The Greatest Divide is the Amniotic Fluid

"You… don't deserve it…" Shu, weak and exhausted, gritted out these words, staring at Vakh's manic, grinning face.

Vakh blinked, then chuckled, stepping back and circling around the mass of mutated flesh sprouting from Shu's shoulder. "You say I don't deserve it?"

"Why?" Vakh's tone was surprisingly sincere, like a student seeking guidance from a teacher.

"Life finds a way…" Shu gasped, suppressing his rage, his lost rationality slowly returning. "…It shouldn't be… forced, twisted into something it doesn't want to be…"

The smile vanished from Vakh's face. He looked at Shu, who had barely managed to utter those words, in silence.

Then…

"You say… I forced them? That I twisted them into something they didn't want to be?" Vakh's voice was now icy cold.

His gaze, fixed on Shu, was surprisingly intense.

"Alright… what would you have me do?" A sardonic smile twisted his lips.

"Should I give every life the respect it deserves, let them grow naturally, refrain from interfering with their development, let them fend for themselves…"

"Is that it?" Vakh crouched down, his purple eyes level with Shu's.

Shu didn't speak. That sentence had nearly cost him half his life force.

But he had an instinctive answer to Vakh's question.

"Since you believe I should do that…" Vakh paused, then his voice surged with emotion. "Then why didn't the classes above us do the same for us?!!"

Shu was stunned.

Vakh's face contorted, a rage no less intense than Shu's own erupting.

He grabbed his collar, ripping his shirt open, revealing his left chest.

Shu clearly saw three bullet holes on his chest. And all over his body, a network of scars.

This was Vakh's regenerated body. Logically, any scars should have been different.

"Do you know how many times I've performed surgery on myself to remove shrapnel?! Do you know what it's like to have three bullets, fired by different assassins, from different directions, enter your body within a single minute?!"

"You've been sheltered… You haven't experienced the… sanctions of the upper classes, have you?" Vakh's furious face was inches from Shu's. Shu could feel his ragged breath.

"Your hotel conveniently catches fire five minutes after you check in. The airport you're about to land at is designated a military exercise zone three minutes before your arrival."

"Everyone is after your head. Every action you take becomes a tool to kill you, a clue to find you!!"

"Why did no one speak up for me? Where were you then? Where was your so-called [justice]?"

Vakh paused, then shook his head. "I know what you're thinking… you're thinking I just didn't encounter good people. That there are so many noble, virtuous people in the world, why didn't they help me…"

Shu's heart sank.

He had been thinking that…

Vakh chuckled coldly. The regrown shirt mended itself. "I was the most wanted criminal on the international stage, the perpetrator of a genetic virus outbreak, the creator of several new, deadly drugs…"

"In most countries, I could be shot on sight for a national award. Every nation refused me entry, even sought to eliminate me outside their borders…"

"I was… undocumented. A complete and utter ghost!"

Vakh exhaled slowly, smiling mockingly at Shu's wide-eyed expression. "Do you know how old I was when I was branded with these crimes?"

Sixteen? That's what Ethics's data said… Vakh had emerged at sixteen…

"Twelve…" Vakh said, his eyes downcast, smiling.

Twelve?! Shu's eyes widened further.

No twelve-year-old could possibly be responsible for such things…

"Surprised?" Vakh seemed pleased by Shu's shock. "From the age of six, I was confined. That terminally ill old man selected me from countless [geniuses]…"

"Do you know how we were… selected?" Vakh shifted the topic, but didn't wait for Shu's answer.

He was simply enjoying Shu's expression.

"From the age of six, over a thousand of us, artificially created orphans, were placed in that old man's orphanage, force-fed a deluge of medical knowledge and skills."

"Then, at ten, we were paired with an opponent every day, tasked with creating poisons and then saving ourselves. We had to use every method to kill each other, and to survive each other's poisons…"

"To survive, at ten years old, I dissected my own esophagus, lining it with a membrane. Everything I ate stayed in my esophagus for twelve hours, giving me time to induce vomiting…"

"But it wasn't enough. Poison isn't limited to oral ingestion. Someone developed an airborne epidemic virus. Someone else created a contact poison, instantly lethal…"

Then, to Shu's astonishment, Vakh spread his arms proudly. "But I survived! I was the last one standing!! When I killed the last opponent, I was twelve!"

"I was the [Champion]! I received my reward – Natasha's survival!!"

Vakh's chest heaved with excitement. But then, his tone shifted abruptly.

"And then, I became that old man's… trophy." He leaned in close again. "Do you know what he said?"

"He said…" Vakh seemed lost in memory, his eyes unfocused.

"[Look… 'Geniuses' can be manufactured. And I… won this game.]"

"Heh…" Vakh chuckled, the sound chilling. "Do you understand… It was just a game. Just a game!!"

"Thousands of people died! And they were amazed that I actually survived!!"

Vakh's roar cut off abruptly. Then, he slowed his speech, asking Shu earnestly, "Shu, do you know where the dividing line between me and them… lies?"

This time, Shu shook his head blankly.

"It's… birth."