Maha was slightly taken aback. A faint, almost imperceptible gleam flashed in his old, weather-beaten eyes... His intuition told him the boy wasn't joking.
"Great-grandfather, you don't believe me?"
"I believe you." The old man's gaze grew profound. "Even gods are divided into ranks and classes, ranging from the orthodox and righteous to the bizarre and evil."
There were those as powerful as the seven orthodox gods who ruled over nations, those as mysterious as the gods of nature born at the dawn of life, and those as bizarre as incomprehensible, overwhelming disasters. Of course, there was also no shortage of 'false gods' who commanded a few factions of believers and proclaimed themselves divine.
Maha looked Roy up and down. He figured... the entity the child had encountered was exactly this kind of self-proclaimed 'imposter.'
However, could Muzan really be called an 'imposter'?
The Lord of Demons who commanded countless evil spirits, the 'Night King' who ravaged the darkness and whose mere name could stop a child's crying—aside from his inability to walk in the sunlight, he was terrifying. If he had truly devoured Nezuko or found the Blue Spider Lily in the original story, perhaps... he really would have had a chance to realize his ambition: becoming a veritable 'perfect being.'
Roy calmly glanced at the eight hundred points of [Life Energy] and nearly three hundred points of Faith Power resting quietly in his status panel, and fell silent...
After a moment, the boy said, "Perhaps."
"I am naturally inferior to you, Great-grandfather. At the very least..." Roy gently stroked the curse on the back of his hand, murmuring absentmindedly, "I currently lack the ability to erase it."
"There is no rush." Maha's figure blurred as he left Roy's bedroom with his hands behind his back, heading toward his own room.
Without looking back, the old man said, "Defeat your father first."
Father... what level would he be at?
It was still early. Roy flopped back down onto his bed, resting his hands behind his head as he recalled Silva's glorious battle records from the original story... He had assassinated a Spider. Even while holding back alongside Zeno to buy time for Maha and Kalluto to counter-kill the Ten Dons, he had still nearly killed Chrollo in his prime. Then... during the Chimera Ant arc, he descended from the sky and crushed Cheetu with a single punch. He was a genuine Squadron Leader-level powerhouse. Even if he wasn't a match for the Ant King Meruem or Netero, he certainly wouldn't be any weaker than... Morel, Biscuit, Neferpitou, Youpi, Shaiapouf, and the others. His true strength should be at... B-Class, only a hair's breadth away from the B+ Class of Netero and Meruem.
'B-Class, huh,' Roy muttered softly. Immersing his consciousness, he glanced at his panel again. Seeing his sole 'B-' stat, Potential Aura, the wildly growing, maddening desire to allocate points and grow stronger could no longer be suppressed. His body transformed into light, and when he reappeared, he was in the familiar bathroom, turning on the showerhead...
*Pitter-patter...* The water cascaded down...
At that moment, a certain foolish younger brother had just sneaked out of his eldest brother's room, curled up in a hole with his eyes closed...
A certain younger, chubby brother was sprawled out like a starfish, kicking off his blanket, sleeping soundly...
A certain youngest brother, still in his swaddling clothes, let out a wail and was scooped up into the arms of a burly man to be bottle-fed...
Suddenly, a breeze swept through, bringing a trace of coolness that dispelled the lingering heat... Roy took a deep breath. After showering for nearly five minutes and thoroughly mentally preparing himself, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Let's begin."
The panel expanded. A total of... 975 points... instantly bottomed out!
Suddenly, an intense tearing sensation struck from the deepest part of Roy's body, making him feel as if he were being drawn and quartered. Unable to hold back a muffled groan, he violently clawed at the wall... *Crack!* He left dozens of deep holes in the tiles!
Pain... It was too painful... An unprecedented agony... A pain that seeped into his very marrow... The 'horse of Blood Energy' kicked up its hooves and sprinted wildly. In just a single second, it instantly... tore Roy to pieces!
*Rip!* His hands snapped, his legs broke, his head severed, his neck snapped... A spray of blood and tissue erupted into the air, instantly turning the small shower stall into a bloody hellscape, causing Roy to let out an uncontrollable roar!
"Ahhh—"
The boy swore he had tried his best to control it... but the sound rolled out of his open mouth on its own, and taking it back was nothing but a pipe dream!
"Hmm?" At this midnight hour, Silva, who had just finished feeding Killua, hadn't even washed the baby bottle before he abruptly rushed out the door and sped away. He left behind a groggy, half-asleep Kikyo to take Killua, her clothes disheveled and fluttering in the wind...
"What happened, Silva?"
The door swung open, banging in the wind. Kikyo hurriedly got up and chased after Silva out the door. In her daze... she seemed to catch sight of another figure, sporting conspicuous white hair and wearing a bathrobe, frantically chasing after Silva toward the east side of the first floor... The figure flickered again and again, utilizing [Dark Step] so intensely that sparks nearly flew from his feet. It was clear just how anxious he was!
"Father? That direction... is it Roy?" Her electronic visor flashed with worry. Clutching Killua in her arms, Kikyo's heart tightened. She hurriedly called for Tsubone and rushed out after them...
In an instant, it was as if a massive bomb had been dropped on the entire Zoldyck estate. Suddenly... utter chaos erupted.
Even Scarface and One-Eye, who guarded Zigg year-round, were roused. Standing by the iron gate, they frowned, exchanged a glance, and silently raised their guard!
It had been over forty years. As servants born into the Zoldyck family, the two had been watched over by Zigg since childhood. Back then, aside from the time Zigg insisted on exploring the Dark Continent—which enraged Maha so much that he dragged Zigg into the courtyard and beat him severely, throwing the entire Zoldyck household into turmoil—today was the only day that had shattered the nearly forty years of peace maintained since Zigg's incident!
So, what exactly had happened?
Scarface and One-Eye wore solemn expressions. They wanted to use [En] to investigate, but... the land beneath their feet was named Zoldyck, the world's number one assassin family. In fact, in their hearts, it could easily be called the 'world's number one family.' Prying without the family head's permission was... a grave sin!
Fortunately, Scarface and One-Eye didn't have to wait long. A phone call came through, leaving the two of them stunned and completely dumbfounded.
"Young Master Roy... exploded!"
On the first floor of the Zoldyck family castle, Tsubone, who had rushed over right on Kikyo's heels, gripped her phone and spoke with a trembling voice...
Inside the modest bedroom before her, three generations of Zoldyck family heads were gathered. They blocked the small door to the shower room, their faces dark as they peered inside... A monstrous fury seemed to be brewing!
The old butler didn't dare breathe too loudly, standing flush against the window. He reached out to support Kikyo, who let out a shriek and fainted on the spot. The phone slipped from her palm, clattering to the floor with a thud, startling the baby Killua in her arms into a loud wail...
"Waaah... Waaah..." The child's cries added fuel to the brewing storm!
Following Silva and Zeno, Illumi arrived right after. The moment he saw everyone gathered in Roy's bedroom, his body suddenly stiffened as if struck by lightning. He lost the ability to think on the spot... It was so blank... His mind was blank... His heart was blank... Even his pupils lost their focus...
The boy swayed with every step, like a walking corpse. He stumbled forward, pushing past Tsubone and Kikyo, slipping into the bedroom, and peering into the shower room. The gory, blood-soaked scene pierced him like needles, instantly stabbing into his heart. His knees gave out, unable to support his weight any longer, and he collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud!
"Who did this... Who exactly did this... Father, Grandfather... Great-grandfather... tell me,"
"Tell me right now, who the hell did this?!"
Suddenly, his waist-length black hair flared upward. The light vanished from the boy's eyes. He jerked his head up, his uncontrollable killing intent skyrocketing!
Behind him... another person walked in and dropped to his knees beside Illumi with a heavy thud. His eyes were vacant, his glasses slipping down his nose. Using both hands and feet, he practically crawled to the shower room door. He stared at the floor, the ceiling, the walls—all covered in bloodstains and fragments of Roy's tissue... Gotoh's body swayed, and he slumped to the floor, his breathing heavy and ragged. His brain completely shut down!
'He's dead... Young Master is dead... Young Master is dead...' Images flashed through his mind. Gotoh sat in a daze for a moment before straightening his back. He pulled out the [Infinite Divine Spear] that Roy had gifted him, pressed the muzzle against his own temple, and pulled the trigger with a loud bang!
However... a bone sword, moving even faster than the Nen bullet, brushed past the shoulders of the three generations of Zoldyck family heads—Maha, Silva, and Zeno. It arrived in front of Gotoh in an instant, directly deflecting the Nen bullet... With a resounding boom, the bullet embedded itself into the western wall, leaving a transparent hole the size of a bowl!
*Swish!*
"Stop mourning. If you have that much free time, you'd be better off telling the kitchen to prepare more food... I'm hungry..."
A familiar, albeit weak, voice echoed through the bedroom alongside the bone sword...
Gotoh froze.
Illumi froze.
Tsubone froze.
The remaining three—Silva, Zeno, and Maha—kept their faces stern. Immediately after, Maha sucked his teeth and cursed loudly, "I just left, and you pull a stunt like this!"
"What, just because you killed a god, you think... you're a big shot now?"
Killed a god? Silva and Zeno exchanged a glance, their expressions grave... Had they not sensed that Roy's Nen aura was still present and hadn't faded, and had Maha not been standing there as steady as a mountain... both Zeno and Silva might have gone completely berserk!
"Ow, ow, ow..." Roy's mouth, which had fallen onto the floor, twitched in a grimace. He didn't dare make a sound, much less talk back.
Allocating points was real, and the upgrade was real, but the process of upgrading was far too gruesome, completely exceeding his imagination.
Fortunately, [Sword Bone] had intervened in time to stop Gotoh from seeking death.
With [Rebirth from a Drop of Blood] as his trump card, his life was guaranteed to be safe.
However, being overwhelmed by the intense pain to the point of briefly losing consciousness, thereby causing a misunderstanding with his great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and the entire Zoldyck family... served as a wake-up call for Roy. He couldn't be so hasty next time; it would be best to allocate points gradually. That was the optimal strategy.
The boy finally regained his consciousness and hurriedly manipulated his Nen to activate [Rebirth from a Drop of Blood].
The tissues, blood, bones, and eyeballs that had been washed everywhere by the pattering showerhead began to converge. In the blink of an eye, they condensed into a massive cocoon of Blood Energy that enveloped Roy. From within, the faint thumping of a heartbeat could be heard, growing louder and louder... At first, it was subtle, then it sounded like beating drums, and finally, it exploded like muffled thunder...
Maha narrowed his old eyes and said without looking back, "Silva, take Killua back. Don't frighten the child."
The man took a deep look at the Blood Energy cocoon, able to sense the abundant, blazing Blood Energy and Nen aura radiating from it. After a long silence, he turned around... picked up the unconscious Kikyo, and along with Tsubone and the baby Killua in the old butler's arms, headed back to the second-floor bedroom.
*Step...* The man's footsteps had been anxious and heavy when he arrived, but now they were joyful yet heavy... It was a different kind of weight. Zeno cast a casual glance before withdrawing his gaze. With his hands behind his back, he said to Maha, "Grandfather, Silva... is feeling the pressure."
*Thump, thump...* The heartbeat was strong, continuing endlessly like muffled thunder.
Maha snorted coldly, quietly waiting for the moment the Blood Energy cocoon would shatter. He tilted his head, glancing at Zeno. "He's feeling the pressure, but aren't you?"
The old man didn't hold back his mockery. "If a grandfather can't even compare to his own grandson, you might as well stop wearing those raggedy clothes you show off all day."
"'A Kill A Day,' 'Active Duty for Life'?"
"You're nothing!"
Zeno: "..."
Speechless for a moment, he suddenly swung his hand and slapped Illumi. "What are you doing? Stiffening your neck like that, who are you trying to kill? Hurry up and get back to sleep!"
With a muffled smack, Zeno utilized [Ten]... Illumi's forehead visibly swelled. He was instantly knocked out of his daze. Keeping his head down, he retracted his killing intent, but he stubbornly refused to leave. He merely retreated to a corner, seemingly determined to see... a certain someone safe and sound before he could rest easy.
Seeing this, Zeno breathed a sigh of relief and ignored him. Instead, he glanced at Gotoh, who was still kneeling on the floor, and ordered with a hint of satisfaction, "You heard him. Roy is hungry. Rather than sitting there in a daze, you'd be better off heading down early to prepare breakfast."
The [Infinite Handgun] was still raised in his hand.
Gotoh seemed to finally snap back to reality. He let out a long sigh and replied, "Yes."
He supported himself on his knees to stand up, looking back at the Blood Energy cocoon every three steps... Just before he walked out the door, Zeno suddenly called out to him again, "I want tomato and egg stir-fry."
"I want yuxiang shredded pork," Maha added without looking back. "Also, brew some ginger tea. This old man... needs to soothe his nerves today..."
As for who had upset him... Roy, inside the Blood Energy cocoon, feigned ignorance. He coughed dryly and called out to Gotoh after Maha, "I'll stick with bacon and fried eggs. Remember, I want ten portions!"
*Grumble...* His new body hadn't even finished reconstructing yet... but Roy could already feel his stomach growling with hunger...
Through the dense Blood Energy, the boy locked eyes with the young butler... Gotoh immediately pushed up the glasses resting on the bridge of his nose and raised his voice, "Yes, Young Master!"
He then exited the room and headed toward the kitchen. Compared to when he arrived, his footsteps were immeasurably lighter...
*Dong...* By now, the night had deepened into the early hours... At three in the morning, the wooden grandfather clock in the corner chimed the hour...
After waiting for ten seconds... thirty seconds... one minute... two minutes... five minutes... Finally, as the sixth minute arrived,
A crack appeared on the Blood Energy cocoon resting in the shower room with a sharp snap. Immediately after... a strong, powerful, slender, and firm arm suddenly thrust out...
Then, they heard it.
*Crack, crack, crack...*
More and more cracks appeared.
The light grew increasingly brilliant.
Until,
The cocoon shattered!
The light condensed, reaching its peak, forming a miniature sun that illuminated the bedroom and the hallway. It radiated light so recklessly that no one could keep their eyes open...
Maha, Zeno, and Illumi all looked over simultaneously...
At the very center of the light, Roy revealed his figure.
The first thing that caught their eyes was—
A head of waist-length silver hair!