Chapter 168: Reluctance to Strike
"Joie, why did you only make a move now?!" the Blue Nitro PAIR demanded.
Currently, only three Blue Nitro remained. Atom had been captured by Kenji; AIR had been eaten by Acacia; and GOD, ANOTHER, and EARTH had been killed by Jiro.
Of the eight Blue Nitro, only PAIR, NEWS, and CENTER were left, not even half their original number.
"It’s not like you don’t know. If I fight a monster like Jiro head-on, the result would be the same as the other Blue Nitro—I’d be beaten to a pulp," Joie shrugged, feigning helplessness.
Joie: Me? Fight Jiro?
Now was not the time to clash with Jiro and the others. Acacia had not yet eaten all the ingredients of the Full Course Menu and was no match for the three brothers.
PAIR snorted coldly. The memory of being sent flying by Jiro last time was still fresh in its mind. It also knew it was no match for him.
On the other battlefield.
Several chopstick impacts sent the tumor-covered Acacia flying. Ichiryu looked at the master who had taught him so much, his heart filled with a thousand emotions.
"Master Acacia, stop this."
"Let’s be like we were before. After we capture GOD, let’s sit at the same table and eat together."
Ichiryu couldn’t bring himself to strike a ruthless blow, even after so many years.
"Ichiryu, you are still so foolish."
"GOD is mine! Why should I share it?!"
A savage expression appeared on Acacia’s face. The muscles in his arms rapidly inflated, becoming incomparably massive. His body remained unchanged, creating a very disproportionate look.
His giant hands clasped together and smashed down towards Ichiryu. The atmosphere trembled, and space itself groaned. In the manga, Acacia had used this blow to shatter the hard, stone-like layer covering the Whale King. One could only imagine how powerful it was.
Ichiryu’s expression was grave. Master Acacia’s power was truly extraordinary. It seemed he had to get serious.
"Secret Technique—Single Chopstick!"
Gourmet energy gathered, forming an incredibly solid chopstick. Like a soaring cannon of light, it collided with Acacia’s attack. The void shattered in an instant.
The earth shook and the mountains swayed. Violent energy vented in all directions, razing the area to the ground.
Ichiryu took a few steps back, and Acacia’s inflated arms shrank back to their original state. However, his face had changed into that of his Gourmet Demon, NEO, and a terrifying aura flowed out. Although he had seen it once before, seeing it a second time, Ichiryu couldn’t help but be shocked. He felt a boundless, voracious appetite, as if nothing could ever fill its stomach.
Ichiryu suddenly felt Jiro’s presence disappear. He turned to look at the other battlefield. What happened? Could something have happened to Jiro?
NEO’s fist pierced through Ichiryu’s body. His internal organs were instantly turned to a bloody pulp, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Ichiryu, you still have the leisure to worry about others? How naive," Acacia’s indifferent voice sounded.
A faint shattering sound was heard. Ichiryu was restored to perfect condition. A Life Orb in his pocket had broken. A fatal wound like that would have cost him a considerable amount of energy to heal. The Life Orb was truly a magical thing.
"Master Acacia, let me send you off with this one blow."
"Secret Technique—Myriad Meal King Food Honor Chopsticks!"
Ichiryu stomped his foot on the ground and made a grasping gesture with his hands. An energy like a planet gathered. This was a secret technique that could pierce through anything. NEO was directly engulfed by the energy. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the NovᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt
"Scream...in...despair..."
NEO was not annihilated. It seemed to be mocking the weakness of the attack.
Ichiryu frowned. The attack hadn’t missed; it had been eaten. Was this the power of Master Acacia’s Gourmet Demon? So tricky. He hadn’t used his full power, not only because he couldn’t bear to, but also because he was worried about destroying the planet beneath his feet. He didn’t know the kind of Knocking technique that could stop the planet. To kill NEO would require an extremely terrifying amount of energy, at least enough to instantly destroy a star.
At that moment, Joie used the Permeating Shadow to suddenly appear behind Ichiryu. Using the same method as before, he sealed Ichiryu away. Joie had the relevant memories, so he knew which words would leave the deepest impression on Ichiryu and the others, which would make them falter: the memory of eating with family.
"Joie, you must cook GOD. There cannot be any problems," NEO said, changing back to Acacia’s form, its voice ice-cold.
Joie nodded. GOD had not yet appeared. He placed the three golden cans in the NEO organization’s base. Even without those three, he couldn’t relax. Besides the Blue Nitro CENTER who had gone to get the appetizer, only two Blue Nitro were left, and Acacia couldn’t make a move yet. He was going to be busy.
[Galactic Baseballer]: "Foster Father, my otouto wants me to ask you how to treat Entropy Loss Syndrome."
[Star Forger]: "You should ask a professional like Ruan Mei. If she can’t handle it, then come find me."
[Dian Mei Ruan]: "Entropy Loss Syndrome... a disease rarely seen in the universe."
[Dian Mei Ruan]: "I remember that in the now-defunct Glamoth Republic, in order to control the powerful Glamoth Iron Cavalry, a congenital defect was compiled into the infants’ genes. At a certain point in their lives, they would rapidly age and perish. That is Entropy Loss Syndrome."
[Dian Mei Ruan]: "The only known surviving member of the Glamoth Iron Cavalry is that Sam from the Stellaron Hunters."
[Galactic Baseballer]: "Oh?"
Stelle looked at the girl who was chatting and laughing with Caelus. Is she one of Mommy Kafka’s people? It was a good thing she had March 7th; otherwise, she would be unbearably envious.
[The Champion]: "That republic... wasn’t that going too far? Are they living weapons?!"
[Crash-Test Pilot]: "This isn’t very uplifting."
Daigo thought of what Kenji had said. If the remains of monsters were used by those with ill intentions, then the crisis created by humanity would come back to bite them.
[Stank]: "There’s a lot of that kind of thing. Weapons have to be controllable, and the technology can’t be allowed to leak."
Tony knew that there were many such cases in those biological experiment bases. Behind the bright and shiny exterior, there was often a bottomless darkness.
[Monkey D. Kizaru]: "Controllable living weapons, huh?"
Kizaru thought of Kuma. That gentle father who had accepted the World Government’s conditions and was modified into a weapon by Vegapunk. As expected, every world had such absurd and cold-blooded things.
[Dian Mei Ruan]: "If my help is needed, you can have that member of the Iron Cavalry come to me."
She was a little interested in Glamoth’s technology. A genetic defect... she could fix it.
[Galactic Baseballer]: "I’ll tell my otouto."
She’s a teammate of Mommy Kafka, Auntie Silver Wolf, and Uncle Blade, after all. Of course, I have to help.
Kenji sat in a chair, watching Ruan Mei dissect a Sting Bug left behind by the Swarm Empress.
"I see. So the Sting Bugs also have your power in them, Kenji," Ruan Mei said in surprise. No wonder it was a bit stronger than a normal Sting Bug.
Kenji nodded. The part of the energy he had injected had fused with the Swarm Empress. It was normal for the bugs she created to contain some of its characteristics.
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