David was stunned when he heard Luoqi's invitation.
He had indeed always considered dropping out of school to work.
David knew his family's situation well; Gloria worked tirelessly every day just to afford his tuition at the expensive Arasaka Academy, yet she still lived like a pauper.
David knew that Gloria had placed all her hopes on him, wishing for him to succeed and have a better future than their present.
But David genuinely disliked school, not because he wasn't capable. On the contrary, David's grades had always been excellent.
The real reason was that David felt out of place among them, whether it was his classmates or the school itself; they seemed to belong to different worlds.
Compared to continuing at Arasaka Academy, enduring strange looks from others, and then joining Arasaka in the future to become one of many corporate dogs...
David would rather go out and venture into the world earlier, at least to make things easier for Gloria.
"Okay." Nodding heavily, David kept this matter in mind.
David got out of the car and carried Gloria on his back.
"Lisandra, keep an eye on him. Notify me if anything happens."
Watching David's retreating back, Luoqi gave the order to Lisandra.
It wasn't that he feared David would run off, but mainly because he had installed the Sandevistan in him, and if others found out, they might target him.
After all, the value of this cyberware was not low.
...
The next day.
Gloria, who had been brought home by David, slowly woke up.
Opening her eyes, Gloria touched her still groggy head.
Searching her memory, she recalled the last image before she fainted: her car crashing straight into the overturned vehicle in front.
Looking at the familiar ceiling above, Gloria realized she was at home.
"David!"
Gloria called out for David.
David had also been in the car at the time, and she was worried about his condition.
"Mom, you're awake."
At this moment, David, who was in the room, heard Gloria's call and came to her side.
Seeing David standing before her, completely unharmed, Gloria breathed a sigh of relief.
"David, are you okay? We... didn't we get into a car accident? Why are we at home?" Gloria was confused.
"I'm fine. After the car accident, Mom, you fainted, and I took you to a clinic. You're okay now.
But seriously, the Trauma Team people were too much. Seeing that we were injured, they completely ignored us just because we weren't clients."
David explained to Gloria, also complaining about the Trauma Team.
Hearing David, Gloria understood what had happened.
"David, did you pay the clinic's medical fees? It shouldn't have been cheap, right? Which clinic did you take me to?"
Gloria was curious where David got the money to pay for the medical fees. From the current situation, it seemed the medical fee issue had been resolved, otherwise, how could the clinic have let her come back.
But David shook his head and, after hesitating for a moment, told her the truth.
"It was the clinic in the alley behind the Coronado Farm. The fee issue has been resolved."
Although David hadn't paid, in a sense, that clinic was gone, so the money naturally didn't need to be paid. However, he now owed Luoqi another debt.
David's answer also shocked Gloria. How could Gloria not know how many clinics were in a remote area like Coronado Farm? But they were almost all Scavenger territory.
"You mean *that* clinic? How could that be? That place is..."
"It's Scavenger territory, right? Mom, I know now.
At first, I didn't understand, but later I discovered their truth and rescued Mom." David looked a bit guilty, but also a little happy.
Guilty because he had almost gotten his mother killed, happy because he now had the ability to protect her.
"David, is what you're saying true? How did you do it?"
Gloria was surprised and quickly got up to come to David, looking him over and touching him to check if he was injured.
Gloria had a lot of contact with the underground business on a daily basis, so she was naturally very clear about what the Scavengers were like.
And her usually obedient boy, David, being able to rescue her from the Scavengers was something Gloria simply couldn't believe.
But soon, Gloria felt something unusual on David's back.
"This is a Sandevistan! David, why would you have this installed?"
Gloria discovered the Sandevistan installed on David's back.
She recognized it as the cyberware she had stolen while cleaning up a scene back then.
At the same time, this cyberware had already been sold to Mann, and Mann had even paid for it. Now this cyberware was installed on David.
"Mom, when I saved you, I was injured by the Scavengers' explosion on my spine, and the Ripperdoc helped me install the Sandevistan to save me.
But actually, I should be the one asking. Mom, why do you have cyberware like this in your bag? Also, I checked your other account, and there's a large sum of money in it.
Mom, what is all of this about?"
When David saw Gloria asking about the cyberware, he questioned Gloria about the origin of the Sandevistan in return. He felt that Gloria was hiding a lot of things from him.
Gloria froze when she heard David's question.
Gloria had always wanted to portray herself as an excellent mother to David, and now her secret had been discovered by him. At this moment, she panicked.
"David, I... I had no choice. I had to pay for your school. If I didn't do this, I couldn't afford the high tuition fees," Gloria weakly argued.
"But this is a crime, Mom. Is it really worth it, just to attend Arasaka Academy?"
"It is! David, you might not understand yet, but all of this is worth it. As long as you can succeed, I'm willing to give anything."
Gloria was a little agitated. Everything she did was to help David succeed. She hoped David could understand her intentions.
But it was obvious that David didn't understand.
"I don't understand. Why? Is this really the only way? Do you really have to be an elite of society to survive?
Mom, I don't like school at all, and I don't want to become what you hope. I want to do what I want to do.
I've had enough of their strange looks towards me. No matter how hard we try, we might never be like them.
It's better to let me drop out and go out into the world. Now I have the Sandevistan, I can find a job, I can earn money to support us."
"No! David, cyberware like the Sandevistan is very dangerous, and this is a military-grade model. It will make you go crazy. You can't handle it at all."
"I can."
------------------------------
"Behind the scenes, there's a world of exclusive content waiting for you on Patreon. Get early access, to see the latest chapters!!! That's where it all happens.
👉 Check it out: [patreon.com/TripleCrown07]