The scene before him genuinely startled Damien Darhk.
This man, who looked every inch like a sharp, fashionably dressed urban elite yet was in truth a grand sorcerer, curled his lips into a faint smile.
"Oh? Another little worm here to die?"
He glanced at Heat Wave and Captain Cold.
"Your worm brothers really are everywhere."
On any other day, Heat Wave would definitely have thrown out his favorite line: "Bullshit."
And Captain Cold would have smirked and agreed that Damien was right—Saitama was absolutely one of their "worm brothers," the strongest of them all, and they should totally ask Damien to kill him for them.
The two habitual offenders from Central City had egos higher than the sky. They never submitted to anyone.
But right now, their throats were clamped tight by Damien's power. They couldn't even squeeze out a word—could only stare at what was happening in front of them.
"I'll say it again. Let them go."
Saitama stood between Damien Darhk and the pair of Captain Cold and Heat Wave, speaking each word clearly.
His cold expression, lit by the silver glow flaring through the air, looked even more terrifying.
Damien's smile deepened.
"And what if I say no?"
As he spoke, silver light flashed in his eyes again—that was the telltale sign that he was about to strike.
Normally, once he attacked, his enemies would be done.
But this time, the attack that had never once failed… simply fizzled out in front of Saitama.
Saitama's figure vanished from where Damien had been targeting him—
Then reappeared right in front of him.
Boom!
Saitama drove a punch into Damien's abdomen, blasting him straight out of the high-rise corridor and into open air.
Whoosh—
Damien's body smashed through the floor-to-ceiling glass, leaving behind a man-shaped hole as he was hurled out into the icy wind whipping past the upper floors.
Shock. The whole field was stunned.
Whether it was Team Arrow operating in Star City, or the heroes watching from the Waverider's monitors, all of them were floored by that instant Saitama struck.
Felicity, the team's IT girl, gasped,
"Oh my god, he's way too fast! I can't even catch him on the live feed!"
Digg muttered,
"He's too strong. No way he's human."
Green Arrow said quietly,
"He's the most terrifying man I've ever seen."
On the Waverider, the reactions were no less intense.
Hawkgirl blurted,
"My god, this guy is way too strong!"
Professor Martin inhaled sharply.
"I could almost smell the energy of atomic fission going off in that instant."
Hawkman's eyes lit with fierce hope.
"This time we finally made the right call. With his help, we really might be able to defeat Savage."
Jefferson let out a long breath.
"No wonder we lost to him before… he's just too strong."
"Oh ho~ In that case, let's raise a glass to having such a powerful teammate."
The golden-haired, brown-eyed beauty, Sara, watched Saitama's figure on the screen. Her eyes flickered with a complex light.
In that moment, she understood something:
Saitama was a mountain she would never be able to climb over in her entire life.
If she kept insisting on going against him, she'd eventually breed a heart demon in herself.
So, between fighting and joining hands, she made her choice.
Assassin League Creed, Rule One:
When you meet an enemy you cannot defeat, you must judge the situation clearly, slip into the shadows, and wait for your chance.
Assassin League Creed, Rule Two:
If you can cooperate with the strong, then you must cooperate with the strong. Working with the strong is the only sure path to survival.
Sara Lance had trained under Ra's al Ghul himself, one of the League's most outstanding disciples. Those two rules were burned deeply into her mind.
And besides, there was no irreconcilable hatred between her and Saitama.
So she decided to make peace.
She lifted her glass, her deep brown eyes fixed on Saitama's image on the screen.
"Saitama… why are you so strong?"
On the Waverider, Vivian was simply filled with pride.
Women were like that—when the man at their side was strong, they naturally felt they were shining too.
In no time at all, news of Saitama's strength spread across the entire hero intranet.
Once Felicity sent everything that had happened in Star City over to Central City…
Cisco whooped,
"Yo, Barry! That guy who was just fighting you showed up in Star City! Felicity sent over all the evaluations from Team Arrow!"
Caitlin scolded him,
"Cisco, stop rubbing it in. Losing to Saitama was already bad enough for Barry."
Barry Allen sighed,
"Can't help it. The guy's ridiculously strong. Cisco, share our data with Star City too. Let them see how strong Saitama really is."
In an instant, Star City and Central City exchanged intel.
Both sides looked over the shared data and came to a shocking conclusion.
Saitama was even stronger than he had just shown.
At that moment—
The two men who had just clawed their way back from the brink of death, Heat Wave and Captain Cold, stood there staring at Saitama with ugly expressions.
Heat Wave's face was dark as he stomped up to Saitama.
"We didn't need your help! We could've beaten him ourselves! Hmph!"
He stiffened his neck, gripped his flamethrower, and stormed off.
Captain Cold's eyes flickered with complicated emotion.
"Let's just say we owe you one."
With that, he turned and chased after Heat Wave.
Saitama stayed where he was and shrugged helplessly.
"In this era, seriously… being too strong is a crime. If you're too strong, you don't even get to have friends."
His words were transmitted in real time to Team Arrow, the crew of the Waverider, and even the Flash's team over in Central City.
They all had the same thought.
"Oh, God, this guy is showing off way too hard. Somebody please have a bolt of lightning strike him already."
Unfortunately for them, lightning wasn't just going to appear out of thin air—
And even if it did, it wouldn't be able to kill Saitama.
Saitama turned toward a glass case at the end of the corridor.
"Hey, Atom—Palmer. I know you're inside that little glass box. Come on out."
Ray Palmer, the Atom, had only come here to quietly steal something from Damien. He had no idea what kind of chaos was unfolding outside.
From his point of view, if someone out there knew his name and wasn't attacking him, then this stranger was probably someone he could talk to.
So Atom Palmer jumped out of the palm-sized glass case.
Crash.
The case burst open as the Atom returned to full size—and saw a man in a beige coat and red cape standing there.
"Y-you're…!"
"I'm Saitama," Saitama replied.
"Huh?"
"Yeah."
The two men stared at each other for a moment, each showing a different expression.
Palmer's face was full of emotion, while Saitama's remained as cool and flat as ever.
Very quickly, Palmer received updates from Team Arrow through his comms.
"Oh my god… are you… Superman?!"
(End of Chapter)
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