As an A-Class Hero, Snake had absolute confidence in his strength.
He stepped forward, stood ramrod straight, and said to Child Emperor with a serious expression, "Come on, Child Emperor. My body is my strongest weapon. Let your invention see the power of an A-Class Hero."
"Alright, Mr. Snake!" Child Emperor's eyes sparkled.
He raised the ugly woman mask and aimed it at Snake.
Of the four eerie eyes on the mask, two larger pairs suddenly lit up, emitting two soft green beams that slowly scanned Snake's body from head to toe.
A few seconds later, the scan stopped.
In the center of the mask, below the smallest pair of eyes, a tiny holographic screen lit up, displaying a string of bright red numbers:
[Physical Strength Value: 1600]
"1600!" Child Emperor nodded with satisfaction, recording the data.
"A very good value, Mr. Snake. According to my preliminary model, the value for an average adult male is between 5-10, while a top world boxer is roughly around 80."
Child Emperor licked his lollipop and continued to explain in a professional tone:
"This means your pure physical strength has far exceeded the scope of what regular humans can achieve; you are a true superhuman. This value is definitely among the best even among A-Class Heroes."
Validated by an S-Class Hero, Snake's confidence grew even stronger.
He folded his arms and nodded reservedly, but the smugness in his eyes was impossible to hide.
"Of course, this is just a static value and doesn't fully represent combat power," Child Emperor added rigorously.
"Combat skills, weapon bonuses, and energy utilization all have a huge impact on the final result. But a strong physique is always the most reliable cornerstone for a hero."
As he spoke, he turned his gaze to the two heroes on the other side of the room—Saitama and The Strongest Man on Earth, King.
The test continued.
First up was the A-Class Rank 13, Great Philosopher.
Although his title was elegant, he himself was a burly man over two meters tall with bulging muscles.
He walked silently to the center of the arena and nodded to Child Emperor.
The green beams scanned again, and this time, the mask's "buzzing" sound seemed louder than before.
Moments later, a new number appeared on the holographic screen, causing Snake's pupils to contract slightly.
[Physical Strength Value: 2442]
"2442!" A hint of surprise flashed in Child Emperor's eyes. He quickly recorded it and commented:
"Very impressive! Mr. Great Philosopher, your physical strength even surpasses many A-Class Heroes known for their power. Those muscles are indeed genuine!"
Snake secretly clicked his tongue, never expecting that this burly man, who was only slightly higher ranked than him, would have such significantly stronger physical attributes.
It seemed the Hero Association's rankings did have some basis after all.
Next was the B-Class Rank 50, Dark Flame Dragon Swordsman.
He wore heavy black armor, a chuunibyou-like smile on his face, and before the test, struck what he considered a cool pose, muttering under his breath:
"How can a mundane machine peer into the dormant Dark Flame Dragon power within my body..."
Child Emperor ignored his performance and directly initiated the scan. The results came out quickly.
[Physical Strength Value: 759]
"759, for a B-Class Hero, that's a quite excellent rating," Child Emperor stated objectively.
"Hmph, this is merely the value of my mortal body after suppressing the Flame Dragon's power," Dark Flame Dragon Swordsman explained to himself, then coolly stepped aside.
At this point, all heroes who voluntarily participated in the test had been measured.
Everyone's gaze, subtly or not, eventually converged on the other two people in the room—Saitama and The Strongest Man on Earth, King.
"Alright, next..." Child Emperor's gaze flickered between Saitama and King, finally settling on Saitama.
For this man who could destroy a meteor with a single punch, yet whose physical test data at the Association only showed "excellent" in all categories, Child Emperor harbored a curiosity far exceeding that of others.
Such destructive power could never be measured by conventional data.
He wanted to see if his invention could glimpse even the tip of his iceberg.
"The bald one... Mr. Saitama, A-Class Rank 25, it's your turn."
"Ah, okay."
Saitama lazily stood up and walked to the center of the arena, his expression saying, "Hurry up so I can go eat lunch."
Child Emperor took a deep breath and raised the ugly woman mask, aiming it at the seemingly unremarkable bald man.
The green scanning beam shot out again, inch by inch, sweeping across Saitama's body.
Initially, everything was normal, and the mask emitted a steady "buzzing" sound.
But just as the scanning beam reached Saitama's chest, a sudden anomaly occurred!
"Buzz—buzz buzz buzz!"
The sound from the mask suddenly became sharp and piercing, like an overloaded engine.
The numbers on the holographic screen started from zero and soared wildly at a speed the naked eye couldn't follow:
10... 100... 1000... 9999... The speed of the numbers jumping had already exceeded the screen's refresh rate, leaving a blurred afterimage.
"Wh-what's happening?" Child Emperor was greatly alarmed; he had never anticipated such a situation.
"Beep! Beep! Beep! Warning! Energy reaction overloaded! Exceeding measurement limit! Exceeding measurement limit!" The mask's interior emitted a piercing electronic warning sound.
"Bang!"
Before anyone could react, a crisp popping sound echoed throughout the room.
The ugly woman mask in Child Emperor's hand trembled violently, and its surface simultaneously cracked from the corners of its four eyes, forming several spiderweb-like fissures!
"Ah! My invention!"
Child Emperor let out a heartbroken cry, cradling the ruined mask with distress.
This was his masterpiece, on which he had labored for three days and three nights!
The entire core area fell into a dead silence.
Snake, Great Philosopher, and "Flame Dragon Knight"—the three heroes stared dumbfounded at Saitama, as if looking at a monster in human skin.
They couldn't understand what had just happened.
How could a person's physical strength burn out Child Emperor's precise instrument on the spot?
Saitama, meanwhile, scratched his bald head innocently, "Uh, sorry for breaking your thing."
Child Emperor looked up, his gaze towards Saitama completely changed.
He estimated that an average adult male's value was about 5, and a regularly exercising fighter could reach over 20. The average value for a C-Class Hero was 100, B-Class was 500, and A-Class was several thousand.
But there was one point: the ugly woman mask's upper limit was 9999, and anything exceeding that limit would be unanalyzable.
However... the ugly woman mask had directly broken down!