From what I could surmise from the deal Lopez had with the General, he was free to have his way with a few people at the time in exchange for his blood and organs, but with how protective this place was of JP's well-being, he'd only have to donate his blood a few times and reap all the benefits their deal have to offer.
However, it was only a matter of time before everyone else had enough and the security the Academy could offer was one of the few things keeping them from moving on.
It was a messed up way to make a person be accepting of what was being done to them and at the same time, it was also—no, had already affected Lopez' view of reality. The power given to him definitely corrupted his head and he was trying to get away with everything he could instead of just doing the right thing without anything in exchange.
Blood was just blood and the things he did were now coming back to rip his head off.
At this moment, the General still couldn't believe his ears but I doubled down as the temperature around us slowly started to drop.
"General… Unless you make full use of what he has to offer, you'd eventually need to kill the guy. At most, he could probably hand over one of his kidneys or part of his liver—maybe even his skin—and don't get me started about organ rejection. They have the same type of blood but that doesn't mean that they're compatible in that regard, no?"
"..."
"What I'm saying is: it's better to have more backups than a douche that's one day gonna turn everyone else against you because you let him play around with the people that's keeping this place running. One day, they're gonna point the blame to you and after that, your son."
"..."
"Trust me, you're doing what you think is best for him now but even the most forgiving people could only take so much. He can't even say shit on the matter because he's benefitting from it but those bags of blood and his organs wouldn't do shit if he gets mauled to death—"
"ENOUGH!"
If looks could kill, I would've died several times over but this was the first time I've seen him so fucking mad. It was a good thing no one had heard us but I held my ground and kept a straight face as his breathing hurried up and his face reddened. He was wearing such a difficult expression but it only took a few seconds before he tried to calm his breathing and compose himself.
"You—"
"I just stated the truth. I think it's better you hear it—"
"No, you're right. This thing is a whole mess and I wouldn't be able to keep up if it goes on. I should've done better."
I almost rolled my eyes, "Words can only do so much too. But yeah, you have a lot on your plate. Why don't you just give the go signal and I'll take care of this problem for you. You wouldn't even need to owe me one because—"
"No. We're doing it MY way."
"..."
"Listen here: Lopez is a valuable resource and even though he comes with a set of problems, he's been keeping his end of the deal for the most part. However…"
"Hmm?"
"If… and only if someone can find more than a single replacement for the donor my son currently has… I'll probably have more chances to get swayed to change my choice on the matter. If not—"
I'm starting to get pissed off, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is—"
"Exactly. My point. Did you even see the state he's in? For me to give you the green light, I'd need a constant supply of blood to fill at least a normal-sized refrigerator, and don't talk to me like I don't know about transplant procedures… The reason I always make Lopez be in close proximity to my son is the time frame for each organ if an accident ever occurs. The most important ones only range for a few hours while the less important ones only range for a day and a bit. Well preserved or not, it needs to be in a living host instead of being put inside a cooler…"
'So, he knows…'
I let out a faint, bitter smile, "But you do know that Lopez isn't exactly matching JP's frame? It's also one of the things to consider—"
He shook his head with a somber expression, "I know but he's all we got. At the end of the day, I'm a father and you're not. You wouldn't understand. I'm prepared to abandon everything just to know that my son will be alright and you can't fault me for that. You can say the same for your wife, no?"
I had to give it to him, "True. But you're treating him like he's an accident waiting to happen."
"I do. It's a sad way of looking at things but that's what a parent is supposed to do forever, worry. Even making him go with you is a very huge deal and if the president didn't vouch for you highly, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I want him to be able to stand up for himself—even without the titles and whatnot given to him—but the sad thing is, with the way I am… I couldn't do that for him."
I felt something off, "What— You sound like you're about to kick the bucket."
He almost smacked the shit out of me, "What? No! NO! Why would you think that?! Are you insane?!"
"Oh. My bad, continue on—"
"You fucking— Haa… I was talking about how I treat him above everyone else. I don't want him to get hurt but he needs to be… needs to be— umm…"
"Tempered?"
"Right! That's the word I'm looking for, tempered."
"..."
"..."
"You see… he's my kid but I've never laid a hand on him, not even once. Even our good book advises on doing so—"
"Spare the rod, spoil the child. Right."
"Yeah, that. I actually didn't know what to do when he came to my room last night saying that you tried to kill him but it was refreshing to see him like that. Truth be told, I couldn't do that to him even if I tried but you did knowing who we were."
"Why would that matter?"
"Exactly. That's one of the reasons I want him to come with you. He respects authority too much and he needs to learn what umm… that what we sometimes do isn't 'right' even though we're the 'good' guys, and sometimes, the 'bad' guys could also do something that's not 'wrong'. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"..."
"Young man?"
I let out a chuckle, "You know, I didn't think we'd have this sort of conversation in the middle of the fucking academy while the sun is fucking blaring. We should be having this type of talk in the middle of the night with a cold beer on our hands."
"You were busy trying to kill my son, remember?"
"Hah! Good one! But yeah, I understand what you're saying," I replied as I nodded, "I'll apologize to you about not telling the whole truth—"
"You mean, lying?"
"Yeah. Lying to you about that so forgive me for beating up the bitch-ass who touched my wife—"
"No, you did a good job on that. He'll learn to keep his hands to himself for the time being with that. Especially since he's coming with you. I doubt he'll have any unless you let him—"
"Oh. My plan was to actually bring him to this place like Vegas— let him have the time of his life before I drain his blood and harvest his organs. And after a few days or so, we'd come back here and I'll drop him off in a cooler—"
"That's— You really planned it that much, huh?"
"Imagine what I could do if you give me more than a day."
"..."
"But yeah, I'll keep him alive but our deal's rock solid, yeah? If I ever find a proper replacement—"
He nodded, "Replacements. Plural."
"Riiiiight~ Plural. Wanna shake on it? Make it official?"
"Alright, you have a deal."
At that moment, we even spat on our palms before shaking on it and the General gave me a vice of a handshake. He thought that I'd let out at least the tiniest of winces but I actually gave him a bright smile before I showed him my grip strength. He immediately tried to shake things off when he felt his bones screaming but he did jab my stomach and caught me off-guard.
He whispered, "At least let me win a few things, you fucking kid. I thought the president was lying about you…"
I chuckled, "Hey, I could've easily killed Lopez and made it an accident. I let you win by asking permission."
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