"Teacher, why are we still here?"
Genos was also wearing a yellow apron at this time, constantly restocking various sold-out goods on the supermarket shelves with Saitama.
It seemed that due to the recent increase in various incidents, many people had started to panic and hoard various supplies.
The supermarket's business was exceptionally good at this time.
Various data constantly appeared in Genos's electronic eyes; he was much more like a veteran at this kind of work than Saitama.
The location and price of various goods, once seen, would no longer be wrong.
On the contrary, Saitama, who had been working here for some time, frequently touched his head, as if deep in thought.
Facing Genos's question, Saitama stopped again.
Yes, why was he doing these things here again…
He felt that he had probably forgotten something, but that matter was probably not very important, so he was not very troubled.
He just paused for a moment and then continued working. He turned around and saw the "big gift package" the store manager had left for him in the employee lounge.
Those were many expiring goods, still within their shelf life, but not good for selling anymore, usually offered at a special discount.
But after learning about Saitama's situation, the store manager would always pack these things up and let him take them home after work.
Saitama paused again.
The store manager's actions were indeed very thoughtful, but it always felt… a bit strange.
Saitama couldn't quite put his finger on what was strange, but he always felt that he didn't really like this kind of "convenience."
He suddenly sat down cross-legged between two shelves. Customers coming and going saw the sitting employee, but merely frowned, bypassed these two rows of shelves, and shopped elsewhere.
Saitama watched this scene with his "dead fish eyes."
Even if he did such a thing, everyone seemed to have no inconvenience; they just took a slight detour and continued with their own lives.
Whether he stood here or sat here, whether he did this job or not, it would not affect these people…
He looked at the large bag of "benefits" again and suddenly realized what he subtly disliked.
Before, perhaps a long time ago, in that feeling that was slowly fading from his memory, there was the joy of bargain hunting at a discount supermarket.
But now, he no longer needed to pay attention to such things, he didn't need to make time, he didn't need to compete with those aunties for bargains.
This "convenience" made many of his actions unnecessary.
He didn't need to do that, he didn't need to do this, but… what should he do?
Saitama suddenly realized that, unknowingly, he had been robbed of many things by these conveniences, and because it had been a long time, he had gotten used to it and didn't even realize what he had lost.
Saitama suddenly stood up and looked around. He remembered the TV show in J City again.
He saw in the TV that the child was being held in the air by something, struggling wildly, but he couldn't hear any sound.
Then, who was that, Peach? Never mind, anyway, that person saved the child.
That woman said that many of them were calling for help, calling out to heroes.
But… he didn't hear them…
"Hey, Genos."
"Yes, Teacher?"
"Use your eyes and see how many people have called for help recently?"
Genos looked at his teacher, puzzled, but still retrieved the data. Soon, he spoke,
"Today, the number of times people sought help through various hero agencies and attempted to call the former Hero Association was 135,764, an increase of about 3% compared to yesterday."
Saitama heard this number, but still had little real feeling.
"Did you hear their calls for help?"
Genos nodded.
"Of course, Teacher, I go on missions an average of 31 times a week."
Saitama stood still, looking at the goods in his hand and the employee uniform on him. He suddenly thought of that weak, crying face again.
The person who said they prayed desperately when they were about to die, whether it was a god, a hero, or anyone, just save them.
He wanted to hear, in what tone did the other party call for his help that he couldn't hear it?
Saitama took off his employee uniform and said calmly,
"Never mind, Genos, let's go."
"My work hours should be over~"
He then stepped out.
The chubby store manager immediately came over from the front. He wasn't angry, but just stood in front of Saitama, wondering,
"What's wrong, Saitama-kun, are you not satisfied with the work here?"
"In fact, I also have other stores next door."
Saitama continued forward.
"If you're not satisfied with the treatment, we can talk about it…"
Genos looked at this scene strangely. Was it because the teacher's work ability was too strong that the boss couldn't bear to let him go?
But looking at the two shelves where Saitama was, many goods were still missing.
The teacher's work ability was so bad that he couldn't even praise it.
So… why…
Saitama suddenly turned his head, looked at the once kindly-faced boss, and said calmly,
"I don't want to work anymore, I want to do something else."
He stepped out again.
Sizzle!
The lights in the supermarket suddenly began to flicker. Under the flickering lights, the kindly boss's face also shifted between indifference and kindness.
He suddenly sighed and said,
"Why, Saitama-kun, surely someone like you should understand that for you, this world has no meaning."
"No human will care about graffiti on the beach."
"No god will live permanently in a temple worshipped by humans."
"You are the same…"
Saitama saw the supermarket boss's face constantly changing, and his demeanor also changing.
He shook his head, not wanting to engage in a futile argument, because he himself didn't understand what he wanted to do in the future, but the only thing he was sure of was that at this moment, he wanted to hear that sound again.
Sizzle!
Outside the supermarket, lightning struck from the sky.
The surrounding space began to distort, and the lights in the supermarket completely extinguished. Genos suddenly found that he couldn't see anything around him.
Even with infrared thermal sensing activated, he couldn't detect the presence of anything.
He tried to speak, but no sound came out.
Saitama was the same; he found that everything around him had disappeared.
"Saitama-kun, you should be familiar with this environment. Only this void is ultimately the dwelling that can accommodate you…"
That voice kept ringing, and Saitama suddenly interrupted.
"You're so noisy."
He extended his fist and punched forward.
Crack~
The sound of space cracking echoed.
Then, bang!
The dark space exploded, and the supermarket had disappeared.
Saitama looked around; he was standing in the middle of the road.
There was no supermarket at all, and Genos also looked at him blankly.
Beep, beep~
Genos's communicator kept ringing. After he answered, a familiar voice came through.
"This is Fubuki, a devastating disaster has occurred in J City!"
"No, it's not just J City; many people in other areas have turned into monsters, and a god might have revived!"
"Ah!"
Fubuki exclaimed.
Saitama bent his knees and stomped hard.
Bang!
The entire street shattered, and his figure had disappeared.
—
Almost the instant Saitama broke through that supermarket, several people reacted simultaneously.
The Lord of the Spirit Realm [???] roared furiously and, ignoring Tornado, tore open the Spirit Realm and disappeared, no one knew where he went.
And under the desert on the outskirts of Z City, the man standing in that huge ruin also had various information flowing in his eyes.
He shook his head and sighed, then withdrew the hand he had already inserted into the ruin.
"That is fate… Saitama, you ultimately chose this ending."
Above Z City, Bai Cangshu, who was always in the Transcendent Helix state, also, at this moment, detected a piece of information from somewhere in the desert, whose complexity far exceeded everyone else's.
In comparison, if the information emitted by the Sage was as simple as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, then this information was as obscure as advanced mathematics.
"Is that… the Supreme Expert?!"