Chapter 182: Bacterial War (4)

“Ack!”

Yoon Bo-Hyun’s screaming echoed through the hospital room. He collapsed, covering his broken nose and cheekbones.

“Move.”

Bahadul violently grabbed his shoulder and pulled him out of the way.

Something fell from Yoon Bo-Hyun’s hands as he fell to the ground with a clatter.

Drrr.

A small syringe rolled across the floor of the clean hospital floor. All the soldiers’ attention was drawn to it.

—What’s this sound?

Doctor Ref asked.

“It was a syringe. This man had it.”

—A syringe?

“Now that I remember, I think he was poking a needle inside the IV pack when I came in. He doesn’t look like the medical staff.”

—...

After some thought, Doctor Ref began laughing.

—Hahahaha!

After laughing heartily for a while, she spoke again. It was in perfect Korean.

—You there. Are you Yoon Bo-Hyun or someone he sent? Be honest because I can save you.

“...”

Yoon Bo-Hyun stared at Bahadul and the phone in fear.

“Y... Yes. I’m Yoon Bo-Hyun.”

—Hahaha! This is really funny. Were you going to inject anthracis into Kim Hyun-Taek’s blood and incriminate Ryu Young-Joon for murder?

“...”

—What a silly little trick.

Doctor Ref said.

—You’re so pathetic. Don’t you realize that the anthrax going around in Africa isn’t that? I feel like everyone who’s in this game knows that except for you.

“W-What are you...”

—And the sample of A-Gen’s developmental anthracis you have won’t be detected even if you inject it into Kim Hyun-Taek’s body because all of its DNA has already been destroyed. Dumbass. I can’t believe I expected something from you.

“...”

—Bahadul said he failed at spraying anthracis gas at the GSC and the hospital. I have an idea of what happened: Ryu Young-Joon successfully defended it, though I don’t know what specific strategy he used.

“S-Spray anthracis gas...?”

—Yeah. I saw you making a bold move to get Ryu Young-Joon, so I thought maybe you could do something, but you failed as expected.

“...’

—I don’t know if you thought you were a strategist who could get Ryu Young-Joon, but you were nothing but a pawn rolling around on this board. Now do you see?

“...”

—Speaking of which, let me tell you this, Yoon Bo-Hyun. You were born into a wealthy chaebol family in a safe, plentiful, and developed country. You were educated as an elite and grown to be the heir to take over a large company like A-Gen. So, you always felt superior to others and thought you could control everything with your own plans.

“...”

—You are insensitive to other people’s pain, and you probably see wars and diseases happening in the Third World as nothing but a cash cow, which is why you made a plan to send anthracis sample to the rebels in South Sudan to destroy Ryu Young-Joon. I can’t forgive that kind of cruelty either. But you know what?

Doctor Ref said.

—Death does not discriminate. It’s the only quality that is equal, and it’s the only enemy of humanity that every scientist is fighting. Science has been fighting to push the limits of the time given to people. You don’t know any of that because you’ve been working for a seat at the table and some pennies. You’re not a scientist.

“...”

—And because of that, you’ve never risked your life for anything. People who have gone into biosafety level four labs wearing space suits and touched Ebola can’t hand over a bioweapon easily, even if the target is a faraway Third World country. But now, you’re in the middle of the battlefield. When you’re after someone else’s life, you have to risk your own, too.

“What... What are you saying? Who are you...”

Instead of replying, Doctor Ref gave a command in Arabic.

—Get rid of him, Bahadul.

Shwing!

Bahadul took out a very sharp military knife from his pocket.

Yoon Bo-Hyun didn’t understand Arabic, but he knew what was going to happen next.

“Ahhh!”

Yoon Bo-Hyun ran for the entrance in fear, but he was captured by Nassir right in front of the door.

Crash!

Nassir grabbed Yoon Bo-Hyun and slammed him into the ground. With a loud crack, blood gushed from the back of his head.

“...”

Yoon Bo-Hyun’s eyes rolled back in his head. Then, Bahadul reversed his grip on his knife and stabbed his chest.

Clang!

It was a close call. A phone flew in the air and hit Bahadul’s face. His knife missed Yoon Bo-Hyun due to the pain. However, Yoon Bo-Hyun couldn’t regain consciousness.

Young-Joon was standing at the door.

“I called the police. All of you, don’t move,” Young-Joon said in English.

—These people don’t speak English.

Doctor Ref said from the phone.

“...”

Bahadul got up, rubbing his nose.

“There’s another intruder. Should I kill him?”

—He sounds like Ryu Young-Joon, so don’t touch him. Place the phone on the table and harvest Kim Hyun-Taek’s blood. There’s not much time left.

“What about Yoon Bo-Hyun? He may still be alive.”

—Ryu Young-Joon will stop you if you try to kill him. Ignore a pawn like Yoon Bo-Hyun. Our priority is collecting his blood.

“Alright.”

Bahadul placed the phone on the table and pulled out a needle from his bag.

—Ryu Young-Joon, we talk at last.

Doctor Ref said in Korean.

“Who are you?”

—I’m Doctor Ref. Of course, it’s an alias. And I was the one who orchestrated this terrorist attack and used Yoon Bo-Hyun.

Young-Joon glared at the phone.

“Is your real name Elsie? The one who was at the Life Creation Department.”

—...

Doctor Ref was quiet for a while.

—It’s astonishing that you got that far, but no.

“Why did you try to attack?”

—It was to collect Kim Hyun-Taek’s blood.

“...”

Young-Joon stared at Bahadul. He was drawing Kim Hyun-Taeks’ blood with a needle.

“I think the magnitude of what you did was a little too great to just be for someone’s blood.”

—I needed to do this so that I could keep your attention elsewhere.

“Why are you trying to take Director Kim Hyun-Taek’s blood?”

—Because it contains the pathogenic material that was created with Rosaline’s birth.

“...”

[Woah, who is this woman?]

Rosaline stared at Young-Joon in surprise.

‘I don’t know either.’

Young-Joon glared at the phone.

‘Maybe I should just pretend that I don’t know anything.’

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Young-Joon said.

Doctor Ref scoffed.

—Haha, maybe it’s because you’ve been so honest all your life, but you’re not very good at lying. I thought you were reading off a book or something.

“...”

Rosaline shook her head.

—Ryu Young-Joon.

Doctor Ref said.

—Palestine is a country in territorial dispute with Israel over Jerusalem. Look at Wikipedia for more details. I’m sure there’s something written by intelligent citizens of wealthy countries.

“...”

—One thing I want to tell you about is about a weapon called white phosphorus munition.

“White phosphorus munitions?”

—It’s an explosive mixture that contains a phosphorus mixture and benzene separated by water. The ignition point is low, at about sixty degrees Celsius. Once it is ignited, it creates a violent chemical reaction and produces a lot of toxicity and heat.

“...”

—Once it’s lit, it doesn’t go out easily, even if you douse it with water. Even if you’re lucky enough to put it out, the white phosphorus dissolves into fat and gets absorbed into your body, ultimately killing you with chemical toxicity.

Doctor Ref said.

—Even if you don’t touch it directly, the toxic gas that comes from the combustion is also very dangerous. It’s called phosphorous pentoxide. If exposed to the skin or mucous membrane, it can melt flesh and cause tremendous pain, which can kill you.

“...”

—It’s a weapon that is now internationally banned from being used to kill people, but the Geneva Convention is nothing but wordplay because I’m the daughter of a family who died from a white phosphorus bomb.

“Died from a white phosphorus bomb...?”

—I said there was a dispute between Palestine and Israel, right? Israel dropped a 155mm white phosphorus bomb on a civilian school built by the UN and the regions nearby.

“...”

—All of my friends and family died, and I was also seriously injured. Burns all over my body, and a pain that felt like my nostrils and lungs were being torn apart. People had turned into ashes, and children were screaming for help while they were on fire. No words can convey the feeling of seeing something like that unless you experience it for yourself. And one more amazing thing...

Doctor Ref said.

—At that time, Israeli citizens would hike up mountains to drink beer and celebrate it. They watched the bombs, took pictures of it, and posted them on the internet as if they were watching fireworks.

“...”

—In the distant past, when humans went to war, the worst they could do was stab someone with a knife. Even further in the past, they just hit someone with a stone. But look, Ryu Young-Joon, what other organisms in the world commits genocide and enjoys it like humans do?

Doctor Ref said.

“Isn’t that a sermon that some mad scientist would give in a mediocre movie? Do you think that justifies your actions? Even so, you’re just a terrorist.”

—Haha, I’m sick and tired of these kind of sermons being consumed as the villain’s philosophy in a fictional movie that Hollywood spends astronomical amounts of money on. You also think that, even though the worst part is that it’s being used for entertainment.

“...”

—And one more. I’m not a terrorist driven by revenge because I suffered from white phosphorus. I already forgave them.

“You forgave them?”

—Because that’s the nature of human beings. Humans are naturally insensitive to other people’s pain and have sadistic qualities. This is not a judgment of something being right or wrong; I’m just saying that the human animal was made like that.

“...”

—But that is why the public cannot have science.

Doctor Ref said.

—Look. No matter how good of a drug you make, there are people who try to implant a tumor in someone’s eye, and there are people who try to cause war by supplying Africa with an anthrax bioweapon, right?

“...”

—It’s a world where you need a government permit to carry a gun, but why is it that the core knowledge needed to develop weapons of mass destruction are available to the public as an open source? Even when an idiot like He Jiankui was able to create a CCR5-engineered baby under the public’s nose

with

regulations present?

Doctor Ref said.

—The same goes for arms manufacturers selling weapons to Africa and encouraging wars. Science shouldn’t belong to the masses; it should be monopolized by a few ethical elites like you, who then benevolently distributes its products to the ignorant public. That’s the kind of power science is.

“...”

—That’s why I didn’t hurt you, Ryu Young-Joon. It’s because you are an unrealistically ethical person.

“No matter what your beliefs or goals are, you’ve become nothing but a terrorist from a criminal organization from the moment you committed bioterror as a means to achieve that. You’re not qualified to judge the public.

—It must be so nice being able to clearly define good and evil.

Doctor Ref said.

—I’ll talk directly to Ryu Young-Joon—no, Rosaline. You’re listening, right?

Rosaline was startled. She pointed to herself and stared at Young-Joon with wide eyes.