Chapter 589: The Midwife
Handling the Aftermath
Aside from the vengeful and malicious spirits, there were also humans in the villa: a contingent of Secret Service bodyguards, and a group of doctors and nurses. Unfortunately, none had survived. They had either been tortured beyond recognition by the spirits or gnawed upon by the dark creatures.
The bodies were piled in a storage room, the smell of blood easily detectable from afar.
Eight gave a bitter smile. "There's no way to explain this."
The doctors and nurses were one thing, but over a dozen Secret Service bodyguards killed at once was impossible to conceal.
Luke was silent for a few seconds before speaking. "Wu Yue has a group of metahumans under his command. Contact him; he'll help you handle it."
"Will that work?"
"No problem."
Eight sighed. "Fine, I suppose that's all we can do."
The First Lady was in the innermost room on the second floor. Perhaps because of the child, the lizard demon hadn't harmed her, instead keeping her in a deep sleep.
Her stomach was enormous, like a balloon stretched to its limit. Veins visibly bulged across the surface, occasionally swelling up in large knots, giving an unsettling, eerie feeling.
"When is she due?"
"It should be tonight."
Eight hesitated, a hint of nervousness mixed with a plea in his voice. "The child... can we keep him?"
"He's not your child; he's a monster."
"We should at least look, shouldn't we? What if there's a chance to turn him around?"
"Just give him a chance!"
Eight was known for his quiet demeanor and rarely asked for favors. This made Luke pause, a flicker of internal struggle rising in his mind.
From a biological perspective, the child was the bloodline of Joel and Kate Nash. However, the soul characteristics were endowed by Adam, a corpse puppet created by Luke's black magic, whose soul was a blend of over a hundred departed consciousness fragments. Logically, such an entity shouldn't have descendants, yet it had happened.
An unborn infant possessed an evil soul comparable to a high-level demon: Chaos, Brutality, Death, and Slaughter. It was easy to imagine what kind of monster the little guy would grow into.
The lizard demon calling him a natural host body wasn't wrong in a sense; this creature certainly appealed to a Demon Lord.
At that moment, a muffled groan came. The First Lady slowly regained consciousness. Seeing her husband, she screamed in panic.
"Joel! Quick, close the door! Don't let them in! Don't..."
Eight quickly grasped her hand. "No one will harm the child. It's all over."
Kate Nash was still visibly shaken. She looked around, finally noticing the other person in the corner—the familiar face with eerie green eyes. That aura was too recognizable.
"What are you doing here?"
Luke nodded slightly. "Hello, Madam. I'm a bodyguard hired by the President. All the unclean things outside have been dealt with. You are perfectly safe here. No one will harm you... or your child."
Eight gave Luke a look of gratitude and continued,
"Don't worry, you're safe now. Everything is fine."
The simple words had a soothing effect. Kate's tense face seemed to relax as she slumped back onto the pillow. Unfortunately, the relief was short-lived. A sudden, intense cramping hit her abdomen, and her face turned ghostly white.
Eight asked anxiously, "What's wrong?"
Kate gasped, gripping her husband's hand tightly.
"No, no! It hurts so much! I feel like I'm about to give birth! Ah!"
As excruciating pain struck, Kate suddenly sat up, then fell back onto the bed. Amidst her agonizing screams, blood flowed from beneath her, staining the sheets a shocking crimson.
By all indications, she was going into labor!
Eight was completely bewildered, flapping around like a headless chicken. All the doctors and nurses in the castle were dead, leaving only two grown men. The nearest hospital was at least fifty kilometers away. He couldn't possibly fly a pregnant woman in active labor there.
"You wait here. I'll go get help."
The situation was critical. Luke dared not delay. He shot out the window and sped toward the distance.
The Unwilling Midwife
In a pile of rubble east of the castle, two figures stealthily crawled out after the mist cleared.
The man on the left, smoking a cigarette butt, had dark circles under his eyes and a messy beard that hadn't been groomed in at least a month. The woman on the right, however, looked quite respectable—in her twenties, with a rather beautiful face, her wide cloak barely concealing her fine figure.
They had arrived right as the thunder descended, watching the lightning connect the sky and the earth, bathing the entire world in a stark, pale light.
"John! Dammit, what were you doing?"
"It wasn't me," protested John Constantine, the self-proclaimed Hellblazer, looking completely innocent. "You don't seriously think I have the ability to cast that level of magic, do you?"
"Come on, you know my power level."
The woman angrily kicked him. "You bastard! If you don't have the power, don't mess around with demonic formations! Didn't your teacher teach you anything?"
"I was just trying to save people."
"Saving people with a demon? Ha! You're something else."
"Alright, Zatanna, let's figure out how to handle this."
"How can we? We can't even fight that kind of power."
John's eyes darted around. "Maybe I should summon another one?"
The woman: "..."
"Go die!"
As the two squabbled, they didn't notice a figure hovering above them. By the time they reacted, they were already airborne, being carried toward the castle.
Zatanna was about to resist when a familiar voice sounded in her ear.
"Can you deliver a baby?"
The girl froze for a second, looked up, and her eyes went wide.
"Lu... Luke! What are you doing here?"
"No time to explain! There's a pregnant woman who's about to give birth and needs your help! You're a magician; you should know how to deliver a baby, right?"
The girl was utterly bewildered, unable to react for a moment. Deliver a baby? Whose baby? Who's giving birth?
Seeing her reaction, Luke shook his head.
"Forget it. It doesn't matter if you can or not. Being a woman is enough."
With that, he sped up again. Upon reaching the castle, he casually tossed John Constantine into the toilet, then flew Zatanna to the second floor. Before they even got close, they heard piercing screams of agony.
Zatanna shivered, saying incredulously,
"You actually want me to deliver a baby?"
Luke nodded.
"But I, I... I..."
"You're the only woman within dozens of kilometers. There's no other choice. Hurry up, she can't hold on much longer."
Zatanna was utterly helpless. Hearing the screams ahead, she felt a pang of pity and was reluctantly forced into the role. As they reached the door, she turned back and asked,
"Who is the pregnant woman? What's her name?"
"Kate Nash, the President's wife."
The girl: "..."
Are you kidding me? The First Lady is having a baby in a place like this?
Luke didn't bother to explain. He opened the door and pushed her inside.
"Deliver the baby, and I'll give you three hundred thousand."
The girl's eyes darted around as she muttered,
"It's not yours, is it?"
Luke stumbled, almost crashing into a pillar. He whirled around, glaring fiercely at her.
"The President is right inside the room. You can ask him whose child it is. And listen..." He paused, his expression growing darker. "Focus! If anything goes wrong, the President won't forgive you, and neither will I."
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