High-Speed Regeneration (SR) LvMax: Greatly accelerates healing of injuries and recovery of energy. Consuming large amounts of vitality enables rapid limb regeneration.
Plasma Burst (SR) LvMax: Generates powerful plasma lightning, freely controls lightning energy, and grants immunity to external lightning attacks.
Electrical Overload (SR) LvMax: Generates, absorbs, and stores massive electrical energy within the body. In overload mode, all attacks are imbued with devastating lightning damage.
Karmic Fire (SSR) Lv6: Flame of Impure Ardor awakens fire-controlling abilities post-Monsterification. He can conjure flames at will and ignite himself to enter the "Impure Ardor State." In this state, all cells are fully activated by high temperatures, generating immense explosive power while each attack inflicts severe burning damage on enemies.
Lower-tier abilities below SR had long since fully evolved and been maxed out—so much so that more than half of the twenty newly added ability slots remained empty. Among the SSR abilities, one was newly added: Karmic Fire, the innate ability Flame of Impure Ardor awakened after Monsterification.
It wasn't exactly a cunning scheme. Jack merely rode Pochi to find the ninja duo mid-familiarization with their Monsterification powers. Flame of Impure Ardor immediately stated he couldn't remember what had happened at the unfinished building in M City. He even grabbed Jack's hand and repeatedly expressed that if he'd offended him back then, he sincerely hoped Jack would forgive him.
(〒▽〒)
To be fair, although the two ninjas were arrogant—believing their speed trumped everything, looking down on ordinary Monsters and even some executives—they showed no such arrogance when directly facing Pochi. They demonstrated remarkable proficiency in the ancient art of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.
Jack's current stats were, to put it mildly, luxurious.
The system's judgment of his theoretical strength was Dragon-level (High) —meaning his normal-state power could already overwhelm most ordinary Dragon-level Monsters.
From Demon-level Peak to Dragon-level High. What seemed like an incredible leap in power became entirely reasonable when backed by such a stat sheet.
After all, Monsters in the One-Punch Man world couldn't be judged by common sense.
Consider Homeless Emperor—chosen by 'God' and transformed overnight from an ordinary person into a Dragon-level combatant.
Or the clown Monster who appeared later, who could grow infinitely stronger simply by gaining attention—rocketing from Tiger-level to Dragon-level in minutes.
The power surges of these native Monsters were only equal to—or greater than—Jack's own. And Jack was a despicable outsider cheater.
Because of this, Jack didn't feel his progression speed was exaggerated.
On the contrary—he even thought it was slow.
It was perfectly normal for his combat power to reach Dragon-level High, far surpassing ordinary Dragon-level Monsters. He possessed the abilities of numerous Dragon-level Monsters and had maxed out all three SSR abilities from Pochi's ability system.
Psykos would never have imagined that such a traitor could be so shameless. Already taken the crucial step to becoming a top-tier executive-level combatant—yet still constantly lurking among low-level Monsters, always thinking of freeloading.
(ꐦ •᷅ ࡇ •᷄)
In fact, Jack had already been secretly investigating the location of the Monster Cell production facility. He'd even locked down a general area.
The only reason he hadn't immediately turned hostile was the presence of the strongest Monster King—Orochi.
To this day, despite his seemingly impressive achievements, Jack never fought a battle he wasn't confident in winning.
This included the House of Evolution before him.
House of Evolution – Underground Base Control Room
For reasons he couldn't articulate, Dr. Genus—dressed in a black shirt and slacks—felt a growing sense of unease.
Beneath his somewhat unconventional bangs, a bead of sweat the size of a bean trickled down his temple. He seemed oblivious, lost in thought.
In the past, he'd only experienced similar inexplicable emotions when facing that "failure" deep underground.
"Could it be…" He murmured to himself. "…my genes are warning me that a life-threatening crisis is approaching?"
Though he appeared to be a young scientist with an inherently sinister aura, Dr. Genus was actually over seventy years old. Having delved deep into cutting-edge biological genetic technology for decades, he never believed in metaphysics or fate. But he did believe in science.
His genes were giving a warning.
The thought made Dr. Genus immediately flustered. But being able to develop his research institute into the House of Evolution—a world-class evil technology organization—purely through his own efforts meant his capabilities far surpassed industry elites in the same field.
Knowing that panic solved nothing, Dr. Genus—though flustered—remained composed. He raised his hand and pressed a button on the console. The entire underground base immediately blared with a piercing alarm. In the corridor outside the control room, a row of flashing red lights illuminated simultaneously, signaling the alert.
Before long, dozens of clones—wearing white lab coats marked with numerical designations, identical in height and appearance to him—entered through the open door. They hurried in one after another, quickly filling the control room.
"I declare the immediate activation of the highest emergency protocol!"
Facing the assembled clones, Dr. Genus issued commands methodically.
"Number 8—immediately assemble all combat-sequence clones and seal all entrances and exits of the base."
"Number 42—you are responsible for activating all mechanisms and traps of the eight-layer surface defense facilities. Stop any intruders on the surface."
"Number 88—be ready to awaken the backup clones preserved in the cryogenic chambers at any time to execute Secret Evacuation Plan No. 3."
He paused, his expression grave.
"With memories and thought patterns fully synchronized, there is no absolute boundary between the main body and the clones. If any clone survives, it can be considered a successful continuation of knowledge."
His voice hardened.
"I have a premonition—this base is about to face an unprecedented crisis. We must prepare for the worst."
Hearing their main body speak this way, every clone's expression turned solemn. Without needing further explanation, the world's top brain had already grasped the seriousness of the situation. Many of them began acting on their own initiative.
Just as the clones were carrying out their respective duties in response—
The ground shook.
*RUMBLE—!!! *
A violent tremor—as if heaven and earth were collapsing—suddenly struck. Indicator lights on various instruments and equipment in the control room flashed wildly. Many clones lost their footing, stumbling and falling in a heap.
"W-What happened?!" Clone 28—bruised and bleeding from the fall—struggled to rise, leaning on an instrument, his voice tinged with panic.
"The surface… all signals from the surface facilities have been cut off!" Clone 38, responsible for monitoring, exclaimed, his voice distorted. "External surveillance… ninety-nine percent has completely failed!"
"Damn it—almost all of it was destroyed in an instant?"
"Could it be a large-scale EMP weapon attack?!"
"Impossible. The base has long been equipped with a complete anti-electromagnetic weapon defense layer. Even a large-scale EMP weapon couldn't break through all surface floors at once!"
Amid the habitual discussions and arguments, Dr. Genus's forehead was covered in cold sweat. Enduring the dizziness brought by the intense shaking, he said, "Stop arguing."
His voice cut through the chaos.
"Switch to the external backup hidden probes."