But that was just an illusion.
Moreover, it was now struggling even to breathe.
Feeding it would only block its throat and windpipe, hastening its departure.
Well, there went his hope.
Brian fell silent.
He guessed that when they first met, the ragged little dog was also experiencing its last surge of energy, forcing its body to run out of the alley, looking for someone to save the big dog.
If he had known, he would have fed it right then.
Who could have expected it was a sick dog.
...
Brian had just finished paying his adoptive parents' medical bills.
Now, he had less than five hundred dollars to his name.
Since the puppy was basically beyond saving,
he didn't want to continue wasting his hard-earned money.
With that thought,
Brian prepared to turn and leave.
At that moment,
the dying puppy, sniffing with its little nose, seemed to smell something, and with effort, it opened its eyes and looked at Brian with a faint but affectionate whimper.
Brian:...
Oh.
He softened.
The heart that had hardened.
In the instant he met the little dog's clear eyes, completely softened.
Resigned to his fate, Brian looked at Dr. Laura, who was eyeing him with interest: "It's a life after all, go ahead with the treatment, how much do I need to pay as a deposit?"
"Are you sure?" asked Dr. Laura, who could see Brian's embarrassment: "Currently, the medications for treating parvovirus are not cheap; a full course of treatment will cost at least one thousand dollars."
"A thousand dollars?"
Brian's newly softened heart hardened again: "Well, it seems God has refused my good intentions, goodbye."
After saying that,
he turned without hesitation and walked away.
This caught Dr. Laura off guard.
"Wait!"
She hastily grabbed the corner of Brian's shirt: "I can see that you really want to save it, what I mean is, you can use other methods to make the payment..."
...
A good two hours later,
Brian, looking pale, walked out of the pet hospital with the ruddy-faced Dr. Laura's support.
"By the way, Brian, you haven't named the little dog yet."
Dr. Laura, after helping Brian into the car, suddenly asked.
Brian touched his slightly aching back and gritted his teeth: "Dog thief, name it Dog thief!"
He said that in Chinese!
Damn it!
This seemingly decent woman.
Actually prescribed him beastly medication!
The medical bills were too expensive!
If this stinking dog didn't make it and died,
he would have to take it back and cook it in a hot pot to replenish his body!
"What?"
Dr. Laura, completely befuddled.
She didn't understand Chinese.
Brian, looking at Dr. Laura's rosy cheeks, became even more irritated: "I mean, call it Shi San!"
Dr. Laura understood this time.
She lightly traced her still 'young' lips with her finger: "Shi San, a name with commemorative significance. I will figure out a way to get some special medicine to treat it. Your medical bills will be absolutely worth it."
"You better be right!"
Brian, feeling nothing in a certain area, trembled as he started the car and fled away, vanishing at the end of the street..
...
Watching the disappearing taillights,
Dr. Laura lazily returned to the pet hospital and pulled down the shutter.
She once again approached Shi San, the puppy, and said with a smile: "Little guy, you are lucky to have found a kind-hearted owner, this is the precious medication I've been reluctant to use despite several near deaths."
"Wu~"
Shi San, the puppy, hearing the noise, struggled to open its eyelids a few times but failed, only managing to let out an almost inaudible whine.
Laura didn't dare delay.
With some reluctance, she pressed a certain part at her waist, and a thin metal tube, only a third the thickness of a pinkie finger, appeared in her hand.
Dr. Laura, holding the tube and hesitating numerous times, eventually steeled her heart and pressed one end against Shi San's neck, gently pushed.
The next moment,
As soon as the metal tube touched Shi San's fur, it immediately released several thin and imperceptible injection channels.
By the time Dr. Laura withdrew the metal tube,
an injection imprint looking like a circle was left on Shi San's neck, and it lingered for a long time.
Whatever was inside the metal tube was unknown.
But just ten or so seconds later,
Shi San, who was previously at death's door, not only resumed normal breathing but his limp body even began trying to stand up again.
Seeing this, Dr. Laura smiled faintly.
She placed a can of dog food opened for him next to Shi San, locked the cage door, turned around to the reception desk, crouched down, and pressed somewhere under the table.
The previously solid floor tile flipped over, revealing a narrow passage leading downward.
"What a waste of a precious life-saving potion.
Just thirteen times.
But it couldn't repay the cost.
Laura licked her lips,
She was good in many ways, but a bit lascivious.
Especially fond of kind-hearted handsome men.
Perhaps that was longing for what one lacked.
But Laura didn't care.
People like her could only feel alive when they gave in to their desires.
Following the underground passage,
Laura arrived at a small underground space, only five or six square meters and less than two meters high.
As the soft light came on,
Laura sat down at the only computer desk in the underground room, and after a complex identity verification, she accessed a website marked with a solemn pattern.
She licked her full lips and entered Brian's name and approximate age.
A moment later,
As a loading bar completed,
The faces of a dozen 'Brians' fitting the search criteria appeared on the small computer screen across Los Angeles.
Among them, was the Brian she was looking for.
But when Laura saw the dignified mark of the organization on Brian's information, her expression changed, and she quickly opened his profile.
After a moment,
She breathed a sigh of relief, "I didn't expect that a casual fling would involve a Lurker's family member..."
However...
Thinking of the kindness Brian exhibited before,
A smile returned to Laura's face.
Such a kind and cute little guy couldn't possibly be the organization's target.
She could now,
Enjoy herself for a while.
...
Meanwhile,
Brian returned to his apartment, exhausted.
Opening the door,
He collapsed straight onto the sofa.
That woman was a beast!
No idea how long it had been!
To drug a kind person like him!
What a loss!
As Brian drifted in and out of sleep,
A familiar warm current spread through his body.
Brian jolted awake, eyes snapping open.
What was this?
Which obsession was fulfilled?
Seconds later.
The previously drained Brian energetically bounced up from the sofa.
He knew.
It was Big Dog's obsession that had been fulfilled.
Still somewhat in disbelief, Brian took out his phone and checked the time.
Less than an hour had passed since he returned from the pet hospital.
Such a short time,
And the dying little dog had eaten something?
Something wasn't right!
"I wasn't fooled, right?" Brian suspected he was seduced by the female doctor.
But he quickly dismissed the speculation.
He had witnessed the little dog's state with his own eyes!
He was a forensic assistant who had been practicing for over two years and had personally dissected more than a thousand bodies; even if his professional knowledge was lacking, his basic discernment was still better than the average person.
He could confirm.
At that time, the little dog was on its last breath.
So...
How exactly did Dr. Laura make the little dog recover rapidly enough to eat?
A hint of dread flickered in Brian's eyes.
He suddenly remembered his somewhat abnormal uncle, and his own 'Golden Finger' that appeared after a Blood Moon.
Was the world really as simple as it seemed?
...
After much random thought,
Brian ultimately didn't have the courage to delve into Dr. Laura's secrets.
Better to mind his own business.
His current main goal was to join that 'crime experimentation group' at the end of the month and to strengthen himself in the shortest time possible to avoid any shenanigans from his uncle's side.
After calming his emotions,
Brian began to explore the Gift he had received.
On closer inspection,
He was stunned.
This Gift was different!
Apart from the just-received physical Enhancement,
There were two unbroken orbs of light in his mind!