[Beep!]
[Assimilation of genetic material (testosterone) and growth hormone (GH) in progress...]
[Stimulation of cellular activities and regeneration in progress...]
[Modification of the neuronal pattern of the 'hypothalamus' sector to that defined by Gorou Hyoudou in progress...]
[Estimated time... 6 hours.]
[Activation of laboratory security protocol.]
Despite the beeps and notification sounds coming from his central computer, Gorou remained asleep due to the substance working on his body.
This substance was created to stimulate his regeneration and cellular activity during the injection of hormones necessary for his rejuvenation.
In summary, Gorou was sleeping during a testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) that was much more advanced in its complexity.
'I... I feel good.'
Several hours had passed while he was still in his capsule in the laboratory.
Only now had his mind begun to resurface.
The chemicals around him and the hormonal upheaval in his body had given him an extremely deep sleep.
After an additional ten minutes or so, beeps announcing notifications sounded again.
Finally, the liquid, originally greenish but now transparent, began to slowly drain from the capsule.
Thud
Cough
The sounds of Gorou's footsteps and coughing resonated loudly in the laboratory.
The man staggered toward a mirror in the bathroom that had been set up when this place was created.
That's where he saw himself.
(Image)
His dark brown hair had become shinier and longer, his wrinkled skin and tired expression no longer had a place on his face.
He resembles a late-twenties version of Sieg from the manga Fate/Apocrypha, except his eyes remain brown.
"I shouldn't have been able to go back this far biologically with so little!!"
He wore a researcher's coat without paying attention to his lack of pants, before returning to the laboratory to review the process.
Normally, applying hormone therapy of the (TRT) type shouldn't grant such drastic changes to a human.
'I tested it with that yakuza before and that guy just rejuvenated 5 years max.'
The result was too unexpected; he needs to examine this and find an explanation or he won't be able to sleep well tonight.
After a few more hours exploring his central computer and reviewing the experiment, Gorou now slightly understood the problem.
His operation was slower and more precise than the yakuza's, but also more thorough.
The other subject just underwent the therapy, and they checked whether it worked or not, whereas he went deeper.
'Thanks to the machine and the hormonal solution I made...'
He lost a large majority of his old cells, replacing them with young ones.
As the delinquent's hormones influenced the procedure, he didn't get cells of an age similar to the forties.
Yet, he was lucky to avoid adolescence...
"If I had miscalculated the timing of my release even more then..."
He would potentially have had an age below twenty, or even biologically equal to his son.
Bam
In anger, he knocked over the trash can beside him.
"How am I going to explain this to Miki?"
If his wife is the primary concern, then it wouldn't be too serious.
However, there's no doubt that he's going to attract the attention of the supernatural now.
A person officially in their late forties becoming overnight an individual in their late twenties?
It's too absurd!!
Gorou ran his hand through his longer hair before picking up his phone to call someone.
[It's rare for you to contact me first, Mr. X]
[You have an emergency, don't you?]
At the other end of the line is his intermediary.
It's thanks to him that he's been able to access certain resources out of reach or too constraining to obtain for a simple civilian like him.
Otherwise, how could he have obtained an MRI machine to modify it into a scanner powerful enough to observe a neuronal pattern?
Of course, freelance services in the supernatural world are expensive.
Sometimes, or very often, money isn't enough.
"I need you to modify the public and legal identity of a certain Gorou Hyoudou."
Gorou explained the details, but he forbade touching Issei and Miki.
He plans to be honest with them to a certain extent.
[You want me to make sure your cleanup on the woman named Yumeko is clean and modify the complete legal aspect of Gorou Hyoudou, right?]
Gorou just responded with a "hmm" to give him confirmation.
[No problem, but you're asking for strange things in a short time... You're not directly connected to this Mr. Gorou and this woman Yumeko by any chance?]
The tone of #### became slightly mocking, but Gorou remained calm and cold.
"Do you want to end our partnership?" he simply said in return.
[Devil no, haha, you're way too effective at creating non-magical weapons.]
Despite his relaxed voice, he didn't completely mask his frustration during this part of the interaction.
[Thanks to you, my organization can recruit more capable humans despite their low magical energy.]
Now he seems to have a proud tone, which is a trait of his personality that Gorou doesn't appreciate.
'Tss, I really don't like when he talks about his group.'
After a long speech about how they're going to overthrow the established order, #### again proposes to Gorou to join their group, which he refuses to mention by name.
"Let me think about it... I'll give you my answer in a week, and at the latest in a month," he responds honestly.
Since he understood the connection between Stanford Pines and organized crime, Gorou has no real reason to avoid his contact's organization.
"Haha, excellent, I like that attitude, because I know you're a man of your word.."
Gorou just smiled but didn't answer.
However, he received an email on his computer.
It contained diagrams, some of which were fascinating.
"I know you're the 'hunter' of Kuho city."
He didn't respond to these words.
#### isn't stupid, as he's a man of similar age or older compared to Gorou.
If a human can live that long in the supernatural, then he must not be ordinary.
It's not surprising that he put the pieces of the puzzle together thanks to their repeated interactions and transactions.
"Silence? That's okay. I just want to show our sincerity about recruiting you among us, and these plans might help you."
After that, they had a short discussion before he hung up.
'#### and I use masks and code names; it's impossible for him to know my identity at present.'
At best, ### will find an abnormal relationship between him and the Hyoudou family.
However, he won't be able to snoop further because of Rias Gremory.
"This guy is really a member of the church and the Khaos Brigade."
Yes, like ####, Gorou has investigated him.
He's a priest who worked under Valper Galilei during his time in the Church faction, and he shares similar values with his senior.
Despite his questionable worldview, he is a human supremacist.
That's why Gorou has kept in touch with him.
'Even if Valper Galilei is a piece of trash, this guy remains a genius in science related to Holy Power.'
After the end of the phone call, he dressed properly before reading the data sent by the suspicious priest.
"I see, there's nothing really useful here apart from Valper Galilei's unfinished work during his time at the Church, and genetic manipulation on the DNA of the hero Siegfried."
Exorcist weapons aren't really useful for him, as they need an angel to maintain their power.
However, it's an indirect way for ### to attract Gorou into his organization.
Yes, Gorou has more effective weapons in certain aspects.
However, he is limited.
After all, #### has an organization and funds, and Gorou has... just the money taken from eliminated stray demons along with his salary.
The latter will be more available at the end of this month, as he will be leaving his job.
"Anyway, I didn't promise him anything."
He mentioned thinking about it seriously, but not joining.