Chapter 121: Since You Don't Want to Be a Man, Then Become a Woman
"So, just how twisted has this world's tech tree become...?"
In the medical room, Mahiro scratched his head as if troubled by the dazzling array of equipment, while Dr. Stylish, whom he had tossed onto the operating table, remained unconscious.
It was truly unbelievable. Despite being such a backward era, they could actually produce high-tech instruments comparable to modern ones.
And if he remembered correctly, the supreme Teigu controlled by the young emperor was a Gundam-like machine capable of firing lasers.
As for the security team, aside from cold weapons, some of them even carried automatic firearms...
All he could say was, absurd.
"Ouch... That's strange. Why did I suddenly pass out, and besides..."
Dr. Stylish slowly woke up in excruciating pain, only to find himself lying on an operating table.
Not only that, but Dr. Stylish also felt pain all over his body, as if he were about to fall apart.
It wasn't until he once again laid eyes on that exceptionally handsome youth that he suddenly understood.
"You bastard, what disrespectful things did you do to me while I was unconscious?! I wouldn't object if you wanted to do something, but why didn't you wake me up?!"
"..."
Mahiro almost lost his composure.
Do your sister, you freak!
Seeing Dr. Stylish clawing and scrambling toward him from the operating table, he merely shifted his footing slightly.
Thud!
Dr. Stylish immediately tumbled off the operating table.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch... You really are a heartless man. Why didn't you catch me?!" Dr. Stylish lay on the floor, adjusting his glasses, and looked back at him with a face full of resentment.
This damn gay!
Mahiro couldn't hold back any longer and immediately stomped down hard, making the filthy, disgusting gay man under his foot scream in pain.
"Listen carefully! First, I didn't do anything to you! I was the one who kindly carried you here, and this is how you treat your benefactor?!"
"Second, I'm not interested in men!!!"
With each word, Mahiro's foot pressed down harder, as if he wanted to crush the man beneath him.
"Ah... Ah... I get it, I get it. Please let me go. Don't stomp anymore. If you keep going, I'm going to break..."
Dr. Stylish let out a series of effeminate cries, so disgusting that Mahiro quickly moved his foot away.
Despite having the face of an uncle, he put on a pitiful "please be gentle with me" expression.
Unable to endure it any longer, Mahiro made a decision that went against his ancestors.
He pulled out his CAD and aimed it at Dr. Stylish.
"You... What are you going to do?" Dr. Stylish exclaimed in alarm at the sight of the dark gun barrel.
"Give you a sex change."
Mahiro's eyes were vacant as he coldly stated, "You don't like being a man, do you? So I'll fulfill your dream."
As he spoke, he pulled the trigger.
[Target body data analysis complete.]
[Initiating reconstruction of target body data.]
[Restructuring activated.]
[Reconstruction complete.]
After the flash of light, Dr. Stylish was astonished to discover a large bulge had formed on his chest, while his third leg had completely vanished!
"Eh?! I... I've actually become a woman?!"
She exclaimed, noticing her voice had become delicate and high-pitched. Even ignoring the physical pain, she frantically groped her own body with both hands.
Upon confirming she had truly changed genders, she lifted her head with intense excitement, an insatiable desire burning in her eyes as she longed to make contact with Mahiro. Like a fierce tiger, she lunged toward Mahiro.
"Boy, I understand now! You don't like men, so you turned me into a woman, planning to... with me..."
"Get lost!"
Mahiro showed no mercy, delivering a sharp kick to her stomach.
Dr. Stylish stumbled and fell to the ground, only for Mahiro to stomp on her once more.
"Even if you've changed from a man to a woman, I still don't like you."
"Ahhh, if that's the case, then why did you go through the trouble of turning me into a woman?!"
"No particular reason. I just wanted to make your disgusting behavior seem a bit more reasonable, so it wouldn't provoke such a strong physical revulsion in me."
Mahiro stated coldly, "By the way, you can go entertain yourself."
As he spoke, Mahiro pulled the trigger again, and a large assortment of pink and purple items scattered down onto Dr. Stylish.
Dr. Stylish was momentarily stunned.
These items... Although she had invented a few similar ones herself, the variety here was far greater than anything she had ever created!
Moreover, these were larger, thicker, and emitted strange buzzing sounds.
As if discovering the ultimate divine artifact, she excitedly scrambled up from the ground, grabbed the items, and eagerly prepared to try them out.
A few seconds later, Dr. Stylish was writhing on the floor, emitting muffled moans.
Mahiro had no interest in men, let alone a woman who had originally been a man, so he walked over to a corner of the infirmary.
He began examining the corpses of death row inmates that had been preserved as specimens in jars.
All of these were failed creations of Dr. Stylish.
Just by analyzing them with his "eyes," he could tell that this person's mind was indeed brilliant and formidable.
She might even be on par with Sumire.
Although she was a pervert, if someone like her could further enhance the potion, it might be possible to restore Maya's body.
Somehow, without realizing it, restoring Maya's physical condition had become one of his goals.
Perhaps it was just out of boredom.
After realizing this, Mahiro comforted himself with that thought.
"B-Boy... you, you're amazing! And the ability you used on me earlier was incredible, almost comparable to a Teigu! Are you... a Teigu user?"
Half an hour later, Dr. Stylish finally stopped convulsing. She slowly rose from the floor, though her legs were still a bit unsteady.
But whether it was the items Mahiro had given her or the ability he had used earlier, everything had left her utterly fascinated.
The idea of turning herself into a woman had long crossed Dr. Stylish's mind. Although she despised other women, that was merely due to the basic principle of "like repels like."
Dr. Stylish believed that someone as beautiful as herself ought to be a delicate, blooming rose.
However, after several experiments, she couldn't help but give up because the failure rate was too high, and even when successful, the flaws were significant.
This kind of transformation without any pain or defects was something Dr. Stylish had never seen before.
Instantly, a profound sense of admiration welled up in her heart.
Of course, this was natural—his surgery involved rewriting the fundamental logic of genes at their core. How could ordinary surgical procedures or drug stimulation compare to such a swift and safe modification?
But aside from that, Dr. Stylish still had some doubts. In her memory, among the forty-eight Teigu, only Gaea Foundation seemed capable of achieving such a level, right?
Yet it felt somewhat different?
"I'm not a Teigu user; this is just a little trick of mine."
Mahiro said softly, gazing at the female corpse in the specimen jar and asking, "By the way, are you working on an enhancement serum?"
"Exactly~ You can actually tell, Mahiro Boy~"
Dr. Stylish carefully treasured the toy, seemingly already accustomed to her current gender, and swayed her hips as she walked over with a graceful gait. Arriving in front of the large jar, she adjusted her glasses.
"Although I'm not particularly fond of it myself, this is a commission from the assassination unit. And all these in the jars are just failed specimens. My finished product will be much more effective than these."
"Oh~ Really?"
"Mahiro Boy, are you interested?"
Noticing a faint flicker in his eyes, Dr. Stylish directly extended an invitation: "If you're interested, you can come observe or even assist the next time I inject my adorable test subjects with the serum."
"Consider it my way of repaying you for these inventions of yours. How about it?"
"That would be truly welcomed."
A slow smile curled at the corner of Mahiro's lips.
Though the process had been somewhat absurd, the outcome was favorable—at the very least, he had managed to connect with Dr. Stylish.
Next time they met, he would probably get to see Akame's younger sister, Kurome, right?
After all, Kurome was also one of Dr. Stylish's test subjects...
However, not long after Mahiro left, a strange guest arrived at Dr. Stylish's medical room.
Clad in a pure black overcoat, he walked slowly with a slightly hunched posture that seemed somewhat eerie.
His appearance was particularly ferocious—not only were there several centipede-like scars on his face, but he also wore a monocle over his left eye in imitation of an English gentleman, though it only made him look more menacing. To top it off, he had a bald head.
At a glance, he was clearly a formidable figure.
He pushed the door open and found Dr. Stylish's delicate fingers seemingly fiddling with some sort of elongated instrument.
"Sorry, am I interrupting?"
"Oh~ So it's the head of the assassination department gracing us with your presence. For you to take the time to visit me, there must be something important, right?"
Dr. Stylish carefully put it away before turning to the newcomer and asking in surprise.
The Empire's assassination unit was a covert force established just a few years ago, pulled together by Prime Minister Honest and a man named Nishimiya. Their primary responsibility was training exceptional assassins to thoroughly eliminate rebel elements emerging within the empire.
However, the bald-headed minister of the assassination unit momentarily froze upon seeing Dr. Stylish, who appeared to have undergone changes and now carried a strong feminine aura.
But he quickly regained his composure.
He guessed Dr. Stylish must have conducted some experiment and applied it to himself?
Clearing his throat, he said:
"Ahem, Dr. Stylish, it's been a while since I last visited. Have you completed the body-enhancing potion I commissioned earlier?"
Dr. Stylish furrowed his brows and said puzzledly:
"Isn't it still early? You only proposed the plan last year—you should give me at least three to four years for research and development. What I have now is merely a sample with significant side effects."
"That will suffice. We no longer have time to dawdle."
The bald minister shook his head: "Word just came that Gozuki, who was responsible for training the elite assassination squad, has died. Consequently, I've had to suspend the elite team's training and ordered them brought back to the Imperial City!"
"If no suitable instructor can be found, I plan to have these carefully selected children—chosen from among a hundred—injected with the potion together, then personally take over their training."
The bald minister's tone remained emotionless, showing no nostalgia for Gozuki's death.
If there was any regret to be had, it was that Murasame was reportedly broken and subsequently disappeared, remaining missing to this day.
"My, my," Dr. Stylish expressed surprise, "To think Gozuki, who possessed the Teigu Murasame, could be defeated. Was his opponent a Teigu user as well?"
"I'm not sure. According to reports, that person possessed exceptionally strong physical combat skills, superior to Gozuki's, with strange techniques that could instantly reduce people to nothingness."
"In that case... it really doesn't seem like a Teigu user."
Dr. Stylish slightly furrowed her elegant brows, gently pinching her chin with her fingers, the two mounds on her chest swaying slowly as she pondered.
As a mad scientist obsessed with research, she had long memorized the data on all forty-eight Teigu, but after comparison, none of the descriptions matched.
Yet for some reason, upon hearing about these strange methods, the figure of Mahiro immediately surfaced in her mind.
After all, the techniques he had just displayed were also quite peculiar...
But she didn't voice this thought, since he was her colleague who had given her such a pleasant surprise, and she wasn't particularly close with the Imperial Assassination Unit members anyway.
So she offered an alternative theory.
"Could it be some kind of hybrid with a Danger Beast?"
"Hmm, that's a possibility," the Assassination Unit chief nodded in agreement.
Possessing physical strength surpassing the Four Rakshasa Demons along with abilities different from Teigu—this possibility seemed quite high.
After all, many nobles in the Empire had strange fetishes.
Some would purchase girls and force them to mate with Danger Beasts for entertainment, eventually producing hybrids that were neither human nor monster.
Like the leader of the Path of Peace, who was a typical hybrid of human and Danger Beast—considered a forbidden existence.
"Never mind, that's irrelevant. Let's return to our previous topic about your drug research results."
The bald man sighed, merely regretting not knowing the perpetrator's identity.
What truly concerned him was whoever killed Gozuki—if that power could be harnessed to train the children, the results would undoubtedly be remarkable.
"I have indeed developed the drug, but I can't reduce its side effects. While it instantly multiplies combat power after injection, the user's life force will be completely depleted and they'll die within about ten minutes. Is that acceptable?"
Dr. Stylish casually pointed to the containers behind her right side, where the corpses of prisoners who died from life force exhaustion after injection were preserved.
"Does death occur immediately after injection? Could the formula be adjusted to delay the effects for a few years?"
The Assassination Unit chief wasn't particularly concerned about losing children—they could always be replaced—but dying within minutes was simply too extreme.
It would be completely useless!
Such short-term consumption wouldn't allow enough time to cultivate new assassins.
"That's why I need more research time~ If you're in a particular hurry, instead of using drugs for enhancement, why not try physical modification?"
Dr. Stylish's eyes gleamed as she pointed at another row of displayed corpses.
Compared to drug enhancement, she much preferred body modification!
But weren't those just more corpses?!
The Assassination Unit chief wiped his forehead nervously. "Is that really feasible? What's the success rate of modification?"
"Well, we can broadly categorize it into mechanical modification and Danger Beast gene modification."
"Mechanical modification involves concealing powerful weapons within the body for surprise attacks, while the other method uses Danger Beast genes to create beings comparable to Class-2 Danger Beasts after successful modification. But neither has a very high success rate—maybe three or four successes out of a hundred subjects?"
"Unacceptable! The failure rate is too high!"
After all, capturing these orphans was quite troublesome, especially when they needed to have excellent physical foundations.
Most children wouldn't even qualify as dog food!
"Then please give me two more years... No, perhaps one year will suffice, for I've discovered a genius comparable to myself. With his help, I believe we can resolve the current predicament."
Dr. Stylish thought of Mahiro.
Since he could complete research projects that even Dr. Stylish himself hadn't been able to finish until now, with his assistance, completing the body enhancement serum should pose no problem at all!
"Very well, since you put it that way, I'll grant you some additional time. Complete the serum as quickly as possible."
After speaking, the Assassination Unit chief left somewhat dejectedly.
In truth, he knew he was being somewhat unreasonable, but he simply had no other choice.
After all, he needed to produce tangible results at this stage, and with Gozuki's death, there was temporarily no suitable candidate to fill his position.
Damn that Gozuki—why did he have to die at such a crucial moment!
And to be killed by someone no less, what a disgrace to our Assassination Unit!
Mahiro remained unaware of Dr. Stylish's plans to drag him into the serum research, continuing his usual training with Esdeath as part of the so-called rookie program.
However, the training under this sadistic queen seemed to be growing increasingly extreme...
For instance, today she led them out of the Imperial City, running nearly thirty kilometers to reach a clear pond deep within the dense forest.
The pond spanned about a hundred meters—not particularly wide—with exceptionally clear water that allowed them to see small fish swimming within.
But the problem lay precisely with those fish.
Upon seeing the fish, the group couldn't help trembling and instinctively took several steps backward.
"No retreating! This is your training for today—swimming. Simply swim from here to the opposite shore and back, and you'll pass. Simple, right?"
Gazing at the deep blue, ominous water surface, Esdeath revealed a captivating smile.
Simple?
This was even more dangerous than yesterday—it was downright lethal!