"Yeah… it's pretty hard," he muttered to himself, and then his five fingers tightened slightly.
Crack.
A crisp shattering sound—so small it was almost meaningless amid the swarm's noise. The Iron Beetle that could damage steel rails was crushed by nothing but finger strength, instantly going rigid and still.
Saitama casually tossed the bug corpse aside, glanced at the bit of slime on his fingers, and wiped it on the wall.
"But… that's about it."
He lifted his head and looked deeper into the tunnel. Over there, Iron Man's armor was still firing streams of energy, while the black insect tide seemed endless.
Tony kept up the high-intensity attacks, but the irritation inside him only grew. These Iron Beetles weren't just unbelievably tough—whatever was producing them, their "reproduction" or emergence rate was freakishly fast. JARVIS kept feeding him warnings: tunnel structural pressure rising, and critical alerts that rails in 427+ key zones had already suffered severe damage.
If this kept going, the subway shutdown wouldn't be temporary—it would become permanent. Repairs would take years, dealing a devastating blow to New York's economy and daily life.
"We have to find the source… or figure out a way to clear the field in one shot…" Tony thought, blasting a cluster of bugs off the tunnel ceiling with his repulsors.
And then—
Through his suit's rear sensors, he noticed a bald man walking straight toward him, against the flow of the swarm.
"Damn it! There's still a civilian down here?!" Tony's heart jumped. He immediately shouted through external speakers, "Hey! You! Get out of here! It's dangerous!"
But the bald man acted like he didn't hear him at all, still walking at the same slow pace.
What shocked Tony even more was this
When the savage Iron Beetles got close to him, they were either kicked away with a casual step, smashed into the wall, and turned into a puddle of mush… or they were simply slapped aside and shattered. His movements were as easy as brushing leaves off his clothes during a stroll.
"JARVIS, analyze that man."
"Sir, the target shows no detectable energy reaction. Vital signs are stable. However… his physical strength… the data is anomalous. Accurate evaluation is not possible."
Tony's mind filled with doubt. Who was this? A new enhanced human? And his fighting style… it was absurdly primitive. Pure physical strength?
Saitama walked into the densest region of the swarm. The ground and walls here were almost completely coated in writhing black shells. The chewing sounds were so dense they made your scalp crawl. Even Tony's continuous attacks could barely hold a tiny patch of space.
Saitama stopped and looked around at the unpleasant scene. He scratched his smooth cheek.
"This many bugs… it's kinda gross," he said flatly.
Then he spread his legs slightly, lowered his center of gravity, and drew his right fist back to his waist.
It was such a simple motion—
But Tony's pupils shrank hard beneath his faceplate. As a top-tier scientist and veteran fighter, he instantly felt an indescribable pressure, like the air itself had become thick and sticky.
The suit's energy detectors screamed with a shrill warning Tony had never heard before. The needle shot past the limit and slammed against the end.
"What?!" Tony blurted.
The next second
Saitama's fist smashed down into the ground.
No dazzling light. No ear-splitting explosion.
Just a dull, heavy thud, like someone punching a gigantic solid rubber block
"DON!"
But from the point of impact, a terrifying shockwave expanded outward in a visible sphere, racing through the tunnel in every direction!
(End of Chapter)
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