"Mercy!"
Unexpectedly, Janet was able to adapt. Upon realizing the danger to her life, she immediately shrieked.
Due to the high temperature of the distorted air, her eyes couldn't shed tears, and the lingering scorching heat made her wish she could gouge out her eyes.
She shrieked at Durin in front of her, "I lost... I lost! I lost! Mercy, I still have a sister... She can't live without me, she's seriously ill in bed... If I... if I die... she won't be able to live. Give me a chance... Please..."
"I can spare you," Durin said calmly. "Give me the weapon blueprint you stole from the Spencer Family earlier."
"Okay. But I can only give it to you tomorrow," Janet readily agreed.
Durin immediately frowned, wondering if this Augment woman was playing him. He said in a deep voice, "Don't play tricks. Why tomorrow? If the blueprint isn't on you, then take me to get it now."
"Impossible," Janet shook her head, her voice hoarse. "I already sold the blueprint to a Chem-Baron of Glasc Industries. It won't be that simple to get it back."
Chem-Baron?
Durin's brows furrowed even more. This was one of the important figures in Zaun's upper echelons. If the blueprint was in the hands of a Chem-Baron, the difficulty for Durin to retrieve it would be considerable. He couldn't just single-handedly break in and snatch it back. Not to mention whether he had the strength, a job worth only 100 silver cogs was not enough for him to take such a risk.
"Since you sold the blueprint to a Chem-Baron, how do you plan to get it back? Steal it?" Durin sneered.
"No, no, no, I'm not that foolish. Stealing is only for those idiots in Piltover. Stealing from a Chem-Baron is just asking for death... Hey, don't be so impatient, I haven't finished yet." Janet saw the anger on Durin's face and immediately explained breathlessly, "This Chem-Baron is named Renata. She only wants the Hextech weapon technology on the blueprint, not the blueprint itself. And you, on the other hand, need the weapon blueprint itself. Whether the Hextech weapon technology on it has leaked out has nothing to do with you, right? So, I will find her tomorrow and ask her to copy down the technology from the blueprint, then return the blueprint itself to me, and then I will give the blueprint to you. This way, a Chem-Baron gets the Hextech technology, you get the blueprint itself, and I also get the money from selling this blueprint. Isn't that a win-win-win?"
Janet's voice, due to the filter installed in her left cheek, caused her slightly sharp female voice to become unusually muffled and hollow, yet she continued to speak eloquently.
Durin opened his mouth, wanting to speak but holding back. After thinking carefully, he felt that what she said made a lot of sense.
In the end, it would even be a four-way win—the Spencer Family's third steward who issued this commission would also not be held accountable for the lost blueprint. As for the injured Spencer Family itself, that was none of his business.
"But why should I believe you?" Durin said expressionlessly. "You just tried to kill me. If I turn around and let you go, and you run off with your sister, wouldn't I be unable to get the blueprint back?"
As he spoke, he raised the scimitar in his hand and held it against her neck, saying calmly, "I might as well cut off your head; perhaps I'd even get some reward."
"If you kill me, you'll be even less likely to get the weapon blueprint!" Janet grew anxious, her purple eyes turning bloodshot from congestion. "Do you really think those Piltoverianss will give you money if I die? Impossible! They won't give you a single coin!"
"That may be true, but you still need to have something I can hold over you, otherwise I'd rather let this mission fall through," Durin said calmly. "At most, it's a wasted trip; I have no losses. But if you die, how many days do you think your sister, who's lying in bed at home relying on a ventilator to survive, will live in Zaun?"
Under the double influence of [On the Go Chat] and Durin's intentional triggering of [Friendship], after a desperate struggle, Janet, whose mind had been cleared by the beating, completely collapsed psychologically.
The expression on her face went from bewilderment to panic, and finally to trembling.
Janet clearly felt that if Durin's scimitar embedded just a tiny bit deeper, it could cut her throat, bidding farewell to this terrible world.
"What do you want to do?" Janet's voice was hoarse.
"Hmm..."
Durin pondered, his gaze noting the flickering lights in the distance, which was the bustling Border Market.
However, his current location was in the wilderness, surrounded by nothing but weeds and complete darkness. Even the moonlight and starlight spilling from Piltover couldn't reach this place.
This left him somewhat at a loss as to what he could use to hold her hostage.
Suddenly, he caught sight of a large black box hidden behind a wall pillar. The half-open zipper revealed a white medical cooler inside, marked with a medical cross and a small line of text: "Precious synthetic internal organs, surgery required within 48 hours."
Hmm?
Synthetic organs?
"How much did you spend?" Durin muttered to himself. "Let me guess, probably two gold cogwheels? Although Zaun is full of human organ trade and industrial chains, due to environmental issues, few people have healthy organs. They are all transported from outside, so every real organ is incredibly expensive."
As he spoke, his gaze constantly observed her emotional changes.
Janet's facial expression began to show tension, her eyes darting around nervously, appearing somewhat uneasy.
Her eyes darted around nervously and uneasily.
Durin continued, "You said your sister, at the same age as a flower, contracted lung disease. How pitiful, only able to maintain life with a ventilator."
Janet could no longer remain calm, screaming emotionally, "That's my sister's life! You're not allowed to take it!"
"Shh! Don't get excited. As long as you help me get the weapon blueprint back, I will return the lung organs to you. You can then quickly take your sister for the transplant surgery and leave Zaun." Durin raised a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture, a slight smile on his face. "By then, we'll go our separate ways and have no further dealings."
"..."
Janet, now calm again, glared at Durin with hatred, gritting her teeth and saying, "I promise you!"
"Then we've reached an agreement," Durin smiled. "I can't give you much time. Let's meet here tomorrow morning at eight o'clock. You bring the weapon blueprint to me, and I'll return the lung organs to you."
With that, Durin put away the scimitar in his hand, then picked up a mechanical arm from the ground and placed it into her empty left shoulder.
Suddenly, several wires burst out messily from her left shoulder blade, and then the mechanical arm's wires writhed like tentacles, strangely intertwining and combining.
Before Durin could clearly see, the mechanical arm was already one with Janet's left shoulder. Then, she picked up a screw bolt from the ground and manually twisted it into the mechanical arm's joint connection.
After confirming everything was correct, Janet rotated her left shoulder and swung the mechanical arm twice, its joints emitting the crackling sound of gears rubbing.
She picked up the other mechanical arm from the ground and then expressionlessly left the abandoned building.
...
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