"That bald uncle is amazing!"
A little boy hiding behind a newsstand forgot his fear for a moment and whispered in awe.
"God bless him… but this place is too dangerous…"
The newsstand owner prayed nervously under his breath, gripping the boy's arm in a white-knuckled clutch.
High above, the Quinjet hovered in the sky like a silent observer.
"Fury, the target exhibits extremely high levels of physical attack power and fire manipulation, along with unbelievable strength and resistance to physical impact. Preliminary assessment: conventional firepower will be extremely poor in effect… no, it's likely useless," Natasha reported calmly.
Her eyes, however, refused to leave the yellow-clad figure below, that man who was throwing nothing but simple punches.
Every single collision triggered a small quake.
"That 'professional hero' Saitama… his power level exceeds the upper limit of our previous assessments. The target doesn't even seem to have any speed advantage against him."
"Every punch from him is like a small missile going off," Clint added. As a top-tier marksman, his sense for trajectories and impact forces was sharper than most. "And that thing has taken multiple hits like that and is still fighting. Its defense is crazy high, too."
There was a moment of silence on the comms.
Then Fury's voice came back, lower, with a trace of disbelief.
"This Saitama… just what is his ability? Keep watching. Move the perimeter back! I want hard data. Anything you can get on that monster and that bald guy. Civilian evacuation status?"
"Agent Coulson is expanding the evacuation zone, but the battlefield is shifting fast. The area affected by debris keeps growing," Hill replied.
On the ground, the battle raged.
Facing the lizard's savage charge, Saitama only made a slight adjustment to his stance, then answered with the same plain, no-frills straight punch.
Bang!!
His fist smashed squarely into the monster's jaw, which was covered in purple flame.
There was no flashy energy outburst, only pure, concentrated physical force erupting to the extreme.
The monster's forward momentum was halted on the spot.
Its gigantic head snapped upward violently, and its entire body was punched half a meter straight off the ground. The sound of bones cracking rang out clearly — even though the creature's "body" seemed to be made of energy.
Its massive bulk staggered backward, slamming hard into the load-bearing wall of an apartment building. Cracks spread across the concrete like spiderwebs as bricks rattled loose and tumbled down.
"Ugh…"
The monster let out a pained whimper, shaking its head. That punch had obviously caused it real, substantial pain.
On the other side of the street, several New York police cruisers finally arrived late to the scene, only to be battered by the residual shockwaves until their light bars flickered wildly.
They screeched to a halt behind hastily set-up barricades.
The officers' hands trembled around their guns — none of them dared intervene in a battle that so clearly belonged to beings beyond human scale.
"God… this is like the Hulk… no, it looks even more… straightforward than when Banner transforms…" a young officer muttered to himself.
Saitama shook out his wrist as if loosening his joints, but his brows drew together slightly.
"Huh… feels… a bit tougher than that flying cockroach from last time?"
He sounded vaguely dissatisfied with that conclusion.
Just then, a figure vaulted nimbly down from the fire escape of a low building off to the side, landing with an easy, practiced roll.
"Hey, buddy — thought you might be able to use a little backup?" came a firm, steady voice.
It was Steve Rogers — Captain America.
He wore his star-spangled uniform and carried his iconic vibranium shield. His blue eyes swept sharply over the purple flame lizard, which was still shaking its head, trying to recover — and finally came to rest on Saitama.
He'd seen part of the fight from above.
The raw power of the monster, and the way Saitama had completely shattered common sense with his strength, had both shocked him.
But his duty to protect civilians left him no room for hesitation.
He charged straight into the heart of the battlefield.
(End of Chapter)
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