Chapter 135: The Collapsing Image of Greatness
"Hello, Chain Toad? Gunman?"
After King finished greeting Silverfang and the others, he extended a hand toward Chain Toad and Gunman, who were beside them. His plain face, framed by three scars, looked exceptionally serious.
"Ah? Hello, hello." Chain Toad, flattered, hurriedly clasped King's hand.
As for Gunman, while King was shaking hands with Chain Toad, he vigorously rubbed his own palms a few times before carefully extending his hand for a light handshake with King.
King looked at the two nervous men and couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't be nervous, I don't bite."
He sized up Chain Toad's outfit and weapon with great interest. Chain Toad wore a loose-fitting white martial arts uniform with a green frog hood on his head. In his hand, he carried a kusarigama—a special weapon formed by attaching a chain to a sickle, the kind normally used for harvesting rice. It wasn't easy to master such a weapon; no wonder Chain Toad was rated as one of the more skilled heroes in the Hero Association's evaluations.
Gunman, on the other hand, was dressed like an American cowboy from the Wild West. He wore a cowboy hat and cowboy boots, with a scarf tied around his neck and two short pistols hanging from his waist. He had on jeans and a pitch-black denim jacket.
"Heh~"
Chain Toad and Gunman gave a couple of dry laughs, their expressions still unavoidably tense. Their eyes were filled with excitement. With so many S-Class heroes gathered together, this had to be a major operation. Taking down a super-evil organization? Eliminating a Dragon-level Monster? Just the thought of it made their blood boil.
A man should be doing big fucking things! All that crap about helping old ladies cross the street or finding the neighbor's cat can go to hell!
"Have the people from the Yida Group arrived yet?"
That's right, the super-rich Yali's company was called the Yida Group, a real estate company. The assets of the head of the Wanda Group were several zeros short compared to hers. After all, 'Yida' (meaning 'hundred million reach') compared to 'Wanda' (meaning 'ten thousand reach') represented a massive difference.
Let's talk a bit about Yali's background.
Yali was a real estate magnate, owning countless properties in over twenty cities worldwide. Take Z City alone; it was rumored that more than half the land in the city belonged to her company. Because of this, people often jokingly called her "Yali Half-City," which gives you an idea of just how wealthy she was.
Beyond that, she herself was a great philanthropist. She established the Butterfly Fund (with the hope that people could live as happily and beautifully as butterflies), not only actively sponsoring the Hero Association's operations but also providing monetary and food aid to areas struck by Monster disasters. Having saved countless lives, she was like a second mother and father to the victims, earning her the name "Mother of Butterflies."
Hmm? Yama-Die?
"King-san, you should know, they aren't placing their hopes on us. After all, compared to the police, our Hero Association is quite amateurish when it comes to tracking down culprits. It's just those fat-headed, ugly bastards at the top of the Hero Association who are desperately calling us in. Tsk, those guys must be getting antsy."
Puri-Puri Prisoner was extremely dissatisfied with the Hero Association's upper management. This was clearly police business, yet they had to drag the Hero Association into it. With all this time, he'd rather be finding a few handsome wanted criminals to play with. Hmph, what a waste of his time for getting it on.
Chain Toad and Gunman were completely bewildered. The police? The police were involved in eliminating Monsters now? Oh, perhaps they were cracking down on an evil organization. In that case, police involvement would make sense.
"Oh, is that so? By the way, why didn't Flashy Flash come?" King chatted idly.
"Flashy Flash?" Superalloy Darkshine replied thoughtfully. "I remember Sitch saying that Flashy Flash seemed to be on his period, so he couldn't make it."
"Huh? Flashy Flash is a man, how can he get a period?"
What an explosive piece of inside information.
"Don't listen to Superalloy Darkshine's nonsense. I was there. What Sitch said was that Flashy Flash is busy for a period of time every month, just *like* a girl on her period."
"What's Flashy Flash up to?"
"No idea. Training, probably!"
"That does fit his character."
King and the others chatted about nothing for a while. Feeling bored, King turned to Bang and said, "Just waiting around is too boring. Why don't we play some little games to pass the time? Like rock-paper-scissors or something."
"Rock-paper-scissors?"
Bang's old face changed slightly, recalling the terror of being dominated by King under the setting sun that one time.
"No way, King! Let's play Sudoku together. Sudoku is both fun and develops everyone's minds. It's good for you! Well, mainly, it's fun."
Before Bang could even speak, Child Emperor quickly raised his lollipop and offered his opinion.
"Sudoku? Don't be ridiculous. Everyone, look at my muscles instead!"
Superalloy Darkshine struck another bodybuilding pose, showing off the perfect muscles on his back.
"A game? I think it's only fun if everyone plays together." Puri-Puri Prisoner stared fervently at King. "King-san, I heard you once played a game of guess the dice at Silverfang's Dojo. Interested in another few rounds? I'll play with you to the very end."
Guess the dice?
King's lips twitched. Did he mean that vicious dice game where the loser takes off one piece of clothing per round? Hey, hey, Puri-Puri Prisoner, what are you planning? Get your disgusting gaze away from me!
Bang stooped slightly, his hands behind his back, and said with a smile, "This old man prefers to play Go."
Child Emperor shook his head fiercely. "What's so fun about a slow game like Go? It's not nearly as interesting as Sudoku!"
"My muscles are the most interesting." Superalloy Darkshine switched to another pose, arching his body to prominently display his eight-pack abs.
Puri-Puri Prisoner said firmly, "The dice game where you take off a piece of clothing when you lose is a godsend for people like us."
"Let's play Go!"
"Let's play Sudoku!"
"Look at my muscles!"
"Guess the dice!"
Bang and the others were suddenly at a deadlock, glaring at each other.
As they argued endlessly, someone suddenly yelled, "Why don't we just fight!?"
"Sounds good!"
"Who's afraid of who?"
"Don't you bully me just because I'm young."
"These old bones of mine could use a little exercise."
My god, the smell of gunpowder filled the air instantly.
Superalloy Darkshine stared at Bang. "Silverfang, I've long wanted to experience your martial arts. Since everyone has time, why don't we have a little spar?"
Bang slapped his own shoulder, and his joints immediately let out a series of cracks like popping soybeans. "No problem. This old man was just worrying about not having a sparring partner!"
Child Emperor, chewing on his lollipop, looked at Puri-Puri Prisoner eagerly. "Puri-Puri Prisoner, I just upgraded my mechanical arms. Could you help me test out their performance, please?"
"Go on, get out of here. A little kid who hasn't even grown hair yet shouldn't be joining the fun." Puri-Puri Prisoner waved his hand to shoo Child Emperor away. His burning gaze was locked onto King as he opened his mouth to say, "I want to bang King... Gah, I mean, fight him."
You just accidentally told the truth, damn it! You told the truth!
A thunderbolt struck King's mind. He was actually being targeted by a damned pervert! Should he call Saitama to annihilate him? Hmm, Saitama was too far away. I've decided, if this damned pervert pounces, I'll immediately use the Full-Level Card to blast him to smithereens.
Compared to King, who was covered in dark lines of dismay, Chain Toad and Gunman were completely dumbfounded. Watching this group of S-Class heroes, whom they had always admired, acting so improperly, something in their hearts called "a magnificent image" shattered with a crack.
They turned their heads to look at King, who stood beside them with a calm and focused demeanor. As expected of the strongest man on Earth, they thought. *This* was the bearing of a true powerhouse—not arrogant or impatient, neither rushed nor slow, his expression unchanging even if Mount Tai were to collapse before him.
(end of chapter)