When Gyoro Gyoro saw Tatsumaki's movements, its entire body trembled, its fat quivering uncontrollably.
If it were its true form, Psykos, standing here, she might still have some confidence facing Tatsumaki—but as Gyoro Gyoro, it truly had no advantage against her.
Though Gyoro Gyoro was also a Dragon-level monster, Tatsumaki herself possessed the strength to slay Dragon-level threats. There was no way Gyoro Gyoro could defeat her.
What's more, standing beside Tatsumaki was Zuke, whose strength was unfathomable. Gyoro Gyoro had even less chance of resisting—it might not even be able to escape.
Just as Gyoro Gyoro closed its eyes, resigned to death, and considered whether it should prepare a new flesh puppet, a crisp sound rang out in the room.
Smack!
Zuke slapped Tatsumaki's butt, making her let out a startled cry and halt her actions.
Her face instantly flushed red. Though Zuke's slap wasn't particularly painful, it filled her with an inexplicable mix of shame and pleasure. Especially since he had done it in front of a monster, the humiliation was overwhelming—yet there was also a strange thrill to it.
Of course, Zuke knew that the Gyoro Gyoro before him was just a puppet. Its true form was a woman, one whose figure was no worse than Fubuki's.
"I specifically came here to talk to this thing. Don't just kill it right away."
Gyoro Gyoro was the chief strategist of the Monster Association, effectively its leader. The vast majority of the monsters in the association followed its orders.
Though these monsters had wildly different personalities, including many disobedient ones, Gyoro Gyoro always found ways to control them.
Even the Dragon-level cadres recruited by the Monster Association would, to some extent, listen to Gyoro Gyoro—at least until the Hero Association was destroyed.
If Gyoro Gyoro were killed, controlling the Monster Association would become far more troublesome. So, sparing Gyoro Gyoro—or rather, sparing Psykos—was necessary.
"Tch… Fine, since you put it that way."
Tatsumaki's face remained red as she withdrew her hand. Though she seemed reluctant, she made no move to defy Zuke.
Earlier, when she had followed Zuke into this place, she had heard the monsters along the way mention that this was the Monster Association. She had already guessed what kind of organization this was.
Though Tatsumaki harbored deep hostility toward monsters and wanted to wipe out the Monster Association immediately, if Zuke said keeping them alive was useful, she wouldn't argue.
After all, Zuke had more than enough strength to handle them. There was no way the Monster Association could pose any real threat.
It's not like the Monster Association has someone as strong as Saitama, capable of fighting all the way into space, right?
Gyoro Gyoro stared at the interaction between Zuke and Tatsumaki, utterly stunned—though its current body didn't even have a mouth.
At first, it had wondered what the relationship between Zuke and Tatsumaki was. But now, it seemed far more complicated than it had imagined.
The way Tatsumaki acted, half-resisting yet yielding, didn't seem like a normal relationship—especially since Tatsumaki's appearance and build resembled that of a loli, making it even more bizarre.
Though, to be fair, Tatsumaki is actually 28 years old.
"Alright, Gyoro Gyoro, answer a few questions for me honestly. After that, I'll decide how to deal with you."
Only after silencing Tatsumaki did Zuke turn his attention back to Gyoro Gyoro.
The puppet body of Gyoro Gyoro was indeed disgusting to look at, but as mentioned earlier—this form was more effective in controlling the monsters of the Monster Association.
Since Zuke wanted to take over the Monster Association, he might as well leave this body intact for now.
"...Understood. Ask whatever you want to know."
Gyoro Gyoro fell silent for a moment before obediently responding.
In truth, Gyoro Gyoro possessed an ability to roughly gauge an opponent's strength—it was how it determined the disaster levels of the monsters in the association.
At the very least, its assessments hadn't been wrong so far. Even if there had been a few incorrect conclusions, those were entirely intentional misjudgments on its part.
But now, in its eyes, Zuke's strength was like an unfathomable abyss. Even Tatsumaki beside him wasn't as overwhelmingly terrifying.
So Gyoro Gyoro knew it stood no chance of resistance. For now, it could only submit.
"Is Homeless Emperor here?"
The first question Zuke asked was naturally about Homeless Emperor.
As a key figure connected to the "God", Homeless Emperor's combat ability might not be particularly high, but he was crucial for Zuke to complete his mission ahead of schedule.
He had no intention of waiting until the storyline reached the all-out war between the Monster Association and the Hero Association.
After all, there was a chance that both organizations would eventually fall under his control. He didn't want them fighting each other and weakening what would essentially be his own forces.
If Gyoro Gyoro knew what Zuke was thinking, it would probably be speechless—this guy was already treating the Monster Association as his personal asset before anything was even settled!
But since Gyoro Gyoro had no idea what Zuke truly intended, it could only answer honestly:
"Homeless Emperor isn't here right now... but if you need him, I can send someone to fetch him."
The Monster Association's communication methods were rather primitive—they relied on specialized monsters to track down and relay messages to their targets.
After all, many monsters were violent, unintelligent, or even non-human in nature. Expecting them to use phones was unrealistic.
The Monster Association's solution was to rely on a monster called "Phoenix Man" to handle communications.
Phoenix Man had the ability to fly and was exceptionally skilled at tracking targets—in the original story, it was Phoenix Man who brought Garou to Gyoro Gyoro.
"Then have someone bring him to me. I have something important to discuss with him."
Zuke nodded, unconcerned, and ordered Gyoro Gyoro to summon Homeless Emperor.
His tone made it sound like he was already in charge, giving Gyoro Gyoro a strange feeling.
But there was nothing it could do—the strong ruled over the weak. And Gyoro Gyoro's "trump card", the Monster King "Orochi", hadn't even been transported here yet.
Besides, Gyoro Gyoro had zero confidence that Orochi could defeat Zuke.
Soon, Gyoro Gyoro dispatched a fish-like monster to relay its orders to Phoenix Man.
"At Phoenix Man's speed, Homeless Emperor should be here within an hour."
After giving the command, Gyoro Gyoro turned back to Zuke, its massive single eye displaying an almost ingratiating expression.
"So… any other requests?"
"Actually, yes, one more."
Zuke looked at Gyoro Gyoro with a faint smirk.
"From now on, the Monster Association will follow my orders. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"
To be continued…