A City.
king returned home satisfied. On this trip, he used a nearly expired Vaccine Man Card to acquire a Demon-level Monster Card and over a dozen Tiger and Wolf-level Monster Cards. He didn't lose out at all; after all, if he let the Vaccine Man Card expire, he wouldn't gain experience points to level up, effectively losing it.
Now it was perfect: he didn't waste the Vaccine Man Card, and he also gained over a dozen Monster Cards. A win-win situation!
More importantly, after using the Vaccine Man Card, he comprehended all of Vaccine Man's skills and successfully leveled up to level 9. He was only one level away from level 10. Once he reached level 10, he would be able to upgrade his skills, turning Wolf-level skills into Tiger-level skills, giving him substantial power. He would no longer be merely for show; instead, he would be powerful both externally and internally!
His power would no longer be limited to requiring a card attachment.
Of course, even if he upgraded his skills to level 2, with his unique monster-attracting physique, he would occasionally encounter Demon and Dragon-level Mysterious Beings. Level 2 skills would be completely useless. Therefore, he still needed to diligently level up and collect more powerful cards for self-preservation.
Currently, he possessed a Four-Star Monster Card: The Judge of Lust, and a Three-Star Monster Card: The Leopard Head Assassin. He could be said to possess considerable strength.
However, unfortunately, The Judge of Lust's skills were only effective against humans, meaning they were ineffective against Mysterious Beings. This greatly limited his power. When encountering Dragon-level Mysterious Beings, he would probably have to run away again.
As he walked back, he pondered, secretly praying that he wouldn't be so unlucky as to encounter a Dragon-level Mysterious Being before he had sufficient power (Though, I feel like the Dragon-level Mysterious Being would be the unlucky one if it met you?!).
"Huh, what is this feeling...?"
When he reached his doorstep, his heart suddenly twitched. It was a very strange feeling, as if... as if the deep paternal affection between a father and son was pulling at his emotions.
A father-son bond?
His mouth twitched. What kind of messed-up feeling was this? He was a pure, upstanding, eligible bachelor; how could he possibly have a child?
However... however... the closer he got to his room, the stronger that paternal affection became, giving him an urge to quickly beget a child! WTF, why would paternal affection make him want to beget a child? Shouldn't that be a mother-child bond?
He frantically rubbed his chest, hoping to rub that dreadful feeling away.
But... that profound paternal affection seemed to seep into his soul, carving itself into his bones, making it unforgettable, impossible to shake off. A voice kept affectionately calling out in his soul: "Piccolo! Piccolo! Piccolo!"
"..."
king looked bewildered. "What the hell was this? Could it be a psychological disorder left over from him wantonly slaughtering Mysterious Beings?"
"According to psychology, an inner reliance on one's parents indicates a deep-seated lack of security."
He scratched his head. "I lack a sense of security? Hmm, it seems that might actually be true. After losing the Vaccine Man Card, his only remaining Four-Star Monster Card, The Judge of Lust, was ineffective against Mysterious Beings. Yet, he possessed a monster-attracting physique, constantly encountering Demon and Dragon-level Mysterious Beings. Feeling insecure deep down was quite normal."
Thinking this, he immediately felt relieved. "It shouldn't be a psychological disorder... right?"
Click!
king opened the door and walked in, suddenly hearing dull "thump-thump" sounds of impact coming from the utility room. As he got closer, the frequency of the thumps increased rapidly, as if someone inside desperately wanted to see him, embrace him, and call him "Piccolo"!
"Could it be...?"
Upon realizing that the strong paternal affection originated from the utility room, his eyes lit up, and a surprising guess welled up in his heart—the Vaccine Man egg was hatching!
He quickly walked over and abruptly pushed open the utility room door. That paternal affection rushed out, and the machine he bought to incubate the Vaccine Man egg was violently shaking. Inside, the Vaccine Man egg thumped and banged against the machine, seemingly eager to rush into his arms.
Ha! The Vaccine Man egg was indeed about to hatch!
His heart swelled with joy. This little guy hadn't stirred for so long; why did it choose today to come out? Was today Children's Day? Obviously not. Then... oh, he understood.
He lightly clenched his fist, and power surged through him. The Vaccine Man Card was attached to his body, imbuing him with Vaccine Man's aura, which in turn stimulated the Vaccine Man egg to hatch.
"Heh, my Piccolo the Great Demon King... is coming out!"
He joyfully took the Vaccine Man egg out of the incubator. Before, he had only brought the Vaccine Man egg home on a whim, hoping that he could incubate it and teach it to be as powerful as Piccolo the Great Demon King. Of course, he also planned to use his love and sense of justice to influence it, making it abandon hatred, become a Mysterious Being again, and obediently help him uphold justice under his command, accumulating good deeds and virtue.
"What? You say it might rebel? Hmph! Consider that the young Vaccine Man Card he once had was a One-Star Card, meaning that when the young Vaccine Man was born, its power would at most be Wolf-level. It only had great potential, that's all. He now possessed Dragon, Demon, Tiger, and Wolf-level cards. If the young Vaccine Man dared to show even a hint of hatred, he would just slap it to death!"
king thought to himself.
In reality, the power of a Mysterious Being after birth depended on the energy provided by its parents. If the Mysterious Being parents were powerful, providing enough energy as nourishment to the young Mysterious Being at birth, then the young Mysterious Being would also be powerful. For example, in a certain alternate world of One-Punch Man, a small merman's parents were Demon-level Mysterious Beings, leading that small merman to possess Demon-level Mysterious Being power right after birth.
So, king might be...
"Huh? It feels like someone's talking about how handsome I am behind my back?"
His heart stirred. He felt the power in his body rapidly draining away. He carefully sensed it, then stared in shock at the Vaccine Man egg in his arms—it was the young Vaccine Man absorbing his power!
"Oh, so the Vaccine Man egg needed Vaccine Man's energy as its impetus to hatch! No wonder it had been half-dead and motionless before; it turned out to be lacking the power to break out of its shell. Ugh, but... for the young Vaccine Man to absorb nourishment from me, why... why do I feel like I'm breastfeeding?!"
His old face flushed. He lightly coughed a few times, reminding himself that he was merely pouring power into it, not breastfeeding!
The young Vaccine Man continuously absorbed the remaining Vaccine Man attachment energy from king's body. However, he had expended considerable energy killing Mysterious Beings earlier, and he didn't know if it would be enough for the young Vaccine Man to be born. If it wasn't enough, then he could only...
king's eyebrow twitched. His gaze naturally fell on the iron hammer in the corner. If the young Vaccine Man couldn't be born naturally and smoothly, then he would just have to personally help it with a C-section.
Time slowly passed. The Vaccine Man energy in king's body was completely drained by the young Vaccine Man. He immediately felt a wave of weakness, as if his body had been entirely hollowed out.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
However, the result was very pleasing. The Vaccine Man egg, which had been motionless for so long, finally began to crack. The cracks slowly spread like a spiderweb, and a faint, pungent scent wafted out from them.
Suddenly, a low, savage laugh erupted from inside the Vaccine Man eggshell—
"Hmph, foolish humans, you all deserve to die!"
Timed update, not in front of the computer~
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(end of chapter)