At the restaurant, Lock, Jiro Kyoka, and Baruch found seats without any trouble.
Maybe it was because the place was newly opened. Otherwise, on a rest-day afternoon, the line alone would've been enough to break a person's spirit.
"I'll take the tonkatsu set meal."
After glancing over the menu, Lock made his choice immediately.
"Then I'll have…"
Jiro Kyoka pressed her lips together, hesitating. Instinctively, she wanted to pick something cheaper—just to save Lock a little money.
"I want this mille crêpe."
Baruch pointed to the pricier dessert that Lock had been holding the menu open to.
"Alright."
Lock took the menu away, then turned toward Jiro Kyoka. Her conflicted expression was impossible to miss.
"Order whatever you want."
Kyoka blinked, a little dazed. She understood exactly what Lock meant, and it made her heart wobble.
Her childhood friend—who had, in only one year, built his own Hero Agency and gained some small fame—no longer needed to worry about finances.
A lot had changed in a single year.
Compared to that, she was still just a student… while Lock had stepped into the adult world and carved out a place of his own.
"Then… I'll take the eel rice."
"Waiter."
After all three were ordered, Lock raised a hand. At the same time, several customers at nearby tables began glancing their way.
Kyoka stuck her tongue out playfully and whispered, "Big celebrity."
Lock could only shake his head. Fame did bring its share of annoyances.
Just being stared at like this already put a dent in his appetite.
Maybe… sunglasses next time?
While that thought passed, he pulled out his phone, idly scrolling as they waited for the food.
An email from Hatsume Mei popped up. She'd finished designing the new boots and wanted him to come try them on.
Lock thought for a moment, replied, and also asked if she could help calibrate his secondary perception lens while he was there.
Then he opened the group chat—the internal communication channel for his Hero Agency staff.
Usually, it was for casual chatter, but Hero Requests could be received there too, both on desktop and mobile.
"Did All Might snatch that giant horse-faced villain at Tendoin Station?!"
Lock chuckled. Mt. Lady, notorious queen of shameless thirst posts, had finally been beaten today, losing her villain capture to the Number One Hero himself.
She was ranting in the chat nonstop. Because of that incident, she and the others had nothing left but routine patrol commissions around Waitoyuan Station—the same location mentioned back in Chapter 1 of the manga.
A minor earthquake had struck a nearby city, so Sirius had gone over for an emergency rescue Hero Request.
"…Wait. Why does the name of this station feel familiar?"
He couldn't place it. Just a vague sense of déjà vu.
The food arrived then, and Lock put his phone away.
About half an hour later, after the three finished eating, Lock planned to pick up a few groceries and then head home to teach Kyoka more magic.
Suddenly, his phone vibrated.
He opened the group chat.
A Hero Request had appeared—bordered in bright red.
Emergency Hero Request Issued!
Lock tapped it open. A picture filled the screen.
A villain had taken a hostage.
The villain's entire body was made of sludge, e—wearing an oversized, half-transparent raincoat.
And the hostage was none other than Bakugo Katsuki.
"…So the plot is starting."
Lock shot to his feet.
He remembered now where he'd seen that station name—the very beginning of the original story.
And that horse-faced monster earlier—yes, the sludge villain from the opening arc.
Which meant Izuku Midoriya should've already met All Might by now.
"There's an emergency request. I'm heading out. Baruch—protect Kyoka."
Seeing both girls staring at him, Lock hurried to explain—then took off immediately.
"Wait—!"
Kyoka reached out, startled, but Lock vanished in a flash.
Of course, he had already paid.
But Kyoka also wanted to go watch the action.
She turned to Baruch. "Can you take me after him?"
"Of course."
Baruch nodded—she was also in the group chat.
Meanwhile, somewhere else—
After temporarily occupying Bakugo's body using its viscous sludge, the villain was recklessly detonating explosions with Bakugo's Quirk, blasting apart buildings nearby.
Seeing the escalating destruction, several nearby Pro Heroes arrived: Backdraft, Death Arms, Kamui Woods, and Mt. Lady.
All were patrolling around Tendoin Station—Pro Heroes affiliated with the Fairy Agency…
Backdraft extended his pump-like palms, trying to suppress the spreading flames with his Quirk.
But he was the only one capable of large-scale fire control. Though he managed to keep the surrounding blaze contained, the central explosion zone—where Bakugo was—was still raging violently.
That made it impossible for Kamui Woods to approach with his Arbor Quirk. He could only pull civilians out of the spreading area.
Mt. Lady, stuck between her size problem and the narrow streets, could only stand there—completely useless.
Just another well-paid bystander.
Only Death Arms could force his way through the fire, close in on the sludge villain, and attempt to free Bakugo.
Bakugo's face, contorted in pain as he was suffocated by the sludge, made Death Arms roar and slam a massive punch forward.
The force of the blow sliced the air like a razor.
But when it hit the sludge villain, it only blasted off some surface muck. The rest of the impact was absorbed entirely by the creature's physical properties.
Unless someone had strength on All Might's level, pure physical attacks barely worked on sludge.
"Damn it!"
Bakugo—almost completely engulfed—fought desperately, trying to unleash the explosive potential befitting the protagonist of the original story. But it was meaningless.
He was smothered again almost instantly.
Worse—each time he struggled, his Quirk flared uncontrollably, causing another burst of explosions even stronger than before. Death Arms had to retreat to avoid being caught in the blast.
"Seriously? A bunch of Pro Heroes and they still can't save a single hostage?"
"Isn't that the same villain All Might was chasing earlier?"
"Where is All Might?!"
"The hostage kid looks like he's going to die. Is there no stronger Pro Hero around?!"
A large crowd had gathered. Instead of fleeing, they clustered at a safe distance—fueled by morbid curiosity.
But as the Pro Heroes remained helpless, panic slowly spread through the onlookers.
And at that moment—
Lock finally arrived at the scene.
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A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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