Beast, Blue Blood - Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Heinrich swiftly turned to Eugene.

“What are you talking about?”

Eugene was sitting by the bedside.

“We’ve shut down the project.”

“Why?”

Heinrich’s eyes flashed with anger, but he was trying to suppress it. Eugene spoke calmly.

“The conclusion is that it’s impossible to develop the virus with our current technology. When you are thawed, surgery or medication will be sufficient to treat you.”

Since there was no virus, to begin with, the only way to save his father was through human cryopreservation, as Selena had suggested, just like Mirsi.

Crash!

The glass Heinrich had thrown hit the wall and shattered into pieces.

“Who told you to find a way to cure my disease? I told you to develop the virus! Restart the project!”

Eugene anticipated Heinrich’s reaction and remained unshaken, reiterating.

“No matter how hard we try, it’s impossible to develop the virus now.”

“Making the impossible possible is your job! Do you not want to inherit the family?”

Then, Heinrich’s face turned cold as if he had realized something.

“I see. You think that if I become Luax, I won’t pass the family down to you, so you’re just going to let me die?”

Eugene was at a loss for words. She had expected her father to explode in anger, but…

“I didn’t expect you to think that far.”

Finding it hard to stay any longer, Eugene stood up.

“I’ll come back when you’ve calmed down.”

“Don’t come.”

Heinrich spoke coldly.

“Unless you bring the virus.”

Eugene bowed slightly and left the hospital room, walking down the corridor in silence. Nasiri and two bodyguards followed her.

As Eugene walked ahead, she recalled a memory of visiting the Côte d’Or region in France with her father when she was a child. It was the only vacation they had spent together after her mother left, and their family owned a château with a winery in that area, known for producing the most expensive wine in France.

As the sky turned red, her father took Eugene up a hill overlooking the winery. The Côte d’Or (Golden Slope), truly living up to its name, seemed to glow golden under the sunset, and her father’s eyes reflected a look of satisfaction as he gazed at the land.

“Eugene, I will give it all to you.”

Could it have been words of love from a father to his daughter? She realized it was just because the family would naturally continue through his daughter. Yet, the young Eugene felt a sense of pride, thinking her father trusted her.

‘What a useless memory.’

Eugene thought bitterly.

Love seemed to be an emotion that didn’t exist within her. Otherwise, how could it be so uncontrollable? Whether it was rational love or love towards parents.

Then.

Boom.

Suddenly, the earth shook.

The building shook, causing Eugene to stagger and brace herself against the wall.

“Director!”

Nasiri, startled, reached out to support her, but Eugene raised a hand to stop him, looking up at the ceiling with a serious expression.

“What is that noise?”

Nasiri looked toward the end of the corridor, where a murmur was rising like a wave.

“I’m not sure.”

She thought it sounded like an explosion but hesitated to use the word.

Eugene glanced back in the opposite direction from where she had come. Nasiri spoke in a tense voice.

“Director, you should leave. I’ll go to the chairman. If the situation worsens, I’ll ensure you evacuate immediately. Please go.”

There was nothing Eugene could do in this situation. It was better to evacuate and let those who needed to act do their jobs.

Yet, she hesitated.

An odd feeling crept over her. It wasn’t just a sense of foreboding; it was an almost certain intuition that this situation was orchestrated by someone.

“Let’s move.”

The bodyguards urged from behind.

Meanwhile, people were trying to assess the situation or hurriedly gather their belongings to head outside.

“Let’s just take my father and leave immediately.”

With that, Eugene headed toward Heinrich’s hospital room.

“Director…!”

Nasiri attempted to dissuade her, but the bodyguards blocked Eugene’s path.

“You shouldn’t go back.”

“I’ll fire you both.”

Eugene suddenly said. The bodyguards looked puzzled, so she clarified.

“I mean you don’t have to follow me.”

Eugene then walked past them. The elevator had already stopped, so she took the stairs, nearly reaching the floor where Heinrich’s room was when Nasiri caught up from behind.

“Director!”

Nasiri spoke urgently as he reached Eugene, who had paused.

“It’s too dangerous. Please take cover first…”

“I know.”

Eugene cut him off.

“I know that’s what I should do. But I feel I must see my father right now. Before it’s too late.”

Nasiri was at a loss for words. Eugene wasn’t one to make decisions based on vague instincts. The fact that she couldn’t ignore this instinct left him uncertain whether to trust or doubt it.

“Tell the others I went to see my father.”

Eugene said as she moved.

“Then I’m coming with you.”

Nasiri insisted stubbornly and followed her. Eugene had no time to argue, so she walked quickly down the corridor.

Suddenly, a thunderous rumble sounded, and the ceiling collapsed. Without time to react, Eugene was thrown to the ground. Debris from the ceiling poured down behind her.

Barely regaining her senses and getting up, Eugene found, thankfully, that she wasn’t injured. However…

Eugene looked at the ceiling, where black smoke was pouring in, with a serious expression.

‘The fire is spreading too fast.’

The initial explosion-like sound also suggested that this was no ordinary fire.

“Director! Are you okay?”

Nasiri shouted from beyond the debris, having stopped just before it fell.

“Send a rescue team to my father’s room!”

Eugene shouted back and turned toward the hospital room again. Nasiri called after her.

“Director!”

Feeling increasingly urgent, Eugene began running for the first time in years.

Thankfully, the entrance to Heinrich’s room wasn’t blocked. As she burst into the room, Heinrich was sprawled on the floor. It looked like he had tried to get out but had fallen.

Sensing someone’s presence, Heinrich looked up and was more shocked than anyone to see Eugene.

“Why are you…”

Eugene didn’t waste time responding and immediately grabbed the wheelchair that was parked against the wall. Heinrich asked again as she brought it over.

“Why haven’t you evacuated yet?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have time to explain. On the count of three, try to get up as much as you can. One, two… three!”

With some help from Heinrich, she managed to lift him into the wheelchair. He was barely settled in when Eugene adjusted his position and quickly wheeled him out of the room.

When the wheelchair became useless at the stairs, Eugene asked him.

“Can you piggyback?”

Heinrich stared at the stairs and shook his head.

“I’m not going. I won’t cling to life so pathetically.”

Eugene, exasperated, said.

“Did you want immortality with just this kind of resolve?”

Heinrich seemed to have been waiting for that comment and scoffed.

“You talk big, having shut down the project.”

“You’re not the type to give up just because one path is blocked.”

At this, Heinrich finally seemed to consider her words.

“The disease is exasperating. Pain, I can handle; it fuels my determination. But it robs me of my will.”

“It’s unsettling to hear you sound so weak.”

Eugene’s retort didn’t sit well with Heinrich, who glared at her. But it seemed to give him the will to get up.

“What are you waiting for? Help me up.”

Eugene put his arm over her shoulder and helped him stand. Supporting him, they began to walk.

The hospital felt eerily empty as if everyone else had already evacuated.

Suddenly, Eugene chuckled.

“We lived so grandly, but in the face of death, we’re both alone.”

“That’s such a sentimental thing to say, like a girl.”

Heinrich said, almost preferring to mock her, and mumbled as he looked down the smoke-filled corridor that seemed endless.

“It’s like Meilin’s curse.”

Eugene glanced at him and spoke.

“You’re the one talking like a terminal patient with regrets. Mother would be indignant. She seemed to have no regrets about you at all.”

Heinrich looked at his daughter with a very displeased expression.

“What makes you think you know that?”

“Just because I didn’t follow Mother doesn’t mean I completely lost interest in her life.”

At that moment.

Swish.

Eugene sensed movement behind her and quickly turned around. But the corridor was empty. Heinrich asked, noticing her sudden action.

“What is it?”

“I thought I felt something…”

She murmured, turning back, only to see a man standing in front of her.

* * *

Hisha stood staring at the stairs that seemed to lead down to hell.

He had found the information on Selena’s computer and made his way to Ha-yeon’s hideout, but he couldn’t bring himself to take the first step down.

He wished for Eugene to live forever, but he wasn’t sure this was the right way. Deep down, he knew it was wrong.

Hisha had always believed that the Luax Virus should never be created. Yet, faced with the person he loved having a different lifespan, he rationalized that Eugene would handle the virus well.

He knew how selfish this was.

For that reason, Hisha had descended halfway down the stairs and then stopped, unable to go any further.

Then his phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number, but recognizing it as the one that had called earlier, Hisha answered without thinking.

“Yes, who is…?”

[There’s been a bomb explosion at the hospital.]

Nasiri said bluntly. At the same time, the door to the basement burst open, and Ha-yeon, seeing Hisha, cried out in a rare show of surprise.

“Hisha!”

Before he could react, Ha-yeon continued.

“It’s on the news…!”

[We can’t locate the Director.]

Nasiri said at the same time. Hearing this, Hisha immediately turned and sprinted back up the stairs.