Despite speaking so rudely to Tsukasa, Ram's body seemed to move closer to him as if it weren't under her control.
Tsukasa seemed to notice her subtle movement, the curve of his lips becoming more pronounced, but he didn't point it out.
His tone was relaxed, as if he had just shooed away an annoying fly. "But it's a good thing I arrived early. Honestly, if I were one step later, this place would have turned into a barbecue festival."
Ram didn't take the bait of his teasing. Her gaze fell on Tsukasa's body—more accurately, on his bare upper torso, but his exposed skin was smooth, showing no signs of any wounds.
"You..."
Ram pursed her lips, a flicker of worry she didn't even realize she had flashing in her eyes as she pointed at his missing clothing.
"Are you okay?"
"Oh, you mean this."
Tsukasa looked down at his "breezy" upper body and waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine, there was just a little unforeseen circumstance earlier. The clothes suffered, but I'm okay."
Deep in his mind, the scene from moments ago replayed clearly.
"Did I go a bit too far?"
Tsukasa muttered to himself, standing in the center of a jaw-dropping "landscape."
With his feet as the center, within a five-kilometer radius, an unimaginably massive hemispherical crater had formed.
The power of Unlimited Hollow Purple was a bit greater than he had anticipated.
Just as he gazed at the crater he had created with his own hands, reflecting on whether he had used too much force—
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the Host for completing the Hidden Mission: The Beginning of Becoming Stronger (Preliminary adaptation to this world's power system and completion of a landmark battle)]
[Ding! Detected that when the Host descended into this world, the system had a slight deviation due to interference, resulting in the Host and Subaru Natsuki not being fully symbiotic! Compensation is now being issued!]
[Ding! Comprehensive Judgment: Completed high-difficulty battle and killed two Sin Archbishops, influence spreading...]
[Comprehensive rewards being distributed...]
[Obtained reward: Saitama's Body]
[Note: This reward is Saitama's physical body. Surface features such as appearance and hairstyle can be adjusted by the Host's will within a certain range, without affecting core abilities.]
[Ding! Host's current role-playing synchronization has reached the 80% threshold.]
[Unlocked corresponding reward: Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void]
A series of information washed over Tsukasa's consciousness like a waterfall.
Saitama's body? Unlimited Void? 80% synchronization?
Before he could fully digest this sudden information, an even more drastic change occurred.
"Wait?!"
In the next moment, he felt as if his existence was being violently ripped away from his tight "link" with Subaru by an invisible hand. The sensation was like being suddenly pulled out of a pool of thick glue.
Immediately after—
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang...
Like countless hammers, from all directions and from the depths of every cell, they began to frantically pound and forge his body simultaneously.
His bones let out a series of tooth-aching cracks and sounds of reorganization, as if every bone was being reshaped and then reassembled with a more perfect structure.
Muscle fibers were being stretched, torn, and then rewoven with a hundred or thousand times the density and toughness.
Blood vessels, nerves, internal organs... every corner of his body was undergoing a thorough reorganization.
The pain brought by this process was far beyond imagination.
"Aaaaahhh!!!"
An uncontrollable roar escaped Tsukasa's throat, veins instantly bulging on his temples, and cold sweat pouring out.
He subconsciously reached out to grab the already somewhat damaged black bodysuit he was wearing.
Rip!
The combat suit was easily torn and shredded like paper under the terrifying grip strength he unconsciously unleashed.
He knelt on one knee, gritting his teeth as he endured this sudden pain of transformation. His white hair was soaked with sweat and clung to his forehead, and his eyes beneath the sunglasses had pupils slightly dilated from the extreme agony.
After an unknown amount of time.
The frantic pounding sounds and the sensation of reshaping slowly receded like a tide. The pain gradually subsided, replaced by an unprecedented sense of power.
Tsukasa raised his head, exhaling a puff of white mist that carried a searing heat.
"Now... this seems like it's actually getting interesting."
—
"Sss..."
The subtle emotions brought by the memory made Tsukasa take a light breath, forcibly interrupting the images in his mind.
He reached behind him, where, at some point, a thin black book with no text or patterns on the cover had appeared. He took out the book casually and, without even looking, stuffed it into the arms of Ram beside him.
"Here, this is for you."
Ram subconsciously caught it. To the touch, the book felt ice-cold, and the material was neither leather nor paper, carrying an uncomfortable sensation.
"What is this?"
She frowned, and in her eyes, besides confusion, there was more of an instinctive rejection and disgust.
This book gave her a very bad feeling, like she was holding something impure and slimy.
Tsukasa replied extremely casually, "I don't know. I just picked it up off the ground."
While speaking, he reached out his hand, wanting to rub Ram's pink hair.
"When did Ram give you permission to touch her head?"
Ram's cold voice rang out, but even so, she didn't turn her head away as she used to.
Tsukasa's fingers paused slightly in mid-air, and then he pulled them back somewhat sheepishly, turning to rub the back of his head with an awkward yet polite smile on his face.
"Ahaha... sorry, habit."
Just then, a voice interrupted Ram and Tsukasa.
"Did you kill the two of them?"
Both of them turned to look at the same time.
In the distance, at the edge of the scorched earth ravaged even further by purple shockwaves and flame cloud explosions, Nai's figure appeared once again.
Tsukasa raised an eyebrow, the slight awkwardness on his face instantly replaced by an interested expression.
He raised a hand to his ear, posing as if he were listening intently, and then responded loudly with an undisguised tone of mockery, "Your voice is pretty good. It's crisp and a bit sweet, quite special."
He paused and waved his hand toward the distant Nai.
"Any maintenance secrets? Can you share them..."
He tilted his head, pointing his chin toward the cold-faced Ram beside him, deliberately drawing out his words.
"...so that my maid here, whose voice is always icy and a bit prickly, can learn a thing or two?"
Hearing this, a vein seemed to twitch on Ram's temple. Her hand holding the black book tightened, and she glared fiercely at Tsukasa, her eyes conveying the message: "Do you want to die?"