Beast, Blue Blood - Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Kendrick left the bar. As he lit a cigarette, he sensed a presence and looked up. Someone was standing at the entrance of the alleyway.

“What do you want?”

Kendrick asked warily.

The person was dressed in a hoodie, a T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, looking perfectly ordinary. Although the hood covered their face, the overwhelming aura of malevolence they radiated was almost pitiful for an assassin. Kendrick quietly reached behind his waist to grab his gun.

At that moment, the person slowly lifted their head, and red eyes flashed with a blue light beneath the hood.

Bang!

In the next instant, Kendrick found himself pinned against the wall by his neck.

“……!”

He hadn’t even seen the movement.

“Lancenum.”

A low growl emanated from between the sharp teeth revealed by the dim light.

“Bring him to me.”

Kendrick struggled to breathe as his neck was crushed.

Though it was hard to guess the actual age of someone who looked like a Luax, the luster of their skin gave a rough estimate, indicating that the opponent appeared young and was indeed young. Yet, the overwhelming pressure was inexplicable. Moreover, the eyes were as red as those of a Luax who had lived for centuries.

It felt like an entity that defied physical laws.

At that moment, someone yanked Hisha by the back of the neck.

As his body was dragged, Hisha threw a punch at the man behind him, but it was blocked. Hisha quickly distanced himself to get out of the man’s reach.

Suddenly, a powerful electric shock coursed through Hisha, causing him to collapse.

As Hisha, trembling and unable to rise, looked up, Kendrick approached, stroking his neck. The taser he was holding was visible.

“Such a wild one.”

The man holding the taser smirked at Kendrick’s words.

“He’s just a cub of a tiger, even if he’s young.”

He then gestured to the many men approaching from behind.

“Take him away.”

* * *

Bang!

Hisha, shoved, fell to the ground with a loud thud. With his arms bound behind him, Hisha groaned in pain, slowly dragging his legs across the floor.

The men had brought Hisha to a massive hangar where an airplane was waiting. Although it seemed like a normal airport with no people around, it was guarded by armed forces as if dealing with suspicious goods. Most notably, many of them were Luax, resembling the notorious Luax terrorist groups of the past.

Boots appeared in front of Hisha’s vision as he lay on the ground. Struggling to lift his head, he saw a stranger, more fitting for a global bank headquarters or the IRS, peering at him through silver-rimmed glasses.

It was instinctive to recognize that this man was not just a simple mercenary like Kendrick, but someone closer to the core.

The man smiled.

“You’ve saved us the trouble of searching.”

Beep, beep.

At that moment, an alarm sounded and a forklift with red lights entered. It was carrying a wooden crate large enough to hold five adult men, resembling those used for transporting wild animals. It was clear that the crate was intended to move Hisha somewhere else, probably abroad.

A muscular Luax mercenary in plain clothes spoke.

“We couldn’t track the location.”

He then gestured towards Hisha.

“Still, wouldn’t it be better to at least make sure he can’t use his legs?”

The man who looked like an IRS agent, with a demeanor more cruel than any tax collector, assessed Hisha with a look.

“There’s no need to be so brutal to a young person.”

“I’ve seen you before.”

Hisha spoke while lying down, looking at the mercenary.

“You’re one of the kidnappers from when I was young.”

Though his memory was vague due to the chaos of that time, he had found the face familiar earlier. Since he was a Luax, he hadn’t aged and looked just like he did back then.

The IRS agent—Hisha didn’t know his name—asked the mercenary.

“Was it you who was sent out at that time?”

The mercenary nodded nonchalantly.

“It was a failed operation.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be due to your lack of skill. Operations always have variables.”

“Was that kidnapping also the work of Lancenum?”

Hisha didn’t care about the old days.

“Who was behind the hospital explosion?”

The IRS agent looked at Hisha, surprised by the question.

“Are there others who do such things besides us?”

Hisha squinted his eyes.

“Why did you do it?”

The IRS agent chuckled.

“I didn’t expect you to fall for a scam about a non-existent virus twice. It was probably intended that way. If Director Eugene hadn’t been so taken in by you, maybe we would have fooled you again.”

The IRS agent then spread his hands theatrically.

“Love is a great emotion. I believe that love can change the world.”

Hisha looked at him as if questioning the nonsense, but the IRS agent continued without concern.

“Therefore, Director Eugene’s actions were contradictory. A woman in love wouldn’t be a mad scientist chasing her own gain, regardless of whether a virus would destroy the world.”

He smiled.

“But don’t misunderstand. We were not the ones who wished for Director Eugene’s death. We merely provided the means to someone desperate.”

“And who is that?”

“I’m not the one to answer that.”

Suddenly, Hisha stood up. As if by magic, the handcuffs binding his wrists behind his back snapped and flew away. The IRS agent, instead of being shocked, looked intrigued.

“You’re stronger than expected.”

As if discovering a new phenomenon.

At that moment, a mercenary fired a taser at Hisha. Hisha caught the electrodes with his hand. Despite the blue electric sparks crackling in his hand, he remained unaffected.

Seeing this, the eyes of the man Hisha called the IRS moved slightly. It was clear that the taser hadn’t worked. This meant that Hisha had been pretending to be incapacitated by the taser to get here.

‘It hurts.’

For the first time, Hisha thought this. But Eugene must have been in more pain. She didn’t have a strong body like his.

If Eugene hadn’t been planning to develop a virus, she wouldn’t have been thinking about inheriting the family or enjoying immortality. Instead, she had sent her mother away to live happily out of an unhappy home, developed a rare disease cure against the board’s opposition for her half-brother, and cooperated with the government to ensure her sick father could pass away comfortably.

Hisha now understood why he had been so blindly drawn to Eugene. She was a person whose soul shone brightly.

Although it might seem otherwise, everything Eugene did was for others, not just for herself.

Even though Eugene might scoff at this, she was like a righteous person who justified the existence of the world by her very presence.

Hisha raised his eyes filled with explosive light. The blood that had been simmering at the bottom surged up. It felt as if the very components of the blood flowing through his veins were changing. His skin hardened, his muscles swelled, and his senses expanded. It was as if his ‘vampire’ nature was awakening from a deep slumber.

Sharp, tooth-like bases appeared on the rotating DNA double helix, devouring his human parts as they rapidly replicated and transcribed, filling his cells in an instant.

He loathed humanity. He loathed the world. Eugene was gone.

At that moment, a snare flew and wrapped around Hisha’s neck. However, Hisha grabbed the snare and pulled it towards him. He was dragged with overwhelming force.

Seeing this, the IRS agent muttered with regret.

“It should have been captured when it was still a cub. It’s not easy to capture a fully grown tiger.”

Suddenly, the entire sky brightened, and explosive light poured in from the windows all around. Everyone turned their heads, blinded by the light.

Boom……

Then, the hangar doors began to open.

As they watched the bright light streaming in through the slowly opening gap, the IRS agent spoke.

“It seems you can find this place quickly. We’ll have to resort to our last means.”

The IRS agent signaled, and a few mercenaries protected him as his group began to quickly exit the scene. Amid the loud gunfire, many did not notice the departure.

Hisha grabbed one of the mercenaries and slammed him into the wall.

“Freeze!”

Soldiers who appeared through the brightly opened door shouted, but their voices did not reach Hisha’s ears.

“SHE IS ALIVE!”

One soldier shouted something. At that moment, Hisha, who had not heard any words, paused. He turned around with a look of disbelief.

“What did you just say…?”

Through the light, the soldier raised his voice as much as he could. Although the wind was so strong that the words were not audible, Hisha could read his lips.

‘She is alive.’

He had clearly said that.

Hisha slowly murmured.

“How… She was definitely…”

The soldier did not elaborate, only repeating quietly with calm eyes.

“She is alive.”

Behind him, amidst the dazzling light pouring in, a long shadow flickered. The shadow slowly took shape and transformed into a familiar figure.

His father, appearing in the light, spoke quietly.

“Hisha.”

It was neither a scolding voice nor one that showed disappointment. It was simply a calm voice indicating that it was time to stop.

Hisha grabbed Ivan’s arm and rested his forehead on his shoulder. Ivan wrapped his arms around his son’s head.

“Take me to her.”

Hisha’s trembling voice came out.

“To Eugene.”