<<NO LEWD.>>

 

Ha-Jin quickly got the girls to their homes before calling a cleaning crew to finish getting rid of all the blood. Father owned an entire company that did just that and they arrived not even forty minutes later, ready to eliminate any signs of a fight before anyone even noticed it.

Not that I thought the gunshots hadn’t been reported but, with the state of the city, both the heroes and the police had more important things to worry about than a strip club at the edge of the city.

They’d still send someone to look into things in the morning, if the complaints continued, but not before.

Walking inside the building, I found a room on the second floor. It overlooked the dance floor and was clearly made so the owner could see everything going on below without having to appear himself.

There was a bed in a corner I’d have to throw away, it just smelled vile and I had to lower my senses just so I could ignore its existence, a large couch that would receive the same treatment, and a desk with a comfortable chair that seemed, very surprisingly, completely clean.

I quickly checked the desk and found some documents, but nothing too interesting. Leaning over the desk I considered things.

Clearly, leaving my new territory unoccupied wasn’t going to work, it only left openings for other gangs to intrude and I had no desire to keep killing idiots that dared challenge me.

To be honest, I wasn’t opposed to it either, but it would probably get tiresome after a while.

Only problem was, running a gang and making sure it didn’t betray me, or cross any lines, was kind of a full time job, and I had no desire to focus entirely on such things. I had more important, more satisfying and more lucrative things to do.

No, I’d have to get someone to control it for me. Unfortunately, I didn’t have anyone like that in my employ, at least not at the moment.

Concentrating on my power, I started pulling biomass from the portal. Two fleshy tentacles sprouted from my shoulder and intertwined themselves in the air, growing thicker and starting to take form until a copy of my body stood by my side, connected to me by my shoulder.

Now, for the hard part.

I had some experience in constructing extra brains, after all, I constantly walked around with one in my body for years, and that number only increased after getting the Qiankun Pouch, but I had never tried to create a clone.

I didn’t think I was the type of person to cause problems for myself, but there had never been a need for it too, so why take the risk?

I finished constructing two brains, one in the head and the other in the chest, right beside where the heart should be. I briefly looked at myself with both sets of eyes. Taking a breath with both bodies, I cut the connection.

For a second I thought everything was fine, but then my clone clutched its head and fell to his knees while gritting his teeth and whimpered in pain. Reacting quickly, I laid a hand on its shoulders and reconnected with the clone.

I immediately understood what went wrong. It seems like my clone just didn’t have my own biokinesis, unfortunately, the body I had built couldn’t survive without the power doing at least some of the work.

With an effort of will I quickly changed its configurations, the clone was really more for management than any fighting, and I didn’t really need it to be strong or anything. Instead, I just created a baseline human body and cut the connection again.

We stayed there just looking at each other for a minute, “How’re you feeling?”

“Not bad.” My clone answered and shrugged. “Being so fragile again feels strange, but I’m fine.”

“No sudden urges to usurp me? No desire to escape and live your own life?” I asked curiously.

I didn’t really want to create a new life, the ideal situation was that the clone would be able to act independent for a little while, and then peacefully rejoin me, allowing me access to its memories, but I wouldn’t be completely opposed to letting the clone live on if it developed independence.

“Not yet, those things take time you know.” The clone told me while sitting down on the chair.

“Well, as long as this doesn’t create a highlander situation.” I shrugged, I didn’t think that was likely, but you never know. “I don’t think we’re the kind of person to go: ‘There must be only one,’ but there’s always a chance.”

“Yeah… fuck that.” He sighed and pulled the documents closer. “I’m definitely not feeling very independent right now. To be truthful, I actually feel like I’m missing something and it’s not just the power.”

“Well, I’ll be back later today so, if you find out what it is, you can tell me later.”

“Sure.” He said and already dismissed me.

I nodded, since it was a clone, it would do exactly what I would do. I didn’t even need to leave any instructions or anything.

Getting back home, I found Kinomi sleeping in my bed, making sure to drain most of my mass inside the Qiankun Pouch. I embraced her body and smiled as she released a small grumble, but didn’t wake up.

The next few days were spent getting things ready, Ha-Jin, Osen and even father started gathering spare mercenaries and other personnel for the assault while I spent my time between school and the club, getting my own gang in order.

At the clinic, Saki Yoshida had woken up, but she absolutely refused to see me. I still paid for her stay, and she seemed to be recovering, somewhat. Still, I felt kinda responsible for the girl and wanted to make sure she recovered completely.

Maika had managed to keep her head down at her new school, but she’d have to fight for the first time next week, and I wasn’t about to let that happen. It meant that I’d have to start dealing with the Zaizen family a few days before the Auction. I hoped that, with the ability to make clones, it wouldn’t be too much of a problem.

“Boss.” A large man with a shaved head nodded at me when I entered the club. I nodded back.

I wouldn’t say the place was full, but it was probably gonna make a profit by the end of the month, there were a surprisingly number of willing strippers in the city, and my clone was managing my reputation very well.

A 20 year old redhead twirled around on the pole, wearing only white lingerie, she held herself upside down on the pole and arched her back, showing her large breasts to the eager audience.

Gathering the remainder of Obata’s people and any stray gangster whose gang had suffered from the unrest in the city had been easy. Making sure they weren’t rapists or complete psychopaths was a little harder, and I was sure there were still a few of them in my new gang, but they’d either get caught or run away soon. I had made VERY sure that they all understood my limits.

Going up the stairs, I entered my office and saw the clone sitting on the desk, signing some documents. It looked completely fine, but its movements were a little lethargic and its eyes looked empty.

“How’s it going?” I asked while sitting down in front of it.

“Very well. The gang is still growing fast, with more and more of the guys bringing their friends over after finding out what we can do.” He said with a voice devoid of any emotion. “I think you’ll have to make an example of Alex, he’s kinda harassing the girls, and there was some talk of him using one of them a few years ago.”

“And you didn’t do it?” I lifted an eyebrow, the clone bored and, if there was one thing that would lift my spirits, it was punishing such an asshole.

“There’s really no point, I’m pretty sure I know what’s wrong.” He told me, and lowered the last piece of paper before looking down to the floor.

“So, are you degrading or something?” I prompted.

“Not really. Well, not my body at least.” Looking back to me, the clone let me see his face. “It seems like you really can’t create life, at least not like this. I’m pretty sure the problem is that I just don’t have a soul.”

Interesting, so that’s why he looked so dead inside.

“So, how does it feel to be a soulless abomination?”

“That’s the problem, I don’t feel.” He got up and stood in front of the glass overlooking the club. “I could probably continue functioning indefinitely, or well, for a human lifetime at least, but I don’t have any new desires, my actions don’t give me any satisfaction and, while I feel physical sensations, I don’t feel anything else connected to them.”

“So, how’re you still moving?” I asked approaching the clone.

“Force of habit? I mean, I still have all our memories, I know what I would have done in most situations, I just don’t really feel any motivation for doing it, on the other hand, it also doesn’t bother me to do it.” He shrugged again.

“So… time for me to absorb you and make a new one?”

“It would probably improve things a little, the guys were starting to find me a little creepy, and I know you’ll have come up with a more effective body.” I had, it was not too much better since I just didn’t have the time, but it was at least at the level of an F rank super.

Putting a hand on his exposed neck, I used my power to try and reabsorb his mass. Usually, I had to consume biomass before incorporating it into my own body, but my power seemed to recognize the clone as still being a part of me and, not even a minute later, I was able to reincorporate his brain, gaining all of his memories and experiences. It felt very odd.

It took me around 15 minutes to absorb everything the clone had gone through in these three days, and I thought he was probably right. When I created him I hadn’t created a new soul.

The clone felt more like a wind up toy than a real person. At first, it seemed to still have some after effects of being a part of me, but that had ended after around a day. Beyond that, it had just acted the way I would have but didn’t experience any emotional feedback.

I shivered. The clone had felt like a robot, just acting on its programming without feeling any satisfaction.

Sitting down on the chair, I watched as the redhead finally took off all her clothes, taking a few seconds to enjoy the view before pulling out my phone and calling the clinic.

“Hello Sadaharu-sama.”

“Misaki, I’m just calling to make sure everything is alright.”

“Sadaharu-sama, you know your security detail is keeping the clinic as safe as it can be.” The woman said in a teasing voice. “You don’t have to call every day.”

“What, and miss hearing your voice?” The woman snorted and I decided to cut the flirting short. “How’s Saki? And what about the other patient?”

“Yoshida-san still isn’t at her best. She wants to get over her addiction, which is a very good thing, but they forced her to use very strong drugs. It will take more than three days to overcome… And she still doesn’t want to see you.” Misaki told me and I sighed. Saki had accepted the clinic’s help, but she was still confused, and still too attached to that human trash Hayato. Hopefully, after a longer recovery, she’d be better. “As for our second guest, I really hope you can be here tonight, because we believe she’s recovering from her healing coma and we still have no idea how strong she actually is.”

The demon girl I had rescued was turning out to be a pain. We’d thought she would wake up soon, but she had entered a healing coma to recover her strength and nobody had any idea what level of super she was.

The clinic could deal with a lot, but she had been fighting an Arch demon, weakened as it was, she could be far stronger than anything they could handle.

“Good, I’ll be there in an hour or two.” I told her, already preparing myself to create a second clone. “Otherwise, how are the preparations?”

“Everything is progressing according to schedule. We’ll have the room to take all the patients by the time the auction is here.”

We talked a little longer while I created a new clone, one comparable to a low end Super, the clone had a spark on his eyes, but I guess that’d fade in a day or so, leaving him an automaton again.

Neither Shizuka nor Misaki waited for me in front of the clinic, they were both far too busy with things and, now that we had a closer relationship, didn’t feel the need to be so formal. Good.

The demonic girl slept in the most reinforced room, right at the back of the facility. The room had been built with extremely thick metal walls, but the back was slightly less reinforced than the front.

The hope was that, in case the super held there both wanted and had the capacity to escape, he or she would break the back wall and be released directly onto the streets, causing minimal damage to the clinic and without risking the other patients.

I didn’t dare enter the room, the girl had reacted very badly to me before so I didn’t want to be there when she woke up, but I also didn’t want her to run away or, worse, go on a rampage through the building.

I watched her with the camera installed on the place. She looked much better since her body wasn’t as thin as before and she didn’t have the same haunted look on her face. In fact, she actually looked incredibly cute and innocent.

It happened suddenly, her eyes snapped open with surprising strength and she bolted away from the bed sending it smashing against the wall. Taking a few breaths, she stretched her leather wings and looked around the room, finding it empty, then rushed towards the bed and ripped one of its wooden legs with very minimal effort.

Getting up, I gently pressed the intercom on the door and watched her jump away from it, smashing her back against the wall and making a dent. Damn, she was strong.

“Hello, do you understand me?” I asked.

“Release me, Demon!” She looked towards the door and shouted, making sure to show me her sharp teeth.

“I’m not a demon. I’m just a human super with biokinesis.” I told her and waited for a cry of denial. Instead, the girl twisted her head aside and seemed to be considering things. “Do you have a name?”

“I am… I am… Mel.” She seemed to really struggle with the name, grabbing at her own head with a hand, she stumbled aside before dropping the wooden weapon and grabbing the wall for support. “I… where am I?”

“You’re in a recovery clinic,” I told her and decided to try my luck. “Mel, can I enter the room?”

“No! I-I mean… my head hurts.” She fell to the ground and took a few breaths before answering again. “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.”

“It’s alright Mel, but I would like to check on you. May I come in?” She just nodded.

Pressing my hand against the security pad, I unlocked the door and entered. Mel looked at me with a glare, making sure to keep as far away from me as she could. The door closed behind me and I slowly sat down.

Mel wore a hospital gown, fell over her knees as she crouched down and attempted to look small, her leather wings folding in front of her body. Her nails dug into the floor, sinking easily through the mat. Peeking under her hair, she asked. “Are you going to kill me?”

“I wasn’t planning on it. Why?”

“I-I hurt people.” She confessed, her nails scratching the metal wall behind her and leaving deep gashes.

Well, I can’t say that was unexpected, she was a demon after all. I didn’t know a lot about demons, not the ones on this planet at least, but they were generally considered evil, and even the half-breeds that popped up after the demonic invasion had aggressive tendencies.

Still, she seemed more interested in fighting her own kind than hurting humans. “Are you going to hurt anyone else?”

“No!” Her tail lashed out, denting the wall again as she leaned forward. “I don’t want to hurt anybody but he… he is always there!”

“Another demon forced you then?” Interesting, she seemed at least on the same level as that Archdemon back then, something that could force her actions… Could I deal with that? I kinda wanted to find out, and killing such a demon wouldn’t be wrong. “If you tell me about ‘him’ I may be able to help you.”

She seemed to think about my proposal for a second, then sat back down and mumbled something that, even with my improved senses, I couldn’t hear. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I said I’m not a demon.” She grumbled and squeezed her eyes close for a second. “I’m fallen.”

I had never heard the term, but I could make a guess. A fallen was probably some form of corrupted angel. I knew some of them had survived Heaven’s destruction, but I never thought I’d see one.

“I see. Well, if you tell me about him, I can make sure to keep you safe.” I offered.

She looked at me for a few seconds, her tail swinging from side to side behind her back. Suddenly, I noticed her muscles tensing and had less than a second to react.

Mel pounced on me, her claws slashing through the place I had just been and leaving four deep gashes on the reinforced door, I ducked under her blow and tried to jump away, but her tail lashed out and hit me in the chest, crushing my ribcage and sending me flying.

The blow barely registered as I started pulling more and more mass out of the Qiankun Pouch, I was just about to start changing my body when I remembered her reaction to my biokinesis, and the fact that I didn’t actually want to hurt her.

Instead of entering my battle form, I just reinforced as much of my body as I could and dodged her attacks, regenerating my body after each one. Mel grew faster and stronger the longer the fight went on, until it became clear that she was holding back and only escalating slowly to make sure I wouldn’t die.

“Liar!” She shouted, her claws cutting all the way through the floor and sending pieces of concrete flying. “You’re too weak. You can’t stop him!”

“Fuck!” I screamed when her tail wrapped itself around my leg and smashed me against the ceiling. “Alright, that’s enough of that!”

Increasing my weight as much as I could without changing my appearance, I dropped to the ground and grabbed her tail, pulling with all my strength. Mel flew towards me and tried to scratch at my head, but I ducked under the blow and grabbed her arm, putting her in a joint lock and smashing her against the wall.

The blow was powerful enough to utterly shred her hospital gown, but Mel didn’t seem to mind as she twisted and tried to hit me with a wing. I put my weight at her back and wrapped an arm around her neck and shouted. “Calm down, why the fuck did you do that?”

The sharp tip of her tail pierced me in the back, but I just healed around the appendage and increased the pressure on her arm. Slowly, she stopped struggling and started sobbing.

Fuck, I felt her tears hitting the floor and started to feel bad for the crazy maniac.

“You’re too weak.” She sobbed. “You can’t protect me.”

I decided she wasn’t going to attack me anymore and released my hold on her arm and neck. She had gone limp, so I had to grab her tail and pull it out of my chest before healing the wound.

Passing a hand through my eyes I sighed. “Alright, I’m gonna assume that was some kinda test. Look, I never said I’d do it alone, girl. I have a lot of resources plus, this little spat was far from my best effort, you know.”

Looking down at her, I noticed she had already gained some weight under the clinic’s care, her petite body didn’t look as skeletal as before and, despite clearly not being at her best, I felt she was already stronger than the last time we fought.

Taking my shirt off, I offered it to her. The cloth had a new hole in it, but was otherwise intact from our little spat. She just looked at me for a few seconds, then grabbed it and pushed herself from the ground, revealing surprisingly full breasts.

Turning my back to her, I picked up the bed and put it back in place, making a bone substitute for the leg Mel had broken off. Looking back, I saw Mel was having trouble getting the shirt over her wings and sighed.

“Alright, turn around.” I ordered as I grabbed the shirt and tore its back completely open. Mel glared at me, but still decided to obey. “Now put your arms through the sleeves.”

She obeyed. Making sure my shirt covered all of her front. Folding the cloth under my hands, I produced some spider silk from my fingers and used it to tie the shirt around her neck, then did the same with the cloth right below her wings.

The result was that my shirt now looked like an open back dress around her petite body and her wings were free to flap around. Mel was still glaring at me, but seemed content with her new garment.

“Okay, are you ready to talk about this demon now?”

“No.” She denied and just looked around the damaged room.

I huffed, sitting down on the bed and massaging my forehead, “Ugh, what will I do with you?”

“I can’t stay here, if you keep me here he’ll find me. He always does.” She told me as I thought about the situation.

“Look, I’m not gonna keep you here against your will.” I caught her glance towards the reinforced door and snorted. “We both know that wouldn’t hold you for long. No, we only wanted to make sure you didn’t hurt anybody when you woke up.”

“I see.” She whispered and her shoulders relaxed a little. “Thank you.”

“How about this, if you promise not to hurt anyone I’ll open the door, you can eat something and maybe rest for a few days, then, if you still want, you can just leave.” Mel squinted at me but, under the shirt, I caught sight of her tail swinging eagerly from one side to the other when I mentioned food. “Heck, I can order you pretty much anything you want and, if you stay here to recover for a few days, I swear I’ll take you anywhere in the world, I can even take you to another world if that’s your goal.”

“I…” Mel started to say, but her stomach interrupted by releasing a monstrous growl and causing her to flush with embarrassment. “Alright, I can stay for a few days.”

“That’s all I ask.” I told her.

I didn’t fully trust her, and I gave even odds that she’d run away right after the meal, but I was convinced she wouldn’t hurt anyone to do so.

Unlocking the door, I led her through the facility until we found the cafeteria. When she saw the food there, Mel was unable to help herself, stuffing her checks with bread and every kind of finger food available until she was left looking like a chipmunk.

Eventually, I called one of my employees and sent him a picture of the girl with the orders to bring her some fitting clothes and, when Misaki finally came to see me, I left Mel in her hands so she could get used to the facility.

Later, I had Ha-Jin drive me back home while I took some time to come up with more improvements to my clone’s body, trying to make him even stronger without wasting too many resources and keeping his human looks.

One of the newest improvements I planned on using was to put a little more bone on his fingertips. If he was ever threatened, the clone could break said bones and cause them to burst through the skin like claws. It would make his fingers a little harder than was natural, but give him a last minute weapon in case he needed it.

“Young Master?” Ha-Jin called for my attention.

“Yes?”

“I was just informed that all teams are ready for the auction operation.” He informed me while glancing in the rear view mirror.

“I see. Send me the list.”

My cell phone beeped and I looked at it. Ha-Jin had just sent me a list of all available teams for the assault we were planning. I even recognized some of them.

It seems like Maine’s crew would arrive in the city in four days. I was actually looking forward to that, not only would they be another team to throw at the villains on the auction, but I was hoping to have them stay and act as muscle for my new gang.

Kiefa and Daz would also be in the city. They weren’t really the strongest supers, but Kiefa was a skilled fighter and Daz, as an orc, was far stronger than an average human. I had been using them as mercenaries for some time now. They were comparable to weak C grade supers but, like Maine’s crew, were very professional.

Together with Father’s minions and Osen, I was pretty sure I could rescue the auction victims and kill everyone involved. Now I just had to kill Zaizen and wait.

This was going to be fun.