Saitama's mission was simple: find the future human leader, Connor…
And then protect Connor so he could survive the coming "super crisis."
But the Governor seemed to have overlooked one small problem.
If Saitama's existence had already changed the future, then that so-called super crisis might never happen. In that case, what was the point of finding Connor anymore?
The Governor didn't think that far.
After all, even though this AI robot's intelligence was close to that of a human, there were still some things he couldn't quite process. Otherwise, in the original plot of Terminator 3, he wouldn't have had to reboot himself.
What he didn't know… was that Saitama had long since guessed his goal.
So Saitama was already waiting at the location where Connor was supposed to appear.
Right now, inside a small pet hospital in the city—
Saitama was squatting in front of Connor, who had accidentally taken some sedative and was now snoring away.
Saitama pinched Connor's nose. "Hey, Savior, time to wake up."
Connor waved his hand in a half-asleep attempt to bat the annoyance away… and suddenly realized he'd actually hit someone's hand. That shock jolted him fully awake.
Heaven only knew how long it had been since this future human leader had gotten a proper night's sleep.
Even after this short nap, his eye sockets were still dark and heavy, like a human-shaped panda.
"Buddy," Saitama said, "I know you recognize me."
Connor was still a bit dazed, but he nodded anyway. "Yeah, I know you. You're the hero who beat the Transformers… Saitama."
"Good," Saitama replied. "Since you know who I am, things get a lot easier."
He continued, "In a little while, a Terminator from the future is going to show up. His goal is to forcibly protect you. But personally, I think he's a bit too tense about it. So, before he starts playing bodyguard… I want to test his level first. What do you say?"
As he spoke, Saitama gave Connor a conspiratorial blink.
Connor stared, shocked. "But he's a Terminator from the future! Can you really beat him?"
Even though Saitama had defeated Quintessa from Cybertron and a whole slew of ridiculously powerful Transformers, Connor still didn't believe he could beat a Terminator.
In the stories of Terminator 1 and 2, the Terminator had left too deep an impression on Connor's childhood.
"If I don't fight him," Saitama said, "how will I know?"
He raised his head and glanced out the window of the pet hospital. A black-clad figure was walking slowly toward the building.
"Alright," Saitama said, "showtime. You just need to watch from the sidelines. Remember to dodge if anything flies your way—don't get yourself hurt."
He stood up, pushed open the pet hospital's glass door, and walked out into the open.
The Governor's scanners picked him up again.
"…"
In the Governor's CPU and database, a familiar entry appeared once more: "Contemporary human hero: Saitama."
He rolled his neck, momentarily unsure how to handle the conflict in his internal files.
But he clearly remembered this bald man who had just recently thrown an "I am back" pose in front of him.
"I'm looking for Connor," the Governor said flatly. "Step aside."
"Before you see Connor," Saitama replied, "I want to talk to you."
"Talk?" the Governor repeated.
"Are you really from the future?" Saitama asked.
"I cannot answer that," the Governor said.
"Which year did the time machine first appear?" Saitama pressed.
The Governor frowned.
"And why," Saitama continued, "do you look exactly the same as the Terminator from 1976's Terminator 1? What's the reason behind that?"
The Governor answered with a missile.
The moment Saitama saw the Governor make a move, he let out a tiny sigh of relief.
Just now, he'd actually been worried that the Governor might refuse to fight.
The reason the Governor in Terminator 3 looked identical to the one from Terminator 1 and 2… lay in the Resistance's plan.
In the future, Connor would die at the hands of this very same model—the one standing in front of them now.
Saitama had no intention of telling Connor any of that.
He didn't want the kid overthinking it.
Aside from that, there was only one thing he truly wanted: a good fight with the Governor.
The incoming missile streaked toward him. Saitama dashed forward and smashed it with a single punch.
Then he and the Governor clashed in earnest.
Sure enough, after suffering a brief setback, the Governor quickly adjusted and began to respond more calmly. Thanks to his body being made entirely of a special metal, he could take a serious beating.
At least from Saitama's perspective, the Governor could endure far more punishment than any Transformer.
On top of that, the Governor possessed future-era mixed martial arts techniques. In a short span of time, he was actually able to fight Saitama to a near standstill.
Connor watched their battle with a complicated expression.
On one hand, he wanted the two of them to stop. On the other, he couldn't think of any reasonable excuse to make them.
With no better idea, Connor dialed the presidential hotline.
"Hello, is this the President's hotline? I'd like to report something… There's another fight going on near the pet hospital by Beverly Hills. Please send people over quickly!"
As soon as he finished, he hung up.
Based on his past experiences, he believed the Governor would be able to break through any encirclement.
And when forces from all over the U.S. arrived, Saitama would probably stop fighting as well.
But what Connor didn't know—
Was that the President's daughter, Ivanka, was already in Beverly Hills.
Once that call went through, the entire White House instantly boiled over.
They pulled up the satellite feed and took one look. "Oh my God, it's Saitama again!"
Trump: "…"
Because all the major American newspapers had informants in the White House, word that "Saitama is PK'ing the Governor" spread across the United States in an instant.
From the outside, everyone saw Saitama and the Governor trading blows nonstop.
Whenever the two pulled apart, the Governor would reach into his weapons bag, pull out some super-era firearm, and blast away at Saitama.
Saitama, in turn, did his best to smash every single one of those things with his fists.
Bullets, rocket launchers, lasers, railguns, super-electromagnetic cannons…
As the Governor's weapons kept leveling up, everyone watching broke out in cold sweat.
Was this really a fight between "humans"?
Saitama…
Was just too strong.
So strong that ordinary people could only look up—and even then, they felt like they were only seeing the soles of his feet.
Just as Saitama kept revealing more and more terrifying combat power, he suddenly leapt onto the big truck parked outside the pet hospital.
"Alright," he said, "I've basically figured out the general level of future weapons now. Time for me to get serious."
The onlookers were stunned.
In the White House, people practically screamed, "He wasn't serious yet? Even now?!"
Before their disbelieving eyes, Saitama stomped on the truck's roof, then kicked off. With a single step and a single push, he rocketed straight to the Governor's side.
One punch sent the Governor flying.
Saitama then shot into the sky, grabbed the Governor in mid-air, and flung him down toward the big truck.
Boom!
The ground outside the pet hospital exploded, leaving a huge crater where the Governor hit.
The Governor lay there, a bit dazed.
"How," he wondered, "can a combat power like this exist in this time period?"
But he no longer had any time to puzzle it out.
Because Saitama had already plugged his system's data cable straight into the Governor's internal computer.
"Ding. Mission complete."
"Finished sparring with the Governor. Governor's data acquired."
(End of Chapter)
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