(3 weeks later)
It had been three weeks since John hired a mole to gather information on crime locations he could target as Absalon without him ever learning who he really was.
Sure, John was a dick for putting the man through a nightmare in Berserk style. But sometimes, you needed to intimidate someone into working as your intelligence gatherer.
John had already dealt with the Yakuza running the illegal pleasure huts. He left the base before pro heroes arrived, but not without taking their money and the Yakuza boss's expensive alcohol.
All thanks to the Monkey Talisman's power, which let him turn shelves and safes into hamsters small enough to fit in his pockets to carry back home.
He sold the expensive alcohol for half price on Mono this world's version of eBay. Strange name, but since it wasn't real life, there was no point in overthinking it.
"Have a good day."
The cashier waved as John exited the electronics shop, pulling a wagon cart loaded with five gaming PCs, a generator, a roll of copper wire, computer-specific tools, and a dual-joystick arcade deck.
People walking past him stared at the haul. The gaming PCs alone were top-tier to have. five hundred thousand yen each. They were curious about the generator and copper wire too, but no one dared to ask him.
As he turn around the corner he saw the Hero Billboard JP rank review heroes ranks. Many extremely low that out much the amount of ex boyfriends Taylor Swift has in her life.
Others were good in top 20 but when he sees Lady Nagant on the screen as top 15 pro hero, John immediately put the hoodie on his head to not let people looking at the billboard do not recognise his face as he walk away.
........
John was halfway home, texting Ai to check if she was alright. It hadn't been easy for him at the repair shop.
People constantly asked how he met Lady Nagant. Kids wanted to shake his hand and worst of all, men he'd met at the gym or coffee shop kept asking for advice on how to romance female pro heroes.
'Damn All Might and his popularity to easily manipulate people's beliefs.'
He was tired of it. He just wanted some peace.
But his thoughts were interrupted by an elderly woman's scream. A thief had pushed her to the ground and was running straight toward John.
Low-rank pro heroes chased after him still fifty feet behind.
John rolled his eyes. He stepped forward and punched the thief square in the face causing front teeth to shatter on impact.
He clicked his tongue, looking down at the petty thief knocked out cold. He didn't even use the Ox Talisman and barely usedp any of his natural strength at all.
The pro heroes finally arrived and thanked him awkwardly.
"Uh, thanks for the assist."
"But did you really have to do that?"
"That guy just hurt an elderly woman with no remorse," John said flatly. "He deserved it."
He walked off, pulling his wagon behind him. The heroes watched him go for a moment, then turned their attention to restraining the thief and helping the old woman.
"That guy's strong," one hero muttered. "Even without a quirk."
"Yeah... and he looks kinda familiar."
.....
John opened the door and stepped inside with his wagon of stuff. He would have gone through the garage door, but he didn't want the neighbours to see what was inside.
Ai was sitting on the couch with Rover, watching a live broadcast of villains being manhandled by Endeavor the number two hero and most hated person in MHA.
"Hello, Onii-chan. What's that you've got in that trolley?"
"WOOF."
Both greeted him when they noticed his arrival.
"It's important stuff for the big toy I'm building."
Ai smiled and walked over, hugging his leg.
"Is it ready?"
"No, Ai. It's not even close."
She pouted and went back to the couch, continuing to watch TV as John headed through the other door to the garage.
Inside, his fingers pressed the switches, and the garage lights flickered on. Many tools for vehicles, as well as those used to forge swords and cut metal, lay scattered across the floor.
John ignored them as his attention was on something else.
A bulky, twenty-foot-tall mech suit stood in the centre of the garage. It looked like the Hulkbuster, painted in two different shades of blue with some gold paint.
He flipped through the hand-drawn notes on the table, sketches that resembled the arc reactor from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
John looked at his mech suit, then at the notes in his hand.
'It's been two months since I started this suit. A week just making sketches of the design. Getting resources from junkyards, cars, scrap metals, and buying my own stuff to build it.
But I still need to make a special power source for it.'
It sounded crazy to build a mech suit by himself in two months should be impossible for one person.
But he had the talismans power to speed up the process plus the ability to restore damaged parts cause he's not gonna waste money to find replacements.
From the outside, it might look like John was trying to become a hero. But that wasn't it at all.
He is going to use the mech for business as a demolition destroying old buildings if people have the money to pay
The other reason was to defend himself and Ai.
He couldn't use his powers in public without risking his identity as Absalon and God knows how messy it will be.
John glances at the mech suit for few seconds then turns his attention to his notes.
'Tony sure knows how to make a good energy source. But the problem is I'm not billion-dollar Playboy Tony Stark and i already know what type of power source I'm gonna use for my mech suit.'
John put the notes down and headed back to the living room to watch TV with Ai and Rover. But one of the notes slipped off the table, landing face-up on the floor. It showed different blueprints and a name.
Project: Astral Pulse.
.........................
Hours passed. Ai and Rover grew drowsy, their eyes heavy. John draped a blanket over each of them and soon both were fast asleep.
He switched off the TV and made his way back to the garage.
At the worktable, he activated his Arsenal Manifestation. A Railgun materialized in front of him.
"Time to get this started."
John cracked his neck and began dismantling the weapon, preparing parts for his own arc reactor. It was going to be a long night for him.
End
[Author's note: at least the update wasn't 2 weeks and yes John can do it cause rabbit talisman will give him insane speeds and reaction speeds to build the mech in two months.
He's using iron man mark 3 arc reactor and it will be explained later why he's doing both]