In the next instant, the space in front of Lexon distorted.
Immediately after, the massive body of the Deep Sea King materialized into reality.
"Hmm?" The Deep Sea King, who was just about to continue his attack, was stunned to find his surroundings suddenly changed.
But then, seeing a human standing before him, he immediately threw a punch with all his might.
He intended to kill the opponent instantly.
After all, he suspected this human was likely the one who had imprisoned him in that mysterious place.
Thus, he held nothing back.
"How violent," Lexon remarked calmly as the Deep Sea King watched him draw a long blade from thin air.
The Deep Sea King's vision blurred for a split second.
In the next heartbeat, he felt himself lose control over his arms.
It wasn't until a sharp pain radiated from his shoulders and he saw his own arms flying through the air that the Deep Sea King realized...
His arms had been severed.
"You!!—" Just as the Deep Sea King began to roar in fury and tried to lash out with a kick...
He felt himself lose the ability to speak, and his control over his legs vanished.
His mouthless, limbless torso slammed into the ground with a thunderous thud.
"Don't blame me; blame yourself for being a bit too strong," Lexon said flatly, his Nichirin Sword hanging at his side.
This was the truth.
There were only two ways for him to find out how the Deep Sea King had grown so powerful.
One was to use the ability of 'Number Three' from the Naruto world to forcibly peer into the Deep Sea King's memories.
The other was to use Kotoamatsukami to forcibly manipulate him, making him 'voluntarily' reveal everything.
Because Lexon's sign-in ability for 'Number Three' was incomplete, a forced memory probe would cause irreversible mental damage, which would interfere with his future plans.
As for the latter...
As mentioned before, Kotoamatsukami had reached its limit.
It had already been a bit of a strain to use it on Smoker, who was at the peak of the third stage, let alone on someone like the Deep Sea King, who was twice as strong.
To ensure Kotoamatsukami succeeded...
There was only one way: to break the target's mental defenses.
And the method to lower those defenses...
Was exactly what Lexon was doing now.
A very simple action.
Torture.
Just as Lexon had done to Gyokko during their first meeting in the Demon Slayer world.
He sliced and diced to his heart's content.
Keeping the target hovering endlessly on the brink of death without any means to resist.
However, even though the Deep Sea King was far stronger than Gyokko, he didn't possess the broken, cheat-like vitality of a demon.
So, the 'great philanthropist' Lexon lent a 'helping hand.'
Whenever he neared death, Lexon used Yang Power to heal him.
Then he would hack him down to the brink of death once more.
And heal him again with Yang Power.
It was an endless, repeating cycle that would continue until the Deep Sea King's mental defenses crumbled to nothing.
...
"On a certain night while planning the invasion of the land, I encountered a towering figure... It called itself 'God.' It said that if I increased my destruction of humanity, it would grant me power."
His eyes vacant and his body in a dehydrated state, the Deep Sea King knelt before Lexon and spoke emotionlessly like a marionette.
"I agreed... and so I became stronger. That is the reason."
"I see... So it was 'God' causing trouble again?" Lexon mused to himself after hearing the Deep Sea King's words.
'Is it because it thinks I'm part of the human faction and wants to create these nuisances to keep me occupied so I can't go looking for trouble with it?'
'If so, it's quite clever.'
'It knows how to play a game of guerrilla warfare.'
Dismissing the thought, Lexon stopped dwelling on it.
After all, this wasn't his original objective; it was just a side discovery.
Now that he knew 'God' was out and about, actively causing mischief...
"Come out," Lexon said, suddenly turning his gaze toward a certain spot.
"As expected, I can't hide from the original." A slightly sinister voice drifted from that spot as empty space suddenly distorted, and a figure identical to Lexon stepped out.
This was the clone Lexon had placed within the Monster Association.
"Have him join the Monster Association. Also, have the association provide as many Monster Cells as possible to feed his Seafolk clan and increase their power levels," Lexon instructed the clone, gesturing toward the kneeling Deep Sea King.
These words revealed Lexon's purpose for keeping the Deep Sea King alive.
The Seafolk population was massive, and as their king, the Deep Sea King could naturally command them all.
The Seafolk, boosted by Monster Cells, would be the perfect tools for Lexon to farm points.
Of course, such a calculated action might be defined as cheating by the Main God.
But since he hadn't tried it yet, Lexon wanted to at least give it a shot.
"No problem, original..." the clone replied nonchalantly.
"And... where are the 'Monster Cells'?" Lexon added.
"Here." The clone pulled a pulsating, bizarre object from his clothes and tossed it to Lexon.
Lexon caught it, feeling a slight wave of disgust at its slimy, peculiar texture.
He immediately placed the Monster Cell into his spatial ring.
This thing could turn ordinary humans into monsters and grant them immense power instantly.
So Lexon planned to try analyzing it or performing a sign-in with it.
If that didn't yield good results...
Then he would hand the Monster Cells over for research to Dr. Kuseno—who was about to be dragged onto his bandwagon—or the already captured Dr. Genus from the House of Evolution, or even Orochimaru.
He believed these scientific geniuses would provide satisfactory results.
"That's all then," Lexon said, preparing to leave.
"Original... I feel a bit different from you now," a sinister voice suddenly whispered from behind him.
The clone's expression was strange and ambiguous.
"You are my clone; we are the same," Lexon said, turning around with a warm smile.
"Is that so?" Hearing his original's words, the clone's expression shifted into a gentle smile.
"Yes."
Nodding, Lexon hesitated no longer. He took to the sky and flew toward his apartment.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]