Bad Born Blood Chapter 327

327
Giselle and I fell asleep leaning against each other. We needed a lot of rest. We were so tired that we could close our eyes for more than half a day even in a shaking car.

We have come this far after going through some difficult times.

Woohoo.

The vehicle’s speed was slowly decreasing.

I slowly opened my eyes, having been in a state of hypnosis for quite some time. I saw an artificial light at the edge of the horizon.

The lights were dim like a night market at dawn, and people were bustling about. There were nomad-specific, inconsistent vehicles parked here and there. Among them were many large residential vehicles.

‘You’ve arrived.’

I took a deep breath and brought my brain back into a state of alertness. My narrow field of vision widened, and my awareness extended beyond the vehicle.

I could also feel Barbara’s movements in the driver’s seat. She seemed to have woken up from a long rest. She had been sleeping for a while, motionless like a corpse.

Chiik.

Barbara was administering a glucose-based supplement into the nape of her neck.

“Phew.”

Barbara let out a breath of relief, as if her mind had suddenly snapped.

“Hmm.”

Giselle also fluttered her tired eyelids and listened. She had only just woken up from cryosleep. Since she had not been thawed properly, she would be very tired and suffering from aftereffects, and her body would not be able to move as it should.

I also know Giselle’s condition better because I’ve woken up from cryosleep before. It must be a blurry feeling of reality and the world still feels vague.

“Nomads are drifters without a focal point, but they have a weakly organized information network and connections among themselves. Irregular nomad markets like this one open up often.”

Barbara spoke to Giselle as if explaining to her. She glanced at me and Giselle as she prepared to get out of the car.

“Luka, you watch over Giselle. I’ll go get the things you need.”

Barbara has changed since Giselle joined.

I too was surprised every time I heard Barbara’s words and actions. Barbara trusted Giselle.

‘Barbara believes that Giselle would never betray her.’

If Barbara were away, Giselle and I could have left together. However, Barbara headed to the Nomad Market alone as if she had never even thought about such a possibility.

“… … What did you suggest to that crazy guy?”

I said this as I got out of the car to relieve my tired body.

Giselle also sat in the back seat and enjoyed the outside air. Her brown bob hair swayed in the wind. She looked good, but I missed her dark blue hair a little.

“It’s simple if you understand it. It’s about staying with me. Barbara has always wanted to be with me. The reason she seemed strange is because she has a different level of thinking than we do.”

I thought I knew what Giselle meant. Mushir al-Kashra came to mind.

‘The structure of the mind itself is different from ours.’

The joys and sorrows of the other races felt closer to me than those of Mushir Al-Kashra or Barbara.

“If Barbara resembles Mushir Al-Kashra, then she is dangerous. One day, she will try to prove her love in a way you do not want.”

I felt uncomfortable with Barbara’s presence. This must be because I had experienced Mushir al-Kashra.

“… …Luka, do you believe in Iley Kartika because she resembles you?”

An unexpected question came out of Giselle’s mouth. It was a difficult question to answer.

“That’s not true.”

“Do you know why I didn’t cooperate with Ilay Kartika? It’s because I was embarrassed. Ilay is only a friend to you. No one trusts Kartika’s fox.”

That was the reason why Ilay and Giselle did not cooperate with each other.

‘And if Giselle had sought Ilay’s cooperation, Ilay would have used Giselle’s plan for his own benefit as well.’

Giselle with Barbara by her side, me with Ilay close by. There was essentially no difference.

Before long, Barbara returned to her car, having purchased a boxful of miscellaneous items.

“We will enter Bellato City disguised as nomads seeking to settle down. It is a little early, but everything is going according to plan. So don’t worry, my Giselle.”

Barbara said as she handed Giselle a set of clothes and goggles. They were practical clothes that would protect against the sandstorm.

“A plan that only I don’t know about? I didn’t hear about the subsequent plans.”

I leaned my shoulder against the car and crossed my arms as I asked.

“I’ll explain everything, so just wait. Don’t show that you’re impatient.”

Barbara snapped at me.

Giselle, who was getting dressed in the car, explained instead.

“Luka, some of the money embezzled from G&G Cybernetics is in a false account in Bellato City. We also bought some real estate under the name of a shell company that Barbara set up. Since the money was laundered through Border City, it’s safe from tracking. We probably won’t have to worry about money until we die.”

Giselle spoke nonchalantly of the enormous embezzlement. I pressed my palm against my forehead.

“There was a reason why you were running wild. You embezzled enough slush funds to live off of for the rest of your life? You can earn money to live off of whenever you want!”

I think it was the first time I yelled at Giselle since we met again.

“I know you have no conscience. I feel sorry for Gilda. But I wanted to prepare for all situations.”

Giselle, who had changed her clothes, took out an old terminal. Barbara and Giselle shared information through the terminal.

Beep, beep.

Giselle quickly scanned the terminal screen like a cool businesswoman, only her pupils moving up and down.

She continued speaking while looking at the terminal.

“… … I tried to wake you up just before the war. When the chaos of war starts, there will be no one looking for us. Even if there were, there wouldn’t be enough strength.”

In the near future, the planet Novas will become a battlefield. It is a war that all three nations are expecting and preparing for.

The war that Giselle and Barbara had anticipated would begin about ten years from now.

Giselle continued speaking, staring at the terminal.

“If necessary, I would use the Empire’s sword to create an opportunity for war. If the internal conflict within the Empire drags on, other nations will take action. And if war starts, the first city to disappear will be Border City. Then, Lazarus’ cryo-sleep patients will be transferred to the Orbital Hospital or Bellato City.”

Giselle was willing to wage war for her own personal gain, even at the cost of countless lives lost. Of course, even without Giselle’s intervention, war was a destined future, but it was emotionally difficult to accept.

The Giselle I knew was a girl who couldn’t stomach such vices.

‘Whether the world burns or not… … I move only for my future.’

There was a madness in Giselle’s obsession that was no less than Barbara’s. Perhaps the two were influenced by each other as they worked together.

Ssuk.

I looked at Barbara instead of Giselle. Barbara also felt my gaze and met my eyes.

Barbara lifted one side of her mouth with her finger, a clear sneer.

Barbara’s inner voice seemed to reach me telepathically. I could read her thoughts clearly.

‘Luka, do you think you can handle Giselle now?’

That’s what Barbara seemed to be saying. She was confident.

* * *

It’s been about three weeks since the Honeyspace kidnapping incident. If we count the exact dates, it was the 20th.

I was spending each day unfamiliar. Instead of wandering the streets at night, I woke up to see the morning sun.

Well, sometimes I wake up to a blue dawn. Today was one of those days.

… … And when I opened my eyes, the first thing I encountered was always the warm scent of flesh.

“Uhm, Luca? Are you up already?”

Giselle on the bed tossed and turned to look at me. I grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to her shoulders.

“I’ve recovered a lot of my stamina. I’ve also slept less.”

“I guess so. I’m getting stronger day by day. But that makes me more tired.”

I burst out laughing. Giselle groped my bruised stomach and then closed her eyes again, feeling sleepy.

Ssuk.

I carefully pushed Giselle’s hand away, got out of bed, and walked to the window.

Chomp!

When I opened the curtains, I saw the blue dawn outside the window.

‘… … Bellato City.’

We arrived in Bellato City a fortnight ago and lived in a multi-family villa on the outskirts, not in the city center.

Bellato City is a place where nature and architecture coexist. Even from the window of the villa where we stayed, we could see green spaces and parks here and there.

On the streets, citizens were seen exercising from the morning.

The security of Bellato City was quite good. Even in the outskirts, it was difficult to see vagrants or lawbreakers. A stable peace prevailed throughout the city.

‘It’s quiet.’

This kind of peace and nature is an unfamiliar sight to me. But it wasn’t bad. For my mental health, too.

I stared blankly outside. I enjoyed the quiet time until the blue dawn broke.

‘The peace arranged by Giselle and Barbara.’

There will be no one to track me down now. Even if there is, it will be hard to find.

‘You can stop tightroping while looking at the dark cliff.’

The Honeyspace spaceship hijacking and the attack on the Newzen Orbital Hospital were major events, but there were no portraits or photos of me or Barbara anywhere. Even if Barbara had been hacked, there would have been at least a montage based on testimony.

Rather, a strange couple, a man and a woman, were identified as the culprits and arrested.

‘If we fail to catch the perpetrator of this level of terrorism, the government and large corporations will lose face.’

The back side of Bellato City is also gloomy.

But unofficially, there will be those who are after us. It would be best to refrain from any conspicuous external activities for the time being.

As I stepped away from the window, I flinched as I reached for my glass of water.

I stayed in Bellato City and had my prosthetic arms and legs replaced.

“hmm.”

The prosthesis I’m using now has a fairly low output compared to other prosthetics for everyday use. Having only used high-output prosthetics my entire life, I still occasionally feel a strange sensation.

I concentrated as if I was looking under the artificial skin and grabbed the glass of water.

Gulp.

I drank water with the pills on the table. The pills I take every day are high-potency tranquilizers. They are so strong that if a normal person takes them, they will fall into a coma.

I took drugs to suppress neurotransmitters to the extreme and used low-powered devices to minimize the burden on my brain. It was a good stopgap measure.

But honestly, I’ve been feeling like an idiot lately. It’s even unpleasant. I feel like I’m not myself.

More than anything… … I was concerned about the unresolved issues. Even if I suppressed Aki’s Victory, I knew that not everything was over.

Ilay and Kinuan… … .

String.

I had a headache. It felt like all the thoughts I had suppressed were going to burst out like water overflowing.

If you focus your thoughts on complex issues, even tranquilizers cannot suppress them.

Because of this, I consciously tried to avoid information about the Empire.

‘This is the life and peace I wanted. Luca, come to your senses.’

I frowned. If my prosthetic arm had been at high power right now, the table I was holding on to would have split.

Rattling.

I went out to the front door and headed to the house next door. The door next door was wide open as if welcoming a burglar, and as I walked in, I knocked on the wall to make a sound.

Knock, knock.

In the living room next door was a girl surrounded by monitors and holograms. She had orange hair and tilted her head at me.

Yes, Barbara lives next door to us.

“What’s going on? My neighbor’s cousin.”

“I wonder if things are going well.”

“I’m controlling the information while reducing my sleep. Don’t worry. As long as Giselle likes you… … you’re safe.”

Barbara constantly monitored the various networks and erased any traces of us, thoroughly eradicating even the slightest links that could lead us back to them.

“Oh, thank you.”

I stared at Barbara’s monitor and hologram. The tranquilizers slowed down my absorption of information considerably.

When Barbara saw me like that, she laughed with her eyes and mouth wide open. Her shoulders and chest shook mechanically.

“Hee, hee, hee. I knew it, Luca. You are a violent bastard. Even if you give peace to him, he will quickly throw it away and run towards destruction.”

Barbara snapped her fingers as if she had been waiting.

Beep.

All the monitors and holograms were filled with information related to the Empire. The events that had happened were neatly organized.

Stop.

Something snapped in my head. The transmitters in my brain went wild, like a dam breaking.

The information is organized in an instant and then inserted into my brain one by one like books in a library.

“… … Ugh, huh.”

I put my finger down my throat and spit out the half-dissolved pill.

“You are smiling right now.”

“I know, you piece of shit.”

I wiped my mouth.

I’ve found myself again. But I’m not rejecting peace. I’m just finishing up unfinished business.

For true peace.