Association staff rushed in first, utterly ignoring B-Class No. 1 Fubuki and her team, hurrying straight to KING to report.
In the center of the crowd, KING felt a splitting headache.
This was what he was worst at.
"Ah, mm, I understand. Thanks for your work."
He could only fend them off with vague phrases—and pray that the handover would end soon so the train could continue to his destination—A City.
Fubuki stood on the fringe, watching quietly; her shock was beyond words.
The Association's attitude confirmed again how transcendent his position was.
"Are the strong always so solitary?"
She looked at the man surrounded by people, whose face showed no joy— only a faint detachment and impatience.
Her fist tightened. A figure hovered in her mind—her older sister, forever flying in the sky, looking down on her.
I must become stronger too!
Strong enough to stand at the same height and see what they see!
Fubuki lifted her head toward Y City's night, flames in her eyes.
——
Lin Mo finally escaped that nightmare ceremony.
The train had been stopped due to the incident; the notice said they had to inspect for potential threats.
He had to pinch his nose and consider himself unlucky, then give the Association staff a rundown.
He refused the Association's offer to "assign a special car escort"; while they were busy with handover chaos, he pulled his hoodie low, slipped into a metro back to M City, and at last reached his familiar apartment.
"Phew… alive again."
He flopped onto the soft bed; the familiar, slightly shut-in smell tickled his nose; he let out a long breath.
Eyes closed, he savored the solitude— as if that universally idolized "KING" had nothing to do with him.
He lay there like a corpse for half an hour before energy trickled back and he sat up.
His eyes sharpened; exhaustion was swept away by a strong anticipation.
"System, open personal panel."
At the thought, a translucent panel with pale blue glow—visible only to him—hung silently before his eyes.
[Name: Lin Mo (KING)]
[Sex: Male]
[Energy Points: 24,036]
[Stamina: 50]
[Strength: 50]
[Speed: 50]
[Telekinesis: 70]
[Skills: Intimidation (Dragon-class), Sonic Movement (Demon-class), Energy Orb (Demon-class), Basic Martial Arts]
[Items: Basic Stamina Potion ×2, Basic Healing Potion ×2, Basic Mental Recovery… ]
Seeing the number under Energy Points, Lin Mo let out a long breath.
He had gained a huge haul after the meteor crisis.
This train incident, though small, still gave a tidy sum— he caught the criminal easily and saved a whole train.
His gaze slid over the skills and stopped on "Energy Orb (Demon-class)."
It was his only current effective attack.
In a world crawling with monsters, he couldn't rely forever on luck and the "King Engine" to scare enemies; "Intimidation" wasn't a long-term plan.
"First upgrade Energy Orb to 'Dragon'—then spend the rest on stats," he decided.
With a Dragon-class Energy Orb he'd finally have a trump card to fight top-tier threats— real self-defense in a dangerous world.
The rest could shore up his base attributes.
"System, upgrade 'Energy Orb.'"
[–10,000 Energy Points; upgrading skill 'Energy Orb (Demon-class)'…]
As the prompt sounded, a massive stream of information poured into his mind.
He felt his command and use of energy rising rapidly.
[Upgrade complete! Congratulations—Skill acquired: Energy Orb (Dragon-class)!]
[Skill: Gather a high-density energy sphere in the hand; tremendous power, enough to heavily threaten Dragon-level disasters. Enters cooldown after firing: 0.1s.]
[Special: May spend Energy Points to charge the Energy Orb. Charged orb gains a huge power boost and may add 'Pierce' or 'Blast.']
[Next upgrade requirement: 100,000 Energy Points]
Lin Mo opened his palm; with a thought, a golden orb of light floated up.
It looked gentle, without pressure.
But he could feel clearly that in the small orb was energy enough to wipe this entire apartment block off the map.
"A little 'Homeless Emperor' now…"
He chuckled wryly; in his mind flashed the Monster Association's Dragon-class cadre who also used energy orbs.
He even pictured himself and "Homeless Emperor" on a battlefield, spamming beams at each other.
He shook his head to fling away the silly image; a confident smile tugged his lips.
"But I won't be like him—just an ordinary human body with a power. …"
Homeless Emperor's weakness was his fragile body; Lin Mo would fix that sooner or later.
He looked at the remaining fourteen-thousand-plus points; his eyes gleamed.
"System, raise Stamina, Strength, Speed, and Telekinesis all to 90!"
[Strength +40, –4000 Energy Points.]
[Speed +40, –4000 Energy Points.]
[Constitution +40, –4000 Energy Points.]
[Telekinesis +20, –2000 Energy Points.]
[Total –14,000. Confirm?]
At once a vast warm current burst from his heart and surged through his body!
Muscles tore and regrew at impossible speed—denser, tougher!
With the boost to telekinesis, his inner world flared open.
His thoughts sharpened like never before; senses magnified without limit; the world became three-dimensional and vivid in his perception.
About a minute later, when the warm stream fully merged, Lin Mo slowly opened his eyes.
He looked at his hands and gently clenched.
A deep muffled sound popped in his palm.
"Still don't know exactly how strong I am—no benchmark…"
He stood and stretched; exhilaration and peace filled his heart.
-------
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