Chapter 92. When You’re Feeling Weak, Eel Rice Bowl (2)
“Aiden Maxwell. A Canadian-American and renowned bacteriologist.”
Nova held out an old black-and-white photograph.
“He’s also someone the Herrington Order has been pursuing for a long time.”
The photo showed a heavyset white man in a lab coat.
Victoria recognized him immediately.
“This is No. 11.”
“That’s right.”
Nova nodded.
“For some reason, he joined Abraxas and became one of the Twelve Archons.”
“And ever since he was first sighted, he hasn’t aged a single year.”
Yukgap cautiously offered a guess.
“He probably made a deal with Abraxas.”
“He became an Archon in exchange for eternal youth.”
Nova immediately asked,
“Do you know anything about Aiden?”
Yukgap shook his head bitterly.
“Sorry.”
“We never knew much about each other’s pasts.”
“We weren’t interested.”
He gave a dry laugh.
“Besides, I don’t even know my own real name.”
The Twelve Archons had operated as pure weapons without knowing who they were, where they came from, or even their original names.
There was no reason they would have wondered about one another’s pasts.
“Anyway, the reason Aiden, or rather No. 11, is being hunted is simple.”
Nova unfolded several newspaper clippings.
“He was responsible for large-scale biological attacks in Palimé, Togo in 1977, Izmir, Turkey in 1987, Chiba Prefecture, Japan in 1994, and Sucre, Bolivia in 2008.”
The dates, countries, and languages of the newspapers were all different.
But every photograph showed the same thing.
People collapsing while vomiting blood.
...Exactly the same symptoms now spreading across Korea.
“We don’t know why Aiden carries out these mass attacks.”
Nova continued.
“But wherever he’s spotted, a severe infectious disease spreads through the city or country.”
“The symptoms are always the same.”
Victoria immediately listed them.
“Fever. Vomiting. And continuous bleeding from the nose and mouth.”
Nova looked surprised.
“You know them well.”
“Of course I do.”
Victoria’s voice weakened.
“We already met him.”
Nova’s eyes widened.
“What? Seriously?”
“We met him in Gangwon Province.”
Victoria’s expression darkened.
“He wiped out an entire village of Abraxas test subjects right in front of us.”
The memory brought tears close to her eyes.
She was clearly still haunted by the guilt of what had happened.
“No. 11 also said Abraxas was about to launch a large-scale project in Korea.”
Yukgap remembered his words as well.
“This has to be connected.”
Nova nodded.
“Most likely.”
“Abraxas wouldn’t blink even if an entire country died.”
She took a breath.
Then she looked directly at Victoria.
“In any case, Aiden, No. 11, has definitely launched a biological attack across Korea.”
“If we don’t suppress it at the beginning, a lot of people are going to die.”
Nova had never looked more serious.
At the word die, Victoria’s face stiffened.
“Die...?”
She stared blankly at the television.
The people on the screen were collapsing while coughing up blood.
Just like the villagers who had died in her arms.
None of them had known why it was happening.
They had simply suffered until their lives faded away.
And Victoria had been forced to stand there helplessly and watch.
“Like back then...?”
Her face twitched.
Thoughts and emotions tangled together violently inside her mind.
Nova quickly grabbed onto her.
“Victoria, that’s why I came to you.”
“We don’t have enough power to fight Abraxas directly.”
“But you can help us.”
“You already fought against Abraxas once for us.”
Nova emphasized it again.
“Please.”
“...”
For some reason, Victoria said nothing.
She simply stared blankly at the news.
“Victoria?”
Nova cautiously called her name.
Then, without warning, Victoria threw her head back and burst into wild laughter.
“Hahahahahahahaha!”
“Hahahahahaha!”
Her laughter thundered throughout the restaurant.
Yukgap and Nova stared at her in shock.
“What’s wrong?”
“Are you okay?”
Victoria ignored them and shouted energetically at Yukgap.
“Yukgap! I need some energy!”
“Go get me something to eat!”
The Victoria who had looked ready to collapse from depression was gone.
Instead, an intense fire burned in her eyes.
Her sudden change left Yukgap completely bewildered.
“I made eel rice bowls.”
“Want one?”
“Perfect! Bring all of it!”
Victoria answered boldly.
Then she turned to Nova.
“Nova! Give me thirty minutes!”
“I need time to prepare!”
“O-Okay.”
Overwhelmed by Victoria’s sudden forcefulness, Nova nodded.
After giving her orders, Victoria strode toward the television.
Then she grabbed both sides of it hard enough to nearly crush the frame.
“You damned bald fat bastard!”
The news was still reporting on the mysterious disease.
The urgent face of the anchor overlapped in Victoria’s mind with No. 11’s mocking expression.
“You told me that if I was curious, I should research it myself, didn’t you?”
“Fine.”
Victoria grinned fiercely.
“Let’s settle this as researchers!”
“I’ll teach you what happens when you start swinging a knife inside Victoria Frankenstein’s territory!”
Watching her from behind, Yukgap and Nova whispered to each other.
“Victoria seems a little different from usual.”
“Is she really okay?”
“Probably.”
“Maybe.”
Victoria ignored them and continued shouting.
“Whatever you try, I’ll overturn every last bit of it!”
“Korea is in chaos.”
No. 7 tossed aside the newspaper she had been reading.
The headlines were filled with reports about the infectious disease spreading throughout the country.
No one knew how or where it had started.
Victims were increasing exponentially.
“I told you.”
No. 11 glanced at the newspaper and smiled with satisfaction.
“I scattered plenty of it around.”
“In a densely populated country like Korea, transmission is very fast.”
“At this rate, the entire population should be infected in about ten days.”
“Hm.”
No. 7 looked strangely bothered.
No. 11 watched her for a moment, then asked knowingly,
“You’re worried about No. 6, aren’t you?”
“N-No!”
No. 7 immediately denied it.
“Why would I worry about a deserter?”
No. 11 had already seen straight through her.
“Don’t worry.”
“The Archons’ immune systems are stronger than you think.”
“No. 6 and the others should be fine.”
“Even if they become infected, a good night’s sleep should be enough to recover.”
“Well... if that’s true, then fine.”
No. 11 smiled.
“You seem to have another question too.”
“Don’t you?”
No. 7 sighed in defeat.
It was difficult to lie in front of this man.
“I just don’t understand why you’re doing something this unnecessary.”
“If you want someone dead, you can just send us.”
“Why go through the trouble of spreading bacteria and killing all these unrelated people?”
The assassinations carried out by No. 7 and the other Archons were usually quiet and precise.
They eliminated designated targets before anyone could even react.
No. 11’s attacks were different.
Slow.
Complicated.
And devastating on a far larger scale.
No. 11 nodded.
“My methods certainly are different from the other Twelve Archons.”
“But there is a reason.”
“The bacteria I released this time were cultured from Alpha’s somatic cells.”
No. 7 frowned.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
No. 11 calmly explained.
“Anyone with genetic conditions similar to Alpha will remain unaffected even if they become infected.”
“Those without the required conditions will be unable to withstand it and die.”
“This allows us to rapidly narrow down candidates who share Alpha’s genetic characteristics.”
“In other words, we can find suitable vessels for the Wisdom of God much faster.”
No. 7 tilted her head.
“How many Koreans could possibly have genetic conditions similar to Alpha?”
“I don’t know.”
No. 11 smiled.
“That’s why we’re testing it.”
“Even if we find only one among ten thousand, it will still be worthwhile.”
In other words, he was willing to kill tens of thousands just to find a single potential candidate.
No. 11 quietly added,
“Of course, there is another reason.”
“What?”
No. 7 stared at him.
“Is there some other experiment you haven’t told us about?”
No. 11 grinned.
“I simply enjoy watching humans die.”
He crushed the newspaper beneath the tip of his cane.
The faces of suffering people in the photograph crumpled under it.
“These disgusting insects...”
“Every time I remember there are more than eight billion of them crawling across this planet, I feel sick.”
“There are far too many.”
As he spoke, a deep hatred and rage twisted his expression.
“Their numbers need to be reduced.”
“We must kill more of them.”
“Reduce them as much as possible.”
“That is why Alpha gave me this new body and this ability.”
“To reduce the number of that vermin species called humanity, even if only a little.”
One more.
Then another.
Kill them.
Erase them from the world.
That was the only conviction filling his mind.
No. 7 stared at him.
“But you’re human too.”
“So are the rest of us.”
No. 11 immediately rejected the comparison.
“We Twelve Archons are a new humanity permitted by Alpha.”
“Do not compare us to the vermin crawling outside.”
Then he broke into a broad, expectant smile.
“Well then.”
“I wonder how many will die this time?”
