"Mmm..."
In the early morning, Tohru woke up on the large bed in Shin's bedroom, slowly sitting up and stretching.
She glanced at the others on the bed—the girls were still asleep, just like every other morning. Even Sayu Ogiwara, who usually helped with cooking, tended to wake up later than her. As for Irisviel, there was no need to even mention it. She was a sheltered young lady, and no one expected her to rise early.
What surprised Tohru, however, was that Shin wasn't in bed when she woke up today. She had thought his absence yesterday morning was an exception, but now it seemed he probably woke up earlier than her every day.
Tohru got out of bed and walked into the hallway in her pajamas. As she passed through the courtyard, she unexpectedly spotted Shin meditating there:
"Huh? Shin? What are you doing out here so early?"
"...Meditating. And sensing life energy."
Hearing Tohru's voice, Shin, who had been sitting cross-legged in the courtyard, slowly opened his eyes and answered her question.
After leaving the world of One Punch Man, Shin had traveled to the Dragon Ball universe, where he continued his training with King Kai to master the Kaioken. This time, King Kai also taught him the Spirit Bomb technique, explaining that he needed to learn how to sense life energy.
Honestly, Shin's first reaction upon hearing this was—Do I really need to learn how to sense life energy?
After all, ever since learning energy manipulation from Moro, Shin had already gained the ability to perceive life energy. If he wanted to, he could even [completely drain the life energy of an entire planet using magic]—something Moro had done multiple times in the original story.
However, after understanding the principles behind the Spirit Bomb, Shin realized how it worked. Unlike Moro's forced extraction of life energy, the Spirit Bomb relied on "spiritual communication" to voluntarily receive energy from planets and living beings.
Life energy itself was intrinsically tied to the soul. In the Dragon Ball universe, even "ki" could fluctuate based on one's thoughts and fighting spirit—a fact confirmed in official lore.
The energy gathered from planets and life forms willingly offered was far superior in quality compared to the energy forcibly extracted by Moro.
Upon realizing this, Shin felt intrigued.
It wasn't the destructive power of the Spirit Bomb that interested him, but rather a thought that struck him after King Kai's explanation—if he could absorb the energy of a Spirit Bomb, how much would his power increase?
Don't underestimate the Spirit Bomb's might. After all, even Majin Buu was ultimately destroyed by one. If Shin could devour its energy, the boost would undoubtedly be staggering.
Thus, while Shin didn't particularly care about the Spirit Bomb's offensive capabilities, he still decided to learn how to refine one—higher-quality energy would lead to greater gains when absorbed.
In the original story, Moro himself had repeatedly emphasized the quality of life energy, explicitly stating that Namek and Earth possessed exceptionally high-grade energy.
If Moro had known the Spirit Bomb technique, perhaps the energy he absorbed would have been even purer, making him stronger than in the original timeline.
"But it seems progress isn't going smoothly."
After returning from the Dragon Ball world, Shin had been meditating in the courtyard for half an hour—yet his Spirit Bomb training wasn't yielding results.
The reason was simple: Shin had already absorbed the energy of multiple planets. As a result, whenever he tried to connect with another planet's energy, they instinctively rejected him.
It was like a serial killer suddenly asking to be friends—anyone's first reaction would be fear and refusal.
Shin could sense Earth's fear of him. Under these circumstances, trying to "communicate" and convince Earth to willingly offer its energy was clearly impossible.
"Forget it, I'll think about it later. The Spirit Bomb is just a bonus anyway. Even without it, my power is already growing rapidly."
After another failed attempt to connect with Earth, Shin temporarily gave up—after all, he didn't need the Spirit Bomb to grow stronger.
Thanks to Saitama's limit-breaking ability, Shin's strength skyrocketed with even casual training. Even King Kai was amazed at Shin's never-ending growth.
Though King Kai wasn't particularly strong himself, his insight was sharp, making him an excellent teacher. If he thought Shin's progress was astonishing, then Shin's current strength had undoubtedly surpassed what it was after absorbing Cold's energy.
As for the exact numbers… Shin couldn't be sure.
After the Frieza Saga, Dragon Ball gradually abandoned the concept of power levels, leaving later characters' strength vague.
Shin had urged the Zuke Force to develop a more advanced scouter, but whether they could actually create one… well, that depended on the researchers in the Dragon Ball world.
Once his meditation session ended, Shin returned to the dining room, where Tohru had already set the table for breakfast.
Spotting Shin, Tohru's eyes lit up, and she suddenly approached him, saying:
"Shin, you must be sweaty after exercising. Do you want to take a shower first?"
Shin gave her a strange look—he had been meditating, not exercising. In fact, he was perfectly clean and hadn't broken a sweat. There was no need to shower first thing in the morning.
Besides, judging by the gleam in Tohru's eyes, Shin knew her intentions had nothing to do with hygiene—the shower was just an excuse.
Most likely, she was still annoyed that Irisviel and Illya had beaten her to the punch last night and wanted to reclaim her territory this morning.
"The others will be up soon. We don't have much time."
Shin's tone was meaningful.
"And if we take too long, breakfast will get cold."
His stamina was inhuman, as Tohru well knew. A few minutes would never be enough.
"Ahem… A quick battle is fine too."
Tohru coughed lightly, her cheeks flushing slightly.
Then, after checking that no one was near the dining room, she pointed to her mouth.
"Or…"
Seeing Tohru's gesture, Shin sighed and rubbed his forehead.
It seemed her obsessive tendencies hadn't faded over time—if anything, they'd gotten worse.
Today, not only did he fail to obtain life energy from the planet, but he also had to "pay" Tohru some of his own… What a loss.
To be continued…