[With the upgrades the energy function acts like a funnel, host enjoy your Parasite status, grow and entertain us.]
"FUCK YOU!" Cell screamed internally, his mental voice vibrating through the liquid medium. "I am Cell Morris! I am meant to be an apex predator, not a... a tick! A leech!"
[System Message: Emotion levels unstable. Calming protocols initiated.]
[Note: The Parasite Path allows for infinite adaptability. A Primordial Beast is bound by its form. A Parasite is bound only by its ambition.]
Cell paused. The rage didn't vanish, but his calculating mind took over. Infinite adaptability... He thought about his past life.
"Fine," Cell seethed. "If I am to be a parasite, I will be the plague that consumes this world. Now... I need a test subject."
He looked at his army. One Big Cell, four Normal Cells, and his swarm of Mini-Cells.
"You," Cell commanded his Big Cell. "Find the nearest multicellular organism. Attack it. I want to see what this skill does."
The Big Cell obeyed instantly, propelling its flagellum toward a cluster of algae-like organisms nearby. It slammed into the green mass.
[Ability Triggered: Parasitize (F-)]
[Resistance Check... Target: Algae Clump.]
[Resistance: None.]
[Infection Successful.]
Cell watched with fascination. His Big Cell didn't just eat the algae, it melted into it, and suddenly, Cell felt a new sensation. He could "feel" the algae. He could drain its energy remotely.
[Parasite time:00:00. Parasite Successful! Passive Energy Gain: +2 / hour.]
"Not a lot of energy," Cell scoffed. "But the concept... I don't just eat them. I become them."
Suddenly, the water around him shuddered violently. A massive shadow eclipsed the dim light of the puddle.
A smooth, slimy behemoth with a massive, thrashing tail and dead, black eyes.
A ....Tadpole..
To Cell, it was the size of a submarine. It cruised through the water, its mouth gaping open, filtering the water for algae, rotifers... and cells like him.
"System, Analysis!"
[Target: Tadpole (Juvenile Amphibian)]
[Threat Level: Mortal]
[Potential: High. Target possesses spinal column and latent genetic code for terrestrial adaptation (Legs/Lungs).]
[Parasitize Chance: 0.05% (External Skin Contact - Mucus Barrier too thick).]
[Parasitize Chance: 15% (Internal - Gills or Brain Stem).]
[Time to parasitize: 00:01:00]
"It has a spine..." Cell realized, his ambition flaring. "If I take this, I skip millions of years of evolution. I get a skeleton. I get muscles. I get a future on land."
The Tadpole turned, its vacuum-like mouth opening in Cell's direction.
"Everyone, on me!" Cell commanded his hive. "We aren't fighting it. We're letting it in."
The current seized them. Cell, his Big Cell, and the suicides squad of Mini-Cells were swept into the cavernous maw of the amphibian.
[Location: Buccal Cavity (Mouth)]
Darkness enveloped them, save for the rhythmic opening of the gill slits which let in flashes of light. The water rushed over the gill , the rakers, a comb-like structures designed to trap food.
"Hold onto the rakers! Don't get swallowed into the stomach!"
Cell lashed out with his flagellum, hooking onto a slimy ridge of the gill arch. The current threatened to tear him apart.
"Now! Burrow into the gills! The blood supply is richest there!"
Cell and his Mirror Cell stabbed their Predatory Appendages into the soft, red tissue of the gills.
The moment they breached the tissue, the alarm sounded. This wasn't a simple bug; this was a complex organism.
[Warning! High-Level Immune Response Detected.]
[Macrophages incoming.]
Unlike the clumsy blobs of the insect world, these immune cells were fast hunters. They swarmed the breach point.
Cell quickly thought of a plan, using the cells as cannonfodder to advance to its brain.
The Mini-Cells jammed themselves into the tiny blood vessels, creating a blockade. The white blood cells piled up behind them, struggling to get through.
Cell ordered the Big Cell. "Go left. Draw their fire."
The Mirror Cell shot down a vein, leading a pack of hunter-cells away. Cell took the opportunity to slip into the main artery flowing toward the head.
He rode the blood flow, the roar of the tadpole's heartbeat thundering around him like a war drum.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
"There..."
He saw it. The Blood-Brain Barrier. A dense wall of cells protecting the central computer.
[Obstacle: Blood-Brain Barrier.]
[Hardness: High.]
He slammed into the barrier, spinning his body like a drill bit. Using the predatory appendace.
Grind. Tear. Pop.
He broke through into the cerebral spinal fluid. It was calm here. Quiet. The holy land.
The brain stem of the Tadpole loomed ahead, a primitive, bulbous stalk. It controlled the heartbeat, the swimming, the hunger.
Cell drifted down onto it. He didn't just bite it, he spread his membrane out, wrapping around the brain stem like a wet blanket.
[Using Parasitize(F- Rank)]
The Tadpole thrashed in the outside world. It slammed into a rock. Cell felt the shockwave, but he held on.
"You are mine," Cell whispered into the creature's mind. "Your hunger is my hunger. Your body is my chariot."
He injected his nucleus directly into the primary nerve cluster.
[Time left till parasitize completes: 00:00:47]
[Syncing... 20%... 50%... 80%...]
[Host Willpower Overcome.]
[System Rebooting...]
The trashing stopped. The Tadpole floated still in the water.
Then, its tail flicked. Once. Twice. Controlled.
Cell opened his "eyes." He saw the murky water, but not through light-sensitive spots. He saw it through actual lenses. The resolution was low, black and white, but it was sight. He felt the water rushing through his gills. He felt the power in the muscular tail.
[Host Acquired: Tadpole.]
[Energy+10000]
"Lets see my stats now" Cell thought.
[Stats Updated]
HP: 1/1(Host Body)
Strength: 0.003(Can break weak algae structures)
Agility: 0.01 (Swift swimmer)
Energy 10000/10000
Status: Healthy(hungry)
"Why doesn't this surprise me," Cell thought, flexing the tail.
[Congratulation! You've completed the second phase! We wish you luck from now on!]
[As you've achieved a macroscopical lifeform, you consume energy with every action now!]
[Tadpole(Juvenile Amphibian)- Passive energy consumed per hour =2
Energy consumed based on movement = 1-?]
[Phase 3- Macroscopical lifeform]
[Energy now shifts, to grow your maximum energy bank you need to upgrade your host, or possess multiple hosts! Good luck!]
"System," Cell demanded. "I spent days grinding for those upgrades. Flagellum, Photosynthesis, Membrane... are they gone?"
[System Processing...]
[ Data Detected: Phase 1+2 Abilities.]
[Initiating Synergy Conversion. Integrating Cellular Traits into Host Physiology.]
A new interface flashed before Cell's mind, showing a schematic of the Tadpole with glowing nodes representing his old upgrades being "installed" into the meat-mech.
[Conversion Complete. Skills Adapted]
Flagellum (Movement) -Hyper-Myofibrils (Passive):
Old: Tail for cell movement.
New: Your cellular colony reinforces the host's muscle fibers.
Effect: +20% Swimming Speed / Burst Dash available. The tadpole can move faster than its biological limits allow, risking muscle tears for speed.
Defensive Membrane (Armor) -Dermal Hardening (Passive):
Old: Protective shell around the cell.
New: You secrete a hardening enzyme into the tadpole's skin.
Effect: +1 Defense. The skin becomes leathery and resistant to abrasions.
Vibration Sensory System (Detection) - Lateral Line Overclock (Active/Passive):
Old: Sensing liquid movement.
New: You have hijacked the tadpole's natural lateral line (vibration organs).
Effect: Sonar Vision. You can "see" 360 degrees around you in murky water by detecting heartbeats and movement up to 5 meters away.
Photosynthesis (Energy) - Solar Metabolism (Passive):
Old: Absorbing light for energy.
New: The host's skin darkens to absorb UV radiation.
Effect: +50 Energy/Hour while in shallow water/sunlight. Increases Host Healing rate.
Cellular Duplication-Error!!!- fuses into Parasitize-
Parasitize (F):
You can split yourself into more parasites , you control them, becoming a hivemind.
"Now that's a cheat right there!" Cell chuckled, I think I like this path now.