[Character: Yumi Suou]
[Potential: A]
[Loyalty: 100]
[Strength: 25.0]
[Agility: 26.5]
[Endurance: 26.2]
[Skills: Cooking LV4, Housework LV2, Food Empowerment]
[Evolution Charge: 100%]
[Status: Energetic]
[Food Empowerment: Dishes made with love will receive random status buffs.
Yumi Suou was still in a daze.
She couldn't understand why she had just exhausted all her strength,
yet suddenly she was full of vitality again.
It was as if everything that had just happened was a dream.
But Akira was indeed in front of her.
And he maintained his previous state.
"Akira, what's going on?"
"Mom, don't worry—this is a good thing. You've broken through into a brand new realm."
"A brand new realm?"
"Yes. You can feel the strength in your body."
Yumi Suou skeptically picked up the water glass on the table.
Crack!
The glass handle was instantly crushed by her.
And it was thoroughly shattered.
Although it wasn't powder,
it was enough to make her feel incredible.
What made her feel even more terrifying was that her hand wasn't cut by the glass shards.
This indicated that her body's strength had reached an incredibly absurd level.
"Akira."
Surprise turned into immense joy.
Yumi Suou hugged Akira tightly.
Akira patted her shoulder, a smile on his face.
After Yumi Suou gained the Food Empowerment skill, her identity completely transformed.
From now on, the food she made would become commodities with built-in buff effects.
Becoming an important source of income for the Suou Family.
As for whether this ability should be upgraded to level 2 or level 5, Akira was a bit hesitant.
After all, Akira couldn't be sure what this ability would turn into after upgrading.
However, these things should be put aside for later.
The evolved Yumi Suou couldn't sit still now.
She had already begun to pressure him, her Trainer.
The smile on her face even carried a playful cuteness that would only appear between a couple.
"How about it, Akira?"
As if showing off, Yumi Suou cupped Akira's face.
"Hmm, but Mom, you seem to have forgotten—I'm also a beneficiary."
"You got stronger, and I got stronger too."
Akira responded with a smile, immediately using Perception Manipulation to increase his perception by 10 percentage points.
Coupled with the assistance of the Hand of Greed,
Yumi Suou's heart immediately pounded wildly, and a blush appeared on her cheeks.
"Akira, you're so naughty. How can you tease Mom like this?"
Pfft.
"But Mom, you started it."
"Mmm."
Yumi Suou was speechless.
But in her heart, she was extremely surprised.
She hadn't expected that even though she had improved so much,
she was still no match for Akira.
There.
Right there.
"Akira."
"Hmm."
Akira responded softly.
Because it wasn't training,
he released all his emotions.
Splits.
Forward bend.
All those yoga poses Yumi Suou was familiar with—
she seemed to have done them all.
The moon had hidden behind the clouds.
Without the light of a bedside lamp,
the room was very dark.
Yumi Suou hugged Akira and closed her eyes again.
Akira, next to her, thought it over and decided to use a platinum capture ball to upgrade the Food Empowerment skill.
Opening the system store,
Akira clicked the purchase button for the platinum capture ball.
Instantly, a platinum capture ball appeared in his system space.
At the same time, the consumption value also increased by fifty million yen.
Looking at the 10 billion denominator behind it,
Akira sighed, feeling that the road ahead was long and arduous.
To upgrade the store to LV2,
he would have to spend 10 billion yen in the store.
10 billion yen is the price of ten Master Capture Balls.
Currently, Akira still had 47 million yen.
It seems he should first inherit the Suou Family and get a Master Capture Ball, just in case.
With a thought, a platinum capture ball appeared in Akira's hand.
Mom can definitely do it.
She has always been a worthwhile investment.
Let's get a good skill.
The platinum capture ball landed on Yumi Suou's chest.
A flash of light—
Yumi Suou instantly "transformed" into a palm-sized ball.
The breathing light flickered three times, and a system prompt followed.
[Character: Yumi Suou has been bound to the platinum capture ball.
[Host: Akira]
[Occupation: Trainer]
[Strength: 874.4]
[Agility: 876.5]
[Stamina: 865.9]
[Skills: Trainer Basic Skill LV4 (Proficiency 9%)]
...
"Congratulations, host—you have acquired Food Empowerment, upgraded to Blessing."
[Blessing: The host can actively bestow upon a target up to 10% of their own strength, with skill usage (decided by the host), lasting 24 hours (can be cancelled early at the host's will).]
Wow!
Wow!
Akira felt his blood boiling.
Blessing.
10% of his own strength.
And it can be completely controlled by him.
This is a divine skill.
And in the eyes of those who don't know the reason, this is even more of a miracle.
It feels like if this ability is used, he will be directly deified.
He could directly establish a sect and even found a country in this world.
However, after the excitement,
Akira also discovered a drawback.
His current stat panel is only over 800.
10% is only over 80.
Over 80—
it's not enough to make his captured characters soar to the heavens in one step.
He still needs to work hard to make money and improve.
However, it feels so good.
Mom's stats instantly boosted him by 125.
Indeed, investing effort in cultivation yields rewards.
Akira picked up the platinum capture ball and released Yumi Suou.
She was sleeping very soundly just now.
When she came out, she was still lying on the bed, not yet awake.
Akira smoothed her long hair at her temples, then got up, dressed, and went out.
"How is that possible!"
Crash! Boom!
Makoy was in the office, wildly smashing things with the baseball bat in his hand.
"He's just a mere high school student—how could he wipe out Samurai Sword and his entire team?"
Buzz, buzz, buzz.
His phone rang.
The mole in the Public Safety Department sent another message.
Attached were the profiles of Akira, Kitagawa Marin, and Kasumigaoka Utaha.
Seeing Akira's current identity as the head of the Suou Family,
Makoy's blood rushed to his head.
But after extreme anger, he calmed down instead.
Samurai Sword is completely dead.
For the plan to continue, only the Gun Devil can act.
Kill the key figures and promote his planted undercover agents in the organization.
Control the three major organizations from the source.
However, to achieve all this, relying solely on the Gun Devil might be a bit difficult to accomplish.
He still needs other external help.
That's right.
The assassins from Russia have been very active recently.
And there's an organization called the Star Cult that has been lurking in the country; he can also spend money to bribe them.
Thinking of this, Makoy picked up his phone.
"Hello, I want to post a mission—target…"
"Japan Public Safety Director: Makima."
"Japan Suou Family Head: Akira."
"Japan Hero Association President…"
"It's going to rain."
Looking at the increasingly thick dark clouds in the sky,
Akira's figure flickered, and he instantly arrived at the location sent by Saeko Busujima.
Looking at the familiar hotel name,
he finally confirmed that this was the hotel where he booked rooms for Himeno and the others.
In other words, at this moment, the hotel gathered most of his captured characters.
This is good—it makes training convenient.
Akira didn't go through the main entrance; with a few Instant Strikes, he arrived inside the room.
At this moment, the five people in the room were watching a late-night show on TV.
Seeing Akira appear, everyone was invigorated.
"Akira."
Angel was the fastest—a flap of her wings brought her to Akira's front.
"Mm."
He stroked Angel's head and sat down on the edge of the bed.
This was a standard double room; Akira and Angel sat on one side.
The other four sat opposite them.
And seeing Angel's current behavior, Kasumigaoka Utaha realized that Himeno and Angel were also on their side.
"Akira, them too?"
Saeko Busujima asked directly.
Akira nodded. "And Yukinoshita Haruno from the Yukinoshita Family."
"By the way, Himeno—where is she?"
"She couldn't reveal your secret, Akira, so she went back to her own hotel first."
"Oh, oh."
"I really didn't expect Akira's speed to be so fast."
"It's only been one day, and our team has grown so much."
Kitagawa Marin's face was full of smiles—
very sincere.
She wasn't being sarcastic to anyone.
But Akira still felt a bit stung.
However, Akira had the System, so after a couple of coughs, he shifted the topic to the attack.
"Himeno, these Gang members are actually Makoy's people, including the Devilman that Marin-chan burned to ashes; he was also trained by Makoy."
"Makoy? Isn't he a nationally renowned rich man? A few days ago, he even organized a peace donation to support refugees in Ni State."
Kasumigaoka Utaha, Saeko Busujima, and Kitagawa Marin still didn't know Akira's true identity.
At this moment, they were very curious why Akira knew these things.
"Yes, it's him."
Saying that, Akira picked up a pen and, finding a piece of paper, directly drew the image of Samurai Sword.
With extreme hand-eye coordination, what Akira drew was practically indistinguishable from a photograph.
"It's him—although he looks less muscular than I remember seeing him."
Saeko Busujima, the only one who had seen Samurai Sword in his human form, immediately recognized him upon seeing the drawing.
"Akira, what's going on?"
Himeno, as a Public Safety officer, had vaguely guessed some things.
As for Angel, she never bothered with such matters, just slacking off on Akira.
"The morning gathering was hosted by Makoy. When the Bat Devil arrived, he escorted Makoy away from the scene."
"But Akira, you weren't at the dojo, so how did you know it was him?"
Akira looked at Himeno, somewhat speechless. "You two slackers—if you'd just paid a little attention, you would have known this guy is the adopted son of the Gang leader who died by my hand in the Zombie Devil incident."
Hearing this, Himeno scratched her head sheepishly.
Although she was Public Safety, she adhered to the principle of 'less trouble is better than more trouble' and simply didn't pay much attention to irrelevant cases.
Kasumigaoka Utaha was bewildered from the start, then suddenly thought of something and covered her mouth in surprise. "Akira, what exactly is your identity?"
"How could you attend Makoy's gathering?"
"Oh right! Akira, how were you there?"
Kitagawa Marin also snapped back to reality, looking surprised.
Although they all vaguely felt that Akira's identity was not simple, they had never considered this aspect.
As for Saeko Busujima, her expression was calm.
No matter Akira's identity, he was her Akira.
"You don't know?"
This time, it was Himeno's turn to be a bit puzzled, staring at Akira.
Akira smiled faintly. "Alright, I won't pretend anymore. I am the current head of the Suou Family."
"However, the official handover hasn't happened yet, and the old man named Gensei Suou is still handling affairs."
"Ah?"
Kasumigaoka Utaha's mouth fell open. "That Suou Family?"
"Yes, that Suou Family."
"Wow! The Suou Family—then won't I have lots of Role Playing outfits to wear later?"
Kitagawa Marin's thought process was as jumpy as Thor's.
She only thought of Role Playing outfits.
"Hold on, hold on—there's nothing to be surprised about, it's just the Suou Family."
"Let's get back to the topic."
"Actually, I didn't kill them directly at the time because I wanted to use them as whetstones, to give Saeko more experience."
"Excluding Marin-chan's Role Playing power, she is the most capable fighter among you."
"And also the one who needs real combat the most to improve."
The few people in the room exchanged glances and nodded.
It seemed everything was within Akira's calculations.
He was already standing high above, able to see everything they would face.
"But now that the problem is solved, Akira, why did you specifically come here to tell us this?"
Himeno, being Public Safety, thought a bit more deeply.
"Because I discovered that this matter not only involves the Gang but also has intricate ties with the entire country."
"When Marin-chan's Dragon's Breath burned Samurai Sword, there was another burning thing inside his body."
"That was the Gun Devil's flesh and blood. Devils who eat it will be strengthened."
Himeno was stunned. This should be confidential Public Safety information, yet Akira knew it so clearly.
And if Marin could burn the Gun Devil's flesh and blood, wouldn't it mean if Marin took a bite out of the Gun Devil, it would also be completely incinerated?
Himeno looked at the young girl in the Role Playing outfit next to her and felt pressure for the first time.
She was too strong.
She, too, was Akira's dual cultivation partner, just like herself.
Doesn't that mean Akira is even stronger than her?
"As far as I know, the rampant gun proliferation in the country is all related to Makoy."
"So, I have sufficient reason to suspect that he, or the forces behind him, made a deal with the Gun Devil."
"And this alone is enough to affect the stability of the entire Japan."
"Does that mean we have to be heroes and fight against this Gun Devil?"
Kasumigaoka Utaha couldn't understand. She was just a novelist. Before this, she didn't know these secrets and hadn't even paid special attention to them.
"No, no, no—the Gun Devil is merely your whetstone."
"Your goals should be set higher, further."
"For example, one day you might be able to slice this planet in half with a single strike…"
Akira's words were understated, but their content was like a great bell, stunning everyone present.
And Akira didn't give them much time to think. "So, your daily training must not be neglected—especially you, Saeko."