An invisible low-pressure field descended.
Two elementary school kids who had been chasing each other suddenly stopped. Their innocent eyes locked onto a strange monochrome man standing in front of them. Fear slowly crept into their expressions.
"Mom!!" ×2
The two children screamed and ran away.
Saitama's clenched fist trembled slightly. Then he exhaled a long breath, and his entire world returned to normal color. His harmless, deceptively strong expression returned.
"Man… I guess I'll just have egg rice bowl today."
Back in A City.
Tornado was about to eliminate the ugly monster that irritated her with its voice when she suddenly frowned and looked into the distance.
"Who's there?"
As a fellow esper, she immediately sensed that she was not alone in the sky. Her sharp gaze shot sideways.
"Who I am doesn't matter," Jason said as he moved closer, unfazed by her hostile stare. He pointed downward at the Crane Machine Monster, which was trying to reassemble its split body. "We still have a situation. There are civilians who need rescuing."
"Shut up," Tornado snapped.
But after sensing the large number of injured civilians below, her temper cooled slightly. She huffed arrogantly.
"I'll deal with that trash. You stay out of it."
From below, the Crane Machine Monster let out its metallic, grinding laugh.
"Giiiiiihihihi… found you! So it was you, brat! I'll crush you!"
Tornado's expression darkened instantly.
"Brat?"
(╬ ಠ益ಠ)
"Say that again…"
Her small hand raised. Green light flickered between her fingers.
"Quiet."
A massive surge of psychic power erupted. Invisible mental force condensed into something harder than steel, instantly blanketing the entire sky.
Then it dropped.
Jason: "..."
This girl… does she even realize how much energy she's wasting?
"Giiihih—what?"
The sky went completely dark in an instant.
The Crane Machine Monster's laughter stopped mid-sound. Its massive body, still swinging its crane arms to destroy buildings, froze.
Fear finally appeared on its grotesque face.
"No—"
The next moment, its dozens-of-meters-tall body was flattened as if crushed by a hydraulic press.
Black, oil-like blood sprayed out as its distorted face collapsed into a pulp.
Tornado frowned in disgust. The direction of her psychic force shifted. Instead of crushing, it began compressing.
Within seconds, the remains of the monster, along with the splattered debris, were compressed into a dense metallic cube with no recognizable form.
Jason casually collected the monster's soul and turned it into an SR monster card. When he looked back, Tornado was dusting her hands with a satisfied expression.
"I'm going down to rescue people," he said.
"Ah…"
Tornado glanced down and saw the devastation below.
She had always only been responsible for eliminating monsters. Helping civilians… was not something she cared about.
"Tch… weaklings caught in the aftermath? Fine. So annoying."
Despite her words, she raised her hand.
Green psychic energy spread outward, forming protective bubbles around injured civilians, lifting them gently out of collapsed buildings and broken windows, and lowering them safely to the ground.
Jason was doing the same nearby.
When he noticed the green psychic glow that was not his own, he couldn't help but smile.
So she wasn't bad at heart after all.
The two espers worked together, rescuing countless civilians from the ruins.
Even uninjured survivors joined in to help.
Hero Association rescue teams soon arrived, and the operation continued deep into the night.
It was finally over.
Jason exhaled slowly. Even with his enhanced body, the mental exhaustion was real.
"You lasted longer than I expected."
A voice spoke beside him in a textbook tsundere tone.
Jason turned his head and saw a green-haired loli hovering down from the sky in psychic light, arms crossed proudly.
"Sounds easy when you say it," he replied.
"Tch. Because it is easy."
"Alright, alright. For Miss Tornado, everything is easy."
"Hmph."
She seemed satisfied by the flattery.
"Jason, right? That guy named Seichi told me you're a hero."
Seichi was a Hero Association executive, apparently connected to "Blast."
"I am," Jason replied. "I guess I'm still a rookie."
"Hmph. How boring. The Hero Association was only founded half a year ago anyway."
With that, she turned away.
"I'm leaving."
Her small figure rose into the sky, green light swirling around her.
Jason blinked.
"Huh? Just like that?"
As she flew away, something golden slipped from her direction and floated down.
Jason instinctively caught it with telekinesis.
Then his eyes widened.
[Fantasy Card: Psychic Overdrive]
Type: Ability Card
Rarity: SSR
Description: One of humanity's strongest psychic talents, originating from Tornado of Terror.
Effect 1: Natural Esper
Max psychic affinity. Faster activation, faster recovery, 90% reduced energy consumption.
Effect 2: Field Sovereign
Can freely construct and manipulate psychic fields. Faster formation and higher strength.
Effect 3: Psychic Storm
Greatly increases the power of large-scale psychic attacks.
Effect 4: Overload State
Entrust psychic power to instinct, temporarily breaking natural limits.
Jason: "..."
So she just dropped her talent like that?
No further hesitation.
"小 Tornado is GOAT."
He immediately activated the SSR card and pressed it into his chest.
A surge of unprecedented exhilaration erupted within him.
His already-evolved psychic power began to boil again.
Realizing what was about to happen, Jason shot upward into the sky without hesitation.
A man in a black suit with a large nose reached out helplessly from below.
"…They're all gone?"
He sighed.
"All the psychic-type heroes are so unpredictable. If I want to contact him, I'll have to wait for next time."