The more Dr. Kuseno inspected, the more delighted he became.
And then—another knock at the door.
"Man, lots of visitors today," Saitama muttered as he opened it. Outside stood two men in suits.
They were clearly from the Hero Association.
"Ah! Lord Saitama!"
Both men lit up at once, whipping notebooks from their bags. "Please give us your autograph, Lord Saitama!"
Saitama blinked at them, a little confused, but signed anyway. "So… what do you need from me?"
The two hesitated. "Actually… we're not here for you."
"Hm?" Saitama glanced back at the room. "You're here for them?"
Seeing who else was inside, the pair grew even more excited. "Lord King! We finally found you! We couldn't reach you, so we resorted to the locator. We didn't expect you'd be at Lord Saitama's place!"
King was baffled. "Huh? What do you need me for?"
"In truth…"
One man looked over his shoulder. "Nearly all S-Class heroes have been mobilized."
Saitama noticed it too—behind them, out on the street, stood eight S-Class heroes already poised to move: Pig God, Superalloy Darkshine, Atomic Samurai, Child Emperor, Puri-Puri Prisoner… the lineup was set.
"What happened? Big incident?" Saitama asked.
The two men immediately grew tense. They knew perfectly well—the combined strength of everyone here still didn't match Saitama alone. And that was exactly what worried the Association.
Sooner or later, heroes' true capabilities would be exposed. If Saitama's power was revealed too early, hostile forces would take note—and he could become a prime target for assassination. A force that overwhelming should only be brought out at the most critical moment.
"You live here?" Child Emperor was taken aback.
Tornado's expression wasn't great either—she'd spotted her little sister among the group. She snorted but said nothing. She remembered she couldn't beat Saitama… though she'd never admit it. Nor would she admit how much Saitama felt like Blast to her.
"So what's the situation?" Saitama sighed. "You all coming to my place for a party?"
Child Emperor—arguably the sharpest of the S-Class—understood what the Association was thinking. He sighed. "The sponsor's son being kidnapped… isn't exactly a secret anymore."
Fubuki's face hardened. She stepped forward. "You're going to rescue that tycoon's son?"
"We don't have much choice," Child Emperor said with a wry smile. "We're heroes, yes, but the Association's funds are provided by businessmen. In matters like this, we can only…"
The other S-Class heroes didn't much care about the politics—why rescue a rich kid first instead of clearing the monsters threatening the masses? Normally they hunted monsters however they pleased anyway; unless the Association called, they acted on their own moods.
Same as now.
"Well, since King's here… let's start the briefing," Child Emperor said. He glanced at Saitama. "Mind if we borrow your room?"
Saitama opened his mouth, then rubbed his forehead. "Fine… but it'll be crowded."
And crowded it was. Once everyone packed in, there was barely room to breathe.
No helping it—holding a strategy meeting out on the street would've been worse.
Child Emperor passed out several tablets. "Here's the map of the no-man's la—no, the target zone."
Everyone stared at the 3D cross-section: surface down to the depths, all displayed.
They weren't blind. One look and—
"Wait, Child Emperor, isn't that…" Genos, though not part of the briefing, spotted it too. Their target zone was—
"Why do you think we 'happened' to come here looking for King?" Tornado cut in, shooting Saitama a glance. "Sorry, Saitama. The mission site turns out to be right under your neighborhood."
"What?" Saitama froze.
Child Emperor exhaled, holding up his tablet. "Simple. The monster who kidnapped the tycoon's son retreated to the Monster Association's base. According to my investigation… their headquarters is beneath this very street."
"What!" Saitama was startled—then quickly realized it made sense. No wonder so many monsters popped up around his place. They were probably Association members.
Child Emperor looked to Genos. "Genos, we didn't officially summon you this time, but could you—"
"Not for now," Dr. Kuseno said, still working on Genos's back. "I just swapped in new components. He can't enter combat for at least three hours."
Child Emperor nodded. "Understood. In that case, we proceed without you. Look here—the Monster Association has over thirty entrances. We must avoid clustering together. There are too many monsters inside; if we're pinned down and they relocate the hostage, we're in trouble."
He kept another worry to himself, though…
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For 20+ Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!] [[email protected]/Draumel]
[Thank You For Your Support!]