With Barricade's emphatic guarantees, Megatron finally agreed to trust him one more time.
By then, Barricade's plan was already in motion.
From Barricade's observations, Saitama—though terrifyingly strong—still shared human needs: food, water, rest. So the moment Saitama and Vivian stopped to recuperate, would be the moment to strike.
Soon, an opportunity appeared.
On their way to the final city, as Saitama and Vivian passed an abandoned town, Barricade's subordinate Starscream slipped in close and jabbed Vivian with a tranquilizer.
"Ah… S–Saitama…" Vivian tried to call out, but Starscream clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Tch. Women are such trouble. I'd rather put a hole through her—pew." He dragged her off and hid her beneath a panel. "But orders are orders. She's a bargaining chip. If we need leverage, she'll do nicely."
Starscream tapped a control on his wrist. A blue holo-screen sprang up—Barricade's face on the other end.
"Starscream. Is the job done?" Barricade asked.
"All smooth," Starscream replied.
"Good. Guard her. Don't slip."
As he spoke, Barricade and several lieutenants strode into the abandoned town.
The instant Saitama spotted several massive Transformers, a prickle of danger ran down his spine.
"Looking for your girlfriend?" Barricade sneered. "Too late. She's in our hands."
Saitama didn't answer. He just looked—at Barricade, and at the motley crew beside him: a green, skull-faced mech; a squat, octopus-like crawler; two fire-belching drakes; and a phalanx of flying gun drones arming up overhead.
"Saitama, you've reached the end of the line," Barricade said. "Be sensible and die."
Boom—
The ground erupted beneath Saitama's feet. Before he could throw a punch, a colossal pangolin-type Decepticon burst out of the earth, its spined tail scything through a rusted car and hurling it aside.
The battle ignited in an instant.
Since arriving in the Transformers world, this was Saitama's first time being swarmed by so many enemies at once. Every nerve went on alert.
"Hnh… So this is the feeling I've been searching for," he thought as adrenaline surged. That long-lost spark of battle climbed his spine again.
He sprang—landing square on the pangolin's head—then launched himself straight at Barricade.
Barricade ripped the greatsword from his back and met him head-on.
When a fist from the One Punch Man world met a giant sword from Cybertron, everyone present witnessed the impossible:
Saitama's single punch cracked Barricade's blade.
Cr—crack.
A thin fissure appeared, skittered along the metal, then spidered across the other side. The giant sword was finished.
"Damn you—are you a monster?!" Barricade hurled the ruined weapon aside and swung with his fists.
Boom!
This time, Barricade managed to take Saitama's punch—but the massive frame still skidded back two heavy steps.
Saitama, still perched on the pangolin's skull, caught the beast's whipping tail in one hand, heaved, and wrenched. The entire pangolin crashed through a knot of Decepticons and slammed them into a heap.
Kaboom.
Barricade was nearly flattened; his lieutenants weren't so lucky.
"Idiot—get off me! You're crushing my actuators!"
The pangolin lurched upright, only to catch a clout from another Decepticon. "You useless lump!"
Frustration twisted Barricade's features. He'd gathered a squad, built a "flawless" plan, pictured Saitama pummeled into paste and offered up to Megatron to vent old grudges.
Instead, he was the one being battered.
Why him? Why this yellow-jumpsuited, red-caped freak who looked more Cybertronian than he did?
"Lord Barricade—should we trigger Plan B?" Starscream called, hearing the tide turn.
Barricade grabbed the chance like a lifeline. "Do it. Now!"
Plan B was simple: leverage Vivian to shackle Saitama.
Saitama had already guessed as much. Vivian had vanished for barely a moment before Barricade's squad descended—something had gone wrong.
A Decepticon appeared in the church belfry of the ghost town, metal fingers clamped around Vivian's throat.
"Saitama," the bot bellowed, "your woman is in our hands. Do as you're told if you want her to live!"
"Oh? And what do you want me to do?" Saitama asked.
Seeing Plan B take hold, Barricade found his confidence again. "Isn't it obvious? Surrender. We'll deliver you to Lord Megatron. Your life or death will be his to decide."
Vivian stirred, choked back to consciousness by the pain. Memories flashed—the sting of the needle, the creeping numbness.
"S–Saitama… the Decepticons caught me… you have to run—cough, cough—"
The guardbot slapped her cheek. "You're on the brink and still worrying about him? Maybe look down."
Vivian lowered her eyes. Her body hung dozens of meters above the ground. If not for her training and low body fat, her own weight might already have snapped her neck.
"Cough… Saitama, don't worry about me. Go!"
Barricade's laugh came out like grinding gears. "I'll grant it—you're strong. But you're human. With your woman in our grip, can you really turn and walk away? You humans love to prattle about 'humanity.' If you abandon her now, how are you any different from us machines? Hahaha!"
Vivian's heart sank at the sound. She'd thought she could reach Britain with Saitama, lean on her family's connections, and help him. She never imagined she'd become a burden before they even crossed the sea.
Saitama, it seemed, had been forced into a dead end.
(End of Chapter)
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