Academic genius: Arcane Invasion of America

Chapter 5 The Corpse Collector

Li Ang felt there were major flaws in Nicole's words.

If the clinic's business isn't doing well, why would it continue to hire more people when it already has three doctors and nurses?

The key issue is that some clinics hire people without asking about their backgrounds or even whether they have the necessary licenses.

Li Ang thought that even if America was very liberal in the 60s, doctors still had to be licensed to practice, right?

Or perhaps Nicole's so-called teacher is incredibly capable?

However, none of this concerned him; he hadn't sought out Nicole in the first place to work at the clinic.

Thinking of this, Li Ang asked, "Nicole, are there any places near Maxwell Street suitable for selling old items?"

"Old items?"

Nicole stopped what she was doing, looked at Leon in thought for a moment, and then said enthusiastically, "You've come to the right person. Look, turn left after leaving the Danube Clinic, and in the alley behind 23 Maxwell Street, there's a shop called 'Martin's Grocery Store'."

"Although Boss Martin is a cunning old man who always tries to lower the price of everything he buys, at least it's safe to do business with him."

"Those homeless people who are given boosters don't dare to mess with him unless necessary."

Upon hearing Nicole's words, Li Ang recalled a scene he had witnessed while passing by several grocery stores on Maxwell Street.

The homeless man squatting in front of the shop is probably looking for a fat sheep.

"Understood, thank you." Li Ang turned and left.

"Aren't you going to look at the job I told you about before you leave?" Nicole leaned closer and whispered. "The salary the teacher offered is very competitive in the Maxwell Street area. Didn't you say yesterday that you just arrived in Chicago? Finding a suitable job isn't easy when you don't know anyone here."

"Shall we take a look?"

Li Ang wasn't in a hurry to go to the grocery store, and staying at the clinic was actually a good cover for his future development.

You can also learn about biology in the process.

"Follow me." After receiving a positive reply, Nicole waved to her two colleagues and then happily led the way.

After passing through a room, Nicole handed Li Ang some clothes and instructed him, "Put these clothes on, and make sure you wear gloves and a mask."

Li Ang did as instructed.

Finally, Nicole stopped in front of a room called the "Anatomy Room," turned around, and said sweetly, "This is a business that the teacher recently expanded for the clinic. It involves receiving unclaimed corpses, processing them, and transporting them. Sometimes I can't handle it all by myself."

Hearing these bizarre words, Li Ang asked expressionlessly, "Aren't those two at the clinic going to help?"

"You mean Lyle and Harvey? They both think what the teacher is doing is risky and don't want to get involved. Actually, this is explicitly protected by law; the police have come to the clinic several times. By the way, are you afraid of dissecting a corpse?"

Whether it was the effect of the "suggestion technique" or Nicole's natural personality, in Li Ang's opinion, she truly didn't consider him an outsider.

"I'm fine."

As a 21st-century Chinese university student, Li Ang had never even killed a chicken with his own hands. He wasn't studying medicine in university, so how could he not be afraid to go into the dissection room?

Fortunately, Leon Aldrin of Ioria had some experience with medieval autopsies before becoming a wizard's apprentice.

Compared to American medicine in 1960, those scenes were much bloodier and more violent.

Therefore, Li Ang is now somewhat resistant to this kind of thing.

"That's good, come in." Nicole raised an eyebrow and pushed open the door to the dissection room.

A strong smell of formaldehyde wafted up.

Li Ang looked into the room and saw a black male corpse lying on the worktable.

The body had a gunshot wound to the head and chest, and multiple bruises on the abdomen and arms.

Nicole took a breath, rubbed her hands together, and pointed to the small table next to her. "If you agree to come to the clinic, you'll often assist me with these things, like... handing me the handsaw."

"Um."

Li Ang did as instructed.

To be honest, he's also a little curious about what Nicole will do next.

Nicole skillfully secured the corpse's neck, then stepped onto the worktable, turned on the handsaw, and slashed at the corpse's head.

"How about that? This is my daily work routine."

"Interested? The benefits are very good."

"Hmm... finally found the bullets."

……

Shortly after, the two finished disposing of the body, cleaned it up, and came to the autopsy room.

Nicole changed back into her white lab coat, lit a cigarette, and asked, "Want one?"

Li Ang shook his head.

Nicole took a nonchalant puff and said, "He's a poor guy who suffered in the gang conflict. Today marks exactly seven days since then. He has no family, and no one has come to claim him."

"oh."

Li Ang gave a perfunctory reply.

Well, how should I put it?

He never expected that a woman as compassionate and physically weak as Nicole would so boldly use a handsaw to dissect a corpse's head.

Then I thought back to yesterday when I was wearing her clothes, she attacked me with a handsaw.

If I hadn't dodged, I probably would have been split open too.

This girl is really fierce!

Nicole, unaware that Li Ang was secretly criticizing her, continued, "Of course, a gang conflict will definitely produce more than one corpse; the teacher only accepts unclaimed bodies."

"Does the law not cover this?" Li Ang remembered Nicole saying something similar just now.

Nicole nodded. "National laws prohibit the sale of corpses, but they also legalize the costs of protecting, transporting, storing, and processing them. The government has to pay for the disposal of these corpses, and they're unwilling to do so. Now, we process and handle them here at the clinic, and then sell them to partner businesses or educational institutions. Nobody will say anything."

"oh."

In his previous life, Li Ang had seen videos about similar situations in the United States while browsing the internet, which even included specialized organizations and people who collected corpses.

Each body is worth hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Surprisingly, this kind of business already existed in America half a century ago.

"So, the daily wage is $15 to assist me with clinic-related work. If you want to leave, you need to give a week's notice. How about it, are the terms acceptable?"

After saying that, Nicole looked at Li Ang with great anticipation.

Li Ang already had an understanding of the purchasing power of the dollar in 1960.

For example, renting a decent apartment in Chicago for a long period would cost about $100 a month.

For example, 1 gallon of milk costs 1 dollar.

Nicole's offer of a $15 daily wage was considered quite generous in Chicago.

Li Ang works at the Danube Clinic, where he can learn by doing or openly conduct experiments on corpses.

When there were no bodies to deal with, Li Ang could still read books.

With a stable job, he has settled down in America.

of course.

This isn't without its downsides.

The Danube Clinic accepts bodies resulting from gang conflicts. Although they wait seven days to ensure no one claims them before performing an autopsy and transferring the body, Li Ang is unsure whether this might create hidden dangers.

Moreover, if he works here, it will be much less convenient for him to travel to Ioria in the future compared to when he lives alone.