Z-City Supermarket - Moments Earlier
Invisible low pressure descended. Two elementary school students who'd been chasing each other suddenly stopped. Their innocent eyes looked at the man who'd turned monochrome. Their expressions gradually shifted to fear.
The two children ran away crying.
Saitama's tightly clenched fist trembled slightly. Then he exhaled slowly. His black-and-white style returned to normal. A harmless expression settled on his face. "Well, guess I'll have egg rice bowl today."
A-City Battlefield
Just as Tornado prepared to strike down the ugly monster with the annoying voice, her eyebrows furrowed. She turned to look into the distance.
As a fellow esper, Tornado immediately realized she wasn't alone in the sky. Her gaze turned cold as she looked aside.
"Who I am doesn't matter." Jordan drifted slightly closer, ignoring Tornado's aggressive stare. He pointed to the crane monster below trying to reconnect its two halves. "The problem isn't solved yet. There are still a large number of people who need rescue."
"Enough with the nonsense!" Tornado frowned, seemingly noticing the numerous injured civilians for the first time. She calmed down immediately and gave a haughty snort. "I'll handle that trash down there. You don't need to interfere!"
From below came the crane monster's grotesque, grating laugh like scraping metal. "Squeak, squeak, squeak! Found you! You did this, you brat! Squeak, squeak, squeak! Watch how I deal with you!!"
Brat?
"What... did... you... just... call me..." The petite esper's face darkened. Her slender fingers glowed green as she pressed downward. "So noisy!!"
An unimaginable amount of mental energy poured forth. Formless and intangible spiritual intent solidified into substance comparable to the hardest material in the world, instantly obscuring the entire sky.
Then it crashed down!
This girl isn't afraid of wasting telekinetic power at all, Jordan thought.
"Squeak, squeak... Huh?"
The sky above suddenly turned pitch black. The crane monster's swinging hammer stopped mid-attack. Its ear-piercing metallic laughter cut off abruptly. For the first time, the human-like ugly face at the center of the crane arm showed terror.
The crane monster, swaggering just seconds ago, was instantly flattened as if stuffed into a hydraulic press. Its massive body, tens of meters tall, reduced to a bloody mess. Thick black blood gushed out.
Seemingly disgusted by the scene, Tatsumaki frowned. The psychic energy spreading across the sky shifted from downward pressure to contraction. The next moment, the crane monster's corpse, having suffered a dimensional reduction attack, converged toward the center along with blood filling the sky. Within seconds, it compressed into a metal cube whose original shape was unrecognizable.
Jordan casually accepted the monster's spirit, turning it into an SR monster card. Seeing Tatsumaki clap her hands triumphantly with a pout, he couldn't help but shake his head.
"I'm going down to rescue people first."
Tornado blinked. "Ah..."
The emerald-clad superpowered girl looked in the direction Jordan had descended. The horrific scene below immediately came into view.
She'd always been responsible for eliminating monsters. Now that she'd joined the Hero Association, she was just following in that man's footsteps.
"Tch, the weak caught in the crossfire... I see, what a pain!"
Muttering discontentedly, Tornado turned her small face aside, revealing no hint of her mood.
She raised her fair hand, slender fingers spreading, and waved casually.
Countless injured people, enveloped in transparent energy shields, floated out of broken stairwells and windows, gently descending to ground.
In the center of the ruins, Jordan was using the same method to rescue civilians. When he spotted the green psychic energy around him that didn't belong to him, he couldn't help but smile.
So at heart, she's not a bad person after all.
Two espers joined forces, rescuing a large number of civilians from the ruins.
Many lucky survivors, though covered in dust and dirt, spontaneously joined rescue efforts.
Hero Association and other rescue teams arrived one after another. The entire operation continued until late night.
Late Night
Almost over.
Jordan breathed a sigh of relief. The massive mental energy expenditure left him feeling exhausted despite his enhanced constitution.
"You held on quite well for this long."
A textbook-perfect arrogant tone reached his ears. Jordan's head ached slightly. Then he saw a green-haired girl who seemed boundlessly energetic descending from the sky, enveloped in green light.
Her pretty face radiated sunshine, clearly indicating good mood.
"You make it sound so easy..."
"Tch, it really is easy."
"Yes, yes, it's nothing for you, Miss Tornado."
"Hmph." With a soft snort, Tornado felt quite pleased with Jordan's flattery. "Jordan, right? Sitch told me you're a hero too."
Sitch was a Hero Association executive and apparently Blast's contact person.
As a registered hero, Jordan's recognition after appearing in A-City wasn't surprising. "Yes, as far as heroes go, I'm a newbie."
"Hmph, boring modesty. The Hero Association's only been established for half a year." Tatsumaki curled her lip, the few pieces of fabric in her dress fluttering. "Let's go!"
After that, her small body surged with green psychic energy and drifted away into the sky.
She turns her back so easily?
Suddenly, golden light drifted down from beneath Tornado's feet, materializing in the air into a fantasy card.
Jordan instinctively caught it with telekinesis. His pupils dilated immediately.
[Fantasy Card: Superpower 100%]
Type: Ability Card • Rarity: SSR
One of humanity's most powerful superpowers, originating from the Tornado of Terror.
Effect 1: Born with Superpowers
Maximum affinity with psychic superpowers. Faster activation speed, increased recovery, and 90% reduced energy consumption.
Effect 2: King of Force Fields
Construct or manipulate various mental fields at will. Field generation speed faster, strength higher.
Effect 3: Super Storm
Power doubled when using wide-range superpower attacks.
Effect 4: Overload State
Channel superpowers into instinct, unleashing power to break through limitations.
Oh my god. Did Tornado just drop her superpower talent?
Enough said.
Jordan was decisive. Seeing the little green dot of Tornado fly away, he immediately pressed his first SSR against his chest.
Unprecedented joy welled up in his heart. Then his newly transformed spiritual power surged once again.
Having had experience before, Jordan immediately realized what was about to happen and instantly leaped into the sky.
Ground Level
"Hey, hey, hey... have they both left?"
A man in a black suit with a large nose stretched out his hand, watching the blue light disappear into the horizon. His face filled with regret.
"Why are all the superpowered heroes so fickle? Seems I'll have to wait for another time to get close to him."