"Honestly, if we'd walked straight into their setup…"
"…there's a very real chance we would've been crushed the moment we encountered them."
"We might not even have gotten the chance to activate our Quirks before being taken down."
"That outcome is entirely possible."
"After all, their preparations are extremely thorough."
"And the most important part is…"
"…neither of us can defeat All Might."
The Sludge Villain's analysis was perfectly rational.
Yet even after hearing it, Muscular remained completely unconcerned.
"Heh. Can't beat him?"
"How would we know unless we actually fight?"
As he spoke, Muscular slowly raised a hand and touched the scar running across his ruined eye.
His expression instantly became savage.
Violent.
His remaining eye burned with frightening ferocity.
Clearly—
deep down, he genuinely wanted to fight All Might head-on and determine which of them was stronger.
Seeing the excitement on Muscular's face, the Sludge Villain's mouth twitched slightly.
Fight All Might?
How much alcohol did you drink to become this delusional?
At least eat a peanut or two before boasting this hard.
Noticing the strange look on the Sludge Villain's face, Muscular frowned in dissatisfaction.
Still, he didn't say anything.
Because even he understood how absurd his own words sounded.
All Might was publicly acknowledged as the strongest man alive.
An invincible existence standing above everyone else.
Anyone claiming they wanted to challenge him naturally sounded insane.
And truthfully, Muscular himself knew the gap between them was enormous.
The reason he still talked like this was simple.
His fighting instincts were screaming at him.
After all—
there could only be one strongest.
And as a battle maniac, how could he not care about the title of the world's strongest man?
Still, despite his recklessness, Muscular wasn't stupid enough to charge out right now and challenge All Might directly.
He just hated thinking too much.
That didn't mean he was brain-dead.
With that thought, Muscular spoke again.
"Besides…"
"So what if their plan is good?"
"So what if their strategy is meticulous?"
"In the end, aren't they still walking straight into your trap?"
"They failed to predict your moves."
"That makes them idiots."
Hearing such unexpectedly logical words come out of Muscular's mouth, the Sludge Villain gave him a surprised look.
He genuinely hadn't expected this brute to possess that level of understanding.
A fool hiding unexpected wisdom?
Still—
he actually agreed with Muscular's conclusion.
"You're right."
"They misjudged our intentions."
"And because of that, they're going to lose everything."
"So yes…"
"…they are fools."
"How should I put it?"
"This is exactly what Officer Tsukauchi said earlier."
"It all comes down to information disparity."
"Their plan against us is genuinely effective."
"And the heroes they assembled truly do counter us."
"If a direct battle really broke out…"
"…I wouldn't stand a chance against Best Jeanist."
"And as for you, you'd be pinned down by All Might exactly as they predicted."
"You wouldn't even get the opportunity to help me."
"In the end, both of us would lose."
"Even if we revealed our hidden cards, the outcome would probably remain the same."
"But unfortunately for them…"
"…they made one fatal mistake."
"From the very beginning, the so-called 'concerned citizen' who reported our location to the police was one of my people."
"And among the personnel transferred into this operation…"
"…I already planted my own eyes."
Muscular immediately revealed a mocking grin.
"That's why I called them idiots."
"Elite officers?"
"Top-ranked heroes?"
"The Symbol of Peace?"
"They didn't even investigate the background of the 'helpful civilian' before trusting the report."
"And they didn't properly verify the personnel transferred into such an important operation before letting them participate."
"What a bunch of morons."
Meanwhile—
while Muscular and the Sludge Villain mocked the heroes inside the mall—
Shigaraki Tomura quietly entered N City Mall alongside Himiko Toga.
As for how he knew the location—
naturally, the Sludge Villain had already informed him during their phone call.
Including the entire plan he had personally designed to help Shigaraki recruit Muscular completely.
The Sludge Villain had explained everything over the phone afterward.
After all, too many heroes had gathered for this operation.
He was worried something unexpected might happen and cause Shigaraki to miss the chance to recruit such a valuable combat asset.
If his carefully prepared surprise turned into a complete disaster instead…
Kurogiri would absolutely beat him senseless.
The Sludge Villain had no desire to let the "gift" he prepared for his master become a total failure.
And after learning that the Sludge Villain had already started planning recruitment operations on his behalf, Shigaraki suddenly felt that recruiting him had truly been worthwhile.
Honestly—
he was a little touched.
So he immediately decided to come personally.
Partly to handle unexpected situations if something went wrong.
And partly to personally secure Muscular's loyalty.
That was the real reason he appeared here.
Originally, Shigaraki had no intention of bringing Himiko with him.
But she stubbornly insisted on coming, claiming she was worried about his safety.
And considering his current strength, even if a full-scale battle erupted inside the mall, he was completely confident he could protect her.
Besides, Himiko's Quirk was genuinely useful.
And he already planned to recruit her into the organization he was building anyway.
So in the end, he reluctantly agreed.
However—
the moment he stepped into the mall, he unexpectedly caught sight of a familiar black figure moving through the crowd.
The figure disappeared around the corner almost immediately.
If not for his confidence in his own eyesight, he might have thought he imagined it.
But…
why would that person be here?
As the thought crossed his mind, Shigaraki scanned the surrounding area carefully.
Unfortunately, he couldn't find the figure again.
Beside him, Himiko—currently holding his hand while happily browsing accessories at a nearby stall—tilted her head curiously after noticing the change in his expression.
"What's wrong, Tenko?"
"Nothing."
After thinking for a moment, Shigaraki ultimately decided not to mention his suspicion.
After all—
bringing up another girl while accompanying a girl was an unbelievably stupid thing to do.
He wasn't an idiot.
Even if Himiko was unusually tolerant, she would still get upset.
And Shigaraki definitely wasn't dumb enough to make such a low-level mistake.
So he simply shook his head.
"Probably just saw wrong."
Besides—
nothing dangerous was going to happen anyway.
So even if he really had mistaken someone else for that figure, it didn't matter.
After buying Himiko what she wanted, Shigaraki led her away from the first floor of the mall—
and quietly pushed the matter to the back of his mind.
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