"This must be the Uninhabited Zone from the story. The Monster Association should be underground here. But there's no need to rush. The big guy flying the spaceship hasn't arrived yet, so I won't let those hidden monsters reveal themselves just yet."
The young man wearing a haori appeared out of thin air on the top floor of an abandoned high-rise building amid a flurry of cherry blossom petals.
He nodded as he watched Genos and Saitama eating hot pot in their apartment. He had already learned that large swarms of blood-sucking mosquitoes had recently appeared in several places. That was the point in the story when Saitama and Genos first met, proving that the main plot had only just begun.
In other words, it would not be long before the House of Evolution attacked. After that, Saitama and Genos would take the Hero Association entrance exam. Because his written test score would fall short of the required standard, Saitama would become a C-Class Hero, while Genos would become an S-Class Hero.
"However, I have no intention of taking some so-called exam just to prove my strength. Saitama is calm and indifferent, so he doesn't care about taking the exam. But someone as shallow as me would rather show off in front of others."
The young man had no intention of befriending Saitama like the protagonists in the novels he had read. He and Saitama were simply not the same kind of person.
He was a man driven by strong desires. He liked beautiful women and enjoyed good food, fine drinks, and entertainment. Therefore, when he once had the chance to walk an austere path toward immortality, he chose to give it up and follow his current path instead.
That was simply because he understood himself clearly. For someone like him, burdened by deep desires and complicated thoughts, pursuing immortality would require twice the effort for half the results.
"After completing this mission, it will be time to return to those worlds and visit the wives I've taken. However, judging by the difference in the flow of time, no more than a week has probably passed there, even though it has been almost a year for me."
The young man sighed as he gazed at the sunset on the horizon. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind as he recalled his journey from the moment he first obtained the System to where he stood now, and a surge of ambition rose within him.
He had gone from an ordinary person to someone on the verge of becoming a Fourth Rank life-form, an existence like the immortals from legends who could move mountains and part the seas. He had gone from a shut-in who could not even find a girlfriend to someone with a harem numbering in the double digits.
In the future, he would travel to even more distant worlds, obtain greater power, claim more beautiful women, taste delicacies from countless worlds, and enjoy endless pleasures!
"Hahahaha!"
He laughed loudly. This time, instead of disappearing amid cherry blossom petals as he had before, he rose into the sky with the wind.
Of course, he still left a few petals behind to preserve his stylish appearance.
Saitama scratched his head and poked it out of the window to look around. Some lunatic outside seemed to have been laughing uncontrollably just now, even louder than the television in his apartment.
"Master, according to my built-in detection equipment and an analysis of the frequency of that laughter, the person must have encountered something that made him exceptionally happy. His emotions became uncontrollable, causing him to laugh so loudly."
"How happy does someone have to be to act like a little kid?"
Saitama muttered. Even when he had received so much money from his newly accepted disciple, he had not laughed that happily.
Caelus looked at the tall building before him. The structure was filled with traps and mechanisms, while numerous modified creatures lurked in various corners. However, the true base of the House of Evolution was located underground.
Caelus reached out and turned his hand forward as though flipping a page. The tall building before him actually transformed into a thin sheet of paper and drifted to the ground.
This was the power of Elation.
Meanwhile, inside the underground base, Dr. Genus watched the scene through the surveillance equipment, his eyes wide with shock.
"What kind of joke is this? This is completely unscientific!"
Watching someone turn a building from a three-dimensional object into a thin, two-dimensional sheet right before his eyes was utterly irrational to Dr. Genus, a genius scientist.
Although his primary field was biology, that did not mean he knew nothing about physics.
Caelus walked into the underground base and saw Dr. Genus, whom he recognized from Kamakyuri and Beast King's memories, standing in the corridor and trembling as he stared at him.
"I don't know how you managed to transform a three-dimensional object into a two-dimensional one, but such an ability cannot be without limitations. Otherwise, someone like you would never have remained unknown!"
Dr. Genus looked at Caelus, took a deep breath, and said, "Since you aren't a hero from the Hero Association and haven't informed them about this place, you must have your own reason for coming here, correct? Tell me, what do you want?"
"I'm simply curious about what kind of person could transform ordinary creatures into powerful monsters, so I came to take a look and learn your story while I'm here."
On his way there, Caelus had searched online for information about Dr. Genus. He discovered that the doctor had been quite famous in his younger years and was once a leading authority in the academic fields of evolution and biology. However, because some of his experimental theories were considered too radical, he was rejected by the scientific establishment and eventually disappeared from public view.
More importantly, according to the timeline, Dr. Genus should have been a frail old man by now. Yet the Dr. Genus standing before him was genuinely young, both in terms of his vital signs and the condition of his soul.
This was true rejuvenation. Not only had his body returned to its youth, but even the state of his soul had reverted to that of a young man.
For that reason alone, Caelus decided to have a proper conversation with the man before him.
"I want humanity to evolve into a higher form of life! Modern humans are simply too stupid! Can you understand how disgusted I felt when, as a young man who had just entered the scientific world, I spoke with those famous researchers? Problems that were simple in my eyes were, to them, challenges that would take an entire lifetime to overcome!"
"I became deeply disappointed in humanity. Must the advancement of human civilization truly depend on the guidance of only a handful of exceptional individuals? That is far too inefficient and painfully slow!"
"That is why I want humanity as a whole to evolve. Some people are born with immense strength, while others, such as myself, possess unmatched intelligence. This proves that, as long as we fully unlock that potential, countless people could possess intelligence equal to mine and naturally powerful bodies!"
"Human civilization would then advance at an unprecedented rate! The world would no longer be filled with so many ignorant fools! Humanity needs complete evolution!"
Once he began talking about his philosophy and ambitions, Dr. Genus instantly lost his earlier fear and started speaking with passionate confidence.
"Through my efforts over the years, I have successfully achieved rejuvenation and created various powerful specimens. Unfortunately, their intelligence ultimately failed to meet my expectations, and even those capable of rational thought are rare..."
"However, the moment I saw that man named Saitama, I knew my research was on the verge of a breakthrough. So why don't you join me? Together, we can create a powerful human civilization!"
When Dr. Genus finally emerged from his fanatical state, he saw that the person before him had somehow taken out a notebook and pen and appeared to have written down everything he had just said.
That expression made him look exactly like those incredibly stupid freeloaders who used to take notes during Dr. Genus's lectures.
(To be continued.)
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)