Beside Kenji, Miles seemed to be talking to himself, yet also speaking to him: “She is pretty great, isn’t she?” “Yeah, who wouldn’t like a slim, beautiful blonde chick who can fight?” “You’re right,” Miles couldn’t help but laugh.
“If we went to the same school, I’d definitely compete with you!” “Not necessarily.
I graduated a long time ago.” “You’re a cool guy, man.
Glad to have met you…
Wait?” Miles rummaged through the control interface, looking surprised: “Why can’t I find your universe designation number?” Kenji imitated Gwen and threw his hands up: “Probably a settings glitch?” Miles was dumbfounded: “No way…
Then how are you supposed to get back?” Kenji opened his hand, and the item for his return trip appeared in his palm.
Right now, this Fantasy Card was flickering on and off, like an Ultraman insisting on showing his color timer is blinking before striking a pose.
Kenji grasped the [Black Box Fragment] and winked at Miles: “It’s fine.
I am not like them.” “Huh?” The Stand ability activated.
The [Black Box Fragment] turned into motes of light and vanished, opening a pitch-black space-time portal in front of the two.
“See ya.” Miles blankly pulled back his right hand that had just fist-bumped Kenji, watching him step into the pitch-black vortex.
The next second, the vortex dissipated, taking Kenji along with it.
“He sure is special,” Miles couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head.
“That guy…” …
The One Punch Man World.
“Chief, you have a phone call.” The high-level meeting at the Metropolitan Police Department had just ended.
The Police Chief took the phone handed to him by his secretary in black pantyhose and placed it against his ear.
“This is Serizawa…
Oh, it is Kenji-kun!” The Chief’s eyes lit up.
He waved his hand, signaling the secretary to leave first.
Understanding the gesture, she immediately exited the conference room, closing the door behind her.
“What brings you to call me out of the blue?
What…
you confiscated a batch of new equipment!
Good, good, good, you are very thoughtful, Kenji-kun…
No need to send it to the A-City headquarters.
I will send someone directly to Z-City to hand it over with your branch chief!” …
Z-City, Outskirts, by a small lake.
The sun was shining brightly, and the air was filled with the rich, fresh scent of vegetation.
The nearby lake sparkled in the light.
Everything remained exactly as it was before Kenji crossed over, as if he had never left.
Hanging up the call with the Chief, Kenji shook his head.
Phew…
“Finally back.” Space-time travel still wasn’t a very comfortable experience.
He attributed the main reason to his physical attributes not being high enough yet.
Activating his telekinesis, a watch flew out from the nearby grass and landed in Kenji’s hand.
This was the watch he had purposely left behind before leaving.
It was still in its original spot, completely undamaged.
The hands were ticking at a leisurely pace, indicating that only three minutes had passed since he crossed over.
These three minutes were exactly the time Kenji spent talking to the big boss on the phone.
In other words, when traveling to other worlds, time in the One Punch Man world does not flow.
This small lake was relatively close to the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist dojo.
Kenji thought since he hadn’t seen the old man in a while, he might as well drop by.
When he arrived, he found the place empty.
The left-behind disciple, Charanko, leaning on a broom, greeted Kenji at the door: “Master went down the mountain yesterday, saying he was doing hero work.
I don’t know when he’ll be back.” “Ah, is that so?
The old man is actually being diligent…” Hoo!
Hah!
“Huh?” Uniform shouts of training echoed from inside the dojo.
Kenji couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Charanko, don’t you need to practice martial arts?” “Ah…” Charanko scratched his head in embarrassment.
“My talent isn’t as good as my senior brothers, so I figured I’d help out more with the chores.” Hearing this, Kenji patted his shoulder with earnest significance: “You will definitely become your master’s final, closed-door disciple in the future.” “Really?
Thank you!” Charanko’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“Mr.
Kenji, do you mean that my perseverance and willpower will eventually move the Master to teach me real martial arts?” “No, I just think the old man needs to keep someone around who can do the chores and sweep the floors.” Charanko: “…” “Keep up the good work.
I am taking off.” Under Charanko’s deeply resentful gaze, Kenji gracefully floated up and flew toward Z-City.
As the Section Chief of the Special Affairs Section at the Z-City Police Department, Kenji was still very dedicated to his job.
He had finished the vast majority of his work on the first day back from the training camp.
He originally thought this trip to another world would take quite a while, but he returned to the station before noon.
“Yo, is everyone busy?” Kenji walked into the office carrying bags of various sizes, smiling cheerfully at his subordinates who were struggling with paperwork.
“Smells so good…” Kyoko brushed her bangs aside and looked up.
Seeing the exceptionally rich lunch in Kenji’s hands, her expression softened slightly.
“Are you treating us to lunch, my dear Section Chief?” “Of course.
If I ate all this by myself, do you think I am a bottomless pit?” “What do we have?” “Burgers, fries, pork cutlet rice bowls, eel rice…
I also bought milk tea and drinks.
Everyone take a break and come grab what you want.” “Thank you, Chief!” X10 The police officers, who had been busy all morning, stood up one by one, took their favorite food from Kenji, and returned to their desks to feast.
“Seeing as you still have some conscience left, I will temporarily forgive you.” Kyoko held an expensive, deluxe eel rice bowl set, her cheeks stuffed full of food, looking exactly like a stingy hamster preparing for winter.
“Thanks for your hard work, my dear Deputy Chief.” Kenji held a box of pork cutlet rice, standing in front of Kyoko’s desk while eating.
“It can’t be helped.
The Special Affairs Section was just established, so these trivial matters are unavoidable.” Kyoko rolled her eyes at him, swallowed her food, and complained, “Then you should allocate more manpower to us!
With so much going on and only three or four of us around, how are we supposed to get it all done in time?” “Calm down, calm down.” Kenji placed his empty lunchbox on the desk and straightened his collar.
“Your Chief had a good harvest today.
The rewards from headquarters will be coming down soon.” “Really?
How much of a harvest could you possibly get in one morning…” Kyoko looked suspicious.
Seeing Kenji turn to leave, she called out, “Hey, hey, your trash!” “Throw it away for me.” “…” After Kenji left, the entire Special Affairs Section office became a bit lively.
One officer complained, “I wonder if what the Chief said is true.
I really don’t want to touch any more of this paperwork!” “Hey, hey, don’t you guys think Chief Kenji looks handsome even when he’s eating?
Oh my…” A young female officer’s face beamed with infatuation, earning her a precise chopstick attack from Kyoko: “Stop swooning.
You eat your lunch so fast…
your Chief is just a glutton…” “Right, right!
Even if he’s a glutton, he’s the most handsome glutton!” Kyoko: “…” As she thought about it, her own face also flushed slightly.
Although she didn’t want to admit it, what the girl said made a lot of sense…
…
Z-City, Hero Association Branch.
Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack…
“Team Leader!
Team Leader!” On the polished marble corridor, the sound of high heels suddenly stopped.
Wine-red high heels revealed two straight, long legs wrapped in black pantyhose.
The owner of the legs wore a custom-made suit uniform from the Hero Association.
The well-fitting pencil skirt outlined a perfectly alluring S-curve.
Beneath golden wavy hair rested a pair of wine-red glasses matching her shoes.
It was Lani.
Lani hugged a stack of documents against her chest with one hand and pushed up her glasses with the other.
“Why are you looking for me in such a hurry?
What is it?” “It is like this!
Headquarters just updated the latest hero rankings.
The hero names and ranks for the two potential heroes we reported earlier have also been finalized!” “So it’s about that.” Lani nodded, her gaze turning slightly cold.
“The efficiency of those deadbeats at headquarters is as poor as ever.
We repeatedly emphasized the combat power levels of those two heroes, yet they still dragged it out for so long…
Never mind, let’s head to the conference room first.” “Yes!” …
“Mr.
Kenji!
Excuse me, are you Mr.
Kenji?” Kenji had just walked out of a milk tea shop near the police station.
He had barely taken a sip from his straw when two young men in black suits, sweating profusely, blocked his path.
“I am Kenji.
And you two are?” “Mr.
Kenji, we finally found you!” One of the young men, wearing sunglasses and an earpiece, wiped his sweat.
“We are staff members from the Z-City Branch of the Hero Association.
We were ordered to invite you…” BOOM!
Suddenly, the ground shook and the mountains swayed!
Violent tremors and deafening noises continuously echoed from a distance.
Even the surrounding buildings began to shudder and sway.
The two Hero Association staff members stumbled and only avoided falling because Kenji supported them with his telekinesis.
The crowds on the street ran and screamed in terror.
The atmosphere of panic rapidly spread.
The emergency broadcast speakers, recently installed along the roadsides, began to sound.
[Emergency broadcast!
Emergency broadcast!
A giant, unidentified monster has attacked the Z-City urban area.
Suspected disaster level: Demon!
Citizens in the vicinity, please proceed immediately to the nearest shelter and await rescue under the direction of the staff!] [Repeating broadcast!
Z-City urban area…] “Whatever it is, tell me later.
Looks like I have to head over there first.” Kenji helped the two staff members steady themselves.
His body was already lifting into the air, flying towards the direction where the monster was wreaking havoc.
“Ah, but…
he already left?” “I can’t even see his silhouette anymore…
So fast.
He truly is our Z-City’s first Class-A hero!” “But, the task Miss Lani gave us hasn’t been completed yet, has it?” “Uh, we can’t really do anything about it in this situation, right?
Let’s just ask the Team Leader to handle it personally…” ….
Z-City, Shelter No.
7.
The Hero Association had made various attempts to respond to emergency situations and major disaster events.
Among them, urban shelters were one of the critically promoted projects in this phase.
Relying on the Association’s immense financial power and infrastructure capabilities, they constructed multiple large-scale shelter facilities across major human cities.
Equipped with powerful defense systems, they could theoretically withstand all types of attacks when a major disaster struck.
This not only bought time for professional heroes to arrive for rescue but also maximized the preservation of citizens’ lives.
Today, the Z-City shelter was packed with terrified citizens.
The various installed defense systems were fully operational, which meant…
A disaster, or rather, a monster, had already arrived.