Chapter 344 — The Transcendent, The True Meaning of "Power"

While Boros, that overlord of the cosmos, was locked in battle with Saitama and Jiraiya, Orochimaru, who had kept himself hidden all along, had also obtained the data he wanted.

"Destroy the Earth?"

Orochimaru, dressed in a researcher's white lab coat, shook his head and gave a cold laugh.

Judging by his energy readings of Boros, the energy stored within the other man's body, even if amplified by special techniques, could at most destroy the Earth's surface—nowhere near as exaggerated as his boasts.

Moreover, even if Boros could blow up the Earth, it would amount to nothing.

Even setting aside the handful of plane-authority holders and law-twisters scattered across the infinite planes, mere brute combat-power numbers stacked and piled together would never place Boros anywhere on the map.

According to the records in Orochimaru's possession, in a plane known as "Dragon Ball," there also existed a cosmic emperor.

That one called "Frieza"—even while suppressed in energy—could still destroy with a single blow a planet of kilometer diameter and geological density 6.85 grams per cubic centimeter!

In other words, Frieza could effortlessly blow up more than ten planets on par with Earth all at once!

Orochimaru took the combat power of the cosmic emperor Frieza as a standard unit of measurement for plane-level combat power.

Boros, an existence whose strength far surpassed ordinary "Dragon"-class combat power, was promptly judged by Orochimaru to be...

0.68 points.

Do not think this score is low.

By Orochimaru's standard of calculation, many of the so-called S-class combat-power holders in the Hero Association would likely have several zeros tacked on after the decimal point in their ratings.

For example.

The current S-class heroes "Metal Bat" and "Puri-Puri Prisoner," measured by Orochimaru's combat evaluation system, came out to 0.0013 and 0.0011 respectively.

If those two faced a serious Boros, the result would be instant slaughter.

Orochimaru's shattered-gold snake pupils flickered faintly as his gaze fell upon the huge display screen not far away.

The supercomputer was laboring to render a 3D model of a human being.

Bald head, apricot-yellow battle suit, white cape, red gloves.

The hero whom the Hero Association had poured enormous promotional resources into, yet who had never shown much in the way of dazzling performance—Saitama.

This man's power rating was displayed in the upper right in dangerous red numerals.

19.8 points.

Compared with other humans, this was combat power from an entirely different dimension!

"If you added up all the other humans in this plane, could their combined combat power surpass his?"

Orochimaru murmured to himself, and a flash of inspiration struck his mind.

Added together.

Recalling how Jiraiya's strength had doubled the moment he descended into this plane, he felt he was gradually closing in on a blind spot he had long overlooked.

The same bald head, the same trans-dimensional combat power...

Orochimaru raised his hand and tapped a series of points in the air before him; the contents of the display screen shifted in an instant, becoming a file filled with text.

The title read: "Speculation on the Child of Destiny of This Plane."

No.1, codename "King," one of the Hero Association's S-class heroes, special skill "Emperor Engine," exceptionally lucky, hobby: video games, other information unknown.

No.2, Genos, cyborg, lone star of ill fortune, template of the brooding, deeply wronged protagonist, promoted by a guide—key focus.

No.3, Garou, despises the "hypocritical" heroes of televised tokusatsu shows. As a child, when playing games with companions, he was forced to play the villain and was defeated countless times; he felt indignation and resentment at the reality that "villains can only be defeated by heroes." He once studied martial arts at Bang's dojo, and was later expelled. Suspected holder of the "adversity-growth protagonist template."

Orochimaru thought for a moment, then added the name "Saitama" ahead of King.

Before Orochimaru could carry out more data calculations and analysis of this battle, a scene appeared on the display screen that made his breathing halt for a moment.

"Wait!"

"This is..."

"A Transcendent!"

How could that be?

Within Orochimaru's shattered-gold snake pupils flickered a light of shock.

A so-called Transcendent was a lifeform that might appear only once in billions of years, and only in the very highest planes—planes such as the "Super-Martial Plane," the "Ultimate Demon Plane," and the "Primordial Plane."

Through their own striving and struggle, or through sheer luck, they had chanced to break free of the shackles of their original plane's destiny, and from then on were no longer bound or constrained by the laws of their original world—the sky is high for birds to fly, the sea is wide for fish to leap!

Many planes possessed terrifying "laws."

In certain super-martial planes, the very top individual cultivators could plainly seize stars and pluck down the moon, casually consign billions of living beings to death—and yet their lifespans amounted to a mere ten or twenty thousand years. However they tried to prolong their lives, in the end their allotted span would run dry and they would crumble into a handful of yellow earth.

Meanwhile, top individuals in some ordinary high-martial immortal-cultivation planes could, with perfect ease, enjoy lifespans of hundreds of thousands or even millions of years.

Judged purely on combat power, the former could casually hammer ten thousand of the latter to death.

Yet their lives were simply short.

It had nothing to do with cultivation methods!

Nothing to do with lifestyle!

Nothing to do with genes or bloodline!

Nothing to do with soul strength!

It was merely that the laws of the plane had so decreed.

To escape that constraint, there were only two paths.

One: become a Reincarnator.

Two: become a Transcendent.

Among billions upon billions of great-power cultivators, not even one Transcendent was guaranteed to emerge.

This was virtually equivalent to an "impossible event."

And now, Orochimaru had witnessed with his own eyes the birth of a Transcendent.

......

When Jiraiya's ultimate move and Saitama's all-out strike collided, Wang Xu, who had been watching all along, completely unraveled the principle of the "One-Punch Man" power.

"So this is how [Root Power] operates..."

A look of dawning comprehension surfaced in Wang Xu's eyes.

His gaze fell upon the space not far off, torn apart by Jiraiya and Saitama, and a faint, ambiguous smile appeared on his face.

It seemed that a formidable existence was about to descend upon this plane.

By his reckoning, in roughly 3.7 seconds.

Plenty of time.

With effortless composure, Wang Xu linked the newly acquired power to his own foundation.

He, too, chose a [Root] of his own.

Just as the Earth of the One-Punch Man plane belonged to both Saitama and Jiraiya at once.

Light flickered and dimmed in Wang Xu's eyes: "The One-Punch Man plane—merely accommodating both Jiraiya and Saitama is already its limit."

The root he chose was not the Earth where he was born, nor any other super-martial or primordial plane, but...

The Main God Space!

Wang Xu snapped his fingers.

Everything fell into place as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

No sound or light effects, no flowers raining from the sky, no golden lotuses surging from the earth, no hundred sages coming to pay homage.

Utterly simple.

Comprehension, application...

That was all.

From this day forth, the power of every living Reincarnator would be stacked upon Wang Xu.

As for the hair-loss side effect of the One-Punch Man power...

For Yan Qiu, it did not exist.

Saitama and Jiraiya were merely beneficiaries of that power.

Wang Xu, by contrast, had fully comprehended it.

"According to analysis, your overall strength has increased by 131.79 percent."