Bad Born Blood-Chapter 141

Chapter 141

‘Giselle.......’

I dragged my staggering body up to the second floor of the mansion. There, I found Ilay and Giselle.

Ilay was standing by the window, looking outside, while Giselle lay fast asleep on the bed. Bandages were wrapped around her body, and there were signs of repairs on her limbs.

“Luka, I have a lot to say, but... go eat something first.”

Ilay spoke the moment he saw me and stepped toward me.

“Do I look that bad?”

“Yeah, like you haven’t eaten in a month. Giselle would be shocked.”

But rather than recovering, I wanted to move immediately.

“Ilay, I don’t have time—”

“I’ve already spread my people out in the streets. I’m gathering information, so you need to rest for now. The military and the Imperial Guard are currently suppressing the riots that broke out across Akbaran. The outside is hell right now. If you wander around the streets without the strength to protect yourself, you’ll die.”

As soon as Ilay finished speaking, he moved his arm.

Swish!

Before I knew it, Ilay’s dagger was aimed at my throat. I had reacted like an ordinary person. I was so sluggish that I had nothing to say.

“My body must really be a mess. I couldn’t even react to your dull blade.”

I pushed Ilay’s dagger aside with my finger. He was right. My condition was the worst. I had barely survived.

“All talk as usual. Go eat, sleep, and rest. You won’t be moving until at least tomorrow or the day after.”

I stepped back. After the regenerative treatment, my flesh had withered away. My ribs were so pronounced that I could grasp them with my fingers.

Accepting Ilay’s advice, I headed down to the dining hall.

Just in time, Jin Gaw entered the dining hall with a maintenance android. Fresh from a shower, he had only a robe draped over his bare body. As he approached, he examined my condition from various angles before giving instructions.

“Eat this, drink that. Recovering your strength comes first. And get a cancer screening later. Still, you succeeded this time. Last time, you looked like a waterlogged dumpling. Hmm, what made the difference?”

Honestly, I was a bit curious about what a waterlogged dumpling looked like, though I had no intention of becoming one myself.

I sat down and chewed through the food set out in the dining hall. The moment I ate, I felt the nutrients seeping into my body.

Sizzle, sizzle.

The maintenance android was repairing my limbs one by one. Each time its fingertips opened, precise maintenance tools emerged.

Click.

The repair on my left arm was complete. The explosion had melted away the synthetic skin, leaving only the bare metal of my prosthetic exposed. It gave me a clear idea of just how terrible my condition was.

“I replaced the damaged parts enough for them to function, even if they don’t match the standard specifications. Your brain will have to handle the margin of error and recalibration. You should be able to manage that much.”

I tried to grasp a cup with my freshly repaired left hand, but my fingers swiped through empty air. The misalignment between perception and action had created a disconnect. My limbs felt foreign, as if they belonged to someone else.

“...You’re being quite kind to me.”

“There’s no harm in treating you well. If you overcome your hardships and rise to prominence one day, you won’t forget today’s debt. More than that, you’re an interesting person.”

Jin Gaw spoke as he put on the glasses he had set aside.

‘He’s not someone lacking in insight or social skills.’

He was different from what I had expected. I had assumed he was the type to act recklessly, relying solely on his abilities.

A person couldn’t be understood from just one angle. The surface was merely a fraction of who they were. The deeper you looked, the more the temperature itself seemed to change.

Swish.

As I reached out, I realized my plate was empty. The mountain of food that had been there was now gone. Unless I had gone insane, I must have eaten all of it. Yet, it didn’t feel real.

“Your metabolism is highly activated, which makes your appetite intense. No matter how much you eat, you won’t even feel full. Excessive hunger is a common side effect of Hydra. It will subside over time.”

“Hydra?”

“It’s the name of the compound I administered to you. A Bellato scientist developed it—one of the advanced regeneration technologies. Hydra has a high failure rate due to excessive proliferation, so we need more data.”

Jin Gaw added an explanation. As I listened, a memory from the past surfaced.

“I was treated at the Imperial Medical Center once. Is it similar to that?”

“The result—enhanced regeneration—is the same, but the principles and processes are different. They aim for different outcomes. Here, watch closely—I’ll wound you.”

Jin Gaw picked up a dining knife and dragged it across my shoulder.

Slice.

The cut was deep enough to expose the dermis, but it healed almost instantly. Even I found the speed unnatural.

“For the next few days, your recovery rate will be extraordinary. Right now, you’re healing at an incredibly fast pace. The flesh on your cheek has already filled back in.”

Hearing that, I touched my face. He was right. Just a moment ago, the area beneath my cheekbone had felt hollow, but now there was solid flesh.

‘Aiming for different outcomes?’

Jin Gaw’s words lingered in my mind.

The Akies Victima in my head was functioning properly. At an unconscious level, I was achieving high-concentration insight and reasoning automatically.

“The Imperial Medical Center’s advanced regeneration is purely for treatment... but Director, your method is for combat.”

“Looks like your brain is finally working again. That’s correct. Hydra is implanted in a piezoelectric form to maintain a constant concentration of the drug in the bloodstream. That way, you won’t be incapacitated by most injuries. It’s been developed for quite some time, but we still haven’t found the optimal formula or ratio. Unlike machines, living beings have far too many variables. Even within the same species, individual differences are significant.”

“So if something goes wrong, you end up like a bloated dumpling.”

“If you stab it, a lot of juice comes out.”

Jin Gaw pulled a plate of dumplings closer and poked one with his chopsticks. Liquid pooled out, seeping onto the plate.

“But this technology doesn’t quite suit the Empire. We are baptized in steel.”

Jin Gaw grinned. His exaggerated, clown-like smile sometimes came off as unsettling.

“...I suppose you’re right?”

I didn’t press further and changed the subject.

“Will you be staying here during the storm?”

“There are always plenty of people who want me dead during times of chaos. At times like this, the upper districts can actually be more dangerous for me. I need to keep my head down and stay hidden.”

“Hiding in a gang’s mansion—quite an unusual choice.”

Jin Gaw picked up a dumpling by its tip and dropped it into his mouth. His throat moved as he swallowed. His fully cybernetic body perfectly replicated the motion of his esophagus.

“La Vie en Rose is an interesting group. No one considers them important. Even in the lower districts, they’re not an exceptionally powerful force. That’s why their roots run deep and hidden.”

I had sensed it as well. If survival was the only metric, La Vie en Rose was stronger than any noble family.

They weren’t strong enough to warrant excessive suppression. They adapted flexibly with the times, attaching themselves to the powerful. Yet, they weren’t so weak that a few whims and kicks from those in power could destroy them.

“...Ah, a guest has arrived. The old man will take his leave.”

Jin Gaw winked with one eye and left the dining hall. In his place, Grace walked in.

I looked at her left eye. An eyepatch was covering it.

“I came to return what I borrowed.”

Grace placed the modified Ruina on the table. It was no longer a shock pistol—it was now a sniper rifle.

“This Ruina is different from the one I knew.” fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

“The recoil was too strong for my prosthetics to handle. Since I was modifying it anyway, I figured it would be better suited to my specialty. It’s a modular adjustment, so if you take it to a workshop, it can be restored quickly.”

“I didn’t know your specialty was sniping.”

“Hiding one’s specialty makes the enemy drop their guard. You’re an exceptional person, Luka. If a situation ever arose where you needed my help... I thought I would have to bring out my full capabilities to assist you.”

Grace, sharp as ever, had arrived at the right answer. She had converted Ruina into a sniper rifle, preparing for long-range engagements.

I recalled the moment she had sniped Iskan. It had been a stormy night, and shock rounds weren’t even ideal for sniping in the first place. Even among the Imperial Guard, only those specialized in marksmanship could have pulled it off.

‘But Grace pulled it off beautifully.’

I never believed she had left the Imperial Guard because she was weak.

“Grace, you left the Guard of your own accord because you were more capable than they had anticipated.”

“I always knew you had a twisted personality, but even your compliments are strange.”

“This is my way of giving high praise. And Ruina—you should keep it. It suits you more than me.”

I felt an immature urge to say something even more sentimental.

‘Rather than being neglected by someone who prefers close combat... Ruina would be happier by your side.’

But I couldn’t bring myself to say it. Even with a knife to my throat, those words would never leave my mouth.

“I won’t refuse a reward. And... isn’t there something else you need to say?”

I wiped my lips with the back of my hand. Closing my eyes for a moment, I then spoke properly.

“...Thank you. For everything.”

Lately, I felt like I’d been saying thank you too often. And every time, it made me feel like I was becoming a weaker person.

“Hm, that was nice to hear. What I wanted from you wasn’t the gun as a reward, but your gratitude.”

“Oh, then Ruina is...”

“That’s separate from this.”

Grace swiftly responded, gathering up Ruina.

So you’re really leaving me, Ruina. I was the one who offered it, but it still felt strange.

“So, does this mean I’ve tied you to La Vie en Rose even more? Diva mentioned something like that.”

“That’s just Diva’s misunderstanding. I have no intention of leaving La Vie en Rose, so you don’t need to feel guilty. And this will be the last time I help you in this chaos. I can’t stay away from Diva’s side any longer.”

Grace drew a clear line. I preferred it this way—clean and decisive.

Conversations with Grace always flowed smoothly. There was never any discomfort, not from start to finish. Talking to her felt like talking to Ilay or my fellow Imperial Guard cadets. Sometimes, it was even more comfortable than talking to Giselle. No, not just sometimes—if I were being honest, I felt that way quite often.

And then... after a brief pause, I parted my lips to speak.

“I don’t have any siblings, but if I had an older sister, she’d probably feel like you.”

A silence settled between us. Grace listened to my words with a blank expression, then tilted her head slightly in confusion.

“...Did you suffer a serious head injury?”

“Damn it! I’m saying I feel a sense of closeness with you! Just take the compliment and move on!”

Grace burst into laughter. She smiled deeply as she stood up. I thought she was about to leave, but instead, she walked around the table and stopped beside me.

“I don’t want a sibling-like relationship with you.”

Grace reached out and placed her hand on my cheek. For a moment, I felt lightheaded.

...Alright, now Grace was making me uncomfortable.

“Grace, I...”

“I tend to fall for people quickly. And I forget them just as easily. So don’t let it bother you.”

With that same faint smile, Grace moved her palm from my cheek to my head.

Tap, tap.

She gently patted my head. I blinked, looking up at her.

“I suppose I really am the more mature one here. So, I’ll act like an adult.”

With those words, Grace turned her back to me and left the dining hall.

I stared at the door for a long while.

Creak.

Not long after Grace left, the next person entered.

“Oh? Not bad, Luka. You’re becoming quite the sinful man. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Giselle.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions. Nothing happened, and it’s not like that between us.”

“Oh, really? Then I will tell Giselle.”

“No, wait—don’t say anything either.”

Ilay grinned mischievously. Thinking about my situation, I let out a deep sigh.

Beep.

Ilay placed his terminal on the table.

A holographic screen appeared between us. The upper district, a place we both knew well, was engulfed in flames. Even the heavy rain and wind couldn’t put out the smoke and fire.

“The rioters are running rampant, yet the military and the Imperial Guard are reacting oddly slowly. Luka, if you need my help, just say the word. I owe you a debt, and I think it’s time I repay it.”

Once again, the moment of choice had arrived. If I wanted Ilay’s help, I had to give him the truth.

Ilay was different from Giselle. Giselle wasn’t someone who had the power to change the course of events, and I knew her far too well.

But Ilay... he had an unknown depth to him. His personal combat ability was formidable, and he had strengthened his grip on the Carthica family in ways I couldn’t fully see. I had no idea how much influence he could exert in this situation.

Trusting Ilay was a dangerous decision. With the information I gave him, he could act not out of friendship, but for his own purposes.

Yes, I couldn’t completely trust Ilay.

‘Noel must have thought the same way.’

That was why he deceived and misled those around him.

‘A man who cannot trust others will never earn trust himself.’

If Kinuan were here, he’d probably laugh at my thoughts. He would say the solution was simply to deceive others better. But that was Kinuan’s way, not mine.

I was Luka. Not Noel. Not Kinuan.

From this point on, I would judge and decide in my own way. If it led to betrayal, then so be it—I would accept it.

“Ilay Carthica...”

I took my first step into revealing a long-held secret.