When the "god" bathed in endless radiance and descended from the sky…
The suffering mortals below—one after another—fell to their knees, bowing in worship toward that magnificent figure.
"You're safe now…"
The first words the "god" spoke upon arriving were a declaration to his "people" that they were safe.
"World's strongest hero? The strongest man on Earth?"
"No. That's far too shallow…"
"That's a true god walking among humans."
Collapsed on the ground and badly injured, the A-Class hero Snakebite Snek stared at the white-clad man whose face held neither joy nor sorrow, whose presence alone radiated overwhelming pressure. He whispered the words like a prayer.
In that moment, Snek felt the Hero Association's title for this man was still… restrained.
In his eyes, "strongest hero" was a boring label. "God among humans" fit far better—his aura, his image, his power. He was a true divine being walking the earth.
Boom!
As the people stared up and worshiped that towering presence, a figure burning with violent energy dropped from the sky and landed at the "god's" side.
"This is…"
A handsome man clad in steel, with pitch-black eyes, stared at the Deep Sea King—now split into three pieces by those two beams—and his eyes trembled.
"The enemy's already dead?"
"So… I'm too late?"
The handsome man practically reeked of expensive hardware and premium upgrades. He clenched his fists as guilt surged inside him for arriving too late—too late to fight the monster himself.
"No, Genos. You're not late."
The white-clad "god" beside him shook his head gently and answered.
"Not late?" Genos turned toward the white figure, his eyes flickering as his systems analyzed him.
"That's right. Not late."
Jovian gave a small nod.
If Genos had arrived earlier, all that would've happened was the Deep Sea King beating him senseless. So Jovian meant it—Genos wasn't late. In fact, his timing was perfect.
Otherwise Genos would've burned through a ridiculous amount of budget again while adding yet another "legendary" entry to his supposed "Winless Legend" résumé. What a waste.
"You're the S-Class Rank 2 hero—Freedom, Jovian. The man who blew up the meteor in Z-City?!"
Genos stared, shocked.
When his targeting system first locked onto the J-City shelter and ran an initial scan, Jovian wasn't there.
Meaning: in the tiny gap between Genos's scan and his full-speed dash to the shelter, Jovian arrived.
And the craziest part—Jovian not only made it there in that short window, he killed the monster instantly the moment he arrived: the same monster that had threatened the entire shelter and defeated multiple A-Class heroes and even an S-Class hero.
That level of power sent a chill through Genos.
"Report to the Hero Association. The enemy has been eliminated."
Jovian glanced at the walking-upgrades warrior beside him and spoke in a low voice packed with authority—an order that did not allow refusal.
"Uh… okay."
Genos nodded instinctively.
Boom!
Before Genos could say anything else, Jovian rose into the air and became a streak of white light shooting into the sky.
"A powerful man…" Genos watched him ascend, a spark of curiosity forming. "I wonder… compared to Master Saitama, who's stronger?"
Ring-ring-ring—
As Genos stood there staring upward, a bicycle bell rang out. A hero in green armor rolled up to the shelter.
"Hero of Justice—Mumen Rider has arrived! Where's the monster?!"
Mumen Rider struck a righteous pose and asked Genos.
"The monster…"
Genos murmured, looking toward the Deep Sea King's sliced remains.
"Whoa—!"
"That's insane, Genos! Did you do this?"
A voice of amazement reached Genos's ears.
"Hm…"
Genos jolted at the familiar voice and turned toward the source.
"Master Saitama!"
In his view stood a bald hero in a cape.
"Yo," Saitama greeted, arriving casually.
"I didn't defeat this monster," Genos explained. "The one who killed it was the current S-Class Rank 2 hero—Freedom, Jovian."
"Jovian… yeah, that guy really is incredible," Saitama said, and there was a flicker of envy in his tone.
To Genos, that one offhand sentence hit like a tidal wave.
Master Saitama—invincible Saitama—was calling someone else "incredible"?
It was the first time Genos had ever heard Saitama praise someone like that.
Genos carved the name into his heart.
And his curiosity only grew: was Saitama stronger… or was Jovian?
Gulp.
Once that thought took hold, it wouldn't let go. Genos desperately wanted to know how Saitama saw Jovian.
"Master Saitama… in your opinion, who's stronger? You… or Jovian?"
Genos stepped closer and asked.
"Does it matter?" Saitama looked genuinely puzzled.
He didn't understand why "who's stronger" was such a big deal. He'd never cared about that stuff.
Maybe because Saitama always won with one punch—he'd stopped caring a long time ago about who was "the strongest."
"It matters," Genos insisted, nodding hard. He needed the answer.
"If you say so…"
Saitama rubbed his chin and started thinking.
Genos held his breath, barely daring to blink.
"…Yeah. Probably Jovian."
Saitama gave his conclusion.
"Huh?!" Genos stared, stunned. He hadn't expected Saitama to say Jovian was stronger.
"Why?" Genos asked, completely confused.
"Because…" Saitama leaned in close to Genos, face serious.
Genos widened his eyes, preparing himself to hear some earth-shattering truth.
"Because Jovian can fly."
"…Huh?"
Genos froze. He didn't expect something so ridiculous.
But then again—when you thought about it—this was the most Saitama answer imaginable.
"I see… so that's it."
Genos smiled faintly. Yeah. The real problem here was him—asking Saitama that kind of question in the first place.
"I wanna fly too…" Saitama stared up at the sky.
He wished that one day he could fly.
But in his own mind, no matter how strong a "normal" human got, flying still wasn't possible.
At least… that's what he believed.
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