Bad Born Blood Chapter 348

348
I had electrodes hanging from my head. Jin Ga-woo asked me various questions and even gave me instructions on how to make certain movements.

As I answered questions and moved, a three-dimensional holographic map of my brain flashed.

“The world is so funny. Even if you live this long, something surprising always happens.”

Jin Ga-woo said while examining my condition.

“You survived this chaos, sir.”

“The Empire does not easily dispose of useful talent. As long as the risk of my existence does not exceed my usefulness, I am safe. Are you so clouded in judgment that you would throw me out? If it gets to that point, the Empire will fall in no time.”

Jin Gao had a clear understanding of his position on the political map of the empire.

If we look at the natural purpose of living things, which is survival, there are few people as strong as Jin Gau.

‘Being exceptionally strong and superior doesn’t always mean you’ll survive.’

Jin Ga-woo was a man with flexible thinking. He survived cleverly even in the rapidly changing plots of the empire. If he had behaved even a little bit badly, he would have been a target for purging.

‘Even Martina Diva was saved.’

I know how great that is.

“I may not be able to imitate the former director, but thinking back now, I think he is admirable.”

I spoke honestly.

Jin-ga-woo tilted his head to the side so that his glasses slipped down.

“Hmm, there is a change in the patient’s personality. Be careful.”

Jin-ga-woo teased me by pretending to leave a voice record.

“… … I’m serious. If I were the director, I wouldn’t have been able to protect Martina. I would have wanted to keep her by my side all the time.”

“Of course, since you are still young. Young people can only satisfy their longings by receiving the love of their lover directly. However, if you look at a woman for decades, or even a hundred years… … You become grateful for her existence in the world. It is a realm you cannot understand. The endless longing disappears, and you can feel fulfilled just by devotion.”

I also know that part of love is expressed in the form of devotion. But I am not satisfied with that alone. If I do not satisfy my longing for Giselle, I will go crazy.

Jin Ga-woo’s love matured and sublimated. Jealousy, possessiveness, and obsession were thrown away, leaving only the crystallization of devotion. It was truly a noble emotion.

‘Jingau could have kept Martina in the world longer with his abilities… …but he didn’t act greedily.’

Anyone who has ever been in love knows how difficult that decision is.

Jin Ga-woo’s mind was in a higher realm. Others still think he’s a weirdo, and I used to be like that too.

But now I have seen a little bit of the depth of the man named Jin Ga-woo.

“I don’t think I could ever watch my lover from afar like you do, even though I know it’s safe and beneficial.”

Jin Ga-woo laughed, holding his stomach.

“As I said before, it’s because you’re young. How could you do that at your age! Don’t be so cocky. You’re still young, not to mention immature. There are mountains of things you have to see, hear, and experience. The answer I found may not be the answer for you. Ah, ah, I talked too much. This won’t do. You’re getting attached.”

Jin Ga-woo lifted his glasses and clapped his hands loudly. He lightened the mood and explained my condition in a businesslike tone.

“Your brain’s nervous system activity is too high. It’s an obvious prescription, but reduce stimulation that can arouse you and avoid getting involved in complicated incidents. It would be better to live in a quiet neighborhood rather than a big city. Avoid using high-powered prosthetics and use prosthetics with simple functions. The best ones are biological limbs.”

“These are obvious, but difficult guidelines to follow.”

“But if you keep it, you’ll live a long life. Of course, sometimes it’s okay to relieve stress by beating up one or two people you don’t like. It means don’t live like a storm.”

For example, don’t think about a person like ‘Kinuan’.

Beep, beep beep!

There was a drastic change in my brain map. Every part of my brain turned red and flashed like a fireworks festival.

I squeezed my eyes shut and desperately pushed away thoughts of Kinuan. It took a few minutes for the various warning sounds to subside.

“… … Are you saying that if I do this, I won’t live long?”

I said awkwardly. Jin Ga-woo laughed bashfully.

“I’ll prescribe you a sedative when you’re discharged, so don’t forget to take it with you.”

“I will be discharged today. But can you keep it a secret for three days? Don’t tell anyone.”

Jin-Gau took off the electrodes attached to my head one by one. He slowly opened his mouth after putting the electrodes away.

“I see you still have some work to do. Oh, don’t tell me what it is. I don’t want to know. I believe you know my ways well by now.”

I nodded in thanks.

* * *

Kiing, ging.

I took out my combat body from under the bed and put it on. My right arm and both legs were Lazuli 21s that the Empire had serviced. My left arm was a prosthetic arm of the Royal Guard specifications.

Crunch.

I took out another box of equipment and opened it. Inside were some welcome weapons.

I really liked the heavy feeling of Crucis and Ruina hanging on my waist and inside my coat.

‘This is really the last time, Luca.’

I couldn’t laugh at drug addicts anymore. They were essentially no different from me.

I feel unbearably bored without extreme stimulation like combat.

My natural disposition was like that, and the guards greatly enhanced my aggressiveness and violence. Even among my fellow cadets, my aggressiveness was particularly strong.

Empire of Darkness and Conspiracy, Kinuan, Ilay, Mushir Al-Kashra, Border City… … .

Once you get caught up in these incidents, it’s hard to feel excited and stimulated by anything.

It was for the same reason that many guardsmen, past their prime, spent their entire lives engaged in violence after retirement.

There is only a difference in degree, but it is difficult for people who are accustomed to high stimulation to live a normal life. They cannot feel the reality of being alive, and such a life is dull, like a black and white photograph with low saturation or no color.

‘I guess I’ll have to fight against my nature my whole life.’

I saw Barbara’s sacrifice. Barbara was born with a different emotional structure than others.

‘Barbara’s sacrifice to save me wasn’t a sacrifice that came from the heart. It was probably a sacrifice she understood with her head and then put into action.’

That’s how much Barbara wanted to prove her feelings to Giselle. Since others held up sacrifice as a noble form of love, she chose to sacrifice herself to prove her love to Giselle, even though she didn’t feel it herself.

‘Even if I was born different from others… … .’

Barbara’s thoughts and ideas cannot be known in detail now.

Barbara, who hacked the Emperor’s Shadow, is said to have fallen into ‘invalidity’. It is said that she has regressed to the level of an infant due to brain damage and protein denaturation.

‘… … From now on, Giselle will take care of Barbara for the rest of her life. Like her own daughter.’

I asked Illei and Jingaou to refuse to meet Giselle. Giselle is still worried, thinking I’m in a coma.

I too wanted to run to Giselle right away. But not now.

I thought of Jin-gau’s wise judgment. It would be difficult to do so for decades like Jin-gau, but for the sake of Giselle’s safety, I could avoid seeing her for a few months.

‘Kinuan.’

In the last incident, Kinuan did not show up until the very end.

Thud, thud.

I walked down the lower district street.

Akbaran has not completely recovered from the past events. The streets are filled with pictures and letters denouncing the murderer, Francis.

There were many people in Akbaran who lost their families due to the massacre order of Iley, who wore the mask of Francek.

“It’s a conspiracy! It’s all a conspiracy! His Majesty Francis is still alive!”

Someone shouted as he painted over the pictures on the wall with black spray paint.

“Don’t be a jerk! You little punk! I saw that guy give orders to the army with my own eyes!”

There was a fight in the street.

The divisions of Akbaran have not been resolved. A new emperor who everyone can accept must be elected for something to be centered.

‘Illei’s influence will be greatly influenced in the selection of the emperor.’

Illei has completed the groundwork to build the empire as she wishes. With this foundation, Illei will carry out her own will in the empire.

‘This is your choice, Ilay.’

Ilay’s life starts now. He has chosen to live as a mean politician.

It’s like I can see the trajectory of life that Ilay and I have walked.

Ilay and my life intertwined and crossed paths, sometimes going in the same direction. But there came a time when we completely diverged.

‘If you come any closer to Ilay, I will come to hate and despise him.’

Even though it was to prevent greater sacrifice, Iley ordered the massacre with Francek’s face. Because of that, I intentionally avoided watching or hearing about the massacre.

‘If he had given such an order while I was there, I would have stopped the guy from massacring him somehow.’

That must be one of the reasons why Ilay sent me to Ivan. If I were around, he would have been greatly disturbed whenever he revealed his evil.

I’m thinking of distancing myself from Ilay because we’re friends.

‘The more you love someone, the more you have to keep your distance from them, for each other’s sake.’

We are neither omnipotent nor perfect.

The Emperor of the Empire was not omnipotent, and the monstrous Mushir Al-Kashra was not perfect. Even the great Heilas could only protect his surroundings.

The more enemies you face that are beyond your abilities… … the more your precious existence becomes a fatal weakness, and the more you find yourself in a situation where the existence you were trying to protect becomes more dangerous because of you.

Until now, I had vaguely assumed that Kinuan had a macro goal, but surprisingly, I also thought that it might be a personal goal.

Kinuan of the past was a talker of ascension and such, and at one time he was a friend of the Emperor and an Archiece Domini. Furthermore, his actions caused chaos throughout the Empire. It seems as if there was a grand purpose behind his actions.

‘But if Kinuan had a grand purpose, there’s no way he wouldn’t have intervened in this situation. Especially since he’d recovered from the mental transfer, his mind would be working better than before.’

My head is slowly getting hotter. But since it’s new, the accident is clean. It feels like a well-paved road continues straight ahead.

Thud, thud.

I spent the whole day wandering around the lower areas. I had no intention of reminiscing.

‘Kinuen is just like me. The level difference isn’t that big. In Border City, it was a close match.’

I went back to all the streets and places I had visited with Kinuan.

‘Clearly, Kinuan has made mistakes in front of me too. It’s impossible. We are not perfect beings.’

So far, nothing in Kinuan’s actions has been meaningless. Everything has a reason.

Find it, Luca. Pull together the pieces of the past and put them together. You’ll find something strange. Even something small. You can start from there.

‘I didn’t intend to search for memories… … but the human mind moves as it pleases.’

I visited the black market’s arena. Perhaps due to the chaos of Akbaran, the black market was not as lively as it used to be.

The events that took place in the arena came to mind. The initiation into Archie’s Victory, the meeting with Gabriel, the contact with the arena gang.

Kinuan taught me how to relate to people. There was a time when I thought that the weak were not worth interacting with.

‘Gabriel was a lowlife, the kind of person I despise.’

But I received a lot of help from that connection.

Gabriel was a typical lower-class man with poor self-control who would often resort to drugs and cause trouble because he couldn’t control his temper… … but to me, he was a devoted friend.

If you think about it, Luca was really mean to Gabriel when he was a boy. But he has no intention of apologizing. It hurts his pride.

Meeting Gabriel and his gang broadened my perspective on people. Objectively, they were bad guys, but when you talk to them, you realize that they were all people with their own circumstances.

If I had met them on the street, I would have busted their heads open, but these guys… … came into my enclosure.

I wanted to protect the people in my fence. It’s a natural human instinct, but I didn’t realize it because there was no one in my fence before.

I had a heart that wanted to protect the weak.

‘Good boy.’

I think I can hear Kinuan’s voice.

A bleak speculation lingers in my mind. Let’s close our eyes for a moment and sort it out.

Bam.

I opened my eyes and gritted my teeth.

“Plague.”

… … I was a shepherd dog.