Bad Born Blood Chapter 278

278
With Barbara’s help, I was attaching prosthetic arms and legs to my body.

Knock, knock.

Red blood was seeping out of the seams, as the wrong-length screws dug into my flesh.

If I had just a little more time, I wouldn’t have done such crazy things.

Well, as you can see, I don’t have time right now.

Who knows when Mushir Al-Kashra will cut off Ilay’s head and laugh sinisterly.

-Your blood color is pretty, Luca. It looks like melted ruby.

The android that Barbara hacked let out an eerie, mechanical sound.

What’s even more creepy is that you have to actively seek help from this crazy woman.

“… … Tighten it tighter. You hate me. Turn it hard as if you’re torturing me. If it’s loose, there’ll be some play right away. Tighten the screws in holes 4 and 6 more too.”

I bit my lower lip and ignored the pain. I can just endure the pain. Even if it hurts so bad, I won’t die from this.

-Now I’m going to connect the nervous system. It was originally your body, but I just put it in and attached it…

“You don’t have to explain. Who do you think I am?”

-Ha, you’re great, really.

I bit my lower lip until it bled.

Barbara’s android slightly twisted the joint of my prosthetic hand in the opposite direction.

Kick, kit!

As the last of the gaps disappeared, the prosthetic shoulder clung to me like a magnet. The sound of parts locking into place could be heard.

Fit! Fizz!

The nerve connection was already tingling, but now my shoulder felt like it was being torn and burned.

The precise locations of my nerves were out of sync, and there was no time to coordinate my cybernetic signals. The signals were a chaotic mess, pounding away at my brain.

It seemed like the biological and cybernetic signals that were supposed to travel sequentially were mixed and tangled.

‘Please, move. Just move.’

The first one attached was the right prosthetic hand.

I closed my eyes and focused on my right hand. For now, I have to forget about the outside situation. Whether it’s Kashra or Ile, they’ll take care of it, damn it.

Kkeke, kekeke.

My little finger is twitching. The shitty thing is… …I wasn’t trying to move my little finger.

When I tried to move my index finger, my little finger moved, and my middle finger responded instead of my ring finger. When I tried to make a fist, it opened, and when I tried to open my palm, the shaking only grew more intense, as if I was having a spasm.

Since I couldn’t control the strength, the output of the prosthetic hand fluctuated regardless of my will.

‘How cool.’

The conversion of the bio-signals and cybernetic signals sent from my brain was out of sync. Normally, it would have to be corrected through coordination, but there was no time for that.

-Doesn’t it seem hard? If Elley gets hurt, everything will go down the drain. We’ll have to… … the spaceship right now.

“Shut up. Connect the other parts quickly. I’ll figure out something in the meantime.”

I frowned.

‘I should be grateful that I can even move by connecting like this, damn it.’

When you see the right arm curled up, the left arm will move with a completely different signal.

Dismissal, dismissal.

I can feel the blood vessels in my forehead becoming more prominent. As blood rushes to my brain, the bleeding in my eyes and nose becomes more severe.

I know this feeling well. It’s like taking your brain out of your skull and throwing it against a wall. Every time you hit the limit, your brain flops around. Every time, it seems like your brain is torn apart and the tissues are weakened.

… … The left arm is attached. The right leg and left leg went through the same procedure.

To me, the cybernetic body is as familiar as, if not more so, than my physical body. My brain was developed with the use of a prosthesis in mind.

During my growth period, I cut off my healthy limbs and adjusted the output of expensive prosthetics to match the development of my nervous system, and I exchanged them every time. I am a member of the strongest prosthetic user group raised by the empire.

You can do it, Luca.

If you can’t do it, who can?

Crunch.

I stood up. My first step was awkward, but my second step was better.

It was thrilling. It felt like a lightning bolt of thrill was flowing back from deep within my chest, shooting up through my crown of my head.

I guess I can be proud of myself, damn it! Yes, I am proud of myself. Because I am moving in this situation.

-Hehe, hehe. As expected, you’re not ordinary.

“Thank you for trusting me, Barbara.”

I meant it. Anyway, with Barbara’s help, I got my chance.

-There’s nothing to be thankful for. If you and Ilay are pushed back, I’ll retreat right away. If you die, leave Giselle to me. I’ll take good care of her.

“That’s my envoy. Thanks to you, I feel like I absolutely have to live.”

I took Cruxis and Ruina. Cruxis and Ruina, who had been left in the warehouse, clung to my hand as if they had missed me.

OMG.

There are three shock grenades left. This should be enough. All I have to do is help Ilay create opportunities.

The main character of the battle is, after all, Illei.

Boom, boom.

I jumped lightly in place. The blood that had seeped out from the joints of my arms and legs was hardening.

‘I’m already feeling dizzy.’

My head feels like it’s spinning. I’m unraveling the tangled signals in real time. Every little movement feels like a puzzle.

Chiik.

The door leading outside the spaceship opened.

Kaang! Kiriririk!

There was a loud noise of clashing metal pieces, one after another.

The shelter’s anchorage looked as if it had been clawed by a huge beast. The ceiling and walls were clearly marked with razor-sharp blade marks, as if they were about to be torn apart.

Even melee weapons caused significant damage to the anchorage.

If Kashura and Ilay had used high-powered weapons, we would have already become lost in space, and if there was even a hole in the wall, I wouldn’t be able to breathe.

If I were thrown out there naked, the universe would squeeze me to death without a moment’s hesitation.

‘universe.’

Space itself is cruel. It is cold and dark. From the moment a living being leaves a planet, it is like walking on a knife’s edge.

Most life forms live without knowing how precious oxygen and gravity are. I was one of them until recently.

Ilay threw herself into this cruel universe for me, prepared to never return.

I don’t know what Ilay’s state of mind and changes are. I don’t know what kind of life Ilay has lived, what evil deeds he has committed. Perhaps someone would regard Ilay as a mortal enemy.

And from my perspective, Ilay has done a lot of things that deserve to be hated. I wouldn’t find it strange if he were suddenly assassinated by someone.

‘but…….’

Ilay is my friend. He would still risk his life for me. That fact remains the same, then and now.

Even if he lies to me, even if he sometimes deceives me to pursue his own goals and interests, even if he is the worst villain in the world, even if he commits acts toward me that could be considered betrayal, even if we point guns at each other and swing swords because we have different intentions… … we will still think of each other as friends.

Ilay and I were impurities to each other. Our presence brought out inefficient judgments and irrational actions in each other.

And every time, we realize that we are human, and we are happy. Why does the fact that we can sacrifice ourselves for others make us happy? The human mind is really funny.

Heila’s advice comes to mind.

Take the impurity, for it is the key that opens the box of humanity.

Even if we modify our brains to fit the machines, discard our flesh and blood and replace our bodies with machines one by one, learn the cold, steely mindset as justice, and dress up inhumanity as honor…

Once you are born as a human, the traces of being human will never disappear.

I took a step filled with impurities.

Thump.

The gravity at the anchorage is weak.

Even though I jumped lightly, I was blown a long way outside the spaceship.

Forget everything for now. Leave the complicated world and cause and effect, the conspiracies and schemes of monsters, behind.

There is only one thing that matters to me today.

‘Getting out of here alive with Ilay.’

I aimed Ruina at Kashura. Time seemed to pass more slowly than gravity had weakened.

Kashura and Ilay were fighting fiercely. It was clear that Kashura’s fighting ability was not what it used to be.

If it was Kashura with Zveli’s brain, even if Iley was strong, he would have torn it apart in an instant.

OMG.

Kashura and Ile’s eyes flashed for a moment, but they wouldn’t be able to give me time to think. In a fight between two strong people of that level, life and death can be determined in a split second.

There were clear traces of Kashura and Illei’s necks, as they were aiming for each other. They must have been repeatedly dodging and counterattacking with minimal movement.

It was hard to believe that both of them were in full armor, as their movements and reactions were so precise and fast.

Ddddddd.

My hands were shaking. I couldn’t pull the trigger easily. My focus kept getting blurry because I couldn’t control my small movements well.

‘Think about it, Luca.’

Accelerate your thinking. Think from Ilay’s perspective. How can you help Ilay?

Illei is not good at close combat. However, one of his signature weapons is a longsword. Its name is Catastrophe. Damn, what does Catastrophe even mean?

There must be some kind of gimmick to Catastrophe. Given Illei’s nature, she won’t just use a simple, long weapon.

Kiing! Kang!

Kashura pushed Ilay with four melee weapons. Even though Zveli’s brain was gone, Kashura was still strong. It seemed like he could easily take on two or three legions of the Royal Guard.

‘The reason I was able to subdue Kashura in the past… … was because that guy at the time was using Balek’s brain for combat.’

At that time, Kashura came to test me.

Kiiing!

Kashura swung her arms vigorously. Ilay was busy defending and evading. She could only block four or five attacks and then counterattack once.

‘I need to dig into my experience. I need to figure out what kind of knife Ilay has prepared.’

The bookshelf of my memory stopped at Ragnata.

I remember my second fight with Ragnata. Ragnata, weakened by old age, had attached a string to his sword and used it like a whip. I was quite taken aback by the unorthodox attack. However, it was only a temporary measure, so once I got used to it, it was nothing special.

‘Ragnarok and Illai are similar.’

Ragnata’s classification system came to mind. It was a way of broadly categorizing soldiers and warriors. It was something like the all-rounder type, the honorary type, and so on.

Ragnata and Illei are, if you think about it, versatile types. They change their strategies and thoughts flexibly depending on the situation.

The thought was long, but in reality, it had only been about two seconds since we had left the spaceship.

Bam.

My feet touched the floor. I bent my legs and waist and held them in place. I braced my shoulders and stretched my arms to aim.

The signal was off and my body was moving on its own. I desperately tried to control it.

Please, listen to me, body. Just hold on for three steps.

Ddd, kkirik.

I took aim, wrapping both hands around Ruina. Three shots.

Kiing!

Energy glows from Ruina’s gun barrel.

If we go wrong, there will be a hole in the wall of the anchorage. Then it’s all over. I’ll be dead, and Ilay’s desperate will will go down the drain.

Kiing.

One of Kashura’s eyes fixed on me. As soon as I was about to shoot, he assigned me one of his sights and brains. It’s still a creepy way of fighting.

Ter- Huh!

Finally, I pulled the trigger.