"Boom!"
With the constant roar of air pressure, Jovian slowly descended in front of the Hero Association headquarters in A-City.
"It's Mr. Jovian!"
A staff member, seeing Jovian drop from the sky, hurried forward to greet him.
"Mm."
Jovian gave the greeter a small nod as acknowledgment.
"I'm going in. Tatsumaki will be here soon."
Right before entering the building, Jovian deliberately reminded a few staffers.
"We understand. Honestly, leaving this to Lord Jovian was the perfect choice—he got that arrogant Tatsumaki to agree to the meeting in minutes!"
The staffer immediately started laying it on thick.
"Mm…"
Jovian gave the smooth-talker a token pat on the shoulder and walked into the Hero Association HQ to attend the S-Class meeting that was about to begin.
Not long after Jovian went inside, a petite figure glowing with an emerald-green aura dropped from the sky.
"Miss Tatsumaki—Mr. Jovian is already inside…"
The staff greeted her with a practiced smile.
"Jovian?!"
"Where is that bastard right now?"
Tatsumaki's brows lifted. The pressure in her gaze alone made the staff instantly tense—goosebumps rising as they felt the massive psychic force inside her brush against their bodies.
"Uh—Mr. Jovian already went in!"
They rushed to explain.
"Got it."
Only then did Tatsumaki release them, floating calmly into the enormous building.
"Aha…"
"Look at this! There's an elementary school kid here!"
Just as Tatsumaki entered, ready to hunt down Jovian and demand an explanation for that "gift," a bald man heading inside spotted her and burst out laughing.
"…What did you say?"
"Who are you calling an elementary school kid?"
Tatsumaki's body froze. Slowly, she turned to face the bald man.
"Sensei, that's S-Class Rank 3, the Tornado of Terror. We've met before."
The handsome cyborg at the bald man's side spoke up.
"Oh! Right, I remember—foul-mouthed little kid!"
Saitama clearly didn't have a great impression of her.
"Huh?! Bald bastard—say I'm an elementary school kid again, I dare you?!"
"I'm way older than you!"
Tatsumaki snapped, bristling with fury.
"Bald bastard?! You little kid, say that again and see what happens?!"
Saitama's temper flared instantly. There was nothing he hated more than being called bald.
"Sensei, calm down!"
Genos grabbed Saitama from behind and tried to talk him down.
"Calm down?!"
Saitama was furious—veins popping across his forehead.
"Baldy! Baldy! Baldy!"
Floating in midair, Tatsumaki shouted the taunt again and again.
"Heh. Elementary school kid. Elementary school kid. Elementary school kid."
Saitama shot right back.
For a moment, the atmosphere between them turned downright dangerous—like they might start throwing hands at any second.
"Everyone, please calm down!"
"Whatever the issue is, we should first go into the conference hall and hear why the Hero Association has forcibly summoned us S-Class heroes in the first place!"
"Don't lose the big picture over something small!"
Bang wiped sweat from his forehead, doing his best as the peacekeeper.
"Sensei, let's take a step back. In the moment that matters, it's not worth getting mad over a kid."
Genos said quietly at Saitama's side.
"Yeah!"
"I'm not mad!"
Saitama gritted his teeth at Tatsumaki, visibly fuming—clearly very mad.
"Hmph. I'm not lowering myself to your level."
Tatsumaki snorted at Saitama, Genos, and Bang, then flew deeper into the building.
"That little kid…"
Saitama stared after her, his anger burning hotter.
"Move."
Tatsumaki wasn't feeling any better either. Still stewing, she spotted the S-Class Rank 5 hero Atomic Samurai and barked at him rudely, not bothering with manners at all.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa?!"
"Who pissed off the little queen today?"
"Was it your two 'disciples,' Bang?"
Atomic Samurai sidestepped her in a flash, then turned his head toward Bang, Genos, and Saitama.
"Ah…"
Saitama went blank. Getting dismissed again left him completely speechless—mouth slightly open, with nothing to say.
"These two aren't my followers. This is the newly promoted S-Class hero, Demon Cyborg Genos. This is C-Class Saitama. They're good kids."
Thankfully, Bang stepped in and explained while Saitama was still frozen.
"Heh. I'm not interested in anyone else."
"Bang—you know that. You're the only one I care about. You and I are going to fight sooner or later!"
Atomic Samurai tightened his grip on his katana, eyes locked on the higher-ranked S-Class hero, Silver Fang—itching for a match.
"But not today."
"Meeting first."
He sheathed his sword and turned, walking toward the base's interior.
"What is with these people…?"
"One after another, they're all weird."
Saitama muttered angrily as he watched Tatsumaki and Atomic Samurai go.
In the end, the three of them entered the conference room while Saitama kept grumbling under his breath.
The massive room was already filled.
Aside from Blast (S1), the missing Zombieman, and Metal Knight—who had dropped to S7 after Jovian's rise—every other S-Class hero was present.
"Jovian, what the hell is your problem?"
"Do you think I actually go commando?! Are you out of your mind?!"
Tatsumaki kept yapping at Jovian nonstop.
But Jovian acted like he couldn't hear a thing—eyes closed, steadily adjusting his breathing and state.
"Hey! Are you even listening to me?!"
Tatsumaki shouted at him from his side.
"Shh."
"A very strong enemy is approaching. If I don't get myself ready, Earth could face an extinction-level crisis."
Jovian lifted a finger, signaling her to shut up, then started spinning wild nonsense.
To be fair, a powerful enemy really was on the way—but even if Jovian lost, Earth would be fine.
After all, Earth was home to the One Punch Man universe's one and only God-level monster.
"…!"
Tatsumaki stared at Jovian's serious expression and fell silent.
"If you're lying to me, I'm not letting you off."
In the end, she just turned her head away stubbornly and muttered the threat under her breath.
"…."
Jovian didn't respond, continuing to sit with his eyes closed, maintaining his focus.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 10 extra free chapters //[email protected]/Razeil0810