"Hoo hoo hoo—"
Rover's throat rumbled with delighted purrs, his six fiery eyes shifting from the five post-meal desserts to the massive, heavily blood-scented corpse behind them.
Even after being transformed from a stray dog into a Dragon-level monster, Rover's mind remained relatively simple.
Compared to small snacks that weren't enough to fill the gaps between his teeth, he preferred to enjoy a large, satisfying main course first.
After all, what bad intentions could a big dog have?
A torrent of drool, enough to drown an adult, dripped from his ferocious fangs, forming a small puddle with a splat.
The sound of dripping saliva was exceptionally clear in the silent passage. Hansen's taut nerves were the first to break free from the extreme fear, his brain working at an unprecedented speed!
Wait for death?
Absolutely not!
Just then, Rover took a step forward, his massive front paw casting an overwhelming shadow as it casually descended.
With a muffled thud, the unlucky Wolf-level monster, Iron Rooster, was instantly flattened into a blurry mess of flesh without even a whimper!
Red and white matter splattered—dead beyond dead!
Rover, however, seemed to have merely stepped on an insect, completely unconcerned.
The giant beast lowered its head, excitedly tore into the mountain-like monster corpse, and began to eat. The grinding of bones between its interlocking fangs was enough to set anyone's teeth on edge.
Hansen's gaze was fixed on Rover's front paw, covered in hard, rock-like black fur, just inches away.
A crazy thought sprouted in his mind—
The system states that contact allows replication!
No risk, no reward!
Since not gambling means death anyway, then gamble!
The remaining three monsters were already half-paralyzed with fear, not daring to make any unusual movements. Only Hansen slowly but firmly raised his hand.
As he moved, the Wolf-level monsters present all cast incredulous, terrified glances his way!
Even Rover, who was engrossed in eating, seemed to sense something. He diverted one burning eye to look suspiciously at the small dessert daring to move beneath his feet.
Hansen's eyes were bloodshot. Ignoring the terrifying Dragon-level pressure above him, his right hand, covered in black carapace, pressed firmly onto Rover's explosive front paw.
"Woof—?"
A rough and searing sensation came through, as if a mortal had pressed their hand into a burning brazier!
A severe burning pain emanated from Hansen's palm; his carapace seemed to melt!
But the next second, the sudden system prompt sounded like a heavenly melody!
[Monster: Overgrown Rover]
[Disaster Level: Dragon (Peak)]
[Ability 1: "Overgrowth (SSR)": Growth that breaks the species limiter, capable of achieving supernormal gigantic size while ensuring super strength and speed, possessing extremely vast energy reserves and near-limitless vitality.]
[Ability 2: "Scorching Heat Bullet (SSR)": Fires a high-density energy cannon from the mouth, which can be charged or fired continuously. A single shot is powerful enough to penetrate multiple layers of underground facility structures and cause widespread, earthquake-like impacts.]
[Ability 3: "Fierce Beast Body (SSR)": A powerful physique akin to absolute defense, capable of withstanding at least Dragon-level peak physical and energy attacks without injury, and even surviving Saitama's watered-down "Normal Punch" without dying, only falling into a coma.]
[Ability 4: "Beast Instinct (SSR)": Fights by instinct, possessing deadly combat awareness and crisis perception like a beast. In a state of rage, strength and speed double.]
"Wow…!"
As expected of a super-strong Dragon-level cadre ranked highly. Upon seeing Rover's dazzling golden abilities, Hansen could only describe it in four words—
Terrifying beyond measure!
Ability level only affected the consumption of stat points. In the system window that popped up before Hansen's eyes, four golden, shimmering SSR ability icons clearly displayed…
Replicable!!
[Ding! Contact made with replicable target!]
[Successfully replicated SSR ability: "Overgrowth" Lv1, "Scorching Heat Bullet" Lv1, "Fierce Beast Body" Lv1, "Beast Instinct" Lv1!]
[Current ability slots occupied: 4/5.]
[Ability manifestation beginning…! Adaptive modification in progress…]
[Disaster level increased!]
[Ability slot limit +5!]
[Current Disaster Level: Tiger (High).]
Almost the instant the system prompt faded, Hansen felt earth-shattering changes occurring within his body!
His heart felt as if it had been crushed by an invisible giant hand, then immediately filled with scorching magma!
Boom!!!
An indescribable torrent of heat erupted from his heart, instantly rushing through his limbs and bones!
Deep within his cells, it was as if something had completely shattered, followed by an explosive release of seemingly endless life potential!
At the same time, a violent energy capable of incinerating all things was born out of thin air within his body, like a dormant volcano suddenly awakening!
Power!
Unparalleled power!!
Excruciating pain deep in his bones intertwined with the rapid expansion of power, sweeping through every inch of Hansen's nerves!
Hansen's dark monster body visibly expanded, his bones emitting unbearable cracking sounds, and his muscle fibers were forcibly torn and rapidly reassembled!
In a single breath, his body grew by more than a full size!
His height, initially around 1.7 meters, shot up to 1.95 meters, and his physique transformed from slender to robust in an instant!
On the ferocious black carapace covering his entire body, fiery red patterns like flowing magma appeared. His body temperature soared, radiating astonishing heat!
Blood vessels, internal organs, bones, muscles… his already inhuman body was undergoing a destructive reshaping!
Vast energy, far exceeding his own limits, surged and roared wildly within his newly born body!
At the same time!
The unusual sensation of his leg being touched and the sudden burst of energy from Hansen finally made Rover pause his meal.
A low growl, signifying offense and threat, emanated from his throat, and the tyrannical aura of a Dragon-level ferocious beast erupted like a tangible tsunami!
His massive head sharply twisted, his six burning eyes locking onto the still-tiny Hansen beneath his feet!
The chill of imminent death, close at hand, pierced his brain like an ice needle, but Hansen showed no fear. Instead, a crimson madness flashed in his eyes!
Enduring the intense pain of body modification and the discomfort of rapidly increasing power, he suddenly turned!
Moving like lightning, he grabbed the Mutated Cockroach next to him, who was scared out of its wits!
Crack—!
The Mutated Cockroach's thick arm, covered in oily carapace, was as fragile as rotten wood, instantly crushed by Hansen's surging strength into a comminuted fracture. Foul, turbid green bodily fluid splattered out!
"What do you want to do?! Let go…"
The Mutated Cockroach was both startled and enraged, just about to struggle and roar, but then it horrifyingly discovered that a terrifying energy, making its soul tremble, was rapidly converging in Hansen's mouth!
The dim underground passage was illuminated by a sudden burst of scorching light, turning bright as day in an instant!
A violent energy rapidly condensed in front of Hansen. The surrounding air violently warped from the high temperature, emitting cracking sounds, with faint, dazzling electric light entwined around it!
It was Rover's signature killing move, the incredibly destructive Dragon-level energy cannon—
"Scorching Heat Bullet"!!
Rover: ???
Mutated Cockroach: !!!
Rover, who was about to raise his paw to swat this little insect, tilted his head, his six eyes blinking simultaneously. His movement abruptly paused.
He suddenly retracted his world-destroying, materialized killing intent, replaced by deep confusion and curiosity.
For some reason, he actually smelled a familiar scent of power from this moving appetizer.
It was like a shrunken version of himself, or like a newly born cub of his own kind—smelling particularly kind.
In short: a milky scent.
Awoo… Awo? (What… is going on?)
Compared to Rover's curiosity, the Mutated Cockroach, held tightly by Hansen, felt nothing but boundless terror!
The intense pain from its arm made its whole body convulse, but at this moment, it had no time to attend to its injuries. The energy bullet, compressed to the extreme in Hansen's mouth, was emitting an aura of destruction, like a harbinger of death hanging overhead, proclaiming that the end was near!!
"No—!"
"Mercy—!"
"Ya, Yamete…!!!"
Boom—!!!
The Mutated Cockroach's horrified, desperate screams abruptly ceased!
Its ugly head, along with most of its body, was instantly swallowed by the scorching white "Scorching Heat Bullet" that expanded to a human's height after Hansen spat it out!
The violent energy slammed hard into the passage's rock wall!
Although Hansen's Lv1 "Scorching Heat Bullet" was far less destructive than the original, unable to penetrate the thick rock structure of the Monster Association's base, it still caused a violent explosion!
The shockwave made the passage tremble, loose stones rattled down, and the impacted rock wall was blasted into a charred pit several meters deep, its edges displaying a vitrified, molten state!
[Killed Wolf-level Monster "Mutated Cockroach", gained Origin Point x2!]
The system prompt sounded. Origin Point arrived, meaning the Mutated Cockroach passed away very peacefully!
No pain, no struggle.
As the aftermath of the explosion dissipated, a strong burnt odor of protein mixed with charred carapace permeated the air.
Only a small, still-twitching lower half of the Mutated Cockroach remained; its shattered upper body cross-section was instantly carbonized and cooked by the terrifying high temperature, sizzling with black smoke.
The sudden turn of events was observed by Rover. His massive tail unconsciously swayed, hitting the rock walls on both sides with dull thumps, creating huge cracks.
Judging by his six eyes, which were slightly narrowed in pleasure, he was clearly very satisfied with this "pre-meal show."
One "Scorching Heat Bullet" almost completely drained the vast energy that had just been born within Hansen. A strong sense of weakness swept over him, making him nearly lose his footing.
But he dared not pause for a moment. Enduring the feeling of exhaustion, he pushed the half-charred monster corpse, still steaming, in front of Rover.
He then carefully retreated a few steps, holding his breath.
Rover lowered his massive head, brought his nose closer to the half-charred monster corpse, and sniffed vigorously.
Then, he opened his gaping maw, his tongue flicked out, and he swallowed the shrunken, "cooked" snack.
Awoo—
After eating, Rover seemed to want more, letting out a low bark at Hansen.
Hansen was momentarily stunned.
Perhaps due to replicating "Beast Instinct," he, who had never owned a pet, miraculously understood the meaning of this otherwise unintelligible bark at this moment.
He instinctively blurted out, testing: "You mean… this is well-roasted, but if it were a little more charred, it would taste even better?"
Awoo! Awoo— (That's right! That's right—)