'There's a real and a fake version of Orochi's power?'
'No… that's not it.'
Aiden suddenly understood. What Rugal meant by the "true power of Orochi" was most likely Orochi's own power itself, not the partial, attribute-based Orochi powers possessed by the Hakkesshu.
But was Rugal really that confident he could withstand the backlash of Orochi's power? After all, Goenitz had only given him a single drop of blood, and later Rugal had literally exploded from overusing it.
Besides, he wasn't one of the Hakkesshu. Even if he wanted to use Orochi's power, he couldn't serve as a proper vessel. And once someone becomes a vessel, their consciousness would be taken over by Orochi, they wouldn't be themselves anymore. On what grounds did he dare say such things?
It wasn't just Aiden who was confused. Mature and Vice were confused as well.
Moreover, from Rugal's words, the three of them could tell that he was currently working with some kind of organization. Otherwise, no matter how deeply Rugal hid things, there was no way Mature and Vice would know nothing at all.
"The organization you're working with… it's called NESTS, right?" At that moment, Aiden raised his head and looked at one of the cameras in the room, asking calmly.
"Oh? You even know about NESTS… hehe. I get it now. From the way you were chatting so familiarly when you boarded the ship, your relationship must be quite unusual."
"And logically speaking, the Hakkesshu should never have heard of NESTS, those old antiques don't even have time to enjoy life. I'm guessing the one who had Mature and Vice ask me about NESTS… was you, right? The champion of this tournament, the first King of Fighters, Mr. Aiden."
"It was me." Aiden nodded, then put on a regretful expression.
"Come to think of it, when I agreed a few days ago to let Mature and Vice ask you whether you knew about NESTS, I already had a bad feeling."
"It felt like a stupid move. Now it seems that was indeed the case. If they hadn't asked you, you probably wouldn't have acted so quickly."
"You're right. After all, Miss Mature and Miss Vice are two great beauties. I can't say I never had thoughts of enjoying such lovely company. Unfortunately, the Hakkesshu don't really like humans. Even more unfortunately, they're about to die." Rugal's cold voice rang out.
"Suddenly, I'm a bit jealous of you, Mr. Aiden. It seems the female contestants in this King of Fighters tournament all have rather good relationships with you."
"Well, handsome men like me are always popular with women." Aiden shrugged.
"Go ahead and envy me, Rugal."
"I am very envious, but so what? You're going to die here too. And those lovely confidantes of yours will be left widowed while still alive." Rugal said.
"Still, you're not at a loss. Miss Mature and Miss Vice are both so beautiful, dying together with them counts as an honor for you."
"It really is an honor, but unfortunately I haven't done anything with them yet, so I don't want to die." Aiden looked at Mature and Vice.
"What do you two think?"
"I've lived for so many years without ever tasting a man. I really don't want to die yet." Mature said, her gaze shifting as she glanced at Aiden.
"If we can make it out alive, I don't mind joining Mature and keeping you company." Vice nodded as well, even blowing Aiden a flying kiss.
Aiden immediately spread his hands toward the camera with a grin, "See? Now I really don't want to die. Chances for a dragon and two phoenixes aren't that common."
Thankfully, the Kagura sisters weren't here, if they saw this scene, they'd definitely explode.
At this moment, Rugal burst out laughing. "But you can't escape. I've installed a large amount of high-purity explosives throughout the entire carrier, and all internal doors and walls have been reinforced."
"Even anti-ship missiles would have a hard time punching through completely. Mr. Aiden, I know you're strong, but human power has its limits."
"Of course I know human power has limits," Aiden said with a light chuckle. "But you probably don't know where my limits are, do you? In fact, even I don't know where my limit is."
"Is that so? Then let me see it." Rugal clearly didn't believe him. Behind the camera, his face turned cold as he pulled out a remote control and pressed a few buttons.
The next second…
A cold, mechanical synthesized voice echoed throughout the aircraft carrier.
[Beep…]
"[Aircraft carrier self-destruction sequence activated. Three-minute countdown begins…]
Alarms immediately blared throughout the carrier. All corridor and room lights shut off at once, followed by flashing red emergency lights.
Bathed in the red glow of the warning lights, Aiden, Mature, and Vice heard Rugal shout arrogantly, "Originally, I planned to detonate the carrier right away. But since you said that, I'll give you three minutes. Don't disappoint me, Mr. Aiden."
"Don't worry. I won't." Aiden said calmly, folding his arms.
While Aiden was talking to Rugal, Mature and Vice had already begun trying to find a way out.
However, what Mature excelled at most with her Beast Power was speed and reaction. Even after powering up and smashing the wall with a full-force punch, she only broke through the outer steel plating, revealing a layer of titanium alloy underneath.
Shaking her aching hand from the recoil, Mature froze for a moment. "This is…"
Rugal's mocking voice rang out. "Stop wasting your effort. This carrier has been heavily modified by me several times. All walls and doors have been reinforced. And the captain's quarters are constructed from nearly a full meter of titanium alloy plates. Forget fists, even missiles are useless."
Mature clenched her teeth and glanced at Aiden, who still looked completely unbothered. Then she said to Vice, "You try…"
"Big sis, that's titanium alloy… even if I awaken, I might not be able to break through." Vice said helplessly. Nearly a full meter of titanium alloy, maybe only awakening would work, but the problem was time.
And time was exactly what they lacked. One minute had already passed. They had less than two minutes left.
Besides, neither she nor Mature wanted to awaken, even if it meant dying. Once they awakened, recovering afterward would be basically impossible.
So both Mature and Vice turned to look at Aiden. Up until now, he had still been standing there calmly, not the least bit anxious.
Mature called softly, "Aiden…"
"Don't worry. This is nothing." Aiden said with a light smile, then looked at the camera again.
"Rugal, watch closely…"
As soon as he finished speaking, Aiden suddenly stepped forward hard.
The reinforced floor instantly caved in by nearly half a meter. Then, under the shocked gazes of Mature, Vice, and Rugal behind the camera, a terrifying aura burst forth from Aiden's body.
Under this overwhelming pressure, most objects in the room were crushed directly into powder. Only a few cameras embedded in the walls barely survived.
Mature and Vice were both forced several steps back by the sheer force of Aiden's aura.
At that moment, Aiden said coldly, "Watch carefully, Rugal. This move is called, Martial God Powerful Kick!"
The moment those words left his mouth, the aura surging from Aiden suddenly snapped back inward.
Then…
A phantom image of a Valkyrie appeared behind Aiden, mirroring his stance as he gathered power and raised his leg.
When the charge reached its peak, Aiden kicked out, and the Valkyrie phantom behind him kicked at the same time.
BOOM!
Unmatched power erupted in an instant. The wall that Rugal had claimed could resist anti-ship missiles was blasted open with a shocking, massive hole.
Yet that power didn't disperse. It continued forward, punching through wall after wall, carving a straight path through the entire carrier before finally bursting out from the stern…