Experience immortality for yourself...?
Ichijō Mirai raised an eyebrow.
Belmode palms his hand, pats it gently, and laughs, "The first generation."
There was a very soft sound that came from downstairs, quickly making its way to the third floor, and by the time it reached the door, it was footsteps at a normal volume.
A middle-aged man pushed his way in, dressed similarly to the oil paintings in the corridor, with a white lab coat, a hood on his head that was big enough to wrap around his hair so that it wouldn't fall out unintentionally, and a white mask on his face.
The only part of his face that was visible was the area around his eyes, which were the eyes of a middle-aged man, with slightly bulging and slack eyelids.
He was holding a white case in his hand, and when he entered the door, without saying a word, he knelt down in front of the coffee table next to the sofa with his head hanging down, reached out to open the case, and bowed his head respectfully, "Please let me give you the injection."
The case was only the size of an adult's palm, filled with ice, and when it was opened, white cold air escaped, and in the middle of the ice was a medicine tube and syringe the size of a pinky finger.
The tube contained a clear, unidentified liquid that was denser than water, and was somewhat cloudy.
As Ichijō Mirai looks over, an analyzer symbol shatters, flashing the following description.
[Item name: *** (Unable to identify)]
[Item Effects (Positive): Unlocks part of the genetic lock, increases brain development, increases physical acuity and resilience, halves healing time for small and medium wounds, reduces healing time for major wounds by two-thirds, increases metabolism, extends youth...]
[Effects (Negative): Decreased immunity, decreased resistance, decreased blood clotting, increased pain perception]
[Description: No one can resist the charm of unlocking all privileges, even if it comes with a certain amount of burden.]
[Note: Benefits always go hand in hand with risks. A mortality rate of 99% is not an unacceptable probability, is it?]
The potion...
Ignoring the fact that there are a few flaws, such as the fact that wounds heal faster but blood clotting ability is weakened, it's really something like 'immortality', isn't it?
Ichijō Mirai stared fixedly at the potion, his red pupils unmoving.
Slowly, slowly, he asked the system, "At the end of the twentieth century, holographic game pods appeared, so I won't go into the details."
After all, it was his own trick, the game pods were actually just a layer of camouflage, what really mattered was the game itself, the 'past'.
But, "Now, isn't that a bit much?"
...Is it really normal for this kind of potion to appear in an era when everyone has a brick machine?!
It doesn't make any sense at all!!!!!
Ichijō Mirai blurted out, "This is too '
Before the words left his mouth, he subconsciously frowned and paused for two or three seconds, "That's too
"Is there something wrong with the science of this world, even a partiality would have to be a stretch to explain this potion."
He quickly came up with one of the possibilities for this miraculous potion in a situation where technology was backward across the board, "Old and new civilizations?"
Could it be that like in many science fiction novels, in this world's Earth, the current civilization had discovered the remains of an advanced civilization from hundreds of millions of years ago?
The system apologizes: [I can't say.]
[If you reveal too much, part of the relevant memory in the system will automatically delete, I will be the same as you, into the state of amnesia,] it added, [in fact, even if I say it, you will only remember a brief second or two, and then will forget, just as you think about something will be subconsciously avoided in some directions...].
The shelves that have been sold no longer belong to the owner of the store.
Even if the rack is still in the store, the owner can only pick it up briefly and look at it before putting it down with regret.
Ichijō Mirai frowned, "OK."
He pauses for a few seconds, and finally spits out, "I knew it, this is a world with more or less a mystical side."
How else did you create a 'game' by yourself!
As Ichijō Mirai remained silent for a long time, Belmode smiled, "It looks ordinary, doesn't it?"
"It's like a tube of sugar water, so ordinary, but when injected into the human body, it glows with incredible magic, completely transforming a person in a very short period of time."
"The very lucky ones, after surviving, will look no different from normal people in terms of appearance, but in some aspects, they will surpass normal people and become the forefront of human existence."
"Of course, the side effects are inevitable, according to the individual physique, some people in the body of powerful, can easily hold the sniper bullets shot at them at the same time, there will be IQ defects, some people in the smart and sharp, a second will be able to capture all kinds of details in order to make a living at the same time, the body will be incredibly fragile."
Her tone was a bit careless, "Sometimes, I can't help but wonder, are the survivors really still human? Or just a monster in human skin?"
"And that's the lucky ones."
"There are more unfortunate people, who..."
Belmode paused for a few seconds to smile again, "I heard Gin say that you ordered Calvados to investigate a 'medical malpractice'?"
"While you're gone, Gin will give you all the information you asked for."
She spoke tactfully, 'from Gin', not 'from Calvados'.
"The unfortunate cancer patients who die in 'medical malpractice' are the unfortunate ones, they die in extreme pain, and their bodies are so gruesome, like mushrooms and fungus growing on a woodpile after a rainy day, full of tumors of all sizes, that any human being would be horrified by the sight of them."
"I'm afraid only a cold-hearted monster would feel nothing."
Who said that? One of the instructors said, 'Officer Ichijō examines corpses without a blush'.
Ichijō Mirai glanced at the computer, noncommittal, "Oh."
Belmode is briefly silent.
Before she could speak, Ichijō Mirai asked, "You said that only some extremely lucky people."
"What if I'm not one of the lucky ones?"
"That's a good question," Belmode smiled, "I don't think you are."
She took her time, "We don't need to hide from each other, we can be honest... Yes, your research is correct, your mother, was a defector from the organization."
"The organization's research on 'immortality' began many years ago, and countless projects have been started, some of which have achieved certain results and have been kept for the time being, and some of which have not received any feedback and have been closed for the time being. In the field of drugs alone, there are more than a dozen research directions and different laboratories, but very few have achieved results."
"Your mother is one of those results."
Wow, I can't believe you brought that up.
Ichijō Mirai raised an eyebrow and repeated the last words, "One of the results?"
"It's 'one of the results'," Belmode affirmed, "She's not the only result, just one."
She wasn't really sure how far Ichijō Mirai's investigation had gone, so she started from the beginning, using the art of language appropriately, "There wasn't much information about her in the organization, she was a mediocre person with little to no presence, and was only able to get into the organization because of her parents, leaving behind nothing but regular training checkups and photographs."
"Until she failed a mission, leaking information about the organization, according to the rules of the organization, the leaker and the one who knows are to be dealt with together, the organization's way of dealing with her is to test the drug."
There's not much to say about this, it's just an ordinary member who doesn't even have a codename that the organization doesn't pay any attention to, what's worth caring about is: "She's dead."
"Or rather, the organization thinks she's dead."
"Different physiques, different ways of death, when she died, as if she had a splitting headache, she kept covering her head and screaming miserably, like the same batch of people who took the drugs, after not ten minutes, she stopped, not breathing, and was handled by specialized personnel."
"It was a fake death."
Ichijō Mirai repeated, "Fake death?"
Repeating the last sentence is a useful trick in social situations when you want the other person to go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on.
"Yes, it was faked," Belmode said, "the organization didn't realize it at first, it was only after the fact that they found out she was still alive that they went to the death video and found her eyes closed, as if they were rolling rapidly seconds before she stopped screaming for the rest of her life."
"Her eyelids fluttered again when the specialists were removing the body and placing her on the trolley."
That means she's not dead.
"She was a very clever person," She quipped in a light tone, "knowing that the procedure for disposing of the body was to keep it cold for a period of time in a freezer, and took the opportunity to escape on the way out."
"The organization searched for her for a long time, but never found her, because those who looked for traces were specifically looking for gray areas, and never expected her to not only hide in the sewers to hide herself, but to appear in the sunlight openly."
First fake a legal identity, which is the first layer of identity security, but a little reluctant, so to maintain the mediocre, and soon married, rightfully changed his last name, with a second layer of identity, no longer intentionally restrained themselves as a prestigious elite police officers, cloaked in a layer of light of the protective color.
The organization would have a hard time dealing with such a cunning rat, and it would be difficult to capture her to study her current physical condition.
But soon, her value was no longer limited to that body, but to something more important to the organization: Ichijō Mirai.
Her child.
"Even the very lucky ones actually die within a few years, and that's one of the reasons why the program was eventually shut down," Belmode said, "Some of the lucky ones have extra brain power after taking the drug, and are so smart that they can learn a language in a matter of days."
"Her children were adorable, very smart, so smart that when they followed the their police mother to the scene of the crime, all they had to do was scan the scene of the crime and the people who were there to find out who the killer was."
Ichijō Mirai: "..."
"In a way, the organization is like a machine that operates in an orderly fashion, with partners to befriend, enemies to deal with, and members of the organization who fail to carry out their tasks to be punished according to the rules."
Like the treatment of Ichijō Mirai's mother.
There's no way to defend that, except to bite on some of the hate value Ichijō Mirai generated as a result.
Belmode said, "In your face, the organization wants you."
"Even if it means hoaxing, even if it means taking you by force."
Ichijō Mirai again: "..."
Ichijō Mirai understood everything.
The wording, in fact, was not wrong.
But he wanted to exclaim: "It's so Japan..."
Even a serious matter like 'the organization saw a talent and decided to make a move' can be said to have a little bishop color, and it is also 'robbed and plundered', which is very Hiroshima-like.
"The organization tried to reach out to you privately," Belmode added, "but without much success."
She paused, "You didn't respond."
No response at all.
Whether it's 'Kid, your family's delivery has arrived, open the door and sign for it', 'Hello, is anyone home? Population survey', or 'I heard you're a great little detective, please help me investigate the case!' No matter whether it was an adult or a child, they never got a single response.
They only received the quiet gaze of the young Ichijō Mirai.
It was a subtle gaze, a...
The face of looking at a stupid dog.jpg
The organization only tried to make contact a few times, but quickly gave up, and Belmode isn't sure if Ichijō Mirai was aware of the organization's presence at the time.
That's not the point, the point is: "The organization had planned to be more subtle, staying put for a while, leaving only the stalkers behind to periodically check on the situation, but not long after that, they heard about the death of your parents..."
Belmode said, "This has nothing to do with the organization."
The organization can't afford to have a little bit of hatred.
If Ichijō Mirai cares even a little bit about his parents, the organization can't have anything to do with a blood feud that has the characteristics of immortality.
"The stakeout reported to Division one the first time they heard the gunshots, and Division one arrived quickly, but nearly half an hour had passed, and by then you were no longer on the scene," she paused for a few seconds, her tone unchanged, "but you took the initiative to reach out to Division one."
"The organization was curious for a long time, how did you find the codename member?"
It was a question that was beyond the scope of the textbook, but one that Ichijō Mirai could answer.
He answered sincerely, "Maybe the code name member was a loser."
How can he not be a loser if he's been found?
Belmode: "..."
"You left without saying goodbye," She inquired after a few speechless seconds, "Why?"
It was the same question as the previous one.
Ichijō Mirai pondered it carefully, more sincerely, "Probably, because I thought the organization was too much of a waste."
Just thinking about Rum made him want to put a question mark on the organization's overall capabilities.
Belmode again:"..."
She smiled good-naturedly, "Really?"
"This potion, the younger you are the better it is for you to use it, the organization was going to explain it first and let you decide whether or not to use it, but alas, you were gone before it could be said."
"The organization had even set up a special training base for you."
Not 'laboratory'.
It's to show that the organization is training you as an important member, not to study you.
Ichijō Mirai's interest was lacking, "A base?"
But after a moment's thought, some interest came back, "This base, it's built in..."
"Florida?"
"Florida."
His voice overlapped with Belmode's.
Belmode is surprised, "You knew?"
Ichijō Mirai: "Ah, I guessed."
A delivery to a dessert store, addressed to Florida...
"The organization didn't reveal anything that would reveal this address at the time, right?" Belmode inquired, adding, "It's a good place, far from Tokyo, for you to absorb and regain control of your body as quickly as possible."
"As for why you're sure you'll succeed,"
She smiled, "Whether it's someone who survives for a while, or someone who unfortunately passes away outright, the cause of death is actually the same: the drug is too strong."
"The effect of the drug is too strong, beyond the limit of the body can be absorbed and utilized, but the organization tried to reduce the various aspects of the ingredients, and found that no matter which component is moved, as long as the reduction of a small amount, the potion will not have much effect."
"But your body can handle it."
Ichijō Mirai was very smart, too smart to be understood.
And his mother lived a long time, unlike others who took the drug.
The organization speculated that this was because Ichijō Mirai had absorbed some of the incompletely digested medicine from his mother.
"You can."
Well, if you don't inject dangerous drugs yourself, you're confident.
If it was Belmode who was going to inject the potion, Ichijō Mirai would have said 'You can do it' in a much more certain tone, adding some kind of mushy words like fate or something, since it wasn't him who was injecting it, and no one would know about it if he died.
He glanced at the cold white vapor emanating from the potion, "I have a question."
Belmode stared, "What is it."
"The head of the organization," Ichijō Mirai inquired, "How long has it been since there was a change?"
A clever question, Belmode couldn't help but smile, "Never been replaced."
"OK," Ichijō Mirai nods, "I have one more question."
He inquired very gruffly, "How much older than America is the boss?"
"..." Belmode's smile faltered, "What?"
"America was founded over two hundred years ago," Ichijō Mirai was still very grave, "How much older is he than America?"
"Go ahead, I can take it."
Come on, was it the 18th century that had 'immortality' research, or the 17th, or the 16th.
Going back in history, this kind of magic potion might have something to do with historical events that are also magical.
Like the witch hunts of the 15th century.
Ichijō Mirai was ready: "If it's so unscientific, I'll accept it even if the chief is a historical figure from BC."
Even more so.
"Go ahead."
Belmode: "..."
I'm sorry, but the Boss is less than 0.75 of America's age.