Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?

When Zhen Liu had initially come up with his "reverse possession interrogation," he thought that he was being clever.

Whenever the Kaijin possessed other people, there was always a little bit of crossover in their memories and information, with the Kaijin usually recording more information than what they were giving.

Zhen Liu had figured that since he was a Kaijin Lord and Constrictor was technically a "mere" Kaijin, he'd be able to overpower the guy in a contest of wills and minds if he was possessed by the latter and be able to extract information from them instead.

Especially since he had Blazejudicator to provide assistance.

Evidently, he was half right.

[W-what the hell is this?! Let me out! Let me out!] Zhen Liu roared in a voice that sounded very similar to Constrictor's as he began to convulse and spasm.

"Fuck you, no!" Zhen Liu shouted back as he doubled over and grabbed his stomach as if he was about to hurl. "Heavens above, this fucking hurts!"

...

'Blazejudicator, I need some help here!'

[Trying to Executor, I can't seem to intervene until he's fully integrated!]

'Got it!'

...

Zhen Liu didn't expect Constrictor's will to be this strong; then again, his Kaijin were pretty willful themselves, so maybe it was one of those universal traits like their desire to gather trophies from their kills.

Although the biggest factor that was preventing Zhen Liu from being able to pick at Constrictor's mind was the fact that the [Chaos] and [Core] that composed him were actively hostile to his attempts.

While this wasn't the first time Zhen Liu had faced hostile [Chaos] users, this was his first time trying to integrate it into his body.

The environmental [Chaos] he filtered out in Roaring Tide was weird but not hostile.

The [Chaos] he faced from Grub, the Grafted, and Buzza was undoubtedly hostile but had this weird air of familiarity to him because they were all technically related to a Kaijin that had been created by one of his predecessors.

This was an entirely different animal.

Zhen Liu could actively feel that the [Chaos] he was trying to suppress and control actively belonged to someone else and that it didn't appreciate being imposed upon like this.

He could feel that the [Core] that gave Constrictor his forms and abilities was foreign-made and that his body was actively trying to reject it like a machine part that had the wrong software installed and made it unusable with the rest of the machine.

And if he wasn't trying to extract information right now, he was tempted to just let Constrictor loose again.

"Ugh...why does this guy's [Core] feel so...wrong?!"

Perhaps Zhen Liu was biased because he only had himself to act as a frame of reference, but everything about Constrictor's [Core] rubbed him the wrong way.

Back when Zhen Liu was Thomas Lee, he would collect trading cards.

Every now and then, though, when he would go card shopping, he would stumble upon a bootleg set or bootleg cards that he could immediately tell were fake because of their text, texture, and a million other little details.

This was the same feeling he got from this [Core].

That...and a little something extra.

[Milord, are you alright?!] Nepeherage asked with genuine concern for the first time in her existence.

Due to her connection with Zhen Liu being muted because of recent incidents, Nepeherage wasn't able to determine her lord's health like usual.

As such, seeing him freak out like this without knowing whether or not he was fully in danger was causing her to panic.

Hell, she couldn't even ask Blazejudicator because of all of the interference being produced by Constrictor's presence inside of Zhen Liu.

"This guy's [Core]...it's focused on...the desire of despair?" Zhen Liu managed to squeak out. "No...that's not right...this core isn't made of [Desire] at all!"

At first, Zhen Liu thought this wrongness was due to the core being made from the [Desires] sourced from multiple people.

That was technically the case because the core was made from the collective power of multiple people, but it was made from their collective [Despair] instead of [Desire].

This difference was what was making it difficult for Zhen Liu to process Constrictor's possession, because he was keyed to [Desires] not...this.

"I gotta...focus..."

Realizing that he was going to have to dig deep in order to deal with the bullshit rampaging in his soul right now, Zhen Liu proceeded to try and enter a meditative state.

More specifically, he was going to try and force a [Synchronize] with Constrictor.

"I just know this is going to suck," Zhen Liu said through gritted teeth. "But I'm getting your memories. Whether you like it or not. [Synchronize]!"

...Meanwhile...

"On the plus side, this is place is probably doing wonder for my cultivation progress because of all the Ignarii aether in the air. On the down side, I'm pretty sure I passed a family of flesh-eating deers eating an elephant...I should've brought along with the curse eating proto-kaijin," Zhen Xing said to himself as he patrolled the area while using his [Flying Fox Fire Wheels] and doing his best to keep the cursed energy from digging any deeper into his flesh than it already has.

"Ugh, the things I do for...hold up, what the fuck?"

Thanks to the time spent training with the Kaijin, and his own practice of the [Primordial Beast Scripture], Zhen Xing had learned how to detect and identify [Chaos].

A small part of him had hope this particular technique of his would never find use...but he had the unfortunate luck of being able to detect at least six different sources of [Chaos] all clustered together like ants around a piece of fruit.

Or in this case, the piece of fruit was a captured aether beast.

"Yeah, I got to cloak myself. [Fox's Fire Shadow Shroud]."

Killing the power to his aether treasure, Zhen Xing redirected the energy to shroud his entire body instead.

The vague shadow of fox formed around him for a brief moment before Zhen Xing disappeared from view entirely.

'Now then, let's see what up with this freaky motherfuckers...'

As careful as the fox shroud around his body, Zhen Xing moved closer and closer until he was in earshot of the group of monsters and their captured quarry.

Once he was able to listen, though, he didn't like what he was hearing.

[Oy! Hold him still! Hold him still, you fucking idiots!]

[I'm trying! I'm trying! You try holding down legs while you have lopsided arms, you feckless fuckwad!]

[Shove it, you troglodytes!]

'Huh...'

The Kaijin and Zhen Liu regularly cussed each other out, so Zhen Xing wasn't too surprised hearing it coming from these other kaijin, but he couldn't help but notice the tone and weight behind the words.

Zhen Liu's Kaijin seemed to view each other as family, if not by blood than at least by bond and spirit.

These unusual Kaijin, ones that looked more deformed and diabolical than the ones Zhen Liu made, had this air of hatred and rage towards... everything.

It felt as if they hated the land they were standing on, hated the very air they were breathing and hated the struggling beast that was trying to free itself despite being pressed down upon by a deformed beast of a Kaijin that seemed to be more arm than humanoid.

But most of all, he could feel that the Kaijin hated each other the most.

[Alright, that's it! Fuck the code and fuck brotherhood!] One of the Kaijin, that had a cyclopean build and spikes all over his body, shouted at the other kaijin. [I'm gonna tear you limb from limb and devour your—]

Silence.

[HRK!]

[GAK!]

[Boss's here...]

'What the fuck...?'

Entering the scene and imposing his will, Zhen Xing saw a thin, wiry man that was dressed like a prince, or at least, the bastardization of one.

Is this the latest recruit?

[Yes, boss. Captured this morning. Lost twenty slaves in the exchange.]

Good.

Zhen Xing had heard Zhen Liu use his [Chaos] to enhance and disguise voice more than once, hell, he saw him act like a literal king of monsters in the arena one time.

But this...this was different.

Zhen Liu's ability to use [Chaos] invoked...primal fear.

The type of fear one would face when dealing with a natural disaster. One would be scared of it, sure, but there was a factor of...awe and respect attach to it.

The kind of fear radiating off of this guy was...violent.

The kind of violent fear and dread, one associates with someone psychotic enough to actively use someone's internal organs as nothing more than decoration for a children's birthday party.

All while actively eating the face of the still-living victim.

It was a sharp contrast to Zhen Liu's [Chaos], and it made Zhen Xing surprisingly more appreciative of how his cousin wasn't so...violent.

Especially after what happened next.

Get the [Core].