Extra-Sensory Parasitic Cells

“Big bro, let me bring him outside and beat him up.”

“No,” Gorou chided.

“Don’t I tell you to always watch that temperament of yours?”

It upset Daitaro when he heard this, but dropped his attitude.

They had inherited a bad temper that was a trait passed on in their family. Even the women in the family were fierce.

“Besides. You think I’m going to let them humiliate us with this?”

Daitaro became confused.

“What do you mean?”

“Hmm.”

Gorou thought a bit to make sure if it was okay to tell him, but it wasn’t a big deal.

“Rumor is there’s this experimental drug that the military has been researching.”

The topic seemed to have gone from point A to point C. Daitaro was the definition of brawn over brains so his eyebrows bending was a sign of his CPU overclocking.

“You saw that guy’s ‘magic trick’ right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“That military drug is a performance enhancer.”

“Hoh.”

“I didn’t think they’d get their hands on it quicker than we did.”

The higher-ups didn’t jump on board because they needed more information about this drug and if it was profitable. Since they’re primarily trafficking methamphetamine.

The drug was also hard to smuggle from the military.

The Taiwanese must have been trying to monopolize a new drug as they were lacking in that department because of the Yakuza’s capital on illegal drugs.

“So what are you going to do then?”

“I’m going to torture the information out of him then hold him for ransom.”

“Huh? Didn’t you say something about not starting a war?”

“I was telling you to think before you act and don’t do things without your boss’ go.”

“Ouch!”

Gorou knuckled his Lil brother in the head. He was over 2 meters tall while Daitaro was 1.8 m.

“If he really came here by himself. It isn’t a big deal. And look, he’s wearing a school uniform. He’s either a pup or an uninitiated wannabe.”

If Hikaru was the son of an important person, they wouldn’t have sent him to enemy territory. He wouldn’t be taking experimental drugs either.

The higher-ups don’t take the drugs they deal because of its addictive qualities. When you’re rich in a crime syndicate, you’re only interested in making more money, gaining more power and living a prosperous life.

Since having a stress-free and long life span was rare in the life of crime.

Also, a regular kid couldn’t afford it, so the only reason they gave him it is that he’s a test subject to make strong foot soldiers.

“But if he’s useless, then who would pay the ransom?”

“If no one does, I’ll just kill him.” Gorou grinned.

Even if the Triad gang members weren’t happy about it, the higher-ups certainly won’t allow a war to start. It wouldn’t be profitable.

The key thing is Hikaru wasn’t even worth a single ab machine in this gym.

Daitaro smiled as well.

“Hah! CAAHHH-”

“Oh, shit!”

They both turned to look at the commotion.

A guy was being crushed under a barbell on the bench. His arms were bent against it as he tried to lift it off. Some guys rushed over and lifted it for him. He was coughing and wheezing. Then he spat out that he needed the hospital.

The guys called the ambulance, and it came within 10 minutes.

They put him on a stretcher and carried him away.

Gorou shook his head outside the gym as he watched the ambulance leave.

***

Pectoralis major, trapezius, deltoids, serratus anterior, triceps, latissimus dorsi, sternocleidomastoid etc. Hikaru could feel the muscles that were damaged.

He could “see” the tears in the muscle fibers. He could tell the bones that were cracked and strained. Not only that, but he could see them mending themselves.

‘It’s like I can sense the structure inside me in explicit detail. As if I developed internal spatial awareness? Could it be…’

That time when Genkei, the parasite neighbor who came to his doorstep had touched the skin of his neck, he sensed that Genkei’s cells were not human.

‘So, my cells have become extra-sensory?’

This ability was possible because he was made up of parasite cells that mimicked human tissue cells.

Just like how his ears had morphed into hairless cat ears, the parasite cells have mimicked muscles cells, bone cells, skin cells and every other cell type that originally filled his human body.

The parasite cells have this ability to send Hikaru intracellular and intercellular environments as spatial data that is transmitted to Hikaru's brain and then reconstructed into a 3-dimensional image that he can scrutinize.

Hikaru sat on a leg press chair while he was waiting for his upper body to heal.

Hikaru’s body, as it is, was weak and wouldn’t handle large amounts of load and pressure.

Bodybuilders don’t just have bigger muscles, they have stronger bones, joints, tendons, and cartilages. The strengthening of the body takes lots of time and effort.

Hikaru was reinforcing his body by adding more biomass to his musculoskeletal system.

He strengthened his joints, tendons, cartilages and increased bone density. His wounds have healed over, and now he was waiting for his body to catch up with the exercise.

Meanwhile, he was eavesdropping the conversation outside.

***

“So how do you want to torture him?”

“You leave that to me. You’re grounded remember?”

Daitaro didn’t forget being grounded by his father and he had to get ready for the pop quiz tomorrow.

Although he could pass school with money, the father wanted him to be smarter for the sake of earning a leadership position in the Yakuza.

After all, half of their business was out in the public. They need some level of intelligence to run businesses.

Daitaro hoped Gorou would bail him out tonight for some ‘important Yakuza business’

“Ass,” Daitaro replied.

Daitaro peered into the gym through the glass wall and saw Hikaru sitting on one machine.

“I think he wants to fight with you. You think you can take him alone?”

He thought Hikaru might be dangerous since he could bench press as much as he can.

“He’s unarmed. Hmph. He’s still a small fry to me.”

Gorou could lift more than twice as Daitaro can. He had made one of the highest bench press records internationally.