"Life and death, an endless cycle. We live, they die…"
Someone had left those words outside a clinic. Not many people could understand them. They were written in ancient Egyptian, and anyone without specialized knowledge would be completely unable to decipher their meaning.
Inside the clinic, a figure in a white lab coat was performing surgery.
This illegal clinic could not compare to a hospital in terms of equipment or environment, yet it was deeply favored by the poor and by gang members.
"Alright, take him away. Make sure the rest of the money is here by this time tomorrow. You know the consequences."
"Don't worry."
This underground clinic in Hell's Kitchen was well known.
There was only one doctor, and his treatment methods were far from refined, but for most of the people who came here, that didn't matter. What they saw was hope for survival.
No one wanted to offend the doctor, especially those who had been shot and couldn't go to a proper hospital. If they defaulted on their medical fees, the doctor wouldn't even need to act personally. Someone would naturally come knocking to collect the debt.
Medical treatment cost money. If fees weren't paid, the doctor wouldn't dip into his own pocket to restock supplies. The next patient might discover that certain medicines were suddenly unavailable. After all, it wasn't the doctor who would suffer.
As for anyone foolish enough to cause trouble in the clinic, their bodies wouldn't even be found.
After removing his mask, Kai Zenin shook his head helplessly. As an undocumented individual, he had managed to live a relatively carefree life by running an illegal clinic and practicing medicine without a license in Hell's Kitchen.
Studying medicine was already painful enough in Japan. What was even worse was grinding through it to earn a direct doctorate, only to transmigrate right before graduation.
After realizing he had transmigrated, Kai really wanted to find someone to vent his anger on. If the god was going to punish someone, shouldn't he punish the person who had first recommended that he study medicine?
Still, since he was already here, Kai decided he should first figure out how to survive. After all, he was still young. Then he noticed a newspaper lying on the floor, filled with gossip about Tony Stark, which left him completely speechless.
If there was anything that made him even more speechless, it was discovering that he hadn't arrived empty-handed. He had actually brought along an absurdly thick book.
He hadn't realized it until he picked it up. When he saw the title, he was stunned.
The Book of the Dead.
If Kai hadn't been bold enough to flip through it, he might have thrown it away on the spot just because of the name.
The title Book of the Dead was not uncommon. The most famous example came from the Cthulhu Mythos, recording information about alien deities such as the Old Ones and Elder Gods, along with the cults that worshiped them and their forbidden rituals.
The Book of the Dead in Kai's possession was merely a namesake. It recorded only knowledge related to death.
To learn the knowledge within it required a massive amount of death energy. There were two ways to obtain it: Salvation and Slaughter.
Taking a life generated a large quantity of death energy, while saving a life allowed one to absorb the death energy clinging to the other person.
Kai, who was currently diligently walking the path of salvation, had saved many people in this small clinic.
Many of them received emergency treatment from him before heading to proper hospitals for further care. After all, even if someone steeled themselves and called an ambulance, when it would actually arrive was anyone's guess, but Kai's place was close by.
By activating the Book of the Dead with death energy, Kai learned meditation techniques to strengthen his mental power, along with some necromantic spells.
The spells he could currently use were relatively weak, but in a society made up mostly of ordinary people, they were already more than enough.
If this world didn't contain those bizarre forces, Kai might have enjoyed the thrill of being the only practitioner of magic. Unfortunately, there were far too many mages far stronger than him in this world, so he didn't dare be overly conspicuous.
"Tony Stark is missing, and the age of superheroes is about to arrive. Even though Hell's Kitchen is full of criminals, it's still safer than what's coming out there."
Although the thought of showing off his power crossed his mind, Kai knew it wasn't a wise choice, at least not until the Ancient One retired.
"Kai, do you think there's really technology out there that can regrow severed limbs?"
"There might be, but it's definitely not something you can afford. Or rather, any technology you've heard of is waiting for people like you to be used in human experiments. If it succeeds, you benefit. If it fails, you disappear, and your family won't even be able to see your dead body."
When the patient asked about limb regeneration, Kai couldn't say for certain that such technology didn't exist. In his memory, the only relevant option at the moment was Extremis, and this man who had lost an arm happened to be a soldier from the Afghanistan battlefield.
Kai's reply was blunt, laying out the worst possible outcomes, which left the man, who already had children, completely stunned.
"You might think I'm exaggerating, but some things aren't just rumors. I've heard that certain university medical schools buy soldiers' remains from the military. Don't think something guaranteed to succeed will just fall into your lap. Even if it does work, there will still be hidden dangers. Do you really think so-called post-war psychological trauma is purely psychological? Part of it comes from drug abuse."
"Fuck."
Listening to Kai's cold words, the man's face showed nothing but anger and helplessness. In his current state, what else could he do?
"Alright, the wound's been treated. Go back and rest. You still have work tomorrow."
A disabled soldier didn't receive much in the way of benefits. To support his family, the man had taken on delivery work for the gang.
Kai had nothing to say about that. He wasn't in a position to preach morality. When someone couldn't even guarantee two meals a day, talking about laws and principles was meaningless.
There were many people like this in Hell's Kitchen. It wasn't that they wanted to live this way; they simply had no power to change their circumstances.
All Kai could do was offer them some help, at least to make their remaining lives a little less painful, and give them a sliver of hope. That was why his clinic had become a kind of sanctuary.
Aside from a few brainless idiots, no one came looking for trouble with Kai. And he, in turn, wouldn't go out of his way to cause trouble for others, unless certain special conditions were met.
...
Draped in a tattered black robe, Kai walked through the alley, a trembling man stumbling ahead of him.
If the scumbag in front of him were merely a thief, or even someone who robbed and killed, Kai wouldn't have bothered. But this man was a psychopathic serial killer, something Kai found utterly repulsive.
Kai knew there were no good people in this place, and he had long since lowered his moral standards, even stepping beyond the boundaries of the law. But this bastard deserved to die as soon as possible.
A beast that preyed on little girls was perfectly suited to be sent off for human experimentation.