I planted a sacred tree in Tokyo.

Chapter 496 This is a trial

"Number 00001, take your medicine."

In a spacious room—or rather, a laboratory—made of sturdy alloy.

A bottle of strangely colored medicine was handed to 'Poison Island 00001' by a robotic arm.

The girl took the medicine and tilted her head back to drink it without hesitation.

“Woo~~!!”

After taking the medicine, the intense stimulation rushed straight to the brain.

The stomach and intestines instinctively spasmed violently, trying to forcefully expel the medicine.

but:

"Swallow it, number 00001!"

The cold command from Professor Honjo echoed in her ears; obedience to that voice was etched deep into her memory. The girl endured the burning, nausea, and convulsions, clenching her teeth tightly to prevent the medication from surging up.

After a few seconds, maybe a dozen seconds, or maybe a few minutes, the body's instinctive resistance will eventually give in, or rather, it will give up the resistance.

"Cough cough cough,"

The girl kneeling on the ground was gagging, and the people observing everything through the surveillance equipment nodded in agreement.

"Bloodline fusion potion No. 0246 was successfully administered."

"Great!"

"As expected of Professor Honjo,"

Apart from the leading silver-haired professor, the other researchers showered him with compliments.

"If it is a normal superhuman, absorbing someone else's serum will quickly become ineffective due to rejection."

However, the 'poison islands' in this laboratory all have genes from the same mother, and their physical similarity is even higher than that of twins. After losing dozens of 'poison islands', they finally mastered the method of making a 'poison island' absorb the serum of other experimental subjects.

What may seem like a simple bottle of medicine is actually the result of their collective wisdom!

"Through this method, the bloodline power of a large number of test subjects is concentrated on a single target, thereby..."

Impact the Eye of God!
While several scientists were discussing the matter, a young girl, supporting herself on the ground with her hands, was murmuring to herself in a barely perceptible voice in the laboratory.

"Having endured three thousand nights of asceticism"

"I will act like a ninja."

Bang! !

"The Samadhi of Subduing the Three Worlds";

The girl slammed her fist into the ground, causing the room, made of alloy, to tremble violently.

"good."

Seeing the small 'dent' in the metal floor beneath the girl, Professor Honjo nodded and then gave the order.

"Begin the lightning strike experiment."

"Yes!"

"Number 00001, stand at the starting point."

In another long laboratory, Poison Island, numbered '00001', walked up to the familiar yet unfamiliar runway.

It felt unfamiliar because it was her first time stepping into this place.

It's familiar because sixteen 'poison islands' have already fallen on this road.

"Once I give the order to 'run,' you must run along the track in front of you and reach the finish line on the other side of the room."

After speaking in a calm voice, the elderly professor gave the order without pausing.

"run!"

brush,

The girl swung her arms and sprinted forward along the track.

Of course, the experiment is definitely not that simple:
crackling and popping

Lines of electricity, as thick as a finger, suddenly leaped and spread across the track!
"Woo——"

The girl who ran across the track immediately suffered damage from the electric current due to the 'step voltage'.

Visible electric sparks crackled across her skin; had she not already entered the ranks of the superhumans, she would have been dead by now.

Crackling, crackling~~
Because of the electric current constantly jumping through his body and causing his muscles to twitch, Busu Island 00001's speed slowed down uncontrollably.

"Run at full speed, don't stop."

The command in his ear made Poison Island 00001 grit his teeth and try to take a step forward.

And the intermittent mutterings between his teeth,

"Through this ascetic practice for three thousand nights."

"I will act like a ninja."

Bang! !

"Swift as the wind;"

The girl stomped her foot, braving the dense electric current, and suddenly accelerated, as if the lightning had become the driving force propelling her forward.

"very good,"

"Just as I guessed,"

"Poison Island cells have a high affinity for 'lightning'."

"This is the limit of current that clones can withstand, which was achieved only after losing more than a dozen 'test subjects'."

Seeing all this through the monitoring equipment, the doctors in white coats nodded slightly as they talked.

With sufficient experimental samples, all previous hypotheses can be directly put into the verification stage: as for the resulting deaths, isn't that normal attrition?

Although the number of the 'poison island' that caused the loss was over three digits, it was still just an 'expensive guinea pig' worth 1800 million; compared with their gains, it was completely insignificant.

Furthermore, as the technology matures, the price may even decrease further in the future.

At the same time, in order to prevent any accidents and to win over a certain person, the island nation's government has also gone to great lengths.

"Number 00001, proceed to Combat Room 4."

After a group of medical personnel examined and treated him, 00001 Poison Island rushed to another metal room.

In this room, an exoskeleton powered armor stands quietly: its cold, hard composite armor and two menacing six-barreled Gatling guns on its arms are enough to make anyone who understands the power of modern weapons shudder.

Defender V.

In addition to two machine guns, it is also equipped with eight heavy weapons such as armor-piercing rounds and stun grenades;

It can link drones and robotic dogs to form a three-dimensional firepower squad.

In terms of attack power, it is definitely not weaker than a typical wolf-level wolf.

Of course, it is much worse in terms of mobility and concealment, and it is also very expensive, making its cost-effectiveness completely negligible.

However, it's not bad as a 'combat power unit' for testing purposes.

"Number 00001,"

"Destroy this exoskeleton powered armor."

At Professor Honjo's command, the girl wielding the long sword charged toward the exoskeleton power armor!
Da da da da da! !

The power armor, of course, wouldn't sit idly by. It raised its two Gatling guns, locked onto the girl's figure, predicted her movement trajectory, and unleashed two 'steel whips' that fiercely tore at her.

"Having endured three thousand nights of asceticism,"

"I will act like a ninja,"

As she muttered to herself, the girl suddenly changed direction, tracing a series of 'Z' shaped lines in the room.

"Crush all difficulties."

tear-

Amidst the ear-piercing metallic scraping sound, the high-speed rushing Poison Island 00001 sliced ​​through six gun barrels with a single strike!

However, the pilot of this power armor was no pushover either. He immediately released the Gatling gun, threw the broken weapon at the opponent, and simultaneously drew another one with his other hand.
stun grenades

boom! ! !
While the two sides were locked in a fierce battle, in the control room, Professor Honjo, the Superintendent of Police, and Ms. Kiyama were welcoming a guest.

People who are willing to participate in this experiment and also willing to cooperate with the government.

"Miss Hongo, please take a look."

The life-or-death struggle between Toxic Island 00001 and the power armor on the screen is merely a 'seller's show' to demonstrate the results to customers.

"This is a clone we created using cells from Toxic Island."

"After a series of training and strengthening, I now possess wolf-level strength."

"If you are interested in participating, we will prepare a brand new project for you: extracting 'spiritual power' from clones, which is the result of our research." That's right, this 'Poison Island Legion' experiment is all about quantity—as long as these clones all have spiritual power, and then this spiritual power is concentrated into one person using 'scientific' methods; even if they cannot awaken the 'Eye of God,' they can quickly create a Tiger-level or even Demon-level extraordinary being!

Of course, this is only the ultimate goal of the experiment, and we are still in the exploratory stage.

However, this did not prevent the government's Superintendent General of Police from making empty promises to Hina Hongo.

Hina Hongo, the president of the Kengan Association, has a wide circle of friends and extensive connections. Most importantly:

She's a demon-level powerhouse!
The island nation's government wished it could bring all the demon-level powerhouses under its control.

However, this is unrealistic. Not to mention that the Ghost-level powerhouses are already 'enemies of a nation,' most of them have their own forces and their relationships are intricate, which makes the government hesitant to take any rash actions.

Now that they have encountered a Ghost-level powerhouse willing to 'cooperate', the government is naturally overjoyed.

Even the core of the 'Eye of God' project was presented as a token of sincerity—of course, as of now, the 'Eye of God' is still nothing.

However, they have already made some progress in cloning enhancement technology.

"Not bad,"

With her pink, shoulder-length hair and starry eyes, the girl looked like a well-behaved high school student, but her words were laced with sarcasm.

"Only your government can conduct such efficient research."

Hina Hongo's organization used to be a religious group that started by conducting 'human experiments' and 'poison gas research'; but compared to the government, it was completely insignificant: only the government had the ability to assemble the top experts in various fields in this underground laboratory.

Not to mention the 'Poison Island' legion of thousands!
"cough,"

The superintendent could only manage a forced smile in response to the praise.

Professor Honjo, however, didn't care at all; for him, there was only the experiment.

"How is it, Miss Hongo?"

"Although you have top-notch talent and are also very lucky."

He met that person's sister before the arrival of the superhumans; he was also among the first group of people to become superhumans. Although he rarely appeared in the public eye, the 'Kengan Association' he held brought together almost all the secret power of Tokyo's elites, making him incredibly powerful!
His own strength is also astonishing, as evidenced by his ability to reach the Demon level.

"It's almost impossible to go any further."

If we say that the Ghost level is an insurmountable chasm between countless 'mortals' and 'geniuses'.

The difference between the Dragon level and the God level is almost like the difference between a human and a god: which of the Dragon level beings we know of today is not a descendant of a god with a noble bloodline?
"Miss Hongo, don't you want to take things further?"

Faced with Professor Honjo's blatantly seductive words, Hina Hongo smiled slightly.

"It sounds interesting,"

Recalling Xiaoqiong's words, if the goal is to become the 'strongest creature'—

"It seems pretty good."

!

The Superintendent of Police and Professor Honjo exchanged a glance, both showing delight on their faces.

With this powerful ghost-level expert involved and overseeing the operation, their chances of success increased dramatically.

Only the female police chief, whose surname was 'Kiyama', looked at the screen alone: ​​the battle was over, and the battered 'Poison Island 00001' stood with his sword, having won the victory.

It seemed as if she had defeated her opponent alone, but in reality, it was the power of more than six hundred 'poison islands'—those poison islands that were used to test various resistance limits and refine 'potions'. They had only been in this world for a short time before they collapsed in the testing grounds.

Sorry,
Superintendent Kiyama closed her eyes.
She was merely a participant, neither a leader nor a researcher.

Open your eyes again,
Looking at the girl receiving treatment on the screen, a hint of determination flashed in the female police chief's eyes.

At least,

I hope you can make it to the end.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

As the sun sets...

Even the secret underground laboratory has entered a period of 'rest'.

"Numbers 03000-04000 of Poison Island, please proceed to the cafeteria for your meals in an orderly manner."

In another area of ​​the laboratory, a line of 'poison island' workers were heading to the cafeteria.

These girls were all exactly the same, in terms of height, hair color, clothes, and even their 'memory'; although each of them was a young and beautiful girl, they gave off a mechanical, wooden, and dull feeling.

Like goods on an assembly line, they go into the cafeteria to eat, and then return to their respective cramped 'beds' to sleep.

Do clones dream?

This is a topic that researchers in this laboratory discuss in their spare time.

It's unclear whether most of the 'Poison Island' members dream, but Number 00001 definitely does, because in her dreams:
"Master Hyakuchi, this is the content of today's trial."

Number 00001, Dushima, knelt on one knee and reported to the person wearing a straw hat in front of him.

“You did a good job, Ninja.”

A deep voice came from under the straw hat.

"But be careful, a 'Jonin' has come to the village today. Remember not to reveal any weakness in front of her."

"Yes, Master!"

in dreams,
No. 00001, Poison Island, nodded in acceptance.

Since meeting this 'Master Hyakuchi'
She has come to understand that everything she has experienced is a 'trial'.

In order to become a 'ninja', one must first 'endure'!
Whether it's physical or mental.

but:

"Master Momochi, you said that only by embarking on one's own ninja path can one become a ninja. May I ask—"

The girl looked up, her eyes filled with the blankness of a baby.

What is my ninja way?

"I don't know, Ninja."

The mysterious man, who called himself "Master Hyakuchi," remained silent for a long while before slowly speaking.

"The so-called ninja way is a belief that ninjas develop during the process of training ninjutsu."

"When you find your own 'ninja way,' you will be able to stand on your own, step out of this 'God-Eye Ninja Village,' and go—"

"Do whatever you want to do."

Until then, we must be patient.

Their mere wolf-level strength was utterly powerless against the government.

Moreover, the arrival of a 'Demon-level' expert to participate in the experiment has made 'Master Hyakuchi' even more anxious.

But what can she do?

She could only teach Busu Island 00001 in the time of her spare time within this 'dream'—or even just one, because she also had to constantly use the dream to copy the memories of other 'Bull Island's' who had just left the incubation chamber.

"Remember, ninja."

Never give up or get discouraged.

"Endure all suffering until you find your own 'ninja way'; then you will become a ninja and receive the title of 'master' from me."

"Yes, Master Momochi!"

As today's 'reporting' came to an end, the dream began to dissipate.

"Uh~~"

In a certain room,
The female police chief sat up from the table.

She rubbed her temples, and the weariness on her face became even more pronounced.

Ultimately, she was just a powerful wolf-level superhuman with almost no combat ability.

"Number 00001. Ninja Disciple".

In order to keep the original clone alive, she fabricated a series of lies.

It was all so that that person could find their own path, instead of being a puppet who obeyed orders.

As for whether doing this was meaningful or just a 'hypocritical act' to comfort herself, Superintendent Kiyama was unwilling to think about it and had no way of judging.

Because that's all the power she has.

thud,

Fall back onto the bed.

The exhausted policewoman fell into a deep sleep, but even in her dreams, her brows remained unconsciously furrowed.

Despite being a user of the 'Dream Eater' ability, he is unable to fall asleep peacefully.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: I caught a cold, which is affecting my condition a bit.
(End of this chapter)