"Run, run, run! Wait..."
Do-S was fleeing frantically underground, but she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Before her, a ten-meter-tall monster that resembled a puppy sat quietly in place, its six eyes staring straight ahead.
'Must move slowly...'
"Gulp."
Do-S carefully bypassed it. Fortunately, the giant monster did not attack.
'Is this the Monster Association? I must finish this quickly. If the Dragon-level executives are drawn out, the consequences will be unbearable...'
Before King could finish his internal monologue, he saw the giant monster staring fixedly at him.
'Crap, the Monster Association Dragon-level executive, Overgrown Rover!'
In an instant, cold sweat poured down King's back. Even among Dragon-level threats, Overgrown Rover was an incredibly powerful monster, definitely not someone he could handle at his current level.
"Roar!"
Rover let out a growl, and a claw slammed King into the wall.
'This is not even on the same level, I have to risk it!'
King felt as if his entire body was about to fall apart. With the help of Undying Body, he managed to regain his mobility and then gathered his Fighting Spirit.
Fighting Spirit fully unleashed! Superalloy Bazooka!
King's Fighting Spirit rose to its peak, and he poured all his power into his fists, smashing toward Rover like a bazooka.
Boom!
Rover was blasted into the ground, and the massive shockwave destroyed the entire tunnel.
'Now is the time!'
King did not wait to see the result and turned to flee toward the surface.
"Roar!"
Rover's angry roar came from underground, and a beam of light passed through layers of walls, enveloping King's body.
'Must block it!'
At this moment, King could only pin his hopes on the absolute defense of Superalloy Darkshine, but the subsequent laser beams caused him to disappear into the light.
In Z-City's ghost town, the ground suddenly cracked open, and several beams of light shot into the sky.
Fortunately, there were no residents nearby, and because it was rumored that powerful monsters existed here, ordinary people dared not approach.
"Come back, Rover. Now is not the time for war. If the Hero Association is drawn here, it will disrupt the plan."
Deep underground, Gyoro Gyoro recalled Rover via telepathy, looking thoughtful.
"Such strength, yet it remained hidden within the Hero Association. It seems there are indeed many hidden forces there."
"Super Mouse also seems to have died at his hands. Plus, we lost two Demon-level monsters today. It seems I need to recruit more monsters."
—
Plop!
A charred remnant fell into a corner of the ghost town. A moment later, countless pieces of flesh began to squirm frantically, gradually converging into a human shape.
"That was close. Good thing Rover didn't chase after me."
King shook off the charred bits from his body. The terrifying recovery power of Undying Body allowed his flesh to recover by more than half in a short time.
[Battle Suit cooldown finished. Functional Weapon cooldown finished.]
"Great, now I don't have to run around naked."
The previous battle had long since destroyed King's clothes. Now that his Battle Suit and weapon were available, he not only didn't have to run naked, but he also had the ability to protect himself.
"Good thing the cooldown finished late, otherwise it would have been destroyed by Rover again." King breathed a sigh of relief.
This narrow escape was thanks to the absolute defense of Superalloy Darkshine's Talent Trial Card, which had blocked most of the damage. Otherwise, he would have been blasted into dust long ago.
"I need to prepare more clothes in the future, otherwise I'll have to exchange for Puri-Puri Prisoner's talent."
King muttered as he took out the personal items he had stored in the system. He had just discovered this storage function.
Of course, this damn system would not let him use it for free. It charged a certain custody fee based on the item size, which meant Talent Points, so King was too lazy to store anything other than necessary items like his phone and clothes.
"Let's get out of here first."
King's body had mostly recovered, but the weakness after using Fighting Spirit was still very obvious. If he encountered another Demon-level or higher monster, it would probably be another bitter battle.
However, since Rover hadn't come out, the Monster Association probably wouldn't send other combat forces to pursue him. After all, it was not time for the decisive battle yet, and both sides were in the preparation stage.
[Monster Slaughter Order: Monsters below Demon-level (71/80), Demon-level Monsters (7/15), and Dragon-level Monsters (3/5)]
'I still need seven more below Demon-level, eight more Demon-level, and two more Dragon-level. The two-month deadline is almost up.'
King walked toward the edge of the ghost town while calculating his next plan.
It was easy to solve the ones below Demon-level, but eight Demon-level ones would be hard to find. As for the final Dragon-level ones, let alone the fact that they are hard to encounter, even if he did, he might not be able to eliminate them easily.
But thinking that the reward was Saitama's Normal Punch made King full of motivation.
'At worst, I'll break into the Monster Association again after I recover. First, I'll slash Rover, then kill Monster King Orochi.'
Just as King was filled with passion, a voice made him stop in his tracks.
"Hey! How did you come out of the ghost town? What was that explosion just now? Was there a battle between monsters?"
"Hmm? Is that you?"
King turned around and saw that it was the A-Class Rank 1 Hero, Sweet Mask. He did not expect this guy to still be here.
'Crap, does this guy want revenge on me?' King became alert.
Although he was a bit weak right now, his Superalloy Darkshine Talent Trial Card had not expired yet. Moreover, his Battle Suit and weapon were usable. If Sweet Mask really attacked, he was confident he could escape unscathed.
"You are S-Class Rank 7... King?!"
Sweet Mask saw King's face clearly in the moonlight and could not help but be shocked.
"Ah?"
'Oh no, the mask...'
King just remembered that his Battle Suit had recovered, and he had not changed into another set of clothes, nor had he put his mask back on.
But that was fine, Sweet Mask would definitely not associate King with Dark Mask.
"What are you doing here? There is still residual energy on you..."
Sweet Mask looked at King suspiciously, and before the latter could explain, he answered for him, "I see, were you the one fighting just now? I did not expect you to dare to enter here alone to fight monsters. This is more like what an S-Class Hero should be."
Sweet Mask looked enlightened.
King opened his mouth to speak, but after thinking for a moment, he just nodded in agreement. "That's right."
Sweet Mask asked, "How is the situation inside? Is the rumor about this being the lair of the monsters true?"
"It's all taken care of, but the number of monsters is beyond imagination. I'm just about to go back and report to the Association."
King was concise and then ignored Sweet Mask, turning to leave.
Sweet Mask muttered, "A man who fights alone. Even after defeating such powerful monsters, he acts as if he has done something trivial."
"As expected of the strongest man on Earth."