Cloned offspring could inherit the Eight Kings' latent potential—this egg might harbor the Original Species' latent potential. Zed's interest spiked; hatching a Ancient Devil Serpent offered immense value. While inferior to the Eight Kings, a Capture Level 5000+ beast would still be a formidable ally.
Securing an Eight Kings descendant in the human world? Impossible without Food Luck rivaling the Four Heavenly Kings'. Zed's advantages lay elsewhere: System Space, Food Honor, and now, this egg.
"Harvest the Skeleton Moss first, then retrieve the egg," Zed decided. Living creatures couldn't enter his System Space, so the egg would need manual transport.
As he reached for the moss, the cavern pulsed—the egg's vitality surged, and the Skeleton Moss' glow intensified to an emerald blaze.
"What's happening?!"
Zed lunged toward the egg, instinct screaming to flee—but abandoning it felt wrong. His hand brushed the shell, and a visceral warning flared: Leave it. Now.
Reluctantly, he retreated beyond the skeleton's perimeter.
"That sensation… was that Food Luck guiding me?"
Zed pieced it together. In Toriko's world, Food Luck bent reality—saving Komatsu repeatedly, even helping him navigate the Cavern Lagoon, where he almost died to Bishokuya Bandit. This gut-feeling nudge matched its influence.
Food Luck operated subtly—guiding, not controlling. Zed could've ignored the instinct to abandon the egg, but intuition warned against it. Now, observing the cavern's metamorphosis, he understood: the egg's mutation demanded this choice.
The skeleton's emerald glow funneled into the central egg, its oppressive aura evaporating. Skeleton Moss withered, nutrients siphoned backward. Within minutes, the cavern plunged into darkness—only Zed's night vision spared him blindness.
Returning, he found the surrounding eggs desiccated husks, their vitality drained into the three-meter anomaly. The central egg pulsed hungrily.
"Food Luck… it's flaring again," Zed muttered, retrieving Devil Serpent meat from his System Space. Upon contact, the flesh fused to the shell, its energy devoured in seconds.
"Let's see how much you crave." Zed fed it carcass after carcass, residue piling like ash. Each morsel amplified the egg's aura—a primordial heartbeat thrumming through the cave.
Whatever hatched here would be extraordinary.