บท 14: CH : 12 Experiments

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Time passed swiftly, and with the steady influx of wealth from my "royalties," our once-precarious situation gradually stabilized. This constant flow of resources not only improved our circumstances but also seemed to work wonders on her behavior and habits. Marissa began to evolve into someone resembling a stable individual—though, to be fair, a few loose screws still rattled in her psyche. Then again, who am I to judge someone's mental health? Especially when my own is far from perfect.

After all, I'm playing the role of a fictional character in a semi-fictional world, wielding powers no mortal should ever possess—powers inspired by the imaginings of a mangaka whose stories were far from flawless. And as for Marissa? She treated her poor soul as if it were a mere tool, a concept as unsettling as it was fascinating.

As I grew, so too did my understanding of the divine-like force within me. My abilities, though immense, weren't comparable to The God, but to a god—an entity of untamed potential. The limits of my power were not fixed; they expanded with each passing moment of enlightenment.

All it took was a thought, a gentle release of my energy into the air, into the very fabric of matter itself, and then? The magic would unfold before my eyes. Creation and transformation—a seamless dance of my will shaping reality. It was as intoxicating as it was terrifying, a reminder that even gods must tread carefully when wielding power of such magnitude.

"I don't need to learn control…" I muttered. "I… I already control this power."

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to remember the sensations. That energy coursing through my veins was his, as if it had always been a part of me—even before I got this new body. There was no learning curve. Everything came naturally, with an unsettling ease.

Then my gaze returned to the body in front of me. Something was wrong. Why hadn't it regained her original color? It had returned to its physical form, but that vibrant life was still missing.

As time passed and I used more and more of my powers, I began to realize that my power went far beyond just controlling matter—something I believe I should have realized before. Then again, I was hardly a three-year-old, so I'll give it a pass. I focused again, infusing the body with my energy.

And then, I saw them.

Three subtle glows emanated from the body. They weren't visible to the naked eye, but with my power, I could perceive them clearly.

The first glow was faint, providing me with information about the physical composition of the body—its fibers, structure, everything that made up her "body." This was the simplest part, the one I had always relied on to reconstruct since I got to know her.

The second glow, however, was different. It pulsed softly, like an emotional vibration. It wasn't physical matter but something deeper. The soul. It was the soul that carried life, the essence of this simple self. This glow was what I hadn't touched during the reconstruction process I went through in the last six months, explaining its sickly appearance.

The third glow, on the other hand, was mysterious. It seemed dormant, hidden beneath the others. I could barely perceive it, but it was there, lurking in the shadows. I sensed it, like a primal force waiting to be awakened.

"Body, soul… and spirit," I murmured, staring pensively at the body that was floating in the air, separated into so many parts that even the heavy elements in her body could be seen as they were solidified.

These insights came to me without me asking. I now understood that my power could interact with these three aspects. By reconstructing only the human's "body," I had not restored her soul, which explained why it no longer seemed as vibrant as before.

"If I really want to fully use this power…"

I touched the body, and soon every tendon, every fiber, every element melded together like it was supposed to. But just before everything merged and became one, I put my other hand on the special stem cells I had personally created. There were a few trillion of them compactly packed in a flask in a special solution that provided them energy to divide and keep them alive outside of the body. As I placed my hand on it, the glass turned into sand, and then the cells flew out and started to change, becoming perfectly adapted to her very DNA on a fundamental level. Soon, both merged together, and the number of cells in her body skyrocketed. Those stem cells began to develop into many different types of cells.

This was my first step toward physical immortality. Soon, she became whole again, but this time, with her body, soul, and spirit unified.

"I'm going to have to learn how to act on all three."

The mere thought of such a capability sent a shiver down my spine. With this power, I could modify much more than matter. I could touch the soul of things, maybe even their spirit. But how far could this power go?

Contemplating the knowledge I had, it was clear I had many things to prepare.

As Warren Buffet says, "Risk comes from lack of understanding," meaning I needed more knowledge before I could be certain that I would survive. No—I would not just survive; I would strive.

It had always been a dream of mine to build a city. It felt good to create something.

My mother, Ava, said that this behavior itself came from blood inheritance, as my grandparents had the same tendency. It seemed to skip my mother.

This was the first and last time I heard her talk about her parents. I tried to learn more, but she outright denied me. Seeing how much it hurt her, feeling her emotions, I didn't pressure her further.

Why do I mention this? I'm not sure myself.

Anyway, the easiest way to gain physical immortality… was cancer.

Not completely the answer, but a way to make it possible.

What is cancer? Cancer is a condition where cells in a specific part of the body grow and reproduce uncontrollably. If I could make it controllable, I could achieve immortality. Sadly, this would require human experimentation. Do I care? Of course not. It's in the name of science! And I already had the perfect test subject—Marissa.

Technically, I'm immortal, at least as long as I can place my hands on my body. I can repair even worse injuries—like having my brain blown apart. I know this because the soul and spirit make a person's body just a shell that can be changed.

I tried this. Not on myself, but on some thugs. The City of Dark Knight is full of them.

Anyway, I continued to oversee the changes in Marissa's body while not letting her move an inch, keeping my hand on her smooth legs just in case something went wrong and I needed to fix it.

After half an hour of observation, I let her go.

At the same time, as soon as I removed my hand and allowed her to 'wake up,' Marissa, who had been numb like a living doll in front of me, gradually started moving her eyes.

Marissa panicked when she saw me in front of her but quickly calmed down as she felt a familiar and intimate connection to me.

"Master," Marissa bowed.

At this moment, she was quite shocked. She had been 'sleeping,' and in the next moment, she was here, surrounded by an abundance of gold bars and fully carved diamonds lying everywhere.

If her psychological resilience hadn't grown stronger over time from seeing me create such things with a thought, she would have been terrified and confused—like any ordinary human might have been.

"How do you feel?" I asked, looking at Marissa curiously.

I had high hopes that this experiment would be successful and that I could move forward with my next tests.

"Feel... wonderful," Marissa said, quickly getting accustomed to her new 'body' after an initial moment of shock.

Exploring the sensations hidden within her transformed form, Marissa began channeling the energy coursing through her. She moved with determination, testing her limits and experimenting with every motion.

Marissa flexed her muscles, clenching and unclenching her fists as her power surged. Then, with an explosive burst of force, she drove her fist downward with all her strength.

BOOM!

The impact reverberated through the room as the floor, forged from a blend of steel and iron, buckled under her strike. Deep cracks spiderwebbed across the surface, and a massive crater marked the spot of impact. Though not as strong as tungsten, the reinforced floor had been designed to withstand immense pressure—yet it yielded easily to her strength.

It was undeniable proof: the six months of experiments on her body had yielded astonishing results. The evidence of her accelerated evolution was right before my eyes. And now, if my calculations were correct, her cellular density would double within just a few days, pushing her limits even further. The power she held was beyond anything I could have imagined.

Looking at her hand and seeing not a single drop of blood, Marissa was taken aback. "Sorry, Master."

"No problem," I said casually. I didn't care about it at all. I continued to ask, "In addition to physical capabilities, is there any special energy or other abilities?"

After calming down, Marissa continued to explore the abilities of her new body. However, she regretted that she couldn't find any new powers aside from the physical enhancements. Of course, it might be that other abilities were too subtle to notice yet.

I groaned and, with a gesture, pointed at Marissa's forehead. After confirming that everything had been discovered, I returned to my lair. Meanwhile, Mother still hadn't returned.

With a flick of my wrist, the TV turned on, and the remote was summoned to my side. The television played in the background as I touched the ground. A bag filled with cash emerged from an opening I created. I counted a total of one hundred and twenty-four thousand. Tomorrow, I would need to buy myself a laptop and find some libraries in Gotham. For now, it was time to dispose of the body and get some rest.

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Next Day

After handling my matters with Marissa and gathering everything I would need, we headed back to her house.

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After setting up the equipment, I tied her to a field with my energy solution, ensuring the oxygen and everything else were connected.

"Well, let's start it," I said before administering 'anesthesia' and beginning work on the project.

[Gore]

<6 Hours Later>

The experiment had barely begun, and already I encountered my first obstacle. The cancer cell I created rapidly multiplied on the subject's finger, growing out of control. I amputated the finger in hopes of containing it, but instead of regenerating, the stump turned into a grotesque mass of malformed tissue—a meatball of failure.

***

So I am speeding up the plot so next ten to twenty chapters would be his journey of kid will end.