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An invisible, oppressive atmosphere descended. Two elementary school students, who were joyfully chasing each other, suddenly froze. Their innocent eyes fixated on the strange, monochromatic man before them, and their expressions slowly morphed into terror.
"Mommy!" they shrieked in unison, turning and fleeing. Saitama's tightly clenched fists trembled slightly. He then exhaled a long breath, his body reverting from its black-and-white, artistic style to normal, revealing his usual harmless, strongman expression. "Well, I'll just have egg over rice today."
Back in A-City, Tatsumaki was about to obliterate the grotesque Monster with the grating voice. The next second, her eyebrows furrowed, and she turned her head, gazing into the distance.
"Who's there?" she demanded. As a fellow esper, Tatsumaki immediately sensed she wasn't alone in the sky. She cast a chilling glare to the side.
"Who I am isn't important," Kaito replied, moving slightly closer and disregarding Tatsumaki's aggressive stare. He pointed a finger at the Crane Game Monster below, which was attempting to reassemble its two halves. "The situation hasn't been resolved yet, and a large number of civilians need rescue."
"...Annoying!" Tatsumaki scowled, seemingly realizing the extent of civilian casualties. Her irritation subsided, replaced by an arrogant huff. "I'll handle that trash down there; you don't need to interfere!"
From below, the Crane Game Monster's grating, scrap-metal-like laugh echoed. "Squeak-ga-ga-ga, found you! It was you, wasn't it, you little brat! Squeak-ga-ga-ga, watch how this great master deals with you!"
Tatsumaki's eye twitched. "Stupid, little, brat???" she fumed inwardly.
"W-what did you say...?" The legal loli's face darkened, and her slender fingers glowed green as she pressed downwards. "You're so noisy!"
An unimaginable surge of psychic power erupted. The formless, intangible mental will solidified into something comparable to the hardest substance in the world, instantly obscuring the entire sky. Then, it crashed down!
Kaito watched, a thought crossing his mind. This brat, isn't she afraid of wasting psychic power by using it like this?
"Screech, screech, screech... huh?" The sky above suddenly turned pitch black. The Crane Game Monster's actions of swinging its wrecking ball to attack surrounding buildings and its ear-piercing, metallic laughter came to an abrupt halt. The grotesque, human-like face at the center of its crane arm showed an expression of terror for the first time.
"No—"
The Crane Game Monster, which had been swaggering moments before, was instantly flattened as if put into a hydraulic press. Its giant, tens-of-meters-tall body was crushed, and the Monster's large face was reduced to a bloody, mangled mess, spewing thick, black blood like motor oil.
Seemingly disgusted by the sight, Tatsumaki frowned. The direction of the psychic power spread across the sky shifted from pressing down to contracting. The next moment, the Crane Game Monster's body, which had suffered a dimensionality reduction attack, along with the sky full of blood, converged toward the center. Within seconds, it was compressed into an unrecognizable metallic regular hexahedron.
Kaito casually absorbed the Monster's Soul to create an SR Monster Card. Seeing Tatsumaki proudly clapping her hands with a pout, he couldn't help but shake his head. "I'm going down to save people first."
"Ah..." Tatsumaki looked in the direction Kaito had descended, and the tragic scene below immediately came into view. She had always been solely responsible for eliminating Monsters. Now that she had joined the Hero Association, it was simply to follow in that man's footsteps.
"Tch, weaklings caught in the crossfire, huh...? I get it, how troublesome!" Tatsumaki muttered discontentedly, her small face, turned to the side, showing no discernible emotion.
Her fair, small hand lifted, her slender fingers spread open, and she waved them casually. Countless injured people, enveloped in transparent energy shields, floated out from damaged stairwells and windows, gently descending to the ground.
In the center of the ruins, Kaito was using similar methods to rescue civilians. Seeing the green psychic power glow around him that didn't belong to him, he couldn't help but smile. As expected, her nature isn't bad after all.
With two espers working together, a large number of civilians were rescued from the ruins. Many lucky individuals who were not injured, though covered in dust, spontaneously joined the rescue efforts. Rescue teams from the Hero Association and other departments also arrived one after another, and the entire operation continued until late into the night.
"It's almost over," Kaito sighed in relief. The massive consumption of mental power left him feeling a wave of fatigue, even with his physique.
"You're not bad, being able to last this long." A textbook-like tsundere voice came from beside his ear, giving Kaito a headache. He then saw a green-haired loli, seemingly without pants, descending from the sky enveloped in green light. Her delicate little face was bright and sunny; clearly, she was in a good mood now.
"You make it sound so easy..." Kaito began.
"Tch, it's just a small matter, isn't it?" she interjected.
"Yes, yes, yes, for Miss Tatsumaki, it's certainly a small matter."
"Hmph..." With a soft snort, Tatsumaki was quite pleased by Kaito's flattery. "You're Kaito, right? Sitch told me you're also a hero." Sitch was an executive of the Hero Association, and apparently also Blast's contact person. As a registered hero, it wasn't surprising for Kaito to be recognized after appearing in A-City. "Yes, if we're talking about heroes, I suppose I'm a newcomer."
"Hmph, boring modesty. The Hero Association has only been established for half a year," Tatsumaki pouted, and the sparse fabric of her skirt floated up. "Let's go!" With that, green psychic power surged around her small body, and she floated gracefully into the sky, drifting far away.
Kaito blinked. Huh? She just turns hostile like that?
Suddenly, a golden light floated down from beneath Tatsumaki's feet, materializing into a Fantasy Card in mid-air. Kaito habitually used his psychic power to catch it, and then his pupils dilated in shock.
Fantasy Card: Superpower Hundred Percent
Card Type: Ability Card
Rarity: SSR
Introduction: One of humanity's strongest Superpower talents, from Tatsumaki.
Effect 1: Innate Superpower
Max affinity for mental psychic power, faster psychic power activation speed, increased recovery, 90% reduced consumption.
Effect 2: Field King
Construct or manipulate various mental force fields at will, faster field generation speed, higher strength.
Effect 3: Psychic Storm
Doubles the power when performing large-scale psychic moves.
Effect 4: Overload State
Entrust psychic power to instinct, unleashing power that breaks through limits.
Kaito's eyes widened. Oh dear, did Tatsumaki drop her talent? No more words, little Tatsumaki is the GOAT!
Kaito was decisive. Seeing Tatsumaki's little green dot fly far away, he immediately slapped the first SSR onto his chest. An unprecedented joy welled up in his heart, and then, his recently transformed mental power boiled again. Having experienced it once before, Kaito immediately realized what was about to happen and instantly flashed into the sky.
"Eh, eh, eh... did everyone leave?" A black-suited man with a large nose stretched out his hand, watching the azure light dot disappear into the horizon, his face filled with regret. "Why are psychic-type heroes more willful than the last? It seems I'll have to wait until next time to get in touch with him."