Bad Born Blood Chapter 282

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Ilay Kartika is excellent. Even during my cadet days, I considered his talent to be superior to mine.

Well, it’s not a thought, it’s a fact. While I was working hard, Ilay, though struggling, achieved the same level of achievement as me.

Anyway, Ilay had outstanding abilities and a solid background to support her.

‘And he has the courage and ruthless humanity befitting an empire.’

Ilay is a person who is better suited to the Empire than I am. He has been active at the center of the Empire for over ten years.

The guy must have experienced despair deeper than death and heartbreaking sighs. He must have overcome all sorts of terrible conspiracies.

The story of Ilay Kartika is like a thick book. It is difficult to understand its contents by just skimming through it.

I leaned back in my chair and listened to Barbara’s story.

Woohoo.

The spaceship we were on was moving slowly like a tourist ship.

“I don’t know when Illei first laid hands on the Empire’s sword. The executives of the organization within the Empire were actually Illei’s subordinates. The funny thing is that even the executives didn’t know that they were under Illei’s command.”

“Barbara said, slurping the fragrant drink through a straw. She crossed her legs and snapped her fingers.

Wheeing.

A hologram projecting Barbara’s thoughts appeared. The thin hologram formed planes and lines following Barbara’s thoughts.

Barbara was adept at expressing her thoughts digitally and was one of the Empire’s foremost electronic warfare experts.

Barbara’s hologram showed the Imperial Sword organization chart. It was a map of the planet Novas, with dots representing the organization’s executives in each region.

Most of the points stamped on the Imperial Territory were centered around Illei.

“It was a weak point in the organization. Just as I hid my identity, Illei also hid herself thoroughly while expanding her influence within the organization and infiltrating it.”

I frowned, collected my thoughts, and opened my mouth.

“It was so loose that it was hard to call it an organization in the first place. Security is important, but there are too many secrets between each other.”

“It may seem foolish, but it is an inevitable form of escape from the Empire’s surveillance. If the chain is tight, the tail will be caught. The moment even one person is caught, the purge begins.”

There is some truth to what Barbara said. The Empire can extract ‘information’ from humans in extraordinary ways.

“Well, anyway, if the members within the Empire were under Illei’s control… … then the initiative for the uprising was completely taken away.”

The members of the Imperial Sword organization joined the organization for various reasons, but their goal was the same. To overthrow the current emperor Ivan Kratsia, whose legitimacy was unstable. To achieve this, an uprising and uprising were essential.

“It is most important to rise up simultaneously within the empire. Even sequential guerrilla warfare outside is effective. If things continue this way, the map of the uprising will change depending on Illei’s judgment.”

After hearing the story, I guessed what Ilay had done.

Ilay would have maintained a subtle master-servant relationship under Ivan Kratsia.

‘While Ilay was Ivan’s problem solver, he indirectly interfered with everything so that it did not go as Ivan intended.’

Ivan must have been annoyed by Ilay, but he left her alone for now because the ‘benefit’ was so great. Ilay endured for over ten years, walking a tightrope.

‘And Illei must have thought that it was an organization worth utilizing while observing the Empire’s sword movements.’

Illei has been slowly influencing the Empire, putting his people on the Empire’s sword. The scariest part is that even those who have infiltrated do not know that they are Illei’s subordinates. They must have truly prepared an uprising for the Empire’s future.

‘Deceiving your subordinates again and again. This is the behavior of an imperial ruler. You have learned well, Illei.’

Illei may have aided or suppressed the Empire’s sword uprising depending on the situation.

‘Ilay’s intervention is difficult for Barbara.’

Barbara is a character who has her feet on both the Nemesis and the Empire’s sword. She may have thought she could control the timing of the uprising to her own liking.

“Barbara, the reason you came to save me was also related to the Empire’s Sword initiative.”

“That’s right. Illei has agreed to hand over the list of executives and control within the Imperial Territory. This operation is based on the premise of Illei’s death. Your brave friend was planning to become cosmic dust along with Mushir Al-Kashra.”

I squinted my eyes.

‘Ilay came here throwing away everything he had built up until now.’

I expected that to happen, but hearing it directly made me feel even more emotional.

“It would have been best for you to leave Ilay to die and escape with me.”

“I would have done the same if you hadn’t been talking about the secret of my birth and all. To be honest, I was quite curious. My curiosity ended up ruining the whole thing.”

Barbara took out the bag of cookies and tore it open. She put the cookie in her mouth and crunched it.

‘But curiosity isn’t the only reason you gave in to my stubbornness, right?’

Barbara is a complex character. Her obsession with Giselle and her love-hate relationship with me must have driven her decision.

I organized the story I had heard from Kashura and spat it out.

“Kashura once gave the Empire his true nature, or genetic seed, in exchange for technology transfer. You were born that way.”

I didn’t add any personal opinions that were floating around in my head.

‘Barbara isn’t the only artificially created child of Kashura. But… …Barbara is probably the only one, or one of only a few, with a unique mental disposition like Kashura’s.’

Just because you have genes doesn’t mean you will definitely inherit a unique temperament. It’s all a matter of probability.

The Mushir al-Kashra I saw was a product of chance. A human being with a peculiar temperament living in an age full of chaos came to the conclusion that he uses multiple brains.

‘Kashura is just a special case. Even the Empire must have judged that artificial reproduction was impossible.’

The case of Mushir al-Kashra’s multiple brain usage was important in terms of mental aspect, and the direction of his mind did not fit with the rule of the empire. It was inevitable that a person like Kashra would become an anarchist.

Barbara was silent for a while. She seemed to be thinking back on her past.

“… … It’s funny. It feels like the pieces fit perfectly into the empty space. I’m sure Archie’s Bigtima users feel this way about trivial things, right?”

“Well, that’s true.”

I shrugged.

Barbara sighed for a moment. She twirled her hair with her fingers. She stared blankly at the ceiling before opening her mouth.

“This is your last chance, Luca. Leave Ilay alone and come out and hide. The two of us will wait for Giselle’s return.”

“You’re so sure she’ll come back when you don’t even know where Giselle is? That’s ridiculous.”

“That’s why Giselle is safer. There are many people who are looking for Giselle who can bind you. But no one has found Giselle. If, if, if Giselle doesn’t come back, then I’ll just destroy the world.”

Barbara looked down and smiled brightly. Her eyes sparkled as brightly as her smile.

“… … What is Giselle to you?”

“You don’t have to know. I won’t tell anyone. Do I really need to tell others about the value of a treasure that only I know? I can keep this feeling to myself.”

Barbara laughed and shook her body.

I opened my lips and then closed them tightly. There was no need to guess at Barbara’s feelings and provoke her.

‘Maybe Barbara… … .’

Something struck me too.

I too, must have encountered monsters that seemed beyond the realm of humanity and read their psychology and thoughts.

Accumulating experiences have broadened the scope of my thinking.

‘… … impurities.’

Heilas’s advice comes to mind. His words were insightful. Heilas himself must have come to this conclusion after observing countless cases and monsters.

“Thank you for the offer, Barbara. But… … I can’t just sit by and watch Illei’s destruction.”

Barbara just smiled dryly, as if she had just thrown the comment out there.

“This may be the last time we meet. If you have anything to leave for Giselle as a will, please tell me. I will pass it on.”

“Well, just say you’re sorry. That’s all. If your tongue is too long, you won’t believe it’s my will.”

Barbara nodded and stood up.

“Then, I’ll activate the sublight engine.”

I took out the helmet hanging on the back of the chair.

* * *

The spaceship, operating its sublight engine, reached the planet Novas in no time.

Chiik, chik.

Upon arriving at the planet Novas, Barbara left the ship and boarded the assault port.

Woohoo.

The spaceship I was on was heading towards the empire on autopilot.

Thud, thud.

As the ship entered the atmosphere, an intermittent noise similar to the sound of metal being struck was heard.

Still, it was quiet, except for the noise. If anything, the appropriate amount of noise allowed my thoughts to sink in deeper.

In the span of an hour or so, I was able to think a lot.

‘I am going to Akbaran, where Ivan Kratsya is waiting. It was my decision, not forced by anyone.’

Since I woke up in Border City, I’ve been avoiding the Empire.

If I decide to hide myself, even the Empire will have a hard time finding me.

It was only natural that I, Lucius Custoria, would seek to escape the clutches of the Empire. I never doubted my judgment or actions up to that point.

And as soon as the Empire learned of my existence, they wasted their intelligence and surveillance resources.

… … It was the same even now. The outstanding person named Ilay Kartika turned into a ‘mere boy’ because of me.

Emperor Ivan Kratsya used the public resources of the empire on me.

Who benefits from this trend?

‘It’s Kinuan.’

One of Illei’s missions is to track down Kinuan. Ivan also used the Empire’s attention to Kinuan’s whereabouts.

‘As I woke up and became active in Border City… … the Imperial power that was supposed to track Kinuan was divided against me. With the tight Imperial tracking net disrupted, Kinuan was able to move.’

Moreover, I created chaos by creating new interests and relationships in order to escape from the clutches of the empire.

‘This is no different from a storm. It’s the same flow.’

While I was struggling with all my might to attract attention, Kinuan was leisurely walking towards his destination.

‘The same is true of Mushir al-Kashra.’

Mushir Al-Kashra’s first candidate for union was Kinouan. When a more suitable candidate appeared… …Kashra took his eyes off Kinouan.

‘When I appeared on stage, Kinuan escaped the pursuit of the Empire and Kashura.’

It was a flow that could only be seen after stepping back for a long time.

Kinuan’s specialty in Aki’s Victory was not combat. He observed with his breath held, and at the crucial moment, with just a ‘small amount of force’, he turned the tide in his favor.

Kinuan is influencing the great flow with his individual abilities.

‘The man who uses the Axis Victory better than anyone else is Kinuan.’

Kinuan, of course, has never had more power than the Emperor. He may even have less influence than Ilay Kartika now. If Mushir Al-Kashra were to attack him, he would have no choice but to flee.

‘Kinuan is weak. He pretends to be easygoing, but in reality, he thinks desperately every time and prays earnestly that his judgment is correct.’

The master of Aki’s Victory always runs away and runs away again. He lies flat on his stomach and waits until the flow is favorable for him. He did the same in front of me, his disciple.

Kinuan took advantage of the flow created by the strong from a position of weakness.

Swish.

I opened my eyes.

Kiiing.

The spaceship’s power was stopped even though there was no operation.

From the front window of the spaceship, an Imperial scout plane could be seen approaching.

Chijik, Chik.

The spaceship’s communications were being forcibly opened.

-Welcome back to the Empire, Lucius Custoria.

I arrived in the Accresia Empire.