"You just need to decide on your team leader. Small things like this don't need to involve us. Just do it on your wristband," the staff member said impatiently, waving them away like he couldn't be bothered.
Leng and Fei Yang looked apologetically at Danielle. "Sorry, we'll talk about this later. We have something urgent right now."
Zachary noticed the bloodstains on them and asked, "Are you going to see your seriously injured teammate?"
Leng nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry, he'll pull through. He's really talented with wind powers—he won't hold us back."
Danielle gave a small smile. "He didn't mean it like that. Since we're all teammates now, we should go with you."
"But..." Leng looked at little Rain, who was quietly nestled in Zachary's arms. "The kid is very young... and honestly, the injured teammate looks kind of scary now."
"It's fine. He's brave," Danielle replied. Rain nodded hard.
"Auntie, don't worry. Rain's not scared," he said.
Leng gave an awkward smile, clearly not used to smiling, and quickly dropped it. "Alright, let's go."
Fei Yang clearly followed Leng's lead. Once she agreed, he happily moved closer to Danielle and Zachary, chatting nonstop.
Danielle was shy and Zachary wasn't talkative either, so thankfully, little chatterbox Rain kept things from getting awkward.
Still, Fei Yang being talkative helped. By the time they reached the outside of the hospital, Danielle already had a good understanding of the three teammates.
Fei Yang's ability was fire, with a slight mutation that gave him early warning senses.
Leng had healing powers. The injured teammate was named Lu Yi, and his power was wind.
Their talents were solid, but unfortunately, their families were poor.
They had all moved up from the lower zones and thought with high-level abilities, they'd thrive in the mid-zone.
But talent alone wasn't enough—it needed training. Without that, their powers were weaker than even some unusual abilities.
Like the bearded man with the giant hammer earlier—he only had a mid-level ranking, but he had awakened earlier and trained well, so he was stronger than them.
Plus, in the mid-zone, everything cost money. In the lower zone, there weren't service fees, cleaning fees, or greenery charges. But here, everything had a price—and housing was especially expensive.
Fei Yang pulled a miserable face. "I nearly ended up starving on the streets. Lucky the captain didn't mind taking me into the Safe Team, or I wouldn't have survived."
When he mentioned the bearded man, Fei Yang's eyes welled up with tears again.
Danielle, being more sensitive, felt her eyes water a little too.
"He was a good captain."
Leng glanced sideways at Danielle and Zachary. Danielle seemed easy to talk to, but her man...
Honestly, Fei Yang's story was already tragic, but Zachary didn't show even the slightest emotion.
Too cold-hearted.
Leng wasn't fond of Zachary and, after hesitating for a long time, finally stopped walking.
"Danielle, there's something I need to tell you in advance."
Danielle blinked.
"When we turned in the mission earlier, we received 100,000. Normally, even if you joined the team later, you'd still get a share."
Leng pressed her lips together. She knew this rule was unusual.
But it had been set by the bearded captain, meant to help newcomers.
She, Fei Yang, and Lu Yi had all benefited from it before.
Now, though, she'd decided not to share it with Danielle and felt guilty about it.
"This time, after we cover Lu Yi's medical fees, I want to give the rest to the captain's family. I hope you understand."
Danielle blinked and let out a dry chuckle.
"You don't have to explain. I didn't join the last mission anyway. Not getting a share makes sense."
She twitched her mouth. "Actually, getting a share would've been the weird part."
Leng's face flushed slightly. She had taken the money back then.
Fei Yang also looked awkward, opening his mouth but not knowing what to say.
Luckily, they had arrived at the hospital entrance. Danielle looked up.
It was a huge, square building, like a giant coffin. The whole structure was made of a cold, white material.
The chill it gave off made people uncomfortable. Even before going inside, Rain nervously snuggled into Danielle's arms.
"What's wrong, Rain?" Danielle was a bit confused. The little guy was usually brave. Why was he scared now?
Zachary took Rain from her and explained coolly, "He had a serious illness when he was little. He stayed here for a month. Ever since then, he's been scared of this place."
Seeing the little one looking so down, Danielle felt bad too.
"Then you two wait outside. I'll go in and come back soon."
Zachary stopped immediately and left with Rain without saying another word.
They were family—Danielle represented him, so it didn't matter who went.
Danielle smiled awkwardly at Leng and Fei Yang. "He's just like that—cold personality, but he's not a bad person."
Leng gave a slight twitch of her mouth in response.
Fei Yang, on the other hand, was curious. He hadn't dared to ask earlier in front of Zachary, but now he followed Danielle, asking about her and Zachary's relationship.
This wasn't something she could talk about carelessly, so Danielle just laughed it off and avoided answering.
The hospital inside looked a lot like modern ones—lobby on the first floor, consultation rooms on the second, and inpatient rooms on the third to fifth floors.
Danielle looked around curiously. "The hospital doesn't seem that big, and it looks like there aren't many patients."
Right after she spoke, several people in white coats rushed past them, pushing a bed covered in blood.
Danielle saw someone tightly holding onto a severed leg.
"Ugh!"
It was the first time she had seen such a bloody scene, and she couldn't take it.
Leng placed a hand on Danielle's back, and a soft yellow light passed over her.
The nausea eased a little.
Leng, usually cold, now sounded slightly angry. "It's not that there aren't many patients. It's that people can't afford it. Many don't have the money to come here."
"Most of them go to street doctors instead…"
She pointed to herself. "I'm already considered decent. Others have to rely on people who just know how to stop bleeding or use weak healing powers."
"In the end, whether they live or die depends on luck!"
Sigh.
Danielle sighed. It turned out that no matter where you were, getting medical help was always difficult.
While they were talking, the three of them entered the elevator.
Fei Yang paced nervously. "I wonder how Brother Lu Yi is doing?"
Ding.
The elevator door opened.
Fei Yang rushed out first.
Danielle was last. She glanced at the room number—503.
"What are you doing?!"
Before she even stepped in, she heard Fei Yang shouting angrily.
She hesitated. Would going in now be inappropriate?
Before she could decide, she heard Leng's cry from inside.
Danielle pushed open the door. The room was a mess.
Leng had fallen to the floor, looking shaken. Fei Yang stood in front of the hospital bed, face red, blocking it.
"Why did you turn off the treatment machine?! I told you I'd come pay the fees!"
He was so angry that veins were popping from his neck as he shouted at the people in white coats in front of him.
Danielle didn't know what was going on, so she stayed quiet and quickly helped Leng up.