Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 517: Don’t Kill Him.

'A pseudo?'

Dante kept moving around, trying to avoid catching on fire. He might have replaced half his body with alloy, but he still had most of his original skin.

[Yes,] Volcan replied. [It seems this individual has used the drug name Catalyst.]

"GRYAAAAA!!!"

"Oh shut up!"

Enhancing his perception, Dante sidestepped the torrent of green flames the corpse launched and lunged at it, cutting the distance between them in a fraction of a second. Obviously, he had been holding back this entire time.

Parrying the flame-covered hand the corpse swiped at him with, he delivered a jab to its left shoulder, then grabbed its right arm as its body tilted. Pulling that arm, he punched under it and let go before following with a back-handed slap to the face, then a normal slap, throwing the corpse's head in the opposite direction. His right hand then came down in a chop to the shoulder.

As its balance shattered, the flaming corpse tried to kick at him, but Dante blocked it with his left leg and then jumped forward, putting all his weight into a stomp to the chest, sending the charred corpse flying.

"Damn it!"

The corpse was much sturdier than it seemed, but that wasn't the worst part. Somehow, despite striking areas that weren't on fire, the green flames still got to Dante. His arms were fine, being made from the sturdiest of alloys out there, but his legs and clothes were a different story.

As he put out the fire on his pants, Dante suddenly regretted wasting 2-3's energy. Water-type abilities would have been really useful right now.

"Hey!" Riot called. "Do you need some help!?"

Dante realized that the muscly bastard was still on the roof he left him on. He hadn't expected him to help with the fight, but it wouldn't have hurt if he did.

"GGRRR…" rising up to its feet, the corpse looked up at Dante, then at Riot. The green flames coming out of its eyes flashed brighter, and more came out of its mouth as it screamed. "GRRYAAAAA!!!"

It ignited fists, then released a torrent of flames, launching itself in the air. Riot's eyes went wide, and a smirk pulled at a corner of Dante's mouth.

"Serves you right."

Leaving the big guy to handle the corpse, Dante turned his attention to what his resident AI had said.

'Catalyst, huh…'

He remembered hearing the rumors about Black Skull peddling the miracle drug and intended to investigate it, but he never expected to come across a pseudo-Genome the first time he visited their turf in some time.

'You said this guy is an Advanced? How does that even work?'

Dante couldn't believe that someone with fire coming out of every hole in their body still had more than 50% of their human cells. Wouldn't all of that be cooked by now?

[The outer layer of his skin has adapted, increasing his endurance and flame resistance.] Volcan said. [Some of his muscles have been enhanced as well, but other than that, everything else was still that of a normal human.]

'Still doesn't explain how he's moving with his head on fire…'

Dante watched as Riot evaded the balls of green flames the corpse kept throwing at him. His size made it difficult, and after a few close calls, he got tired of it, switching to the offense. The corpse tried to block the kick he threw, but the force ended up launching it into the building on the opposite side of the street.

"Don't kill him!" Dante shouted. "I want to ask him some questions!"

"Wha- have you lost your mind!!?" Riot shouted back, "That thing isn't even human!!!"

Catalyst's effects are temporary, and those who take it are supposed to revert to normal once it runs out. Still, Dante didn't know how the burning corpse will g back to normal.

'Now that I think about it…' he kept his eyes on the building where the burning corpse had been kicked. 'Have I ever seen anyone after they used the drug?'

When he thought about it, the last time he had seen someone use it was during the protests at the city hall. He searched his mind and couldn't find anything about what happened to the tree guy or any of the others, which wasn't very strange, since the authorities had done everything in their power to bury the incident.

The hole through which the corpse had been thrown ignited with green flames, and a second later, the pseudo-Genome jumped out, screaming like a mindless monster.

'Can you tell how long the transformation would last?'

[He is burning through large amounts of energy,] Volcan said. [The source of that energy seems to be internal, and it does not seem to be regenerating. I believe it will end in the next three minutes. Sooner if it launches another big attack.]

'Hmm…'

The burning corpse went straight after Riot. Thinking for a moment, Dante turned to the big guy and shouted.

"Hold on for a couple of minutes! It will lose its powers soon!"

"You've got to be kidding me!!!"

All drugs came with side effects, and one that grants superhuman powers was bound to have some insane downsides. Previously, Dante gave the matter some serious thought. He even considered testing the drug to figure out what the side effects are, but the randomness of the powers gained, and the limited number of samples in his possession, made him hesitant.

'This might be a good chance-'

The sound of screeching tires ripped Dante's attention from the burning corpse, and he turned around to find three cars stopping a short distance away. More came from the opposite direction, and in just a few seconds, every road in the area was closed.

One would expect the police to show up in such situations, but seeing the thugs spilling out from the cars and the tattoos on their faces, Dante guessed that the local gang showed up to defend their territory.

'Well, guess this saves us some trouble,' Dante thought as he turned to face them. 'Make sure to film what happens to that thing.'

[Understood.]