With a thought, Hans called up his system panel.
It was time to turn all that unspent money into real combat power.
Even after maxing out [Monsterization], he still had 130,000 Origin Points left.
But now, every upgrade to [Overgrowth], already past the halfway mark, was getting pricier and pricier.
Still, that SSR-tier skill was brutally simple: it directly boosted every physical stat. The higher the level, the scarier the growth.
If that's the cost of getting stronger, Hans wasn't about to complain.
"System, add points."
[Consumed Origin Points 32,000. "Overgrowth" upgraded! Lv6 → Lv7]
[Consumed Origin Points 64,000. "Overgrowth" upgraded! Lv7 → Lv8]
[Remaining Origin Points: 39,691]
In the blink of an eye, nearly 100,000 points were burned away.
A vast, indescribable surge of power roared to life inside him, but Hans, already used to such things, calmly forced it under control.
His body now held strength far beyond the disaster-class threshold. Even in his human form, the monstrous energy stayed contained instead of bursting out.
He could feel it, his strength, speed, and even cellular vitality and resilience were skyrocketing.
At last, a ripple of invisible force spread quietly from within him, like waves across still water.
Inside the moving train, the lights flickered; the metal chassis groaned slightly before returning to normal.
Hans raised a brow.
"Even in human form, the energy overflow can't be completely hidden, huh? Guess I'll have to keep it low when people are around."
Meanwhile, in the control cabin, the conductors were staring at their instruments.
"Hey, what was that shake?"
"Everything's reading normaly, probably a track joint issue."
"Keep monitoring. If nothing's off, we'll clear the alert."
"M City's next. Stay sharp, everyone."
They had no idea that one of their passengers was literally evolving.
Hans slowly opened his eyes. A sharp gleam flashed through them.
Two upgrades, almost 100,000 points, gone in an instant, but the results were worth it.
His monster form's base strength had reached Peak Demon-class, just shy of Dragon-level.
Even in human form, his power had risen drastically, around mid to upper Demon-class.
Weak demons wouldn't even need a transformation; one hand would be enough.
Still, that was as far as he could go for now.
Upgrading Overgrowth to Lv9 cost 128,000 points, even with his "sugar mommy" Psykos wiring him funds, he'd need time to save up.
"Next up, the UR abilities."
[Trillion-Level Division] and [Fusion Merge], two complementary powers that formed the core of his future trump cards.
[Consumed Origin Points 10,000. "Trillion-Level Division" upgraded! Lv1 → Lv2]
[Consumed Origin Points 10,000. "Fusion Merge" upgraded! Lv1 → Lv2]
[Remaining Origin Points: 19,691]
Two upgrades later, his cells buzzed with newfound vitality, splitting, merging, evolving on their own.
His clones' base stats, cell capacity, and fusion stability had all visibly improved.
Now down to his last few points, Hans pondered briefly before deciding.
His R-tier [Spiked Carapace] was starting to fall behind the curve.
Without his absurdly tanky [Beast Body], that armor would've been his biggest weak spot by now.
As his only innate ability, it deserved another look, maybe there was hidden potential waiting to evolve.
If he could turn his carapace into a wearable battle suit, something like those flashy heroes or masked riders, with some extra particle effects for style… that'd be perfect.
With that image in mind, Hans gave the command to evolve.
[Consumed Origin Points 2,560. "Spiked Carapace" upgraded! Lv9 → Lv10 (MAX)]
[Consumed Origin Points 10,000. Ability evolution complete!]
["Spiked Carapace (R)" LvMax → "Shadow Armor (SR)" Lv1]
[Remaining Origin Points: 7,131]
Instantly, a whole new kind of power flooded his senses.
The once-rigid armor felt alive, its texture shifting like liquid metal, usable even in his human form.
[Shadow Armor (SR) Lv1: A special battle suit mutated through the wielder's will. Its shadow-matter composition behaves like liquid memory metal, granting "Reinforced Defense," "Damage Absorption," "Auto Counterattack," and "Form Shift."]
"…It actually worked."
Surprise gave way to delight.
It seemed even his random daydreams about cool battle suits had influenced the evolution path!
Now it wasn't just an exoskeleton, it could freely shift shapes, transforming from organic armor into sleek, sci-fi shadow matter.
At will, Hans could reshape it, personalized design included.
The new Shadow Armor drew directly from his body's biomass and energy, acting like a living second skin.
He could manifest it partially for protection, coat it over his clothes for extra defense and self-repair, or fully suit up for all-out combat.
He willed it, and a thin stream of black fluid seeped from under his skin, solidifying first into a blade, then morphing into a shield, hammer, and even hair-thin tendrils.
"Almost full creative control… not bad."
In essence, his ability now resembled a mix between Venom's symbiote and nano armor, minus the chatty alien voice or billion-dollar AI system.
Suppressing the urge to yell "HENSHIN!" on the spot, Hans quietly studied the cold, fluid feel of the armor.
It dawned on him: copied powers were strong, but they always felt… external, like plug-ins.
His innate ability, though, this evolving armor, was truly his. It carried infinite potential.
"So only my original, core ability can evolve based on my will, huh? Makes sense…"
That realization made him even more eager for its next evolution.
Unfortunately, SR-tier Shadow Armor still emitted a powerful monster aura, easily picked up by standard detection devices.
Its pitch-black sheen screamed "villain," so even in human form, he'd look like a failed monster experiment.
Analyzing pros and cons, Hans concluded.
For now, disguising it as a hero's armor was impossible.
The Hero Association's tech wasn't that easy to fool.
"Well, plenty of room for upgrades next time."
He smiled faintly.
That would be a problem for another day.