parasitism eve - Chapter 21
She created lips, and Li Ming loved them very much; they were two lips that Li Ming had kissed countless times.
Next, "she" created the breasts—soft, hemispherical breasts, with nerve cells clustering at the top to form protrusions. Creating a breast within the confined space of the incubator required considerable effort, but "she" was very satisfied.
The mere thought of being touched by Li Ming made "her" body tremble. Then, "she" caused the middle of her body to cave in, creating a vagina and uterus. The layers of folds and wrinkles were varied and would surely make Li Ming feel comfortable.
Finally, "she" stretched out a part of her body to create fingers. "She" touched the part she had created with her fingertips and reveled in the sensations it brought. Her erect nipples had reached their peak of sensitivity, and "she" breathed heavily, so that "she" could have intercourse with Liming at any time.
After the "separation," both of her "sisters" were still "alive." Since male hosts were worthless, the "sister" who had invaded a man's body had long been eliminated by her. However, the other "sister" was very important. One of the transplant patients was female. For her, this was perfect. If both transplant patients were male, she would have had to control them to search for ideal female hosts. Now, it was much easier and less troublesome. Although the host was only fourteen years old, which made her somewhat hesitant, she was ultimately a woman. Anyway, as long as she was a woman, it was fine. She could feel her "sister's" pulse. Like her past self, her "sister" hadn't completed the final evolutionary process and therefore couldn't change the host's form on her own. However, her "sister" could send signals to her. Therefore, she could accurately determine her "sister's" location. Currently, her "sister" had to continue living; otherwise, her plan wouldn't be successful, and her intention to register Saint-Mei with the kidney donation registry would be impossible.
Just a little longer. She will soon be queen. As she continued to caress herself, she felt elated about her plan.
She is no longer the host's slave. She is the conqueror. The cell nucleus will become a slave.
Section 51
She is now capable of giving birth to her own daughter.
"Daughter" must be a more perfect life form than "her"; "her" "daughter" is the Eve of the new world.
"Parasite Eve"
Part Three: Evolution, Chapter One
The sky was clear and cloudless.
Li Ming looked out through the huge window in the hall, admiring the view.
The azure sky of midsummer was gradually fading, turning into a tranquil pale blue. Although a trace of summer's heat could still be felt, the September sun was no longer as scorching as in summer, beginning to quiet down and bringing a touch of autumn. In the distance, a wisp of soft, veil-like cloud hung on the horizon.
The hall was packed with researchers and business colleagues attending the conference, all impeccably dressed in suits with name tags pinned to their breast pockets. In recent years, female researchers have become increasingly common. In the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology, the Japanese Society for Biochemistry is a large society comparable to the Japanese Cancer Society. The schedule showed nearly three thousand presentation topics this year. The venue changes annually, and this year it was the city where Toshiaki lived. This saved on travel expenses, but meant no opportunity for sightseeing. It was a bit of a disappointment, but there was nothing that could be done. Previously, the conference was usually held on a university campus. However, perhaps due to scheduling and the number of presentations, this year's conference would be held at a high-level event center in the city. It was past two in the afternoon. Since it was Sunday, it seemed that some of the scholars who had traveled from afar had already set off to explore the city.
The hall was still bustling with activity as numerous groups discussed their event plans. Needless to say, the conference was a place to present one's research findings, but also a place to hear new insights from other research institutions. However, one of the joys of attending was the opportunity to meet with fellow researchers whom one wouldn't normally see. Throughout the hall, people could be seen engaging in enthusiastic conversations.
Li Ming decided to grab a drink. He had already greeted several classmates and some researchers from other universities with whom he had previously worked. Of course, they had discussed many work-related topics, such as the handover of reagents and antibodies, asking connections to help students find jobs, and so on. For researchers, the academic conference was like a large social dance.
Liming's presentation has concluded, and several students also completed their poster presentations this morning. Liming was even invited to moderate one of the meetings. Soon it will be Asakura's turn to present his paper; if Asakura's presentation goes smoothly, then today's work can be temporarily concluded.
Li Ming opened the schedule and double-checked the publication topics and dates, which he had already verified beforehand. The schedule and conference synopsis had been sent to all members of the society before the meeting. As Li Ming read the synopsis, he marked topics that seemed relevant to his research and of interest to him with a red ballpoint pen. Many of these topics concerned the function and formation mechanisms of small cellular organelles such as mitochondria, as well as protein induction mechanisms. It was essential to understand what research results other institutions had achieved. Up to four o'clock, there were no publications that interested Li Ming. Now, with nearly two hours of free time, Li Ming decided to go to the area displaying mechanical equipment.
The exhibition of laboratory equipment was taking place not far from the presentation venue. It was also incredibly lively and bustling. Dozens of companies lined up their booths, displaying the latest laboratory equipment and reagents. The booths offering free samples were packed with people. Relatively speaking, Liming preferred the equipment exhibition. Because at the presentation venue, you'd think about things like exchanging pleasantries with the professors who had helped you. But when looking at the equipment, it was different. You could freely imagine: if I used this, wouldn't my experiment advance even further? It was truly delightful.
Li Ming inquired about the prices of the various exhibits as he slowly walked around the exhibition hall. If he came across a reagent that interested him, he would approach the salesperson sitting behind the booth to ask for more details, and sometimes he would even negotiate with the salesperson to request a sample.
When the exhibition was about halfway through, someone suddenly called out to Riming from behind: "Nagashima!"
When Liming turned around, he saw Shinohara Nobuo standing there with a grin, holding a paper bag that looked like it had come from some exhibition hall.
"Ah, hello! Your publication..."
"It's tomorrow. Nagashima, your presentation time unfortunately coincided with our clinic's presentation time, I'm so sorry I didn't hear it. I'm really sorry."
"Don't be so polite with me."
"After your article was published in Nature, I'm sure a lot of people read it."
"where……"
Liming and Shinohara walked together to the beverage counter.
The two people sat in chairs, each holding a paper cup of hot coffee.
After asking Shinohara to remove the liver cells from Seimi, Toshiaki never contacted Shinohara again, for which he felt somewhat guilty.
Liming continued chatting with Shinohara, making light of the matter while secretly praying that Shinohara wouldn't bring up the topic of "Eve 1." However, as soon as they finished their coffee, Shinohara indeed started talking about it.
Shinohara leaned closer and asked, "Nagashima, how are those cells from last time doing?"
"What was that last time...?" Li Ming tried to pretend to be confused and get away with it, but it was all in vain.
"It's no use lying to me. It's Seimei's cells," Shinohara said firmly. "So, what exactly were they used for?"
"…………"
"Is it being cultivated in a research lab?"
"Still alive..."
Li Ming reluctantly admitted it.
"Nagashima, I really don't understand what you're trying to do, but just stop now."
"……Why?"
“Taking your own wife’s cells is extraordinary in itself. Now I really regret helping you.”
Section 52
"So... you mean you just want to watch Shengmei die like that without saying a word?"
Liming couldn't help but shout loudly. Shinohara couldn't help but tremble slightly.
"Was I wrong? Was my desire to keep Saint-Mei by my side wrong? I have the ability to process Saint-Mei's cells. If it were an ordinary person, they could only watch helplessly as death came. But I, I can keep Saint-Mei alive. Why can't I use this technology? In fact, Saint-Mei's cells are providing excellent data. I will show you; it's truly remarkable results. Saint-Mei's cells are indeed making progress in the research step by step. Once the data comes out, it will be perfectly logical and legitimate."
"but……"
"Of course, it was my fault for not calling to thank you. When I submitted the paper, Shinohara's name was also..."
That's not what I meant.
Shinohara abruptly interrupted Toshiaki. Toshiaki, startled, fell silent.
Suddenly, Shinohara leaned in close, glaring at Rimei with sharp eyes.
“Listen up, Nagashima. I’m worried about what’s going on in your head. It’s rude to say this, but you were really strange back then. You poured all your emotions into those cells. Yes, they were cells taken from Seimei’s body. But that’s all. Stop there. Those things could never be a replacement for Seimei; they were just cells. You spent all your time playing with them, having romantic relationships with them. Wake up! If you could clearly understand the difference between the two, you could use as many cells as you wanted in the lab. But the way you are now, I can’t believe you can stay clear-headed. Give it up, stop dwelling on your memories of Seimei.”
"..."
That's all I wanted to say.
Shinohara sighed. Suddenly, his expression calmed, and he stood up. He waved the empty glass in his hand in front of Rimei and said, "Your student's presentation is at 5:20, right? I'm going to listen. Afterwards, let's go eat together."
"Parasite Eve"
Chapter Two
At 4:50, Li Ming headed towards the presentation hall. In the dark room, a young man who looked like a student was standing beside a screen, loudly explaining something. The room was filled with chairs, enough to hold about a hundred people, two-thirds of which were occupied by the audience. At the conference, many presentations were held simultaneously; about ten such small sessions were scheduled for today. Each session had a different topic. In the same hall, everyone presented their research findings on the same theme. A sign outside each hall displayed the topic of the presentation. Those who wanted to attend could freely choose the topic that interested them from the signs and go to that hall. Therefore, apart from symposia on a specific topic or lectures by renowned scholars—which were usually held in the main hall—most researchers presented their findings in these smaller halls to a select few dozen researchers who were genuinely interested in their work and wanted to hear them speak.
Li Ming quickly looked around the room and saw a familiar woman's back in the middle left corner. In order not to disturb the audience from listening to the speech, Li Ming bent down and walked quietly towards the woman, and sat down next to her.
"Teacher," Sachiko Asakura greeted softly.
"Is everything ready?" Li Ming asked, keeping his voice as low as possible so as not to be disrespectful to the speaker.
I'm a little nervous.
"It doesn't matter."
The room suddenly lit up. The presentation was over. Li Ming shifted his gaze back to the front.
"Thank you!" said the host, who was sitting on the right in the front row. "Now, please ask questions about the presentations. If you have any questions..."
Someone raised their hand, and the host pointed to it, as if to say, "Please."
The questioner and speaker stared at each other. At that moment, Liming deliberately observed Asakura's expression beside him. Indeed, as Asakura herself had said, her face looked unnatural, and she seemed somewhat nervous. However, Liming thought that perhaps there was no need to worry so much about her. He remembered his own first presentation; just a minute before it began, his entire body was stiff and rigid. But once the presentation started, it was as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders; he felt completely relaxed and spoke fluently, exceeding even his own expectations. Liming thought that Asakura had performed so perfectly during practice, practically flawless; she would definitely give an outstanding performance.
While the speaker on the podium made some slightly weak points in his answers, his overall performance was satisfactory.
After two or three questions were asked, the host looked around the room and said, "Well then, that concludes the Q&A session, okay? Due to time constraints, please allow me to let you hear from the next speaker, who is from the Faculty of Science at Nagoya University..."
A man sitting in the front row on the left, waiting to speak, stood up, and the next one after him was Asakura.
"I'm going." Asakura stood up with a slightly stiff smile on his face.
“I’ll carry your handbag for you. You can go up without worry,” Li Ming said.
Asakura walked toward the waiting area for the speech, head down, with his speech notes in hand.
The lights in the venue dimmed again, and the speaker began to deliver his speech.
Liming glanced around the room discreetly. Several students were sitting together, listening to Asakura's presentation.
Suddenly, someone patted Li Ming hard on the shoulder from behind.
It was Shinohara. He was sitting right behind Toshiaki. Toshiaki nodded at him.
"Where's Professor Ishihara?" Shinohara asked. He realized the professor wasn't in the room.
Section 53
"There's a party, the teacher went there."
"Oh no! I haven't greeted him yet!"
The speaker continued, but Asakura was looking at his prepared remarks, seemingly not listening. This was understandable, Toshiaki thought; for someone giving a presentation at the academy for the first time, even if they had memorized their notes perfectly, they would still want to double-check them a minute before speaking. Soon, the speaker finished, and it was Asakura's turn.
The host announced Asakura's affiliation, name, and the title of his speech. Asakura stood up.
"Your student has become more beautiful, hasn't she?"
Shinohara exclaimed in admiration from behind.
Looking at Asakura's face, Liming's heart skipped a beat. The nervous expression Asakura had shown when sitting next to Liming had vanished, replaced by an aura of confidence and strength, like a high-ranking official giving a speech in front of a crowd.
Asakura stood on the podium, her chin slightly protruding forward. She slowly surveyed the hall—as if displaying her authority to the audience, including Toshiaki.
Something felt off, Li Ming thought.
The host urged from the side, "Then, please begin."
Asakura nodded slightly, then picked up the microphone and uttered the first words: "The moment to liberate mitochondria has finally arrived."
"Parasite Eve"
Chapter Three
Liming stared at Asakura's face in surprise.