Luke dragged Dr. Sam and Kazuho with one hand, while still holding Nyx with the other.
He trusted Mushroom.
The very sentence made his mouth twitch, though, as he thought of it.
Regardless of his trust in the cyborg, he just couldn't come to trust it enough to let it handle Nyx. Not yet.
Now, he was making his way toward the Inner Zone's exit as fast as he could.
All the staff members had already passed out because of Alex's Quirk. However, because of the Lockdown procedure, the corridors had been shut by heavy and thick steel doors, effectively locking in all intruders.
To Luke's immense surprise, it had taken Mushroom one minute… just one minute to take over the entire Inner Zone and unlock all corridors.
When asked about it, the cyborg had no explanation for the baffling technical expertise itself.
Luke could only guess that, using Myco-Machine Symbiosis, Mushroom had somehow fused itself with the AIs of those Spider Drones, while transforming itself, becoming a cyborg.
However, apparent from its lack of direct answers, Mushroom was like a child who suddenly gained the capacity to think like an adult.
In a nutshell, Mushroom was a walking disaster.
It was all a shame, though, Luke observed, sweating hard. Once the Super Quirk's Activation Time ended, the Cyborg would cease to exist.
Neither would he get the time to study Mushroom's internal mechanics, nor would he get to research its psychology.
It wasn't like he could bestow the same Super Quirk that he had thought of sporadically to another mushroom and get the same results, either.
Even if he went as far as getting the mushrooms from the same Korean vendor, it wouldn't result in the same effects for one simple reason.
No combination of Luke's Spirit Particles and the lifeform's Spirit Particles was the same. EVER.
Each Quirk that he bestowed upon a lifeform was unique in itself, regardless of having the same name and effects. Even if he bestowed the same Quirk on the same lifeform, it still would result in a different Quirk — because Bioalchemy was driven by Spirit Particles' interaction, not their numbers.
Luke could control the quantity of Spirit Particles (through Spirit Points). He could arrange those Spirit Particles in the lifeform, keeping the lifeform's own Spirit Particles' placement in mind.
But he had NO control over how they would interact with each other.
Sometimes, for less complex things, such an interaction didn't matter, and Luke wouldn't even notice the difference.
However, sometimes, he outright feared using the same Quirk over and over.
It was especially true for Quirks over Super Complexity or higher.
What if the next cyborg he created, despite doing his best to keep all parameters the same, ended up turning against him on the spot?! What would its psychology be?! Would it feel gratitude toward Luke for its momentary intelligence, or hate him for not being able to prevent its fated doom?!
Even Miss Justice had warned him not to play with the Intelligence Quirk so casually.
If it hadn't been for the drastic circumstances, Luke would have never gone this far, anyway.
The only good thing about all this was that the Cyborg wouldn't survive.
Still… Luke shook his head. I kinda like the guy…
[LUKE!]
I am just saying… Luke hurriedly added, sensing Miss Justice's anger. Takes a Clown to appreciate good humor… Don't worry. No more cyborg experiments…
Suddenly, steps rang out behind him, making Luke look over his shoulder.
Under the shadow of the lanky, 12-foot-tall cyborg, Iron Mentor was walking, taking slow but steady steps.
Mushroom came to a stop behind Luke. "Master, I have…"
Crrrrrr…
Luke's Danger Intuition made his eyes widen.
All heads snapped to his right, and they saw one of the Spider Drones, which must have stayed behind in the Inner Zone, walking toward them, the automatic rifle it carried under its eight-eyed head already swiveling towards them.
"Don't let it hit you, Mushroom-nimi!" Luke shouted.
Mushroom was their only escape plan now. It barely had a minute left. If one of the Quirk Suppression Drugs struck it, then…
Luke let go of Dr. Sam and Kazuho and raised his hand, hoping to distract the drone with an Air Bullet.
Iwao, knowing well how precious the cyborg was to them, had already made up his mind to shield it with his body.
Before either of them could make a move, though, Mushroom's oval eyes let out a piercing, red glow.
It ripped off one of the hand-sized mushrooms growing on its shoulder and threw it at the Spider Drone like a bullet.
The mushroom hit the drone with a distinct rubber-metallic sound and… bounced, before rolling off the drone and falling on the ground… lifeless.
Luke: "…"
Iwao: "…"
Drone: "…"
Letting out a mechanical gibberish, the Spider Drone took another step toward them, a cyan glow bubbling in the automatic rifle.
Suddenly, just as they thought of going ahead with their original plan, Luke and Iwao noticed something.
The place where Mushroom's mushroom had struck the drone was bruised.
The metal had literally gained a blackish-red tinge. Now, cyan-colored electric circuits were originating from the bruise, going inside the drone.
In the very next moment, smoke began oozing out from the drone, and it fell, losing all light in its eyes.
Luke looked up at Mushroom from behind the mask. "What did you do?!"
Mushroom lifted its huge arm and scratched the back part of its stem under the large cap… like a man scratching the back of his head. "… I showed it the true power of mushrooms…"
Luke let out a chuckle behind the mask.
"Tell me the name of the Quirk isn't Comedy Mushroom?" Iwao asked, ignoring Nyx.
"Fried its motherboard," Mushroom explained hurriedly. Then, its tone suddenly gained a grave note. "Master… Self Destruct in 50… 49…"
Luke's eyes widened. "Oi…"
"I mean, I will cease to exist in 45… 44…"
Iwao held his face, took a deep breath, and looked at Dr. Blessed. "How will it… Mushroom-nimi take us out of here?"
Mushroom straightened his posture and proudly pointed at his chest.
But before it could speak, the heaviness on their shoulders suddenly vanished and —
— a chill ran down their spines, as if a primal beast had awakened!
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