Even the most arrogant academic scholars, upon seeing the current situation, had to admit one thing—
Their understanding of infection incidents was still very limited.
Many aspects remained unexplored, untested, unconfirmed.
So, despite the unprecedented nature of this event—a terrifying creature manifesting in tandem with a new form of infection—none of the experts present seemed truly surprised.
Over the past year, most of them had gradually developed a greater tolerance for supernatural phenomena.
These days, if someone told them a group of infected people were riding brooms and playing soccer in the sky, they probably wouldn't even bat an eye.
That said, they had only grown numb to infection-related phenomena.
But this plane?
What the hell even was that?
In the blurry footage playing on-screen, the jet-black aircraft violated all known principles of flight, physics, and engineering—
Rubbing every aerospace engineer's sense of logic into the dirt,
especially the specialists in the room, whose expressions looked like they had been personally insulted by the laws of reality.
And when that aircraft fired a freeze cannon that turned the towering monster into ice shards in mere seconds—
Another man at the conference table couldn't sit still anymore.
"That's impossible!"
The one shouting was the Minister of Technological Advancement and Equipment Development.
"No weapon exists that can produce that kind of freezing effect in such a short timeframe," the minister said firmly.
"There's no known technology on Earth that can do this."
"But I saw it with my own eyes," Cid replied.
"And it was recorded by surveillance equipment. There's no trick."
The minister said nothing further, simply frowning and muttering to himself:
"Impossible… unscientific… it makes no sense…"
When the footage finally showed the bat-suited vigilante calmly walking into the black storm—alone, without hesitation—
Even though everyone in the room had already heard a summary of what happened,
seeing it with their own eyes still left them shaken.
"Investigator Cid, you mentioned that even while standing near the edge of the storm, you could feel its effects?"
The question came from Professor Miyazaki.
"That's right," Cid nodded.
"That was the strongest infection source I've ever encountered.
I have no idea what might've happened to me if I'd stepped into the storm's center."
"Investigator Cid has an infection resistance level of 87%—the highest among all Ninth Division agents.
His resistance is extremely strong."
"If even he could feel the effects,
then the infection source must've been unimaginably powerful."
Miyazaki's eyes sparkled with interest.
"And according to your report, that bat-themed lunatic walked into the storm alone…
and eliminated the infection source himself?"
"Now I'm curious about his infection level.
Could he be a 'supernatural carrier'?
Someone with complete immunity to all forms of infection?"
Cid shook his head and took out a device—sleek, silver-gray—and placed it on the table.
"This is the specialized scanner you designed for detecting supernaturals, Professor."
Unlike ordinary carriers, supernatural carriers couldn't be identified using standard equipment.
Only full-body diagnostics could determine their infection levels.
So Miyazaki had created this prototype specifically to detect whether someone was a supernatural.
The device was still in the testing phase—not yet ready for general field use.
It couldn't provide infection level percentages, but it could tell if someone was a normal human or not.
"While I was on scene, I managed to scan the bat lunatic," Cid said.
"The result… well, you should see for yourself."
Someone passed the device to Professor Miyazaki.
He turned it on and reviewed the recorded data.
A few seconds later, he let out a startled gasp.
"Wait… this—this can't be right."
His face was filled with confusion.
"Did you scan the wrong person?"
"That's what I thought at first," Cid admitted.
"I even suspected the scanner was malfunctioning."
He smiled slightly, clearly satisfied with the professor's matching reaction.
"But I can assure you—it wasn't user error.
The footage proves it.
And you can test the device yourself to verify."
Miyazaki ran several diagnostics.
A moment later, his expression grew even more bewildered.
"No technical issues… But how?"
He muttered to himself:
"This is impossible… It shouldn't be possible…
No one could do that… No one should be able to…"
"Professor?" someone asked.
"What exactly did the scanner say?"
Miyazaki looked up and slowly said:
"That bat-themed vigilante…
is a normal human."
The room fell silent.
"Wait a minute," someone finally spoke.
"You mean he's not a supernatural?"
"Correct," Miyazaki confirmed.
"The scanner clearly identified him as an ordinary human."
Everyone in the room exchanged shocked glances.
A regular person… faced with a high-level psychic infection source…
resisted its full force…
and then eliminated it?
"Maybe he's an 'Absolute' supernatural?" someone suggested.
"One so powerful the scanner couldn't detect him?"
"Impossible," Miyazaki said firmly.
"I accounted for that in the device's design.
Even 'Absolutes' can be detected."
"I'm telling you—he's just a human.
One hundred percent."
"Then how do you explain this?" another asked.
"How does an ordinary human withstand such powerful infection pressure… and win?"
"It's not just unreasonable," Miyazaki said,
"It's impossible."
"So what do you think this means?" someone asked him directly.
"You're asking me?"
Miyazaki rolled his eyes.
"Hell if I know!"
The room fell silent again.
Everyone was deep in thought—
The implications were overwhelming.
Even supernatural carriers were only called that because their bodies resisted infection.
But this man… this true mortal…
What gave him that kind of immunity?
As the experts sat there in stunned silence, Cid leaned back, the corners of his mouth twitching with amusement—like he was trying not to laugh.
Chairman Æ. Asher glanced at him.
"Investigator Cid, do you have a theory?"
"I do," Cid said, still smiling.
"But you'll probably laugh."
"Go on," Asher encouraged.
"We're all professionals here. Even absurd theories are worth hearing."
"Alright," Cid sat up and said seriously:
"I think his resistance doesn't come from some special bloodline or mutation…"
"It comes from pure willpower."
The room blinked in confusion.
"You mean… mental fortitude?"
"Exactly," Cid nodded.
"An unshakable will—far stronger than anyone in this room."
The others looked skeptical.
A mortal with no enhancements—
facing a monster-level infection source—
surviving through willpower alone?
"That's ridiculous," Miyazaki muttered.
"Even entertaining the idea is absurd."
"Told you so," Cid shrugged.
"You didn't see him.
But I did.
And I'm telling you—costume or not, mask or not—I could see it in him."
"And what do you think he is, exactly?" Miyazaki asked, intrigued despite himself.
Cid inhaled deeply and gave his final answer.
"A man of terrifying focus and obsession.
Someone willing to sacrifice everything for his belief.
A lunatic, maybe…"
He paused.
"But above all…
A hero."