Illusion Report

Chapter 221: Chapter 184: Mai Mingle’s Accidental Cornering of the Doctor

Although Mai Mingle was eager to find her very first client for the Illusion, the pressing matter at hand was taking care of her physical needs: treatment, food, and sleep—in any order.

Hai Luwei’s injuries were more severe, so he needed treatment first. She decided to go to the doctor with him.

Cell phones were so convenient. When his taxi was almost at her building, he just had to make one call, and Mai Mingle could head downstairs to wait. Once she sold the Illusion, she decided, she had to get a smartphone for herself.

"What’s this?"

As soon as he got in the car, a paper bag was stuffed into Hai Luwei’s arms.

"I figured you must be hungry," Mai Mingle said, settling in and closing the car door. "I made you a toasted sandwich and packed a carton of juice."

"Isn’t this a kid’s lunch?"

Hai Luwei seemed torn between amusement and exasperation, and too embarrassed to accept. He had just started to hand the bag back when his stomach betrayed him with a loud GRUMBLE. After Mai Mingle urged him on, he sheepishly took out the sandwich, bit off a large chunk, and mumbled through his mouthful, "...It’s like I suddenly gained a grandmother."

"It’s a shame there’s no ice cream," Mai Mingle said, watching him happily. "I love watching animals... and people eat."

"You didn’t forget the money, did you?" Hai Luwei asked, looking at his sandwich.

"I withdrew all the money from the card." It wasn’t much to begin with, but it should have been enough to last her until she died.

"Huh? You know how to use an ATM?"

Even the driver couldn’t help but glance at Mai Mingle in the rearview mirror. ’Who gets that surprised about a woman in her twenties knowing how to use an ATM?’

"Have you never spent time around old people?"

Mai Mingle wasn’t afraid of being overheard. She’d let the driver be confused; he wouldn’t figure it out anyway. "I remember ATMs existed in the seventies."

Hai Luwei smiled sheepishly, a smear of mayonnaise at the corner of his mouth. "My grandparents’ generation all passed away pretty early. I never even met them."

The clinic that catered primarily to Hunters was located in an old building in the Little Italy district. Thankfully, the elevator ran around the clock, allowing the two of them, who couldn’t muster a single good pair of feet between them, to make it to the third floor.

Hai Luwei had made an appointment before they arrived. Although the front desk was empty and the lights were dim everywhere, the clinic door was unlocked. He pushed it open and called out, "Dr. Nate?"

Mai Mingle had been wondering what kind of person a doctor for Hunters would be—would he look like a gangster? A hard-boiled tough guy? Or a mad scientist?

But the man who walked out was just an ordinary-looking man, as if the weight of life itself was pressing down on his carotid artery. His face was drained of color; he looked more like a patient than a doctor.

Then again, anyone called in before five in the morning to treat injuries wasn’t going to look their best.

A thick stack of newspapers piled on the office desk gave Mai Mingle a pang of nostalgia. Nowadays on the streets of Blackmoor City, it seemed you couldn’t even find a small kiosk selling newspapers and magazines anymore.

But for some reason, all the newspapers seemed to be from the same day—it looked as if Dr. Nate had bought a copy of every single paper published that day.

"How’ve you been lately, Dr. Nate?" Hai Luwei was surprisingly good at enduring pain. Despite having a fractured bone, he could still make small talk with the doctor while sucking in sharp breaths of air.

Dr. Nate glanced at Mai Mingle and let out a long sigh. "A new Hunter?"

’He’s that perceptive?’

"I told him," Hai Luwei said.

The thought that she, too, could now be introduced to others as a Hunter made Mai Mingle feel a little proud.

"I really don’t understand what you Hunters are made of." Dr. Nate shook his head, looking at the X-ray. "This isn’t a line of work any normal person can stand, yet you all keep flocking to it... Anyway, I’ve had enough. I’m planning to retire soon."

"Why the sudden decision to retire?"

Dr. Nate seemed reluctant to discuss it. "...There are definitely no Hunters in the Bahamas."

’If he dislikes Hunters so much, why did he even start a business with them in the first place?’

Puzzled, Mai Mingle raised her eyes and met Hai Luwei’s gaze over the back of the doctor, who was bending down to apply a splint.

Logically, the doctor’s reasons for retiring had nothing to do with them. If he retired, they could just find another doctor.

But at that moment, Mai Mingle hadn’t yet realized that if one simply ignored things that seemed to have no personal relevance, one could never succeed as a Hunter—because an Illusion can hide beneath any surface.

"Doctor, your clinic has been open for twenty years, hasn’t it?" Hai Luwei asked.

"It has."

"So who made you suddenly realize how terrifying this Hunter business is?" He made no attempt to hide his curiosity. "Some people are just so inconsiderate."

Dr. Nate was silent for a moment. Only after he finished with the splint did he speak. "Someone like Chaisi Monroe isn’t just ’inconsiderate’... He’s ruthless."

’I don’t know who that is, but he must be a Hunter,’ Mai Mingle thought, her gaze sweeping over the pile of newspapers on the desk again.

’Dr. Nate must have a cell phone. I hear you can find anything on smartphones these days, yet he still bought every single newspaper... He’s too scared to miss any source of information. This must be something big.’

"Are you worried that something might be discovered?" Mai Mingle asked.

Startled, the skin on Dr. Nate’s face practically jumped.

"Chaisi Monroe..." Hai Luwei muttered. "The Kai Family’s second-in-command. I’ve heard he’s a ruthless one. But if he got you involved in something, the pay must have been pretty high... Hey, no wonder you can suddenly afford to retire, Doctor."

Even if she didn’t know who was who in the Hunter community, Mai Mingle knew one thing: if Hai Luwei said the "pay was pretty high," then it definitely wasn’t anything simple or legal.

"Someone didn’t die, did they?" she asked tentatively. "Did you see it, Doctor?"

"You don’t know Chaisi Monroe’s reputation," Hai Luwei said. "Odds are someone’s dead. I’m guessing Dr. Nate is afraid the whole affair will be exposed and he’ll be charged as an accomplice."

"This is exactly why I hate you Hunters so much!"

Dr. Nate slammed the medical chart down on his desk, losing his temper. "Every damn one of you is like you’ve got OCD! You catch one scent and you’ll follow it all the way back to your ancestors’ graves. Nobody ask another goddamn word. If this gets out, you can bet I’ll make sure to mention you both."

They both fell silent, but Mai Mingle had to press her lips together to keep from smiling.

"What are you so happy about?" Hai Luwei asked.

"Doesn’t this mean I have a bit of a knack for being a Hunter?" Mai Mingle asked, beaming.

"I guess so," Hai Luwei laughed as well. "Bringing an Illusion out of a Nest on your first time in is genuinely impressive."

To be precise, it was her second time, but that was a minor detail, so Mai Mingle felt she deserved the praise. Dr. Nate was clearly displeased, but the treatment had to go on. As he tended to Mai Mingle’s wounds, she and Hai Luwei made idle chitchat, eventually bringing up the Black Heart Restaurant.

"...I just found out they can go out to sea, and even go fishing. It seems to correspond with Central Bay in Blackmoor City—Ow!"

Mai Mingle cried out in pain and pulled her foot back. Looking at Dr. Nate, she saw his expression was even worse than hers. "What’s wrong? You almost ripped my skin off."

"You two... you’re not here with some ulterior motive, are you?" His eyes darkened as they darted between them. "What did you hear? Why did you seek me out?"

The two of them, each looking more baffled than the other.

"What motive?" Hai Luwei said. "We’re here to get our injuries treated, obviously."

"Then what did she mean just now... about Central Bay and going out to sea?"

Hai Luwei had once said that people who dealt with Hunters usually only had a superficial understanding of Nests—unless a Hunter was willing to patiently explain everything. But even then, no Hunter would dare claim to understand Nests completely. There were even some people who dealt with Hunters regularly yet refused to believe Nests even existed.

Mai Mingle didn’t know how much Dr. Nate knew, but in that moment, she didn’t stop to consider whether she should be direct or cryptic.

Because in that instant, a fragment of information from the Nest—perhaps triggered now that a connection had been made—suddenly pierced her mind. It was as if it had its own momentum, tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop it.

"The sea around Blackmoor City is special. Although Nest inhabitants can’t use the sea to land in Blackmoor City, sometimes, when they go out to sea, they can salvage things that have sunk into Blackmoor City’s waters and bring them into the Nest."

Dr. Nate stared at her blankly, then subconsciously turned his head to glance at the thick pile of newspapers on his desk.

It was as if an answer had finally fallen into his lap, and he didn’t know whether to be afraid or relieved.

"You... you should go," he said, putting down the bandages and pointing to the door. "I just remembered I have something urgent to take care of."