Hans took a deep breath, suppressing the surge of emotion in his chest.
'What's with that tone, like you didn't get your favorite snack?!'
He knew that while Black Sperm was moody and sharp-tongued in battle, it was, technically speaking, one of the few "intelligent-type" monsters.
In the original story, even after the Monster Association was wiped out, it managed to survive and hitch a ride with Pochi, eventually becoming Saitama's pet. That alone said a lot about its cunning.
High-intelligence monsters were often more dangerous, but at least they could be reasoned with.
And since Hans had ties to Evil Eyes, there was no way Black Sperm would just randomly kill him.
Taking another breath, Hans suddenly remembered his past experience sucking up to Pochi.
Seeing Black Sperm's disappointed look, as if it hadn't eaten enough, he quickly put on a sincere expression.
"Apologies for disturbing your rest, Lord Black Sperm!" he said earnestly. "Tell you what, these few fools are still in decent shape. Consider them an after-meal snack for you!"
Tiger-level monsters: "???" ×5
Before they could react, their faces turned ghost-white, eyes filled with disbelief and despair.
"Oh? Really now?"
When it came to food, Black Sperm wasn't picky.
When it was still weak, it had even dug through soil to eat worms just to survive.
And now, with a fresh protein buffet delivered right to its door, why would it say no?
Its beady eyes swept across the five trembling tiger-level monsters. A sharp grin spread across its face, revealing rows of jagged teeth.
"Well then, I won't hold back."
In the next instant, the small, crudely drawn creature suddenly leapt onto Hans's shoulder, surprising him.
It grabbed one of the spikes jutting from Hans's carapace with its left hand like a handle, and swung its right arm in a blur.
BOOM!
The black limb swelled like an inflating balloon, growing dozens of times larger in a split second. It snatched up the five tiger-level monsters at once and stuffed them straight into its bottomless mouth.
A loud burp followed.
"Burp… average flavor."
In just a few seconds, the deed was done.
Black Sperm hopped lazily off Hans's shoulder, patted his armored leg, and grinned.
"Still, you're a pretty decent guy."
"Tell Pochi I said hi. That mutt looks fatter every time I see it, maybe I'll drop by and mess with it sometime… huh? Why'd you freeze up like that?"
Black Sperm tilted its head, curious. "Hey, hey, you alive in there?"
Hans stood completely still.
Partly because he hadn't expected Black Sperm to touch him directly, But mostly because…
He was staring at a system prompt flashing before his eyes.
His first-ever red-tier UR ability, no, not just one, but two!
[Ding! Target available for replication detected!]
Monster: Black Sperm
Disaster Level: Dragon (Peak)
[Ability 1: "Trillion-Level Division (UR)" Gain near-limitless division and replication ability by absorbing external energy or biomass. Each split body possesses independent consciousness, sharing mind, senses, and memory. Every clone retains a set level of strength, speed, endurance, and reaction. As long as there's enough biomass and energy, division will not weaken any unit.]
[Ability 2: "Fusion Merge (UR)" Any number of divided bodies can merge without limit. The more bodies fused, the exponentially greater the resulting strength.]
Fusion Forms:
Normal Form: Can continue dividing and multiplying by absorbing protein. Body parts or the entire body can enlarge for massive power boosts.
Multicellular Form: Multiple cells fused into a dense single unit, dramatically enhancing strength, speed, and defense.
Golden Form: Over ten trillion cells compressed into a muscular golden giant, radiating light, granting immense boosts to strength and speed.
Platinum Form: Ultimate, irreversible fusion of all cells into a silver-white entity of extreme density and velocity.
Exclusive techniques: Lightspeed Rush, Platinum Hand Spear, Total Defense, Illogical Counterstrike.
[Ability 3: "Cellular Mimicry (SSR)" Cells can morph, disguise, enlarge, or shrink, allowing transformation into stone, dust, or other forms to evade detection.]
[Ability 4: "Cellular Self-Destruct (SR)" Sacrifice a portion of cells to trigger an explosion. Power scales with the number of cells consumed.]
No hesitation, Hans instantly began copying at lightspeed!
[Successfully copied UR ability: "Trillion-Level Division" Lv.1!]
[Successfully copied UR ability: "Fusion Merge" Lv.1!]
[Successfully copied SSR ability: "Cellular Mimicry" Lv.1!]
[Successfully copied SR ability: "Cellular Self-Destruct" Lv.1!]
[Current ability slots: 10 / 15]
Though he'd used up most of his remaining slots, Hans knew that Black Sperm's powers formed a complete system.
'So, naturally i'll take it all'
"Tch, still alive huh…"
Seeing Hans move again, Black Sperm clicked its tongue, wiping its mouth in disappointment.
"What a weird kid. Boring. I'm outta here."
And with that, its body melted into the shadows, vanishing without a sound.
Hans just stood there silently.
As Black Sperm's presence faded deeper into the mine, Hans suddenly felt a strange itching sensation from within his body.
It was as if countless tiny "selves" were wriggling at the cellular level, trying to split apart.
He was literally about to divide!
At the same time, an instinctual urge to fuse, to evolve by sheer mass, rose within him.
Thanks to the system's direct synchronization, Hans understood instantly:
His vast life force had automatically activated the moment he gained those UR abilities, triggering an internal transformation.
His body was rapidly and silently being remodeled, producing millions of new cells through high-speed replication.
He exhaled sharply, a faint heat escaping his lips.
Only after Black Sperm's aura completely disappeared did Hans finally relax.
His power had grown at a breakneck pace, but compared to the true monsters of the Association, it was still far from enough.
[Current Source Points: 15,246]
Enough to level up one UR skill, or a few SSRs.
"Money. I need more money."
Determined once again to farm Source Points, Hans noticed the internal changes gradually slowing, like he'd hit a temporary limit.
[Current Cell Reserve: 1,000,000]
The system's prompt, combined with the natural feedback of his new abilities, made it clear:
Even with Black Sperm's UR powers, he'd have to build up his cellular reserves manually.
The cap was tied to his strength and evolution stage, but it could also be raised the same way Black Sperm did it: by devouring massive amounts of protein.
Level 1 "Trillion-Level Division" only gave him a starting reserve of one million cells, not even a fraction of Black Sperm's astronomical total.
Still, Hans wasn't worried. His growth rate scaled directly with Source Points.
In short, he needed more loot.
As he pondered faster ways to earn Source Points beyond monster cells, Hans casually returned to his lair.
The moment he stepped inside, a sharp sense of wrongness pricked his instincts.
Someone was there.
Someone had entered his nest.