"Revival Coin."
"Description: Allows resurrection."
When Lucien saw the reward appear before him, he nearly choked on the cigarette in his mouth. Smoke went down the wrong way and he coughed several times in a row.
"Cough... cough..."
"Boss, are you alright?"
Mosquito Girl peeked out from the kitchen doorway, her large eyes blinking with concern. Her tone carried genuine worry.
"Do you need a cup of tea?"
Lucien waved a hand dismissively while steadying himself. He pushed his tall body upright and sat cross legged on the floor. One by one he spat out the twenty cigarettes that had been resting between his lips earlier. Then he calmly pulled out another cigarette and lit it.
"I'm fine. Don't mind me."
Despite trying to remain composed, the shock on his face refused to disappear.
VIP really lived up to its reputation.
He had actually drawn a Revival Coin.
This item meant an extra life.
With something like this in his possession, Lucien would have far greater confidence when facing powerful enemies in the future.
For nearly four minutes he simply sat there smoking in silence, his amethyst colored eyes staring at the system interface.
Truthfully, he never expected something like this.
Lucien had assumed that after the useless Golden Finger upgraded, a higher level such as SVIP Luck Value might appear. In his mind, only that kind of absurd luck would produce something as outrageous as a Revival Coin.
Yet here it was.
Right in front of him.
Even Lucien, who usually treated everything with cold indifference, struggled to keep his emotions steady.
After calming himself down, he exhaled a long stream of smoke and continued throwing the Dice.
Genos still had two Dice throws remaining.
Hellish Blizzard +1.
Terrible Tornado +1.
Silver Fang +1.
Deep Sea King +1.
Sonic +1.
Adding the remaining three Dice throws left behind by Olatayo, the total barely combined into one Normal Luck Value +1.
The fist sized Dice spun rapidly across the interface.
The model airplane advanced five spaces.
The Luck Value was activated.
A flash of dazzling white light appeared, and when it faded an item description slowly materialized.
"Stamina Ear Hole."
"Description: One ear hole can be pierced in both ears. As long as an accessory is hung, 1 point of stamina energy can be recovered every ten seconds. Removing the accessory will remove the effect. Can be upgraded."
Lucien fell silent.
He stared at the description while slowly smoking his cigarette.
Puff.
Puff.
How should he judge this item?
Calling it useless would be wrong. In certain situations, it could even determine life or death.
Recovering one point of stamina every ten seconds sounded insignificant.
One point of stamina was roughly equal to the energy needed to move a fingertip.
But what if the upgrade changed ten seconds into one second?
What if that single point became one hundred?
Or one thousand?
Or even ten thousand?
Lucien's amethyst eyes narrowed slightly.
That possibility was terrifying.
At that point he would become completely tireless. He could fight forever without stopping.
His stamina would drain, then instantly recover.
Just imagining it made the corners of his mouth curl upward.
"Accessories... earrings, studs, dangling earrings. All of those should work."
A wolf tooth club and a frying pan suddenly appeared in his hands.
Lucien shrank both objects into miniature versions. At the same moment, two small ear holes formed in his ears. The moment the objects touched his ears they automatically floated into position.
There was a half centimeter gap between the accessories and his ears.
They were not physically hanging on them.
Instead they floated in place.
Convenient.
The reason the wolf tooth club and frying pan could shrink was simple. Lucien had already infused them with souls long ago, turning them into Hoz.
Of course, the souls belonged to other unfortunate people.
Inside the Golden Finger space he actually stored a large number of weapons.
Empty gas tanks.
Cleavers.
A Gatling gun.
Smoke bombs.
Grenades.
Rocket launchers.
Once he infused them with souls, they would become Hoz as well, gaining the ability to grow or shrink freely.
Even the Demon mask Harley motorcycle could do the same.
Lucien began testing the accessories one by one.
Strangely enough, once these strange items floated beside his ears, his entire presence seemed to rise to another level.
His occasionally twitching expression made him look arrogant and domineering. There was a cold sense of superiority in his posture.
It gave off the impression of a handsome man who was practically begging to be punched.
Lucien looked at himself in the mirror.
Tall.
Lean.
Nearly 193 centimeters in height.
Sharp facial features.
Amethyst eyes filled with arrogance.
He slowly exhaled a smoke ring and shook his head with a faint sigh.
"So this is my true self. Turns out I'm actually quite handsome."
After a moment of thought, Lucien removed the other accessories.
"Forget it. I'll just wear the Gatling and Rocket Launcher."
For his final ear accessories, he chose the miniature Gatling gun and Rocket Launcher.
Even in their mini form, these weapons could still fire bullets or shells automatically.
If used suddenly during battle, they could produce unexpected results.
This was the ability of the Soul Fruit.
Turning lifeless objects into Hoz that possessed a form of artificial life.
As soon as the two weapons settled beside his ears, Lucien felt his stamina slowly begin recovering.
Combined with the cigarette in his mouth, the feeling was quite pleasant.
The only problem was the recovery speed.
Still, something was better than nothing.
"Oh, Ann, why are you wearing earrings? They're ugly."
Saitama stepped out of the bathroom wearing pajamas. He casually wiped his shiny bald head with a towel.
Lucien shot him a sideways glance.
"You wouldn't understand a man's handsomeness."
Although he had been badly injured before, Lucien had now recovered enough strength to move normally. He struck a dramatic pose in front of the mirror and waved dismissively toward Saitama.
Saitama's face immediately darkened.
He walked over and sat cross legged on the tatami mat before turning on the television.
Maybe there would be something interesting on the news.
"Dinner is ready."
Mosquito Girl worked incredibly fast in the kitchen. In almost no time the table had been filled with dishes.
Most of the ingredients were seafood leftovers from the night before.
Soon the four of them gathered around the table.
The atmosphere was strangely warm.
"According to investigations, the entire Harla Desert was destroyed during this God War. At the same time, several cities in City F were completely devastated..."
Every television channel was reporting the same story.
The battle from last night.
People had already begun calling it the Second God War.
However, something interesting stood out.
Neither Lucien nor Saitama were mentioned anywhere in the reports.
It was not because reporters failed to notice them.
It was because no one dared.
Without Lucien's permission, the Hero Association refused to release any information involving him. If they angered beings powerful enough to trigger a God War, the consequences would be catastrophic.
"We went a little too far last night."
Saitama casually chewed on a thick octopus tentacle while watching footage of the ruins.
Lucien shrugged.
"I couldn't help it. The enemy was too strong to hold back."
After that, life entered a peaceful period.
Nearly a full month passed.
During the first half of that month, even monster sightings became rare. Many creatures seemed to have been frightened away by the destruction caused during the Second God War.
But monsters were restless by nature.
After two quiet weeks, they slowly began appearing again.
Heroes across the world returned to action.
Lucien, however, rarely left the house.
He spent most of the month cultivating and strengthening himself.
Saitama went out far more often. Usually he handled minor monsters wandering into cities. No matter how strong the enemy appeared, they were always defeated with a single punch.
Mosquito Girl and Beast King adapted very well to this peaceful life.
But Lucien had been quietly waiting.
Waiting for the remaining two Reincarnators.
And waiting for Boros.
One thing bothered him.
Olatayo had been dead for an entire month, yet the other two Reincarnators had still not appeared.
Several powerful monsters that should have shown themselves also remained absent.
Lucien brushed his teeth in the bathroom while yawning.
"Looks like I should visit the Hero Association."
He planned to clean up some minor villains first.
Then he would wait for the Reincarnators and Boros to appear.
Boom boom!
Suddenly the entire room shook violently.
It felt like something enormous had crashed outside.
Mosquito Girl quickly opened the door.
"Mr. Saitama, welcome back."
Saitama stood at the entrance holding a massive centipede leg that was as thick as a human thigh.
"Can centipedes be eaten?"
He lifted the leg curiously.
In the distance, the corpse of a gigantic centipede stretched across the ground. The creature was over fifty meters long.
Mosquito Girl leaned her head out slightly. Her bright eyes examined the corpse before she nodded calmly.
After all, Saitama had been bringing strange ingredients home every day for the past two weeks.
Edible.
Poisonous.
Unidentifiable.
None of that mattered.
She could turn anything into delicious food.
This was Mosquito Girl's pride.
"Centipede? Where did you find it?"
Lucien stepped out of the bathroom while brushing his teeth, foam bubbles gathering at the corner of his mouth.
"On the way back."
Saitama walked inside and tossed aside his hero cape. It was obvious he had gone out early to deal with monsters again.
The centipede had simply been unlucky.
Not long afterward, the group enjoyed a surprisingly delicious centipede feast together.
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