— — — — — —
Now that the concept of the "Three Days Rule" had been extinguished.
What remained was something akin to a natural treasure. But what could it actually do?
Yagokoro Eirin figured this might be the kind of research project where she'd have to add a question mark for now.
For now, though, one thing was clear: If you used this material in pharmaceuticals, it was basically a universal enhancement ingredient.
Missing an essential component in a formula? Just toss some in.
Hit a wall during development, even when the theory checks out on paper? Add a little.
Got stuck halfway through a project for reasons you can't explain? Yep—throw some in.
— — —
"So~"
"Improved physical constitution, enhanced endurance and recovery, and a chance of awakening psychic powers…"
Eirin opened the drawer beside her and pulled out a vial of the T-virus and a dose of its matching serum. She handed them over to Veyron, who had gone quiet after hearing all that.
"This basically checks all the boxes I asked for back then. But... can I get one that hasn't been tampered with?"
"At this point? The T-virus is about as dangerous as soda water to me. I don't need the kiddie-safe version anymore."
"Huh? ...Wait—you hit Tier Four?"
That one sentence was all Eirin needed to connect the dots—he'd reached the point in the Gene Lock trait where true transformation began.
"Yeah, Tier Four."
Veyron gave a simple nod.
One of the major breakthroughs at Tier Four was extreme resistance to all kinds of negative effects.
With mind and body now fully synchronized, even those who'd only trained their physique and lacked any special mental or spiritual abilities would gain incredibly high resistance to psychic attacks and soul-based interference.
He could now freely adjust his genes, clearing out any harmful substances in his body.
Terminal illnesses? Exotic viruses? Radiation from nuclear fallout? None of it mattered anymore. A Tier Four could shrug all of it off.
---
"..."
Eirin fished another set of the T-virus and serum from her drawer, complete with an injector.
Veyron took it, rolled up his sleeve, and gave himself the shot.
Just as expected, the virus—which would normally turn people into zombies—had zero effect on him.
In fact, he could even cleanse the virus from his body at will while keeping the benefits like boosted physique and accelerated recovery.
But more than the physical buffs, it was the psychic powers that really caught his attention...
[New Trait Unlocked: Psychokinesis (Lv. 1)]
[Psychokinesis (Lv. 1): The ability to move objects using only your mind.]
So it showed up as a trait, huh?
Looking at the new addition to his trait system's panel, Veyron tested the power output of Psychokinesis at Level 1.
1 kilogram… 10… 100… 200… 500…
It wasn't until he hit the 1-ton mark that he finally felt like he was approaching the upper limit.
Granted, this was just its raw power.
One of the major advantages of the Gene Lock was how its powers could stack and synergize.
By that logic—even though Veyron's psychokinesis was technically capped at one ton, thanks to his Tier Four-level micro-control, he could effectively lift hundreds of tons without breaking a sweat.
After a bit of testing, it didn't take long to rack up the 100 EXP needed to level it up.
His base telekinetic strength jumped from one ton to two.
"You done?"
Eirin could feel the chaotic storm of psychic energy in her pocket dimension finally calming down.
"Yeah," Veyron replied with a satisfied nod. "Way better than I expected, honestly."
"Great. Then while we've got a little downtime, help me prepare some materials. I'm just about out of the stuff 'borrowed' from the princess's room last time."
Eirin reached over to the desk and handed him a large flask—definitely at least a liter in volume. "There's still a little left from before, so I want to compare how the substances differ between your pre-Fourth Tier and post-Fourth Tier states."
"Oh, by the way, did you hit Fourth Tier while you were, you know, ██ with the princess those few days?"
Veyron's smile froze on his face.
"Too small?" Eirin frowned, then pulled out another identical flask from a nearby cabinet. "This should be enough, right?"
"...Yeah, more than enough," Veyron muttered, taking a deep breath. "You sure you understand how the human body works?"
Sure, with a Fourth Tier gene lock—enough to fully recover from near-death wounds using life energy or other power sources. So something like... "2 liters of semen" wasn't really an issue.
But who collects this kind of stuff in flasks measured by the liter?!
"Good, then let's begin." Eirin waved him off, unfazed by the grumbling.
Seeing him hesitate, she tilted her head. "Need me to leave the room?"
"No. I'm fine," Veyron ground the words out between clenched teeth, already halfway resigned. "Might even need your assistance a bit. Just a hand."
— — —
Some time later...
Eirin hovered just above the ground, and with surprising agility, she used her power to deflect any stray droplets that splashed her way, guiding them cleanly into a nearby flask.
The perfect, all-purpose "completion elixir" is ready. She even used it before to create the safe T-virus that Veyron didn't use.
"I thought you said it takes three days?" Veyron asked, confused, as Eirin calmly put her gloves back on, already heading back to her lab bench with a fresh T-virus vial and a still-warm flask like absolutely nothing had happened.
"That's only because the last batch I collected had already aged past the three-day mark," she replied, adjusting the ratios between the two ingredients with practiced ease. "Logically speaking, if aged samples still work that well, fresh ones should be even better."
It was pretty clear this wasn't her first rodeo when it came to modifying the T-virus with that new substance.
With practiced precision, she mixed up a new batch of enhanced T-virus—one designed to boost physical strength and awaken psychic powers.
But as she examined it with her innate perception, a slight frown tugged at her lips.
"…It's identical?"
After a moment of thought, she rolled up her sleeve and just… injected the thing directly into her own body.
"...Didn't you once say a responsible pharmacist should never test drugs on themselves?" Veyron raised an eyebrow, recalling her words from his last visit here.
"I said, 'Don't do it unless absolutely necessary,'" Eirin corrected, shaking the flask in her hand casually. "Want to try it?"
"…I trust you. You clearly know what you're doing," Veyron instantly shifted into Serious Mode. "I won't meddle with your research."
"So, feel anything yet?" he added.
"Hmm… It's strange. Feels exactly the same as the dose I took a few days ago." Eirin closed her eyes, concentrating on how her body responded.
"I thought mayb—"
She trailed off mid-sentence.
"Ha?"
A flicker of something stirred in Veyron's consciousness. Something… impossible.
His trait system interface suddenly lit up, and the keyword [Gene Lock (Gold)] pulsed with dazzling brilliance. [A new feature has been added.]
Veyron's eyes lit up, a wild idea taking shape in his mind.
"Hey, Eirin… you ever considered trying to unlock your gene lock?"
.
.
.