King's Enhancement

"Alright, since Mr. King wants to study the Chakra system, I'll tailor-make one for him. As for you two, please go outside and leave for a while."

Vegapunk waved his hand and spoke. Fubuki and Child Emperor were stunned for a moment, but seeing Vegapunk's determined expression, they obediently left the Laboratory.

Then, Vegapunk turned his head, a smile on his face, and looked at King.

The thumping sound rang out again. For some reason, King felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at Vegapunk's smile, as if Vegapunk had seen through everything he was thinking.

"Stop your Emperor Engine, don't be so tense!"

Waving his hand, Vegapunk spoke with a slight smile:

"Always being surrounded by a group of S-Class Hero who could crush you with a single finger, and constantly facing Demon-level and Dragon-level Monsters who could kill you with a single breath, the mental pressure must be immense! It's amazing that you can still handle it."

"Yes, the pressure is immense. I've been scared half to death many times..."

As Vegapunk spoke, a glint flashed in King's eyes. His expression softened slightly after hearing this, and he sighed, saying:

"How did I, an ordinary person, become S-Class Hero and the Strongest Man on Earth? Sometimes I even dream about it..."

Halfway through his sentence, King was startled, and his expression changed drastically. What was going on? How did he end up saying everything that was on his mind?

Oh no, oh no, oh no! Seeing Vegapunk's ambiguous smile, King's heartbeat, which had calmed down a little, became even more rapid, like a drumbeat. He pursed his lips and looked even more serious.

"Um, Dr. Vegapunk, I was just joking..."

Vegapunk chuckled, looking at King's performance with a hint of admiration.

Some people break out in a cold sweat when they are nervous, some turn pale, and some become completely flustered.

King is a rare type of person who becomes expressionless when nervous, which, combined with his original appearance, makes him look even more solemn and dignified.

The only indication of his nervousness was his heartbeat. However, due to the unique nature of King's heartbeat, it was mistaken by others as the "Emperor Engine." Thus, at least on the surface, this S-Class Hero appeared to be flawless.

Otherwise, if King gets nervous and his legs go weak, his whole body trembles, he's covered in sweat, and his face turns pale, even a fool would be able to tell that something is wrong with him.

However, no matter how well King disguised himself, it was useless against Vegapunk, who already knew his true nature. Vegapunk shrugged slightly and directly exposed King's wishful thinking:

"Since I've already spoken, I naturally have solid evidence. For example, I know very well who killed those Dragon-level Monsters you killed before, and you were just an unlucky bystander."

"Because you've encountered this kind of bad luck many times, King, the staff of the Hero Association mistakenly thought you were the hero who killed those Monsters, but in reality, you're just an unlucky passerby."

After hearing Vegapunk's words, King opened his mouth, but ultimately lowered his head in dejection.

"That's right, I admit... I'm not actually the strongest man on earth, just an ordinary otaku. The only special thing about me is that I look rather fierce."

"I don't have Emperor Engine... that's just the sound of my heart beating when I'm nervous!"

Looking at King, who seemed like a deflated balloon, Vegapunk spoke with a smile:

"Don't be so discouraged. I didn't intend to tell anyone about your situation. The reason I'm bringing it all up now is so that you can accept the Chakra system with peace of mind!"

The Chakra system has now begun to spread, and the heroes of the Hero Association have learned about its various intricacies.

One point is that the stronger one's physical abilities or mental strength, the more Chakra one can generate.

Ordinary C-rank heroes generally only possess Chakra that is Genin, which is equivalent to that of the Ninja Academy student. Humans in the Ninja World have twice the number of cells in their bodies as ordinary humans, so even Genin can actually extract much more Chakra than an ordinary person.

Of course, the humans in the One-Punch Man World are not ordinary people either. Ordinary people can't turn into Monsters just because of some strange things!

Therefore, when it comes to B-Class Hero, their Chakra reserves take a leap forward. Basically, B-Class Hero can all have Chunin- level Chakra, while A-Class Hero have Jonin- level chakra.

As for S-Class Hero, that's hard to say. So far, no S-Class Hero has come to Vegapunk to claim Chakra Seed!

The S-Class Hero who possess Chakra are Hellish Blizzard, and her assistant Child Emperor. However, one of them has super strong mental strength but an ordinary physical body, while the other is simply an ordinary person who focuses on technology. Obviously, they do not represent the true level of S-Class Hero.

Uh, now there's another fake seventh place, the legendary Strongest Man on Earth...

King is not as good as Child Emperor and Fubuki. At least Fubuki has powerful telekinesis. Once Chakra Awakening, she has more Chakra than an ordinary Jonin.

Although Child Emperor doesn't have any special powers, as a child prodigy, his mental strength is obviously far beyond the norm. Even though his physical body is a weakness, he still has the Chakra reserves of Chunin.

"Why... why? Why don't you expose me?"

"What good would it do to expose you? Besides, the credit you've taken isn't mine. And even the guy you stole the credit for probably wouldn't care too much about this."

"After all, he's a hero who does it all out of interest!"

Vegapunk spoke nonchalantly, and the hero he was referring to as a hobby was naturally Saitama. In the original work, even when Saitama discovered that King had taken credit for his work, he was not angry at all.

It must be said that this bald man truly possesses a remarkable composure and equanimity, or one could say he is quite the epitome of a laid-back, unambitious person.

Of course, this may also be because Saitama's values are different from others, and he truly treats being a hero as a hobby.

Upon hearing Vegapunk's words, King didn't know whether he should breathe a sigh of relief or worry about having to continue playing the role of "the Strongest Man on Earth."

To be honest, although the benefits of becoming S-Class Hero are indeed quite good, the psychological pressure of being exposed at any time and the terrifying situation of constantly encountering various Monsters challenges are all things that this ordinary otaku, who is just exceptionally lucky and has a dignified appearance, feels he simply cannot handle.

When King was first exposed by Vegapunk, he was both panicked and ashamed, but at the same time he also felt relieved, thinking that it was finally over.

However, now that Vegapunk is willing to keep his secret, it means that King will still be able to appear as S-Class Hero in the future, and will still have to face a lot of threats from Monsters and challenges from heroes. Thinking of this, King doesn't know whether he should be happy or sad.

However, given the current situation, King doesn't have the courage to admit that he's just a homebody with no fighting ability whatsoever.

"Then I Dr. Vegapunk very much. I wonder if I am able to obtain the Chakra Seed in my situation?"

King spoke with a hint of melancholy, Vegapunk nodded immediately upon hearing King's question:

"Of course! The reason I kept you here alone is to tailor-make an enhancement plan that is most suitable for you!"

"Don't you want to truly become the Strongest Man on Earth? After my enhancements, you might actually live up to that title! At the very least, you'll possess the strength of S-Class Hero!"

The idea of him Strongest Man on Earth is just Vegapunk's wishful thinking. With Saitama, the Bald Demon King, existing, Vegapunk's research capabilities, no matter how much he studies, could never surpass this Caped Baldy.

Of course, giving King the strength of an S-Class Hero is challenging for Vegapunk, but not entirely impossible.

Especially considering that King himself has his own unique characteristics!

Yes, King himself also has special characteristics. This is not about his Emperor Engine, but rather his terrifyingly strong luck.

To some extent, this incredible luck is an unstoppable force comparable to Saitama's strength; however, under normal circumstances, luck is something that cannot be used at all.

Coincidentally, Vegapunk possesses an item that allows him to utilize the power of luck: Vegapunk Luck Glove, which he created using the Lucky-Lucky Fruit.

Besides absorbing luck, the Luck Glove can also directly control one's own luck. By consuming luck, one can make their wishes come true in a short period of time, making everything they do effortless.

Naturally, increasing the success rate of certain human body modifications and enhancing the results is not a difficult task.

Ordinary people might worry about not absorbing enough luck from the Luck Glove, but for King, his own terrifyingly strong luck has killed countless Dragon-level Monsters!

With such good fortune protecting him, even a one in a million chance of success is one hundred percent to him.

Hearing Vegapunk's words, King's eyes lit up slightly, but then he spoke with some uncertainty:

"An enhancement program designed specifically for me? But... I don't seem to have any talent, do I? Apart from having a louder heartbeat and being a bit scary-looking, I'm no different from an ordinary person. The reason I was able to become S-Class Hero is just because I was lucky."

"Didn't you already say that your greatest talent is luck? You know, luck, to some extent, is also a kind of ability!"

King was taken aback. Was there really such a thing? Could luck represent ability?

But no matter what, King was determined to try anything to strengthen himself. He was fed up with living in fear.

"Dr. Vegapunk... is this really okay?"

King swallowed hard, his eyes wide with terror as he looked at Vegapunk, or rather, at the enormous cylindrical culture tank behind Vegapunk, which was several meters high and five or six meters wide.

Inside the culture tank was a black, gelatinous substance, as black as tar. This black gelatinous substance was constantly wriggling, with a large number of tentacles extending from its surface, and occasionally some black bubbles would emerge and burst.

This is the Monster Cell Liquid Vegapunk extracted from a large number of Monsters!

However, it seems to be no different from the All the World's Evil, and of course, the effects seem to be almost the same.

Normal people wouldn't even be able to absorb these liquids; just getting a tiny bit on them would turn them into Monsters!

"Don't worry, these Nutrient Solution only look a bit strange on the outside. In reality, they contain powerful energy. After you absorb them all, you'll at least be able to transform into a high -Demon-level -class Monsters... ah, no, I mean an S-class hero..."

"I heard you! You just said 'Monsters,' right?! You said it was about transforming into Monsters, right?!"

"You misheard, sweetie, stop being so dramatic. Come into the jar right now!"

"No! Help! I don't want to be modified! I don't want to become Monsters!"

Sensing something was wrong, King tried to escape, but Vegapunk simply stretched out his hand, and the powerful gravity immediately pulled him back.

Ignoring King's pitiful screams— the Laboratory had a soundproof layer, so no matter how loudly he screamed, no one outside could hear him—they simply threw him into a jar filled with the Monster Cell Liquid.

"Quickly use the Luck Glove to control your luck! Otherwise, you'll completely turn into one of those irrational Monsters!"

Seeing King's Emperor Engine malfunctioning wildly in fright, Vegapunk spoke loudly. King dared not be negligent upon hearing this. After putting on the Luck Glove, he was able to control his luck to some extent. Now he focused his luck on maintaining his rationality and maximizing his strength.

As King fell into the black Monster Cell Liquid, the entire Monster Cell Liquid churned and emitted strange roars, forming a small Uzumaki. A large amount of cell fluid rushed into King's body.

At the same time, King, who was originally just an ordinary person, also experienced a surge in aura. With cracking sounds, King's bones grew taller and his muscles expanded, transforming him into a terrifying Monsters four meters tall in an instant.

His already dignified face now exuded an even more Haki, as if he had transformed into a deity.

The pounding heartbeat, like a drumbeat, intensified, eventually bursting forth with illusory ripples that shook the entire culture vessel, causing cracks to appear all over the glass surrounding it.

"This looks like a real Emperor Engine now... The enhancement effect is really good. The energy index should be able to challenge Dragon-level Monsters!"