Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 250
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 250
‘Another patient for Whale to treat.’
Somehow, the list of reasons I needed to obliterate this cursed city kept growing instead of being finalized.
A brief commotion erupted, but it soon subsided. Loreille explained the situation to Camula.
I was also able to hear about this place.
This served as the headquarters used by Loreille and his colleagues. More than half of those here had been experimental subjects at the research facility.
People who were deemed worthless for experimentation and ‘disposed of’ or abandoned.
People who had secretly escaped.
People who had been sold to the research facility but barely managed to escape.
And finally, people rescued by Loreille and his colleagues.
Quite varied.
The room I was guided to housed only aquatic animal beastkin—specifically minors or those with physical disabilities.
“Aquatic animal beastkin tend to have different environmental preferences, you see.”
Any aquatic animal beastkin capable of moving or exerting strength devoted themselves to rescuing experimental subjects.
This wasn’t unique to aquatic animal beastkin; all beastkin faced the same circumstances.
“What a mess.”
After hearing everything, I muttered this, and someone beside me half-raised their hand.
“Sorry, but that’s a personal insult to dog beastkin.”
“Ah, my apologies. Let me correct that—it’s more like a lion’s den situation.”
“I’ll accept the apology.”
The man who raised his hand had dark brown hair and dark skin.
He was a dog beastkin—specifically, a Doberman Beastkin.
I had exchanged greetings with Camula and was following Loreille’s guidance toward the center.
In the command center arranged like a trench, the officers of this place had gathered.
Some of them bore incomplete bodies.
Since beastkin abilities stemmed not only from their physiology but also from their specialties, these individuals must possess formidable ‘talents.’
When their introductions concluded, I offered a brief observation.
“Revolutionary army, then.”
They all fell silent without denying it.
I had thought they were simply apostles of justice rescuing experimental subjects from the facility.
But their roots ran deeper than I’d imagined.
‘Most importantly, Loreille.’
When I heard he was the sibling of the lord—no, the director-general—I assumed he held no ordinary position, yet he was a commander.
So the commander had rushed out personally to rescue the boy.
‘What if we who subdued him had been the villains?’
I crossed my arms.
“I apologize for asking again, but do you truly believe the experiments on monkey beastkin were wrong?”
No matter how I thought about it, it was strange—a monkey beastkin conditioned by discrimination and supremacy now preaching equality and human dignity.
“I understand it seems strange, but I’m sincere. My colleagues and I feel shame. We once worked at the research facility.”
Loreille admitted it honestly—that he and his colleagues had once been employed there.
This was something that could not be refused from the moment one was born as a Monkey—that much was certain.
After all, what difference was there between a child taught distorted history from birth and believing it to be true history?
When I finished speaking, someone raised their hand.
It was a Woman with a dissatisfied expression. A Rabbit Beastkin, if I recalled correctly.
“Listening to all this, isn’t that itself discriminatory talk? Not all Monkey Beastkin are like that.”
“Ah, I hope you’ll understand that point. Coming from someone who has lived their entire life under prejudice and discrimination, I can’t help but be cautious.”
Among land animal Beastkin, there was discrimination between carnivores and herbivores.
But it was incomparably less severe than the contempt shown toward aquatic animal Beastkin.
Because herbivore Beastkin possessed their own special “talents” as well.
“Isn’t the fact that more than half of the experimental subjects here are aquatic animal Beastkin proof of that?”
It must have been difficult to bring them from such distant places.
‘Disgusting lion cub. What’s more irritating is that I didn’t notice this myself.’
When I spoke sarcastically, everyone bristled but said nothing.
Clap, clap, clap.
“Now that’s a magnificent statement.”
Only Camula, who served as the aquatic animal representative here, applauded.
“If I’d known there was someone this impressive in Aquasiadel, I should have gone there instead.”
I could only offer a bitter smile.
There was no way I could say that you once came to Aquasiadel and accomplished magnificent deeds.
“Usually, people don’t understand things until they’re in that position themselves.”
“…You’re absolutely right, Camula. Calypso, I apologize on behalf of my colleague. I would appreciate your understanding of her ignorance.”
I glanced at the Rabbit Beastkin, and she nodded in return.
Since I didn’t really think it was something that needed an apology, I simply shrugged.
“What’s the point of spending all day talking about understanding each other? In the end, we need to catch and crush the bastards who fostered this discrimination.”
I looked around the room.
My finger pointed toward the ceiling.
“For you all, that would be those research facility bastards up there, right?”
When our goals were the same, there was no time to waste arguing about different things.
* * *
“At the center of the research facility, there exists a core energy source called ‘Terra.'”
While Loreille stood alone explaining, the rest of us sat at the table and listened intently.
This explanation was for us who had just joined, and Loreille’s colleagues occasionally added a word or two.
Loreille’s colleagues were apparently about half Monkey Beastkin and the other half various other land animal Beastkin.
“It’s such an enormous energy source that no separate power plant is needed, making it essentially the core driving force for all research.”
“I have a question—was that originally there?”
“Yes. But it wasn’t an energy source of this magnitude.”
One day, the Crown Prince brought something and fused it with it, and it became an energy source of this level.
“The problem is that this ‘Terra’ also serves as the power source for the protective functions of the research facility.”
“What, do arrows fly at you if you try to break in?”
“Something similar. Fireballs come flying at you.”
I blinked. Loreille explained calmly.
The moment anyone breaches the perimeter, golden flames erupt and incinerate the intruders, he said.
“After years of research, we’ve determined there are only two methods to stop it.”
“….”
“One is to halt or destroy ‘Terra’—though stealing it would be ideal, that seems impossible.”
“And the other?”
“To neutralize it with an equivalent force matching the incoming flames.”
A colossal power radiating golden light.
“But that’s impossible.”
“Why?”
Regardless of its nature, that golden radiance is the lions’ ‘Power of the Earth’.
And….
“Through our research, we finally discovered it—that power is the ‘Dragon’s Strength’.”
The moment Loreille finished speaking, our entire party naturally fixed their gaze upon one person.
That’s right. Everyone in our group was present here, not just Loreille’s colleagues.
Which meant Ekion was here as well.
Standing confidently behind me, disguised as my escort knight.
“I can only speculate how your brother obtained and learned to wield the Dragon’s Strength. But we have no means to counter that power. The Dragon is surely the strongest Beastkin in existence.”
That much was true. If it went berserk, it wouldn’t just be unmanageable—it would bring about the world’s annihilation.
Though Loreille didn’t know that such a Beastkin stood in this very room.
“Excluding weapons powered by ‘Terra’, the research facility’s actual combat forces are quite limited. Our monkeys are largely non-combatants, you see.”
Loreille confessed that despite their considerable numbers, their plans repeatedly failed and remained stalled because of this.
“Which is also why this city hosts so many ferocious Beastkin.”
“Hmm, Loreille?”
“Yes?”
Loreille looked at my face and wore a peculiar expression. It seemed like bewilderment.
“If I may be so bold, Calypso… why do you have that expression?”
“Hmm. I thought it would be far more difficult.”
At minimum, I’d expected something comparable to breaching the Imperial Capital.
“Is that the face of someone who finds the difficulty surprisingly easy?”
“Pardon? That wasn’t what I was asking about. No, I don’t understand what you mean.”
“If we can solve your most critical problem so simply.”
I regarded Loreille with my arms crossed.
“Will you keep the secret until your dying breath?”
I smiled faintly.
“Surely you don’t mean to say you can handle those flames? I’ve heard Orcas possess special power. However—”
“You said it only cancels out with equivalent force, right? And I’m not a Dragon.”
“….”
As befitted someone intelligent, he seemed to catch on quickly. After all, he’d just surveyed my entire party.
“…You were concealing yourself from the very beginning as well.”
Ah, but I haven’t seen Ekion standing behind me in a while. I let out a soft chuckle.
“When shall we execute the operation?”
I clapped my hands as if I’d just remembered something, drawing everyone’s attention.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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