Chapter 135: Beyond Bestialization (Subscription Requested!)

The colossal shadow amidst the dust spoke nonchalantly as it stepped out.

"After the initial transformation brought about by surgery, one must repeatedly submerge their flesh into the bestial nature of Titan genes, fully succumbing to the beast. Then, using nothing but human will, one must forcibly claw their way back from that frantic, lost state."

"After doing this several times, you naturally cross a certain boundary, and then..."

Doppo Orochi walked out of the smoke with a grin, stopping behind Tokita Ohma.

His bald head, thick with muscle, wore a wild, gum-baring smile that made him look like a ferocious "wild boar."

It was grim and terrifying.

At the very least, the United States soldiers surrounding them in three dense layers began to waver, many looking hesitant just from the sight of him.

"Then you realize that compared to the powerful physique of the human form, the strength boost provided by 'partial beastification' is nothing but utter, nonsensical bullshit! It isn't even a 'staircase' on this path of power—it's merely the 'floor tile'!"

Behind him, Katsumi Orochi, Kureha Shinogi, and a stumbling Raian Kure also emerged from the dust.

Hearing this, the group wore expressions of astonishment.

"I had intended to let the kids discover this problem for themselves, seeing as they’ve all been acting like 'Beastification! So cool!' lately."

"After gaining the power of the Titans, they completely cast aside the pursuits of a martial artist and turned into trash that has lost the ambition to grow stronger."

As he spoke, Doppo scratched his bald head with a troubled look.

"Brother Tokita, your arrival has essentially leaked the answer."

Tokita Ohma smiled at these words, neither confirming nor denying.

Kureha Shinogi, however, shouted with excitement.

"Doppo Orochi! The fact that one becomes stronger after returning to human form from multiple full beastifications! Such an important discovery—why didn't you report it!"

"Huh?" Doppo raised an eyebrow, his tone dripping with perverse humor.

"Haven't physical exams been going on every single day? Isn't it the researchers' fault for failing to notice?"

"Besides, wasn't it you, Doctor Shinogi, who said, 'Since we are martial artists, we must rely on ourselves'?"

Katsumi Orochi, who stood half a head taller than his father, immediately marched toward him in a rage upon hearing his father’s scorn for the power of beastification.

"Old man!"

As one of the first to undergo surgery alongside Wakatsuki Takeshi, he had always taken pride in his ability to overcome the carnal instincts of a giant beast. He was proud to possess this power derived from Godzilla.

And now, his father—who had been trading blows with him just moments ago and was even on the defensive—was openly mocking his strength.

It was intolerable!

Even for the sake of those fellow disciples who had failed the surgery and turned into monsters, this contempt could not be tolerated!

"Take back what you said!"

Katsumi’s thick palm, honed by years of karate training, reached for his father’s collar.

But before his hand could even touch the loose karate gi...

*Bam!*

Doppo, still wearing that unrestrained, wild grin, shifted his right heel back and stomped down hard on his son’s toes!

The solid metal floor buckled under the force of the stomp, creating a visible depression.

Katsumi’s toes were crushed instantly!

Blood sprayed in a splash pattern across the floor.

"Ugh!"

Katsumi’s eyes bulged, his mouth hanging open, lacking even the strength to let out a howl.

The agony of having one's toes crushed was enough to drive an ordinary person to the brink of death multiple times over. Yet, even for a martial artist before the surgery, this pain was far from enough to strip them of their ability to fight.

"Haa!"

Katsumi lacked the breath to scream, but he had the strength to fight in his beast form!

His arm transformed in an instant! His skin turned a bluish-black, and jagged spikes tore through the flesh from his bones. His whistling palm generated a shockwave that broke the sound barrier, tearing directly toward his father’s skull!

And Doppo Orochi, that boar-like, fierce man, curled his lips into an even wider smile.

A more mocking one.

With overwhelming agility, he completed a sequence of turning, stabilizing his center of gravity, and launching a counter-attack in the time it took his son to swing his hand.

It was a low side-kick that could be written into a karate textbook!

*Bam!*

The thick instep, hardened by years of karate training, struck directly into the side of his son’s knee.

The wind generated by the kick was so fast that the U.S. soldiers twenty meters away felt as if they couldn't breathe!

*Snap—*

Following the collision was the crisp, clean sound of bone snapping.

The shards of bone from Katsumi’s joint, shattered by the tremendous force of the kick, tore directly through his skin.

The pale white bone was exposed to the air.

Losing its support, his body began to tilt and fall.

Doppo, whose physical prowess already crushed his son’s, immediately stepped into his inner circle.

He pressed his palm against Katsumi’s chest.

*Smash!*

*Bam!*

The solid metal floor was smashed into a human-shaped crater.

The blood Katsumi spat from his mouth was like a rain of gore.

The sturdy, upright youth now lay in the crater, his eyes unfocused, having lost consciousness.

Looking at the clearly visible palm print on his chest, a conservative estimate would be that all of his ribs were shattered.

This battle with his son... no, this crushing!

From beginning to end, Doppo Orochi wore an unrestrained smile.

He even had the presence of mind to control the impact of the fight so it wouldn't reach the spot where Tokita Ohma sat.

The boy remained spotless.

But just as he had nearly pressed his son’s internal organs out through his mouth, he knelt beside Katsumi with a kindly expression.

He looked down at him, his palm stroking the print he had left on his son’s chest.

"What a pity, Katsumi. I had intended to let you have this lesson after we finished today's pleasant play."

"After all, even if you are wallowing in the power of a beast like 'trash,' you looked quite happy."

When Doppo spoke, he sounded like an earnest, loving father.

But the next moment, he tore away the veil of tenderness.

"However, trash is trash!"

Doppo’s face seemed to darken, perhaps due to the angle of the light in the underground space.

"Unlike the Titans who are born powerful, martial artists are monsters who possess an infinite greed for 'becoming stronger'!"

"Every drop of blood! Every drop of sweat! Even every drop of semen! It is all for the sake of becoming stronger! It is all to be stronger!"

"To wallow in strength far beyond the past while forgetting the desire to keep climbing upward is nothing but bottom-tier trash!"

"You are Katsumi Orochi! You are the ultimate weapon of karate! You are—my son!"

"You cannot be trash! You must be the most outstanding martial artist in this world!"

The palm that had been resting gently on Katsumi’s chest pressed down fiercely once again!

*Bam!*

The depression in the ground expanded sharply.

This time, the youth on the ground actually began to vomit fragments of his internal organs!

The speed of their exchange was so fast that Wakatsuki Takeshi only now reacted.

"Master! Although your fights with Katsumi are usually fierce, today is already enough..."

"Shut up, Wakatsuki!"

Four simple words spilled from Doppo’s mouth as he stood in the shadows of the lights.

Wakatsuki Takeshi, who had once dominated the Kengan Association and had now undergone surgical modification, froze on the spot the moment those four words landed and Doppo cast a single glance his way.

Despite his modified skin, which should have been able to regulate body temperature more efficiently, he was now drenched in cold sweat.

Doppo grabbed his son by the throat, hoisting him up with his blood-stained hand.

Katsumi’s eyes were still vacant, his windpipe twitching involuntarily as it was crushed.

"Now, transform, Katsumi."

A crunching sound came from Doppo’s grip on his son’s neck.

Katsumi’s body began to twitch more violently.

"Submerge yourself in the bestial nature of the Titan once more, and then break free again."

"Once you do that, you will know..."

Twisting his waist and swinging his body, he prepared to smash Katsumi head-first into the floor again!

"...what true strength is!"

*Whoosh—*

The raised hand swung down, but there was no heavy sound of impact.

Instead, it only scattered the dust on the floor.

And in the swirling dust:

A blue-gray monster, complete with a long, slender tail, was coiled around Doppo Orochi.

"It seems we’ve had a very good start, Katsumi."

The ferocious bald man nodded in satisfaction.