Chapter 48

Chapter 48. The Punisher, No. 5 (4)

“It’s useless. Your nanomachines won’t listen to you anymore. I’m sending out another signal and interfering with them.”

Victoria spoke confidently.

“What did you do?!”

Certain that Victoria was responsible, No. 5 immediately demanded an answer.

Victoria glared back at her.

“There are three things you need to know. First, I wasn’t running away. I only went to get some parts from Robert’s body.”

She pressed down on the battery she had driven into the floor.

Every time the battery and wires ripped from Robert’s body made contact with the floor, faint sparks crackled through the area.

“Second, using Robert’s battery and components, I can send a weak electrical current through the floor.”

Victoria’s eyes sharpened.

“Just like you’ve been sending out bioelectric signals through your tail to control your nanomachines!”

Shock crossed No. 5’s face.

“How did you...?”

“How did I figure it out? By looking at you. Some reptiles can emit tiny electrical signals from their bodies to locate prey.”

Ever since revealing her beast form, No. 5 had repeatedly tapped the floor with her tail.

At first, Victoria had assumed it was simply a habit.

But there had been a reason for it.

“It was strange from the beginning. How were you controlling nanomachines that have no eyes or ears?”

Victoria quickly adjusted the wires.

“The answer was bioelectricity. Every time you needed to control them, you sent out tiny electrical signals!”

Then she raised her voice.

“And finally, the most important third point!”

Victoria aimed the battery covered in wires toward No. 5.

“What do you think happens if I reverse the direction of the current flowing through this entire area?”

No. 5 immediately understood.

“N-No!”

Victoria smiled cruelly.

“Yes.”

She activated the battery with all her strength.

A current completely opposite to the previous signal spread through the floor.

The red mist of nanomachines scattered throughout the area suddenly changed direction.

And rushed straight toward No. 5.

“Aaaaaaaaaagh!”

The sensation of her entire body being torn apart and dismantled swept through her.

Her most loyal servants.

Her greatest weapon.

The nanomachines that had always obeyed her were now devouring her instead.

No. 5 screamed and thrashed wildly in agony.

“See how you like being attacked by those nanomachines you’re so proud of!”

Victoria shouted as she continued forcing current through the floor.

Covered in blood from her own nanomachines, No. 5 completely lost control and charged toward Victoria.

“I’LL KILL YOU!”

Her roar thundered through the laboratory.

At that moment, something moved between them at incredible speed.

“Not happening!”

It was Yukgap.

He drove a powerful blow into No. 5’s jaw as she rushed at Victoria.

“Ghk!”

Charging blindly without guarding herself, No. 5 could not withstand the impact and went flying backward.

Yukgap showed off his fully healed leg with a mocking grin.

“Hey. Look at that. I’m all better.”

His damaged leg had apparently regenerated during the brief time No. 5 had been dealing with Nova.

Victoria giggled as she looked at No. 5, now drenched in blood after being attacked by her own nanomachines.

“I don’t know who created you, but if you ever see them again, tell them something for me.”

She grinned.

“Your bodies themselves are basically instruction manuals telling me how to beat you.”

No. 5 trembled with rage.

“Ugh...!”

She clearly wanted to keep fighting.

But her nanomachines had been neutralized, and Yukgap had recovered.

At this point, she had no chance of winning.

Yukgap saw through it and asked provocatively,

“Your precious weapon is useless now. Still want to continue?”

No. 5 growled furiously.

“Abraxas will hunt all of you down.”

With only those words, she hurriedly fled down the corridor.

Apparently, she had chosen to retreat.

Yukgap watched her disappear and snorted.

“Hmph. People who say ‘you’ll regret this’ are never that scary.”

Once No. 5 was gone, Nova finally seemed to relax.

She collapsed onto the floor.

“Haaaaaaaa...”

Victoria quickly went to comfort her.

“Don’t worry. The Archon ran away. You’re safe now.”

“Really?”

Nova asked blankly.

Victoria nodded again.

Apparently, Nova still could not believe that the death that had been right in front of her had suddenly disappeared.

“Sniff...”

A quiet sob escaped her.

Then it became a loud cry that echoed through the laboratory.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

Yukgap whispered to Victoria,

“I guess the tension finally broke.”

No matter how much of a genius Nova was because of the Sophia Project, she was still only fourteen.

Keeping calm while someone had come specifically to kill her could not have been easy.

“It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Victoria kept patting Nova’s back as she cried.

“How does it look?”

Nova asked cautiously.

Fortunately, the cells now appeared stable and calm, unlike before.

Victoria pressed her eye close to the microscope and quickly answered,

“The cellular stability is much higher than before. I think it’s safe enough to administer now.”

It was the reaction they had been waiting for.

Nova dropped heavily into a nearby chair.

“So... it’s finally over.”

After No. 5 fled, they had returned to the experiment without even having time to mourn.

And at last, the formula that would complete the new drug had been finished.

They could finally breathe.

“This isn’t the time to relax! We need to upload it to the cloud server!”

Victoria urged her.

Nova answered calmly,

“Don’t worry. Our formula has been uploading to the cloud server in real time. All I have to do now is send a message saying it’s complete.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

Only then did Victoria finally relax and collapse into a nearby chair as well.

Nova looked at her.

“You worked hard, Victoria Frankenstein.”

“You too, Nova.”

Victoria answered tiredly.

At that moment, Yukgap entered the laboratory carrying the lunchbox.

“You finished? Then eat this.”

He confidently opened the container.

Inside were neat rolls of gimbap sprinkled generously with sesame seeds.

Nova looked interested at the unfamiliar food.

“What is this?”

“Restaurant Shelley delivery service. Gimbap.”

Yukgap said proudly.

A lot had happened along the way, so the delivery was late.

But at least he had successfully delivered the lunch.

“Hmm. Food made by rolling various ingredients into a circle.”

Nova picked up one piece and examined it.

Yukgap explained,

“Yeah. It’s one of Korea’s most common packed lunches.”

Nova tilted the slice.

“Doesn’t the round center look a little like a cell nucleus?”

Victoria immediately agreed.

“Wow. I was thinking the exact same thing!”

Yukgap stared at them in disbelief.

“Can you two stop thinking about work while you’re eating?”

Of course the two doctors would look at food and immediately think of something like that.

Yukgap could only shake his head.

“By the way, there’s something I’ve been curious about.”

Nova looked at Yukgap with interest.

Her earlier suspicion of him seemed to have turned into curiosity.

“Why did you desert Abraxas?”

“I happened to eat this during a mission.”

Yukgap proudly opened another side-dish container.

A strong sour smell immediately rushed out.

Nova grimaced at the unfamiliar, pungent scent.

“Ugh! What is that?”

“The pride of Korea. Kimchi.”

Neatly cut kimchi was packed inside the container.

Nova nodded knowingly.

“I’ve heard of it. Koreans supposedly refuse to eat a meal without kimchi.”

“You know your stuff. For Koreans, kimchi is practically the soul itself.”

Yukgap offered some to her.

“Try it.”

Nova clearly did not want to.

But after Yukgap kept insisting, she finally put a piece into her mouth and chewed.

Her face immediately twisted.

“This tastes strange. Spicy, sour, salty... I’ve never eaten anything like this before.”

Apparently, kimchi was not to Nova’s taste.

Yukgap understood the reaction.

“Yeah, I can see why foreigners wouldn’t like it at first.”

He looked at the kimchi.

“But when I ate this, I suddenly remembered that I had a family.”

Nova looked at him.

“I don’t know why. The moment I tasted kimchi, I just knew.”

Nova stared at the kimchi as though it were some bizarre object.

“With a taste this weird, I don’t know how anyone could forget it.”

“Anyway, that’s why I came to Korea. I thought I might be able to find my family here.”

“Do you have any clues?”

“I managed to find a few, but I still don’t have much.”

The only thing Yukgap had discovered about his past was that he might once have worked with someone called the Mercenary King, Kevin.

He had come all this way prepared to risk his life, and that was still almost everything he knew.

Nova stared thoughtfully at the kimchi.

Then she casually asked,

“You said you remember the taste of the kimchi, right? Then couldn’t you use that to trace your past?”

“How?”

Yukgap asked in surprise.

Nova explained as though it were obvious.

“Traditional fermented foods like this often vary depending on climate and geography.”

She gestured toward the kimchi.

“Southern regions are hotter, so people tend to make it saltier to replenish salt. Northern regions usually prefer a lighter flavor.”

Nova continued smoothly.

“Near the coast, seafood and shellfish are often added. Inland regions are more likely to use meat or other ingredients for richness.”

Then she looked directly at Yukgap.

“If you trace the flavor you remember, you might be able to narrow down your hometown.”

“There was a way like that?!”

Yukgap felt as though a light had suddenly turned on in his head.

Why had he never thought of it?

Kimchi tasted different from region to region.

The ingredients changed too.

Just as Nova said, if he followed the taste buried somewhere in his unconscious memory...

He might be able to figure out roughly where his hometown had been.