Tres fantasmas de la ciudad

Capítulo 31

Li Ming shouted joyfully, but no sound came out; he couldn't muster any strength at all.

At that moment, a tsunami of heat swept in like a tsunami.

Shouts rose and fell. Li Ming heard the sound of people running around in all directions. The air was unbearably hot, as if it were about to burst into flames, and swirling eddies with a rumbling sound.

What happened? Li Ming was panicked. What was wrong with those people who came to rescue him?

The shockwave from the explosion slammed into Li Ming's body like lava. Something heavy struck his lower body, and he instantly lost feeling in his legs. Perhaps he had been blown away; a man's scream echoed from somewhere in the distance.

"I can't take it anymore!"

"What's this!"

"He seems to still be alive!"

The sounds came intermittently. However, the sounds of flesh being torn apart and screams mingled together, drowning out the voices.

It was that guy who did it, Li Ming thought. That guy struggled desperately to control his own body, unleashing all his power and destroying the entire room.

No. Riming groaned inwardly. If this continued, the rescuers wouldn't be able to get the girl and Yoshizumi out of this room. He had to subdue that guy; he couldn't let more people die. Riming felt a surge of heat rising within him. To control that guy, he had to kill him. Let me do it myself! Let me do it myself!

"stop!"

Li Ming used all his strength to rush towards the living organism.

He felt the life force flinch for a fleeting moment. Liming cried out in his mind again, "Come here! Look at me, only look at me! I am your father! Come this way!"

The living being groaned and turned its attention to Liming. The hot air began to weaken, soon dwindling to almost nothing.

“I know your situation very well, and I know exactly why you have become like this. Come to me quickly, let me hug you, let me hug you.”

The organism clearly began to falter, its movements becoming sluggish. It opened its eyes wide, looking around, perhaps searching for its "mother," the mitochondria. But "Eve 1" was completely dead. Upon realizing this, the organism emitted its first unease.

Li Ming kept calling out, "Your body is about to fall apart, isn't it? You're in so much pain, aren't you? I know your situation well, because I'm your father. Come here, let me hold you, let me share your pain. You may really create your own offspring, but what about parents? You can't create your own parents, can you? Your mother is dead, you only have me as your father now, share your pain with me, think of me. Come to me, quickly, come to me!"

The hot wind subsided.

Section 77

Silence fell. The bell stopped ringing—or perhaps it was still ringing, but Liming couldn't hear it. The collapsing ceiling, which had been making a rumbling noise, stopped shaking. The falling concrete fragments seemed to have stopped in mid-air. All was quiet.

Suddenly, with a "whoosh," it moved.

"Slurp slurp," Hu Liming slowly approached.

"That's it, that's right." Li Ming encouraged himself while mentally opening his arms to welcome it.

It touched Liming's abdomen; it was sticky and warm. It began to envelop Liming's body.

Liming smiled gently and said to it, "Come on, transfer your pain to me, let us merge together, merge with my cells, then you won't be afraid anymore. You've always felt uneasy, you're distressed, the life you finally gained has been snatched away by another version of yourself, right? I know your situation very well. Come into my body, merge with Father. Quickly, what's wrong? Come into my body quickly."

Then, Li Ming felt his body melting like lava.

Its cells slipped through the gaps in Liming's skin and entered Liming's body. Liming's cells rubbed against each other, getting so hot they almost burst into flames.

Its sense of direction was rapidly disappearing; Liming had no idea what was happening to its body. Its cells were merging with Liming's, its cell membranes were combining with Liming's, its mitochondria were fusing with Liming's, and its mitochondrial DNA was mixing with Liming's. In the blink of an eye, its strength began to weaken. It was moving, trying desperately to survive, and the friction intensified.

Liming no longer knew what he looked like; the friction was intensifying so much that he felt himself burning, or perhaps he was flying with it.

It was releasing its last bit of energy. The air was constantly moving, radiating heat.

This was an incredible feeling for Liming, a kind of stimulation that he had never thought of or experienced before, and probably no other life form on Earth had ever felt it before.

Li Ming wondered, is this what they call evolution?

He felt as if he were in a completely different space. Enjoy it all. The joys and sorrows are utterly incomprehensible to unevolved creatures. They probably don't even know this feeling exists. Will humans evolve to this point soon? Will humans still be able to coexist with mitochondria then? Probably still in a symbiotic relationship.

Evolution, in essence, only occurs when coexisting with things completely different from ourselves. This other party might be a living organism, or sometimes the environment. Whether it happens on Earth, on another planet, or even within a cell is unknown. However, when humans can create new symbiotic relationships, they gain control of a more advanced world. It seeped into Li Ming's body, sticky and unsettling.

The wondrous sound ceased to be heard. In the silence, Liming and it soared together.

Its power was fading, getting smaller and smaller, until it disappeared completely and ended, Li Ming thought to himself.

The nightmare is over.

"Parasite Eve"

Chapter Twenty-Five

As soon as An Qizhongde opened his eyes, he saw a strange man.

"...You opened your eyes!"

The man was excitedly shouting at someone, and all he could hear was the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer.

Are you alright? Can you hear me?

A man dressed in white ran over, looked down at Anqi, and touched Anqi's face and body.

Ah, I'm still alive...

A thought flashed through An Qi's mind in a daze.

Suddenly, his daughter's name popped into Anzai's mind, and he snapped out of his daze, shouting Mariko's name.

"Mariko! Where is Mariko?"

"Please calm down. Don't move."

The doctor tried to stop him, but Anzai ignored him, his mind solely focused on Mariko's condition. He straightened up, feeling a sharp pain in his back, and frowned involuntarily. No, he couldn't afford to collapse now. Anzai realized he was in a corridor-like place with a huge crater in the floor and cracks in the ceiling and floor, looking like it was about to collapse. Then, Anzai saw a metal door a little further away, half-open and limply leaning to one side, with police and doctors bustling around.

I understand, this is the corridor in front of the dissection room. Several security guards, who appear to be injured, are lying on stretchers groaning around Anzai. Yoshizumi is among them, covered in blood, his right hand strangely twisted, but it doesn't look like a fatal wound. However, he doesn't see Mariko.

"Mariko!"

Anqi ran towards the dissection room, his knees throbbing with pain, almost causing him to fall, but he kept running.

As Anzi, panting, braced his hand against the door, he saw four or five paramedics carrying a stretcher out of the room.

Section 78

Lying on it was the completely naked Mariko.

"Mariko! Mariko!"

Tears welled up in Anzai's eyes. She clutched the stretcher tightly, crying out Mariko's name. But Mariko didn't move; no matter how much Anzai called, she didn't respond. Anzai pressed her face against her daughter's body, rubbing it repeatedly. Mariko wouldn't die; this absurd thing wouldn't happen.

"Mariko will be alright."

Someone was gently patting Anqi's shoulder. Anqi was startled, looked up, and glanced around at the doctors.

"……Really?"

"It's true. Although he's still in a coma, he's alive and has hardly suffered any external injuries."

"A doctor wearing glasses next to Anqi said. Upon hearing this, Anqi felt a surge of warmth in his heart, choked back a sob, and then tears streamed down his face uncontrollably."

"Ah...Mariko..."

Anzai hugged Mariko again, pressing his face against hers. Tears soaked Mariko's face, but Anzai held her tightly. Although Mariko's skin was a little cold, he could still feel her heart beating strongly when he placed his hand on her chest. Just as the doctor had said, Mariko only had a few scratches; it was truly a miracle. There was a scabbed-over bloodstain on Mariko's lower abdomen. Touching this bloodstain, the tears in Anzai's eyes became even hotter, and his sobs grew louder. Deep regret for not being able to protect what was so important to Mariko was causing Anzai waves of heart-wrenching pain.

"Dad..." A voice whispered in my ear.

Anqi sprang up.

Mariko slightly opened her eyes.

"Mariko..."

"Dad...I..."

Mariko twitched her fingers slightly. Anzai grasped the small hand tightly in both of hers, placed it against her face, and nodded in agreement while continuing to cry. Mariko's lips trembled, as if she wanted to say something.

"I...I..."

At that moment, with a "thump," Mariko's lower abdomen moved.

Anzai screamed. The surrounding doctors all looked on in astonishment. How could this be? Anzai felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. How could this be? Was the monster still alive? Was it about to bite through Mariko's body and emerge?

"Stop! Stop it now!" Anzai shouted. But Mariko grabbed Anzai's hand as he was about to fall.

She pulled Anqi closer, then placed her hands on her father's back and gently stroked them.

“Don’t worry,” Mariko said. “Dad…it’s alright. Don’t worry. This kidney…it’s…not moving anymore…because it’s now…my…kidney…my…” Anzai glanced at Mariko’s face discreetly.

A calm smile appeared on Mariko's face. Perhaps she was a little sleepy; she blinked her eyelids like a butterfly fluttering its wings, then quietly stopped and closed her eyes.

Anzai cautiously touched Mariko's lower abdomen, but there was no change there, only the scar from the transplant surgery and smooth skin. There was no indication that Mariko and Anzai were in danger. The transplanted kidney had now been assimilated into Mariko's body. Anzai thought to himself.

Anzai embraced Mariko again, a tender embrace filled with all his love. Perhaps Mariko hadn't yet forgiven her father for everything that had happened. Perhaps she hadn't fully opened her heart to him yet, but let's resolve these issues one by one. Living with Mariko, sharing joys and sorrows, sharing each other's feelings, until the day Mariko opens her heart to her father—starting now, their true life together begins now.

"...Alright, we're going to take your daughter away now." The doctor patted Anqi on the back.

Anzai desperately wanted to hold Mariko like that forever, but he reluctantly complied with the doctor's request. Mariko's stretcher was taken away.

The stretcher turned down the corridor and disappeared from sight. At that moment, Anqi remembered someone else.

"What's that person like?" Anqi asked a policeman next to him. "The donor's husband... his name is Nagashima?"

"ah……"

The policeman looked worried. Anqi suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

"What's wrong? What's wrong with Nagashima? Please tell me."

“…There.” The policeman groaned as he spoke, tilting his chin toward Anqi’s back.

Anqi turned around and gasped. There was a white sheet spread out, with a high bulge in the middle, clearly covering something. Judging from the shape of what was covered, it didn't look like a person at all. Anqi ran to the sheet. Behind him came the startled voice of a policeman. Anqi lifted the sheet.

"Ah ah..."

Anqi looked away.

A half-melted chunk of flesh lay there. It was only with great difficulty that one could make out it was a human upper body, the area above the chest. A hand reached out from the side, as if reaching for something; the skin of the arm had turned into a sticky, gelatinous substance. The entire head was charred, blackened, and shrunken. A substance resembling melted sugar flowed around the chest, spreading to the floor. The pungent smell of raw, burnt flesh filled the air.

What happened?

"...Please, bring Mariko here quickly!" Anzai shouted.

Everyone around turned around at the same time, looking surprised and wondering what had happened.

"What's wrong?" The policeman who had just run over said, "Alright, you're seriously injured too. We're about to treat you, so you'd better behave yourself..."

"Please, please," Anqi pleaded desperately. "Just this once, I'll do whatever you say from now on. Please bring Mariko back here. It'll be over in a minute, please, it really will be over in a minute." The policeman frowned.