Being Human Is Too Tiring

Yuri, who had risen early, came down to the first floor.

Yinsen had just taken his seat behind the counter. He spread open the newspaper and smoothed out its creases, his eyes peeking over the top edge through his glasses. After glancing at Yuri approaching, he politely greeted him, "Morning, boss. It's only past seven. You've never gotten up this early before."

"Morning, Yinsen."

Yuri took his breakfast from the refrigerator, heated it up simply, and carried it aside to eat.

As he ate, he reviewed the latest revised version of Shack and the others' Arctic Journey proposal. After finishing most of his breakfast, Yinsen, who was reading the paper behind the counter, suddenly let out a cry. Yuri put down the proposal, leaned over, and asked what had happened.

"Boss, you'll never believe this. Spider-Man—the superhero known as 'New York's Friendly Neighborhood'—actually barged into a gunfight between police and criminals last night. Not only did he kill every criminal in an 'extremely brutal manner,' he even took the drug money they were using for the transaction. And that's not even the worst part. The overpass where the shootout took place collapsed after Spider-Man wrecked it!"

Yinsen handed the newspaper to Yuri and pointed at a line of text. "The paper says that everyone is now questioning whether vigilantes' actions are just, denying the legality of their actions. The police and government have even classified Spider-Man as a 'terrifyingly skilled criminal' and are calling on everyone to unite and resist everything they do..."

"Boss."

Yinsen inconspicuously glanced at the ceiling. Leaning closer to Yuri, he carefully asked, "Should Shack and the others postpone their nighttime operations for a few days?"

Yuri carefully read the entire newspaper, his gaze lingering for a long time on a specially printed color photograph. It showed Symbiote Spider-Man wildly smashing the bridge with a cash case in hand. The black-and-white Spider Suit and the pitch-black, slime-like tendrils were enough to leave anyone sighing.

"Going dark really does triple your strength..."

Returning the paper to Yinsen, Yuri patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Thank you very much for caring about Shack and the others, Yinsen. Actually, their nighttime activities were already nearing their end. The earth-shaking changes in Hell's Kitchen are proof that the main purpose of the nighttime operations has been achieved."

Yinsen nodded. Thinking of how much more like normal people the five had become over the past few days, he said with considerable agreement, "That's true. Shack and the others have changed a great deal lately. It shows the nighttime operations have been very effective."

"What do Shack and the others have to do with it?"

Yuri gave Yinsen a strange look, then spoke under the latter's puzzled gaze. "The main purpose I meant was protecting your personal safety!"

"You're now a representative director of Stark Industries. Although Hell's Kitchen's danger level has been reduced to its lowest point, there's no telling when some idiot or lunatic might come out of nowhere—whether for money or revenge—and fire a bullet at you... You know, you're the weakest person under me. I really don't like seeing those who follow me die for one reason or another."

"Wow!"

Deeply moved, Yinsen rolled up the newspaper and adjusted his glasses as he walked back toward the counter. "I wonder what good deeds I did in my past life to earn the chance to become your employee."

Yuri chuckled. Perhaps it was because, in a parallel world, you had saved Marvel's daddy Tony Stark with your life countless times.

Inside the transparent glass enclosure, a puddle of glossy black slime rammed wildly from side to side, trying to find even the slightest chance of escape. But how could an observation device personally crafted by Yuri possibly grant its wish? His dark golden pupils instantly turned white as surging soul energy passed through the glass toward the oblivious symbiote.

In the past, it had always been symbiotes trying to seize control of their hosts' consciousness. Today, the tables had finally turned.

After a barely noticeable struggle, the black slime within the glass enclosure was completely brought under Yuri's control. He made it raise a middle finger, flash a V sign, and strike poses begging for tips. Once he had toyed with it enough, he began trying to erase the symbiote's tiny soul and consciousness.

Human consciousness mainly resided in the brain. A handful of exceptionally gifted people might also imprint their thoughts upon other organs. Such people generally never noticed their own uniqueness, often only realizing this special talent after someone took one of their kidneys or after they voluntarily donated their hearts, when they became aware of themselves through the recipients of those transplanted organs... So suddenly liking men after getting a blood transfusion at a hospital, or a kidney failure patient suddenly admiring Cao Cao after receiving a kidney transplant—those were all perfectly normal occurrences.

The human soul mainly resided in the pineal gland between the brows. For a very small number of people, this organ could break through the many barriers set by the Creator. So long as they tore open even the smallest gap, they would gain the talent and qualifications to absorb energy and learn supernatural abilities.

Mutants were different.

Their consciousness and souls were evenly distributed throughout every part of their bodies. Harm one part, and all suffered; prosper one part, and all prospered. They did not fear injury, because they could recover naturally.

What surprised Yuri was that the symbiote in the glass enclosure was just like a Mutant. Its soul and consciousness had fused into one and were evenly distributed throughout every part of the puddle of slime.

"Could this be a failed experiment from before the Gods Group created the Mutants?"

In Yuri's memories, Knull, the God of Symbiotes had appeared before the Gods Group, but symbiotes had not. All symbiotes had supposedly been born from the Black Death Sword, which Knull forged by tempering the blood of a member of the Gods Group after slaughtering it. But perhaps there had never been any slaughter. Perhaps there had never been any blood-tempering or sword-forging. Was it possible that Knull and the Gods Group had created symbiotes together as a species of life?

No one could answer him.

Yuri stopped thinking about it. His current goal was to extinguish this symbiote's consciousness. Rather than fantasize about a future he did not know when he would reach, he might as well focus on the present within his grasp.

Mental energy poured into the symbiote without reservation, surrounding its tiny and feeble consciousness and soul at a ratio of ten to one. Then, with murderous intent laid bare, it exterminated and erased the trapped beast's desperate yet futile resistance without any suspense.

After carefully sensing for any remaining traces and confirming there were none, Yuri pressed a finger against the glass enclosure. The hard yet fragile glass parted like water, opening a gap. Under Yuri's control, the glossy black symbiote coiled around his finger, sometimes as hard as tempered steel, sometimes as soft as silk wound around a finger.

"Whoosh, whoosh..."

As the sound of flowing water rose, the symbiote rapidly spread and expanded in defiance of scientific law. From a fist-sized puddle of black slime, it became a matte-black giant that enveloped Yuri's entire body.

Yuri could clearly feel the symbiote's all-pervasive presence: skin, muscles, bones, tendons, cells, genes... The symbiote absorbed cosmic energy, condensing it into countless imperceptible particles that merged into its host's body. It helped the host develop their existing genes at a faster rate and bore all kinds of backlash that might harm the body...

A few seconds later, the black fluid covering Yuri stopped changing. One eye between his brows and four below them—a total of five eyes—snapped open. Dark golden pupils studied themselves in the large mirror already prepared across from him for a moment. Then a slit suddenly opened across the pitch-black face, revealing a mouthful of huge, savage white teeth.

"Being human is too exhausting."

"I won't have to pretend anymore!"