Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Bioethics
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Ksshk, ksshk
The radio on his hip crackled to life.
Shin-ju stood silently before the black gate that had opened in the room, facing the desolate and chilling darkness of a war-torn Bluerobic.
Through the gate, it was a night illuminated by a colossal aurora.
A sinister light flashed eerily beyond the horizon.
When he was young, he had often dreamed of traveling to strange alien cities beyond the cosmos and beautiful lands across the brilliant Milky Way.
He had held a particular fondness for the planet Bluerobic, said to be inhabited by beautiful and resilient Elves.
“The planet's been contaminated...”
Shin-ju muttered weakly, the sight before him a far cry from his imagination.
But why on earth was a gate like this open in the middle of the room?
Had Bio Vanguard been able to travel to and from Bluerobic so easily all along?
- Park Shin-ju.
Sharin's voice echoed from the radio.
- Park Shin-ju! Can you hear me?
“Yes, yes. Go ahead!”
Snapping to his senses, Shin-ju hastily grabbed the radio.
- Bio Vanguard... those damn... ksshk- bast...ards! Kill... all of...!!
“What? Sharin! Calm down and speak slowly!”
- My people... modified... bio...logical experiments... they were...!
“Biological experiments?”
For a moment, Shin-ju couldn't believe his ears.
He stood stunned for a moment, staring at the gate.
The entrance to Bluerobic was still shimmering.
Anger, despair, worry, anxiety.
A myriad of thoughts raced through Shin-ju's mind.
Even in the midst of it all, his professional instincts kicked in, and he first thought of the laws regarding biological experiments and their punishments.
‘The Bioethics and Safety Act.’
‘Article 2 of the Enforcement Rule of the Bioethics Act (Scope of Human Subject Research).’
The Bioethics Act only restricted research on human subjects; it did not protect beings from outer space.
This was because no one had opposed the Galactic Federation's opinion that research and analysis of unidentified alien beings were indispensable in the event of an attack.
And in the first place, there was no clear law to punish biological experimentation itself.
Cases where the ethical right and wrong could not be clearly defined certainly existed.
Bio Vanguard had exploited that loophole.
However, even with consent, if an experiment went against public sentiment, it could constitute assault.
Shin-ju's eyes narrowed.
Had they really obtained consent for these experiments?
Given the circumstances, that was impossible.
Experiments that could cause serious harm to a subject's life and body without voluntary and explicit consent must be punished.
Soon, a thick wave of fury and bloodlust emanated from Shin-ju's anguished expression.
Big Five opened his eyes.
Black sparks erupted from his entire body.
“Grrgh...”
With an ominous sound of grinding metal, Big Five lifted his head.
“Sil...ver...”
He remembered what had just happened.
Just before he was hit squarely by the red dragon's dark breath, Silverfire had turned his body and thrown him far away.
Thanks to him, he had avoided a fatal blow.
But he hadn't completely escaped the attack's range, and his body was severely damaged.
“Silver!!!”
Big Five shouted as he pushed his upper body up.
No matter where he looked, there was no sign of Silver.
“No... No!!!”
“Big Five!!”
Area87's voice came from above.
When Big Five managed to lift his head, he saw Area87 holding the unconscious yellow dragon.
“Area87!! You're safe!! Do you see Silver!?”
Area87 said nothing.
“Dammit!!”
Big Five forced himself all the way up.
From a distance, Gogo Arc's voice could be heard.
It seemed he had also safely avoided the breath attack.
“Gogo!! Silver...”
*Flap, flap.*
The sound of a dragon's wingbeats came from above.
As Gogo and Big Five turned their heads with enraged expressions...
“Ah...!!”
The white and black dragons were floating in the sky, holding Silver by his shoulders.
Silver's body was battered, hanging limp as if powered down.
Big Five dragged his broken body forward.
“This person is alive!!”
The white dragon shouted.
“He tried to protect us until the very end!!”
The black dragon added from the side.
“To think he came over and shielded us even in that situation...”
The white dragon muttered, looking down at Silver.
Reflected in its eyes was a U.C.I.D. police emblem, scorched from battle.
Big Five, Gogo, and Area87 breathed a sigh of relief.
“It's a good thing we flew up quickly!”
The black dragon exclaimed triumphantly.
“Thank goodness!! What a relief!!”
Area87 cried out with joy.
*Thump, thump, thump.*
Suddenly, an ominous mechanical sound echoed from the distance.
Everyone simultaneously turned their heads toward the sound.
The figure of the red dragon, Alexian, equipped in an armor suit, appeared before their eyes.
His body emitted a dark red glow, as if he were forged from heated iron.
“That son of a bitch attacked us!!”
The white dragon growled.
“Attacking his own kind... He's a traitor...!”
The black dragon chimed in.
Big Five glared, exhaling white smoke.
He stared down Alexian and called out his two comrades' names.
“Gogo!! Area87!!”
*Whirrr- Clank, clank.*
Gogo and Area87 looked at Big Five in unison.
Big Five's body began to twist and turn like a Rubik's Cube.
*Crackle- crackle-*
Black sparks flew wildly.
Despite his injuries, he moved his body with unyielding will.
“...We combine, now!!”
*Thud, thud, thud.*
At Sharin's call, Shin-ju ran over at once.
As he entered the room, Jason and Jekovic followed right behind him.
An unbelievable sight unfolded before their eyes.
An Elf girl from Bluerobic was cradled in Sharin's arms.
But something was off about her condition.
Her arms and legs seemed to be barely attached by some sort of artificial device.
Shin-ju looked at the child, his lips trembling, unable to speak.
“This child... what on earth...”
Sharin looked up at Shin-ju, her eyes blazing fiercely.
“She said she escaped...”
“Escaped?”
That child, all by herself?
Shin-ju sensed something suspicious but didn't voice it.
The child's safety was the priority right now.
“On a cold operating table... she said they experimented on her with machines.”
“Grrrrrr-.”
Jekovic let out a low growl.
Back when he was treated like a monster, a 'werewolf.'
He had his own trauma of being treated this way once in America.
Shin-ju gaped and looked up at the ceiling.
Have they really crossed the line?
They had finally committed the one act forbidden by the Universal Peace Treaty.
He also had to consider the possibility that the U.S. government, blinded by alien technology, had given Bio Vanguard a free pass.
A gate connected to Bluerobic.
A Bluerobic planetarian who was biologically experimented on.
Those crazy bastards, is this why they called the Bluerobicians here?
Simply because they had a large population?
Or was it an order from the Planet Destroyer?
But still, did they have to target a child?
Meanwhile, Jason, ever the cop, muttered calmly with sharp eyes.
“If it's a lab for biological experiments, wouldn't it usually be in the basement?”
“Basement or not, this is something that deserves worldwide condemnation. We need to contact every U.C.I.D. branch across the U.S. and all the American media outlets.”
Shin-ju said bluntly.
He quickly collected himself.
First, they had to get that child to a hospital.
Shin-ju stared at his phone for a moment, tapping his finger impatiently, then pressed the call button as if remembering someone.
- Mr. Shin-ju! It's an emergency! All of LA is about to be decimated!
Enri's urgent voice rang out from the other end.
- Silverfire is seriously injured, too!!
Dammit...
Shin-ju bit his lower lip.
“So you ended up fighting the Dragonkin after all.”
- Yes. But... one of the Dragonkin looks strange.
“What's strange about him?”
- He's wearing something like mechanical armor... I think you need to come here quickly.
“Hoo... Understood. But Ms. Enri, our situation here is also...”
A moment of silence followed.
His eyes darted from side to side.
It was hard to get the words out, but Shin-ju calmly explained the situation to Enri.
When he finished, there was silence on the other end.
“...Ms. Enri?”
- Ah... yes, I understand. I'll take the child to a nearby hospital.
Enri tried her best to sound nonchalant.
Shin-ju hung up and turned to Jason.
“Jason, take this child and go to the hospital with Ms. Enri.”
“Me?”
“Yes, I have a feeling a big battle is about to break out here. I have a bad feeling about this.”
Shin-ju's eyes grew serious.
“...Alright.”
Jason hesitated for a moment, then carefully lifted the Elf child onto his back.
Sharin quietly watched the back of the Elf child as she was carried away.
Everything was burning.
The horrifying sight of her entire home planet turning to ash and crumbling from the pain of war flickered before her eyes.
How many orphans had been created?
And even the children who had barely survived weren't safe on Earth.
A cold, brilliant rage ignited within her.
Shin-ju turned to look at Sharin.
“Sharin, there's a gate connected to Bluerobic here.”
“I think they used that gate to smuggle people out, taking advantage of the chaos of war...”
Sharin gritted her teeth.
“Those sons of bitches...”
“We need to stay calm, especially at a time like this.”
Shin-ju himself took a deep breath as if to suppress his own anger, then continued.
“I'd also love nothing more than to bury all these bastards from Bio Vanguard at once... but there might be others who are still captured, or children who have escaped like her.”
Despite his anger, Shin-ju's voice was gentle.
He seemed to be careful, as if provoking Sharin in the slightest might lead to something everyone would regret.
Sharin was trying to suppress her rage, her fists clenched tightly.
Shin-ju kept his eyes on her.
“For now, rescuing the victims is our top priority.”
“...Where do you think they are?”
“Like Jason said, labs are usually in the basement, but considering the location of the gate and the structure of this building, it's far from conventional.”
Shin-ju thought calmly and continued speaking cautiously.
“That child was also found here, on an upper floor.”
Jekovic turned his head.
“You think it's nearby?”
“Circumstantially, it's highly likely to be close.”
In the heavy silence, Sharin walked past the two of them and stepped forward.
Seeing her monstrously transformed face, Shin-ju and Jekovic swallowed hard.
With the sharp, cruel expression of a butcher, Sharin growled in a voice as cold as ice.
“It doesn't matter where. Today, this building will become Bio Vanguard's tomb.”