"I've made it back alive again."
Looking at the familiar walls before him, Aomori breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the floor.
His body was still covered in burns caused by the attack from Uranus. Under the faint glow of his Healing Spell, the scorched skin slowly peeled away, revealing skin as fair and tender as a newborn's.
Once he had recovered sufficiently, Aomori stood up and stretched his limbs.
"To think Uranus was actually a space-based kinetic weapon, a satellite laser. That's just ridiculous. The black tech in the One Piece world is no joke; I almost bit the dust in that backwater. Still, at least the trip was worth it."
Aomori extended his right hand. Soon, a brilliant violet light flared up, illuminating the originally dim room as bright as day. This violet glow wasn't merely covering his hand; rather, his entire palm was emitting light from the inside out.
Stimulated by the laser pressure of the space-based weapon, Aomori had finally achieved the preliminary stage of condensing his Energy, Spirit, and Physique into a single, unified force.
He could clearly feel how potent this power was, nearly double his previous output. With a single punch, even a body as tough as Kaido's wouldn't stand a chance.
"Now, it's almost time to pull in the net."
Aomori decided it was time to thoroughly purge the restless Monster Association. He would convene a meeting tomorrow to launch the subjugation campaign.
After checking the secret room to ensure everything was in order, he condensed energy in his hand and manifested the 13 Totem Pole. It remained in its long staff form, though a closer look revealed new intricate patterns on its surface.
Stroking it a few times, Aomori spoke softly to the staff, "Hello there. Can you come out and chat for a bit?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the staff emitted a glow and gradually transformed into a little girl. She tilted her head, her face flushed a healthy pink, as she looked at Aomori timidly.
"Let's give you a name first." Aomori gently patted her head. "Your silver hair is beautiful. Why don't we call you Sora?"
"So... ra..."
"That's right. You're Sora, and I'm Aomori."
"Sora." She pointed to herself, then to Aomori, and said, "Aomori."
"Yes."
Aomori patiently chatted with her for a while. With his exceptional Charm, he quickly won over the innocent young girl. She clung to him like putty, unwilling to let go.
Seeing the time was right, Aomori said to her, "Sora, use the power of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit on me."
"Okay!" Sora chirped in her high-pitched voice, reaching up a tiny hand to touch Aomori's cheek.
A strange ripple flashed through Aomori's mind. Suddenly, he felt his body shrink rapidly until he became a toy soldier no larger than a palm. Sora, standing before him, now looked like a towering giant.
"A fascinating sensation." Aomori sensed that his abilities hadn't weakened in the slightest; only his physical form had changed. Closing his eyes and pushing his soul to its limit, he couldn't detect any other abnormalities.
Next, he tried various methods, including merging his powers, but none could restore him to his original state.
"Could this be a change at the level ofrs?"
As he pondered, Sora knelt down and scooped him up into her palms, her cheeks flushed with two red spots.
"Aomori, tiny. Cute."
Aomori gave her a small smile, letting her have her way while he continued his experiments.
"Sora, you should still be able to form a contract with me and make me obey your orders, right?"
"?" Sora blinked, looking utterly bewildered, and shook her head.
"Nothing?" Remembering the description indeed lacked that clause, a bad premonition rose in Aomori's heart. "Did Imu cut corners? You call this a 'slight' difference? This is literally the most important ability."
Without the ability to enforce contracts, the utility of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit was drastically reduced. The remaining power to erase one's existence from memory wasn't very useful against powerful solo enemies, and shrinking targets was only effective against certain giant creatures.
Knock-off fruits are such a scam! Aomori sighed. "Sora, can I put you back for now?"
"Okay."
The moment she was returned to the system inventory, Aomori's body instantly snapped back to its original size.
"So the Hobby-Hobby Fruit's effect fails once she is isolated within the system?" Aomori nodded. "Just as I thought. She needs to remain conscious or stay in the same space for the ability to hold."
This drawback was quite similar to the original fruit's weakness.
With the experiments mostly complete, Aomori brought Sora out again, held her in his arms, and warned her seriously, "Sora, from now on, you mustn't use the fruit's power without my permission, okay?"
"Mm-hmm!" Sora nodded obediently.
"Good girl." Aomori patted her head again. "Come on, accompany me to work."
…
After sending Mewtwo and the other Pokémon back to their respective posts, Aomori, carrying Sora, walked up to his office under the stunned gazes of his staff.
"When did the Chairman have a kid?!"
"Are you stupid? That child clearly isn't his biological daughter."
"Waaaaah, I want to be carried by the Chairman like that too!"
"What a cute little girl. So the Chairman likes that type?"
"Indeed, raising them from a young age... as expected of the Chairman."
"..."
The rumors quickly veered off track. Had Aomori's public image not been so pristine, someone probably would have called the police by now.
Aomori ignored the idle gossip, let Sora sit on his shoulder, and prepared to tackle the mountain of accumulated paperwork.
The department heads, who were used to Aomori disappearing for a day or two around the middle of every month, came knocking one after another as soon as they heard he had returned.
The first was Oomoto, the Head of Public Relations.
"Chairman Aomori." Oomoto stared straight at Aomori's nose, completely ignoring Sora, who was currently tugging at Aomori's hair. "The New Year is approaching. I have a proposal for the annual summary gala here. Please take a look."
"New Year?" Aomori glanced at the calendar in surprise and saw that it had already flipped to December.
The last time he celebrated a holiday, he had been home alone. He hadn't expected the end of the year to arrive so quickly. This year had truly been packed with too many events.
"Alright, I'll review it carefully."
The second was Child Emperor, though he called via video. The new laboratory had been completed and located within Hero's Starting Ground. It spanned hundreds of hectares and resembled an experimental industrial park. Mewtwo and Dr. Kuseno's labs were also housed there.
In the video, Child Emperor was sucking on a lollipop as usual.
"Aomori, we've finished that thing."
"Really?" Aomori asked, surprised.
"Why would I lie to you?"
"No, I'm just impressed. You guys made progress quite fast."
"Hmph, of course. Who do you think I am?"
"Fair enough. I'll head over to see your epoch-making achievement."
…
After several successive flashes of teleportation, Aomori's figure abruptly appeared at Hero's Starting Ground. He didn't dare teleport directly into the lab for fear of causing an accident.
After passing through multiple security gates, Aomori finally met Child Emperor.
"Your speed is just too much." A look of genuine shock crossed Child Emperor's face. When he saw the little girl on Aomori's head, his jaw dropped. "I haven't seen you for a few days, how did you become a stay-at-home dad?"
"This is Sora, my younger sister," Aomori introduced briefly. "Where is the item?"
"This way." Child Emperor quickly regained his composure and led Aomori into an inner lab.
Many people in white lab coats were bustling about, but the most conspicuous was a humanoid robot also wearing a lab coat, standing before a large piece of equipment in the center.
"Kayaba, Aomori is here."
The robot turned its head, two camera lenses focusing on Aomori, and spoke in a steady electronic voice: "Boss, I am glad to see you have returned safely."
This robot was a shell borrowed by Akihiko Kayaba, housing some of his derivative data to allow him to use physical tools. His core data remained stored in Aomori's laptop.
"Thanks." Aomori pointed to the machine. "That must be your result, then? Come on, show me."
"You're as direct as ever." Kayaba shook his head. "Very well. Prepare to begin a new round of testing."
The last part was addressed to the others. As Kayaba got busy, Child Emperor pointed to a vast area behind a glass screen, roughly the size of a football field. "We'll be testing back there."
Aomori nodded. He saw a metal plate about the size of a door and a security robot standing inside the area.
After a few operations, the machine began to hum, emitting multicolored light. Simultaneously, a hemispherical iridescent dome appeared in the testing area, covering most of the field and enclosing the metal plate and the robot.
"Activate the robot. Strike the target."
The security robot's mechanical eyes glowed red. It raised its arm-mounted grenade launcher and fired at the metal plate. With a loud blast, the plate shattered into fragments.
"Deactivate the space."
The iridescent dome gradually faded. To Aomori's surprise, the shattered metal plate was sitting perfectly intact in its original spot.
"How was that?" Child Emperor said with a grin. "Aomori, you should understand what this means, right?"
"Yeah. I didn't expect you to actually recreate Digital Space." Aomori nodded, beaming.
Ever since the Digimon dungeon, Akihiko Kayaba had been researching the Digital World, with Child Emperor joining in later. Through their collaborative effort, they had finally manifested Digital Space.
The function of this Digital Space was essentially to create an isolated dimension in a specific area, replicating the physical world in the form of data. Consequently, objects destroyed within the Digital Space would not affect their counterparts in reality, effectively protecting the city's infrastructure.
"The only downside is that activating the Digital Space pulls everyone in that area into it. So, we still need to evacuate the crowds before using it," Child Emperor said, licking his lollipop.
"Is the space stable? How much impact can it withstand?" Aomori asked.
"It mostly depends on the energy supply. More energy means higher durability. However, impacts consume energy. Given the same amount of energy, a smaller Digital Space is more stable, and the consumption rate drops significantly."
"What's the current limit for the expansion of the Digital Space?"
"Theoretically, it can cover all of City A, but that would require an immense amount of energy."
Aomori thought for a moment and asked, "Can it be activated with precision targeting?"
"Yes, by syncing it with the satellite system."
Aomori asked several more questions, and Child Emperor answered them all.
"Excellent. You have made a vital contribution to the continuation of human civilization," Aomori praised. "You can continue developing the Digital Space; it would be even better if we could restrict entry to specific groups. Also, grant access to A-Class heroes and above to use the Digital Space, so we can see how it performs in actual combat."
"Understood."
After inspecting a few other projects, Aomori returned to Hero Association Headquarters satisfied.
My Hero Association is growing stronger by the day. Monster Association, what about you?
…
Deep beneath City Z, at the heart of the Monster Association.
Gyoro Gyoro was also inspecting her organization.
"Goketsu, how many troops do we have now?"
Goketsu replied in a booming voice, "In headquarters, we have 12 Dragon-level executives, 36 Demon-level monsters, and nearly 500 Tiger and Wolf-level monsters combined."
"The Hero Association still only has six S-Class heroes, right? Including their Chairman, that's only seven. In terms of high-end combat power, we are far ahead," Gyoro Gyoro said with a laugh.
She hadn't even factored in herself, Orochi, or the mysterious Apostle.
"Yes. Additionally, our branches in other cities also have a significant number of personnel," Goketsu added.
"Indeed. We will definitely win the battle against the Hero Association!" Gyoro Gyoro said excitedly. "Goketsu, go and recall all the executives. In just a few days, we will launch an all-out war against the Hero Association and seize the world that belongs to us."
"Understood!"
After Goketsu strode away, Gyoro Gyoro smiled thinly. Her body floated up and descended further into the depths.
After a while, she entered a vast cavern where she saw the even more massive Monster King Orochi and No. 17 standing beside him.
"Apostle-sama," Gyoro Gyoro said respectfully. During this time, No. 17's seemingly invincible performance had left her with no thoughts of rebellion, at least on the surface.
"Mm," No. 17 responded flatly.
"Has Orochi-sama not evolved into his complete form yet?" Gyoro Gyoro asked, looking up at the giant with his eyes closed.
"He's one step away, but we're missing a crucial sacrifice."
"A crucial sacrifice?"
"Yes. The soul and flesh of a top-tier human powerhouse."
"How strong must they be?"
"The stronger, the better."
"In that case," Gyoro Gyoro narrowed her eyes, "we'll have to hunt down the S-Class heroes."
"Mm. I'll leave this matter to you. You'd better hurry. If we delay Kami-sama's plans, we will all face Divine Punishment," No. 17 warned, his tone heavy.
"Rest assured, Apostle-sama. I will handle everything perfectly."
————
NOTE: This fic has been completely translated. If you want to read the whole story head over to my p-atre-on: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]