Bad Born Blood Chapter 337

337
Arcane Artifact, Mental Warfare Device. Originally a relic belonging to the Accresia Empire.

According to Ivan, the Empire is researching mind transference and is trying to build a system called ‘Brain Backup’.

‘A plan to grant immortal life to all citizens of the empire through brain backup.’

To be honest, it seems like an unrealistic and crazy plan. But if the brain backup system is completed in the future, will the people of the immortal empire be happy? I think it will become a more distorted society than it is now.

I cleared my mind of distracting thoughts and looked at the helmet-shaped mental warfare device in the virtual reality simulation.

Ilay put his hand on the back of his helmet as if demonstrating.

Wheeing.

The circuits, like the folds of the brain, shone brighter.

Illai looked at the blue light and opened her mouth.

“Even the Empire didn’t fully understand how to use the mind warfare device. That was because the mind warfare device had no storage. A storage that could contain our primal spirit, which can only be called ‘soul.’”

Illei opened his palm. The holographic grid glowed and a new object appeared in his palm.

‘Another relic.’

The new artifact was a kind of chip. The triangular chip had a blue light that would brighten and dim like a heartbeat.

“Is that a repository?”

“Kinuan found it. Without the mind-transfer device, it looks like just a shiny piece of jewelry. One of the high priests of Korra was wearing it as a necklace. By the time I got that information… … that priest had already been murdered by someone.”

“Oh really? That’s the information you were hiding from me.”

I complained. Ilay frowned as if she wasn’t going to back down.

“I can’t report everything that happened when you were a sleeping prince. Kinuan and I have a longer history than you think.”

That’s true. You can’t report it, and there’s no need to report it.

“So now we have both a psychic and a storage unit?”

“Based on the traces of Kinuan that I have traced, there must be three storages that he has secured. He used one, and I received two. He used one of them to enter Francek, and he intended to use the remaining one to return to the main body. By the way, the storages are consumed and destroyed when the spirit is injected.”

The repository was disposable.

If the storage is consumed or the head is destroyed in this mission, Ilay will be forced to live forever as Francek.

‘Psychic transference device, storage device, energy capsule.’

You need these three to fully utilize the psychotransmitter’s functions.

‘The previous emperor must have implanted his own mind into Ivan’s brain using an imperfect brain backup system based on mental transfer.’

Ilay continued explaining while looking at my expression.

“Kinuan has been studying how to use the mind teleporter. I think he has been asking about it ever since he was a guard instructor.”

“That guy probably wasn’t just a slacker who was just an instructor. He must have been busy moving around underwater even when we were cadets. Anyway, he’s like a swan on the lake.”

Kinuan lived more fiercely than anyone else and acted like a god who had escaped the secular world. Looking back, it was even funny.

Anyway, Kinuan is the Archie Domini of the previous emperor. He is not an unstable apprentice like me, but a complete Archie Domini who shared all the plots and schemes with the previous emperor.

‘It wouldn’t be strange if Kinuan was in charge of gathering information related to the mind transference device or investigating relics.’

While I was thinking about it, Illei activated the psychic device in the simulation. He charged the psychic device with an energy capsule and placed the storage tank on the back of the psychic device.

widely.

The storage sticks like a magnet. Since it is a format without an insertion hole, it would be difficult to even know that the storage exists if you don’t know how to use it.

“It’s surprisingly easy to use. There are arcane letters, but you don’t need to learn them. Just think of them as pictures and memorize them.”

The external circuit of the mental teleporter glowed. The blue light that rose slowly broke and tangled like threads, forming a holographic screen.

I saw crooked letters that I had no idea how to read or pronounce.

‘I thought it was a picture, not text… … .’

I memorized the order of operations while looking at Ilay’s hands. In the middle, there were also pictorial symbols representing the brain and storage.

In the brain-shaped pictogram, a light that could be called the human ‘soul’ was shining. It was like a soul fire.

Illai frowned slightly. Her expression was displeased.

“Luka, if our minds are not simply electrochemical phenomena… … but have some spiritual origin, is there an afterlife?”

In the Empire, the principles of the universe are taught based on materialism.

The mind is merely a phenomenon that occurs in the brain, and when you die, everything ends.

“I’m not interested. I’m not a scholar.”

Ilay laughed at my reaction.

“Well, it must be some kind of high-level science and technology. It might be applying the unique structures and signal patterns that make up the mind and self to other brains… … .”

Ilay asked herself with a bitter expression. I flinched as I felt something bothering me.

‘Afterlife.’

One word that Ilay uttered stuck in my head. My throat tingled.

‘Ilay, you really want the afterlife to exist.’

It is extremely difficult for Illei, who is from the Empire and is also cynical, to believe in the afterlife. Only with solid evidence can Illei accept the afterlife.

‘If there is an afterlife, I will be able to see Lillian Ramones again.’

Ilay is a poor boy, bound by a curse that can never be broken.

“Luka, I can see your thoughts in your face. This is a virtual reality simulation. Your emotions are more explicit. I don’t believe in the afterlife, but even if there is… … I will never meet Lillian Ramones. I will be buried in the deepest part of Hell. I will not be able to go up even one level even if I atone for eternity.”

“……hmm.”

I can’t even say no with empty words.

If there is an afterlife and a hell, the afterlife judges would have unanimously decided that the bottom of hell would be Ilay’s place.

I changed the subject while looking at the teleportation helmet and hologram.

“The method is simpler than I thought. Is this the end?”

“Even a fool would know how to do it after trying it a few times. For you, once is enough.”

You can manipulate the holographic interface with picture symbols to transfer the ‘soul fire’ to the storage and brain.

‘I understand why so many people are crazy about the Arcane civilization.’

It was possible to transfer a person’s mind this simply.

It is natural to wonder how a civilization with such advanced technology survived and why it perished.

“Can we extract the spirit of the former emperor from Ivan’s brain? What if they are intertwined and appear as one?”

I asked just in case.

‘I have two gifts to bring to Ivan. One is Ilay’s head, and the other is the mind teleportation device and how to use it.’

Ivan wants to extract the spirit of the previous emperor from his own head. He would much rather have a mental warfare than Ilay’s head.

“… … It’s separated. The light of the soul will appear in two. The smaller light is probably the previous emperor.”

As I listened to those words, I got closer to the mental battle.

“Can I just put the spirit I want to banish into a storage and destroy it?”

Ilay, who was always a chatterbox, just nodded. And my mind started making inferences on its own.

In a virtual reality simulation, it is more difficult to hide the inner self. The body is a space that is reflected directly without going through a shell.

I bowed my head slightly, fiddling with my mental helmet.

The information that Illei just uttered came from experience. It was bitter.

‘You banished Frances’ spirit yourself, Illei… … .’

Even though Francesque was incapacitated, it seems he was not completely without an ego. It is highly likely that he was able to organize conversations.

‘Ilay saw Ivan’s unstable state. He is not the kind of man who would commit the folly of leaving even Frances’s feeble ego behind.’

Ilay took out Frances’s mind and entered his brain as if he were replacing it. He did not overwrite it.

As soon as Iley’s mind injection was finished, the storage where Francesek’s mind was would have ceased to function and broken down. Even though the mind was replaced, the storage where Francesek arrived was a shelter that would soon collapse.

‘Unless there are more hidden repositories, in which case Francesque is already completely dead. Ilay killed her.’

There is only one remaining storage. This is what Ilay needs to use when he returns to the main body.

Ilay has neither the luxury nor the conscience to preserve Francesque’s spirit.

‘liar.’

Honestly, I felt more bitter towards Iley, who kept lying, than towards Francesque’s circumstances.

I didn’t bother asking about Francek.

Well, this is just circumstantial inference. The problem is that, in my experience, such inferences are usually correct.

Beep.

Illei put her hand to her ear. It was a communication from reality outside the simulation.

“My body is here, Luca. Do you want to cut it yourself? Should I cut it and bring it to you?”

I answered without hesitation.

“Do it yourself.”

I’m probably smiling coolly right now.

* * *

I looked at the body of Ilay, who was sleeping soundly. The guy’s blond hair was bright as if it was glowing. Under his eyelids, he must have blue eyes that looked like a mixture of ice and jewels.

Kirick.

I picked Crucifix.

Whirl!

I raised both my hands high, turning the blade with my wrist. I also grabbed the handle with the other hand.

As concise as an executioner.

Clang! Crunch!

In one blow, the neck of the Illei main body was cut off as if it were broken. Crushed iron and parts flew everywhere.

“Well, the sight of my throat being cut is a bit uncomfortable.”

Iley, who was wearing Francesque’s body, leaned against the wall and said, smoking a cigarette that was not even worth smoking.

“Stop smoking in front of non-smokers. You say nicotine doesn’t even enter your head?”

“There is a pleasure to be felt from smoking other than nicotine. That’s why non-smokers are like, tsk.”

“I am so proud.”

I habitually turned the crucian car over and over again to clear the blade of debris.

Crunch.

The crucian carapace was neatly sheathed.

Even though it was a high-pressure heavy weapon, since my body output was good to begin with, the blade’s movement was smooth and light like a normal weapon. In fact, if I may brag a little, it is also thanks to my body control and output maintenance ability.

Druk.

I put Ilay’s head in the bag I had prepared.

Illei’s only living body, the brain, is here. If we authenticate it, it will be revealed that it is Illei.

‘Ivan won’t be easily fooled. But he has no choice but to take the bait of using a mind-bending device.’

I had no intention of wasting time. I planned to head into the center of Akbaran as soon as I gathered the necessary equipment and items.

“Luca.”

Ilay spoke to me as if she was grabbing me.

“If you have something to say, say it now.”

“That’s because it’s a sensitive question. We’re the kind of people who assume the worst. If things go wrong… … someone will have to tell Giselle about you. Or, worse yet, Ivan might attack Giselle.”

“so?”

I answered with my back turned. The temperature of my voice dropped without me realizing it.

“If you tell me where Giselle is, I will take action and prepare.”

My hand movements stopped.

‘You’re telling Illei where Giselle is?’

Ilay is a liar. Who knows what kind of scheme he might hatch next.

I believe that Ilay is lying to me too. And I also believe that he will act for me.

“Ilay, to me, Giselle is like Lillian. No, maybe even more so.”

“I know. That’s why I asked you to tell me.”

If my heart could sweat, it would be sweating right now.

It feels like a thorny marble is coming back up from my throat. It’s so unpleasant and painful.

… … It is so difficult to trust others.

‘You were like that too, Father.’

I opened my mouth with difficulty and spoke. It was a small, mumbling voice.

“Thank you, Luca.”

Ilay answered calmly.