Bad Born Blood

Chapter 228

Kinuan always appeared suddenly and then disappeared just as abruptly.  

He was impossible to pin down. He moved leisurely, as if taking a stroll, always beyond my predictions and grasp.  

We had left the street vendor behind, and Kinuan blended into the crowd like a ghost—then vanished entirely.  

"Kyaaaaaah!"  

"My... my head?"  

"What on earth is happening...?"  

Only belatedly did the heads of the vendor and his customer drop to the ground. The onlookers widened their eyes in shock at the bizarre deaths.  

'Just how far does Kinuan’s information network extend?'  

Standing among the crowd, I looked up. The chaotic buildings of Border City shot up without any sense of order.  

'The timing of Kinuan's appearance is impeccable.'  

I met Ilay today. It would take time until our next contact, so I couldn't share information with him right away.  

And Kinuan was after Paolo Kwan's legacy. He had made it into a bargaining chip.  

Paolo Kwan was the father of Anguis Regina and Jafa’s former lover. Though known as the chef who created Jafa Burger sauce, he was also an archaeologist who pursued Arcane Civilization.  

'Jafa only mentioned Paolo Kwan’s legacy the day before yesterday.'  

Kinuan had struck at the perfect moment, as if he already knew everything.  

'But there’s no way he actually knows everything. Don’t treat Kinuan like an omniscient being. He’s just a human like me.'  

I thought of Akies Victima—the ability to infer reality with near-prophetic accuracy using only small clues and circumstantial evidence.  

Kinuan was a master of Akies Victima. He deliberately sowed conflict and tangled relationships to fish out the leaks.  

'That’s why he seems all-knowing to others. But it’s all a performance. Don’t be deceived.'  

I blinked.  

'He showed up in person to test me—to confirm his own speculation.'  

Only then would I waver. With his keen insight and observation, he must have peered deep into me.  

Grit.  

I clenched my teeth hard. My mistakes were smeared all over this situation.  

'I let myself get crushed by Kinuan and ended up confirming all of his assumptions. I should have feigned ignorance and fed him false information.'  

There were definitely things Kinuan didn’t know. He wasn’t a god. He was just a mere human crawling on the ground.  

'You’re being dragged along so easily, you idiot Luka.'  

My relationship with Kinuan was unfair.  

'I don’t know Kinuan’s true goal.'  

That nonsense about ascension or whatever—that couldn’t be his real objective. Just wordplay.  

'But Kinuan knows that my goal is Giselle.'

If Kinuan held information about Giselle—or even just pretended to—then I had no choice but to lose the upper hand.  

Finding Giselle took priority over capturing Kinuan. That was my weakness.  

'But is Paolo Kwan’s legacy really that significant? Significant enough for Kinuan to personally step in and verify it?'  

The situation was growing increasingly convoluted, tangled in multiple dimensions. A sticky chaos was approaching, one that couldn't be navigated with ordinary thinking.  

I felt the corner of my lips twitch. I had experienced this sensation before.  

'The Storm Era of the Empire.'  

Conflicting interests tangled together, objectives clashing, a picture partially revealed in fragmented outlines. And behind me, destruction and death loomed, pressing me toward a decision.  

I was already feeling dizzy.  

'Don't repeat past mistakes. Trusting others inherently comes with the risk of betrayal.'  

But if I let fear of betrayal keep me from trusting, then only an unbearable downfall awaited me.  

This world was far too violent for a person to handle alone.  

I wasn’t an invincible superhuman.  

"…Just a mere human."  

And so was Kinuan.  

---  

I stopped by Sonsu Industries and placed an order for an exoskeletal prosthetic leg from Son Seok-jae.  

"Oh, you mean a mechanical prosthetic leg? Not a cybernetic implant?"  

Son Seok-jae, dressed in an oil-stained mechanic’s jumpsuit, wiped his hands clean as he spoke.  

"If I wanted a cybernetic one, I wouldn’t have come here. Prepare it with combat specifications."  

"I’ll need to take measurements."  

I described the specifications from memory.  

If it was for Ragnata, it didn’t need to be perfectly crafted—she would adapt. It was only a temporary prosthetic anyway.  

"You’ve got a bunch of standard prosthetic parts lying around in your warehouse, right? Just modify one for high-output performance and hand it over. I’ll come pick it up tomorrow."  

"Well, preparing one isn’t a big deal, but... I’m curious who it’s for."  

Son Seok-jae took a refreshing swig of beer and wiped the foam from his beard.  

"That’s none of your business."  

"When I gain new business partners, I always make sure to treat them to a good drink. Luka, you should join me sometime…"  

"I don’t drink."  

I cut him off immediately.  

"You don’t drink, you don’t smoke, you don’t fool around with women. I honestly wonder what you do for fun."  

I bared my teeth as I answered.  

"…Instead, I kill people. That’s my fun in life. Does that answer your question?"  

Son Seok-jae narrowed his eyes with a smile. Out of habit, he reached for a cigarette, then reconsidered and put it away when he remembered I was there.

“A brutal answer, but I understand. Ah, the first report on Mushir al-Kashura has been completed. Would you like to review it? I can explain it to you.”  

“No, I’ll hear it from Lapis.”  

Son Seok-jae smiled softly and nodded.  

“As you wish. Also, someone from the Federation will be coming to observe the test prototype.”  

That was faster than expected. But this was better. I could feel the waves of events rolling in.  

“Send the schedule to me.”  

After finishing my conversation with Son Seok-jae, I went to find Lapis.  

She was staying in a room guarded by two Equessians. As always, they kept a sharp watch on me.  

“Relax, friends. I even made peace with Jafa.”  

I grinned as I entered the room past the Equessians.  

Creak.  

Inside, Lapis was struggling to pack her clothes into a travel bag. It seemed she was preparing to leave Sonsu Industries.  

“Are you leaving after finishing the investigation? I heard something about a first report.”  

I approached her and pressed down on the bag to close it. The lock clicked into place, compressing the contents securely.  

“I’ve already secured all the data and schematics. If I need to do more research, I can just run simulations. Do you need the report too, Luka?”  

“I’m not an engineer, and that data isn’t important to me. Just summarize the key points.”  

Lapis projected a hologram of Mushir al-Kashura’s prosthetic design from her terminal. With a wave of her hand, the cybernetic body split apart, its intricate internal components spreading out.  

“It’s fundamentally similar to the Empire’s armored prosthetics…”  

Lapis condensed the report into a summary.  

‘It shares characteristics with Legion.’  

That didn’t necessarily mean Kashura was related to Legion. It was likely just a case of convergent evolution—an inevitability.  

High-performance, high-output prosthetics always came with neural overload.  

Legion minimized that overload by stacking various auxiliary computing units and installing signal dampening devices.  

‘…But there’s a key difference in Kashura’s armored prosthetic.’  

Kashura’s prosthetic lacked both signal dampening devices and auxiliary computing units.  

“…The missing metal box probably contains the dampening device that adjusts the high-output control signals to match a biological brain. That’s where the brain is, along with the auxiliary computing unit.”  

Lapis made a reasonable deduction. But I had a different idea.  

‘Kashura is using multiple brains. That’s why he doesn’t need auxiliary computing or dampening devices.’

If my deduction was correct, then Kashura was the most horrifying monster I had ever encountered.  

"Will the data from analyzing Kashura's armored prosthetic be useful for Sonsu Industries’ weapon development?"  

"Definitely. This is practically the same as capturing a Legion unit. The Federation isn’t ignorant of the principles and fundamentals behind Legion and armored prosthetics. The issue is the intricate data accumulated over time through real combat. The data extracted from Kashura’s prosthetic will significantly reduce trial and error, drastically shortening the development period."  

"But robots and full-body prosthetics are different. Couldn’t that limit its usefulness?"  

It was a question born out of curiosity—and perhaps a slight resistance to the idea that the Empire’s combat prosthetic technology could be so easily replicated.  

"The gap is closing when it comes to combat weaponry. If you think about MAUs differently, they’re basically just massive exoskeletons. The unique advantages of prosthetics—responsiveness and flexibility—have been largely caught up by exoskeletal combat suits. If you go as far as models with direct neural connections, then the only major advantages left for prosthetics are durability and compactness."  

I felt an itch in my throat.  

For someone like me, who had cut off his own limbs to become stronger, the idea that the gap was narrowing wasn’t something I wanted to hear. I wanted to deny it.  

But only a fool would argue against an expert’s opinion.  

"I’ll head out first. If I stay here any longer, the Equessians will definitely kill a human or two. See you later at the headquarters."  

"I’ll carry your bag. You seem to have a lot of stuff."  

I picked up Lapis’s travel bag and followed her out. She carried only a toolbox as she left the room.  

In the open lot of Sonsu Industries, a Jafa Trading Company air vehicle was waiting—it was the same one Lapis and the Equessians had arrived in.  

Son Seok-jae, now dressed in a clean outfit, had come to see her off. He was smoking a cigar from a distance, but when he got closer, he put it out.  

"Lapis, you’ve got talent. If you ever get tired of Jafa Trading, come work for me instead. Between you and me, this is a secret—I just pretend to be a xenophobic bastard to get funding from extremists. Truth is, I only watch alien-themed porn. I love aliens."  

Son Seok-jae offered a handshake with a fake smile, laced with insult.  

Lapis didn’t bother hiding her disgust and outright rejected his handshake.  

"…I hope I never see you again. You’re rude and stupid. Exactly the kind of person I despise."  

Son Seok-jae just chuckled awkwardly and shoved his rejected hand into his pocket.  

Vrrrrrrm.

The engine hum of the air vehicle carrying Lapis and the Equessians filled the air.  

‘I’ve ended up feeling sorry for Lapis in many ways.’  

I owed her a lot. She had always complied with my requests without complaint. Especially back when I had just woken up in Border City—I had been nothing short of a reckless brute. I was better now, at least somewhat.  

But the conclusion remained the same. Lapis was an exceptional person.  

‘Lapis can be trusted.’  

I was even prepared to share a crucial secret with her.  

‘Lapis may work under Jafa… but she doesn’t serve Jafa. Her actions are always guided by her beliefs and conscience.’  

Lapis was warm. Unlike me, who was so cynical that I verged on outright hostility toward others.  

The world we lived in was mostly horrific, yet every so often, it didn’t seem so bad—because of people like Lapis.  

Yeah. I liked Lapis Lazuli.  

Let’s not get this twisted—it wasn’t about man and woman. It was about person to person.  

I watched the air vehicle as it flew away. It was just a speck in the distance now.  

…Then the speck exploded.  

Tur-ung!  

The explosion’s roar reached all the way to the open lot of Sonsu Industries. I widened my eyes, staring at the fiery wreckage of the falling air vehicle.  

‘Lapis Lazuli’s air vehicle just exploded.’  

That cold, objective fact seared into my mind. My numbed thoughts started spinning.  

Jafa Trading, Lapis Lazuli, Sonsu Industries, Son Seok-jae, xenophobia, Mushir al-Kashura, armored prosthetics, weapon development, critical data…  

I couldn’t be late. If I gave a liar even a moment to compose himself, extracting the truth would become much harder.  

Whip!  

I whipped around, eyes blazing. Son Seok-jae was watching the explosion, his mouth agape.  

“Ah…”  

I moved before he could even finish his exclamation. My body had already ignited with fury—from the moment that speck detonated.  

Crack!  

I grabbed Son Seok-jae by the collar and yanked him forward, thrusting my foot out. The instant his knee struck my leg, it shattered. He didn’t even have the chance to scream.  

Thud!  

I slammed his face into the ground, holding him down. His subordinates and assistants nearby didn’t even have time to react.  

Swish!  

I swiftly drew Graken Vuth. The dagger’s pristine white blade thirsted viciously for blood. Sometimes, weapons became the voice of their wielder’s emotions.  

Thunk!  

I drove Graken Vuth into Son Seok-jae’s side, burying the blade deep beneath his heart.  

Drip. Drip.

Every time Son Seok-jae’s heart pounded, the tip of the embedded blade barely grazed it.  

“Don’t move. Even the slightest shift, and your heart will be pierced. I warned you—if you so much as touched Lapis, the deal would be over. Everything would be over.”  

I threatened him, fully convinced that he was responsible. Whether that was true or not didn’t matter.  

‘Was his hatred for alien species stronger than I expected? Or did he act before the data could reach Jafa Trading?’  

If Son Seok-jae was the culprit, there were only two possible motives.  

Tremble. Tremble.  

Son Seok-jae was shaking. Blood trickled from his lips. No matter how impressive he might have been, he was still a civilian with no combat training. When confronted with sudden violence and the immediate threat of death, fear forced out an honest reaction.  

In this state, no one could lie easily.  

“I-I… I didn’t… I swear…!”  

The once-composed middle-aged man now reeked of urine.  

Unless my Akies Victima had completely rusted, or unless Son Seok-jae was some superhuman who had transcended biological instinct…  

‘…He’s not lying. Son Seok-jae isn’t the one who blew up the air vehicle.’  

I bit my lower lip. The emotions I had been suppressing suddenly surged forward.  

‘Please…’  

…Please let Lapis be alive.  

For the first time in a long while, I felt like praying. If there was truly a transcendent being somewhere in this universe.