Chapter 60: Capture and Observation
During the renovation of the containment room, Marcus once again occupied two dangerous specimen isolation rooms.
One contained the dried remains of Tomie, and the other contained the ashes of the burned Tomie remains. These two sealed rooms were completely isolated from others by smell, sound, and sight.
He wanted to know if the dried-up Tomie, and the Tomie reduced to ashes, could still divide and grow.
After a day, the renovation of the containment room was almost complete.
Marcus spent another half day in the laboratory, arranging for people to bake the Tomie ashes at various high temperatures.
If the conditions weren't unsuitable, Marcus even wanted to try directly reaching extremely high temperatures and reducing the ashes to atoms to see what the result would be.
Afterwards, he dissolved the ashes in various materials such as molten copper and molten iron, comparing and observing the regeneration state.
He even had some priests perform exorcisms to see if it would work.
Comparative samples were kept for each method.
Marcus finally received the four sets of data he had arranged to collect at the beginning, put down his experiments, and began to review them.
Ray Foster: A male waiter at a hotel in Portland, living off women. He has been working there for 7 years and has worked continuously for over 500 days without taking a day off.
Ray Mitchell: An employee of a clothing design company, working regular hours. He has a wife and a one-year-old child.
Ray Cooper: He has always believed himself to be a woman and has contacted a hospital for gender reassignment. He is currently recovering in the hospital after undergoing surgery.
Ray Bennett: A model who works part-time while studying at university. She has excellent grades and her modeling career is thriving. Two months ago, she suddenly dropped out, abandoning her soon-to-be-obtained degree, and came into a large sum of money, spending her days in a life of extravagance and excess.
Marcus stroked his chin: "Ray Bennett, huh!"
He considered having outsiders arrest Ray Bennett directly.
However, this person was adept at escaping; if something unexpected happened, Ray might possess someone else's body.
Changing bodies once was manageable, but if Ray changed bodies multiple times while escaping, catching them would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Marcus felt a bit like he was trying to capture himself; after all, if he changed identities several times, finding him would be incredibly difficult.
Moreover, Ray's ability to possess others was far more sophisticated in terms of disguise than his own, though its weakness was obvious: the loss of a powerful physical body.
Therefore, to capture this ancient entity who had lived for countless years, a single, decisive strike was necessary!
Marcus decided he needed to go in person to feel confident. He checked Ray's address, reiterated the relevant instructions to the research facility, and then set off.
The state wasn't that large; the drive was estimated to take about six hours.
Inside a café in downtown Portland, Ray was scrolling through her phone.
Her phone displayed a series of replies: Madison, Ashley, Brittany. Faced with invitations from these beautiful women, she was contemplating who to favor tonight, like choosing from a menu.
What a boring day!
Over the long years, he had experienced the pleasures of men, women, and even animals, but he was tired of them all.
He had been using this body for two months, and the overuse had caused some problems. He was preparing to look for his next target.
Recalling how the original owner of this body, Ray Bennett, had been overflowing with compassion on the street, feeding him after he was transformed into a stray dog, and then Ray Bennett was replaced by him in the stray dog's body, he couldn't help but laugh.
What naive compassion!
Recalling the pitiful look of panic when the other party discovered that he had become a dog, and the helpless tears when he personally sent the other party to the animal shelter in Ray Bennett's body, he found it amusing.
A dog possessed by a human, is it a human or a dog?
If those who adopted that dog knew the truth, what kind of expression would they have!
Ray took a sip of coffee, quietly recalling, and even chuckled softly.
Seeing the other person's terror or even madness after losing their body during each body swap had become an indispensable source of pleasure for him.
What kind of body should he get this time? A man, a woman, or something inhuman?
There weren't any more handsome or beautiful bodies here; it was truly a dilemma!
Ray put down the spoon he was stirring his coffee with his slender fingers, lazily stretched, and then suddenly felt as if he'd been stung by a wasp. His head spun, and his body convulsed and went numb!
"What... ugh~?"
Did this body have some kind of acute illness, or did something fall and hit him?
Ray felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, and a wave of dizziness caused him to completely lose consciousness.
The customers at the surrounding tables were startled by this sudden turn of events and stood up, and a clatter of chairs and tables filled the room.
A round-faced girl at table 16, who had been watching Ray intently, suddenly saw a uniformed detective wearing sunglasses shoot Ray with what appeared to be a tranquilizer dart from a distance, followed by a taser.
Then, the officer threw a canvas sack with a rope attached, accurately placing it over the model's head, and like lassoing cattle, pulled hard, dragging the unconscious person to the ground, head covered.
"We're apprehending a suspect, everyone stay calm!"
Marcus waved his badge around, tied the canvas sack around Ray's neck in a tight knot, handcuffed them, and, carrying them by the back of their clothes like luggage, walked out the door.
He put Ray back into the travel case in the trunk and drove back to the research facility.
"Director Richardson, you have to see this, it's serious!"
As soon as Marcus returned to the facility, the deputy director, Dr. Stevens, rushed over.
"Which one, the strange fish or the girl?"
"The strange fish, of course! That fish is terrifying!"
"As for the girl, I'm not sure, not even the person who delivered the food knew. We strictly followed your instructions."
Dr. Stevens said, his face filled with concern.
"Okay, then I'll go check on the girl first."
"But..." Stevens wanted to say something more, but Marcus had already carried his case and headed towards another specimen isolation room.
He locked Ray in the biological isolation room, gave them another injection, and established the same supervision rules as the Emma isolation room.
Then he turned and went to isolation room number 1, glancing at Emma.
At this moment, Emma's hairstyle had begun to change, her skin was paler, and her features were more refined, except that the beauty mark at the corner of her eye hadn't yet appeared.
Confined in such a place, she didn't scream or shout, but instead stretched out her arm, quietly admiring her beautiful transformation.
Marcus estimated that at most one day, this girl would be completely replaced by that monster, Tomie, and die in every sense of the word.
Continuing to Isolation Chamber No. 2, where Tomie's remains were placed, a fleshy mass the size of a fist had sprouted from within the bone fragments.
Upon seeing Marcus enter, the mass immediately spoke:
"Hello, my name is Tomie!"
"Mr. Researcher, from the first moment I saw you, I fell in love with you. I love you!"
"Someone locked me up here, I'm so scared!"
"Mr. Researcher, take me out, give me a gentle hug...kiss me!"
Unexpectedly, Tomie had regenerated so quickly, but Marcus was currently in his special emotional state. For a tumor growing from a bone fragment to speak such words only made Marcus feel disgusted and nauseated.
It was like a rotting organ saying it loved him and demanding he kiss it!
Marcus expressionlessly activated the gas control device in the isolation chamber, and once the gas dissipated, he used his absorption ability to carefully collect the dried remains, sealed the isolation chamber again, and closed the outer door.
Marcus then went to another isolation chamber, No. 3, where ashes were placed.
The ashes in the dish had condensed into snowflake-like flakes, resembling algae, with faint traces of blood between them.
Even burning them to ash was useless? It only slightly slowed down the rebirth process!
Marcus absorbed the material back into particles and closed the isolation chamber.
After confirming everything was secure, he went to the laboratory researching the strange fish.
"Director Richardson!"
A group of people were busy in the laboratory. A dissected strange fish sat in a glass dish on the lab table, emitting a foul odor.
(End of Chapter)
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