Chapter 85: Chemical Warfare

Hydrochloric Acid, a clear, colorless, strong, corrosive acid. Commonly used in industrial applications, such as cleaning metals, refining ores, and processing food, while also being used in household cleaning products.

Suijin thought back to the acid and the process that led to it flowing from one of the tubes connected to his left pinky fingers, opening and pouring the contents inside of himself as he prepared himself for his future actions.

"What can exactly go inside of you, do you know?"

The boy had to unfortunately shake his head in resignation when faced with a question from the devil hiding behind the face of Hatsume Mei.

His answer spurred the girl on to try to find his limits, appearing more overzealous than him in finding out more applications of his quirk.

From boiling hot water, Sulfuric Acid, Ethanol, Vinegar, to Mercury, Blood and even Nitroglycerin! Luckily or not, she wasn't that crazy to risk her life in these experiments, as she had what she called her trusty Converter.

A person named Satoshi, who had the apparent quirk of transferring liquids, gases, and even, in some circumstances, solids from one place to another.

Though that process required them to pass through him first, and that caused visible discomfort, whatever Mei promised him kept the boy together even as he risked his life for her crazy experiments.

Thus, the boy helped keep Suijin alive; thus, not only did Mei help him with his suit change and his new tubes, but he also learned new aspects of his quirk.

Feeling like the liquid had reached the room and was ready to be expunged, Suijin lined up his shot, moving the liquid from inside of him to the main channel, ready to be expunged.

'Like the fact that none of those liquids have any effect once inside of my 'Rooms' or my internal storage containers. Meaning if I can get them through my absorptive tubes from my fingers to my stomach, anything can be stored.'

Keeping his eyes steady and feeling the liquid reach the pressure point now waiting to be released, Suijin lined it up, aiming for the cement that was quickly growing and threatening to consume Shoji, all the while moving one of the newly discovered aspects of his quirk.

'I also learned that I can apply a manual 'filter' to remove certain properties from some liquids.'

Once the boy confirmed his aim and target, Suijin did the only other thing he had to do in this situation.

Shoot.

'Like remove the water from the diluted hydrochloric acid that I added in so that I could safely get into my system.'

As the acid made its way through the air, the torrent became wider and less pronounced than a normal thin shot. Suijin watched with anticipation, his goal not being to skewer Shoji's hands or the cement.

No, instead, his goal was the intended and achieved result of the liquid covering the cement and the result of that clash.

'When hydrochloric acid comes into contact with cement, a chemical reaction occurs that breaks down the cement's structure. Cement primarily consists of calcium compounds, such as calcium carbonate.'

'Once the acid begins to react with the calcium carbonate and other calcium-based components in the cement, the hydrogen ions from the hydrochloric acid react with the calcium carbonate in the cement. This reaction produces calcium chloride, carbon dioxide, and water.'

'Calcium chloride is a soluble compound that gets washed away with water. Carbon dioxide is a gas that escapes into the air and is sometimes visible as bubbles. And water simply contributes to the overall moisture. The breakdown of calcium carbonate weakens the cement's structural integrity. The cement will then crumble and dissolve as the acid continues to react with and decompose the calcium compounds.'

In simpler words, when hydrochloric acid touches cement, it sets off a reaction. This reaction causes another process that eventually weakens the cement, making it crumble and break apart. It's handy for cleaning cement or breaking it down in construction projects.

But with the way Suijin's using it…

The acid doing its thing with the cement covering Shoji's arms by this point caused the desired result of Shoji being free, and with the specially made blue gloves covering the masked boy, the acid didn't have the ability to interact with his skin.

'Obviously courtesy of me and Mei's thinking of how I can use this in the presence of my allies.'

The same couldn't be said for the Cement Hero, though, as with the acid getting through his structures quickly before he could react, a droplet of it landed on his skin.

'Hydrochloric acid is corrosive to skin, causing severe burns and irritation upon contact. It can penetrate deep into tissues, damaging cells and potentially leading to permanent scarring.'

Now Suijin didn't know how that would be when combined with a literal Cement Human, but it's safe to say the result wasn't too different from what he expected since Cementoss quickly manipulated the remaining cement to cover the hole that the droplet had pierced through.

Then he moved himself backwards, not caring for much else but to get away from the dangerous material.

Unfortunately for him, in his hasty retreat, he failed to recognize Suijin quickly pressing in his trigger, thus a ball of water was quickly coming towards his position!!

He couldn't even react with his mind having been so one-sidedly focused on getting away from that devise material.

As he prepared for the pain he expected to come from the bullet hitting him, he was surprised to instead find a…cooling sensation.

'Immediate rinsing with water is crucial to minimize damage with the acid, but medical attention may be necessary to treat burns and prevent further complications.'

Suijin looked at his surprised teacher's expression as the pain he believed Cementoss had probably lessened with his blunt shot of water that didn't have much power behind it hit him in his intended area.

The area where Cementoss had gotten burned.

"I won't be as kind next time," Suijin said to Cementoss just as Shoji had just gotten back to his side after the events that happened in less than ten seconds.

'I could have ended that fight, finished this test, and been done with it. But that's not how I do things.'

Illogical, Suijin knew, but if there was one thing he learned over the past few months, it's that things don't always follow a logical process, and his feelings and thoughts much less so.

Hesitance was the initial response he started with, which is why Shoji ended up in such a scenario, yet he didn't believe he could sit around while his teacher suffered injuries he didn't even know the proper effects of.

'If I win, I'll do it my way!'

Suijin communicated as much as Shoji's inquisitive gaze, and the taller boy shrugged, already used to the smaller boy's stubborn attitude.

They really were the best partners. 

Thus, with Cementoss's nod of understanding, the air turned stale once again as they prepared for another clash.

'Though I have to say that even with Cementoss's overpowering abilities, at least they were not in the worst exam possible.'