章 90: Mitochondria is The Powerhouse of The Cell
High above the night sky, a single jet plane, an XB-70 Valkyrie, flashed through the clouds approaching the speed of Mach-3, three times the speed of sound. It was so fast, it formed a vapor cone.
The jet plane was temporarily lent to S.H.I.E.L.D., a property that was above their budget if not for the emergency state they currently in right now. Inside the cockpit, there was only enough space for two people to ride on, pilot and co-pilot. While the pilot was just another agent from SHIELD who was specially trained to operate the jet plane, the co-pilot was, of course, me.
"We call them, Neo-Mitochondrial Creature. NMC for short," explained Nick Fury, through the speaker. I have been hearing him talking nonstop for almost an hour already. "They first appeared in a theater at Manhattan three years ago, after a woman named, Melissa Pearce evolved into Mitochondria Eve."
"You named her?" I asked.
"No. But that what she proclaimed herself as. What you gonna do? Sue her?" remarked Nick.
To be honest, I already knew most of the information that Nick told me. Everything. From the beginning of the event, up to the one that would transcend tonight or in the future. I wasn't even surprised. Not because I was grown tired of this world's abnormality, but because the event of the first game already happened 3 years ago.
It was from one of my favorite franchises, Parasite Eve. The current event was probably the beginning of the second installment, Parasite Eve 2, which was set 3 years after the previous event.
"Anyway, back then, the whole audience was burned alive after she got on the stage. That must be one hell of a performance. Hehe... get it? Hell... Performance..." joked Nick while giggling by himself.
"Duuude... too dark..." I complained.
"Maan, I'm just easing the tension okay, lighten up a bit. But not like that theater. Hehe..." he replied, of course with another pun.
I exaggeratedly gasped and scolded him even more, "I get that you're worried, but stop it, man. Or I won't lend you my comic book anymore."
Hearing my harmless threat, Nick relented and said, "Okay, fine. My bad, can't resist it. But hey, "as long as you're there what should I worry about?"
I rolled my eyes and replied, sarcastically, "I don't know, my fucking life maybe?"
"Bitch, if that shit could endanger you, we wouldn't have been alive," said Nick, it seemed there was another person beside him. I could hear Nick asking for that person's opinion. "See even Phil agreed."
"He's there? PHIL SMACK YOUR BOSS FOR ME!" I yelled toward the speaker.
Right after, I heard a dry smack from a roll of paper. From the sound, it seemed he genuinely wanted to hit him as well. You have it tough as well, Phil...
"Aww! What the hell was that for?" exclaimed Nick.
"That's for making dark jokes. Focus man, what else do I need to pay attention to?" I asked, returning the topic to the current matter.
"The SWAT members already breached in and tried to secure the building," explained Nick again.
"Let me guess, it didn't end well," I commented.
"It got even worse, there was a sighting that some creature resembled human, or might have evolved from a human. This is completely different than three years ago which only affects animals," said Nick.
I acted oblivious to it and asked, "Did you find out why?"
"You don't seem to be surprised," muttered Nick.
"I expected it. If it could already affect living beings, it bounds to affect us as well." I replied, vaguely.
The thing is, those mutated humans weren't just mere civilians. They were actually human subjects who agreed to be used as long as they could gain immortality to preserve humanity, even if they had to shed their humanity. They were called Artificial Neo-Mitochondrial Creature. The main antagonist of the current event.
"Makes sense. Just be careful, we don't have any data on them yet. So, good luck."
Just as Nick closed the communication, the pilot next to Edward immediately said, "We're almost there, Sir. We're going to land in the nearby airport in five minutes."
I immediately made an order to him, "No, fly straight to Akropolis Tower. Slow down once we're almost on top of it."
"But Sir, there's no space to land over there," he warned.
"Who said we're going to land?"
The pilot gulped after hearing my words. An emergency landing was impossible and the airport was too far away from Akropolis Tower. It would waste so many times for me to run from point A to point B. Ahh... if only I had some other means of transportation on land.
Suddenly, as if hearing my lamentation, the long-awaited golden bars appeared in front of my face.
<You have met the requirements for the Chain Quest, The Mitochondria Crisis.>
<First Task: Figure out what happened inside Akropolis Tower.>
<Any creature deemed as part of the Quest would grant EXP for the User.>
Chain Quest? Not Survival Quest?
All this time I have been receiving two Main Quest so far and both were Survival Quest. It was odd, but I didn't have to think too much to figure out why it was like that.
First, the threat of the NMC was not as threatening as the Zombie Virus in Raccoon City. As far as I remember it wasn't contagious either and the poor victim they attacked wouldn't reanimate into a living dead.
Secondly, most of the events took place in a single city, and the current event might take a while and carry me to some other places.
"We have a vision, Sir." reported the pilot.
"Good, slow down a bit, hold your breath, and grab something to hold on," I said while checking on my equipment.
I had the trenchcoat on, but because I still couldn't access the inventory, I used some equipment that Nick had. I looked more like a SWAT team member now, with a bulletproof vest and gas mask. An M4A1 rifle on my back while two Glock-17 handguns on my waist. Also, there were two combat knives in my boots.
"What do you mean, Sir?" asked the pilot, confused, after hearing my warning.
Without answering his question, lights flickered inside the narrow cockpit as the Oni Gauntlet appeared along with Blackbeard in my grasp.
BAM!
With a single shot, I tore a hole in the roof of the cockpit. The air immediately sucking us out, as it formed a vacuum. I tapped the pilot's shoulder twice as if saying 'it's all good, don't worry' before releasing my safety belt. The vacuum launched me outside, as I cast Reinforce on the plane, fixing the damage I did earlier, but not before my leg hit one of the two tails.
"Motherf...!" I exclaimed in pain.
It was a free fall, but I kept spinning in the air as a result of that accident before. It was hard to regain my balance or stopping the spin. The dizziness didn't help either. I also seemed to broke my knee as well. Even if it would heal in a few minutes, it still hurt like hell.
I couldn't hear anything because the wind was blowing so heavy. Thank God I wore a mask, my eyeball would have gouged out because of the wind pressure.
After a while, I noticed that I was getting closer to the Earth's surface. Now the question is, how do I land?
Boom!
Suddenly, a helicopter exploded near the tower. I saw a shadowy figure on the rooftop, holding a bazooka of some short. Of course, I knew who that was, but I didn't have time to think about it.
There were some passengers on the Helicopter and I almost reached it. I started gliding using my body, trying to land on the flaming and falling helicopter. I made it in the nick of a time, taking three people on my shoulder.
I looked underneath, there were a lot of police cars, local network vehicles, and firetrucks. If it fell on them, it would surely result in a chain explosion. So instead of leaving it alone, I stored it inside my inventory. Thankfully there seemed to be no problem after watching the helicopter vanished. I wondered how much space there was inside my inventory. There was also Blackbird inside, X-Men's private jet. Did Arceus expand my inventory?
Before the helicopter completely vanished, I kicked it to propel me forward, smashing into the window of the building next to Akropolis tower. Dropping the three people who seemed to be a staff of a local TV Network, I checked their condition. Finding out they were just unconscious, I stood and used Radar Sense. There were too many noises, but I could still focus on the monsters inside Akropolis Tower, including some lucky survivors and two people who seemed a bit familiar to me.
However, the noise kept interrupting me, and I wasn't able to hold it much longer. Sirene from ambulances, police cars, firetrucks, gossiping civilians. It all mixed into one and formed a sphere of an undiscernible scene through my Radar Sense.
"Let's just focus on work," I muttered, raising my Oni Gauntlet.
Its current form was completely different than when it was in Raccoon City. Previously, it looked simple. Everything was black, except for the white eyeball and the white lines that ran through the back of my fingers to the end of the gauntlet.
Now, it also had five white claws, as well as two small horns near the end of the gauntlet, pointing at the opposite side. There were also shiny scales covering the top part of the gauntlet and the white eyes now shone brighter than the previous. It also had more 'personalities' than before.
It was the result of the Permanent Reinforcement I cast two years ago. Of course, the change was not only in the visual but the utility as well.
<Oni Gauntlet - Limbo (Permanently Reinforced)>
<Durability - Indestructible>
<Grants High improvement on every single use of the gauntlet, for example, Soul Absorption, Soul Storage, etc.>
<Grants access and control to Limbo and its dweller.>
<Upgrade every weapon bonded to the Gauntlet by a level.>
<Grants Item Abilities: None (Requirements haven't been met yet.)>
I stared at my index finger and swiped a line next to me. I then muttered, "Gate..."
From the edge of my index finger, there was a long black line forming, slowly opening like a mouth as multiple creatures tried to rush outside through it while screeching. The eye on my Oni Gauntlet suddenly radiated a bright light, making those creatures flinch, stopping them in their tracks. It emitted a seer pressure to them.
"Ah damn it, I really couldn't control more than one yet," I said, muttering to myself.
If not for the Oni Gauntlet, these outworld creatures might have rebelled and attacked the outside world already. Adding more problems to me.
Leaving those thoughts aside, I picked the creature that I wanted. It was a huge ass mosquito, bigger than me. I hanged on its legs while the mosquito flew upward, toward Akropolis Tower. It might not be the coolest entrance, but hey, as long as it works.
Meanwhile, as I glanced downwards, I noticed a yellow muscle car arrived.
"It seemed the protagonist is here as well. I need to speed up my hunts. I'm not giving anyone else my free EXPs."
======
9 PM, New York.
In the most luxurious hotel suite in the center of the city, a man stood with a glass of wine in his hand while admiring the night sceneries. His stocky build almost dwarfed his subordinates, a sign that inside the white Italian suit, a pack of muscles was hiding its glamour.
Soon, a knock was heard and an old man with a trimmed mustache came in. The moment he arrived behind the heavy-built man, he said, "I'm sorry for interrupting your night, Sir."
"What is it? I told you I want to stay alone tonight," complained Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin. There was a trace of cold anger in his face.
But the old man was unfazed as if he knew that it wouldn't be for long, "My apology, but it's about Mr. Killswitch's task in taking the information you want."
Just like what the old man imagined, the cold anger in Kingpin's face vanished in an instant, replaced with elation and satisfaction. The old man immediately took out a small USB-flashdisk and insert it into the computer before playing the content.
Wilson sat on his seat while supporting his chin. He was focusing on the file that was playing. However, the content was not something that they expected.
"Back with me again, Pirate DJ Doctor X's here to spread some truth sauce on your mind boggeeeeers..."
Both Kingpin and the Old man were quiet, too quiet in fact.
"Did you know that the school's meal plan is racist? Now bear with me as I explain to you mindless fool how everything transpired, but before then, let's hear this next song from..." before Dr. X could finish there's another voice interrupting him.
"Hey, Ted. We got a huge ass sandwich, you wanna transcend into the fifth universe later?"
"Stop it, dude. Didn't you see I'm busy?"
"Okay then, I'll save some bud for you to chew. You sure you don't want to join?"
"Tsk... okay fine, just wait for me at my room, the usual." And then there was a sound of a slammed door right before Te— Doctor X continued, "I have to apologize for those who have been waiting for tonight's broadcast. It seems there's a scoop that I have to cover. But don't worry, next Monday, join me to show our deacon how the meal plan is racist in front of—"
Without waiting for the recording to finish, Wilson slammed his fist right into the monitor. He even threw the whole table and its content outside, through the window, falling to the road below.
"KILLSWITCH!" he bellowed.
クリエイターの想い 
NightHowl
NightHowl So yeah, Parasite Eve's world is here as well. This is the last major world to be added, probably. Why major? Because the conclusion of this event will be another turning points for the MC and those around him.
There's also another, later at the end, but its role is minor, even though you'll immediately know it because it's very famous.
Also on the previous chapter, you might not notice it, but the POV changed from 3rd POV to 1st POV at some point. Meaning that moment, Edward has returned.
:)
週次パワーステータス
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