The Fifth Product
The gulp was audible. As Levitan swallowed the genetic sample, she shuddered at the overwhelming power blooming inside her body. This was a force she had never experienced before—not when she was still a beastman, nor when she had gone berserk and become Leviathan.
Hadn't he said it was a gene extracted from her own body? If so, any increase in strength from consuming it should have been weaker than her original power. Yet astonishingly, the power granted by this genetic entity surpassed what she had originally possessed.
Wasn't it common sense that a byproduct couldn't possibly exceed the original? Levitan stared at Eight, utterly bewildered.
"Eighty~? I definitely didn't shoot any beams from my eyes... So what's going on here-yong?"
"I told you I made a few modifications, didn't I?"
"Modifications?"
"Yes. The genes you carried—that is, Leviathan's genes—could be described in childish terms as 'the strongest beastman I could imagine,' right?"
Is that how it works...? Levitan couldn't quite relate, but she nodded along anyway. It wasn't as if a scientist's sensibilities being completely alien from theirs was anything new.
When she nodded, the scientist continued chattering away, clearly thrilled.
"This is simply that concept pushed to its extreme. It manifests the strongest version of yourself that the person who consumes it can imagine. The reason Galrm could shoot beams was because I guided him in that direction. As for why scales sprouted across your body instead of you firing beams, it's probably because what you imagine as the strongest being is something covered in scales, don't you think?"
"...The strongest version of Levitang that I imagine?"
Of course. Levitan finally understood why scales had emerged across her body. Back when she was deep in the L-series experiments, she had witnessed the beastmen, monsters, and creatures being injected into her with her own eyes.
One of those beasts she had encountered. The four-legged creature that seemed not to belong to this world had remained a trauma for her ever since.
The scales that had sprouted were undoubtedly an imitation of that monster.
"And you're amazed about beams from the eyes? There are surprisingly many creatures in nature that emit light from their bodies, you know. From the famous firefly to certain deep-sea fish, even tiny bacteria..."
The scientist launched into a lengthy explanation—that bioluminescence wasn't particularly special, and focusing it into a single point to fire a beam wasn't all that difficult either.
Of course, none of it made sense to her. Levitan was an experimental subject who had never received proper education. She would have failed the police written exam—which anyone could pass simply by meeting the physical requirements—without Regalia's recommendation letter.
Even if she couldn't understand his words, she could tell he was delighted as he rattled off explanation after explanation. Seeing him so happy made Levitan smile too.
"Anyway, with this genetic sample, you should be able to regain your former strength whenever you want... Returning to the police force should be entirely possible. Will you go back?"
"The police?"
"Yes."
Levitan let out a small hum and pondered for a moment before shaking her head. It was true that she had once wanted to save people.
But that had only been to prove she wasn't a beast, to prove she was someone necessary to humanity more than anyone else.
Now that she was already human and no longer felt the need to prove her worth, she had no desire to remain a police officer. She had never possessed some grand sense of mission anyway.
Rather than the police...
Her gaze slid sideways. Levitan looked at Eight. Saving an unspecified multitude of strangers felt far less important than protecting the one person right in front of her.
The fulfillment from saving lives seemed less meaningful than simply being seen by that one person.
Levitan realized she could never return to the police. Someone who valued specific individuals over the faceless masses could never be an officer.
"Mmm~ I'm good-yong. No more police for me."
"Huh? You're quitting the force?"
"Quitting-hyung. Without the medicine I'm just a normal person anyway, right? I can't go around saving people while relying on power that might vanish at any moment..."
All I need is you. You're the one who's truly precious to me.
Levitan forced down the words rising in her throat and offered a light smile.
"And the boss isn't going to kick Levitang out just because she quits the police!"
"Well... I suppose that's true?"
Watching the scientist smile back at her, Levitan felt her body temperature rising once more and thought, Ah—as expected. I'm still a beast. A complete and utter beast.
The day Galrm obliterated the heroes by firing beams from his eyes, he boldly uploaded the footage of himself defeating them to the internet.
The Hero Association and every government organization that saw the video turned pale with shock.
By nature, beastmen were a race born from the mating of beasts that had awakened superpowers in the distant past with similar beasts or humans. Modern academia's prevailing theory held that their superior physical abilities weren't simply innate, but a form of superpower.
The reason beastmen couldn't possess superpowers was the same logic: just as no person could have multiple superpowers simultaneously, a beast that had already acquired the superpower of humanization could not possibly gain a new one.
Yet Galrm had shattered that academic orthodoxy by demonstrating an ability akin to a superpower. It was an act that directly demolished the evolutionary theories and countless other principles the scholarly world had built. Chaos was inevitable.
"How is this possible?"
"Couldn't that beastman be some kind of octopus-type? Like how an octopus squirts ink, shooting beams from its eyes..."
"Do you honestly think that makes sense? Just look at him—he's clearly a tiger beastman!"
While scientists reexamined their theories and certain organizations pushed forward with human experimentation on beastmen, one person knocked on the doors of Evils Enterprise.
It was the Esper Research Academy. The scholars of Scholar.
"They said they want to conduct joint research on what we've created this time?"
─Yes. That's what they proposed.
Eight let out a low hum after receiving Regalia's message. Superpowers. Several months had passed since his arrival in this world, yet the field remained a complete unknown.
Of course, he had been absorbing knowledge by scouring papers and the internet daily, but what he could access was barely undergraduate level.
The real 'knowledge' he sought was under strict censorship and concealment.
The Esper Research Academy, huh...
As the name implied, it was an organization dedicated to studying superpowers. A quick internet search revealed that its prestige was considerable. The fact that Regalia—who went to such lengths to hide her identity—was willing to create a connection with them for him made it obvious.
She had determined that gaining ties to the Academy held more value than the risk of his identity being exposed.
And Regalia's judgment was usually accurate. Though still young, her insight after years of running a massive corporation rivaled that of veteran chairmen.
There was just one problem...
...But what I did wasn't a superpower. It was science.
All he had done was perform a slight modification—simple enough for anyone to do at home—on the Leviathan genes created by Omega Industries.
It was pure scientific technology with not the slightest trace of superpower involvement. If they saw that and suggested collaborative research on superpowers...
Hmm. Wait a second.
Eight, momentarily lost in thought, realized that if he simply kept quiet, no one would be able to tell whether this was pure science or a product of superpowers. After all, sufficiently advanced science was indistinguishable from magic.
And that meant that if he played his cards right, he could unilaterally extract all of Scholar's superpower research knowledge.
Is this... a honey pot?
Having organized his thoughts, Eight immediately contacted Regalia to express his willingness to participate in the joint research. Regalia then forwarded his intent to Scholar.
The very next day, a vehicle sent by the Academy arrived in front of Evils Enterprise.
"—A pleasure to meet you. I am Swallon, president of the Esper Research Academy."
"I'm Eight."
After accepting the handshake, Eight gave it a light up-and-down shake. The president, clearly in a hurry, led him inside the Academy.
As expected of any scholarly organization, the interior was packed with academics who practically smelled of ink. Such density couldn't possibly be the daily norm; they had likely gathered specifically to meet him today.
"Quite a crowd."
"Esper studies is a popular field. This way, please."
The president guided him to the center of the gathering and immediately began the introduction.
"Everyone. You're all aware of the recent discovery of superpower manifestation in a beastman. I have invited the scholar who accomplished this remarkable feat. This is Doctor Eight."
"...Nice to meet you all. My name is Eight. Unfortunately I'm not a doctor. I don't hold a doctoral degree."
He could sense the scholars murmuring among themselves at his words. But it couldn't be helped. The fake identity Regalia had prepared was designed to avoid drawing attention, so there had been no need to include something as conspicuous as a doctorate.
If necessary, he could always publish a paper later and obtain one. In this world's scientific community, potential papers were practically lying around everywhere.
After his brief self-introduction, the scholars' eyes shifted to suspicion upon realizing he lacked a doctoral degree. Well, he would have reacted the same way.
"—Did you truly manifest superpowers in a beastman?"
"Yes. That's correct."
"You, without even a doctorate?"
"It wasn't as difficult as you'd expect. It simply required a change in perspective."
Eight offered the scholars a light smile, then pulled a small flask from his coat. A completely sealed specimen container, closed tightly at both ends.
Inside was a specially modified genetic sample—one downgraded even further than what Levitan or Galrm had consumed, designed so the user could select which genes would manifest.
"I won't take up too much of your valuable time. You're all busy people, correct? Instead of complicated theories, what matters is whether it's practically possible, doesn't it?"
"...Don't tell me that container in your hand is..."
"Correct. This is the elixir that grants superpowers to beastmen. —And naturally, it works on humans as well."
The murmuring among the scholars grew louder. It was an unbelievable claim. At a time when even the origin of superpowers remained unknown, the idea of artificially creating them was preposterous.
They probably couldn't even consider the possibility that this wasn't a superpower at all.
"Since some of you won't believe it unless I demonstrate, I'll need a test subject. Would anyone like to try it personally?"
"...I'll volunteer."
"Oh, President. Are you sure that's wise?"
"I possess a superpower called poison immunity. Even if this were a mass of radioactive material, I could digest it safely."
"...That's actually quite impressive."
Eight was genuinely curious how poison immunity extended to radiation, but that could wait.
The president carefully retrieved the genetic sample from the flask Eight had handed him. With slightly trembling eyes, he gazed at it for a moment before gulping it down.
For a few seconds nothing happened, and he tilted his head in confusion.
"...Nothing seems to be—huh? Wha—?!"
The president's body began transforming like a dragon. Horns grew. Wings sprouted. Scales covered his entire form as fire spewed from his mouth. Of course his size didn't increase to that of a true dragon, so the result resembled a bipedal demon more than an actual dragon, but still...
The now dragon-like president stared down at his transformed body in disbelief.
"—It's not a beam, but you can breathe fire from your mouth as well."
"Let me see..."
WHOOSH!
After spewing flames, the president gazed at Eight with eyes full of adoration. The other scholars around him wore identical expressions.
Eight looked at the scholars sending him such loving stares and smiled slyly.
It was time to sweep up every last bit of their knowledge.