Bab 23: Chapter 23: Fate's Joke!
"Boss... boss, how should we handle this?"
After seeing Benjamin driving away, the thugs regroup, looking at their struggling boss crawling up from the ground and nervously asked.
Whack!
The boss, barely on his feet, gets angry upon hearing their question. He slaps the one who asks and shouts.
"Get the hell out of here, all of you! Didn't you see how scary that guy is? Go tell Ken to deal with it himself. As for you, find that guy named Wang and demand compensation for medical expenses. If he refuses, mention Benjamin's name to that guy. I don't believe he would spare the one behind all this."
After shouting, the boss's face shows pain. He grumbles while rubbing his body, murmuring curses.
"Damn it, is that guy human or a ghost? How can he be so vicious? He almost broke my ribs! This cannot be ignored. I must have Ken send someone to deal with him."
"Ouch... easy on the hand. I'm in pain, you know?"
"Damn, you fool, go call a car. Are you planning to have me walk home?"
The boss's groans and curses echo on the deserted intersection in the north. However, Benjamin needs more time to pay attention to this. He has a heavy burden on his mind. After dealing with the thugs, he received a call from his father in the hospital. His sister's condition suddenly changed, and emergency surgery was needed. Additional fees had to be paid.
Benjamin wastes no time and rushes to the hospital. But upon arriving, he sees police cars parked in front of the entrance. On his way to the emergency room, he encounters many blood-covered patients. They seem to have just experienced a fierce fight. The tattoos on their bodies indicate their affiliation with gangs in New Harbor City.
Although shocked, Benjamin has no time to dwell on it. He hurries to his sister's room, where he finds his father outside the emergency hall. He anxiously asks,
"Dad, how's my sister doing?"
Seeing Benjamin, a trace of sadness appears in Jevin's eyes. He shakes his head slightly, and his voice is filled with helplessness and bitterness.
"The situation is not very promising! The doctor said your sister had a blood infection, requiring surgery and a blood transfusion. Moreover, the amount of money we paid to the hospital last time is no longer enough. The hospital is asking us to pay an additional fifty million. If her condition worsens, that amount could double."
Upon hearing this, Benjamin's face subtly changed. He hadn't expected his sister's condition to become so dire.
"Dad, don't worry about the money. I started working a few days ago, and my boss advanced my salary. I will cover my sister's medical expenses. Besides, my wife still has some money; if necessary, I will ask her for help."
"Okay." Jevin responded weakly, knowing that since his daughter's hospitalization, they had already spent hundreds of millions on medical expenses, over half of which Benjamin had borrowed from his wife's family. Jevin had even sold part of their land in the countryside to cover his daughter's expenses to help her survive one day at a time.
"Dad, I'll go pay the hospital fees first. Please call me if anything happens, and I'll come immediately."
Seeing the added wrinkles on his father's aging face and the greying hair, Benjamin felt like a complete failure. Over the years, he had never bought his father anything special or provided a happy, carefree day for his sister. After being discharged from the military, he witnessed his sister's hospitalization and reluctantly accepted Isabella's proposal to become an undignified son-in-law.
For someone as proud as Benjamin, this was a total failure. However, he knew that without Isabella's help, his sister might not have survived until today.
With a heavy heart, Benjamin's steps slowed as he went to the hospital's ground floor and approached the payment counter at the main entrance. He handed over the fifty million that Isabella had transferred to him for medical fees.
After settling the payment, Benjamin returned to the emergency room, where his father was still waiting outside.
"Dad, have they finished treating her?"
Seeing that the emergency room door remained closed with no signs of opening, Benjamin felt increasingly anxious. Jevin glanced at his son with clouded eyes and shook his head.
"Not yet..."
However, before he could finish, the emergency room door suddenly opened. A group of nurses and doctors, followed by a white stretcher, emerged from inside.
"How is my daughter? Is she... is she alright?"
Upon seeing the nurses and doctors come out, Jevin's voice faltered, struggling to articulate his words. Benjamin, equally concerned, stared intently at the inside of the treatment room.
"I'm truly sorry, sir and young man. Our hospital has done everything in our power. However, the patient's condition is critically severe, and we cannot salvage the situation. Please prepare yourselves mentally. The patient might have a hard time making it through this time!"
Upon hearing this news from the doctor, Jevin and Benjamin were instantly devastated.
"No... no way. My sister absolutely cannot experience this. Are you people lying to me?"
Seeing Benjamin's agitated state, the nurses and doctors present were extraordinarily alarmed and hastily tried to calm him down. Even Jevin had to make an effort to console and pull Benjamin away.
"I don't believe it; I won't believe your words. My sister will not suffer any harm!"
...
As Benjamin returned with a lost and disoriented look, the clock showed it was past midnight. Isabella's eyebrows furrowed, and her voice revealed a hint of annoyance.
"Where have you been? Why are you injured? Did you go out and get into a fight again?"
"It's nothing, and you can continue your work. I'm going to bed now!"
With no mood to answer Isabella's question, Benjamin waved his hand dismissively and walked tiredly up the stairs, looking like a soulless person.
Seeing this, Isabella felt even more upset and irritated. But with a pile of work still ahead, she could only frown and bury herself back into her tasks.
Lying on the bed, Benjamin propped his hands behind his head, gazing at the sky outside the window. The moon was bright tonight, and the sky was filled with stars. However, his emotions were in turmoil. Inside his chest, it felt like something was pressing down, causing him immense discomfort.
Knock, knock!
"Benjamin, are you still awake? I just remembered that I should mention this earlier. Tomorrow, I have a crucial meeting to discuss business with foreign partners. So you don't need to go to work in the morning. Come to the office and wait for me, and then we'll attend the event together. You'll be my bodyguard."
After speaking her piece and not hearing a response from Benjamin, Isabella's voice paused for a moment. Then, she continued to inquire.
"Did you hear what I said?"
Not intending to respond initially, Benjamin reluctantly replied upon hearing Isabella's question.
"Yeah, I got it."
Hearing his response, Isabella didn't say anything more and turned to leave. At that moment, Benjamin sat up, somewhat bewildered, touching his chest area.
Suddenly, a faint light emitted from his left chest, revealing a bizarre color.
"Been days like this, why is this happening?"
Quickly removing his undershirt, Benjamin could see above the scar on the left side of his chest where numerous peculiar lines now appeared, emitting a faint white light. The shapes of these lines rapidly combined to form a small tattoo, resembling a yin-yang pair of koi fish. However, only the left half of the design emitted light, while the right half remained visible but illuminated.
Benjamin did not know why these things had appeared on his body. Over a year ago, he suddenly encountered an extraordinary man while on a mission abroad. This man had given him a jade pendant shaped like a koi fish, which was half of the design now glowing on his chest.
At that time, Benjamin hadn't thought much about it. But when he and his teammates were unexpectedly ambushed, he was seriously injured and seemed unable to wake up and return to his father and sister. Miraculously, however, he recovered fully to the disbelief of everyone around him.
Since then, each time there was a full moon, the mysterious tattoo on his left chest would emit light. And he felt like something in his body was awakening every time, causing him immense pain. Yet, after the pain subsided, he became increasingly resilient and robust. Moreover, his senses became more acute and sensitive.
This was why, after returning from the brink of death, he quickly transformed into a different person, regarded as a warrior by many of his former comrades.
However, after some time in the military, he began to discover the darker side of the world. Therefore, he left the service and returned to his everyday life. But who would have thought that shortly after leaving the military, a series of upheavals would befall him, making him feel like fate was playing a cruel joke?
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