The next day at noon.
The sunlight was just right.
Aokiji stretched comfortably and said to Bang and the others behind him, "The Association said they'd send someone to help me find a suitable place to live, so I won't trouble you anymore."
"I'll be going now. Let's get in touch later."
Without looking back, Aokiji waved his hand behind him and walked toward the mountain stairs.
Just as he was about to step down, he suddenly stopped.
After a brief thought, Aokiji curled his lips into a smirk.
Bang, who was still waving goodbye, suddenly felt a bad premonition.
Before he could speak, ice crystals rapidly condensed and spread beneath Aokiji's feet!
In the blink of an eye, an ice slide leading directly to the foot of the mountain was formed.
Aokiji sat directly on it, his voice fading into the distance. "Going down the mountain is much easier this way. It should last at least a week. No need to thank me, Bang—"
Bang felt a headache coming on.
Several Disciples were eager to try it out. If he hadn't still been standing there, a whole string of people probably would have followed him down.
"Continue training. You already relaxed and rested for a day yesterday."
Bang herded the Disciples back into the dojo.
Noticing the hope in the eyes of some of the younger Disciples, Bang sighed.
"...After today's training is over, I'll allow you to go play for a bit."
"Yeah!"
"Master, we love you so much!"
"I'm afraid of freezing my butt, should I put a roof tile under me?"
These rascals, they've never been this enthusiastic about training.
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Thinking this, Bang couldn't help but let a smile show.
A little liveliness isn't a bad thing.
————
"It's too lively here, this won't do."
Aokiji rejected this residence.
The Association staff member with spiky hair, wearing both an eye patch and glasses—McCoy—immediately picked up his tablet.
"Understood, Mr. Aokiji. Filtering by your new requirements... currently, the most suitable one is this villa."
Aokiji took a look; it was a villa district. He asked, "Is this far from the area where Monster incidents frequently occur?"
"You mean the Z-City Ghost Town, right?" McCoy pushed up his glasses. "Monster incidents there have indeed seen an abnormal increase lately."
"This villa district is not far from the Ghost Town, and all the surrounding facilities are complete. It has a high safety index and comprehensive services. Many of the residents are wealthy entrepreneurs, celebrities, and idols..."
"Alright, let's go take a look first."
Soon.
They arrived in a vehicle prepared by the Association.
The environment was indeed good. The front and back yards were spacious enough, and the neighbors were far enough away that he didn't have to worry about being disturbed.
The basic living facilities inside the villa were well-prepared. He could move in directly after purchasing some personal items.
As for funds, Aokiji was not lacking.
Although he had only been here for a few days, with the aokiji template, making money was incredibly easy.
Aokiji made decisions quickly. He settled on this villa and stood at the main entrance talking with McCoy.
A nanny van slowly drove past.
After a moment, it slowly reversed back.
The window rolled down, revealing a heroic and exquisite face.
"Are you... Lord Aokiji from the Hero Association?"
She asked cautiously with curious, probing eyes.
Aokiji looked back at her; he didn't have much of an impression.
"And you are?"
"I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet." She stepped out of the car, her figure tall with excellent proportions. "My name is Kiiro, and I'm an actress."
Kiiro had a heroic appearance, but her temperament was very gentle.
"I once played Gao Yellow in the Beast Squadron. You might not have heard of it..."
"No, I have a bit of an impression."
Aokiji searched his memory and barely managed to recall something.
He naturally hadn't watched the tokusatsu shows of this world.
However, she had appeared in a single panel in the manga's remake.
After the Monster Association incident ended, Bang asked Garou if he had a type of girl he liked.
Garou stammered and mentioned the tokusatsu actress Kiiro.
Because Kiiro looked very much like his mother.
Garou, your love for older types is confirmed!
This actress, who was Garou's ideal type, was currently looking at Aokiji with starry eyes of admiration.
"It's an honor to be remembered by you!"
"Wait a second." Aokiji felt it was strange. "How do you know about me?"
"Eh?" "Eh?"
Aokiji turned to look at McCoy. Why are you 'eh'-ing?
McCoy adjusted his glasses, equally surprised. "Haven't you been following the news online? Your brilliant performance during the hero test, as well as the Monster incident you resolved immediately after the test, have all generated a lot of buzz on the internet."
"Yes, yes." Kiiro nodded in agreement. "I've watched the video taken by the passengers on the plane many times. That Monster you froze looked terrifying!"
Kiiro, who played a hero in tokusatsu shows, found even the rubber Monster suits used for filming a bit scary. She couldn't imagine how cruel a real Monster would be, which made her especially long for a powerful hero who could defeat them.
She noticed this villa that had always been unoccupied and thought about how Aokiji and the other man had just walked out of it when she drove past.
Kiiro guessed expectantly, "Are you moving in here?"
"Yes, I'm moving in today."
Aokiji used his phone to check the discussions online. There were many voices of praise and anticipation, and some people were even starting to think of a hero name for him.
There were also a few scattered slanderous comments saying he was a Monster himself, asking how a human could possibly control ice.
To be honest, it was hard to say how much a Logia Devil Fruit user still had in common with humans.
Aokiji looked up and instructed Kiiro, "Don't accidentally reveal my address. I don't like trouble."
Kiiro met his gaze and looked away in a bit of a panic. "Um, ah, okay!"
As a public figure herself, she also understood the importance of privacy.
Although the Hero Association had just been established, the unique nature of the hero profession meant that the attention heroes received would definitely far exceed that of entertainers.
If his address were exposed, with Aokiji's current level of discussion, fans might be climbing over the walls to check in by tonight.
Kiiro didn't want to lose a hero neighbor.
Whether it was for safety reasons or from a personal perspective.
Kiiro peeked at Aokiji again, suppressing her inner thoughts.
After all, they had just met.
There would be plenty of opportunities to interact in the future.
"Lord Aokiji, I live in the nearest villa. We'll be neighbors from now on. Please take care of me."
Afterward, Aokiji added the contact information of this new neighbor and left all the matters related to the villa to McCoy.
He walked toward the Ghost Town alone.
He wanted to see if he could run into a few Monsters to build up his progress bar, and also buy some daily necessities along the way.
The villa district was indeed not far from the Ghost Town.
Entering this part of the city, it was obvious that the surrounding buildings were slightly older, and there were no skyscrapers dozens of stories high.
There were many residents living here, unlike the dead silence at the start of the story.
Back then, the frequency and strength of Monsters increased year by year, making the residents of this area unable to bear it any longer, and they all moved away.
Only a certain poor bald guy remained.
But the Hero Association had only just been founded.
Saitama wouldn't go bald for another year and a half... hmm?
Aokiji was quite surprised to see a young man in a tracksuit walking down the street.
Spiky hair, dead-fish eyes, a blue tracksuit, and holding a supermarket sale flyer in his hand.
What a coincidence to run into him like this.
Saitama was looking down, counting the change in his wallet and calculating how many ingredients he could buy.
Suddenly feeling a gaze, he looked up.
Hmm... a very tall, handsome guy, but I don't have an impression of him.
Could it be someone I knew before?
So awkward. Should I go up and say hello... but I can't remember his name. If it really is someone I knew, wouldn't it be even more awkward?
And,
Why do I feel like he's been staring at my hair?
Could it be that I diluted the shampoo with water too many times and didn't wash my hair properly?
Even though Saitama had dead-fish eyes that didn't show emotion, he had a lot of internal dialogue. At this moment, he was already thinking about pretending he forgot to close his door and taking another route.
Fortunately, at this moment, a truck parked by the roadside unloading goods suddenly underwent a transformation.
Clang, clang-clang—
Autobots, transform!
"Argh!!!"
"Why was I born just to carry goods for you humans that are heavy as hell, heavy as hell, heavy as hell!!"
"From now on, my vehicle life will never brake again!!"
"Other cars are all my crumple zones! All humans are my car washers!!"
Saitama breathed a long sigh of relief. Compared to facing an awkward situation, he would rather fight a Monster.
He dropped the flyer, his face full of excited Battle Intent.
Come on, Truck Monster... An extreme chill was suddenly released.
"Ice Ball—"