Chapter 63 American scientific power is the world’s best!
Only the Beast Hunter can deal with monsters in this world.
That was a ‘common sense’ belief and an ‘immutable law’ created by the gods.
However, humanity, the weakest and the worst of all living creatures, flew through the sky without wings, dug tunnels without long claws, and moved through the depths of the sea without gills.
“The idea that only the Beast Hunter can deal with monsters… Hm… It cannot be considered anything but an outdated concept.”
“Oh, God…”
“The Wright brothers, the inventors of the airplane, Robert Fulton, the inventor of the submarine, and Charles Pearson, the inventor of the subway. All of them were treated as idiots or fools in their lifetime and faced public criticism.”
But.
“But! When they successfully turned the impossible into possible, people realized who truly deserved to be ridiculed.”
The underground hangar of the U.S. military base in Korea.
Danjo had brought Talisman there to show him a monstrous creature in a massive glass tube secretly transported from the mainland USA.
A human-shaped monster with various mechanical devices implanted.
A cyborg monster with iron cores and red skin grotesquely combined. Danjo continued to speak with satisfaction.
“Mr. Captain Talisman. Do you know what this monster is?”
“…Isn’t it a monster? A monster that should never have been created…”
“HAHAHA!! A monster, indeed! You are right! This is America’s strongest and worst monster! We spent nearly 100 years to create this one creature!”
“100 years…?”
That meant that for a century, America had been creating such monsters behind the scenes?
Area 51, Illuminati, Hollow Earth theory—America was a country always rife with conspiracy theories.
But a cyborg monster!
The most fictional and unacceptable conspiracy theory turned out to be true, causing Talisman to kneel on the spot.
He looked up at Danjo with despair.
“What… What have you done! Turning monsters into weapons… This is a signal of human extinction far worse than a ‘nuclear bomb’. Don’t you realize that?!”
“Whoa, relax, Mr. Captain Talisman. The technology still needs at least 300 more years of research before it can be practical, so it’s too early to worry.”
“300 years! Then, in just 300 years! Humans will be able to control monsters like pets?!”
General Talisman protested with all his might.
But it was like trying to undo a spill that happened a century ago.
“The U.S. military couldn’t have been involved in this research! If they were, I would have known! So the culprit is… no way?”
“Yes. It was the Hunter Association headquarters established in the mainland USA.”
The collaboration of the strongest country in human history and the greatest organization.
The fact that this monster before his eyes was their creation left Talisman utterly despondent.
“The monster weaponization project. So far, the number of modified monsters exceeds 1 billion. But the only successful specimen is this one before our eyes, the national disaster-level monster named ‘Alien Bath’ 48 years ago in America.”
“Alien Bath…? Is it the monster that massacred over a million civilians in California?! And you modified it into a weapon?!”
“Yes! As expected of a national disaster-level monster, it endured the modification! Thanks to that, we finally completed it last month after 48 years of effort!”
Doing such a thing with a national disaster-level monster!
Did the current president know about this?
Or did every president take this secret to their grave at the end of their term?
Talisman was just confused.
But it seemed the worst was yet to come.
“We plan to move this monster in a week.”
“…!”
“So, Captain, please ensure that all U.S. forces in the Korean base are moved to the outer perimeter by noon. Unless you want to see your subordinates killed by this monster.”
Danjo Maikri foreshadowed a horrific truth.
“…Does the Hunter Association headquarters in America know this monster will be rampaging in Korea?”
Talisman tried to grasp at any hope.
Chuckling.
“They’re more than aware.”
“…?”
“How could a mere congressman, not even the president, get this modified monster?”
“!!”
“They needed real combat data for the test subject, and we needed a monster to rampage. It was a ‘symbiotic relationship.'”
The hope Talisman sought was already a long-decayed rope.
***
Even though she had been in the shadows, Ria had directly taken the two rainbows of vomit.
Thanks to Princess Kurumi, who had cured her, as soon as she returned home.
“Oppa! Help me wash!”
“Huh? Sure.”
Ria sprang out from Sophia’s shadow and clung to me with a sour expression.
“Ria! Saying you’ll bathe with Shin-woo… I’m jealous… I mean, that will be too tiring for Shin-woo!”
“Sophia, I’m fine.”
“Oppa said he’s fine. Then I’ll bathe with Oppa.”
“Ugh…! Th-then who will scrub my back?”
“You can scrub your own back.”
Maybe she was still in shock from today’s events.
Ria clung to me tightly, refusing to let go. Even when Sophia grabbed her legs and tried to pull her away, she was so strong that I was dragged along with her.
“Tch! I have no choice. I’ll have to bathe with you too…”
“As if! I’ll wash Ria myself.”
It wasn’t like we were kids anymore.
I kept Sophia from joining us and headed to the bathroom with Ria.
“Come here, Ria. I’ll wash your hair first.”
“Okay.”
Ria, looking sullen, raised her hands above her head even before washing.
Since she had been right under the vomit, even if it hadn’t touched her directly, she must have felt it and wanted to wash quickly.
“Alright, I’ll shampoo you now. Close your eyes.”
“Okay!”
I followed Ria’s wish and started shampooing her hair.
‘This reminds me of when Sophia was little…’
Although she had become a formidable woman now, Sophia had been a crybaby who would shed tears at any chance during her childhood.
She would cry whenever separated from her family or me, so when her uncle and aunt were busy, I always had to bathe her.
‘Sophia and Ria both have short hair, which makes washing easy.’
Most women had long hair.
Since I had never washed long, lustrous hair, it would have been a bad memory if I had to.
In that sense, I should be grateful for the similar hairstyles of these two.
‘…If only her hair were longer, she would really resemble that kid.’
I suddenly remembered the young monster who looked like Ria, whom I had saved during the recent villain incident.
Though I hadn’t heard her name, she seemed to be Ria’s younger sister.
Swoosh.
“Does it feel good?”
“Yeah!”
Having finished washing her hair, I decided to cautiously bring up that incident with Ria.
Family matters should be known to family, after all.
“Hey, Ria.”
“Yeah?”
“What would you think if you had family?”
“Family? I already have one.”
“…? You do?”
“Oppa and Unni! And the uncle who gives me snacks and the aunt who cooks for us!”
“Ah, if you mean that kind of family, then yes.”
When had she grown so much?
Was this what a father feels watching his child grow?
The thoughtfulness in her words made my eyes moist for a moment.
But this wasn’t the time for that.
“Thank you. But I meant another kind of family.”
“?
“A real family connected by blood. Your real family.”
“Real family?”
At first, Ria seemed confused, tilting her head as if she didn’t understand.
But.
“Yes. Actually, I met someone who seemed like your younger sister.”
“S-sister?”
As my story continued, Ria’s voice began to tremble slightly.
Then.
“She called the lower half of a white monster, which was only legs, her mother.”
“…!!”
She jumped up, clearly shocked by the undeniable evidence of a blood relationship.
And true family.
Had she realized that she had a younger sibling born late from the same mother’s womb?
“Wh-what’s her name?!”
“Name…?”
“What does she look like? Does she really look like me? Can she talk well? Is she doing okay? Is she safe?”
“Ria, Ria, let’s start with one thing at a time…”
“I want to see her!”
Ria, her eyes sparkling, bombarded me with questions without giving me a chance to answer.
“First of all, her hair was very long.”
“Ooh…! A younger sister with long hair! I’ll wash her hair for her!”
“And her height… She seems smaller than you, Ria.”
“A younger sister should be smaller than her older sister! I like that!”
“And she cried a lot. She seemed very scared, and when I saved her, there was a slight smell of urine.”
“…! Because she’s a scaredy-cat younger sister, I, as her older sister, will protect her! But peeing in her panties because she’s scared is not okay! From now on, I’ll personally spank her bottom to fix that bad habit!”
…Actually, there’s a possibility that she’s an older sister.
But to Ria, the still nameless little monster had already been imprinted as her younger sister.
Thus, as she looked forward to meeting her younger sister someday, Ria’s red eyes blazed with a particularly intense fire today.