Bang waved cheerfully as Jason turned and flashed a grin. The old man's smile froze for a split second.
As expected, the kid suddenly erupted with the aura of the Flowing Water Fist. His footwork shifted, his body turned into a blur, and in the blink of an eye he was already halfway down the mountain steps.
"…."
Bang took a deep breath, clasped his hands behind his back, and expressionlessly turned back toward the dojo.
Learning martial arts requires a proper apprenticeship, you idiot!
Slurp, slurp
Back home, Jason cooked himself two packs of instant noodles. To boost nutrition, he added braised beef, vegetables, and five eggs.
After boiling a huge pot, he picked up a mouthful of noodles to taste just as his phone rang in his pocket.
"Hello, this is Jason."
"Jason, it's Saitama."
"Oh, Saitama. What's up?"
Evening, a phone booth.
Saitama glanced at the bound criminals and monsters behind him. He spoke into the phone.
"I caught a group of bad guys. There's even a monster among them. Since you're a police officer, I thought I should report it to you."
"A group of bad guys… and a monster?"
Jason paused.
That information made him a little confused. And normally, you don't report crimes by calling your police friend directly.
But knowing Saitama's thought process, he accepted it anyway.
"Alright, I got it. Where are you? I'll come over."
"I'm at…"
Jason used telekinesis to grab a pen and paper, wrote down the address Saitama described, and quickly finished his noodles in a few bites. The hot food went straight down, turning into energy to replenish his exhausted body after training.
After eating, he made two phone calls.
Then he opened the balcony door. Blue telekinetic energy wrapped around his body as he shot into the sky.
Ten minutes later.
After receiving Jason's report, the police immediately deployed a special task force. Armored vehicles led the way as they sped toward Saitama's location.
A row of old two-story apartment buildings stood in a remote area. Because the rent was cheap and the location was isolated, the tenants were a mix of all kinds of people. Over time, it had become known in urban rumors as a "crime supermarket."
Only someone as carefree as Saitama could live here for so long without noticing anything strange.
Of course, given his finances, he didn't have many other options.
Armed officers poured out of the vehicles and quickly secured the area.
At the same time, the Hero Association, informed of the situation, arrived under the leadership of Lani. The two groups met on site.
Meanwhile, Jason was asking Saitama about what had happened.
It turned out that Saitama had gone to pick up clothes and learned that the tailor shop owner had borrowed money from an underground loan shark due to cash flow problems. Unable to repay, the shop was about to be seized.
Driven by his sense of justice, Saitama decided to deal with the problem.
Who would have thought the loan shark office was right next door to where he lived? The loan boss even transformed into a dark goldfish-like monster. It wasn't strong, but it was disgusting.
As a result, Saitama's freshly repaired tracksuit was torn again.
"Loan sharks, underwear thieves, counterfeit factories… you went out to fix your clothes and ended up cleaning up a whole criminal network. That's so you."
"Eh? Is that a compliment? It feels kind of weird."
"Just take it as a compliment."
Jason pulled Saitama toward the middle of the police and Hero Association teams, who were currently arguing.
"Now, tell them exactly what happened again."
"Eh? Again? That's a pain."
"You know it's a pain and you still complain? Just do it."
"From here on, the Association will coordinate with the police."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Jason. The Association is currently planning to build the world's most advanced monster prison. I will convince the police to hand over that goldfish monster to us."
Lani straightened her posture, clearly pleased.
"Next time you encounter something like this, please contact us immediately."
"Yeah, yeah, sure."
Jason glanced at Saitama, who was currently giving his statement. "By the way, that monster was defeated by Saitama alone. He also took down the frog monster last time. Want to meet him?"
"Ah, a friend of Mr. Jason? Of course. The Association could also issue a reward to such a helpful civilian."
"Ah, it's not about the reward…"
Seeing that Lani had no intention of recruiting Saitama, Jason dropped the topic.
As a friend, he didn't want their relationship reduced to something so vulgar as money.
Saitama, meanwhile, thought: I don't mind being vulgar at all.
By the time everything was settled, it was deep into the night.
After sending off the police, Saitama suddenly felt like he had forgotten something, but couldn't remember what.
So he gave up thinking.
He had a habit of ignoring small daily worries like that.
As a result, he once again missed out on a pile of easily obtainable bounty money.
"Jason, want to come upstairs? My place is small, but I've got tea."
"Sure. It's been a long night anyway. A cup of tea sounds good."
Saitama's room was exactly as he described it: small and cluttered, from the entrance to the living room.
"Sorry about the mess…"
A drop of cold sweat formed on Saitama's forehead. Living alone, he never noticed how messy things were until a guest arrived.
After hurriedly clearing a small space to sit, he turned on the TV and went to boil water for tea.
Jason didn't mind. He sat cross-legged on the floor.
Just as he settled in, there was a knock at the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
Pretty loud.
"Who could it be this late?" Jason stood up. "I'll get it."
He opened the door.
An elderly woman with a gloomy expression stood outside. When she saw Jason, she hesitated, recognizing him as one of the officers from earlier.
"…Oh? Not him?"
"Are you looking for Saitama?" Jason asked.
The woman nodded.
Jason turned back inside. "Saitama, someone's here for you."
"Ah, coming…"
Saitama walked over after making the tea and immediately recognized the visitor. He looked like he wanted to close the door.
The old woman's expression darkened. "You. Come out here and talk!"
"Ugh, do I really have to… so troublesome."
Saitama sighed and reluctantly walked out.
"Jason, just wait a moment. The tea is ready."
"No problem."
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
From outside came a sharp, furious shouting.
Jason calmly picked up his teacup and took a sip.
The tea wasn't great, but he didn't mind. It was a rare moment of peace.
Bang!