— — — — — —
Half-ghost, half-yokai, all of it gathered within one human body.
Yuyuko Saigyouji, now in her ghost form, stood in the courtyard, calmly swallowing a shimmering vial of liquid. Across from her, one human and one yokai silently watched.
A few moments passed.
Yuyuko opened her eyes and glanced weakly at Veyron. "...Feels like... I'm still just a little short..."
"Totally normal," Veyron replied, casually pulling out a second bottle — identical to the first — and floated it over to her with a flick of his fingers.
"One bottle was created to push someone with a third-tier gene lock to early fourth-tier. You were only second-tier before, remember? Drink this one too and you'll be caught up."
"Oh, okay."
Yuyuko took the bottle, popped the cork, and drank it all in one go.
This time, her gene lock surged smoothly past the threshold — now firmly in the early fourth stage.
Cherry blossoms began to swirl gently around her, drawn in by her new power. She caught a petal between her fingers, sensing the death energy flowing through it.
As she marveled at her own growth, Yukari Yakumo smiled… though something like a quiet pang of emotion stirred in her heart.
And then—
"What are you spacing out for? It's your turn." Veyron floated another vial right up to Yukari's face.
"...You're just giving this to me? Just like that?" she asked, eyebrow raised as she took it.
"Wanna hear the truth or a lie?" Veyron asked with a smirk.
"…Let's start with the truth?"
"The truth is, ever since Yuuka informed you about what this stuff does, you've been seriously tempted. But you kept worrying I'd use it to make you owe me or force you into some deal. Still, after weighing all your options, you came to me willingly. All things considered, you are still a friend and ally, so no problem giving it to you."
"And besides—" He gave her a thumbs-up. "I don't get to see that many expressions from you. Watching you agonize over it was pure entertainment."
"...And the lie?"
"The lie is… so long as you remember that I can reclaim the potential of your gene lock from any distance, no matter how far away you are—then the higher your gene lock level is, the more it benefits me. It'll be your main skill, and I control it."
Yukari: "..."
Confirmed.
No 'truth or lie' nonsense. Just the truth.
What he called a lie is 100% the truth.
Then with a resigned shrug — and the classic 'I already owe too much, what's one more' attitude — Yukari knocked back the entire vial in one gulp.
Her own gene lock rose to early fourth-stage.
And then—two more bottles floated down in front of her.
"…You're being real generous with her. Should I just hand over her ownership rights to you already?" Yukari muttered, clicking her tongue. She didn't even have to ask who the next two vials were for.
She remembered the last time Veyron came to her, holding a tube of the T-Virus, saying: "Was just about to give my fox a shot, so I figured I'd give a dose for yours too."
"Huh?"
"That jealous tone... You do realize you're talking about your own shikigami, right?" Veyron gave her a look. "Anyway, I need to warn you about something first. Right now, she's technically inhabiting the body of that yokai fox with nine large tails."
"I'm sure the potential will go to Ran Yakumo, your shikigami — not the nine-tails fox — but if a soul devil flares up, there's a chance nine-tails fox's will could stir up trouble."
"Got it. I'll handle it."
Yukari reached out through her shikigami contract to contact her servant.
Before long—
A gap opened in space, and out stepped Ran Yakumo, hands folded neatly in her sleeves.
"Lady Yukari. Lady Yuyuko. Lord Veyron…"
Ran gave a polite nod to each of them in turn.
Yukari waved her hand, and the two vials floated over to Ran's side.
There was no need to explain what they were. Yukari simply passed the relevant knowledge directly into her shikigami's mind with a single thought.
"Wait—this can push me all the way from second-stage gene lock to early fourth?!"
Ran's eyes lit up. She'd already experienced firsthand how powerful the jump from stage one to two was — the thought of skipping straight to four blew her away.
She quickly turned to Veyron and bowed deeply in thanks.
A short while later…
"She seems fine so far," Yukari said after checking Ran's condition, now that her gene lock had advanced to early fourth-stage.
"Even if the nine-tailed fox's will did somehow turn into a full-blown soul devil," she muttered, "no way that would trigger this early, right?"
Veyron just stared at her, speechless. "It won't happen that fast unless…"
"Unless what?"
"Unless she's the protagonist of a Chinese novel."
"..."
— — —
Back in his home, Veyron opened the group chat and pinged everyone:
『Lady Avalon』: "What's up, Veyron?"
『Earth's Cancer』: (Secretly observing.jpg)
『Ghost Spider』: Secretly observing +1
『Ordinary Human』: "Nothing wrong on my end — just wondering if you guys are free to meet up. Let's pick a time and place."
『Earth's Cancer』: "Anytime works for me."
Ever since Chika came clean with her grandfather and the rest of her family, she'd been given complete freedom of action.
Back then, whenever she traveled to other worlds, she had to use the space-time gap feature just to pause time back home.
Now? Even if her school or her friends — like Kaguya Shinomiya, Tsumugi Kotobuki, or Ritsu Tainaka — couldn't reach her and called the Fujiwara house looking for her, her grandpa would actually help cover for her.
Of course, that didn't mean she'd slack off and skip opening space-time gaps. If you can save yourself some trouble, why not?
After Chika replied, everyone else started chiming in too.
Aside from Merlin, who was currently giving Artoria a lesson in Hancock's world, the rest were all free.
『Ordinary Human』: "Alright then. @Lady Avalon, you go ahead and post a mission — everyone else, just gather over at her place. I've got something good for you all."
『Ordinary Human』: "And Hancock, if it's a hassle for you to leave, I'll swing by and bring you over myself."
『Snake Empress』: "That would be very helpful, thank you, Mr. Veyron."
『Earth's Cancer』: "Wait, wait — does this mean you got something new? Another OP skill like Gene Lock or something?"
『Earth's Cancer』: "But… I checked the Gacha panel. No new announcements or updates there."
『Ordinary Human』: "It's not new. Still gene lock-related."
『Ordinary Human』: "Eirin's research on gene locks made a breakthrough. She can now mass-produce a potion that can push someone all the way to early fourth-stage."
『Ghost Spider』: "Hold up. Did you say early fourth-stage?!"
『Hellish Blizzard』: "FOURTH STAGE?!"
『Catwoman』: "Here comes another OP boost."
『Ordinary Human』: "Yep. Early fourth. This is probably the last stage you'll be able to reach using external help.
『Ordinary Human』: After this point… it's all on you."
.
.
.