Adam's eyes fluttered open, unfocused, staring blankly at the ceiling of his bedroom.
Who am I? What am I?
The questions drifted through his mind as the dull ache of his body caught up with him. Every muscle throbbed, his hips numb and sore, as though he had been broken down and wrung dry.
Then memory returned, and his breath hissed between clenched teeth.
He hadn't collapsed from training. He had been drained.
After helping Mobius refine the method for Fusion Warrior surgery, he had only wanted peace—time in his mental space to sharpen his blade. But Kyoka had intercepted him, her jealousy flaring at the attention he had shown Mobius. She hadn't sulked, hadn't argued. No—she had disciplined him, declaring that as his Zanpakutō Spirit, his gaze and affection belonged to her alone.
The entire evening and long into the night, she pressed that claim until his body was emptied and his mind hollowed into a false calm, like a sage stripped of desire.
There had been… benefits. Their bond deepened, and with it came sharper understanding of her abilities. For a Shinigami, communion with one's Zanpakutō was the path to strength. What Adam achieved last night was a shortcut.
But power didn't erase the truth. He had not chosen this. And so the anger beneath his calm began to burn.
It wasn't the intimacy itself—he had never known such closeness. In both his past life and this one, he had been unremarkable, a man swept into power by chance. To be desired so fiercely by a woman as breathtaking as Kyoka was enough to make any man's heart race. More than that, she could mold herself into anything—innocent maiden, mature enchantress, gentle mother. If she had asked, he would not have refused. He was no saint. His blood was hot, his desires real.
But she hadn't asked.
She had bound him with Absolute Hypnosis and taken until nothing was left. That was the true violation.
It wasn't pride, nor being used—it was control. If she could override his will so easily now, what would stop her from remaking him into a puppet of her obsession?
Adam's hands clenched around the sheets. His jaw tightened.
"I know you're hiding in there. Get out and face me," he growled, glaring at the Zanpakutō resting on his bedside cabinet.
The blade trembled faintly, but Kyoka did not appear. Yet through their mental link, he felt her fear, her regret—just as she felt his simmering anger and disappointment.
"What? You think I won't lock you away in the Inventory Space?" His voice was sharp, biting. "Better a weaker but obedient blade than an unruly one."
He reached for the trembling weapon, fully intending to follow through on his threat.
The moment his hand closed around it, Kyoka manifested in a swirl of light and clung desperately to his leg.
"Master! Please! Don't—don't cast me away!" Her voice shook, her words tumbling out in panic. "Kyoka swears she'll behave… she won't get jealous again… please forgive me!"
She buried her face against him, her tears soaking into his skin, her whole form trembling like a child about to be abandoned.
Adam's hand froze. His anger was real—but so was the pity creeping in as he looked down at her. They had just shared hours of intimacy, forced or not, and he could not deny there had been moments of genuine pleasure. The memory alone sent a shiver down his spine. Kyoka, with her ability to read his thoughts and tailor herself to his every desire, was temptation incarnate. A heaven-born succubus.
But pity was not forgiveness. If he yielded now, she would only grow bolder. A line had to be drawn.
He took a slow breath, gaze hardening. "You want forgiveness? Fine. But you'll also be punished."
Her tearful eyes widened, desperate, but she nodded rapidly, clinging tighter. "Yes—yes! Anything, Master! Just don't throw me away!"
"For tonight, you'll remain inside the Inventory Space until morning," he said, voice cold with finality.
The hope in her face shattered. "No—wait, please, not that! Don't leave me in the dark again!" Her voice cracked with terror, but before she could say more, her form dissolved into light as the blade vanished into the Inventory Space.
Silence fell over the room.
For Kyoka, the dark void without time was unbearable—seconds stretching into eternities, each moment gnawing at her fear of abandonment. For Adam, it was a necessary lesson.
His hand lingered on the empty space where the sword had been, and his eyes narrowed.
She was powerful. She was alluring. But troublesome to handle.
And if he didn't keep her in line, she kept pushing the line.
Exhaling his breath with a sigh, Adam decided to go and wash up before cleaning up the mess he caused in his dorm room. Especially his bedroom which is choked with a certain fishy smell.
After nearly two hours of cleaning and opening the windows to circulate out the air inside his dorm. He can finally rest.
Adam didn't return to his bed to catch up on sleep but instead meditated and circulate his Reiatsu in his body which also functions similarly to sleep which allows his body to recover from fatigue but not his mind. However, since his transformation into a Shinigami Hybrid. Going a few days without sleep isn't much of a problem for Adam.
———
The next morning, Adam resumed his usual routine.
When he delivered breakfast to Klein and Mobius, he found the two working side by side, still awake from an all-nighter, fine-tuning the donor Honkai Beast gene.
The moment he entered the lab, Mobius immediately pulled him into the experimentation chamber to test the optimized sample.
To everyone's surprise, it was a resounding success.
The lab rat showed no violent mutations during the surgery. Instead, it maintained remarkable genetic integrity afterward, making it the first truly successful test subject.
Even though the donor was only an Archangel-class Honkai Beast, the implications were staggering—proof that Honkai Beast genes could be transplanted into other organisms, and eventually humans, to harness their abilities.
After several hours of observation, Mobius concluded the rat's genetic sequence was stable, with no risk of sudden mutation. The next phase shifted to discovering what abilities the creature had inherited.
A series of tests followed, conducted by Mobius with Adam's assistance. Three distinct traits were confirmed.
The first and second—Honkai resistance and adaptability—were expected results.
The third, however, was an astonishing surprise.
When placed under stress and pressured by Adam's Reiatsu, the rat developed a silicone-like carapace around its teeth and claws, forming natural weapons.
At Mobius's request, Adam sparred with the creature to assess its combat strength before finally putting it down, marking the conclusion of the experiment.
The next step, Mobius explained, was to use genes from stronger donors—Chariot- or Templar-class Honkai Beasts—on both rats and monkeys to refine the data before moving on to the true objective.
That objective, of course, was the Emperor- and Judgment-class Honkai Beasts.
The Fusion Warrior Project's ultimate purpose was to create elite soldiers capable of rivaling Herrschers. Genes from lesser Honkai Beasts were insufficient; only those from Emperor or Judgment classes—creatures wielding powers akin to Herrschers themselves, from elemental mastery to psychic might—could produce warriors strong enough.
By Mobius's estimate, if progress continued smoothly, the project could bear fruit within a year.
Naturally, Adam's participation was vital. And that posed a problem.
He had intended to assist Mobius for no more than a month. Remaining longer would cut him off from the battlefield—the only place he could rapidly strengthen himself and accumulate points through combat against Honkai Beasts.
---
That evening, after a long day of work, Adam and Mobius sat together in her lab, eating a meal he had prepared.
Even with his superhuman stamina, Adam felt drained from the constant expenditure of Reiatsu during the experiments.
Between bites, he brought up the subject of returning to the frontlines.
Mobius froze. Dissatisfaction flickered across her sharp gaze as she toyed with her food, spoon scraping idly against her plate. Her appetite vanished as she spoke in a clipped, scornful tone.
"What? My institute doesn't satisfy you? Here, you're paid far more than a common soldier, you live comfortably, and your workload is laughably light." Her glare hardened. "So why, exactly, are you foolish enough to demand a transfer back to the battlefield?"
Adam didn't waste time with evasions. After nearly a week of working with her, he understood Mobius well enough—her perception was razor-keen, and lying would only backfire, eroding her trust and usefulness to him.
Instead, he told her the truth. His growth depended on combat; his control over Reiryoku and Reiatsu expanded only when tested in real battles. To better prepare himself for future Fusion Warrior procedures, he needed to keep fighting on the frontlines.
Mobius sat in silence for a moment, weighing his words. Ultimately, she had no counterargument.
With a sigh, she conceded—though not without conditions. Adam would be allowed to return to the battlefield, but she would summon him back to the Institute several days each month for experimentation.
Adam agreed without hesitation.
Later that night, Mobius forwarded his request to Dr. Mei, along with his new schedule of return visits while Adam packs up to return immediately to the Australia Branch.
—————
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