Inside the metal hole made by their punches, Louis and Saitama dropped into a long, dark corridor.
The walls were slightly curved, glowing with faint purple lines that ran along the ceiling and sides.
There was a strange smell in the air… a mix of burnt metal and something organic that clearly did not belong to Earth.
A bit behind them, they could hear the other S-class heroes entering the ship from different openings, using their own methods to get inside.
But in this part of the ship… Louis and Saitama were alone.
"Hmm…" Saitama lifted his head, looking around with the curiosity of a child in a science lab.
"This place looks exactly like those old games about alien invasions," he muttered casually.
Louis walked beside him, one hand in his pocket, the other swinging loosely.
"If it were just a game, then the lives of hundreds of thousands of people wouldn't mean much right now," he said quietly.
"Oh, right." Saitama nodded without embarrassment, then added, "But still… the design is pretty good."
They had barely walked twenty steps…
When a sticky green mass slid out of one of the side walls.
It quickly formed into a three-headed creature, with almost transparent skin and acid-like veins moving under the surface.
One of the three heads opened its mouth, and a harsh, metallic-scraping voice came out:
"Intruders detected… human body, unusual energy… both will be dissolved in acid…"
The monster lifted its slimy arms.
Glowing balls of acid formed in its hands, the air around them hissing softly.
Louis glanced at Saitama:
"Careful, this type can—"
Bang!
Before Louis could finish his sentence, Saitama's fist had already moved.
A simple punch. Straight. No fancy moves, no special stance.
His fist hit the three-headed monster's body.
In the same instant…
The creature literally exploded into a cloud of green steam, which vanished into the air without leaving a single drop of acid behind, as if its body had never existed.
Only a few strange sparks flashed on the walls… then faded away too.
Saitama lowered his hand and blinked:
"Huh… it fell apart pretty fast."
Louis looked at the empty space where the monster had been, then at Saitama.
"... I was about to tell you its acid can melt metal easily, but… never mind."
"Was it strong?" Saitama asked, completely calm.
"For normal humans, or even A-class heroes and below… yes, a disaster," Louis replied simply. "For you… just a bug in the way."
"Hmmm…" Saitama rubbed his chin, thinking. "If the 'bugs' are this weak… why does that space ruler act like he's such a big deal?"
They moved deeper into the corridor, which started splitting into side passages.
Whenever a group of alien monsters appeared—tall, short, armed, clawed, or carrying strange weapons—the result was always the same:
One step forward.
One punch.
Explosion.
Bodies turned into pieces… or into vapor right away.
At some point, Louis simply put his hands behind his back and walked calmly, while Saitama took care of "cleaning the path."
After Saitama flattened a group of large, armored aliens in a single moment, he said:
"I feel like I'm playing on easy mode."
Louis smiled:
"Don't get too used to this… not every enemy will stand in a narrow hallway and wait for your punch."
"But…" Saitama raised an eyebrow. "If his soldiers are this weak, is that space ruler really strong? Why is he taking so long to show up?"
Louis stayed silent for a few seconds, his eyes studying the living walls of the ship:
"Real leaders rarely move first. They usually send their underlings to test the enemy's reaction."
Then he added in a slightly joking tone:
"And some of them… just like to make a 'legendary entrance.' They don't appear until the background music reaches the peak—just like in those games you like."
"Ah…" Saitama nodded with fake understanding. "The final boss, right?"
"Something like that," Louis said.
Suddenly, the corridor started to narrow, the walls leaning inward smoothly, as if they were walking through a giant metal throat.
With each step, Louis began to feel a strange pressure in the air.
A force pushing directly… on both body and spirit.
Saitama kept walking at the same lazy pace as always.
"Hmm, the air's a bit heavier now," he commented, like he was talking about a small weather change.
For him, the pressure was nothing more than a slightly strong breeze.
But Louis…
He could feel his bones starting to complain, his muscles tightening under his skin.
"Is this…?" he thought to himself. "Boros is starting to move."
"He's trying to filter out intruders… the closer we get to the core, the stronger the pressure."
But on the outside, his face stayed calm.
Back straight.
Steps steady.
Saitama didn't even look at him, but every time Louis lifted his foot, he had to clench his teeth a little, trying to keep his breathing controlled so no one would notice.
His pace slowed just a tiny bit… but it was there.
"Are you okay?" Saitama asked, not very interested, like someone asking out of basic politeness.
"Me?" Louis answered with a relaxed smile. "Of course."
Inside, he thought bitterly:
If this increases just a little more, everyone will hear my joints crack…
The corridor kept curving until it suddenly opened into a wide chamber.
Before Saitama could say anything…
The next wave of pressure hit them all of a sudden, as if the ship itself had finally noticed their presence.
A heavy force crashed down on the area from every direction, making the very air feel thick and hard to move through.
If the other S-class heroes had been here, they would've needed all their strength just to stay standing.
Saitama lifted a hand and scratched his cheek:
"Now it's getting a bit annoying."
As for Louis, a faint cracking sound almost came from his joints, but his face remained calm:
"It's still… within acceptable limits."
At the moment Saitama raised his foot for the next step—
A strange wave of energy crackled from the right side, gathering into a single point, then—
Shoooom!!
Something shot down like an arrow from above, moving so fast it only appeared as a line of light.
A surprise attack, aimed straight at Saitama's head.
But before it could touch him…
Saitama casually raised his hand, like he was blocking a ball tossed at him.
"Hmm."
He brushed the incoming fist aside with the back of his hand.
In that same instant, the attacker's force was reflected back at him, sending his body flying backwards.
Doooom!!
Part of the upper wall exploded.
Chunks of living metal rained down like glowing debris before the structure slowly began to repair itself.
Louis turned his head toward the source of the attack.
On the other side of the room, a tall figure stepped forward slowly.
Purple skin, glowing blue veins, and a metal armor covering half his body, decorated with patterns that looked like closed eyes.
His single glowing blue eye locked onto Saitama.
And his aura… was completely different from all the aliens they had fought before.
"Finally…" Louis muttered inside: Someone worthy.
The newcomer raised his hand and looked at his armor, now cracked at the shoulder because of the reflected force.
The armor then shattered completely and fell to the floor, breaking apart as it landed.
He spoke in a deep voice, filled with excitement:
"I didn't expect… anyone to survive my opening attack."
Then he smiled, a wild, burning grin:
"It seems… the prophecy that I would find a worthy opponent on this planet… was correct."
At that moment…
Louis looked at Saitama.
Saitama was staring at the broken armor, then at its owner, with a totally plain expression:
"Oh… his clothes broke."
He didn't realize that those "clothes" he just ruined… were actually the armor of the cosmic ruler, Boros.