Above the uninhabited area of Z City.
Black-Eyed Psykos pushed up her round-rimmed glasses, her slender finger pointing toward a dilapidated bungalow. "That's it! 1500 meters straight down from here is the entrance to the core area of the research facility!"
Kaito followed her direction, a playful smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He was all too familiar with that simple bungalow—it was Saitama's home.
"Interesting…" Kaito chuckled softly, recalling the last time he and Saitama had explored the Monster Association's lair. If Psykos hadn't been lucky enough to encounter Deep Sea King attacking C City back then, she probably would have been caught by him already.
"Child Emperor, should we land?"
"Let's land and see if Saitama is home."
With a slight tremor, the over ten-meter-tall silver mech, King Maru, landed steadily in the small yard in front of Saitama's house.
As the hatch opened, a rich aroma of roasted meat wafted out.
The strange sight before them made both Child Emperor and Black-Eyed Psykos freeze—but Kaito showed no surprise at all.
Saitama was squatting in front of a new deep pit in his yard, casually punching any monster that poked its head out into oblivion.
Next to him, Galacticshifter, the "Universe's Greatest Psychic Master" whom Kaito had fostered, was equally busy. This giant cosmic octopus wore a white chef's hat on its round head, its dozen or so tentacles dancing nimbly. One tentacle dragged over monster corpses Saitama had killed, another skillfully peeled and deboned, and several more flipped meat skewers on the grill.
The cooked skewers were respectfully handed to Saitama, who devoured them without hesitation.
"Wow!"
Saitama's eyes lit up when he saw the silver mech descending from the sky, and he let out a muffled exclamation of surprise, still chewing meat. When he saw Kaito and Child Emperor emerge from the mech, he immediately waved enthusiastically.
"Kaito! Child Emperor! Come and try this—these skewers taste great!"
Seeing this, Galacticshifter quickly grilled a few more skewers and offered them respectfully with his tentacles. Even for a psychic master who had once dominated the universe, avoiding becoming the bald demon king's ingredient required pulling out all the stops.
Kaito smiled as he took a skewer and bit into it without hesitation. The meat was tender and juicy, with a rich aroma.
"Hmm~ it tastes good. Crispy, like chicken," he commented objectively.
Saitama scratched his shiny bald head, looking troubled. "I don't know what's going on, but monsters have been continuously coming out of this pit since evening. To protect the house, I've had to stay here."
Kaito looked around casually. "Where's Do S?"
"The Hero Association sent him a message about a serious monster disaster, so he rushed out," Saitama said, dispatching another monster crawling from the pit.
Kaito nodded, guessing that Psykos most likely intended a war of attrition to tie Saitama down. After all, unlike the original timeline, Saitama and Boros's battle on the moon had revealed his godlike power to the world much earlier.
By sending cheap, expendable monsters to attack Saitama's home and letting them die, Psykos had chosen the most economical and practical method to pin him down.
Kaito finished the last piece of meat, tossed the skewer aside, and suggested, "Want to go down and take a look together? The leader of these monsters is hiding down there. If we catch her, the problem will be solved. Child Emperor can handle the ones coming out of the hole."
Saitama's eyes lit up, and he immediately stood, exclaiming excitedly, "Great! I'm so tired of squatting here! If I wasn't worried about the house, I'd have punched the ground until it collapsed long ago!"
Just as everyone was about to act, a piercing whistling sound suddenly came from the sky.
"Boom!"
A smoke-trailing object crashed heavily into the yard, kicking up a cloud of dust.
When the dust settled, everyone saw a heavily damaged Do S. His limbs were torn, half his face shattered, and exposed mechanical parts sparked continuously.
Saitama squatted down and poked Do S's broken face. "Do S, are you okay? Why are your arms and legs gone again?"
"Teacher…" Do S said, ashamed. "I've failed you. There's a very strong guy heading this way…"
As if to confirm his words, heavy footsteps echoed from the street in the distance.
"Hahahahaha!"
Accompanied by arrogant laughter, a burly figure appeared at the street corner. Four strong arms, a body covered in black bristles, and sharp horns growing from his shoulders and head marked the arrival of the threat.
The newcomer was none other than Fuhrer Ugly, a God-level Monster of the 108th tier!
In one hand, he dragged a dying human. Kaito looked closely and recognized him—Suiryu, the martial arts tournament champion.
With a casual flick, Fuhrer Ugly hurled Suiryu in front of everyone, then crossed his four arms over his chest and shouted arrogantly, "Hey! All you worthless trash in front, get out of my way! Don't block Fuhrer Ugly's path, or I'll kill you all!"
Kaito couldn't help but laugh, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, isn't this the invincible Fuhrer Ugly?"
Fuhrer Ugly, oblivious to the mockery, became even more smug. "Kaito! As expected of the 'Strongest Man on Earth,' you recognize my prestige! For that, I'll spare your life today!"
Turning to Saitama, who was still gnawing on a skewer, he barked rudely, "Hey! Baldy! Let me taste your skewer…"
The moment the word "baldy" left his mouth, Saitama's expression darkened instantly.
"Bang!"
With a dull thud, half of Fuhrer Ugly's body vanished.
The remaining half froze midair, his face still holding that arrogant smirk as if he hadn't realized what had happened—before he crashed to the ground in a mangled heap.
"I hate it the most when people call me baldy," Saitama muttered, shaking the blood off his fist, then nonchalantly returned to his spot and continued eating his skewer.
Kaito shook his head with a chuckle and walked over to Suiryu. Squatting down, he gently patted the martial artist's swollen face. "Are you still awake?"
Suiryu struggled to open his eyes, swollen nearly shut. When he recognized Kaito, his lips trembled. "Run… run away…"
Kaito pointed to Fuhrer Ugly's corpse and teased, "You weren't defeated by this guy, were you?"
Although netizens jokingly called Fuhrer Ugly "God-level 108th tier," Kaito knew the truth: this guy's actual strength barely reached "Dragon-level shame." How could Suiryu, who possessed S-Class Hero power, have been beaten so badly by him?
Suiryu shook his head with difficulty, a flicker of fear in his eyes. "No… not him… it's someone even more terrifying… Hero… Kaito… you can't beat him… Run!"
Suddenly, the ground shook violently, the commotion dozens of times greater than anything Fuhrer Ugly had caused.
From the distance came the sound of buildings collapsing one after another, and a figure taller than a skyscraper was approaching…