Bad Born Blood Chapter 263

It wouldn’t be strange if the imperial family of the 263rd
Empire had its own intelligence unit or agents. It was an empire full of secrets.

The reason Ishmael is surprised now is because the person involved is right in front of him.

“Mr. Luca… was a spy for the imperial family?”

Ishmael was still half in doubt.

“I attempted a virtual rebellion with Crown Prince Francis. But I escaped death because I was in a brain-dead state, unable to recover.”

I have explained it by mixing lies and truth. On the surface, the story will all fit together.

No matter how good the Federation’s intelligence is, it cannot know the inside story of the storm.

“There were many circumstances, but to put it briefly, those who were dissatisfied with the current emperor and my acquaintances took me away and treated me dramatically. However, as time passed, the Empire learned of my return, and in order to protect myself from the former Empire, I applied for asylum in the Federation.”

“The story… is… overwhelming.”

Ishmael stopped me and collected his thoughts. He probably hadn’t expected this kind of story to come up today.

‘Ismael must have tried to ensnare me by making various suggestions using Boyan as bait.’

I have no intention of giving the initiative to Ishmael right now. This is a situation where I cannot afford to lose the initiative.

‘I have to direct the surrounding circumstances according to my intention.’

I shook Ishmael boldly and gave him the information.

“If the purpose of the Deputy Minister and the federal government is to enthrone Frances, I am willing to cooperate actively. However, I require a certain degree of autonomy and support.”

“Mr. Luca must remain under my control. That was the demand from his superiors.”

Ishmael refused to back down despite my momentum.

“The Sword of the Empire is an organization comprised of proud guardsmen. They simply hate the current Emperor, Ivan Kratsya, and they are patriots, not traitors. If they decide that I have become a dog of the Federation, they will start distancing themselves from me.”

Ishmael’s expression also gradually hardened. He must be thinking of a way to regain control and regain control of me.

“Wait a minute, well, if there’s anything you want, please tell me. I’ll listen and decide.”

Ishmael took his time to think as best as he could.

“You will grant me permission and support to move outside of Border City. I will monitor the activities of the Imperial Sword and report to the Vice Minister. The Imperial Sword does not recognize the Federation’s existence as an ally, but it seems that they will naturally cooperate with us.”

Ishmael took a breath and spoke calmly.

“I may be hearing this a bit crookedly, but it sounds like Mr. Luca wants to operate independently, outside of the Federation’s control. Using me and the Federation in times of crisis.”

Ishmael is not an easy opponent. He does not let go of my leash easily.

I continued speaking without any negation or affirmation.

“Judging by the atmosphere when we made contact with the Empire’s Sword, they were preparing to make a big move. You just need to indirectly provide us with weapons and equipment. If you make the preparations, I will tell the Empire’s Sword to raid the Federation’s supply convoy. You have to take a big gamble, Vice Minister, for big profits.”

Ishmael stroked his chin.

I looked around as if urging him on. This was not a place to talk about confidentiality and secrets for too long.

“Hmm, it’s a gamble that requires me to trust you completely, Mr. Luca. I asked you to contact the Sword of the Empire, but things are going much faster than I expected. It almost feels artificial.”

Ishmael clasped his hands together, hiding his nervous fingers.

“My persuasion ends here. The rest is up to the Vice Minister’s judgment.”

Ishmael’s eyes cooled. He uncrossed his fingers and clicked them together rhythmically. It must have been his own way of organizing his thoughts.

“In my opinion… … .”

A sharp knife was about to fall out of Ishmael’s mouth.

“… … I think Mr. Luca is cooperating with other forces in places I can’t see. He’s trying to take control of the situation and use it for his own benefit. I don’t know where and to what extent he’s colluding.”

Ishmael was not shaken by me. He was not swept away by the shocking wave of information, but with sharp insight he discerned the truth.

‘Damn. This guy is going to be successful.’

A human being is someone who will rise up as long as he does not die.

The ability that a superior needs is not the ability to gather information, but the judgment to filter out the correct information and the insight to capture the essence through it.

Honestly, I didn’t know Ishmael’s skills would be this good. This time, I almost wavered.

I’m acting like a balancer, to put it nicely, or like a bat, to put it badly.

I was wondering how I could persuade Ishmael further. At that moment, Ishmael spoke.

“Okay, Mr. Luca. I’ll loosen the leash. Feel free to do whatever you want. You’re right. For great gains, you have to take some risks.”

Ishmael smiled broadly, as if he was wearing a mask with a smile engraved on it.

‘It’s hard to read the intention behind your sudden change of attitude, damn it.’

I felt like I had suddenly lost control. The outcome was clearly my intention, but I felt like I was being manipulated by Ishmael.

“Mr. Luca, I will not report to my superiors right away that you have infiltrated the Empire’s Sword. As you can see, security here is not that tight. It is better for few people to know the secret. This is a deal between you and me, and Mr. Luca will also have to bear the stigma and risk.”

I knew full well what Ishmael meant by stigma and danger.

‘haha.’

It’s a familiar situation. I feel relieved.

Any organization does this. If the tail gets bitten, just cut it off!

That is, if something goes wrong, the evidence is destroyed to make it seem like it never happened.

‘If anything happens, you’re going to blame it all on me.’

Anyway, it’s not bad.

I had obtained cooperation from Ishmael verbally. Next, it was time to make a proposal to the Empire’s sword based on this. The proposals that were passed around here and there would gradually grow bigger like a snowball.

Suddenly, Kinuan comes to mind.

Perhaps Kinuan also acted like this.

* * *

I woke up and saw a holographic newspaper.

Today, there was a picture of Boyan and Ishmael in the corner of the article. Ishmael was smiling brightly next to Boyan, who had an awkward expression.

-Why did the Strategic Weapons Research Department specially recruit Crawler?

– Hiring as an office worker, not a combatant or field worker. In exceptional cases… … .

-‘There should be no fixed roles or prejudices regarding races.’ ‘Crawlers can also work in the same space as us.’ This shows the active support of Deputy Minister Ismael Ra.

It was becoming a hot topic, even if only a little. It was up to Boyan and Ishmael to keep this momentum going.

‘I pulled the trigger.’

In any case, the Sword of the Empire is the organization closest to Giselle’s whereabouts.

‘There’s a high probability that Giselle is in the Imperial Sword leadership, or even if she isn’t, they know of her whereabouts. Giselle didn’t disappear because of the Imperial machinations.’

If Giselle were in the Empire’s hands, Ivan would have already handed me that card.

The fact that Ivan didn’t use Giselle as a card means that Giselle didn’t disappear because of the imperial duke.

So, the Empire’s sword must know Giselle’s whereabouts. I must gain their trust and go to the center.

‘The most ideal situation would be to find out Giselle’s whereabouts through just Rante’s persuasion.’

I waited for the ten days that Rante had promised. As soon as the deadline passed, Rante contacted me as I was wandering the streets.

Lanté appeared from the crowd and stood in front of me without saying a word. It was a signal for me to follow him.

We didn’t go to the underground base. The place Langte headed to was a bustling area full of entertainment. In other words, it was Border City… … a street where you could feel the youth.

It was a long street with all sorts of things to see and experience, such as interspecies fighting matches, various virtual simulation experience rooms, and exhibitions of rare creatures, stretching up and down the left, right, and right.

Even though it may look fancy on the outside, the alleys are gloomy.

Squeak.

Langte turned into an alley and opened the door to an old simulation shop. It was a shop with a bad location and an old signboard without any lights, so it was not noticeable.

When I went in, I first saw old simulation machines that looked like they were decades old. Even when I went inside, I couldn’t see any real customers, and there were people who looked like homeless people who had enjoyed adult simulation games and were sleeping with their pants off. A foul smell came out of the crumpled toilet paper.

“Go to seat number 46.”

“Lante whispered to me,” he said, pulling out one of the simulation chips plugged into the wall and completing his calculations.

dump.

I sat in seat number 46. I put on the simple simulation device on my head and took off my goggles.

Langte approached, inserted the chip into the device, and explained.

“This device appears to be a simulation device, but it is a communications device for the organization. When this chip is inserted, it will connect directly to the ‘head’ person through the internal network. The communication time is exactly 15 minutes. I hope you will join us safely.”

As he spoke, Lanté took a step away. His hands went into his coat, which seemed heavier than usual.

‘He’s hiding his weapons and equipment under his coat. If something goes wrong, he’ll probably kill me, or at least subdue me.’

I was taken over by Lanté.

It is extremely risky to give up a player to someone of Rante’s level of skill.

‘But you have to take risks.’

We’ve come this far. There’s no going back. We’ve done everything we can to prepare.

OMG.

The virtual simulation device worked. However, instead of playing back the simulation, a communication network based on virtual reality was opened.

Chijik, gigig, tick.

The noise typical of an unstable network spread. The screen of the goggles also flickered. I furrowed my brow slightly at the uncomfortable feeling.

I stood there, as if allocating some of my senses to Rante. Rante stood motionless behind me. I felt like I had entrusted my neck to a death row inmate with a knife.

Ssuk.

I also felt around with my fingers to check the location of the weapon.

Gradually, virtual reality communication became apparent. A space so simple that it was embarrassing to even call it virtual reality dominated my sight and hearing.

Sooooooo.

It feels like I’m being sucked into a slide. I’m trying to control myself and keep my senses as close to reality as possible.

… … I saw a pure white space. It was an extremely simple space.

Crack, crack.

The virtual signal stimulated my hearing, fooling my brain into thinking the sound was real.

“You finally found me, Luca.”

A clear voice followed the footsteps.

Part of the space distorted to form a human figure, and the first thing that appeared was a head of dark blue hair.

Ssuk.

Her dark blue hair flowed longer than before. A woman who had become a little more mature than before, no, who had lost her girlishness, stood before me.

A fleeting thought flashed through my mind. For the first time in a while, my head felt like it was going to burst.

‘Be suspicious.’

I repeated those words as if giving a command to my brain.

It’s strange. It’s alien. There’s no way Giselle would remain in the Empire’s Sword and still be active in the leadership.

‘If Giselle is currently active as the head of the Empire’s Sword… … there are too many pieces that don’t fit together.’

Even though it was a virtual reality, I wanted to believe that the being in front of me was Giselle. Meeting Giselle here so easily? It was a sweet reality.

But I was too cynical to believe in a happy reality that didn’t make sense.

Let’s put together the clues and pieces so far. There are not many empty pieces. It is enough to draw a conclusion by elimination alone.

“It’s been a while, Barbara. Well, it hasn’t been that long, has it?”

This is my conclusion.

Giselle’s form was distorted. Her orange hair was tangled in a mess. Since anything can happen in virtual reality, it would be possible to embody her lost body as well.

“… … Hehe, you’re still smart, Luca.”

Barbara laughed, covering her mouth with one hand. And in the virtual reality image, her other hand was holding a kitchen knife. I don’t know what the knife symbolizes, but it can’t be good.