Bad Born Blood-Chapter 185

Chapter 185

- Luka, please prioritize protecting Anguis Regina. I’ll explain the details later, but... the target of this attack is me. Anguis Regina is only a secondary objective. I’ll contact you again once this situation is resolved.

I listened to Jafa’s recording. Toward the end of the recording, there was even the sound of an explosion. Jafa was under attack as well. It seemed like an emergency in more ways than one.

- The ruler of Border City’s restaurant industry, Master Jafa, has been attacked. Who could be behind this? As you all know... there are far too many suspects! The bigger question is whether Jafa is still alive! The burning building you’re looking at right now is none other than the headquarters of Jafa Trading, and I’m One Bright, reporting the situation live! If...

Anguis Regina was watching the news on her terminal, biting her lower lip. I reached over and pulled her coat’s hood down lower.

"Don’t show your face to others. Keep your eyes on the ground and just follow my legs."

"You seem quite used to situations like this."

"It’s just another day for me."

I lightly kicked the duffel bag propped against the wall. Blood had pooled underneath it and was dripping onto the ground.

Inside the duffel bag was the assassin who had lost to me. I had stripped them of their combat suit and stuffed them in, and they fit surprisingly well. Since they no longer had legs, they took up even less space.

For now, my plan was to take the assassin to a safe house for interrogation.

Catching my breath in the alley, I scanned the situation. In the distance, a crimson shimmer, like a sunset, flickered. But it wasn’t an actual sunset—it was the raging fire. Beyond that, Jafa Trading’s headquarters was burning. The eyes of Border City were fixed on that spectacle.

...Gabriel and Boyan were not inside Jafa Trading’s headquarters at the moment. The only person I was concerned about was Lapis. Without her, no one could maintain my cybernetic implants.

I looked at Anguis Regina, who was biting her thumb.

“Worried about Jafa?”

Anguis Regina glanced at me briefly before responding.

“With the Equessians and En there, he should be fine.”

"Hmm, and you say that after seeing an Equessian go down so easily earlier?"

"The ones assigned to me this time were lower-ranked warriors. Since you’re here, they probably thought using higher-tier forces for my security would be a waste. Normally, En would have been assigned as my escort."

Anguis Regina seemed to have considerable faith in the Equessian mercenaries. It was likely a trust built from experience. It appeared that they had handled their work well so far.

Come to think of it, even from my own experience, the top-tier Equessian mercenaries were exceptional warriors. Just three or four of them would be enough to fend off a half-baked attack.

"Anguis! Reginaaa!"

"Where are you? We’ll escort you to safety!"

There were even fans searching for Anguis Regina. Though they moved with the intent of protecting her, they were only getting in the way.

"Let’s move."

I waited for the noisy crowd to pass, then started moving. Before sunrise, we arrived at the safe house.

I looked up at the building. From the outside, it was just another residential villa like the countless others in Border City.

Upon entering, I found the hallways filthy, covered in years-old trash as if no cleaner had ever set foot here. As we passed other rooms, strange odors lingered in the air. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

Anguis Regina and I stopped in front of the designated safe house unit.

Clatter.

The door was bound with chains and padlocks. There were signs that someone had tried to break them, but despite their rusted appearance, the padlocks and chains were made of high-strength alloy. No civilian could cut through them, no matter how much effort they put in.

I unlocked them in the designated order. The seemingly tangled locks and chains unraveled one by one.

Creeeak.

The door slowly opened. Its thickness was about the length of my index finger. That alone would be enough to withstand heavy firepower, and since it was a double-door structure, there was an even thicker metal door inside.

’A facility with top-tier defensive capabilities. It’s practically a bunker.’

The walls and floors were also incredibly thick. Because of that, there was a step up to the inner door, requiring four steps to enter.

Since the walls, ceiling, and floor had been reinforced, the interior of the room was small, and there were no windows. What appeared to be windows from the outside were just decorative illusions.

’The structure is completely isolated from the outside. Water is drawn from a ceiling tank, and electricity is generated using a power unit. The shelves are stocked with compressed rations and essential supplies.’

I narrowed my eyes as I scanned the interior. This wasn’t just a safe house—it was a fully self-sustaining shelter that could support someone for weeks, maybe even a couple of months. Even if the villa above were destroyed in a bombing, this room would likely remain intact.

’Border City is chaotic, and Jafa has many enemies. It’s not strange to take precautions. But this setup is over the top. This must have cost a fortune.’

And Jafa hadn’t been flustered by the attack. He had given orders calmly, as if he had expected this to happen.

I tore open a packet of compressed rations and began chewing on it.

"You’re supposed to add water to that."

Anguis Regina said as she sat down.

"I’ve got strong teeth, so it’s fine. My digestion’s good too."

"...I see."

Anguis Regina sighed, giving up on arguing. She had too much on her mind to pay me any attention.

"More importantly, do you know who Jafa’s enemies are?"

"I wouldn’t kno—"

I cut her off with a smirk.

"Don’t lie. Instead of being shocked by the attack, you’re just worried. That means you saw this coming, didn’t you? You can keep it to yourself if you want. But if you want my help, you’ll have to tell me something. Whether you ask me or not, I already feel indebted to Jafa. I’d step in to help him without being asked. So you’d better make use of my goodwill while it’s fresh."

"You suddenly sound like quite the talker. That was convincing."

"Guess it means my rehabilitation is almost done. I’ve always been a... logical and rational person."

Even I barely held back a scoff as I said that. Logical and rational—sure. Well, it wasn’t entirely wrong. In some ways, it was actually quite accurate.

"Hah, logical and rational? Let me just reflect on everything that’s happened so far. My knees are starting to ache."

Anguis Regina chuckled lightly, taking my words as a joke.

"Anyway, if Jafa dies, that’d be a problem for me too."

I watched her expression carefully as I spoke.

"You’re using humor to ease the mood while trying to coax out an answer. If you put your mind to it, I bet you’d be quite the womanizer."

"I wouldn’t limit myself to just women."

Anguis Regina’s shoulders trembled as she held back a laugh. She was probably remembering when I said I liked men.

"Well, you’d find out soon enough anyway... It’s not exactly a big secret. Jafa is an exile. He was cast out of his family and left without protection. No, actually, it’s worse than that. The family didn’t just abandon him—they branded him a disgrace and actively tried to kill him. He’s been on the run ever since."

It was a story I’d heard before.

’Boyan.’

Jafa must have seen a kindred spirit in Boyan. If I had been a little more familiar with the Tajirun people, I might have picked up on that sentiment myself.

’Even if I don’t get involved, Jafa will keep helping Boyan.’

I waited for Anguis Regina to continue.

"A while back, Jafa met with his father—the head of his family—and made a deal. He paid a price to establish a non-aggression pact. That agreement was either broken or expired today. That’s why they’re after him again."

"I’m not exactly an expert on the Tajirun, but... unlike Boyan, Jafa is outstanding—just as a Tajirun should be. I doubt they’d brand him with disgrace and exile him over anything trivial."

"That’s... something you’ll have to ask Jafa yourself. This is as far as I’ll let you pry through me, Detective."

Anguis Regina playfully pressed a finger to her lips, regaining her composure. The safe house was, as its name suggested, safe. There was a certain coziness to it that brought a sense of psychological relief.

’The best-case scenario would be Jafa successfully renegotiating with his family.’

But I quickly erased that possibility from my mind. I had to prepare for the worst-case scenario. That was how I had survived until now.

Tap, tap.

I nudged the duffel bag with the tip of my foot and loosened the straps. The bag sagged halfway open.

The assassin, clad only in a black undergarment after being stripped of her combat suit, twitched slightly. She tried to move her hands, but they were securely bound behind her back.

"Hey, you awake? You’re not dead, right?"

The white-haired assassin’s eyes fluttered open faintly. The burnt smell still lingered from the severed stump of her thigh. Anguis Regina briefly averted her gaze, seemingly unable to stomach the sight.

"You..."

The assassin squinted at me. My unmasked face must not have been unfamiliar to her.

’Her cognitive abilities have declined significantly. That’s just the inevitability of aging.’

If she were still in her prime, she would have recognized me instantly. But now, even with just minor changes in my build and appearance, she was struggling to place me.

"If you behave, I won’t kill you. Not that you have many days left anyway. Still working as an assassin at your age? You really didn’t plan for retirement, huh? What’d you do with all the money you made?"

I spoke as if I didn’t know her. The assassin widened her eyes, but it took another ten seconds before they truly registered me.

"So... you’re that boy. The one I didn’t kill."

"Yeah, yeah, something about ‘as you treat others, so shall you be treated.’"

I muttered sarcastically. The assassin let out a hollow laugh.

"My arrogance in the past has come back to haunt me. Arrogance doesn’t just consume the present—it devours the future."

"Which is why you should’ve killed me when you had the chance. Acting all high and mighty got you into this mess."

I sneered. The assassin didn’t even get angry. Instead, she nodded in resignation. The sight of it made me grit my teeth.

"You’re right. So kill me now. If you still carry the weight of my past mercy, grant me this one request."

"...Tell me everything you know first. Then I’ll give you what you want."

"You should know this already. Someone like me—an enforcer—takes jobs through intermediaries. I don’t get to know the client. Hah, maybe back in the day, but I’m not a big name anymore."

She called herself a nobody now. Gone was the woman who once stood over me, looking down with contempt. The one who had spoken of her own strength without a hint of doubt...

...It made me want to curse and scowl.

‘Why did you get weaker?’

I knew the answer. It was aging. But I didn’t want to accept it.

"Let’s talk about something else. Your aging—was it a side effect?"

"Rather than a side effect, it was the price I paid. I forced my body to resist aging and artificially enhanced my physique. The procedure was unstable from the start, and later on, I abused regenerative treatments. Even when I met you back then, I was already quite old."

The assassin spoke calmly.

"Yeah? And how old were you back then?"

"You shouldn’t ask a woman her age. Not that it matters. If you’re expecting answers from me, don’t bother."

She let out a rough laugh. Her demeanor was that of someone who had transcended concerns of life and death.

"So you’re really choosing the hard way? Do you think I’ll go easy on you just because you’re old?"

I curled my fingers, feeling the weight in them. A low hum rumbled from my clenched fists.

"You’re angry at what I’ve become, aren’t you? Do you know why? Whether you replace flesh and blood with terrifying machinery, strengthen your body on a cellular level with biotechnology, or chemically refine your nervous system... in the end, we all grow old and weak. Some faster, some slower. My state is just a preview of your own future—the one where you fail to die in time. Isn’t that right, kid?"

I lost control. Grabbing her by the hair, I slammed her head into the floor.

Crack!

Her nose broke with a sharp, satisfying sound.

"I won’t end up like you. I have no intention of living easy and dying in bed."

I yanked her head up and spat my words like a threat.

"Heh... heh. Neither did I. But when has life ever gone the way we wanted?"

The assassin chuckled, spitting out a broken front tooth onto the floor.

I bit my lower lip. I wanted to smash her skull into the ground until it burst. But I let go.

"I won’t kill you. Death is exactly what you want. Instead, you’re going to sit there, swallowing whatever scraps I give you, and cling to life like a pathetic wretch."

A powerless existence was a cruel punishment. And for someone who had lived so fiercely, it would be unbearable.

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