Gulp.

Levi-tan swallowed the gene sphere and felt a surge of overwhelming power coursing through her body, making her shudder. This was a strength she had never experienced, not even when she was still a beastman or when she had gone berserk as Leviathan.

Hadn't Eight mentioned that this gene was extracted from her own body? If so, the strength it provided should be less than what she originally had... Yet, to her surprise, the power from this gene sphere exceeded her original strength.

It didn’t make sense. How could something derived from her own body surpass the original? Levi-tan looked at Eight in confusion.

“Eight? I’m pretty sure I never shot beams from my eyes before… What’s going on?”

“I told you, I made some modifications.”

“Modifications?”

“Yes. The genes you originally possessed—the Leviathan genes—are, to put it simply, what you might imagine as the ‘ultimate beastman,’ right?”

Is that really how it works...? Levi-tan couldn’t quite agree, but she nodded anyway. After all, the scientist’s way of thinking had always been vastly different from hers.

Seeing her nod, the scientist continued, seemingly excited to explain.

“This gene sphere just amplifies that concept to the extreme. It brings out the ultimate version of yourself as you imagine it. Galm shooting beams from his eyes was something I directed him towards… And the scales that appeared on your body likely reflect what you subconsciously see as your ultimate form—perhaps inspired by something you’ve seen before?”

“…The ultimate version of myself?”

Indeed.

Levi-tan began to understand why scales had appeared on her body. Back when she was undergoing the L-series experiments, she had witnessed various beastmen, monsters, and creatures that had been implanted into her body, all right in front of her eyes.

One of those beasts, a four-legged creature that didn’t seem to belong to this world, had left a lasting trauma in her mind.

The scales on her body must have been mimicking that monster she saw back then.

“And you find it surprising that someone could shoot beams from their eyes, but there are actually many creatures that emit light from their bodies. From the famous firefly to certain deep-sea fish and even some small bacteria…”

The scientist started explaining how it wasn’t unusual for living organisms to emit light and how focusing that light into a beam wasn’t that difficult.

Of course, Levi-tan didn’t really understand any of this. As a former test subject who hadn’t even received basic education, she was barely qualified to pass the police written exam without Regalia’s recommendation.

Naturally, she couldn’t grasp the scientist’s explanations, but she could tell he was delighted as he spoke. Seeing him so happy made Levi-tan smile as well.

“Anyway, with this gene sphere, you can regain your old powers whenever you need them… So, do you plan to return to the police force?”

“The police?”

“Yes.”

Levi-tan hesitated, humming softly as she contemplated before shaking her head. It was true that she once wanted to save people.

But that was just to prove she wasn’t a beast, to show that she was needed by humans.

Now that she was human, she no longer felt the need to prove herself or to serve others. It wasn’t as if she had some grand sense of duty or mission.

‘Actually, instead of being a police officer…’

Sneak—
Levi-tan glanced at Eight.

Rather than saving countless strangers, it seemed more important to her now to protect the one person standing right in front of her.

Saving lives felt less rewarding than simply being noticed by that one person.

Levi-tan realized she could never return to being a police officer. Someone who values specific individuals over the general public isn’t cut out to be a cop.

“No… I’m done with the police.”

“Huh. So, you’re quitting the force?”

“Yeah, I’m quitting. After all, without that medicine, I’m just a regular person, right? I can’t go around saving people with a power that could disappear at any moment…”

All I need is you.
You’re the most important thing to me.
Levi-tan swallowed back the words rising in her throat and gave a light smile.

“It’s not like the boss is going to kick me out just because I quit being a cop!”

“Well… I suppose not.”

Seeing the scientist smile back at her, Levi-tan felt her body heat up again and thought to herself, Ah, I really am still a beast, after all. Just a beast through and through.

On the day Galm blasted away the heroes with beams from his eyes, he boldly uploaded a video of himself defeating them onto the internet.

The video caused an uproar among the Hero Association and various government organizations.

—A beastman using superpowers?
—And not just any beastman, but one with top-tier physical abilities?

Beastmen were considered a species born from the breeding of animals or humans with beasts that had awakened supernatural abilities in the distant past. The prevailing theory in modern academia was that beastmen’s superior physical abilities were actually a form of inherited superpowers.

The reason beastmen couldn’t manifest other superpowers was the same: just as no one could have multiple superpowers simultaneously, beasts that had already acquired the superpower of humanization couldn’t gain new abilities.

But now, Galm had shattered that theory by displaying abilities close to superpowers. This was a direct challenge to the evolutionary theories and all the established beliefs academia had built up over time. Naturally, it caused a massive uproar.

“What on earth is going on?”

“Could it be that this beastman is some sort of octopus-type beastman? Like how an octopus sprays ink, maybe he shoots beams from his eyes…”

“Do you really think that makes sense? He’s clearly a tiger-type beastman!”

As scientists rechecked their theories and various organizations began conducting human experiments on beastmen, someone knocked on the doors of the Evil Corporation.

It was none other than scholars from the Superpower Research Society.

“They said they wanted to collaborate on researching what you created?”

—Yes, that’s what they said.

After receiving the message from Regalia, Eight let out a low hum. Superpowers. Even though it had been months since he was stranded in this world, it was still an area of study that remained a mystery to him.

Sure, he’d been trying to learn about superpowers by reading papers and scouring the internet, but the knowledge he’d gained so far was no more advanced than what an undergrad might know.

The true “knowledge” he sought was heavily censored and hidden.

‘The Superpower Research Society…’

As the name suggested, it was a society dedicated to studying superpowers. A quick search on the internet showed that this society held a significant status. The fact that Regalia, who was trying to keep his identity hidden, was making a connection for him with this society showed how valuable she considered this opportunity.

She believed that establishing a link with the society was more important than keeping his identity a secret.

And Regalia’s judgments were usually spot-on. Despite her young age, her insight from running a major corporation for several years was on par with that of other major corporate leaders.

The only problem was…

‘…What I did wasn’t superpowers; it was just science.’

All he had done was make a slight modification to the Leviathan gene created by Omega Industries (so simple anyone could do it at home).

Pure science, with not a trace of superpowers involved. If they were suggesting a joint study based on what they thought was a superpower—

‘Hmm, wait a minute.’

After thinking for a moment, Eight realized that if he didn’t say anything, no one would be able to tell whether it was pure science or the product of superpowers. After all, sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from superpowers.

And if that was the case, it meant he could deceive them and take advantage of the Superpower Research Society’s knowledge without giving anything away in return.

‘Could this be… a goldmine?’

Having sorted out his thoughts, Eight immediately contacted Regalia, expressing his interest in participating in the joint research with the Superpower Research Society. Regalia then passed on his acceptance to the society.

The next day, a vehicle from the Superpower Research Society arrived at the front gate of the Evil Corporation.

“—Pleasure to meet you. I’m Swallon, the chairman of the Superpower Research Society.”

“I’m Eight.”

After shaking hands with the chairman, Eight gave a brief nod. The chairman, looking somewhat in a hurry, led him inside the society’s building.

As with most other societies, the interior was bustling with scholars who seemed like they would smell of ink and old books. The density of people likely wasn’t typical, and it seemed that they had gathered here specifically to meet him.

“There are a lot of people here.”

“Superpower studies are a popular field. Shall we?”

The chairman led him into the crowd and quickly began introducing him.

“Everyone, you’re all aware of the recent discovery of a beastman manifesting superpowers. I’ve managed to invite the scholar responsible for this breakthrough. This is Dr. Eight.”

“…Nice to meet you all. I’m Eight. Unfortunately, I’m not actually a doctor—I don’t have a PhD.”

At this, the scholars in the room started murmuring among themselves. But this was unavoidable. The fake identity that Regalia had created for him was meant to avoid attracting attention, so there was no reason to add prominent features like a PhD.

Well, if necessary, he could publish a paper later and earn a degree. The scientific knowledge in this world was so primitive that papers worth publishing were scattered all over the place.

After the brief introduction, the scholars’ eyes, now filled with skepticism, bore into him. Of course, I’d feel the same if I were them.

“—Are you really the one who made a beastman manifest superpowers?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“And you did it without a PhD?”

“It wasn’t as difficult as you might think. It just required a different way of thinking.”

Eight flashed a smile at the scholars and then pulled a small flask from his pocket. The flask was sealed tight on both ends.

Inside was a specially modified gene sphere—downgraded from the ones Levi-tan and Galm had consumed, designed so that Eight could choose which genes the person who consumed it would express.

“Well, I don’t intend to take up too much of your time. Everyone here is busy, right? The important thing is whether something works, not the long-winded theories behind it.”

“…You don’t mean to say that what you’re holding…”

“Yes, that’s correct. This is the elixir that made the beastman manifest superpowers. And, of course, it works on humans too.”

The murmuring among the scholars grew louder. It was hard for them to believe. In a world where the source of superpowers was still a mystery, could someone really create superpowers artificially?

Surely, they couldn’t believe this was anything other than superpowers.

“Since some of you might not believe unless you see it firsthand… I’m looking for a volunteer to test it. Who wants to try?”

“…I’ll do it.”

“Oh—Chairman, are you sure?”

“I have a superpower that makes me immune to toxins. Even if this were a radioactive chunk, I could digest it.”

“…That’s pretty impressive.”

I was curious about how toxin immunity could extend to radioactivity, but I decided to let that slide—

The chairman carefully took out the gene sphere from the flask I handed him. Staring at it with slightly trembling eyes, he gulped it down.

For a moment, nothing happened, and the chairman tilted his head in confusion.

“…Nothing’s hap—oh, oh!?”

And then, at that moment—

The chairman’s body began transforming into that of a dragon. Horns grew, wings sprouted, scales covered his body, and fire burst from his mouth.

Of course, he didn’t grow to the size of a dragon, so he looked more like a two-legged demon than a dragon, but still…

The chairman, now dragon-like, stared down at his body in disbelief.

“—It’s not a beam, but you can breathe fire from your mouth.”

“Let’s see…”

Fwoosh!
Breathing fire from his mouth, the chairman looked at me with eyes full of admiration. The other scholars around him shared the same look.

I smiled back at the scholars who were now looking at me with adoration.

Now was the time to drain every bit of knowledge they had.