"Who are you? Dark Mask!"
Fubuki was slightly stunned, then breathed a sigh of relief.
"They are all members of the Blizzard Group. They have just been controlled by someone. Please, do not hurt them."
King looked at Do-S in the distance and revealed a smile. "Rest assured, just leave this monster to me. We still have some scores to settle."
"Damn it, why is it this guy again!"
Do-S recalled the fear of being hunted by King that night, but today, she felt that he seemed slightly different.
'Rover's attack that day actually didn't kill him, he's really lucky. I must notify the executives to handle this, otherwise, all other members, including me, will die.'
Do-S swung her whip frantically, and dozens of controlled citizens pounced toward King, attempting to stop his advance.
'I'll escape while I can!'
Swish... Swish...
Countless vines immediately wrapped around all the citizens, and a towering tree rose from the ground behind Do-S.
"Damn it, what is this monstrosity!"
Crack!
Do-S swung her whip frantically. Although she snapped a few vines, it was merely a drop in the bucket. The overwhelming vines pierced into her body, absorbing nutrients. In an instant, Do-S's body became incredibly shriveled until she lost all signs of life.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a Peak Demon-level Monster, obtained 2,000 talent points.]
"This... is this also your ability?"
Fubuki was so shocked that she couldn't speak. She had witnessed Dark Mask's powerful Psychokinesis, she hadn't expected him to have other hidden cards. If he had used this ability at that time, she would likely have been defeated instantly.
Thinking of this, Fubuki felt a lingering fear. It was fortunate that Dark Mask was a hero of the Hero Association.
"I'll leave the cleanup here to you, I still need to go deal with other monsters." King waved his hand and headed toward another location.
'Plant Manipulation's talent growth value has reached 80%. Not only can I manipulate plants, but I can also control the regeneration of trees and flowers, it's perfect for building houses.'
"Next is this guy!" King looked at the massive body coiled around the skyscraper in the distance and revealed a smile.
—
Death Shower!
Rat-tat-tat!
Death Gatling fired the Gatling gun toward the giant octopus in front of him, but it couldn't cause any damage at all.
"Damn it, I can't even break through this monster's defense." A-Class Rank 8, Death Gatling, looked full of unwillingness.
"Hey, all you A-Class guys, move aside. Don't get in the way here." A man with long golden hair and a white cape appeared before the crowd with a calm expression.
"Who are you?!"
"Huh? S-Class Rank 13, Flashy Flash!"
Death Gatling was surprised.
Flashy Flash had already vanished from the spot, countless slashes striking out. The numerous eyes on the Hundred-Eyes Octopus's body sprayed green blood. It was enraged by Flashy Flash's attack, and a giant tentacle slammed down fiercely.
"Is its weak point inside? I'll slice you to pieces in one go."
Flashy Flash appeared on the top of the skyscraper. Just as he prepared to attack, thick vines shot up from the ground into the sky.
"What is this?" A look of confusion appeared in Flashy Flash's eyes.
At this moment, another figure was watching the situation from the air.
Pfft... Pfft...
Several vines pierced into the body of the Hundred-Eyes Octopus, causing it to struggle violently, but it could never shake them off.
Hum...
At this moment, King could clearly feel streams of energy continuously being transported into his body through the vines.
'What a convenient ability!' King was overjoyed.
This was an ability he had just discovered: he could absorb the energy of monsters through the vines and store it within his body.
'Demon-level Monster, Hundred-Eyes Octopus, I really have to thank you.'
As time passed, the Hundred-Eyes Octopus's struggles became weaker and weaker, and its massive body shriveled up like a deflated balloon.
"How dare you interfere in my battle without permission. What a busybody." Flashy Flash glanced at King with a cold expression, then turned and left.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a Peak Demon-level Monster, obtained 2,000 talent points.]
'The number of below Demon-level monsters is enough, now I'm just missing five Demon-level and two Dragon-level monsters.' King calculated silently.
Just as he was about to head to the next location, a cold voice rang out from the sky. "You're quite capable, aren't you?"
King turned to look and saw a girl in a black robe and a head of green curly hair. It was actually the S-Class Rank 2 Hero, Tatsumaki.
"Idol? You've come too!" King shouted, pretending to be excited.
"You are...? That guy who came out of the spaceship in A-City back then."
Tatsumaki's impression of King was still very deep, especially since he had killed a Dragon-level monster at that time.
"That's right. I have always been working hard and training with you as my goal, I've now been promoted to A-Class."
"Not bad. If all heroes were like you, I wouldn't have to worry so much. However, was that your ability just now?"
Tatsumaki asked with some suspicion, as the ability King had just displayed was exceptionally powerful, and there was no record of it in the Hero Association.
If he truly possessed such powerful strength, why would he be content staying in a mere A-Class and remain unknown?
All of this made Tatsumaki feel that things were not simple, there must be some secret hidden on him.
"Yes, but the conditions for using this ability of mine are very strict. It requires accumulating energy for a long time to use it once. I'm still far from your level, idol. I will definitely continue to work hard and strive to catch up with your pace as soon as possible." King spouted nonsense.
He didn't want to be noticed by too many people yet. However, the truth would eventually come out. In the future, when killing monsters, he would have to avoid others as much as possible.
"Is that so? In that case, keep up the good work and strive to be promoted to S-Class soon. But as for catching up to me, forget about it."
"True strong people never expect help from others. In the future, if you encounter trouble in the Hero Association, you can come to me. Don't learn from those bottom-tier heroes."
Tatsumaki stopped overthinking it and casually bad-mouthed the other S-Class Heroes. As for King, he was her fan after all. The worst case was just paying a little more attention to him in the future.
"Phew..."
'Finally managed to coax this high-maintenance lady away.'
King wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. If Tatsumaki insisted on investigating to the end, his dual identity would definitely be exposed without a doubt.
"The commotion I caused this time was a bit too big, I need to hurry and leave."
"Hey! You are the A-Class Rank 35 Hero, Dark Mask, right? Do you want to team up?"
Death Gatling took the initiative to approach and show goodwill.
King turned and looked at the several heroes behind him. "Sure. However, I've received orders from the Association and need to handle some urgent matters. If there's an opportunity in the future, you can contact me via this phone number."
King didn't refuse. Instead, he enthusiastically left his phone number. This made Death Gatling and the other heroes overjoyed, as they had witnessed King's strength with their own eyes.
'Making more friends with these A-Class heroes and ideally blending in with them—that should make it less likely for people to suspect me.'
(End of Chapter)
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