Everyone else felt like they'd just heard a myth.
But Saitama could see the mission notification blinking in his system, so he knew the story was absolutely real.
At that moment, Professor Martin, who had always been a man of science, asked, "Professor Boardman, how can you prove that what you're saying is true?"
Boardman threw out a bombshell.
He…
He was actually the child Hawkman and Hawkgirl had in their previous life.
Shock.
Everyone was stunned all over again.
Only Saitama kept that same cool expression.
Boardman went on to tell his own story in detail, laying out enough evidence to prove that he really was Hawkman and Hawkgirl's child from a past life.
Everyone: "…"
A moment later, Professor Boardman changed the subject and took out the results of his years of research.
"Savage has always lived among us," he said. "He simply hides extremely well and avoids drawing attention."
As he switched on the projector, an image appeared on the screen: a blurry crowd shot, with Savage's face barely discernible. If Boardman hadn't zoomed all the way in—and if everyone's eyesight weren't pretty good—it would've been almost impossible to spot him at all.
"In every lifetime," Boardman continued, "he moves close to the centers of power and sows the seeds of destruction. If I'm not mistaken, he was the one who stood beside Gavrilo Princip and persuaded him to pull the trigger that started World War I."
The room fell into shocked silence again.
If what Boardman said was true, then after surviving World War I, Savage would only have moved even closer to the levers of power.
And in 1975, the era they were currently in, the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a struggle for dominance. The world was crawling with plainclothes agents. The moment they arrived at Saint Stanch University, they must have been noticed.
Sure enough—
Just then, a swarm of agents charged into the campus.
The heroes could only sigh helplessly at the sight.
Saitama said, "You guys take Boardman and go on ahead. I'll handle things here."
Atom Palmer protested, "How can we just leave it to you alone? I'm a superhero too—I'm helping!"
Rip Hunter cut in, "No matter what happens, you must not kill anyone. They're just ordinary agents. Killing them will affect the timeline!"
"Relax," Saitama replied. "Just go."
Saitama and Atom watched Rip Hunter and the others leave, then turned to face the incoming agents.
Atom stepped up in front of the group, fully prepared to show off a little.
Then the ground rumbled beneath his feet.
A heartbeat later, a figure had already shot forward. By the time Atom processed what was happening, there was a whole pile of unconscious agents on the floor.
The only one still standing was a guy who looked like he was about to wet his pants.
Atom Palmer: "…Seriously? You left me just one? I'm a superhero too, you know! Hey, you—yeah, you! Get over here, I'll make this quick for you! Eh—why are you running?!"
Saitama gave his goofy companion a helpless look. "Come on, man. You've still got a lot of training to do when it comes to fighting."
Atom could only sigh.
He couldn't help it. Right now, he was just too weak.
But just as the two of them walked out of the campus, they saw Rip and the others—who had just left—running back toward them.
Saitama blinked. "…Didn't I tell you to go? Why are you back?"
Rip Hunter's face was tense. "It's not like we wanted to come back. We ran into a time hunter!"
Saitama repeated, "A time hunter?"
"Time hunters are basically time bounty hunters," Rip explained. "They accept assignments from the Time Council, and after completing them, they go back to the Council to collect their reward. The one chasing us just now is called Chronos. He's a nasty piece of work."
Before Rip could finish speaking, Saitama felt the ground tremble again.
On the other side, a figure had already appeared—dressed in full black armor, a black mask on his head.
In his hands was a causality particle cannon. Anything in this era that didn't belong to the proper timeline—if it was hit by that weapon—would slowly ignite with a white flame and then vanish into nothing.
Saitama heard this description and only said six words: "That weapon is kind of impressive."
Atom Palmer was even more shocked. "Future weapons are really that powerful?! Then what's the point of me researching atom tech…? Ugh…"
Saitama said, "Mr. Palmer, back in China there's a saying: 'Everything born under heaven has its use.' Don't sell yourself short."
Palmer was about to thank Saitama for the encouragement when he suddenly saw a fist slamming toward him.
In the instant his body went flying, a beam of white light from that future weapon skimmed right past where he'd just been.
Chronos snorted. "I can't stand people like you. You're on the brink of death and still have time to flirt. If I were you, I'd surrender. Then at least I could drag you to the Time Council and let them judge you."
Rip Hunter shouted, "Don't listen to him! If you really get judged by the Time Council, you'll be locked up for the rest of your life. Oh, and one more thing—on future timelines, a 'lifetime' is way more than just a hundred years!"
While they were talking, Chronos fired another shot, blowing their formation apart.
"Have you finished yapping yet?" Chronos snapped. "If you don't shut up, I'll just kill you all right now."
Atom Palmer was just about to fight back when a beam of weaponized light struck him.
His forearm vanished on the spot.
"Ah—!"
The pain almost made him pass out. When he saw white fire spreading up what was left of his arm, he gritted his teeth and severed it without hesitation.
A second later, Atom Palmer collapsed and lost consciousness.
In less than five seconds…
Faced with the bounty hunter Chronos, the Legends team already had one man down.
Saitama shook his head. "Rip Hunter, looks like you've been hiding a lot from us. But that's fine. After we get through this fight, you'll have plenty of time to explain everything."
As he spoke—
Saitama stepped forward once more.
A hero does not retreat in the face of danger.
Only by charging straight at problems like this can someone truly be called a hero.
With a sharp exhale, Saitama stomped down on the ground and burst forward, his fist slamming into Chronos.
Before Chronos could even react and pull the trigger, Saitama had already pivoted behind him and driven a kick into his back.
Step, step, step—
Chronos staggered backward three full steps before he managed to steady himself.
"Not bad," he grunted. "No wonder you dare to meddle with time. You're very strong."
(End of Chapter)
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