoping to bargain for more, only to walk things backward instead.
"Uncle, can’t you at least—"
Before he could finish, the silent Riato finally interrupted. "Commander Hunter. It’s ti."
"All right. Go ahead." Isaac nodded.
Jason glanced back and forth between them. Whatever he had wanted to say got swallowed back down imdiately.
"Ti for what?" he asked curiously.
"Ti to change the dicine," Isaac replied.
"Can I stay and watch?" Jason asked quickly.
"It’s nothing important. Stay if you want."
Curiosity imdiately lit up Jason’s eyes. He had been wondering this whole ti what kind of injury his uncle had suffered.
He found a corner to stand in, ready to investigate thoroughly.
Riato sohow produced a dical case from nowhere and walked over to Isaac.
anwhile, the man had already removed his outer jacket, revealing a camouflage T-shirt underneath.
The mont the jacket ca off, a vicious wound on his arm was exposed.
Jason sucked in a sharp breath.
Isaac glanced at him and laughed. "Scared you, huh?"
"N-not really," Jason said stubbornly.
He stepped closer for a better look, brows knitting tightly together.
"Uncle...what caused this?"
The wound stretched more than ten centiters along Isaac’s arm, looking as though it had been slashed open by so sharp weapon. It was deep, grotesque, and still hadn’t healed. The flesh around the edges curled outward horribly.
The surrounding skin had turned a terrifying purplish black. So areas had already begun festering with pus.
At first glance, it looked horrifying. Then Jason noticed sothing else. Tiny translucent blisters covered the skin around the wound.
His eyes widened. Why did this look so similar to the acid rain infection on his own leg?
"Uncle...was your wound infected by acid rain too?" Jason blurted out.
Both Isaac and Riato turned toward him in surprise.
Isaac frowned. "How did you recognize it? You can tell?"
"Well...mine looks almost the sa." Jason scratched his head. "My injury got infected by acid rain too. It looks really similar to yours."
The instant those words left his mouth, Isaac’s expression changed dramatically.
"You got injured too? And infected?!"
Jason nodded. "Yeah. I got infected too."
Isaac imdiately forgot about his own treatnt altogether. He grabbed Jason by the arm and yanked him closer.
"Where’s the injury? Let see!"
Their reactions startled Jason. Still, he obediently rolled up his pant leg and revealed the wound.
"Here."
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