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nEventually, Nick woke up.

nWhile everything had felt great, it was not so great that he would finish a whole night’s sleep in the bath.

nNick wanted to scratch his nose but accidentally hit the breathing mask.

nAfter that, he remembered where he was, and he quickly sat up in the bath.

nThe bath was filled with a liquid denser than water, which was why Nick didn’t swim in it.

nWhen Nick poked his head out, he saw one other person in the baths, but he didn’t remember that one.

n‘The others probably already left.’

nThe next moment, Nick’s eyes met with one of the employees, and the employee walked over.

nIt was a woman in a green uniform, but a different one from before.

nAfter a bit, the employee reached Nick’s bath. “Please, take off the mask.”

nNick did just that, and the woman looked at Nick’s face.

nA moment later, she wrote something down on a clipboard. “Do you feel pain anywhere?” she asked neutrally.

nNick moved his shoulders and legs around a bit.

n“No, everything feels great,” Nick said with surprise.

n“And your nose?” the woman asked.

nNick’s eyes widened, and he quickly touched his nose.

nWhen he noticed that his nose was also fully healed, he was quite surprised. “It’s healed?” he asked in confusion.

nThe employee nodded. “The healing liquid doesn’t need to be in direct contact with the injured area. It also seeps through your skin and travels across your body.”

nShe wrote a bit more on the clipboard before turning the clipboard around and holding it to Nick. “Sign here, and you can go.”

nNick slowly and carefully stood up.

nSurprisingly, the liquid was falling off him without leaving any stains or making him wet.

nThe next moment, Nick took the clipboard into his hand and started to read.

n…

n…

n“Are there any problems?” the employee asked with a slightly impatient tone after over two minutes.

n“Oh, no,” Nick answered quickly. “I’m just not very good at reading.”

nThe employee just rolled her eyes. “It basically just says that you feel healthy and that you want to leave.”

nNick nodded. “Okay, but I still want to read it.”

nThe employee got even more annoyed, but she didn’t say anything.

nAfter around three more minutes, Nick was finally done.

nLuckily, there wasn’t a lot written on the clipboard, and it wasn’t nearly as hard to understand as the NDA Nick signed.

nEventually, Nick grabbed the pen on the clipboard and awkwardly signed.

nHe still wasn’t used to writing.

nNick handed the clipboard back, and the employee quickly grabbed it.

n“Have a nice day. You can go,” she said curtly before walking away.

nNick just nodded and walked to the exit.

nLuckily, there was a second door, which meant that he didn’t need to pass through the room with the cleansing baths again.

nSince Nick hadn’t put any of his belongings away, he could directly leave.

nWhile Nick was walking through the hospital, he looked around with interest.

nHis life was no longer in danger, which allowed him to appreciate the look of the hospital.

nEverything seemed so… clean.

nNick had never seen anything this clean before.

nIt felt so alien to him.

nNick had lived in the Dregs for his entire life, and the Dregs were not the cleanest place.

nWhen Nick reached the lobby, he only saw two people.

nThe receptionist and a boy.

nThe boy was standing at the side of the lobby with a stack of clothes in his hands, and he awkwardly looked around.

nThe boy was maybe 14 years old or something like that.

nFor a second, the eyes of Nick and the boy met.

nThe boy looked at Nick with anxiety and looked at his clothing.

nThen, he looked towards the direction of the baths again.

n“You searching for someone?” Nick asked.

nThe boy was surprised when Nick started a conversation.

n“Yes, yes!” the boy answered nervously. “I’m supposed to deliver these clothes to someone called Nick.”

nNick blinked twice. “That’s me.”

n“Oh?” the boy uttered as he looked at Nick with surprise.

nBut then, his brows furrowed as he looked at Nick’s clothing again.

n“But your clothing isn’t dirty,” he said.

n“I bathed in my clothing,” Nick said. “I presume these clothes are from Wyntor?”

nWhen the boy heard Nick say Wyntor’s name, he sighed in relief. “Yes,” he said.

nThe next moment, he held the clothes forward, and Nick took them.

nNick couldn’t see all of the clothes since they were folded, but he could see quite a bit of red and black.

nThat was when Nick’s eyes widened, and he subconsciously gripped the clothes tighter.

n“Is that… Crimson Fungus City’s official Zephyx Extractor uniform?” Nick asked in surprise.

nThe boy nodded with a smile. “Yes, sir.”

nAt this moment, it really hit Nick.

nHe was a Zephyx Extractor!

nNick had seen a couple of Extractors walking around, and they had worn a uniform just like this one.

nCrimson Fungus City required all Zephyx Extractors to wear this uniform, no matter to which company they belonged.

nExtractors had to wear the uniform when they were on duty, but they were also encouraged to wear it in their spare time.

nWhile it wasn’t mandatory for Extractors to wear their uniforms in their free time, it had become the norm after many lawsuits.

nWhat if an Extractor uses their ability? Would they be on duty or not?

nWhat if someone tried to steal from them and got incinerated by the Extractor’s ability?

nOf course, the city didn’t care about the fate of criminals, but they very much cared about the criminals’ bodies and blood.

nEven criminals brought in blood and money.

nZephyx Extractors are allowed to kill people from the Dregs with a good reason. Otherwise, they would need to pay a fine of about 5,000 credits. 𝓇𝘦𝒶.𝘤𝘰𝑚

nExtractors are also allowed to kill people of the Outer City, but only when the person tried to physically assault them first.

nBecause of the many unnecessary deaths, the city encouraged the Extractors to wear their uniform when going out.

nEven in their spare time.

n‘And now, I finally have my very own uniform,’ Nick thought as he looked at the uniform in his hand.

n‘I’m now officially a Zephyx Extractor!’

nThis content is taken from 𝘪𝑟𝘦𝘢𝒹.𝘤𝑜𝓂

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