"A single strike capable of leveling an entire street? How intriguing."
Marshal Lemoncheese, standing nearly three meters tall, glanced down at Dr. Zhuang Wen and remarked, "So you truly are a genius. Though your physique is rather frail. In a few days, I'll have some Sea Kings' meat delivered to you."
"Sea Kings?"
Dr. Zhuang Wei had no idea what that was, but he could sense the shift in the Army Marshal's tone and gaze—no longer dismissive. This lifted his previously foul mood considerably.
"Thank you."
"Hmm."
Marshal Lemoncheese nodded. With that, the earlier tension between them was put to rest. It was also the Marshal's way of making it clear: only those with genuine ability earned his recognition and respect.
"By the way, what did you mean earlier about the possibility of mass production?"
Before Dean Fritz could answer, Minister Tsuru, standing nearby, smiled. "That would be my task, wouldn't it?"
"Exactly!"
Dean Fritz nodded emphatically, his expression eager as he looked at Minister Tsuru. "Based on our observations and experiments, we've found that the Kabane Virus triggers the most negative emotional responses in its victims—primarily fear, with secondary urges for bloodlust and brutality."
"So, I thought that if we could suppress or eliminate these negative mental influences on the brain, we might be able to restore the Kabane's self-awareness, turning them into true Kabaneri."
Minister Tsuru chuckled softly.
"And so you thought of my Wash-Wash Fruit Ability. That is indeed a feasible idea. Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's begin. I'm quite curious myself whether my powers will have any effect on these creatures from another world."
"Excellent! We'll start with an ordinary Red Heart Kabane!"
Dean Fritz excitedly instructed Team Leader Ron and the others to make preparations. Meanwhile, Dr. Zhuang Wei was left utterly bewildered, thinking to himself, What is this 'Wash-Wash Fruit Ability'?
Forgive the nearly seventy-year-old Dean Fritz—he had completely forgotten to provide Dr. Zhuang Wei with basic materials about Seastar!
Or perhaps everyone had overlooked it.
As a result, figures like Amatori Biba and Yomogawa Ayame, while grasping the concept of the World Government, remained entirely ignorant of Seastar's native circumstances.
Why was that?
Perhaps they were meant to learn gradually on their own.
Team Leader Ron worked swiftly, promptly locking an ordinary Kabane in an empty cell and carefully placing a clothes rack inside.
However, they didn't restrain the Kabane's movements, allowing it to roam freely within the cell.
Yet no one raised any objections—no one believed the creature posed even the slightest threat to her.
With that, under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Minister Tsuru stepped into the cell with a smile. The moment the Kabane caught sight of the fresh, towering figure, its face twisted with bloodthirsty excitement.
"Grrraaah!"
Faced with the terrifying lunge of the Living Dead, the poised and striking woman merely reached out with her slender, pale hand, brushing the Kabane's face in a motion that seemed slow but was deceptively swift.
[Splish-splash!]
The next moment, as the Wash-Wash Fruit Ability activated, Dr. Shoei outside the cell watched in stunned silence as the Kabane's body instantly became as thin as paper, then was casually hung by Tsuru on the long line of the clothes rack.
To his astonishment, he even saw tiny glimmers of light flickering across the Kabane's body, accompanied by a faint, refreshing fragrance wafting through the air.
However, in the current Land of the Rising Sun, there was no soap or detergent, so he found it difficult to describe exactly what kind of scent it was.
"It—it's actually smiling!!"
Dr. Shoei stepped forward, gripping the cold iron bars tightly as he stared intently at the Kabane's expression.
"Well, Minister Tsuru?" Dean Fritz also asked nervously, while Marshal Lemoncheese and Sakazuki remained expressionless.
"We'll know once it dries and we take it down."
As she spoke, Tsuru grabbed the Kabane, now transformed into 'clothing,' and gave it a sharp shake in front of her. With a crisp snap, the Kabane's body instantly reverted to its original form, landing on the cold floor with a thud as it sat there dazedly, staring at its own palms.
After a moment, under the watchful eyes of everyone present, it slowly raised its head and looked at Tsuru's beautiful face before asking, "Where... is this?"
"Wow!"
"It worked!!"
Team Leader Ron and several other senior researchers from the Biochemical Research Institute cheered in excitement. Dean Fritz also wore a relieved expression, while Dr. Shoei remained frozen in shock.
"Aaah—hungry... so hungry... ghhh—"
But before their joy could last more than a few seconds, the seemingly restored Kabane suddenly fixed its gaze on Minister Tsuru's neck, revealing a ravenous, ferocious expression before lunging at her like a wild beast.
[Bam!]
A dull, heavy impact echoed as the Kabane was instantly sent flying backward, crashing into the opposite wall of the cell.
Meanwhile, Tsuru slowly lowered her raised right foot before stepping out of the cell and calmly saying to Dean Fritz,
"It seems its thirst for blood hasn't been washed away. But that's not surprising—my ability only removes the 'evil' from a person's soul. A biological instinct for food can't be affected."
Reacting swiftly, Dean Fritz immediately shouted to Team Leader Ron, "Quick, bring some blood!"
"Right away!"
Soon, a white box containing blood bags was brought over. They took out a blood bag, poured its contents into a small basin, placed it inside the cell, and quickly retreated.
"Blood... hungry—"
The next moment, the Kabane, catching the scent of blood, violently slapped the wall beside it, dislodging itself from the dent it had made. It crawled frantically toward the basin and began gulping down the blood with wild abandon.
Tsuru wasn't surprised that it could still move after her kick—she hadn't used much force, after all. If she killed it, they'd just have to find another Kabane to wash, and that would be too much trouble.
"It seems its self-awareness really has been restored, but its hunger is being influenced by the Kabane Virus inside its body..."
Dr. Fritz, seeing that it could still speak human words, roughly understood the situation. Now, they just had to wait for it to finish drinking.
And so, everyone outside the cell watched quietly as the Kabane drained the basin of blood completely. The sight of its bloodstained mouth, the droplets trailing down its chin and dripping onto its chest and the floor, was undeniably horrifying.
Fortunately, none of them were ordinary people—such a scene was hardly worth mentioning.
"Finished drinking? Now answer my question. Do you remember your name?" Dean Fritz couldn't contain himself and asked first.
"My name is Iwakura Keisuke. Sorry, but where is this place? And I... I didn't die?" The young man who appeared to be in his twenties looked around in confusion.
"You became a Kabane, but we've restored your consciousness. Now you're a Kabaneri - half human, half Kabane. Hahahaha!"
After saying this, Dean Fritz could no longer hold back his joy and burst into laughter. When he finished laughing, he ignored the young man and turned to Tsuru instead.
"The experiment proves your ability can indeed help Kabane regain consciousness. But we understand given your status and position, you can't waste time on ordinary Kabane."
"So could you please examine 'Blue Heart' next? If we can restore its consciousness too, then in future we'll only ask you to perform 'Heart Cleansing' on Kabane in their 'Nue' form."