**Chapter 9: Great Calamity Approaches (Please bookmark)**
A City's Black Street Monster Club.
This was a club established to entertain the public, with service staff who impersonated monsters. From its inception, it was highly sought after because the staff's monster impersonations were extremely convincing. Whether it was their abilities or their appearance, they were just like real monsters.
The truth was, this was a genuine gathering place for monsters. Humans who had mutated into monsters for various reasons, some of whom lacked violent tendencies and preferred a quiet life, were ostracized by society. So they gathered together and established the Monster Club to earn a living.
Inside the club, as dawn approached, they had already closed for the night. They were busy cleaning up the various kinds of trash left behind by the previous night's frenzied customers, sweeping everything spotless.
At this moment, a young monster resembling a carrot rushed in holding a newspaper, panicked, shouting, "Chairman, this is bad! The Soda Monster family of three—grandfather, son, and grandson—have been killed by someone from the Hero Association!"
"What?!"
A middle-aged man who looked like a Soy Sauce Bottle Monster stood up, his face grim. "The Hero Association... They've gone too far!"
Inside the hall, the monsters who were cleaning stopped their work one after another, their expressions filled with shared hatred. "That's right, the Hero Association has gone too far! We're already hiding like rats, and they still won't let us go. I've had enough!"
"We haven't killed anyone, nor have we launched any terrorist attacks. We just mutated into monsters because of our hobbies. What have we done wrong? Why are they so hostile towards us?"
"I can't take it anymore! Every day, having to act like a clown to entertain those disgusting folks! If this continues, I'll go crazy!"
More than a dozen monsters, including Apple Monster, Cabbage Monster, Wahaha Monster, Spicy Strip Monster, and Vodka Monster, gathered together, angrily shouting, "Chairman Emperor Kang, we must avenge the Soda Monster family! Let's kill that damned hero!"
"Yes, we want revenge!"
"Exactly! This time, we absolutely cannot let them off easily. Let those heroes see our true strength!"
The middle-aged man, Chairman Emperor Kang, loudly declared, "Good! We don't bully others, but we will not allow others to bully us! Every member of our Monster Club is family. Killing our members is the same as killing our family! Today, they killed three of our family members at once. We will never spare that damned bastard hero! We will kill that bastard as a tribute to the Soda Monster family!"
"Kill him!"
"Kill him!"
"Kill him!"
The crowd was in an uproar. Rage surged through the monsters. Their eyes turned bloodshot as they waved their hands and roared fiercely.
"Kill him! Kill him..."
The Carrot Monster was swept up in the atmosphere, his emotions stirred. His face flushed as he shouted along with the crowd, "Everyone, listen to me! I know that damned hero's address! Let's go pay him a visit..."
"Little Carrot Head, quickly tell us the information about that damned bastard! Today, we must severely punish that bastard and vent our anger for our Monster Club!"
"Yes, kill him!"
The young Carrot Monster excitedly shouted, "I've already investigated it! That damned bastard's alias is King, and he lives on East City Street..."
"Hey, Spicy Strip, help me get the mop. I'll dry the floor."
"Cabbage, Apple, what are you two doing? Go dump the trash when you have time."
"Chairman, we're out of paper towels. Can you call and have a few rolls delivered?"
In an instant, the monsters on the dance floor scattered. Some swept the floor, others wiped tables, each busying themselves with their tasks. Their expressions shifted from anger to calm, a calm tinged with a hint of fear.
The young Carrot Monster stared blankly at the scene, baffled by the drastic change. "Chairman, when... when are we going to avenge the Soda Monster family?"
"When did we say we were going to pay him a visit?" Chairman Emperor Kang said with a stern face, "Little Carrot Head, do you remember our club's regulations? Article 37, sub-clause 7? Any club member is forbidden from going out to make an enemy of the Hero Association. Violators will be immediately expelled. In other words, the Soda Monster family ceased to be members of our club the moment they violated the regulations. We have no reason to stand up for monsters who have defected from our club."
"Huh?"
The Carrot Monster looked bewildered. "Didn't our club only have 35 regulations? When did it get to 37?" He nodded as if he understood, yet didn't. "Oh, I think I understand."
"Hmph. You're a good kid. You must strictly abide by our club's rules."
Emperor Kang looked at the Carrot Monster with great approval while breathing a sigh of relief. What kind of joke was this? Who was King? The man renowned as the Strongest Man on Earth! No matter how powerful a monster was, they would be blown apart by a single punch from him. What was the difference between them provoking King and a group of low-level monsters offering themselves up for experience points? It was like lighting a lantern in a latrine—courting death!
"Then... should we tell Meijiaoniang and Qixi? If they knew their husband, son, and grandson were killed by King, they would probably go crazy."
"Don't tell them."
"But they'll find out sooner or later."
"Hide it for as long as you can. In the meantime, hurry and help them find new partners so they can settle down. We have to prevent them from seeking revenge on King when they eventually find out the truth and throwing their lives away for nothing."
...
A City Hero Association Headquarters.
"What?! You're saying King is an esper?"
Inside the command center, Sitch, Genos, Coulson, and Maria were gathered. Maria gave a detailed report of the previous night's situation.
"According to information from citizens and our subsequent investigation, it's highly likely that King is an esper," Maria said with a nod. They didn't for a moment suspect that King had only killed the three Soda Monsters through good luck. After all, he was King, the renowned Strongest Man. How could he possibly rely on luck to kill monsters?
"If that's the case, then King's ranking needs a significant promotion," Sitch said sternly. "King has been very active these past few days, eliminating several Tiger-level and Wolf-level monsters. His contributions and strength are more than enough to justify a higher rank."
"King is currently ranked 16th among the S-Class heroes, the very last spot. It truly doesn't match his strength," Genos agreed. "King's power is easily in the top five, but due to insufficient hero activity points, he's just been lingering at the bottom. It's a shame."
"Since he's so strong, then let him rise to second place."
At this moment, an arrogant voice was heard.
"Second place is too much! Even if his strength is stronger than Tatsumaki, his contributions are simply too few. Forcibly ranking King second will make other S-Class Heroes unhappy, especially the arrogant Tatsumaki, huh? Arrogant?"
Genos spoke too quickly, blurting out a stream of words. By the time he realized what he'd said, he felt the air around him instantly freeze. Cold sweat poured down his back. He stiffly turned his neck to look at the "ancient loli" floating above the command center with a dark expression, wanting to cry but having no tears.
"This... Isn't this our association's strongest combatant... the great... great Tatsumaki?! When... when did you... when did you come in? I... I didn't notice at all! As... as expected of the Terrible Tornado, haha... hahaha..."
Genos's laugh was forced and awkward, sounding incredibly strained.
Terrible Tornado, the Hero Association's S-Class Rank 2 hero, is a 28-year-old loli and an esper. Legend says she can effortlessly call down meteorites to attack monsters. Her power is outrageously immense, and the Hero Association considers her a human-shaped nuclear weapon and their ultimate trump card.
"Hmph. Who's the association's strongest combatant? Isn't it King?"
Terrible Tornado has green curly hair, a loli's face, and a loli's figure. She always wears a black, high-slit cheongsam. She almost always moves by floating, and the number of times she's actually walked can be counted on one hand.
"Haha, hahaha, that's... that's not true at all! Tatsumaki, you are our association's universally recognized ultimate weapon!" Genos chuckled nervously.
"Hmph. King and I have never fought. Who knows which of us is actually stronger?" Tatsumaki snorted, turning her head away haughtily. "Arrange a meeting with King for me. I want to personally test my strength against his and see who the strongest combatant really is."
After speaking, she "whooshed" out of the command center.
"Uh..."
Genos wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said with a bitter smile, "Section Chief Sitch, what should we do now?"
"It's nothing." Sitch smiled, lowering his voice. "This is a good opportunity to understand King's actual fighting style."
Among all the S-Class heroes, King has always been shrouded in an aura of mystery. No one has ever seen him in action. Any monster that has is already dead.
The Hero Association can only infer from the monster corpses that King possesses the overwhelming power to finish off his opponents in a single punch. As for his specific fighting style, their files are completely blank.
Perhaps a battle between King and Terrible Tornado will finally reveal King's true fighting style...
(end of chapter)