Chapter 120
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Pregnancy
Crow slips out of the building quietly.
He deliberately avoids people. If he ran into anyone right now, he feels like he'd unleash his rage without even realizing it.
Alleys over main streets,
underground over above ground,
he walks without caring about speed, just doing his best to dodge the crowds.
Even as Crow struggles to hold himself back, the people passing by suddenly feel a chill and glance around themselves.
Once he judges he's reached a safe enough spot, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cigarette pack,
only to find just two cigarettes left inside.
"…"
Crow shakes the pack irritably, tapping out the two smokes before tossing the empty thing carelessly onto the alley floor.
He'd have to go see Scardi again soon.
The infamous underworld figure—one of the main culprits behind his confusion.
Last time, he'd stormed in first and trashed the place in a fit of anger before grabbing his drugs and smokes.
She probably wouldn't turn him away next time either.
And that pisses Crow off even more.
Gratitude for the favors she'd done him in prison mixes with resentment for hooking him on drugs, and suddenly fury boils up.
"Hoo—"
Maybe that's why a sadistic urge wells up instead. He feels nothing but disgust and betrayal toward Orca, Lily, Justice... but toward Scardi and the other villains—
"…"
A strange emotion stirs.
Something bubbles up inside.
Even Crow himself can't quite grasp what it is.
He's devoted his life to saving the world,
lived it with relentless diligence.
Now, with all this excess free time,
Crow puffs on his cigarette, staring at the oblivious profiles of people shuffling down the street.
No one in the alley bothers giving a second glance to the guy chain-smoking away. They're all too busy with their own lives.
Today, screw everything else—he needs to head straight to Scardi's, raise hell, and snag some smokes to cool off.
He doesn't even know why he has to prove his innocence anymore. People don't care about someone else's vindication.
The only thing that'd get a reaction from them is Justice's downfall.
He's truly lost now.
Can't even find a reason to blame Justice or Orca.
He just
scans the passersby with hollow, empty eyes, out of habit.
Bustling salarymen in suits,
elderly folks ambling along and chatting idly,
clueless students grinning like idiots, housewives,
and,
a woman in comfy sweats stepping out for a neighborhood stroll...
"…"
No, she passes by, then backtracks, staring at Crow,
"Ooh."
winks, and strolls right into the alley.
Crow's eyes widen bigger and bigger.
"There you are! Man, why you gotta run off like that? I barely slept, been wandering everywhere looking for you."
His hands tremble.
The moment he spots this unwelcome intruder in this unexpected situation, his fists clench tight.
Those precious two cigarettes get utterly wasted. He'd planned to savor them before heading to Scardi's.
"Whoa, you look pissed."
She leans against the opposite wall in the narrow alley,
dressed in a hoodie just like Crow,
arms crossed, Creep standing there casually.
"Come on, baby! Didn't you miss me? What's with that face? I'm seriously hurt—"
"You're insane."
This is a situation where it wouldn't be weird if Crow went after her first to settle the score.
Creep, hooded in pitch-black, doesn't even blink as she flashes a bright, innocent smile.
"…I'm really hurt. You cut me off like that."
Neither makes a rash move to fight.
They just stare at each other intently for a moment.
Crow's darkened, hardened gaze,
and Creep's bright, pure smile.
They lock eyes like that for minutes on end.
"Still, glad you're not shooting me on sight. I was worried you'd blast away the second you saw me."
Truth be told, Crow's wondering why he can't pull the trigger on this woman right now.
It's bizarre.
Thinking back, he doesn't feel much revenge toward Creep at all.
He'd scolded Lily,
gone to the Association to get the facts straight,
summoned Scardi and pounded her willing body even beyond what she'd begged for,
left in disgust at Orca's ugly side,
and ended up coming to see Justice.
But deep down,
if he peers into his heart,
it looks like he's been dodging his greatest fear—the one he's put off by avoiding a certain man.
Maybe everything he's done so far
has been a psychological rejection, just to escape from the white-haired woman standing before him now?
"Well, yeah. You know bullets won't work anyway, right? We can't kill each other. You're too weak to off me, and I'm too soft-hearted to kill you—"
Crack—
Of course, that doesn't mean Crow's gonna put up with this lunatic yapping nonstop.
"Kyaaak!"
Instead of covering her mouth, he slams his fist full-force into that infuriating face. Fear turns to rage.
"Agh! That fucking hurts—"
And he's not done. He just goes at it, beating the shit out of this crazy bitch with the intent to kill her for real.
"Kehk!"
A few teeth shatter and scatter across the ground. Even as she's getting pummeled, Creep doesn't use her powers—she just cackles the whole time.
"Ahk! Kek, heehee! Ah, wait a sek—khek!"
Not satisfied, Crow grabs her by the hair, determined to end this drugged-up whore today, drugs be damned.
She's dragged kicking into the depths of the alley, giggling relentlessly the whole way.
"Ahk! Ahik…! Babyyy! This reunion gift is way too spicy…!"
Then he smashes that rage-inducing face into the asphalt and walls like he's grinding it down.
Crunch—crack—thud—
Blood sprays with every impact. A bloody scene erupts in the filthy alley.
"Kehk—ek—heek!"
"Haa—hoo…"
No matter how hard he beats her, Creep won't stop laughing. No clue what's so damn funny.
"Think I can't kill you?"
"No—nooik—heek…"
Creep twists her head roughly, spitting out bloody phlegm like a glob. Shattered teeth mix with blood and roll across the pavement.
"Do whatever you want, baby… Ung…"
She bares her gapped-tooth mouth.
Practically begging him to shove a gun barrel in there.
"Shoot me for real. You know I don't go down easy…?"
But even after he pulls his gun and jams it into her mouth,
"Hee—eup—"
he can't pull the trigger.
"…Why are you here."
"Eh?"
His ragged breathing speaks for him. Their positions have flipped completely since inside the prison, and it's holding him back.
Crow truly
has no idea anymore.
He feels himself breaking bit by bit.
"Why'd you come."
He recalls the intense, vulgar moments shared with Creep in prison.
The disgusting rape at the start,
and the fleeting pity he showed at the end.
The horrific consequences of that irresponsible pity.
Crow struggles to reclassify this woman named Creep amid his blurred lines of good and evil.
Is this woman pinned beneath him now
a serial killer who mercilessly tore apart dozens?
Or not…
"Ung. They said I'm pregnant."
She spits out the metallic-tasting gun barrel and beams at him.
In the empty back alley with just the two of them,
Creep gives the Crow straddling her belly a little gift.
"Yeah. Went straight to the OB-GYN to confirm. Good job, right?"
Crow's hands shake.
Not from the drugs this time.
"Nah, they kept saying someone like me doesn't need tests, so I was gonna kill 'em for real. But I held back thinking of you? Good job, huh?"
She wipes the blood from her face,
caressing his cheek with that filthy hand, her tenderness making
his whole body tremble
from the fear and obsessive torment.
Chills run down his spine.
But he's not angry.
"I was trying to turn over a new leaf, but if you wanna kill me, baby, go ahead. I've had this promise with myself since forever. Ah! Unlike Mom, who mouthed off to Dad and got beat till she dropped—better just do what he says and live tight, right?"
Crow drops the gun, unable to even swallow, and sobs openly.
"Whoa, why're you crying…"
Creep smiles gently and hugs him.
Then pats his back, whispering,
"Don't cry, baby. Wait, gotta call you hubby now."
That's her final gift,
and the finale to their long, twisted enmity and opposition.
Creep gives Crow his last choice.
Kill her and defeat the villain,
or accept even the villains and live together for the child in her womb.
"I won't say let's live together. Couples need some distance to stay sweet, y'know? Then hubby comes home drunk every now and then and fucks me silly. Yup yup. People need that space."
The answer's already set.
Crow can't pull the trigger.
He's no hero anymore.
Nor a villain.
"…Is it really mine?"
"Yup! If it wasn't yours, I'd raise it alone, duh?"
He's just
a single man.
"If you're not gonna kill me, I'm heading out?"
Creep rummages in her pocket,
pulls out the OB-GYN blood test results, and hands them to Crow.
"Hold onto that, hubby! Oh, wrote my address on the back too?"
"…"
Soon, only Crow remains in the alley.
He clutches the test results,
shedding tears for a long while.
Truth is, he already knew.
He can't live without Creep or Scardi.
His hatred and disgust for his old comrades' ugliness have surpassed their limits, turning meaningless,
leaving Crow dependent on the women he'd fought his whole life for solace.
"Haha…"
He needs someone to hate.
Those bitches too repulsive to even speak to anymore? He doesn't need them. Gave up on 'em long ago. Hell, not even worth the anger…
The crime boss who hooked him on drugs but turns into a cheap slut underneath,
and the psychopathic killer who forced a kid on him, doomed to trail him forever.
The ones who truly ease his torment
are, ironically,
the villains who've plagued him his whole life,
in prison and out in society.
Just
the villains he can hate with all his might without it hurting.