231. Hostile Takeover 6

Hong Eun-soo asked as if there was a choice, but in fact, there was only one choice Yoon Tae-ha could make.

“Lead the way.”

Yoon Tae-ha said in an annoyed tone, and nodded her chin toward Moon So-eun. She said they had to hurry and led Yoon Tae-ha with large strides.

The two turned a corner and headed for the building’s lobby, then entered a room that looked like a typical clinic. There was a secret passage behind the desk where a doctor would sit. After a long time of following the passage, which looked like a narrow underground road, Moon So-eun stopped in front of a locked iron door. When she entered a long password, the thick door opened.

“Come in.”

Yoon Tae-ha went inside. The moment the door closed behind her, a faint fishy smell wafted from the inside. She frowned slightly. At that moment, Moon So-eun muttered as if to defend her actions.

“The Chancellor gave an order. It's an order to destroy all the immature Chimeras we are managing. He's saying to only deploy the completed ones and to destroy the ones that are not yet valuable enough to be used, so that they can't be used as evidence. It seems the enemy has infiltrated deeper than we thought.”

After passing through a short hallway, a dim research lab came into view. The scale was smaller than the Green Hive's cultivation room, but it gave the impression that it was a space that was mass-producing a higher grade of Chimera overall.

“Then just destroy the ones here as he said. Why make things complicated? This is also a kind of insubordination.”

“Of course you wouldn’t understand.”

With that, Moon So-eun weaved her way through the cultivation capsules. As she followed her, Yoon Tae-ha checked the appearance of the creatures inside the capsules.

They looked like a mixture of monsters and humans, with horns on their heads or the claws of carnivorous animals on their hands. The skin of some Chimeras looked hard and slippery like that of an alligator. At the bottom of the 3-meter-tall cultivation capsules filled with green liquid, thick pipes were intricately intertwined like tree roots.

Moon So-eun, who had been walking diligently, stopped in front of a capsule after a while. The researchers who were working nearby found her and moved to another capsule.

At that moment, Yoon Tae-ha, who had inadvertently turned her head and checked the figure in the nearby capsule, let out a sigh that was like a hollow laugh. Moon So-eun, who was standing in front of a hologram control panel a little away from the capsule, was busy manipulating something.

“This is your nephew.”

She had to suppress the rising disgust as much as possible, but she couldn't because Moon Seon-woo’s face inside the capsule was so familiar. Yoon Tae-ha glared at the heartless woman, whose expression didn't change even after hearing her point.

“I’m telling you, people are more cruel.”

“That was the best I could do. I couldn’t bring a dead child back to life.”

“So you divided him into pieces and fused him with a monster?”

“Seon-woo would understand. He was a child who perfectly embraced the Professor’s ideals.”

Moon So-eun's two eyes, full of blind faith, sparkled with madness. Yoon Tae-ha was completely fed up with her. She had once thought deeply about the reason why Moon So-eun, whom she had once respected, had become like this. But looking at the woman who had even hideously changed her nephew’s body, she felt that such efforts were in vain.

“I can’t abandon this child a second time. We’re almost there now.”

“This won’t bring your nephew back to life.”

Moon So-eun glared at her and yelled.

“The evidence is right in front of me!”

“…”

“I have all the memories collected. All I have to do is entrust them to Gaia to restore his ego. Just like you are alive and well, Seon-woo will be too.”

“Letting this out goes against the Chancellor’s will. Do you think that man wouldn't know that you have other intentions?”

“What can he do when he’s in a tight spot?”

Moon So-eun ignored her warning. She then buried her head in a drawer next to the control panel and looked for something as if possessed. While she was distracted, Yoon Tae-ha quickly assessed the personnel stationed at the facility. The number of guards was smaller than she had expected, and there were quite a few researchers.

As she squinted her eyes and drew the route she would take in a battle, Hong Eun-soo spoke to her.

— Are you listening? If the communication is still connected, clear your throat.

Yoon Tae-ha cleared her throat briefly.

— Fortunately, it hasn’t been cut off. For now, my superior is chewing on stimulants and is trying to get management rights to the facility you’re in. Just stall for 10 more minutes.

If she could destroy all the Chimeras in this place, she could stall for as long as needed. Yoon Tae-ha lingered in front of another nearby capsule. The liquid inside the capsule was slowly circulating through a circulation device. Just as she was giving her attention to the flow of the culture medium, a clumsy killing intent rushed from behind.

Yoon Tae-ha quickly dodged, snatched the syringe flying at her, and plunged it into the arm of the person who had attempted the attack. She then put pressure on her thumb to inject the liquid inside. It was an unplanned, reflexive response.

“Ugh!”

Moon So-eun, who was clearly flustered, looked at the syringe plunged into her arm, lost strength in her legs, and slumped to the floor. Yoon Tae-ha calmly covered Moon So-eun’s mouth and dragged her to a place where no one was around.

Only after arriving at a corner where empty regular capsules and medical capsules were lined up side by side did she take her hand off Moon So-eun's mouth. Instead of shouting to call the guards, Moon So-eun groped the arm where the needle had pierced and sobbed quietly.

“N-no. Huhu.”

“Did you think I wouldn't be able to stop a single syringe?”

Moon So-eun, who had been shedding hot tears without a sound, suddenly raised her head and said as if she was chewing on her words.

“How dare you swing a syringe at a person?”

“If you feel wronged, call the guards. You can tell them to arrest me.”

Moon So-eun avoided her gaze and roughly wiped her tears with the sleeve of her gown. She still didn't shout to call people. Seeing her series of suspicious actions, Yoon Tae-ha came to one conclusion. She knelt on one knee and looked into Moon So-eun’s dark eyes.

“You were trying to take me out, weren't you? Not your nephew's Chimera.”

“…”

“So you can’t ask anyone else for help, can you? Who would participate in a researcher trying to secretly take out a bio-weapon that the Chancellor cherishes alone? Not unless they want to be torn apart alive by a Titan.”

“You weren't made by the Chancellor. Yoon…”

Yoon Tae-ha cut off her words.

“Yoon Jung-hoon made me. So you were trying to knock me out and take me out? By yourself? Yoon Jung-hoon’s person didn't instruct you to take me out, did they?”

Moon So-eun, who was clutching her arm, started panting a little roughly, like a person who had just finished a full-out sprint.

“Tae-ha is dead. Now you’re the only one who has her genetic information. If Geum Gang-seop fails in this matter, the information of the granddaughter the Professor cherishes will disappear completely. That can't happen. You have to survive and get out of this island.”

“My goodness. You thought about me that much?”

“So go get the syringe with the antidote from my drawer right now! And let’s get out of here. The project hasn't even started, but Geum Gang-seop has already issued an alarm. You know what this means, right? He’s going to fail. You only have one life too!”

Seeing Moon So-eun struggling desperately, Yoon Tae-ha’s chest felt heavy. It didn't feel good to see the blatant true face of the woman she had once considered her parent.

“If you don't get the antidote, will you die?”

Moon So-eun, trying to force her heavy eyelids open, desperately grabbed Yoon Tae-ha’s arm.

“It's a sleeping pill made to fit you. What do you think will happen if it goes into my human body?”

Yoon Tae-ha suddenly realized that the fingers that had once slapped her cheek looked very thin and weak. For a very long time, she had been swayed by this hand. Even though it was a hand she could shake off with a little bit of force.

“Hurry and get it…”

Moon So-eun dozed off while talking. Soon, she slapped her own cheek hard to wake up. With a sharp sound, her gaunt cheek turned red. Watching her, Yoon Tae-ha lifted her up and took her to an empty capsule.

“W-wait. Where are you going to put me?”

Moon So-eun, who had rolled her eyes toward the capsule, trembled in her arms and legs. She seemed to be imagining the scene where Yoon Tae-ha would immediately put her in the capsule and melt her away with acid solution along with the other Chimeras.

“No, don't!”

She tried to scream, but her voice was as small as a mosquito's due to the effect of the drug. It would never reach the researchers on the other side who were busy handling the test subjects.

Yoon Tae-ha dragged Moon So-eun, then in the last moment, she lifted her up and put her into a medical capsule. Then she quickly closed the lid. Moon So-eun, who knew that the medical capsule didn't have a function to kill people, widened her eyes.

Why?

Moon So-eun was asking that with her expression. Why aren’t you killing me? There’s no way a Chimera would show this kind of consideration. It was designed to feel no aversion to killing people, so why…?

Yoon Tae-ha put her hand on the transparent lid, operated a button so that Moon So-eun could hear the outside sounds from inside the capsule, and then leaned her body diagonally over the capsule.