Chapter 104: The Giant Brother
Because he had previously deserted from the front line, King felt a little timid facing Child Emperor. Now it seemed Child Emperor was settling accounts with him. Child Emperor wanted to properly thank him for leaving behind G1, this "great gift." King guessed that Child Emperor had set up various traps in the Research Institute, just waiting for him to visit.
Naturally, he had to refuse this invitation.
"Oh, it's Child Emperor. My apologies, I have already left City Y. I have now arrived in City B. I appreciate your kind intentions, but I am temporarily unable to visit you."
"Is that so? King, I still wanted to thank you properly. I didn't expect you to be busy again. That's understandable. As the Strongest Man, King is naturally very busy. Then, when you have time next, I will thank you properly in person."
"We'll talk about it next time."
King hastily hung up the phone, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
He sighed softly, raised his eyes, and found everyone staring at him blankly. He was slightly startled and apologized, "My apologies, I have delayed you all for a moment. Please continue your discussion. Don't mind me."
Clatter!
As soon as his voice fell, the Nail Clipper on his neck clattered to the ground, making a clear clinking sound.
"Huh?"
He turned back in confusion, only to see the face of the originally fierce-looking Short Blade Robber turn pale, as if scared out of his wits. His teeth clattered, emitting a rapid clicking sound like a machine gun. His hands trembled as if he were having a Parkinson's attack, his legs went weak, and his body swayed unsteadily, as if too drunk to stand.
"Hey, it's not that serious, is it?"
King stared blankly at the Short Blade Robber, who was scared silly, completely unable to understand how the Short Blade Robber, who had seemed fearless just moments ago, could be terrified into such a state by his name.
"It's over, it's over. There's no hope of survival. Just now, holding a hostage, I still had a slim chance of escaping from the Fubuki Group. But I never expected to hold King, the Strongest Man on the Surface, hostage. Now my hope of survival is completely shattered. No matter how strong I am, I can't escape from King's hands. I'm definitely going to die."
The Short Blade Robber slumped to the ground like a stunned child, his face ashen, his eyes vacant, looking like he had nothing left to live for.
"Hey, King?" Hellish Blizzard snapped back to attention from her shock. She glanced at the B-class bounty criminal, the Short Blade Robber, who had surrendered. She pointed at King and said with an indignant face, "This prey belongs to our Fubuki Group, and his bounty is also ours. You are not allowed to halfway usurp the results of our half-day's hard work."
King was startled, staring blankly at Fubuki's unquestioning expression.
Eyelash's long hair stood on end in fear, and he said in a panic, "Miss Fubuki, don't talk nonsense! If we provoke King, we'll all be killed by him!"
Mountain Ape stood sideways, blocking Hellish Blizzard, and stared intently at King, profusely sweating. "This is terrible! Will King get angry? Will he attack Miss Fubuki? No, I must protect Miss Fubuki's safety. If you want to harm Miss Fubuki, please step over my corpse!"
Lily's scalp tingled, the pear blossoms on her head bursting into scattered petals. Her face paled in fright. "Master King, hahaha, our Miss Fubuki is just joking! That bounty, of course, belongs to you. We have no objections at all! After all, the Short Blade Robber was caught by you."
The other Fubuki Group members repeatedly defended Hellish Blizzard, fearing that King would misunderstand.
"Hey, what are you afraid of? Just because he's King, does that mean he can brazenly swallow our spoils of war? This is blatant bullying! It completely violates our heroes' code of conduct; this is an egregious act that shouldn't exist."
Hellish Blizzard's dark green uniform fluttered around her. She pointed at King solemnly and said, "Especially you, King! You are the Strongest Man on the Surface, the King whom the hero world looks up to. How can you have the nerve to snatch our Fubuki Group's spoils of war? If the world knew that you did such a despicable thing, it would be terrible. It would greatly affect your reputation! Now... are you really going to snatch our Fubuki's bounty money?"
She chuckled inwardly. King's strength was too great; even if the Fubuki Group attacked him together, they couldn't defeat him with a single slap. Therefore, she could only find another way, arguing her case with principles to make King wary, and then give up the bounty money.
The Fubuki Group members looked at their leader in awe, as if she were a celestial being, and suddenly realized. So, Miss Fubuki's seemingly reckless actions had a profound meaning after all. As expected of Miss Fubuki!
They chimed in, talking over each other, "That's right, King! If what happened today gets out, it will damage your reputation. It's really not worth harming your reputation for such a small amount of money!"
King looked at the noisy scene and couldn't help but laugh. These people actually thought he was here to snatch the bounty money. Hmph, he'd play along and tease them.
"You want the bounty money? You can. Defeat me... If you defeat me, I will voluntarily give up the bounty, and I will also give you all the money and honor I possess. The condition is... defeat me! Defeat me, the man reputed as the Strongest on the Surface. Who among you is willing to try and challenge the Strongest Man on the Surface?"
"Uh..."
As soon as King's domineering words came out, the Fubuki Group members felt as if their necks were being strangled. Their voices instantly caught in their throats, and they stared dumbfounded at the imposing King.
Everyone was shocked into silence. For a moment, the train car was silent, so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
"King, I'll challenge you."
After a long pause, Hellish Blizzard pointed at King and said solemnly, "I heard that the B-class hero Terrible Tornado has always wanted to defeat you? Hmph, the man she wants to defeat, I also want to try and defeat you."
King's mouth twitched slightly. "What the hell! Someone actually challenged me!" And it was the annoying Hellish Blizzard. As expected of sisters; Terrible Tornado was already bothersome enough, and Hellish Blizzard was no less so.
As for the reason why Hellish Blizzard wanted to challenge him, King had a general idea. Hellish Blizzard and Terrible Tornado were sisters. Both possessed psychic talent. However, while Fubuki's psychic talent was quite outstanding, compared to Tatsumaki's extraordinary talent, it seemed very ordinary.
Therefore, she had lived in Tatsumaki's shadow since childhood, desperately wanting to surpass Tatsumaki and become number one. This was also the reason why, despite having the strength to be at the forefront of B-class heroes, she still remained in the first position among B-class heroes. This was the first "number one" she had achieved in her life, and she feared losing that "number one" qualification after rising to A-class.
Therefore, she had always remained a B-class hero, firmly holding the top spot among B-class heroes, and had formed the Fubuki Group, hoping that one day, with the Fubuki Group's help, she could defeat Terrible Tornado and step out of her psychological shadow.
Troublesome sisters!
King thought with a headache.
At this time, the train TV screen suddenly showed a piece of breaking news: "Respected viewers, according to the latest news, a giant, like an ancient Titan, has appeared in City D. With a wave of his hand, he destroyed City D. The Hero Association has classified the giant as a Dragon-level Disaster. Currently, the giant is heading towards City B. We hope that the citizens of City B will evacuate as soon as possible after hearing the broadcast, or head to a Shelter and try to stay as far away from the giant as possible."
"Giant?"
King looked at the picture of the giant that appeared on the TV. His pupils instantly contracted. A muscular body towering into the clouds, an exposed skull... his usual memories flooded his mind. He remembered it. This guy was the only monster who had appeared in the anime and caused a Dragon-level disaster capable of destroying two cities—the Giant Brothers.
"Wait a minute, if he remembers correctly, the two cities destroyed by the Giant Brothers were City D and City B."
"Huh? Which city has the train arrived at now?"
"Damn it! City B... I'm actually in City B! This is going to be a disaster!"
"Saitama, there are evil commoners trying to harm Your Majesty! Quickly come to my rescue!"
(end of chapter)