Y City's Seventh Research Institute is located on the city's outskirts, a massive and futuristic silver-white complex that stands in stark contrast to the surrounding ruins.
This is one of the Hero Association's most advanced technology research and development centers, fully managed by Child Emperor.
The special car carrying Lin Mo smoothly stopped at the entrance of the institute. Before the car door was fully open, a figure shot out like a cannonball.
He had a lollipop in his mouth and his signature large backpack on his back, his face beaming with the excitement of seeing an idol.
"Uncle KING! You're finally here! I've been waiting for you for so long!"
Child Emperor's voice was clear and loud, full of enthusiasm.
"Mm."
Lin Mo stepped out of the car, subtly observing his surroundings.
He knew that the world of One-Punch Man he had transmigrated into had a technological level far beyond his original world.
After all, monsters constantly emerged here, greatly driving technological development.
However, ever since he arrived, his daily life, whether it was supermarket shopping or apartment utilities, was no different from his original world, which made him momentarily overlook the huge technological gap between the two worlds.
It wasn't until today, witnessing this magnificent, futuristic building firsthand, that Lin Mo truly realized that this world's technology was indeed advanced, it just hadn't been popularized in the lives of ordinary people.
Led by Child Emperor, Lin Mo passed through several heavy alloy gates and identity verification checkpoints, entering the core area of the research institute.
It was like a giant sci-fi movie set.
Countless mechanical arms waved in the air, holographic projection screens flickered with various information he couldn't understand, and all sorts of strangely shaped instruments emitted a faint hum.
"Wow! KING!"
A voice so familiar it couldn't be more familiar came from not far away.
Lin Mo looked in the direction of the voice, his gaze passing through several robots, finally landing on a bald man in a dull yellow hero uniform.
The man was sitting unceremoniously on a sturdy laboratory bench, vigorously chewing on a piece of beef jerky, and a look of surprise immediately appeared on his face when he saw Lin Mo.
It was Saitama.
Beside him stood several other heroes Lin Mo had some impression of.
A-Class Rank 37 "Snake," wearing a suit made from the skin of a Snake-like monster, with an extremely serious expression; A-Class Rank 13 "Great Philosopher," who looked full of philosophical aura; and B-Class Rank 50 "Blaze Dragon Knight," a young man in heavy armor with a scar on his face.
"Saitama? Why are you here?" Lin Mo was a little surprised.
Since the last meteorite crisis, Genos and Saitama's hero rankings had significantly improved.
Genos, thanks to his outstanding performance during the crisis, moved up one spot from the bottom of S-Class to Rank 16.
As for Saitama, he rocketed all the way from the bottom of A-Class, finally settling at A-Class Rank 25.
"Still considered to have taken credit?" Lin Mo sighed, feeling a bit unfairly treated for Saitama.
However, this time, Lin Mo had indeed misunderstood the Hero Association's higher-ups.
They weren't all blind; surveillance satellites clearly captured the core footage of Saitama shattering the meteorite with a single punch, and coupled with the personal recommendation of "The Strongest Man on Earth" KING, its weight was considerable.
Although during the internal promotion meeting, some conservatives still believed that Saitama needed longer observation and review, a proposal to exceptionally promote him to S-Class was already being prepared.
A-Class Rank 25 was merely a transitional stepping stone.
"Ah, I just dropped Genos off at Dr. Kuseno's for repairs, and then the Hero Association called."
Saitama swallowed the beef jerky in his mouth, explaining vaguely, "They said something about... Child Emperor? Hmm... anyway, it was him. He said he had some newly invented combat robots and wanted me to help test their performance, and they'd provide lunch."
He pointed to Child Emperor, who was standing nearby, his mouth twitching slightly from having his name mispronounced but forcibly holding back from reacting, and said casually.
Child Emperor took a deep breath, quickly suppressing that hint of displeasure.
His idol was present; he couldn't lose his composure.
He ran to KING, looked up again, and proudly pointed to the surrounding equipment, introducing it:
"Uncle KING, welcome to my lab! Look, over there are my latest 'Dog-Man' series combat robots, with super strong tracking abilities and cooperative combat capabilities!"
He then pointed to a backpack that was automatically dressing a mannequin:
"And this, it's my 'Fully Automatic Combat Suit Storage Backpack' that I'm currently developing. Just press a button, and it can complete the combat suit's donning and weapon equipping in three seconds, greatly shortening heroes' deployment preparation time!"
Child Emperor talked non-stop as he walked, from the theoretical model of the high-energy particle compression cannon to the latest progress of the individual anti-gravity flight wing, his eyes filled with a fervent passion for technology.
Lin Mo listened "attentively," occasionally responding with "Mm" and "Oh" to cooperate, putting on a thoughtful expression.
In reality, he didn't understand a single word of those complex technical terms.
Saitama, meanwhile, let out a big yawn beside him. These obscure theories were far less appealing to him than a supermarket's special sale day.
Finally, Child Emperor led them to the core area of the laboratory.
Inside a glass case, a strangely shaped mask lay silently.
It was a rather peculiar mask, of unknown material, but presenting a warm, grayish-white color.
The mask was carved with an ugly, twisted female face, with four pairs of eyes of varying sizes symmetrically distributed on the face, and the corners of its mouth slightly upturned, forming a bizarre smile.
"This is it!" Child Emperor took it out and proudly announced, "I call it the 'ugly woman mask'! I invented it a few days ago on a whim."
"As long as you use it to scan a person's image, it can analyze that person's muscle mass and nerve development, accurately measure the wearer's pure physical strength, and quantify it!"
He paused, excitedly licked his lollipop, and turned to look at everyone, his eyes bright.
"The Hero Association's existing physical tests are too broad and primitive; they can no longer keep up with the times!"
"This invention is to establish a more precise combat power data model for the Hero Association! And you all are whom I asked the Association to invite to measure the data! Thank you for your hard work!"
"Sounds like a lot of trouble..." Saitama scratched his ear, muttering softly.
"Then, let the test begin!" Child Emperor ignored Saitama's complaint. He held up the ugly woman mask, first aiming it at Snake, whose expression was the most serious.
"Let's start with you, Mr. Snake, A-Class Rank 37."