Chapter 41: Five Trash Kings, Old Man Black's Card, and the Appearance of Maga-Orochi

HUD Base, Extraordinary Life Form Containment Facility.
The trio led by CameCamilia was imprisoned right here.
Resembling a conventional prison with separate individual cells, the three of them were locked up in isolation.

"This containment facility handles ordinary humans with absolute ease, but attempting to imprison aliens, human hosts, and specialized life forms is still quite a stretch."
"Once Masaki Keigo finishes his current tasks, I'll have him remodel this place."
"At the very least, this containment facility must first possess the capability to suppress gigantification, accompanied by sustained weakening buffs—such as Eleking's paralyzing current. That would at least provide a basic prototype."
Lin Yu muttered thoughtfully, already plotting how to further exploit his fine teammate, Masaki Keigo.

Unwilling to leave just yet due to lingering concerns, Lin Yu simply pulled up a chair nearby and crossed his legs.
Pulling out his smartphone to open the Monster Cultivation App, Lin Yu checked his gains from this recent endeavor.
Before doing that, he glanced over his personal profile.

[Host: Lin Yu!]
[Owned Monsters: Eleking (100%), Zetton (100%), Five King (60%)!]
[Remaining Cultivatable Monster Slots: 1]
[Currently Cultivatable Monsters: Bemular, Golza, Melba, Golba, Grand King, Garula, Gudon, Twin Tail, Telesdon, Black Giras, Red Giras, Maga-Basser, Maga-Jappa...]
[Currently Unlocked TVs: Seven TV (Temporarily Inaccessible), Trigger TV (Temporarily Inaccessible), Orb TV (Five King), Nexus (None)!]
[Skills: Ultra Telepathy, Cosmic Fist!]
[Items: Sphere Core Cell, Emperor-class Alien Grudge, Eternity Core Fragment (Inside Zetton), Earth Element, Dark Element, Corrupted Egg!]
[This World's Item: Dark Spark Lense!]

"Before I knew it, I've accumulated quite an impressive collection."
Lin Yu felt a slight sense of detachment.
The Dark Spark Lense materialized in his hand.
He pressed it!
The Dark Spark Lense unfolded, seemingly releasing surging dark energy eager to burst forth!
However...
Nothing happened.
As expected, Lin Yu was unable to transform.

"..."
"It appears I am indeed not one chosen by the light."
"Wait, shouldn't this thing be considered darkness?"
"Never mind, it's all the same."
"I wonder if Daigo would experience any changes using this?"
Lin Yu tossed the Dark Spark Lense back into his game inventory and checked the remaining items.

"The Dark Element is identical to the Earth Element I obtained earlier."
"If ordinary dark beasts consume it, it merely enhances their strength. Even if consumed by the dark beasts I raise in the game, it only grants a substantial increase in cultivation progress."
"Only by consuming a Dark Element infused with the power of Maga-Orochi can they undergo a qualitative metamorphosis and transform into a Dark Lord Monster."
"A suitable dark beast..."
Lin Yu pondered.
Gatanothor certainly qualified; after all, the canon Dark Lord Monster was Maga-Gatanothor, though its combat prowess was somewhat underwhelming—supposedly soloed by Tiga, and later soloed by Orb.
Although the cost was heavy, by any measure, it should at least surpass the Wind, Earth, Water, and Fire Lord Monsters.
It truly tarnished Gatanothor's prestige.

Aside from Gatanothor, several other fitting dark beasts crossed Lin Yu's mind.
Gatanothor's minion, the Ultra-Ancient Vanguard Demonic Bird—Zoa Murchi!
The boss of the Trigger TV series—Megalothor, the counterpart to Gatanothor!
Juggler from X, Dark Alien Babarue from Leo, the Vampire Demon Shiranos from Tiga, the Cosmic Devil Deburon from Eighty, and so on.
Did the supreme boss of the New Generation era, the Chaos Apparition Grigio Bone, also count?
However, it seemed he was more of an embodiment of Chaos transcending light and darkness rather than pure darkness.
Forget it, Grigio Bone would likely slap Orochi to death with a single swipe.
Maga-Orochi would be fortunate just to serve as his inferior counterpart.

"I must acquire Maga-Orochi first before I can refine these elements and manufacture Lord Monsters."
Lin Yu shook his head slightly, flipping his hand to reveal a black egg—pitted with indentations and roughly the size of an ostrich egg!
"An egg corrupted by the black mist of the Evil God Gatanothor, yet it still retains signs of life..."
Lin Yu mused for a moment, cautiously exercising his Ultra Telepathy in an attempt to probe the contents within.
However, a shroud of thick black mist blocked all visibility, rendering the interior completely indiscernible.

"Lucia, I'll leave this to you to raise. Try communicating with it frequently."
After some thought, Lin Yu handed the egg over to Lucia.
"Understood, Captain, I'm heading over right now!"
Lucia's voice came through the intercom.
Shortly after, Lucia knocked and entered, taking the egg away.

[After absorbing Golza and Melba, Five King's cultivation progress surged dramatically, and his combat power scaled accordingly. Citing the absurd excuse that the Frozen Monster Gigantis had descended the mountain with its left foot first, he slapped Gigantis to death, leaving the nearby Orb utterly dumbfounded.]
[The Planetary Invasion Alliance invited Five King, offering a grand gift of monster cards in hopes that he would eliminate Orb and join their ranks. Enraged because the cards offered were not Reubasu, Super Gobi, or Gan-Q, Five King declared 'I do not eat Red King', went on a murderous rampage, and seized a Belial Card.]
[Juggler attempted to trade for the Belial Card with Five King, but upon eyeing Juggler's Dark Ring, Five King lunged, causing Juggler to flee in terror.]
[The water in dozens of cities turned foul and stinking, continuing to spread further. Disgusted into a berserk state by a gulp of the foul water, Five King followed the stench, located Maga-Jappa, and killed him with a single punch.]

Lin Yu: "..."
Why was this Five King behaving like such an unruly delinquent?
He gave off a vibe completely devoid of the aesthetic associated with the Heisei Three Heroes.
Damn it, this was far more arrogant than he was!
Yet, Five King's arrogance brought distinct advantages.

"The Belial Card!"
Lin Yu's eyes lit up, though his expression darkened a moment later.
The Belial Card belonged to the leader of the alien faction [Planetary Invasion Alliance] in Orb TV—a Alien Mefilas of the same race, whose intelligence was far inferior to Mephilas, the brilliant strategist under Emperor Alien.
He was subsequently killed by Juggler, and the Belial Card was snatched away.
Ultimately, it became the card Orb used to activate his "Thunder Breast Form".

The good news was that this card had now been seized by Five King!
The bad news was that Orb would thus be unable to transform into Thunder Breast Form, leaving him as good as roadkill in front of Maga-Orochi.

"Looks like that Maga-Orochi will have to be fought by Five King himself."
"A Five King at one hundred percent cultivation would likely have no trouble handling a base-form Maga-Orochi lacking its ultimate state, but at sixty percent... it still needs a power-up!"
A rising sense of crisis welled up in Lin Yu's heart.
Finding Reubasu, Super Gobi, and Gan-Q had become an urgent priority!
If memory served correctly, the Water Lord Monster Maga-Jappa was followed by the Fire Lord Monster, and then Maga-Orochi!

"There's truly never a moment of rest. I need to go find—"
"Beep!!"
The intercom chimed!
Lin Yu answered.

"Captain Lin Yu, this is bad!"
"In the Tokyo urban district where Gudon, Twin Tail, Telesdon, and Sadola previously went berserk, rampaging monsters have appeared once again!"
"The epicenter, located eight thousand meters underground, is rising at an exponential rate!"
"No, no, it's emerged! A massive monster has appeared!"
"It's devouring those monsters! It's devouring those monsters!!"

Lina's terrified expression caused Lin Yu's face to sink abruptly!
The intercom supported visual transmission, allowing Lin Yu to see clearly from the satellite feed just who this eight-thousand-meter underground epicenter consumer of subterranean monsters was!
Those blood-red pupils, crimson physique, sharp single horn, overwhelmingly oppressive aura, and...
"Mew... mew..."
As it chewed on the barrier monster Gavadon within its jaws, a sliver of white was vaguely visible inside its mouth.
Judging by appearances, it was an alien!
Lin Yu's expression nearly cracked.

"Before Five King even gets to fight Maga-Orochi in the game, I'm going to end up fighting Maga-Orochi in reality?"
"So, the underground monsters went berserk because of Maga-Orochi?"
"Just how many bosses are hidden in this world?!"
Lin Yu slammed his fist fiercely onto the desk, shattering it!

Indeed, the entity that had manifested in the urban area was none other than the pinnacle of Lord Monsters, the Great Lord Monster—Maga-Orochi!
"Time to fight!!"
Lin Yu stood up and strode out in long strides!
Before leaving, he administered a dose of Ultra Telepathy to each of the three captives—CameCamilia and her companions—allowing them to sleep a little longer.
(Pleading for monthly votes at the beginning of the month! We're just a hair's breadth away from the new book ranking, which I've never reached before. All players of the Monster Cultivation Game, lend me your strength!!)