Jessica Jones
At that moment, the man cautiously began inching himself closer to the wall.
He was terrified that the enormous monster in front of him might simply swallow him whole in one bite.
As for using his powers to control it, the thought did not even cross his mind anymore.
Forget whether it was possible or not. Even if the creature hesitated for a single moment, that would already be enough time for that giant mouth to chew him up and swallow him several times over.
Only now did the man truly understand what demonic fangs meant.
The thing in front of him was a complete demon, through and through. Because of his lifelong ability to read people, he could clearly see in its eyes a naked desire to eat him.
It was only being restrained for some unknown reason.
And so, the whole ride, the man did not dare move at all. Forget mind control, after trembling his way into a corner, he did not even dare twitch again.
Because he realized that every time he crawled a little, the giant monster leaned a little closer.
Its expression was full of eager anticipation for a delicious meal.
And drool kept dripping onto him.
At that moment, the man could only curl up weakly and helplessly in the corner, praying that whatever organization controlled this monster would at least let him die with some dignity.
Not long after, when the compartment finally came to a stop, the man heard the heavy sound of underground blast doors opening, along with the footsteps of fully armed personnel all around him.
Hearing that, his heart sank completely.
He had truly entered a wolf's den.
Then the compartment doors opened once again, and the man saw that the Terminator-like robots that had knocked him out earlier were now standing on both sides of the compartment and around its perimeter, on guard.
At the same time, the three monsters beside him also began moving.
The three of them stepped out one by one, from smallest to largest.
And as the giant monster went out, it did not forget to grab him along with it, carrying him out in one hand.
Only after being taken outside did the man realize he was inside a tightly sealed, high-tech laboratory.
More precisely, he was inside a huge transparent containment chamber made entirely of glass. Aside from the Terminators and the three monsters next to him, every other human was outside the glass, calmly carrying on with their work as if nothing were unusual.
But as he was carried out, he noticed that many of the researchers kept glancing at him from time to time.
And that gaze was far too familiar.
When he was a child, his parents had looked at him with the exact same eyes.
Only later had he happened to awaken the powers he possessed now.
And now... was he really about to relive the same nightmare?
For a moment, the fear of death inside him was overtaken by the terror his parents had once instilled in him. Just as purple energy began spreading across his body and he was preparing to make one desperate final struggle...
Thump!
Subject No. 1 flicked him right on the forehead with one finger.
That single flick instantly crushed the aura he had just barely managed to gather.
And with that, the man lost consciousness again on the spot.
No matter how much Subject No. 1 held back, the gap in size and strength was simply too enormous, not to mention that he had flicked him right in the forehead. Even the people in the observation room felt an ache deep in their bones just watching it.
"Doctor, based on the data analysis, when he saw us just now, there were signs that he activated his ability. According to the collected field data, it is currently most likely some form of mental control."
"We also found substances in the biological sample you brought back that resemble the same kind of effect."
At that moment, one of the researchers walked over to Samuel in his white lab coat with a fresh set of field data and dutifully made his report.
"Interesting. No wonder the boss specifically brought him back."
"From today onward, designate him as a Level One research target."
"His ability may be of tremendous help in the future development of the Tyrants."
After taking the report and reviewing the data, Samuel smiled faintly when he saw the violent magnetic fluctuations at the scene and the unusually active brainwave patterns of the man. Then he immediately issued instructions to the researcher beside him.
A Level One research target was assigned according to biological value.
It could only be said that the three current test subjects were all Level One already. Subject No. 2 might be considered for an upgrade later because of his uniqueness, but the others were standard Level One cases. For this man to be designated Level One immediately upon arrival was enough to prove the potential value of his powers.
"Understood, Doctor. Also, this is the cell analysis report on the biological sample you brought back."
"According to the instruments, the cells in this sample are in an extremely active state, and their strength exceeds normal human cells by dozens, possibly even hundreds of times."
"The most direct manifestation is that nutrient transport is slower, but the quality of each single transfer is much greater. That means the host can go a long time without getting hungry after eating once, and their physical durability is far beyond that of a normal person."
"In short, according to our estimates, if the owner of these cells is still alive, then she would be capable of fighting one of our Type One Biological Tyrants."
After hearing Samuel's earlier order, the researcher immediately took out another report on the biological sample, handed it over, and excitedly continued.
The truly special thing about these cells was that they were completely human cells.
Unlike the T-Virus, which fused with and coexisted alongside human cells while devouring other viruses to strengthen itself and feed that power back into the body, these cells were powerful in and of themselves.
And if the owner of those cells were used as a Tyrant test subject, then it was entirely possible that the result would be dozens or even hundreds of times stronger than the current Tyrants.
If that happened, then the issue would no longer be how powerful a biological weapon was.
The issue would be how to announce global unification.
Of course, to the researcher, those possibilities were still far too distant. What really mattered right now was the original owner of the cells.
"Hm?!"
"This is unbelievable. Such a tiny cell, yet it contains this much energy. If it were an ordinary person's cells, they would have collapsed long ago."
"My God... how many hidden secrets does this world still have waiting for us?"
After taking the data, Samuel grew more and more astonished the further he read. By the end, he looked almost dazed with happiness, amazed both by the wonders of nature and by the fact that his current position would let him come into contact with more and more people like this in the future.
Yes.
As the company continued to grow, Samuel firmly believed that no matter how much of the boss's attention was directed toward robots, military weapons, or other projects, the development of the human body itself would never be neglected.
All power belongs to oneself.
That was not just a slogan.
Unless the boss intended to abandon his flesh-and-blood humanity and turn himself into some bare steel machine instead.
And that, Samuel would never believe, not even if you beat him to death.
He knew very well that his boss would spare no expense when it came to developing human superpowers.
And in the end, creating an artificial god might not even be impossible.
The more Samuel saw, the more he began to suspect that the gods of ancient mythology might simply have been the products of rare genetic mutations.
Just like the man now being dragged into the laboratory like a dead dog right in front of him.
If such a person had appeared in ancient times, would he too have become one of the gods worshipped by mankind?
Zeus, perhaps.
Or Poseidon.
At that moment, the idea of creating a god burned even stronger in Samuel's heart.
...
Meanwhile, after Killian had people take the woman to rest on Sublevel One, the female researcher assigned to clean her body found her identification card.
Jessica Jones.
That was basically complete confirmation of Killian's guess.
But by that point, it no longer really mattered to him. After all, Jessica's biological samples had already been collected. If he wanted, he could produce thousands upon thousands of clones of her immediately.
So after confirming her identity, Killian returned to his villa in full satisfaction and settled down for a quiet night of rest.
...
The next day.
Under the bright glow of fluorescent lights in a room lined entirely with white walls, Jessica Jones, who had fallen into a deep unconsciousness from exhaustion and mental strain, instinctively raised one arm to shield her eyes and tried to go back to sleep.
But the unfamiliar atmosphere of the room and the lighting, so completely unlike her own surroundings, jolted her fully awake.
She sat up and looked around.
Aside from the hospital-like bed she had been lying on, there were several medical instruments nearby.
No one else was in the room.
Jessica immediately sensed that something was wrong.
Her clothes had been changed.
Her whole body had clearly been washed thoroughly. The layers of grime that had built up over the past few days while she was constantly fleeing Kilgrave, the Purple Man, had all been cleaned off. She was so clean now that even she could hardly believe it.
Even though she did not know exactly what situation she was in, she had already developed an extreme instinct for caution after being hunted by Purple Man for so long.
Right now, all her instincts told her to be careful.
So she casually snapped off one of the metal chair legs from a nearby stool, gripped it tightly in her hand, and only then began to slowly move outside.
Unexpectedly, there were no guards waiting for her outside.
Could it be... that she was wrong?
Had someone actually saved her?
That question rose in Jessica's mind.
If she remembered correctly, she had been stopped by that convoy before she lost consciousness. So if she was now in a place that looked like a hospital, then there were only two possibilities.
Either the owner of that convoy had rescued her.
Or Purple Man had imprisoned her again and was playing some new twisted game.
That would hardly have been surprising anymore.
To hunt her down, Purple Man had done things like that again and again. More than once, after catching her, he had staged elaborate situations, forcing her to save people, deal with kidnappings, stop bombs, and all kinds of other scenarios. In his mind, it was all proof of love. He would commit every crime imaginable for her sake, then force her to defeat him and save the civilians so he could act as though he was helping her fulfill some kind of superhero dream.
There had been far too many such incidents.
By now, Jessica simply saw him as a complete psychopath.
But she had never had any real way to deal with him.
His power was too broken.
If she got close, she would be controlled. There was not much more to say than that.
And while Jessica was cautiously making her way forward, still thinking through everything, a Blackwatch patrol squad turned the corner and walked toward her.
At that instant, the scene from before she had blacked out came sharply back to her mind.
If she remembered correctly, it had been this exact type of heavily armed personnel who had aimed at both her and Purple Man at the same time.
"Hey, can I ask you something? Were you the ones who saved me?"
Since they were carrying guns but had not raised them at her, Jessica suppressed the violent urge rising inside her and asked as calmly as she could.
But the patrol squad did not answer her at all.
They walked straight past her and continued on with their patrol.
"They're just patrol personnel here. They won't answer any questions."
"If you want to know who saved you, then the one who decided to save you was my boss, Killian, chairman of Pioneer Technology. But really, there's no need to dwell on it. It was only a very small favor."
"As far as Pioneer Technology is concerned, we exist to give back to the public, serve the public, and strike against all forms of injustice."
"And if what you're really worried about is who changed your clothes, you can rest assured. Our female nurses handled that. No one violated your privacy."
Just as Jessica was about to follow the patrol squad and demand a proper answer, Samuel appeared with two Blackwatch soldiers at his side and addressed her with a smile.
"Thank you for saving me. I want to ask... what happened to the other man from last night?"
Hearing Samuel speak, Jessica finally relaxed a little at the sight of someone who did not seem openly hostile, and she immediately asked what mattered most.
What she needed right now was to know exactly what had happened last night.
Because if Purple Man was still out there, then even with a hundred times more courage, she still would not dare go back outside.
That man had fixated on her.
No matter where she hid, he always found some way to track her down.
He had even used innocent people's lives to threaten her more than once.
The only saving grace was that he still feared causing too much chaos, so he had never acted with complete recklessness.
Otherwise, she had no idea what she would have done.
"The man you mentioned has already been taken into police custody on multiple charges of murder and attempted murder. Don't worry. Under the newest laws, the best possible outcome waiting for him is to serve as a test subject in drug trials for various pharmaceutical companies, and then die. There is no other possibility. You'll never see him again."
Having already investigated Jessica's background in considerable detail, Samuel answered her question with a calm smile.
(End of Chapter)
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