"Welcome back, BOSS."
In the hallway of the residence, Mosquito Girl opened the door. When she saw Lucien, her smile softened, carrying the warmth of a devoted wife and a gentle mother.
"Cook this Centipede. I'll be back soon."
Lucien did not step inside. He left those words behind and vanished instantly.
Downstairs, the headless corpse of Centipede Elder sprawled across the ground.
"Is Lucien back?"
Saitama's voice drifted out from inside the house.
"Yes, but BOSS already left again. Beast King, clean it up. Today's ingredient is still Centipede meat."
Mosquito Girl walked outside and looked down at the massive corpse. It was far larger than the ones Saitama had brought back before, stretching like a small mountain range.
"Centipede meat?"
The moment Beast King stepped out, Saitama peeked from behind him, his bald head reflecting the light. When he saw Centipede Elder, his throat moved as he swallowed.
He had planned to finish his game and go hunting for another Centipede. Instead, one had already been delivered.
To be honest, Centipede meat was delicious.
Beast King extended his claws and leapt down, landing on the creature's back. Under Mosquito Girl's direction, he began to carve it apart.
However...
Clang!
Sparks burst as his claws struck the shell. Beast King froze, feeling the sharp sting of pain as his claws cracked.
"So hard."
A chill ran through him, goosebumps spreading across his body. Even dead, the Centipede's shell was impossible for him to break.
"It's easy."
Saitama suddenly appeared beside him. With a casual grip, he grabbed the shell and tore it apart effortlessly, as if peeling fruit.
Beast King lowered his head, his spirit collapsing instantly.
He felt useless. Now he could not even prepare ingredients. What purpose did he still serve?
Elsewhere,
Lucien continued his hunt, following intelligence from the Hero Association.
H City, G City, F City. One after another, he wiped out three branches of the Monster Association. All of them were empty.
Floating above F City, Lucien stared at the enormous crater below. Strange structures and tunnels twisted through the earth like a buried labyrinth.
At the same time, deep within the Monster Association headquarters, the atmosphere was suffocating.
All the high-ranking monsters had gathered, their eyes fixed on a projection suspended in midair. It displayed Lucien standing amidst the ruins of the F City branch.
"Damn it, why is God targeting us?"
The one speaking was Evil Eye, the strategist of the Monster Association. His grotesque body trembled as his massive eye focused on the image.
He possessed clairvoyance and powerful psychokinesis, yet despite his strength, he was nothing more than a puppet controlled by someone unseen.
At the front of the chamber sat a towering figure.
Monster King Orochi, the nominal leader of the Monster Association.
His monstrous body loomed over all others, horns curling from his head, his face cracked, his mouth filled with rows of jagged teeth. Even he, the strongest among them, was merely a puppet.
The true master remained hidden.
Around them stood the executives, each radiating terrifying power.
Overgrown Rover, the massive six-eyed black hound capable of unleashing destructive energy blasts.
Evil Natural Water, a living mass of water that compressed itself into deadly high-pressure attacks, immune to physical damage.
Homeless Emperor, a ragged man crowned with divine power.
Nyan, a cat-like monster whose flexible body could slip through gaps no wider than a few millimeters.
Gums, an enormous creature driven only by hunger.
Fuhrer Ugly, whose grotesque body hid terrifying speed and brutality.
Even Black Sperm stood among them, his expression filled with dread. He alone had felt Lucien's overwhelming power firsthand.
Behind them were countless Demon-level monsters, forming a dense, oppressive army.
This was why the other branches had been empty. Every significant force had been recalled.
"What is he doing?"
Homeless Emperor narrowed his eyes, staring at the projection.
An uneasy feeling spread through the chamber.
Above F City, Lucien slowly closed his eyes.
After destroying multiple branches, it was obvious. The strongest monsters had gathered in one place.
Perfect.
He still needed to get back in time to eat. This was the fastest way to finish everything.
Ki surged through his body, blending seamlessly with Observation Haki. An invisible ripple expanded outward from him, spreading across the land.
In an instant, it covered F City.
Then 100 kilometers.
500 kilometers.
1000 kilometers.
10,000 kilometers.
It continued expanding.
Inside Lucien's mind, the world flattened into a vast map. Countless points of light appeared, each representing a source of Ki.
The stronger the Ki, the brighter the light.
As he focused, the view zoomed in, revealing their true forms through Observation Haki.
"Found them."
Three minutes later, Lucien opened his amethyst eyes. A cruel smile formed on his lips as he turned toward the northeast and vanished.
His guess had been correct.
Those monsters were gathered together, their presences shining like full moons in the darkness.
They might as well have been calling out to him.
At full power, Lucien could scan nearly half the planet. Distance blurred details, but it did not matter.
They were still visible.
Inside the headquarters, panic erupted.
"No way...!"
Homeless Emperor's face paled as Lucien suddenly turned toward their direction.
"That's impossible. We're deep underground and far away."
"He can destroy the surface of the planet. Finding us is not out of the question."
"What do we do?"
"Evil Eye, check again!"
Fear gripped every monster present. Even Dragon-level beings felt like insects in the face of something they called God.
The memories of previous battles still haunted them.
The polar regions remained scarred.
The nights were permanently dark.
The moon itself was gone.
"Damn it!"
Evil Eye pushed his clairvoyance to its limit. What he saw made his entire body tremble.
A golden-white streak shot across the sky, tearing through the atmosphere at over twenty times the speed of sound.
Then, in an instant, everything changed.
The air exploded.
Lucien removed his limiter.
His speed surged to fifty times the speed of sound.
At that velocity, he would reach them in five seconds.
Five seconds.
There was no time to escape.
Fifty times the speed of sound was terrifying, yet compared to the speed of light, it was nothing.
Because light moved at 882,353 times the speed of sound.
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