Night sky stretched overhead.
Jordan lounged on the balcony chair, turning the dark blue-bordered card over in his hands. His expression grew thoughtful.
One minute passed.
His thoughts crystallized.
The last time he'd used Limiter Break to enhance himself had been months ago, but the exhilarating sensation remained vivid in memory.
Based on previous experience, the changes from limit breakthroughs occurred entirely within the body. Unless mishandled, they wouldn't affect the external environment.
Still, Jordan had already established a force field for protection. F-boy stood ready nearby, prepared to prevent accidents.
Ready.
He slapped the dark blue card against his chest without hesitation.
With each breath, Jordan's body turned visibly red and hot. Veins bulged across swelling muscles, throbbing as if trying to burst free of skin constraints.
Long-dormant nerve endings ignited with sensation. Sweat trickled down his hairline, instantly soaking his fitted t-shirt and revealing his broad-shouldered frame.
Pain. God, it hurt.
His body's level cap unlocked once more. Basic attributes that had been approaching their maximum suddenly surged past critical thresholds. The expected penalty didn't arrive. Instead, his body eagerly absorbed the breakthrough energy, each increment shattering a new ceiling.
The corresponding changes manifested in real-time. Jordan's physical form was almost entirely disintegrating and rebuilding.
Driven by unimaginable pain, an indestructible AT Field erupted around him, its structure resembling an eggshell.
Inside that shell, spiritual power, chakra, soul matter, and stored natural energy—powers from different ability systems—boiled and surged wildly. The transforming Jordan curled up like a newborn. In the blink of an eye, liquefied energy submerged him completely.
Where is the host body?
F-boy tentatively placed a finger on the glowing eggshell. Inside was obscured by dazzling light. Ripples spread from the point of contact across the entire surface.
The oversized container holding Jordan remained motionless, as if welded to the recliner.
Fine. Now the host body's turn to become an egg.
F-boy sighed silently. Limiter Break was essentially still a Stand ability, but after incorporating Saitama's essence, the results exceeded a Stand's control.
As for the host body—may you have good fortune.
Inside the eggshell, Jordan awoke from darkness.
All he could see was darkness.
After careful observation, he realized the surrounding area was filled with special liquefied energy formed from his own dissipated power. Not only was it harmless, but lying in it gave him an unexpected sense of comfort.
Thanks to his psychic awareness, Jordan witnessed almost the entire process of his body's cells being destroyed and reconstructed by breakthrough energy.
The soul-piercing pain had completely vanished after waking. He then realized the sensation of hitting a ceiling had disappeared as well.
Aside from unchanged appearance, his new body resembled a Kryptonian or Saiyan stranded on Earth. His actual species was no longer human.
But this was the One-Punch Man world. As long as you believed you were human, even monsters could become heroes protecting humanity.
Just being inhuman. No big deal.
Once he'd adapted to his new body, the controlled breakthrough option activated.
Strength, speed, constitution, and spirit.
This time, Jordan chose constitution.
Mind and body were like a person's two legs—neither could be missing, and they must be equal length.
A true strong person achieved harmony between body and mind. The main reason Tatsumaki had been defeated was her obvious weakness. Once caught, she'd been like a cat grabbed by the scruff of its neck, forced to submit.
With the boost of breakthrough energy, his constitution attribute jumped ahead of strength and speed, becoming Jordan's second-highest stat.
Many abilities related to the physical body rose accordingly. Just like DIO shouting "I've been enhanced!" before throwing down his beer bottle to brave the world.
The energy pool enveloping Jordan was reabsorbed into his body. These foreign energies that had coexisted peacefully joined the carnival. Like iron forged in a furnace, differences and gaps between them melted under high temperatures and merged into a completely new form.
The newly generated energy retained original characteristics from each element before fusion. It could be extracted as chakra to release ninjutsu or transformed into psychic power to create force fields.
Aside from needing to absorb external natural energy to create Sage Chakra, conversion between other energies occurred with almost zero delay or loss.
To put it simply—it was like a unified mana bar in a game, used to unleash various skills.
The most obvious benefit: the fused energy, due to its psychic characteristics, enjoyed the superpower bonus from Tatsumaki's essence. Energy consumption was uniformly reduced by ninety percent regardless of power type used.
For example, when converted to chakra, an amount that was originally one unit became ten units directly.
Never worry about running out of chakra in battle again.
Jordan's breakthrough continued.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in Saitama's living room remained heated.
Saitama, feeling embarrassed after losing several matches, encouraged Bang to join.
Unexpectedly, the old man's reactions and execution were excellent. He actually battled King all the way to the third character before the winner was decided—both fighters at low health when the final blow landed.
Saitama, now a spectator, was more engrossed than either fighter. Seeing Bang's ultimate defeat, he slapped his thigh in frustration. "Ah! Bang-san, you were so close! If your block had been a fraction earlier, you could've turned it around!"
"Bang-san lost due to lack of familiarity," King analyzed, his assessment actually a compliment. He didn't reveal his deliberate health management. "If you're willing to spend time practicing, reaching professional level is definitely achievable."
He pulled down his hat brim, keeping his achievements hidden.
"Never mind. I was just curious." Bang handed the controller back to Saitama. "You young people continue."
His original intention had been determining whether fighting games were some new training method. He'd only realized the truth after experiencing it firsthand.
These two simply enjoyed gaming.
He didn't consider it a waste of time and energy. Everyone had their own path. Jordan and Saitama were perfect examples.
They never seemed to train properly. Yet every time Bang saw them, their strength had increased.
Saitama had no idea Bang was thinking so deeply. Full of fighting spirit, he grabbed the controller. "Alright, then it's my turn next round!"
The three fighters remained completely unaware that Jordan had disappeared for some time.
Even if they noticed, no one would worry.
After all, a mature hero like Jordan Evans could definitely protect himself when out.