Chapter 78 One father, one problem, one solution
Late at night, Aoi was sleeping, holding Rumi and Nemuri in his arms. After discovering their pregnancies, he had been overjoyed. But now an old problem he had been avoiding came back with full force, preventing him from sleeping well.
Aoi looked at Nemuri and Rumi. He then carefully got up so as not to wake them. He quietly left the bedroom and went to his personal office inside the house. He sat down in the chair and looked at the giant monitor.
Morgana appeared and said:
—Sir, are you alright? After all, you only come to the office at hours like this when something is bothering you.
Aoi said:
—Morgana, I'm going to have a child.
Morgana said:
—Congratulations, sir. But why are you worried? Isn't this a happy occasion for humanity to know about?
Aoi smiled tiredly and said:
—Yes, it's a happy occasion. But this happy occasion comes with something else called worry. You see, there's a problem I've been avoiding thinking about because it's still far off. But with this news, I'm forced to think about it. You, more than anyone, should know that my quirk is getting stronger and stronger, right?
Morgana said:
—Yes, sir. A quirk is like a muscle—the more you use it, the stronger it gets. And I don't even need to mention how much you use yours.
Aoi smiled tiredly and said:
—That's the problem. What happens if the super regeneration quirk keeps getting stronger? Immortality. But that's where the problem comes in. Even if I find a way to share this immortality with my family or create a medicine or potion... there's another problem: how am I going to explain to the world why neither I nor my family age?
Morgana, be honest: what are the consequences of this?
Morgana said:
—Sir, nothing good. Because if you hide it, they'll find out you're immortal after all, they're not that stupid. If you give immortality to them, another problem arises: the powerful will never want to give this immortality to civilians. And civilians, when they discover that their mother, friend, girlfriend, or daughter died because of the selfishness of the powerful... war. And even if you give immortality to everyone, we enter the second point: everyone is immortal, but resources food, clothing, houses, luxury goods are not infinite. The chances of a war breaking out over resources are high. And even if you don't give immortality to them, they'll still attack you anyway to get it. After all, death is humanity's greatest fear. They do much worse things for a little money. So you can imagine what they're capable of doing for immortality.
Aoi leaned his tired head back in the chair, sighed, and said:
—Even if I get so strong that I could turn All Might at his peak into a mist of blood with one punch...
Morgana said:
—I'm sorry to say, sir, but humans, when they're crazy for profit, don't care about that. Besides, all your wives are heroines who fight for good. So they would attack knowing that you wouldn't be able to kill the weak and innocent soldiers and heroes they send to their deaths because you're not evil like All For One. In other words, they can annoy you without consequences. And even if you only attack them, it might not affect you, but it will certainly affect Nemuri and Ryuko, who truly believe in good. On one side, their husband who did nothing wrong, just defended himself. On the other, their friends who are being used as cannon fodder.
Aoi, hearing this, gave a tired smile and said:
—Well, you were too honest.
Morgana said:
—Sorry, sir. I was only following your orders.
Aoi said, smiling:
—I'm not angry. It was my order. And what you said hit me in the face to wake me up. This animation world where everything is right and morally good because the author controls the evil thoughts so it doesn't turn into a heavy manga or anime... this is the real world, where people have ambition and malice and play dirty.
Morgana said:
—Are you alright, sir?
Aoi said:
—Well, I am. I'm just getting a headache with the plan I'm going to have to execute now to prevent them from attacking my family and to be able to live a happy life.
He looked at Morgana and said:
—Morgana, we're going to work a lot from now on. Because this plan is going to be a gigantic amount of work.
Morgana said:
—And what is your plan, sir?
Aoi opened a smile and said:
—Simple: terraform Mars and build my new world there. Because if this world won't tolerate us, I'll simply leave the chessboard.
Morgana said:
—Sir, you really are right. Humans have crazy plans. But how do you intend to do this?
Aoi looked at her and said:
—Simple. We're going to use what this world has best.
Morgana said:
—Sir, are you intending to use quirks for this work? But, sir, the amount of people and quirks for this is unimaginable. Besides, we don't know if everyone will cooperate or do the work right. And there's the point of keeping the plan secret—with more people, the risk of exposure increases a lot.
Aoi said:
—And who said I'm going to need them? I only need their blood, their DNA, to copy their quirks.
Morgana said:
—But I must remind you, sir, that copying quirks into humans is still far off.
Aoi said:
—And who says I want to use this on humans? You know, it's much simpler to copy quirks into animals, insects, and bacteria, which aren't as complicated as the human body.
Aoi said:
—So my plan is more or less as follows:
Atmosphere and Protection (Air and Heat)
Extremophile Bacteria + Heat Generation Quirk (ex: Endeavor):
Function: Spread across the polar caps, they melt the CO₂ ice, creating a greenhouse effect to warm the planet.
Atmosphere and Protection (Air and Ozone)
Organism: Cyanobacteria and Algae.
Suggested Quirk: Nine (Weather Manipulation).
Function: This is the perfect choice. Instead of "creating" matter from nothing, Nine's factor allows direct manipulation of the atmosphere. Billions of bacteria with this ability would work together to condense gases, generate storms to distribute water, and mainly manipulate gas layers to form the ozone layer and the greenhouse effect needed to warm Mars.
Soil and Nutrients (Regolith Transformation)
Earthworms and Beetles + Overhaul Quirk (Matter Reconstruction):
Function: Mars has toxic soil (perchlorates). These insects digest the poison and reconstruct the soil's chemical structure, turning sterile dust into fertile, living earth.
Fungi and Lichens + Multiplication Quirk:
Function: Create an underground network to hold moisture and prevent the wind from carrying away the new soil.
Hydrology (Water Cycle)
Tardigrades (Water Bears) + Ice/Water Manipulation Quirk:
Function: Microorganisms that locate subsurface ice and bring it to the surface in liquid state, forming the first rivers and lakes.
The Adaptive "Brain"
Director Nezu's Blood:
Function: The "Nezu Factor" is injected into all these beings so their animal instincts understand the new environment. They don't need orders; they just "know" they must use their quirks to survive, which ends up cleaning the planet as a natural consequence.
Aoi then asked:
—Morgana, so what is the chance of success for this plan?
Morgana said:
—The chance is very high. But there are small details. To increase the success rate, we should perform Prior Biological Conditioning. The goal is for the organisms not to arrive on Mars as "tourists," but as specialists who recognize the environment and know exactly how to use their quirks to survive.
Aoi said:
—Yes, good idea. What should we do?
Morgana said:
—These are the procedures we should do before sending them to increase success:
Simulation in Hyperbaric Chambers
Aoi uses his laboratories to create biomes that mimic 100% of Martian conditions (low pressure, intense UV radiation, temperatures of -60°C, and soil rich in toxic perchlorates).
Action: He exposes the bacteria and insects to lethal doses of these elements in a controlled way.
Result: The Nezu Factor processes this data, creating a conditioned reflex. The organism learns that "feeling this cold" is the trigger to "activate the heat quirk."
Cycles of Stress and Regeneration (Microbial Zenkai)
Aoi applies the same logic as his own training to the microorganisms.
Action: He allows the hostile environment to "injure" the cells of the insects and bacteria, then uses his healing flames to regenerate them.
Result: The organism returns denser and more adapted. He creates a lineage of beings that not only tolerate Mars but thrive in those conditions.
Instinct Synchronization (The Nezu Software)
Aoi uses Director Nezu's blood to perform the "upload" of the terrestrial ecosystem to the new biology.
Action: He exposes the insects to Earth soil and then to Martian soil in the simulator.
Result: The insect learns by contrast. It recognizes that Martian soil is "wrong" (toxic) and that the only way to feel good like on Earth is to use Overhaul's quirk to fix the soil around it.
Immunological Firewall (Aizawa Cells)
Before sending, Aoi ensures that the implanted quirks won't suffer dangerous mutations.
Action: He integrates Aizawa's erasure immune system into a percentage of the cells.
Result: If a bacterium or insect starts multiplying uncontrollably or dangerously for human life, the organism's own body neutralizes the quirk, keeping the ecosystem stable.
The "Hunger and Function" Test
Action: Aoi removes any terrestrial food source from the simulators, leaving only the toxic soil and dry ice.
Result: The beings are forced to use Overhaul and Geten quirks to extract nutrients and water to avoid dying. When they arrive on Mars, they'll start terraforming from the first second, as it's the only way to guarantee their next "meal."
Aoi said:
—Well, yes, this will greatly increase the chance of everything working out. It can go up a lot with these procedures. I don't know what I'd do without you, Morgana. You help me too much.
Morgana said:
—At your disposal, sir. It's good to know that my help is valuable.