"...Fine, fine, I get it!"
"So annoying!!"
She shouted one last time into the phone, hung up with a "snap," and casually shoved the phone back into her impossibly "other-dimensional" skirt.
Tatsumaki took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing her anger at the "Hero Association treating her like a nuclear-powered workhorse," and turned her gaze back to the Ancient King, who was waiting patiently below.
"Alright, big lizard."
Tatsumaki crossed her arms over her flat chest again, looking down from above, her tone carrying a perfunctory air of "let's get this over with so I can go home."
"Let's continue. What was it you wanted to say earlier? Oh, the pinnacle of life, right?"
She tilted her head, her dark green hair swaying lightly in the wind, and a barely concealed, almost maliciously cute smile appeared on her face:
"Well, that's too bad—"
Before the words had even faded, her emerald green eyes suddenly flared!
A Psychokinesis ten, a hundred times stronger than before, erupted without warning!
"Mr. 'Pinnacle of Life,' you're obsolete. Now is the era of humanity!"
Hum—!
A terrifying power beyond words instantly acted upon the Ancient King's massive body!
It wasn't simple suppression, but a brutal twisting and tearing!
"Roar—!"
The Ancient King only had time to let out a roar of pain mixed with shock and rage.
Its sturdy scales, which it took such pride in and which hadn't been damaged even by the crushing pressure of the Earth's crust, now let out a teeth-grinding "creak"!
It was as if an invisible, gigantic hand had treated it like modeling clay, starting from the head, and was ruthlessly gripping and twisting it!
Its mountain-like body was uncontrollably lifted from the ground, forcibly twisted into a grotesque spiral shape!
Rocks shattered, ancient ferns flew about, and the ancient, powerful life force within it dimmed rapidly in the face of this absolute disparity in power, like a candle flame in a hurricane.
"Only... a meteorite... could put me to sleep..."
"This... is... im... possible..."
The Ancient King's consciousness sank into boundless agony and terror.
In its final field of vision was that green-haired girl, floating in the air, not a single hem of her clothes out of place, wearing an "annoyed" expression.
So much for the revival of the Ancient race, so much for returning to orthodoxy... In front of this absurd little thing, it was like a bad joke.
"Phew~"
"3 seconds, done and dusted~"
"Small fry, small fry~"
Tatsumaki snapped her fingers lightly.
The twisted, mangled corpse of the Ancient King, its life force already extinguished, was casually tossed by her invisible Psychokinesis toward a desolate mountain hollow in the distance.
"Boom!" A massive crashing sound echoed, kicking up dust that filled the sky, serving as the final brushstroke in the sloppy finale of this Ancient King.
Tatsumaki didn't even glance that way, clapped her hands, and still wore an expression of dissatisfaction on her small face:
"Jeez, I actually wanted to see what would happen if I hit it with a meteorite..."
"That guy Sitch, why the rush!"
"He even said something about a 'God-level threat' and 'the Earth is doomed'..."
"Who is he trying to scare?"
"..."
"Forget it!"
She pursed her lips, moved her body, and transformed into a green streak of light, speeding off in the direction of the Hero Association headquarters in City A.
"Even that King has to attend the meeting."
"It probably isn't a crisis that can be overcome easily."
"Of course, that's assuming Sitch isn't lying..."
"Otherwise, I'll twist the association building into a pretzel and make it a new landmark!"
...
Meanwhile. In City Z, on the edge of the ghost town, inside a slightly old apartment building.
"So, that's how it is." The S-Class Rank 3, Silver Fang—Bang!
This elderly man, dressed in a white martial arts uniform, with white hair and beard but a vigorous spirit, was sitting upright in the simple living room.
He wore a warm yet unrefusable smile on his face as he spoke to the bald young man in front of him.
"My dear older brother—Bomb, thought my dojo was the same as before, with many disciples."
"So he specially entrusted someone to send a large amount of top-grade Wagyu beef as a birthday gift."
Bang pointed to the feet of his eldest disciple, Charanko, who was standing beside him—there sat several huge cooler boxes, faintly revealing the alluring luster unique to high-grade meat.
"But the actual situation, as you can see." Bang sighed, his tone carrying a touch of well-placed "distress":
"Ever since my unfilial disciple Garou caused those incidents, the dojo is now only guarded by Charanko alone."
"With so much fine beef, if it were to spoil, it would truly be a waste, and it would also let down my brother's good intentions."
He looked with sincere eyes at the bald young man sitting on the opposite sofa, wearing a yellow jumpsuit with a blank expression—Saitama.
"Saitama-kun, and Genos-kun, could you do this old man a favor and help me deal with this 'excess burden'?"
"Just consider it mutual help between colleagues."
Saitama sat cross-legged on the sofa, his eyelids drooping slightly, looking at those large boxes of beef, his face expressionless, but his mind was calculating rapidly:
Top-grade Wagyu... the market price seems outrageously expensive... so much... I can save a lot of money on meals... plus... it really looks delicious...
But verbally, he still tried to maintain his "restraint" as a "hero":
"Ah... well... Mr. Bang, you know, I'm usually very busy, have to exercise, and have to fight Monsters..."
"My time is incredibly precious, every single minute and second!"
Before Saitama could finish, the blonde cyborg Genos, standing by his side like the most loyal guard, spoke decisively.
His handsome face was filled with seriousness, his golden mechanical eyes swept coldly over Bang and the boxes of beef, his voice filled with anger:
"Mr. Bang, as an S-Class Rank 3 hero, you should understand the urgency and priority of matters."
"Disturbing Sensei's practice with such trivial and greasy food is truly too rude."
"If there is no major event concerning the survival of humanity, please do not occupy Sensei's precious time!"
As he said this, he even pulled out a notebook and a pen from somewhere behind his back, ready to record "Bang only wastes Sensei's time with pointless social pleasantries" into his "Saitama-Sensei Observation Journal."
"Eh—?" Bang drew out his tone, his smile unchanged, but his eyes drifted slightly toward Saitama.
He knew this seemingly dull bald man too well. Sure enough, Saitama's blank face changed instantly.
He sat up straight abruptly, a flash of light representing "enlightenment" seemingly passing over his bald head, his expression becoming extraordinarily "righteous," and he even turned to look at Genos with a hint of reproach:
"Hey! Genos! You can't say that!"
"What is a hero's duty? It's to help people in need!"
"Mr. Bang is currently facing a dilemma where food might go to waste!"
"Isn't this a 'crisis' that requires us to lend a helping hand?"
"Standing idly by? That's not how a hero should behave!"
He spoke righteously, as if what was in front of him wasn't a few boxes of beef, but disaster victims waiting for rescue. After all, that was top-grade Wagyu! High-end goods you'd never see in the supermarket's discount section!
Genos: "..." He froze completely.
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