Chapter 190

Chapter 190. One and All (3)

“Is this the patient room closest to the operating room?”

Victoria quietly looked around.

A few people who appeared to be doctors and nurses passed by from time to time, but none of them stopped her.

Infiltrating the area had been surprisingly easy.

Nova might be somewhere around here.

Holding onto that one thought, Victoria carefully surveyed the surroundings.

“Who are you, miss?”

A girl a few steps away noticed her and looked over curiously.

She seemed to be around ten years old.

Perhaps she was also a test subject of the Aeon Project, because there were surgical marks on her head.

The oversized hospital gown made her thin body look even frailer.

“U-Uh, I’m a cleaner!”

Victoria hurriedly made up an excuse.

The girl immediately relaxed.

“Oh, you’re a cleaner.”

Apparently, she was not suspicious.

Victoria let out a quiet breath of relief and nodded.

“Yeah! I’m looking for a friend.”

“What kind of friend?”

The girl asked again.

Perhaps she had seen Nova somewhere in the hospital.

Thinking that, Victoria carefully asked,

“She’s a girl. She’s pretty like a doll and has silver hair.”

“Have you seen anyone like that?”

“No. Never.”

The girl immediately shook her head.

Victoria tried to hide her disappointment.

“I see...”

“Was she someone important to you?”

The girl asked again.

Victoria hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“Yeah.”

“She was very important to me.”

“Don’t worry.”

“You’ll see her again soon.”

Perhaps the girl had sensed Victoria’s feelings.

She comforted her with surprising maturity.

Victoria smiled lightly.

“Thanks for saying that.”

Then the girl grasped both sides of her loose hospital gown, spread them slightly, and lowered herself in a small curtsy.

“Anyway, it was nice meeting you.”

The moment Victoria saw the gesture, a strange sense of déjà vu washed over her.

She had seen that posture before.

When was it?

Victoria searched her memory.

Then her face suddenly froze in shock.

“Wait.”

She stared at the girl in front of her and spoke in a trembling voice.

“That’s the greeting Alpha used when we played princess together.”

When Victoria and Alpha had played princess inside the Abraxas facility, Alpha would hold the edge of her skirt and greet her exactly like that.

The girl looked completely different.

But the posture was unmistakably the same.

“Hahahahahahaha!”

The girl suddenly burst into laughter.

Victoria felt a kind of fear she had never experienced before.

She slowly asked,

“Who... are you?”

“That’s mean, Victoria.”

“You really don’t recognize me?”

The girl smiled brightly and spoke to Victoria in a familiar tone.

“It’s me. Your precious friend, Alpha.”

“There are a lot of children here.”

No. 5 muttered as she looked around the patient room.

There were children as young as seven and teenagers who looked old enough to be in middle school.

The ages varied greatly.

But they all shared one thing.

Every one of them had surgical scars on their head.

“So all of these children became test subjects.”

The thought left a bitter feeling in No. 5’s chest.

Then a familiar voice came from across the room.

“My, my. This isn’t exactly cleaning time.”

No. 5 immediately raised her head in alarm.

A fat man leaning on a cane stood in front of her.

She recognized him instantly.

“Lambda!”

“It’s been a while, Epsilon.”

Lambda.

No. 11 greeted her warmly using her old alias.

Of all people, I had to meet the worst possible matchup here.

No. 5 deliberately spoke forcefully, refusing to show weakness.

“Why are you here?”

“Because I’m the one in overall charge of the Aeon Project.”

No. 11 answered casually.

No. 5 quickly stepped backward and scratched her arm with her claws.

Blood sprayed out.

Within it, the nanomachines in her bloodstream rose as a pale mist.

“I’ll warn you just in case.”

“I’m already controlling my nanomachines.”

“If necessary, I can disassemble every Aeon Project test subject in this room.”

No. 5 threatened him.

No. 11 openly laughed at her.

“You’re taking hostages?”

“You can’t do it.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because you’ll think of your son.”

No. 5 froze.

No. 11 noticed immediately and continued lightly.

“We already know you deserted and turned against Abraxas.”

“And we know why.”

Apparently, her circumstances had already been exposed completely.

No. 5 hesitated for a moment before admitting the truth.

“You’re right.”

“I want to find my son.”

“And I can’t stand by and watch children his age suffer.”

No. 11 suddenly made an unexpected suggestion.

“Then let’s make a deal.”

“A deal?”

No. 5 almost thought she had misheard him.

No. 11 held out a slip of paper.

“This contains information about your son.”

“Alpha ordered me to give it to you.”

“What?”

Alpha herself.

The leader of the Archons had ordered him to give this to her?

When No. 5 looked doubtful, No. 11 calmly explained.

“Alpha knows you’re searching for your son.”

“And I have information about him.”

“I’m not lying.”

No. 11 emphasized the last part.

Even so, No. 5 remained suspicious.

“How am I supposed to believe you?”

“Do I look like someone who would falsely convey Alpha’s will?”

No. 11 asked pointedly.

No. 5 could not answer.

He was right.

No. 11 did not simply obey Alpha.

He practically worshiped her.

For him to falsely claim something was Alpha’s will was almost unthinkable.

“Fine.”

“Tell me the conditions first.”

No. 5 decided she at least needed to understand his intentions.

No. 11 shrugged.

“There’s nothing complicated.”

“Leave this place right now and go to your son.”

“That’s it?”

The offer was so simple that No. 5 could hardly believe it.

But No. 11 nodded.

“Yes.”

“Alpha said there’s no need for us to remain enemies like this.”

“We’ll give you information about your family.”

“In exchange, stop what you’re doing.”

“But these children...”

No. 5 glanced toward the children still inside the room.

No. 11 immediately rebuked her sharply.

“Which matters more?”

“The son you carried and gave birth to?”

“Or these children, who are complete strangers to you?”

No. 5 flinched.

She thought for a moment.

Then she nodded.

“Fine.”

“I’ll accept your offer.”

“Then take it.”

No. 11 readily handed her the note.

No. 5 practically snatched it from his hand.

An address and coordinates for a certain area were written on it.

“If I go here, I’ll find him?”

“Yes.”

No. 11 even gestured for her to leave.

His complete lack of hesitation left No. 5 uncertain.

She had always believed she would eventually find information about her son.

But she had never imagined it would fall into her hands this easily.

“Thank you.”

With those words, No. 5 immediately ran outside.

No. 11 merely offered a light farewell.

“Safe travels.”

He silently watched until she disappeared completely.

Then he looked toward the patient room and asked,

“Alpha, are you sure this is all right?”

A girl standing farther inside the room opened her mouth.

“She worked hard for us until now.”

“She deserves at least this much of a reward.”

“Besides, she’ll come back anyway.”

Then a boy across from her spoke.

“At first, I planned to use No. 5 to approach Victoria.”

“When her body was cloned, one thing was especially strong.”

“Her maternal instinct.”

“I intended to use that to attract Victoria’s attention.”

“Then why did you use No. 6 instead?”

No. 11 asked.

This time, a pale girl standing near the window answered.

“A parent’s love for their child was something even I couldn’t fully understand or control.”

“Just like I couldn’t completely control Victoria’s Philosopher’s Stone.”

“So I sent No. 6 instead.”

“He was easier to manage.”

No. 11 chuckled.

“Love, huh?”

“It’s a difficult concept for someone like me, who never received any from my parents.”

At those words, all the children in the room answered in unison.

“I agree.”

“There are way too many kids here.”

“How are there this many insane parents in the world?”

Yukgap muttered with a disgusted expression.

After splitting up, he had used his acceleration ability to reach the farthest patient room.

Children in hospital gowns were resting inside.

Every one of them had the same surgical scar on their head.

“Mister, who are you?”

A small child who noticed him spoke up.

Yukgap hurriedly made up an excuse.

“I-I’m a cleaner!”

“I’m looking for a friend. Hahaha.”

Not wanting to draw unnecessary attention, Yukgap even forced an awkward laugh.

The child stared at him for a moment.

Then, in a strangely mature voice, said,

“Your job is finished now.”

“It’s about time you came back.”

Yukgap stared at the child in confusion.

“What?”

“You really don’t recognize me, sixth friend?”

The child asked in a friendly tone.

The gaze looking up at Yukgap was almost affectionate.

Sixth friend.

There was only one being in the world who called him that.

“H-How do you know that...?”

Then the other children began emerging from the patient room one by one.

They all looked up at Yukgap as though they were a single being, chattering in different voices.

“You completed your errand wonderfully.”

“Thanks to you, I obtained information about the Philosopher’s Stone.”

“I even made a friend.”

“You did very well.”

“So come back now.”

“This isn’t where you belong.”

“Right?”

Yukgap was overcome by instinctive fear.

They were clearly just children standing in front of him.

And yet it felt as though he were facing something enormous.