Thanks for the Invitation, I'm in Terra, and I'm a Parasite

The pupil at the tip of the tentacle widened as it watched Dario lying on the ground, his breathing gradually weakening.

"It's Oripathy. The Originium that monster spat out earlier must have already infected him."

"For land-dwellers, this disease is nearly impossible to cure."

Laurentina looked at the Originium Crystals remaining in Dario's wound and explained his condition to Zuo Jian.

[So that means... Originium Crystals will keep forming inside his body?]

"More or less. What is it? Do you have a solution?"

[Healing and regeneration are impossible, but I can try converting a small amount of flesh into organ-like structures to replace the damaged organs.]

[Once separated from my body, if Originium Crystals continue to form inside him, they can become the nutrients needed to keep these organs functioning.]

[But the problem is that even the smallest amount of flesh, once transformed into organs and rendered inert so it will not spread, will cause him tremendous pain when it establishes a connection with his original body.]

[To ensure there is no rejection at the connection points, it needs to consume the original organs to obtain samples.]

[More importantly, his consciousness must hold on. Otherwise, even if I suppress the activity of that flesh, there is still a chance he will be transformed into a monster by it.]

[Laurentina, what do you think?]

"What will happen if you don't do it?"

[Based on his current vital signs, this Inquisitor's life will end in two hours. That is the limit of what external organs can prolong.]

[At the same time, the young Inquisitor named Irene will lose a teacher forever.]

"And if you do?"

[There are two possibilities. If it succeeds, these organs can extend his life. Once their spreading activity is suppressed, as long as they rely on the Originium continuously produced in his body for nutrients, they will be no different from ordinary organs.]

[But if it fails, he will not endure it. He will instead be devoured by my flesh and ultimately become something like Quintus.]

"Do it, Zuo Jian."

Laurentina lowered her head and looked into his blue pupils.

"If you don't, he will certainly die, won't he? If you do, at least he has a fifty percent chance of surviving."

[If it fails, he will become a monster. I don't think someone like him would want such an ending, even if it means gambling on the other half of the chance to be saved.]

"No. He won't become a monster."

Laurentina shook her head, then set her greatsaw beside her.

"Here, there will only be an Inquisitor who is saved, or an Inquisitor who dies in a human body."

Zuo Jian's pupils looked at Laurentina's determination, then turned back toward Dario, whose breathing was steadily weakening.

[You're really willful, Laurentina.]

[You're making it so I have no choice but to succeed.]

"Is that so?" Laurentina smiled faintly.

"Whether it succeeds or fails, I still believe this is the right thing to do."

Zuo Jian said nothing more. He focused on shaping the flesh, then sent it through the skin and deep into Dario's body.

Dario... was it?

Answer me.

Do you intend to fall here?

Do you think you have fulfilled your mission?

Do you think you can simply choose to leave the stage like this?

Someone still depends on you. Your student still needs a teacher.

Or do you think this is as far as you go?

Why do Inquisitors exist? Or rather—

Why did you become an Inquisitor?

Answer me. Do you think your mission ends here?

Or—

Even at the risk of becoming a monster, will you still stand back up and relight the lantern for the people behind you?

Thump...

Thump...

!?!

Dario suddenly opened his eyes. A massive hole had been opened above the dim basement, and sunlight streamed through it, casting its fading glow and dust across his body.

Pain still kept coming from his arm, but he did not seem to be in any immediate mortal danger...

Who... saved him?

He turned his head and found that his lantern had somehow been placed beside him.

Its wick seemed to have been refueled, burning bright and brilliant.

(I feel awful... The weather's gotten colder lately, and I caught a cold too... My throat hurts like hell...)

(Everyone, remember to stay warm and don't catch a cold... Sad.)

I can't take it anymore. This time, the virus really wrecked me.

Damn it, after taking medicine, I slept for an entire day. I thought I'd recover enough energy this afternoon to keep writing.

But this damn virus hit me with a combo of tonsillitis, then a stuffy nose, then a fever, and finally weak limbs, and completely knocked me out...

(Damn... Why didn't I save up some chapters?)

I really can't do it today. I'll sleep early and see if I can make it up tomorrow...

Everyone really needs to take care of yourselves. Getting sick during this season is awful. (Sad.)

Transformation

"Ha... ha..."

Having removed the Church of the Deep clothing and changed back into his familiar coat, Lai Ke leaned against a corner, gasping heavily.

His face was flushed. Limbs that had not exercised for far too long ached terribly after the intense run.

His lungs were like a broken bellows—

letting out low, ragged breaths.

But no matter how heavy his body felt, neither the intense pain nor the irritation in his lungs could conceal the excitement in his eyes.

He lowered his head, took a test tube filled with scarlet fluid from his pocket, and held it before his eyes.

The Church of the Deep? Was there any reason to remain in a place like that? Bishops, the future—following those lunatics just to study the future of one or two Frightfish?

What a joke!

The future he wanted was far more than that!

What he needed was a discovery that would redefine an era.

He thought of the cramped little world he had possessed in his Columbia laboratory, then of the old bastard at Loken Watertank and his merciless mockery.

He also thought of that hateful woman at Rhine Lab who called herself the Director, and the indifferent disinterest she had shown toward his research.

Whenever he thought of those things, he swore in his heart that one day, one day!!

He would bring back research that would astonish the world and reclaim every slight and cold look he had suffered.

For that, he had even traveled far from home, coming to this remote hellhole with all his sophisticated equipment and possessions just to fool around with a bunch of madmen!

But now, he needed neither the Seaborn nor the Church of the Deep!

Because he had already grasped the key to godhood!

This flesh would mark the beginning of a new evolution and the first step toward a new world!

At this moment, he was the man standing at the starting point of evolution!

Columbia?

Thinking about it now, it was far too narrow-minded.

Now, he was preparing to blaze an entirely new path!

"Haha... hahahahaha!!!"

Lai Ke, leaning in the dark corner, seemed not to care about the standing water and grime on the ground. He slid down the wall and sat there, throwing back his head in manic laughter.

"Woof."

"?"

Lai Ke turned his head and saw three stray dogs suddenly appear in the passage beside him.

Their tongues hung out as they panted hot breaths, simply staring at Lai Ke in the corner.

"Get lost, beasts..."

For some reason, being watched by these Perro made him feel a chill creeping over him.

Just as he instinctively tried to stand and drive them away, the beasts suddenly pounced. Before Lai Ke could react, they snatched away the test tube brimming with scarlet fluid from his hand.

"Ahhhhh!!!"

He reacted almost instantly, his face twisting as he screamed. Then, with none of the bearing of a scholar, he lunged after them!

"You damned mongrels! What the hell do you beasts think you're doing to Her?!"

The stray dog carrying the test tube was knocked to the ground. Like a madman, Lai Ke wildly clawed and kicked, continuously attacking the fallen dog.

Like a beast himself.

He failed to notice that the other two stray dogs showed none of the reactions animals should have had.

They merely sat quietly in place, their hollow black pupils watching him as he spat out crazed words and repeatedly punched and kicked their companion on the ground.

They simply watched in silence, until even the air seemed to freeze.

Until... even Lai Ke himself realized that those terrifying gazes were silently fixed upon him.

And... after he raised his head, a writhing sound suddenly came from beside his feet.

[I dealt with one. It appears to have been the individual called Lai Ke. I did not find Amaya, whom we saw before.]

Laurentina was walking down the street when Zuo Jian's voice suddenly sounded beside her ear.

"That fast? By the way, you can sense things from that far away?"

[I'm not sure either, but after reconnecting with that flesh, the range it extends to has become much broader.]

No, actually, he knew.

Unless the connection between the flesh was disrupted by some special circumstance, most of it depended on whether the flesh originating from him remained active.

And to remain active, it had to absorb nutrients.

But clearly, the flesh that had been experimented on by the Church of the Deep was entirely different from him in how it obtained nutrients from Originium.

It had no need to retain Originium at all. It even spat it out as a long-range attack.

So the question was, what did it rely on for nutrients?

Originium had been ruled out. The Seaborn?

No, that was even more impossible.

Laurentina herself contained a portion belonging to the Seaborn.

But Zuo Jian could sense that the nutrients provided by that portion were not even as much as Originium.