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

"What do you think?!"

In an instant, Zuo Jian seemed to sense something and dropped to his knees.

She had slept for one month and nine days.

Precise data came from the body.

Along with it came the pain of countless sharp cuts and drug injections.

While he'd been asleep... had this girl gone through all that?

...Damn it...

He raised his head and looked at her. She seemed like a girl who wasn't even eighteen, yet she'd collapsed on the shore and been taken by a bunch of inexplicable people to be subjected to this?

"You bastard, kneeling down out of nowhere—"

"Guh... aaah!"

"It's happening again."

Laurentina's words were suddenly cut off. She clutched her face in agony, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.

At the same time, unconcealed hatred spilled from her eyes.

"Those bastards... they'd better not let me get out."

As she spoke, the pain on her face didn't lessen in the slightest.

[Ms. Laurentina, what's wrong?]

"Those bastards are at it again... They must be injecting something into my spine..."

[I understand. Please wait a moment.]

"What do you understand—"

Laurentina was about to say something, but the next instant, that indescribable, piercing pain suddenly vanished.

"Huh? It's gone? Did they stop? No, that's not right. It couldn't have lasted such a short time. Was that you?"

She stared at the skeleton beside her in surprise.

[Yes. I just severed the pain nerves between the body and your brain.]

[Come to think of it, doing something like that was as easy as moving a finger. Even I find it unbelievable.]

"Is that so? Either way, thanks."

"But—"

Laurentina stepped forward. Then, while Zuo Jian wasn't paying attention, she threw him to the ground with a wrestling move.

She then pinned him beneath her, pressing down hard to restrain him.

"Though I'm grateful, shouldn't you explain why you appeared in my consciousness, and how you were able to casually sever my pain nerves?"

She put particular emphasis on the last few words, especially the word "my."

[A beautiful girl is pressing down on me—damn it, is this another world? Just as I thought...]

"Hey, I'm asking you a question."

[Ahem. Could you change positions?]

"You're just a pile of bones. Why do you care about positions?"

Laurentina frowned, but she still got up, leaving only one foot planted on his chest.

[Ah—bliss—]

"Alright, talk."

[Whew. Ms. Laurentina, don't be scared by what I'm about to tell you.]

"Huh? Do you know who I am? I'm an Abyssal Hunter. Well, you probably don't know what Abyssal Hunters are. In any case, I won't be scared."

[I'm actually a parasite.]

"A parasite... Do you live in a shell or a conch?"

[Not a hermit crab—a parasite!]

"Uh, a parasite... What kind of bug is that? Or is it some kind of fish unique to land?"

[A parasite! A parasite! Didn't you take biology? Didn't your teacher tell you?!]

"Even if you say that... I studied art. Why are you asking me?"

[It's an organism that needs a host to survive and dies when separated from one! Do you understand now?]

[Also, don't use studying art as an excuse! I was an art student too!]

Laurentina rubbed her chin, then circled around and examined the headless skeleton before her.

"A host... a master? You die if you leave your master, and live if you follow them—I get it!"

She pointed at Zuo Jian with a look of sudden realization.

"This is what land-dwellers call a pet, right? But I don't remember ever keeping a pet like you..."

[...I've taken over your body, aside from your brain.]

[Strictly speaking, it isn't taking over. It should be called assimilation.]

"Oh... Huh? Ah?"

Laurentina froze in place, looking blankly at the figure before her.

Zuo Jian walked to the side and spent roughly half an hour explaining the current situation.

Watching Laurentina's expression grow increasingly blank, he sighed. Just as he was thinking about how to apologize, the space around them suddenly shattered.

Laurentina's consciousness returned to reality.

In a dim prison cell, Laurentina opened her eyes, her limbs bound in chains.

She stretched out her hand and moved it slightly.

"Whew... It was a dream..."

[

Hello]

A slit suddenly opened on the back of her hand, and the pupil of an azure eye opened from within.

At the same time, an eye appeared on her cheek, slightly below her own eye.

[Come to think of it, the skin on the head can move too. Whew... Good thing I stopped in time, or the brain really would've disappeared in an instant.]

Zuo Jian's voice sounded directly in her mind.

Click.

Laurentina suddenly raised the shackle on her right hand and smashed it fiercely toward the opened eye on her left hand!

Creak—

In an instant, her own left hand suddenly moved.

Its five fingers turned into sharp white claws and tightly seized Laurentina's right hand.

[Ms. Laurentina, I'm truly very sorry, but please don't do that!]

[It wasn't just your left hand that was assimilated. It was your entire body.]

"Is that so? Then I can only try ending myself directly."

[Sigh... I know apologizing is useless, but please, don't hurt yourself.]

"Because you inhabit my body? So this would affect your life?"

[No. I just don't want an innocent person to be harmed because of my mistake.]

"Ha, who knows? Maybe that's just your excuse. Come to think of it, this state is exactly like a Seaborn's. Perhaps you're actually some new breed of Seaborn."

[If that were the case, I wouldn't have suppressed my instincts to preserve your brain.]

"Maybe you simply can't do otherwise."

Laurentina looked at her own left hand with a faint, bitter smile.

How ironic. First, she'd been captured by those bastards on land, and now her body had been taken away.

How ridiculous, Laurentina!

From their earlier conversation, it could be inferred that Laurentina was a somewhat open-minded woman. She might be subjective about certain things, but she should have known how to assess the situation at hand.

He had already explained his circumstances. She shouldn't have reacted like this.

No... he'd overlooked something.

What was it?

Right.

He had been asleep for some time. Before that, Laurentina had spent every day after being taken away enduring torturous experiments.

When he'd first met her in her consciousness, she'd already been a little delirious.

If nothing unexpected happened, it wouldn't be strange for her to develop mental problems after a few more days of torture.

The fact that she could still speak rationally with him earlier under such circumstances was what was unbelievable...

A strong will.

First she endured torture, then she learned that her body had been taken over. If she were a normal person, she probably would've already gone mad.

Laurentina already possessed an incredibly strong will.

Sorry... This is my fault.

So, he had to help her.

In that case, there was only one action he could take right now.

Laurentina's attempt to dig out the eyeball on her left arm came to an abrupt halt.

Her entire body froze.

The light vanished from her eyes in an instant.

Yet the next moment, it was as though something had suddenly filled them again.

"Laurentina" blinked, looked down at her hands, and stood up.

She spoke slowly.

"Whew, sorry, Ms. Laurentina. I really am a bastard."

At that very moment, Zuo Jian took control of Laurentina's body.

And he severed all of her perception of that body.

Even her vision, hearing, and sense of touch.

This body now imprisoned Laurentina's brain like a cage.

"Come to think of it, is this what it feels like to use an inhabited body?"

Zuo Jian controlled his arms, momentarily almost intoxicated by the sensation.

They were clearly familiar human limbs, yet they offered an entirely new experience.

Not to mention a young girl's exquisite body.

The thought of Laurentina's original consciousness being trapped inside her body, trembling in fear, made a strange emotion surge through his heart once more.

"Damn it!!"