BAM*

"WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS OUR ASSET!"

Inside an office, the Chinese Branch CEO of Saturn Pharmaceuticals, Luo Zhong, slammed his table, having the headache of his life.

After over ten thousand clinical trials and years of research, they produced an Alpha Plus Esper!

The world barely had three Alpha Espers, powerful enough to take down a whole regiment! It could be imagined how awesome the power of an Alpha Plus Esper was. Even their large company barely had one Alpha Esper!

It was a groundbreaking achievement for humanity. He knew the board of directors and the chairman would be thrilled. And it would also put their company and great China at the forefront of Esper development! The means to achieve it be damned.

But now that Alpha Plus has gone rogue. Luo Zhong was so furious that he nearly fainted from high blood pressure.

"Sir, we have checked everywhere, including the footage. Asher Wolf, the Alpha Plus Esper, disappeared through unknown means. Even our tracking chip lost contact." Cao Cai explained, bowing 70 degrees to the elderly CEO.

"How did he do that?!" Luo Zhong furiously asked.

"Sir, the tracking chip ceased functioning when he disappeared, so we can only conclude that he either used his powers to block the signal... or he is somewhere so remote and far away that the GPS cannot locate him." Cao Cai patiently explained, not daring to be disrespectful.

Luo Zhong held his face, took some tea, and sipped it to calm his nerves.

"Fine, raise your head. It wasn't your fault." Luo Zhong said. He knew that the young researcher wasn't at fault this time.

"Thank you, Sir!" Cao Cai raised her head.

"Any good news?" Luo Zhong asked.

"Yes, Sir. We gathered several blood samples. Perhaps we can use this blood to replicate the Alpha Plus powers, or at the very least, create a stable method for making Beta and Alpha grade Espers." Cao Cai said.

"Good! Well done. At least the situation is not beyond salvaging." Luo Zhong finally smiled.

"Thank you, Sir." Cao Cai smiled.

"Okay, dismissed. I will let the hunter team handle it from here." Luo Zhong waved his hand, shooing Cao Cai away.

"Em... Sir, if I may?" Cao Cai gathered the courage to speak.

"What?" Luo Zhong frowned.

"I... know Asher Wolf. If we find him, can I have a chance to recruit him back?" Cao Cai hopefully asked.

"Hmph. Fine. You can go ahead and try. But if he resists..." Luo Zhong dangerously narrowed his eyes. 

"He won't! I promise, he won't!" Cao Cai hurriedly said.

"Now leave, I have business to do." Luo Zhong dismissively said.

"Then I shall take my leave." Cao Cai bowed again and left the office.

Once the office was closed, Luo Zhong made a phone call, his face apathetic.

"Xie Ling. If the asset is found, take Cao Cai with you... Yes, let her try talking with the foreign dog first. Such a foreigner has no loyalty to the party, but he might for that unwanted woman. If he refuses our recruitment? Kill, don't take any chances. Kill him before he discovers his powers and is recruited by foreigners. But recover the body, preferably intact, or destroy it if you think it might fall into foreign hands. Yes, you may kill the woman if she gets in the way. All for the company and the great communist party."¹For those unfamiliar with Chinese politics, they are loyal more to the Party than to China itself, and are expected to show strong patriotism everywhere. I mean, they are NOT a democracy.

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"Ah... It seems like the police department was also raided. Typical." Asher bitterly smiled at an overgrown police department with a busted-open entrance.

However, that didn't stop him from trying. After using a flashlight to scan the surroundings, aside from two idle monsters, he found some burn marks and bullet holes on the walls. However, no guns.

"Seems like there was a fierce fight here. Was it against these fungus zombie things? Or other humans? Or both?" While thinking about it, Asher searched inside the police department.

First, he searched the ground floor, which included a reception room and some offices, but no armory. All the drawers seemed to have been searched and cleaned up, so he didn't find anything.

Ignoring the obvious fungal carpets in the shape of human corpses and cloth scraps, Asher reached the first floor and scanned it. This time, the signs of fighting were even more obvious, with overturned tables acting as barricades. However, someone moved the barricades, making way to the rooms. Or rather, they broke them and the doors with raw physical force.

"Did a bull rampage around here?" Asher frowned and continued scanning the rooms.

After a while, Asher found a kitchen lounge, more offices, a dressing room, a cleaning storage room, and a locker room. The doors were luckily busted open or unlocked, perhaps to fish out the contents or escape, but Asher didn't want to think about it.

After looking through the offices, he skipped the dressing room and focused on the locker room. Cops usually keep their weapons in such places.

"I could use a proper firearm. I wonder if they switched to plasma or laser bullets in a hundred years, or perhaps bullets remained mainstream? Or maybe some electric baton? Dunno how the power would be after ten years. But a bulletproof vest would be super nice... even if it might be decoration when faced with those zombie things." Asher muttered as he looked through the lockers. 

Half of the lockers were open or busted, but the other half were properly locked and secured. They were electronic combination locks with code, fingerprint, and facial scan. And the problem is that there was no power to begin with! And the material they were made of suggested they were tougher than the doors!

"Good god. No way I am getting into these things without heavy gear. If only I could somehow see inside these lockers... No way."

Asher suddenly felt that he could indeed see through objects. Not through his eyes, but through space itself. And so, he tried doing it.

Closing his eyes, the world turned dark, but soon, white lines appeared in different shapes, bypassing solid material. He could see the contents inside all the lockers. At the same time, he felt a small drain on his stamina, as if he were walking. He reckoned he could use it for several hours before needing to rest.

But he only needed a few minutes for what he was about to do.

"Spatial Swapping."

One by one, the contents inside the police lockers were pulled out, dropping to his feet. They included helmets, vests, shields, batons, pistols, rifles, bullets, grenades, and even laser weapons!

However, at the same time-

"Phew... wow. I feel like I jogged for a few minutes. It didn't happen with the jewelry. Is the consumption relative to the mass of the swapped object?" Asher sighed, feeling a small drain on his stamina.

However, he felt that resting for ten minutes was enough to restore the lost fatigue.

"Maybe I should test the limits later with a car or something. Imagine if I could suddenly drop a car on someone's head." Asher thought while rubbing his slightly stubbled chin.

He then started storing the equipment inside the Spatial Storage, which seemed limitless in capacity. However, he kept a police helmet, a bulletproof vest, and a reliable-looking loaded pistol.

"Thank God I learned how to shoot a gun because I volunteered to serve in the IDF(Israeli Defense Force) for five and a half years as a hacker, and then practiced back in the States. Now I wish I were in a combat unit instead." Asher muttered.

Asher was raised in a Jewish American orphanage, so he volunteered in the IDF when he could, partially to get a job and a place to stay, and partially to reconnect with his Jewish heritage. Since they found that he had a sharp mind and a high interest in programming, he joined the Unit 8,200 hacker squad. He also became a low-ranking officer and learned how to shoot a pistol, but he was more of an academic officer who never saw combat training. Instead, he focused on academics at the Open University of Israel and got his BSc there.

When he was released, he considered his options and became a freelancer because he liked being self-employed, tired of having inept superiors press their boots on his head. It went pretty well, and was an above-average cybersecurity expert that middling and large companies liked to employ to test and reinforce their defenses.

But that was in the past.

Once he had stored everything, Asher couldn't help but think back on the jewelry store.

"I should go clean up that store later," Asher mumbled. "Maybe there are hidden vaults inside this place?"

When he thought about that, he decided to revisit the other rooms. After a quick sweep, he couldn't find anything hidden, so he went to the second floor.

Finally, he found an office that seemed to belong to a bigwig. And he indeed found a hidden safe behind a bookshelf. Using Spatial Perception and Spatial Swapping, he grabbed the contents.

Except for some documents, he found a few small gold bars, expensive-looking cigarettes, a bottle of maotai(?), and what he suspected to be a laser pistol, a battery-like extra clip, and a charger.

"Hah, corrupt officials exist everywhere." Asher grinned, pocketing the gains.

But just as he was about to leave, he started coughing.

"Cough* Cough* Cough*... Ah. Must have inhaled some bad air. Ahem*." Asher muttered, clearing his throat.

Asher continued searching through the department, but after a search, he didn't find a dedicated armory. It didn't take a genius to understand that this was merely a branch department, not the main one.

"Shame. I wonder what the situation in the main armory is like." Asher muttered while playing with a loaded gun before putting it in his storage.

Putting it in a holster is less convenient than just drawing it out of his Spatial Storage.

This novel was written by BigNT on Scribble Hub. If you see it anywhere else and paid for it, you were scammed.

Asher left the department and continued scavenging supplies until the sun set, returning to the apartment. He also found a tool shop and got some nice gear, and he finished looting the jewelry store. In addition, he did find a few more bottles of mineral water, but he didn't dare touch the things that looked like juice. And he also found some bad news. The crackers and nutritional paste were spoiled. That greatly soured his mood, and he felt hunger pangs.

"Hah... I have no choice but to somehow return to my world... timeline. Whatever. But I am afraid that the moment I do, I would be swarmed by armed goons." Asher bitterly muttered.

But just as he was thinking about countermeasures, he started coughing.

"Cough* Cough* Cough*... Fuck, its coming again. Was it the 10th or 12th time? Did I catch the cold or flu or- COUGH* COUGH* COUGH*!!!"

The coughing fit only worsened, and Asher started feeling dizzy and weak. He fell on the couch, continuing to cough.

"Cough* Cough* Wheeze... Can't... Wheeze* Breath... Asthma? Cough* Cough*... Allergic reaction? Wheeze* Lung disease?! Cough* Cough*... This is bad..."

Asher quickly analyzed the problem, but felt helpless.

"There are no doctors here, and if I go back, while they might treat me, they might also dissect me or some shit. Fuck... And going to a nearby hospital to search for medicine is a fool's errand. Ignoring whether they have any working medicine, I don't know Mandarin, and my medical knowledge is nil. Heck, I doubt I can spot an aspirin or acamol." Asher bitterly thought. "If only I could just target it and remove it from my... body..."

Suddenly, Asher's eyes went wide, realization dawning on him.

"Wait... maybe I can?"

With that thought in mind, Asher tried sensing within him with Spatial Perception. But he only found his skeletal frame and organs.

"No... I need to target the infection... Focus, Asher... Focus!"

With his life on the line, Asher started pushing the limits of his abilities. Finally, he managed to sense the disease. It was tiny, but scattered in his body, especially his lungs. Trace amounts even reached the brain!

"Thank god I found it in time, or I might be a goner, Alpha Plus or not." Asher had cold sweat on his back, feeling the close shave with death. "Spatial Swap!"

The disease suddenly left his body and teleported out of the window. Almost immediately, Asher felt slightly better.

"Hah... this world is dangerous. I nearly died not from the zombies, but from infection! But how do I keep it out of my body? I can't just clean it up every time. If only I can block it or something... Or can I?"

When he thought about it, Asher felt he could. Following his instincts, a force field protected his skin. At the same time, Asher tried sensing with his Spatial Perception, and found that any harmful bacteria were repelled, only allowing filtered air to enter.

It cost him energy, but the drain was so minimal that it was less than a tenth of Spatial Perception. He felt like he could perpetually keep it active.

"Well, now that I know I can perfectly take things out of my body..." Asher turned to look at his IV, still stuck in his arm. "Perhaps it is time to take that shit out? Good thing first aid kits don't perish so quickly."

Taking out some clean gauze and hemostatic spray(He barely managed to read it), he first sprayed around the IV and the gauze, and then removed the IV with Spatial Swapping before pressing the gauze on the hole that was about to bleed.

"Wow... that didn't hurt! I barely felt a sense of emptiness. Is it because there was no friction? Awesome." Asher smiled, pleased. "Hey, I can make a living as a miracle doctor with this ability. Wouldn't that be awesome?"

But after a while, he slowly calmed down, his attention shifting to something else he discovered while using Spatial Perception on himself, specifically, on the back of his neck.

"I have a goddamn chip on the back of my neck... too small to be an explosive. Is it one of those tracking chips used on dogs? Do they think I am some product?" Asher frowned, clearly displeased. "Well, let's see if I agree to that."

With a thought, he used Spatial Swapping to remove the chip, directly storing it inside his Spatial Storage. Besides feeling a slight emptiness and pain, the extraction was as smooth as can be.

"I gotta say, while I hate Saturn Pharmaceuticals, I fucking love these powers." Asher grinned.

And then, feeling his rumbling stomach, he pursed his lips. "I need to return home... Unless I am willing to try eating the fungi. Not sure I would survive the ordeal. I need to return to my world, but can't return to where I left. If only I could arrive somewhere else... Wait, I can?"

Asher suddenly felt he could indeed do that. He could go anywhere he could envision, including his rented apartment in China, his hometown in New York, his military base in Israel, and every location he visited.

"Well, fuck me sideways. Seems like I can truly ghost them. Heh. Heheh..." Asher chuckled for a moment.

And then, he seriously contemplated his options.

"First of all, China is not an option. And for all I know, my apartment is bugged, and my credentials were seized. Heck, China itself might be in cahoots. No, perhaps that company belongs to the CCP? I did hear most of their companies are government-run. And as someone with American values, I never trust the government as a rule. The failing Israeli government under that corrupt prime minister and the CCP wasting taxpayer money on ghost cities prove that point. As for moving back to the States? I would be lucky if some nutjob doesn't have the bright idea of splicing me." Asher felt troubled.

After what happened to him, he lost a good portion of whatever was left of his faith in the government and humanity. He would be a true fool if he thought an emotionless organization would see him as anything other than an asset.

"No... wait a minute. I am assuming here that those assholes disclosed my information to the world and its mother. But if I were a selfish and evil government-run corporation... Yeah. They would probably hide it. And heck, who would think I would reappear in another state within a day?"

But then, he shook his head again.

"Who am I kidding? They would probably trace my ID. I won't even be able to check into a motel for a night before they find me." Asher bitterly smiled.

As a Cybersecurity expert, he knew how compromised the internet was, and if they tried hard to find him, they would. After all, there were some planted spies here and there, and China had some of the largest servers in the world. Heck, every Chinese-produced phone sends information to Chinese servers. They even banned entering phones inside the bases, knowing that programs like TikTok are disguised spy tools. Heck, they might even search your browsing history, including the porn you watch. That's why Asher always used a heavy-duty VPN and changed the entire operating system of his phone to unbug it. Of course, most people don't need to give a shit, not caring if some poor Chinese regulator sees how sick his fetishes are.

That is not to say the US was faultless, but it invaded privacy to a lesser extent. Not that it made it okay. Who has privacy nowadays?

"But then again, starting all over again while on the run should only be a last resort. If I actively submit to the US, they might arrange a protection program for me... Not. They would probably put me in a research facility, trying to reproduce my powers. Since I'm American and a valuable asset as an Alpha Plus, I am 99% sure I can escape being dissected. However, I can kiss freedom goodbye, and they might extract bone marrow and spinal fluids. That sounds painful as fuck!" Asher shivered.

He then thought of another alternative.

"Maybe I should go to Israel instead? I do have connections there, and Israel is known to protect its own. Since I served in Unit 8,200 and keep in contact with my friends still in service, they might arrange an actual protection program for me without any experiments." Asher muttered, thinking it was possible.

Israel was pretty great if you ignored the high prices, political controversy, and the pointlessly ongoing Gaza war. Israelis are many times more humane, friendly, and tolerant than those in the US and even most of Europe, if you tried to know them instead of believing everything on social media like a useless idiot on campus(Which was why Asher stayed away from American higher education like wildfire). He was culturally shocked at how warm they were to him, with some calling him brother. He never felt more welcome anywhere else.

Most of the pro-Palestinian propaganda was doctored by arabs even before October 7th, and he even helped take down some of those bots that flooded the internet with revolting content. He already got released before that cesspool started, but knew from his friends just how badly the Israeli government and the IDF fucked up on the information war, mostly due to arrogance and fighting dozens of times more people (Jew-hating arabs) worldwide. It didn't help that the government was corrupt as fuck due to a lack of a proper constitution and overeliance on basic laws, and that the legislative and executive branches were almost the same connected, making it more vulnerable to a governmental takeover and dictatorship.

Of course, most of the Israeli population abhors the idea, and he didn't think anything would happen anytime soon. But he figured Israel might collapse in 20+ years due to the pure demographic rise of the religious ultra-orthodox and the arab population, and that terrorist organizations didn't even need to lift a finger. Israel would collapse by itself from infighting and religious and ignorant idiots that only know how to mate like rabbits and pray to god taking over. Attacking Israel is a wake-up call to many people, so it is counterproductive.

But none of that mattered to him. He just wanted a short and mid-term safe haven to take shelter.

"Yeah... that actually might work. At worst, I can run again. And I can use a shawarma right now. Haha..." Asher laughed to himself while rubbing his empty stomach. "Now, I know that nice place next to the Hakirya in Tel-Aviv... I can go there after going to that pawn shop two blocks away. I wonder if they are still open."

After making sure there were no more unwanted things stuck on him, Asher visualized a certain location he remembered, and the next moment, he vanished.