There are several steps to go through when ingesting a toxic substance.
Since injecting it directly into the bloodstream is inherently risky due to its rapid effects, I decided to first apply the blood of the mutant containing the Sigma-Type serum onto Ganesha Tripathi's skin.
'No unusual reactions.'
Of course, it might simply be that not enough time had passed, but waiting indefinitely wasn't an option given Ganesha Tripathi's critical state.
Eventually, the process moved on to the next step.
'Administering a small amount orally.'
I pried open Ganesha Tripathi's mouth and squeezed a bit of the blood-soaked handkerchief.
Drip, drip—
Even though I dripped a few drops of the mutant's blood into Ganesha Tripathi's mouth, there was no significant change.
At the very least, his condition didn't seem to worsen.
'But the biggest problem with the mutant was related to cognitive ability and reasoning. This part can only be confirmed once Ganesha Tripathi regains consciousness.'
I observed Ganesha Tripathi's condition for about a minute.
Since there were no significant changes, I decided to increase the oral dosage.
Drip, drip—
After a few more drops entered Ganesha Tripathi's mouth, he slowly twitched his eyebrows.
"Uh... ugh..."
"Are you awake?"
"Wh... who..."
Maybe it was because he had just barely regained consciousness, or perhaps it was a side effect of the serum, but Ganesha Tripathi's voice was trembling.
To verify, I asked.
"What's your name?"
"Ganesha... Tripathi..."
"Where are you from?"
"Ark... from Rose Line. If you could take me there... I will repay you."
Judging from his response, his basic intelligence and cognitive abilities seemed intact.
Moreover, a quick glance at his wound showed that the bleeding had almost stopped.
'Hmm...'
Whether it was the serum's effect or not, at least it didn't seem to have caused severe side effects.
I shot a quick glance at the fallen mutant.
'Was that soldier just originally in bad shape?'
Since I couldn't be sure, I turned back to Ganesha Tripathi and asked.
"How much do you understand about the current situation? Are you feeling, okay?"
Ganesha Tripathi cautiously surveyed his surroundings before responding.
"That man... ah, you saved me. Thank you. As for my body... other than a bit of dizziness, I'm fine."
'Hmm...'
The hypothesis was becoming more certain.
Ganesha Tripathi didn't show any significant abnormalities.
In other words, consuming that mutant's blood didn't seem to cause any noticeable side effects.
"Can you tell who I am?"
"...I don't believe we know each other. Ah! Are you from Ark?"
"That's right."
"I knew it!"
Ganesha Tripathi's face brightened significantly.
Judging from the context of our conversation, he seemed to naturally assume that I was a rescue agent dispatched from Ark.
'If it's like this... it seems the verification is done.'
Although he did bleed a bit, Ganesha Tripathi's condition was surprisingly stable.
I couldn't be sure whether he had acquired the serum's effects or not, but at least he didn't show any concerning symptoms.
'Good.'
Having made up my mind, I approached the fallen mutant.
Since the syringe that originally contained the serum was a one-time-use device, I had no choice but to drink the mutant's blood directly.
'No choice.'
As soon as I sliced the mutant's flesh with the machete, blood gushed out like a fountain.
I cut off the top of the original serum syringe with the machete and used it to collect the blood.
Glug, glug—
Both Ganesha Tripathi and Esther looked horrified as I filled the syringe with the mutant's blood.
"What, what are you doing...!"
["Wow... I thought you were just a weird human, but are you actually a vampire?"]
I ignored the reactions of both Ganesha Tripathi and Esther and began drinking the collected blood from the syringe little by little.
"What are you doing...!"
["Ugh."]
The metallic, bloody taste slowly slid down my throat.
For a moment, I thought about spitting it out as it felt like my throat was burning, but I resisted.
When I finally finished drinking the entire syringe's worth of blood, a new message appeared before my eyes.
[You have absorbed the Sigma-type Enhanced Serum.]
[You have acquired the abilities of the Sigma-type Enhanced Serum.]
[Sigma-type enhanced serum ability, 'Tough Skin', acquired.]
[All stats have increased by +5. Excluding the Honor stat.]
'This is...'
I can feel it.
My body feels significantly lighter.
An increase of 5 in all stats.
Excluding the additional effects from traits or enhanced serums, my base stats had been around 16 in strength and 19 in endurance.
With a sudden increase of 5 points, the difference was clearly noticeable.
That wasn't the only gain.
'[Tough Skin]...'
It wasn't hard to guess the true power of the Sigma-type enhanced serum's ability, given the durability displayed by the enhanced soldier I fought earlier.
'Even a low-caliber handgun couldn't penetrate his skin.'
While I usually relied on the formidable defense of Janus, this added layer of protection was undeniably valuable.
After all, among the enemies I would face in the future, there would undoubtedly be those capable of breaking through Janus's defenses.
It was indeed a tremendous asset.
I decided to check my stats after a long time.
──────────────
Name: Carl Marcus
Rank: —
Position: —
Strength: 16 (+6) (+20%)
Endurance: 19 (+6) (+20%)
Dexterity: 14 (+6) (+20%)
Luck: 10 (+6) (+20%)
Willpower: 7 (+6) (+20%)
Leadership: 2 (+6) (+20%)
Ether Sensitivity: 25 (+6) (+20%)
Honor: 1
Acquired Traits: [Sturdy Constitution], [Insomnia], [Agile Reflexes], [Superhuman Willpower], [Tremor], [Nearsightedness], [Sudden Deafness], [One-Hit Kill], [Firepower Specialist], [Heavy Rounds], [Possession], [Sniper's Time], [Beast Hunter], [Pacifism], [Beginner's Luck], [Blade Rounds], [Fear Rounds], [Path of a Hero]...
Acquired Abilities: [Strong Body (Lv.3)], [Emission (Lv.1)]
— Enhanced serum is currently applied.
— Currently applied serum types: Alpha, Sigma.
──────────────
Thanks to the combination of the [Path of a Hero] trait and the abilities from both the Alpha and Sigma enhanced serums, my base stats had increased by more than 1.5 times.
In other words, I had become at least 1.5 times stronger.
'To think that the Alpha-type enhanced serum would have such effects...'
Now it was certain.
The Alpha-type enhanced serum from Heshbon had the power to absorb the abilities of other types of enhanced serums.
It was truly a masterpiece serum, one that dominated all other enhanced serums.
'I'll have to look for other types of enhanced serums from now on.'
Of course, I already knew the location of one such serum.
If my memory was correct, there was still one Omega-type enhanced serum left right here in Heshbon.
'That can wait until I leave this place... First, I need to clean up here.'
I looked at the enhanced soldier lying on the ground, bleeding.
As expected of an enhanced soldier—even though he had been slashed countless times by the machete and was bleeding profusely, he was still breathing.
'There's no need to keep him alive.'
The fewer people who knew about the existence of enhanced serums, the better.
Moreover, this enhanced soldier had clearly come here specifically targeting the Alpha-type enhanced serum.
'If I hadn't intervened, he would have probably taken the Alpha-type serum and left.'
That would explain why I hadn't known about the existence of any other enhanced serums besides the Omega-type.
If a fool like him, lacking even basic cognitive abilities, had gotten his hands on the Alpha-type enhanced serum, he would have likely flaunted his newfound power and ended up dead on some roadside not long after.
'In many ways, I was lucky.'
Of course, luck aside, I still had to do what needed to be done.
Gripping the machete firmly, I swung it down to sever the enhanced soldier's neck.
Slash!
Earlier, it would have been difficult to make a clean cut, but thanks to my increased strength from the serum, the machete sliced through his neck in one swift motion.
Spurt!
"Grrk, gurk!"
The fallen enhanced soldier let out a shrill scream as blood gushed like a fountain, then fell silent.
With one of my tasks completed, I naturally shifted my gaze to Ganesha Tripathi, who was huddled in a corner.
Flinch—
The moment my eyes met his, I could feel Ganesha Tripathi tense up, clearly wary of me.
It was understandable.
"...Are you alright?"
Ganesha Tripathi spoke cautiously, trying to maintain a calm demeanor, clearly aiming not to provoke me.
'So then...'
Should I spare him or kill him?
Now was the time to decide.
"I'm leaving."
"...To where, exactly?"
"What kind of question is that? To Ark, obviously."
For now, I chose the former.
Ganesha Tripathi was too valuable to just kill here.
'However, to be safe, I won't reveal my identity as Carl Marcus.'
Of course, revealing my identity might help me extract useful information from Ganesha Tripathi.
But since I had already exposed myself as the turncoat Pawn, it was wiser to minimize risks rather than aim for returns.
After all, as long as Ganesha Tripathi owed me his life, I could approach him in this guise whenever I needed a favor.
'Assuming he's a man of honor, that is.'
Unfortunately, I knew little about him.
Like Tatiana Belov, Ganesha Tripathi was originally supposed to be dead.
Therefore, I couldn't be certain whether he was the type to honor a life debt or not.
If he was, that would be fortunate.
If not, I'd probably regret sparing him and missing out on his ID card.
"For now, I'll head up first and pull you up. Wait here."
"Ah, yes. Understood."
With that, I climbed up the elevator shaft.
Even though it was a daunting depth of 42 floors underground, having Janus made it a manageable task.
Once I reached the surface, the first thing I did was look for Horus.
"You go on ahead and return."
[Kiieek!]
I decided to send Horus back to the hideout first.
Since I had resolved to travel with Ganesha Tripathi, it didn't feel right to ride Horus back.
Besides, I wanted to keep Horus's existence hidden from Ark as much as possible.
Walking back would also give me more time to observe Ganesha Tripathi closely.
'If Ganesha Tripathi turns out to be different from what I expect, I'll eliminate him then.'
The journey from Heshbon to Ark would be long and arduous.
Such harsh conditions would inevitably bring out his true nature.
"Ah, wait."
Before Horus left, I gathered up some supplies scattered around Heshbon and loaded them onto his back.
While they would be difficult to trade in Ark, I could always sell them elsewhere or even use them myself.
"Alright, done."
After securing the load on Horus's back and giving him a light pat, Horus took off with a powerful flap of his wings.
"Go on ahead and wait for me."
[Kiieek!]
Once Horus had left Heshbon, I turned my gaze.
'Before I pull Ganesha Tripathi out... I should secure the enhanced serum here first.'
I didn't want to risk showing him that I was collecting the serum.
And,
Finding the Omega-type enhanced serum wasn't particularly difficult.
After all, I had visited Heshbon countless times.
The interior of the Heshbon Biomedical Research Lab was like my own backyard.
'Still here, as expected.'
It made sense.
The Omega-type enhanced serum found here was still present even during the mid-stage of the original storyline.
Finding it now, much earlier, was only natural.
Having obtained the Omega-type enhanced serum without much trouble, I injected it without hesitation.
Since it was a well-documented, safe serum, there was no need to dwell on it like before.
[You have absorbed the Omega-type enhanced serum.]
[You have acquired the abilities of the Omega-type enhanced serum.]
[All stats have increased by +5. Excluding the Honor stat.]
Bulge, bulge—
I could feel it.
The muscles throughout my body were twitching and swelling.
"Hoo..."
With this, I had acquired a total of three types of enhanced serums since visiting Heshbon.
Of course, considering that enhanced serums originated from Heshbon, it could be seen as a natural gain.
But I knew.
Had I been just a bit slower, I wouldn't have obtained all three—perhaps not even the Omega-type.
'In many ways, I was really lucky.'
I thought back to that day.
The moment I had faced the Shadow Order.
'With this much power... even if I encounter the Shadow Order again, I won't go down so easily.'
Facing the Commander would still be tough.
But at least I would be able to handle a defector like Rook.
The difference in my abilities before and after using the enhanced serums was that significant.
'Alright, then...'
I resumed my steps.
It was time to pull Ganesha Tripathi out from underground.