After the battle, life returned to its usual calm for Lin Mo.
The "Foul Devourer" incident was classified as top secret by the Hero Association; the A-Class heroes involved were all placed under a gag order.
Publicly, they only announced that a Demon-level disaster had been easily resolved by S-Class hero KING; the details of the battle were completely withheld.
Lin Mo didn't know why the Association chose to do this, but it suited him just fine.
Every time he lurked on the hero forum, he saw hordes of people feverishly guessing how KING had one-shot the Demon-level monster, and leading the speculation, of course, was the "Purgatory Unrivaled Exploding Heat Wave Cannon."
Who in the world had come up with that, anyway—some terminal chuunibyou, to name it something that made his toes curl with second-hand embarrassment?
Keep the hype down… This was starting to feel a bit shameful…
In his apartment, Lin Mo exhaled, tossed his controller aside.
"YOU WIN" blazed on the screen—his 58th consecutive win of the day.
Ever since his power-up, his gaming skills seemed to have improved too.
But he'd been nigh unbeatable in games already; now it was even more boring.
He barely played fighters anymore; he'd mostly shifted to story-rich galgames, looking for spiritual comfort…
Just as he was about to switch games to relax, a shrill special ringtone suddenly blared.
Urgent and piercing—it was the Hero Association's highest-level emergency summons, used only to contact S-Class heroes.
Lin Mo's heart sank.
"You've got to be kidding me… right now?" A bad premonition surged up.
At this time, there was only one event in his memory that would prompt the Association to use its highest-level summons and call in every S-Class hero they could reach.
A super-disaster capable of pushing Earth to the brink of annihilation.
He had his guesses.
Without hesitation, he turned off the console, put on his black turtleneck and jeans, raked a hand through his slightly messy hair, and stepped out the door.
The expression on his face shifted, the moment he crossed the threshold, from a lazy shut-in to the stern "strongest man on the surface"—KING.
——
Hero Association HQ, City A.
In the giant circular conference room, the air was heavy.
More than a dozen figures already sat around the long conference table.
They were all different in shape and aura, but without exception, the power they radiated far surpassed ordinary people's.
These were the pillars supporting the Association—and the stability of human society itself—the S-Class heroes.
Metal Bat was tapping the table with his finger, "tok, tok, tok," bored and impatient.
Superalloy Darkshine admired his reflection in the glossy wall, flexing those proud bronze muscles into all sorts of self-indulgent poses.
Child Emperor sat in a custom chair, entirely focused on calibrating a brand-new device on his wrist, mumbling to himself.
Sexy Prisoner's eyes, brimming with love, "accidentally" swept over each strong male present, searching for someone to move his heart.
Flashy Flash and Watchdog Man sat quietly in their seats with their eyes closed.
When the heavy metal door of the conference room swung open, all the sounds and motions stopped as one.
Thump… thump… thump… thump…
The not-loud yet piercing King Engine reached every hero's ears.
He walked in without expression, those deep eyes sweeping casually across the room. Under his gaze, every S-Class hero unconsciously held their breath.
He went straight to an empty spot and sat in silence.
"Mr. KING!" Child Emperor's eyes lit up the moment he saw him. He hopped off his chair, ran over, and raised his wrist device with excitement.
"Look! This is my 'Strength Meter 2.0,' redesigned based on what I learned last time!"
"This time I used a new algorithm and top-grade stress-resistant materials. In theory it absolutely won't blow up from energy overload! When the meeting ends, can I measure you again?"
Child Emperor's words instantly piqued the curiosity of quite a few heroes.
They had all heard something through internal channels about what had happened at Child Emperor's lab in City Y a few days prior.
A troublesome Demon-level monster had left several A-Class heroes helpless and was one-shotted by KING; not even ashes remained.
And the backup mask's "3888" had become a joke.
Lin Mo wasn't thrilled by the expectant sparkle in Child Emperor's eyes.
Again? I've achieved what I wanted; better drop it…
At that moment, a voice of a completely different stripe broke in.
"Yo, KING! You're here!"
Beside Genos near the tail end of S-Class stood a bald man in a yellow jumpsuit, waving lazily with a grin.
A-Class Rank 25, the "Caped Baldy," Saitama.
"Mr. KING," Genos stood and bowed respectfully.
KING's arrival let Genos breathe easier. Surrounded by so many S-Class heroes, he felt pressure—but with KING and his teacher there, he could relax.
The atmosphere turned strange.
Most of the S-Class heroes frowned.
Some were displeased that an A-Class hero was present; others were shocked that an A-Class daring to address KING so casually.
"Hey, who's that bald guy? How'd he get in here?" Metal Bat muttered to Child Emperor, annoyed.
"Special approval from the Association's higher-ups," Child Emperor adjusted his glasses. "Also… his relationship with Mr. KING is anything but ordinary."
At that, the looks aimed at Saitama grew even more complex.
Anyone who could be friends with KING—could an A-Class like that be ordinary?
Lin Mo was crying inside, but outwardly he kept cool, giving Saitama a faint nod as a greeting before taking a seat beside them.
"KING, after the meeting, want to come over and play the latest game? I just snagged the limited edition yesterday!"
Saitama ignored the odd atmosphere around them and offered the invitation with interest.
"Huh? Since when is this baldy so loaded?" Lin Mo glanced at Saitama in surprise, but said nothing.
-------
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