Became a Failed Experimental Subject Novel - Chapter 52

“Black Cat subjugation failed. That’s a shame. Good work, Starlight.”

On the screen in the dark communication room, Cage calmly put down his teacup, his tone not at all regretful.

“I think there was a good chance if Electris had just followed the plan… well, I somewhat expected it.”

“You expected it?”

“Electris and you haven’t gotten along since way back. You don’t know how to handle Electris. And Electris is like a wild horse that bolts if you don’t keep her on a short leash…”

“Wild horse, my ass. More like a rabid dog.”

“I agree. My apologies. I didn’t think she’d do something absurd like taking citizens hostage.”

Cage, uncharacteristically, bowed his head.

“…If this gets out, Electris’s reputation in City A will plummet rapidly.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve kept the reporters at bay. Only the Espers of City W know about the Black Cat subjugation attempt.”

“Since the Espers of City W have strong camaraderie, there’s no need to worry about the information leaking. I appreciate your consideration. But there was no need for that.”

“What?”

As Yoo Anna’s voice filled with dissatisfaction and suspicion, Cage leisurely sipped his tea and spoke.

“I plan to properly break Electris’s spirit this time… I’m tired of her irresponsible, extreme superiority complex. And dealing with all the idiots who gather beneath her.”

“You, no way…”

“When she listens, there’s no better Esper, but if she thinks her opponent is weaker than her, she runs wild. Thanks to Black Cat, my standing has dropped quite a bit, so Electris has been getting bolder. But I never imagined she’d give me such a strong justification… Thanks to this, I can sweep away all the fools gathered under Electris at once.”

“You used City W for your political games?!”

“Political games sounds unpleasant. How about we say I reattached the handle to the blade that is Electris?”

Suddenly, something Cage had said flashed through Yoo Anna’s mind.

It doesn’t matter if it kills him or not.

Perhaps that wasn’t just directed at Black Cat.

“Judging by your expression, there seems to be a misunderstanding… I wished for Electris to return alive. It would have been even better if Black Cat had been subjugated. However, as long as she doesn’t die, it doesn’t matter if she’s defeated in return.”

“Ha, it doesn’t matter? Or rather, you hoped she’d get defeated?”

“Precisely this much is what I wanted. I should thank Black Cat for leaving her with only recoverable injuries and sending her back.”

“You know that victims could have occurred because of you, because of Electris! What that woman has been doing to the citizens…!”

“Ultimately, only one person was hurt, and that was Electris.”

Indeed, the citizens were only subjected to electric shocks in the name of ‘training’ by Electris; no one suffered lingering after-effects or injuries.

Black Cat also successfully defended the shelter Electris targeted, so the people inside didn’t even know they were in danger.

“Despite how she seems, she’s an Esper I’ve left in City A. She has an annoying personality, but she wouldn’t carelessly kill citizens.”

“You were serious, definitely.”

“Wasn’t she desperate enough to break through Black Cat’s ability?”

“No matter how desperate, is it right to aim an ability at citizens?”

“If that’s the monster’s weakness, then yes, you aim.”

“What if the people in the shelter had died!”

“You, you haven’t changed at all.”

Cage looked at Yoo Anna with a pathetic gaze.

“Starlight… The maximum casualties left by a single Disaster-class monster are about 300,000, with 20,000 deaths. This damage occurred before the Esper system was properly organized, but it can happen at any time even now if there are no Espers. You learned this too, didn’t you? The maximum capacity of a shelter is 50 people. Kill 50 to save 20,000… No, let’s take a recent example of damage. Even if there’s a simple calculation that says you can kill 50 people to save 500, are you going to hesitate to kill those 50 and end up killing everyone?”

“There’s also the option of saving everyone.”

“Of course, that would be best. But we are those who minimize damage, not transcendent beings who completely eliminate it.”

With a bitter expression, Yoo Anna couldn’t refute Cage’s realistic argument.

“Has Black Cat made you too relaxed? Sacrificing a single shelter as bait to kill a monster, if necessary, should have been one of the basic strategies.”

“I still don’t accept that trashy strategy. That’s only an option in truly unavoidable situations, when no other method works.”

“What situation is more unavoidable than a growing Disaster-class monster?”

There is none.

It’s just that Black Cat in City W is such an unusual monster that it seems like a deviated method.

Cage sighed, looking tired.

“…You’re still too idealistic. It’s time to mature, Starlight. That’s why I don’t want to acknowledge you.”

“Who asked you to acknowledge me?”

“You didn’t ask me to acknowledge you, but I did, didn’t I? Then I hope you’ll show yourself worthy of that.”

Cage looked at Yoo Anna with cold eyes.

“Don’t blame Electris. You are an S-class Esper of City W, the strongest superhuman in that city. The fact that Electris ran wild under you is your fault.”

“Electris is an S-class Esper like me.”

“Even if she’s S-class, she’s not your equal. Your camaraderie, your egalitarianism, that’s the problem. In the era of monsters, equality doesn’t exist. There are strong and weak. If you had properly subdued her even once, Electris would have properly backed you up and subjugated Black Cat.”

“So, it’s my fault for not keeping that woman on a leash, even after she hurt citizens and took them hostage?”

“Of course.”

“If I hadn’t stopped her, or if Black Cat hadn’t, there would have been casualties.”

“That’s impossible. A superhuman whom I acknowledge as my equal couldn’t possibly fail to handle Electris.”

Yoo Anna felt like punching him if he were in front of her.

Her fists clenched at his strange words, which were neither a compliment nor a taunt.

“You and Electris are both filthy, disgusting bastards.”

“Thank you for the compliment. For the sake of the citizens, an Esper must always be dirty. There’s nothing dirtier than an Esper’s clean body and hands.”

“Would you shut up? I don’t want to talk about being used in your political games anymore.”

“Heh heh… I’m grateful for your contribution to the peace of City A.”

Chuckling, Cage put down his empty teacup and said,

“Now, shall we get to the main point?”

On the screen, Cage’s expression changed as if he was putting on a different mask, looking tired.

“I genuinely wished for Black Cat to be subjugated as soon as possible. This incident proved that Black Cat can imitate the characteristics of other monsters. Furthermore, it even mimicked the structure of my ability… That creature is growing stronger at a terrifying rate. If we don’t decapitate it soon, Black Cat might become a monster that no one can catch.”

Reading the combat report, Cage seemed very tense, perhaps recalling his own encounter with Black Cat.

The ability to freely use numerous abilities and characteristics means the potential to become a monster against which no attack is effective and all attacks are fatal.

Moreover, the number of abilities it possesses is increasing day by day, and it’s even learning how to utilize them by stealing from Espers.

Black Cat’s growth rate is several times faster than other Calamity-class monsters.

“Black Cat tried to kill Electris. This proves that the only Esper it treats specially is you, Starlight.”

Cage, who had cornered Black Cat, almost died, but Yoo Anna was never counterattacked even after delivering several fatal blows.

Electris… Yoo Anna and the Espers of City W interpreted Electris’s attack on citizens as touching Black Cat’s inverse scale, but this interpretation was unconvincing everywhere except for City W.

There’s only one simpler explanation than ‘the monster got angry because an Esper tried to attack citizens’:

When Electris attacked, Black Cat counterattacked.

So why doesn’t Black Cat properly counterattack Yoo Anna’s attacks?

“The destructive power of your ability is top-tier even among all S-class. For a monster, the destructive power of an ability is the easiest measure of strength. The cause of its abnormal behavior is just a temporary phenomenon of submission shown towards a strong individual like you.”

Black Cat is simply biding its time until it becomes stronger than Yoo Anna.

Given its high intelligence, it probably thinks that if it harms even one human, Yoo Anna will pursue it endlessly.

The moment it is confident that it has become stronger than Yoo Anna, the storm that is Black Cat will undoubtedly reveal its true nature.

It must be subjugated before that happens.

“So, we were planning to deploy three S-class Espers, even if it meant overexertion…”

A repayment for Yoo Anna saving him from Black Cat.

Cage genuinely worried about the delay in Black Cat’s subjugation and was willing to use all means.

An emergency summons based on Electris’s defeat, treating City W’s Black Cat as near-Extinction class and designating it as a priority target for subjugation.

The moment Cage, with all preparations complete, contacted Yoo Anna, she expressed her refusal to support the operation.

“Why on earth did you send a dissenting opinion?”

The purpose of this communication was to discuss that.

Yoo Anna, who had been sitting with her eyes closed, sighed and steeled her resolve.

After bringing Electris to the treatment room, Yoo Anna endlessly pondered the differences between Black Cat and Electris, and what she wanted from Black Cat.

This was the result.

“…I’m going to tame Black Cat.”

Yoo Anna asserted a fact she had been denying until now.

More precisely, the possibility of it.

Cage, as if he had somewhat expected such words, showed no surprise and sighed, saying,

“Hmph… Starlight, I understand. City W only has one S-class Esper, and Espers are always scarce. Black Cat is a unique monster. A monster that preys on other monsters… The desire to borrow Black Cat’s help… Yes, I understand.”

Then, he frowned and glared at Yoo Anna through the screen.

“But taming a monster. Are you insane?”

Of course, such words were inevitable.

Yoo Anna made a bitter expression at the expected reaction.

“Are you, a superhuman who has accumulated enough experience to be S-class, mistaking Black Cat for something else just because it preys on other monsters? Don’t say such weak things. If you waver, all of City W will waver. The moment you stop doubting and trust a monster, it won’t be you but the weak citizens who get torn apart in the monster’s jaws.”

“I know. Of course, I know all of this when I say it.”

“Yes, of course you’d know. But saying such a thing anyway is proof that you’ve weakened. Espers should not weaken, Starlight.”

On the screen, Cage, shimmering like a heat haze from the overflowing tremors of his ability, opened his eyes wide, filled with killing intent.

“Have you forgotten how absurd plans like monster weaponization, initiated by incompetent fat pigs, ended?”

The long-running monster weaponization plan only left behind blood-soaked results: humans cannot tame monsters.

Monsters carelessly let loose caused fatal damage, and high-ranking officials who believed monsters were safe and grew complacent eventually hid behind the Espers they had tried so hard to subjugate, using them as shields.

Yoo Anna, who had already anticipated such words, took out the proof she had prepared.

“Wait, can you take a look at this?”

Yoo Anna sent Cage a video file.

Electris, a lightning ability user, always broke Esper cams, and since she was unconscious, she didn’t remember the situation.

Black Cat pouncing on Electris, and then slowly retracting its fangs when Yoo Anna intervened and requested it.

Cage’s expression changed moment by moment as he watched the video, which hadn’t been attached to the report.

“If it had gone just a little deeper, Electris would have died.”

“But Black Cat didn’t kill her. Besides this, during the Mirage incident, and when it caught the Disaster-class monster…”

Yoo Anna continued to play the organized videos, showing the moment Black Cat offered her a monster’s core.

“This is… strange.”

“I don’t think Black Cat is just pretending to be docile because it’s afraid of me.”

If Black Cat were hiding its true nature until it gathered enough strength, it would be natural for it to devour cores somehow.

However, Black Cat obediently offered up hunted monster cores when Yoo Anna asked, offered Espers, and showed little interest in growing stronger.

As if ignoring the monster’s instinct to grow stronger by eating humans.

“Perhaps… Black Cat truly is a monster that can be tamed.”