Chapter 119: Intense Battle
But soon, Chang Wei felt that something was off. Why was this Piccolo Daimaō… purple?
And he wasn't even wearing the classic outfit of the old Demon King—he was completely naked.
Setting aside the possibility that Piccolo Daimaō had turned purple due to photosynthesis from sun exposure, and disregarding the idea that this was some flute-playing demon child…
Chang Wei quickly searched his memory and found the corresponding reference.
Oh, so it was "borrowed"—no, inspired by—the Dragon-level monster Vaccine Man from One Punch Man!
Vaccine Man, also known as "Purple-Skinned Piccolo Daimaō," was a supervillain created by Earth's will to punish humanity.
As for Vaccine Man's strength, we can evaluate it from several perspectives.
First, there's an online theory that claims, "Vaccine Man was the strongest monster before Boros and his crew arrived." While this statement is often dismissed as an internet rumor—similar to claims about Saitama's Super Saiyan 2-level power—this particular one isn't entirely baseless.
In One Punch Man's first popularity ranking, ONE drew a commemorative manga that included some reader comments. The main ones were:
"This guy might actually be unbelievably strong!"
"I think there's a case for Vaccine Man being the strongest."
"The very first opponent was already the highest-level threat."
"I don't think Genos could beat this guy."
Although these were just reader opinions, the fact that ONE chose to include them, along with Vaccine Man responding in-character with "You humans really understand, huh?", suggests that ONE himself acknowledged them.
In the main manga, Vaccine Man was one-shotted by Saitama, making it hard to gauge his true strength.
However, in a side story, his battle was described in more detail.
Even with four S-Class heroes—Atomic Samurai, Pig God, Metal Bat, and Tanktop Master—going after him, the Hero Association still considered the situation "very bad."
Phoenix Man once mentioned that the Hero Association had four strongest heroes. Besides the missing Blast and the yet-to-be-recognized King, both Metal Knight and Tatsumaki were urgently summoned to fight Vaccine Man.
More importantly, King's entire reputation started with "defeating Vaccine Man."
That's probably King's most valuable kill.
Even someone as arrogant as Tatsumaki acknowledged him after that. She believed that if King could defeat Vaccine Man, then even she might not be able to beat him.
From the readers' perspective, Vaccine Man was taken down in just a few pages. But from the Hero Association's point of view, he had already devastated an entire city.
Dozens of A-Class heroes and multiple S-Class heroes were defeated by him.
And because King accidentally tripped and landed in Vaccine Man's blood, the Hero Association mistakenly believed that he had killed him. Their reaction? "If someone like him turned against us, we'd be in big trouble."
Even considering the Monster Association arc, Vaccine Man was likely among the top five Dragon-level threats.
If we exclude the two "Above-Dragon" threats—Boros and Garou—the strongest Dragon-level monsters were Elder Centipede and the unknown-tier Orochi (who was heavily hyped in the remake).
Anyone who could surpass Tatsumaki's psychokinesis was at least Above-Dragon. Tatsumaki was considered the "gatekeeper" of the Dragon-level tier, and ONE himself confirmed that her powers were ineffective against Above-Dragon threats. So, if a monster could defeat her, it was likely in the Above-Dragon range.
Some people argue that Elder Centipede defeated Tatsumaki, but ONE clarified that she wasn't at full strength in that fight. At full power, she would have won.
Of course, if we go by the remake, none of this matters—since it introduced ridiculous power-ups like Platinum Sperm.
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"Who are you?"
Vaccine Man spotted Chang Wei approaching. Since Chang Wei was flying, Vaccine Man couldn't sense a human aura from him. Instead, his presence felt… chaotic, incredibly chaotic.
"Probably a hero. Normal Punch!"
Chang Wei grinned and threw a punch.
Vaccine Man's pupils contracted as he crossed his arms to block the attack.
"BOOM!!!"
But that was just an illusion—by the time Vaccine Man saw the punch, it had already landed!
His attempt to block was futile—his chest caved in, and he spat out a mouthful of green blood before being blasted away, crashing through a mountain.
"Couldn't react in time? Looks like your reflexes aren't that much faster than a human's…"
Chang Wei flicked his wrist. He had held back—he didn't want to accidentally kill Vaccine Man with one hit.
That punch was merely at 100 times the speed of sound. Thanks to his telekinetic field dampening the effects, there was no sonic boom or heat shock.
Then, he saw dozens of massive energy spheres flying toward him. Vaccine Man had recovered and was launching a counterattack.
"These things won't work on me."
Chang Wei's hands blurred as he struck each energy sphere at hundreds of times the speed of sound.
The spheres were pure energy, so their reactions couldn't keep up with his strikes. They were sent flying before their energy output could even adjust.
It was like dipping your fingers in fire—if you moved fast enough, you wouldn't get burned.
The same principle applied here.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!"
Fortunately, the city had already been destroyed by Vaccine Man. Even though these blasts wiped out an area dozens of times the city's original size, there were no casualties.
After all, in the One Punch Man world, there were only about twenty cities—the rest of the planet was uninhabited.
Seeing this, Vaccine Man realized that none of his attacks would work.
He never expected there to be such a powerful being among humans—yet Chang Wei's presence was so chaotic, he barely even felt human.
His body swelled rapidly.
"I was born from the will of the Earth—to purge humanity as Vaccine Man!"
In his second transformation, Vaccine Man grew into a monstrous, grotesque form. His fangs jutted out from his massive jaws.
"Now that's what I'm looking forward to."
Chang Wei hadn't gone for the kill immediately—he wanted to see if Vaccine Man could entertain him for a bit.
It had been a long time since he had fought at full strength.
"Die!"
Vaccine Man swung his massive palm down at him.
Chang Wei raised his hand, instantly reinforcing the ground beneath him with telekinetic energy.
"BOOM!"
The earth cracked apart. Chang Wei's body bent slightly under the force—then rebounded instantly, sending Vaccine Man staggering backward.
"Not bad strength."
Chang Wei's voice echoed next to Vaccine Man's ear.
"What—?!"
Vaccine Man turned his head—only to see a massive fist coming at him.
A thunderous explosion erupted. Vaccine Man's skull cracked open.
The sheer force of the punch radiated downward, shattering the earth below them.
The land split apart, forming a massive rift, as if an East African Rift Valley had just been created!
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