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Truthfully, Muscular had never been particularly afraid of those lifeless prison days, where he could do nothing but wait for death to slowly crawl toward him.
An ordinary person might have collapsed under that kind of despair.
That helpless feeling of watching death approach while being unable to resist.
But Muscular was clearly not ordinary.
He didn't care much about life or death.
What he cared about…
was freedom.
The freedom to kill whoever he wanted.
The freedom to crush whoever he pleased beneath his fists.
The freedom to use the Quirk he was born with however he desired.
To him, that was real freedom.
Unfortunately, he had only tasted that freedom for a short time before losing it.
After that, he was thrown into prison.
Bound every day.
Unable to use his strength despite possessing it.
Forced to endure endless injections of muscle relaxants just to prevent him from escaping.
For a while, Muscular genuinely thought he would die there.
Die carrying that hunger for freedom forever.
Until that day.
The day the Sludge Villain appeared.
He walked into the prison as casually as if he were strolling through his own backyard, treating the guards like they didn't even exist.
When Muscular first saw him appear inside the facility—completely out of place in that environment—he had honestly been delighted.
Because to him, an intruder represented a variable.
And variables often meant opportunity.
Opportunity to reclaim freedom.
But the moment he heard the price attached to that freedom—
joining the Sludge Villain's organization and serving his mysterious master—
that delight immediately turned into irritation.
Who the hell did this idiot think he was?
What gave him the right to negotiate terms with him?
And why did he assume that just because he broke Muscular out, Muscular would obediently serve some boss he'd never even met?
Muscular scoffed at such naïve thinking.
Still, because he didn't want to lose this rare chance at freedom, he restrained himself from turning hostile immediately.
Instead, he agreed.
At the time, his thoughts were simple.
First, cooperate.
Play along.
Say whatever this idiot wanted to hear.
Then, once he escaped and regained his freedom…
he would kill both this bastard and the so-called master standing above him.
Unfortunately for Muscular—
that plan never had a chance to happen.
Because one sentence from the Sludge Villain completely changed his mind.
It was a simple sentence.
Maybe even something said casually.
But it struck directly at the deepest part of Muscular's instincts.
"Simple one-sided slaughter gets boring eventually, doesn't it?"
"Why not try something more challenging?"
"For example…"
"…fighting the current Number One Hero?"
"That man just happens to be one of our targets as well."
"As long as you agree to my terms, we can provide you with endless opportunities to battle powerful opponents."
"No matter who they are."
"Even if your opponent is All Might."
The moment he heard those words—
Muscular had to admit it.
He was tempted.
And the reason wasn't some vague love of combat.
It was All Might.
The chance to fight All Might.
To unleash his full strength against the Symbol of Peace worshipped by countless people.
Just imagining it made his blood boil.
It excited him so much he could barely sleep afterward.
Thinking back on that now, Muscular slowly pulled himself out of his memories and glanced toward the Sludge Villain.
"Hey."
"That promise you made me before…"
"…it still stands, right?"
Hearing that, the Sludge Villain—still somewhat irritated by Muscular's earlier disrespect toward Shigaraki—paused slightly before sneering.
"Of course it stands."
"When the time comes, do whatever you want."
"Fight however you please."
"Whether it's police officers or Pro Heroes, attack whoever you like."
"You could even beat up All Might's coworkers first and then challenge him afterward…"
"…that's fine too."
As long as you're not afraid of getting smashed into paste by an enraged All Might.
Naturally, the Sludge Villain kept that part to himself.
This was simply his little revenge for Muscular's earlier comments.
He wanted to see whether he could trick Muscular into provoking All Might first.
Of course, revenge was revenge.
He wouldn't genuinely stand by and watch Muscular get beaten to death.
After all, Muscular was technically one of their people now.
And more importantly—
a very useful human shield.
Losing him would be a waste.
Unfortunately, Muscular didn't take the bait.
"Heh."
"Beat up All Might's allies first, then provoke All Might himself?"
"Please."
Muscular rolled his eye.
Did the Sludge Villain seriously think he was brain-dead?
Trying to bait him into pissing off All Might before fighting him?
How suicidal would he have to be to pull something like that?
At that point, All Might would definitely go berserk.
And Muscular had absolutely no confidence in defeating an enraged All Might.
More importantly—
he understood very clearly that there was still a considerable gap between himself and the Symbol of Peace.
At minimum, he would probably need another three to five years of growth before he could truly stand on that level.
Still, after this conversation, Muscular understood something.
The Sludge Villain was clearly dissatisfied with his earlier disrespect toward Shigaraki.
After thinking it over briefly, Muscular ultimately chose to apologize.
There was no helping it.
The Sludge Villain was obviously smarter than him.
If that guy secretly decided to sabotage him out of spite, Muscular might not even realize how he died.
So in order to avoid "accidentally" dying during battle, lowering his head slightly was the smarter option.
Seeing Muscular back down, the Sludge Villain clicked his tongue in disappointment.
Still, since Muscular had already apologized, he chose to suppress the remaining irritation and reconcile.
After all, he wasn't the sort of person who insisted on escalating conflict for no reason.
And besides—
they were currently allies.
If they truly fell out and ruined the operation, neither side would benefit.
Once the two of them reached a temporary understanding, the Sludge Villain quietly revised Muscular's battle arrangement and selected a different opponent for him.
And the target he ultimately chose…
was none other than—
Best Jeanist.
Although Muscular felt somewhat disappointed that his first opponent wouldn't be All Might, he didn't complain.
After all—
the main course was always served last.
Before the real feast began…
sampling a few appetizers first wasn't so bad either.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ Muscular has entered the battlefield, and his hunger for battle is only growing stronger.◇ New chapters have already been updated on P@treon!◇ Read ahead now to see how Muscular clashes with Best Jeanist and how Shigaraki's plan unfolds.◇ Support the novel with Power Stones, comments, and reviews to help push it toward Rank 1 on Webnovel's Power Ranking!◇ Unlock early access chapters here: patreon.com/StrawHatStudios