"Auntie, I'm Shinichi's classmate. My name is Ivan Greevs."
Ivan stepped up beside Nobuko. He knew the only one who could save Shinichi now was Migi. But with his parents right here, Migi couldn't reveal itself. If this dragged on any longer and Shinichi's brain fully died, no hospital on earth could bring him back.
"I'm sorry. I understand how you feel. But in this condition, even if you get him to a hospital, it won't save him. If you trust me, put him down and leave. Your injury is serious too."
Ivan picked up her severed arm from the ground, still dripping blood, and wrapped it in his coat.
"Can you save Shinichi?"
Nobuko was drowning in grief. She couldn't process a word he said.
Shinichi's father, however, still had some clarity left. The sudden disaster had aged him ten years in minutes.
Ivan met his eyes and nodded, serious. "I'm ninety-nine percent sure. Trust me."
At this point, the man had no other choice.
"…Alright. I'll leave Shinichi to you."
He pulled Nobuko back, took the coat Ivan handed him, and wrapped it around her wound, copying Ivan's method to stop the bleeding.
"In his condition, there's no way he'll make it to a hospital. We can only trust him."
He had seen Ivan's arm transform earlier. He knew this wasn't a normal human.
But Nobuko refused to let go. She clutched Shinichi tightly, until blood loss finally knocked her unconscious.
"Please… save my son."
Shinichi's father bowed deeply, holding back the crushing grief, then supported Nobuko and started heading down the mountain.
"This is better kept from the police. Otherwise Shinichi will be in trouble."
He stopped for a moment, then gave a slow nod.
Once they were gone, Migi finally emerged.
"Thank you, Ivan. If this had dragged on another three minutes, even I wouldn't have been able to save him."
"With his heart completely destroyed, I can't repair it in time. Looks like I'll have to merge with it."
Its body reshaped into the form of a heart, detached from Shinichi's right arm, and slipped into his chest.
"I'll seal the wound, restart the heartbeat, then handle circulation myself and repair the blood vessels. That should do it."
"So that's how you use it…" Ivan muttered. Learned something new.
At that moment, his system panel hit 100% fusion.
But even with the shapeshifting ability fully integrated, he still couldn't do what Migi just did. He couldn't replace a destroyed heart like that.
Right now, he simply couldn't construct a new heart in a short time. That kind of thing would drain an insane amount of stamina and mental focus.
And it demanded ridiculous willpower.
For a normal person, once the heart gets pierced, they black out almost instantly. There's no time to react.
Of course, if Ivan could overcome all those limits, he'd basically have a budget version of immortality.
While Shinichi was unconscious, Ivan activated his analysis ability again.
Besides the two talents he already had, two new ones appeared this time.
[Talent: Transfer]
[Acquisition Condition: Kill a parasite while it is transferring hosts]
[Fusion Requirement: Possess the "Shapeshifting" talent]
[After fusion, the player can transfer parts of their body to avoid fatal damage. The transferred tissue remains under the control of the main body. At the same time, the transfer range depends on cellular activity. The higher the activity, the greater the range.]
[During this process, the transferred tissue does not have parasitic capabilities.]
[Each transfer consumes a large portion of stamina, while also enhancing the player's regenerative ability.]
Ivan felt tempted.
The only drawback was obvious.
He couldn't parasitize another body to revive himself.
In other words, even with this ability, he couldn't pull off what parasites did. No jumping into a new host the moment his body got wrecked.
Aside from that, the ability had no real fatal flaws.
And if one day he figured out how to possess others… Then this ability would become extremely useful!
For now, Ivan wasn't in a rush to fuse anything. His gaze shifted to the last talent.
[Talent: Detection]
[Fusion Condition: Consume the brain of a parasite]
[After fusion, the player can receive and emit the unique brainwaves of parasites, allowing accurate detection of their location and sensing hostile intent. Note: while receiving signals, the player's own brainwaves will also be exposed to parasites.]
"Kinda useless."
That was Ivan's verdict.
Sure, it let him pinpoint parasites, but in exchange, he'd light up like a beacon to them. No hiding, no stealth.
After thinking it through, Ivan made his choice.
He would fuse the "Transfer" ability next.
Nothing else mattered. Just being able to avoid fatal damage made it worth it.
As the sunset faded, night slowly swallowed Mount Takao.
Ivan didn't dare move Shinichi's body carelessly, but from what he could tell, the situation was stabilizing. Shinichi's chest was rising and falling again. Still unconscious, but alive.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Shinichi's phone rang inside his pocket.
Ivan pulled it out and answered.
"How is Shinichi?" his father's voice came through, tense with worry.
"Stable for now. His vitals are holding. If I had to guess, he'll wake up in about a day."
After hearing Ivan's update, Shinichi's father let out a long breath.
"Thank you, truly. When Shinichi wakes up, tell him to come to Tokyo Third Affiliated Hospital to find me. His mother is under observation here."
Ivan paused for a second. "Her arm… can it be saved?"
"The doctor said the cut was clean. The arm was preserved properly, no contamination, and we got her here in time. It should be reattached… but it won't be as flexible as before."
There was still fear lingering in his voice.
If Ivan hadn't stepped in earlier, it wouldn't just be Shinichi. Nobuko might've bled out too.
"Then that's the best outcome we could hope for. I'll pass the message on when he wakes up."
Ivan hung up and sat down beside Shinichi, keeping watch so nothing in the mountains decided to drag his body off.
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[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69