— — — — — —
"Tch…"
Saitama stared at the opponent who'd gone down in a single punch, his fighting spirit instantly evaporating. His face fell back into its usual bored look as he muttered, "That's it? Seriously? Way too weak."
"All that flashy buildup just for this?" he sighed.
"Man… Is there anyone who can actually take one of my punches?"
Even Renzo didn't dare take him on head-to-head, it always left Saitama feeling annoyed and unsatisfied.
Genos, watching Saitama acting all smug, couldn't help but comment, "It's not that the enemies are too weak… Mr. Saitama, you're just too strong! I totally underestimated you. You're the real deal!"
"Ahahaha!"
Saitama scratched his shiny bald head and laughed. "You think so? I dunno, I feel like I'm just okay."
Then he glanced at Genos, who was still embedded in the wall. "Hey, you alright? Your body's totally wrecked."
"I'm fine."
Genos calmly shook his head. "Everything except my brain's been turned into mechanical parts. It looks bad, but I just need to see the doctor, swap some parts, and I'll be good as new."
"Whoa? That's pretty convenient!"
Saitama looked genuinely impressed.
"Hey, can you get down by yourself? Or do you want me to pull you out?"
Seeing Genos stuck there like a decorative statue, Saitama walked over.
"If you don't mind, I'd appreciate the help."
Genos was feeling kinda embarrassed, but at least his face didn't show it. Thank you, mechanical facial control.
"No problem! You're Renzo's student, right? Helping you is the least I can do! Besides… you still owe me 500,000 yen!"
"Oh yeah, by the way, wouldn't those replacement parts be super expensive? You're not gonna go bankrupt, right? You do still plan to pay me back, don't you?"
Saitama rambled on as he made his way over.
Genos: "..."
He suddenly realized—this guy's so annoying!
"If only I could beat you, I'd send you flying right now…" he muttered silently to himself.
"Don't worry, Mr. Saitama. I'll pay you back," Genos replied, finally cracking under the pressure of Saitama's suspicious stare.
"Ohhh? That's what I like to hear!"
Saitama nodded, then reached out and grabbed Genos's arm, giving it a solid tug.
CRACK!!
He accidentally yanked the entire arm off.
Saitama: "…"
Genos: "…"
"…You're kinda fragile, aren't you?" Saitama blinked, staring at the broken mechanical limb in his hand, dazed. "Totally not my fault, I swear…"
Whoosh!
At that moment, Renzo finally had enough of the chaos. He teleported in with a flick of his hand, using psychic energy to gently extract Genos from the wall.
Then he took the severed arm from Saitama, handed it back to Genos, and said, "I'll send you straight back to the manor. Tell Dr. Kuseno and Red Queen I said to prep the underground lab on Level 2 for repairs."
And just like that, with a casual wave, Genos vanished.
"Oho?" Saitama's eyes lit up. "That was cool! You can just teleport people like that?"
"Yeah," Renzo nodded. "But if it's long-distance, I need to leave a space marker at the destination first. Why, want me to teleport you back? I've still got stuff to handle here though."
Saitama was just about to say yes, when both he and Renzo suddenly looked up at the ceiling.
They'd sensed it—something strong was heading their way at high speed.
"Hmm? Something's coming… and it feels powerful. Another monster, maybe?"
Saitama looked genuinely excited. He hadn't had enough fun yet.
He'd thought the last guy would at least last a few punches.Turned out—one and done.
If this new opponent could give him a little fight, that'd be perfect.
"Don't get your hopes up—it's Tornado," Renzo warned.
"Huh? Tornado? Like… a twister? Doesn't look like one…"
Saitama clearly had no idea who she was. Then again, this guy didn't even know there was a salary for joining the Hero Association.
"Tatsumaki, the Tornado of Terror. S-Class Rank 2 hero. She's really strong," Renzo explained. "C'mon, let's go meet her."
He casually placed a hand on Saitama's shoulder.
"Huh? Why should I?" Saitama frowned. "Is she really that important? Since when did you start sucking up to people like this?"
Saitama gave Renzo a very judgmental look, as if to say: Wow. I expected better from you.
"Shut up," Renzo snapped, smacking Saitama hard on the shoulder. "Idiot! I'm trying to avoid having her blast this entire underground base to rubble. I've still got some use for this place!"
There were still valuable resources to salvage here, after all. No reason to let them go to waste.
It wasn't easy to build this kind of base from scratch—especially with the amount of mental energy it drained from him. Plus, a lot of the tech here had been custom-designed. Replacing it would take time, research, and effort. What a pain.
"Huh?" Saitama blinked. "Wait, hold up. Isn't she supposed to be a hero? Why would she blow everything up just because we didn't come out to greet her? That sounds... unhinged."
"Yeah? Then why don't you go tell her that to her face and see what happens," Renzo said dryly, already activating his teleportation ability.
In an instant, both he and Saitama were hovering above the base in the open air.
FWOOOSH!!!
Right on cue, a blazing green light streaked toward them at insane speed.
The figure in the green glow skidded to a stop mid-air once she saw the two of them, her eyes narrowing.
Arms crossed and chin held high, Tatsumaki sneered at Renzo with a haughty expression.
"Hmph. So you're Renzo—the one who just got promoted to S-Class, ranked 16th?"
She gave him a once-over and raised an eyebrow. "You're not bad-looking, I'll give you that. But strength-wise…"
She rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed. "Where's that Dragon-level monster?"
Before Renzo could answer, she was already going off.
"Seriously, what a letdown! You're an S-Class hero now and still can't take care of a single Dragon-level threat? How pathetic."
"I can't believe I had to come all the way out here. Do you have any idea how busy I am?"
"What's the Hero Association even doing these days? Handing out S-Class ranks to anyone who shows up?"
Her eyes suddenly darted to Saitama, narrowing.
"And you—what's with that rude look, baldy?"
Feeling Saitama's blank, mildly annoyed stare, she snapped, "You're a hero too? Ugly AND bald? Seriously?"
Veins were already starting to throb on Saitama's forehead. And to be honest, even Renzo was getting fed up.
"Hey… can you shut up already?"
With that, Renzo released a burst of raw Reiatsu—mixed with a blast of Conqueror's Haki.
BOOM!!!
The sheer force of it surged out in all directions, knocking out birds mid-air, silencing insects, and blanketing the area in an oppressive stillness.
Everything within several dozen kilometers went dead quiet.
Tatsumaki and Saitama were visibly shaken. For just a split second, their minds blanked under the crushing pressure.
Saitama blinked, eyes wide. "Whoa. What the heck was that? That actually... hit my brain a little. Pretty impressive."
Tatsumaki, floating mid-air, wobbled slightly—almost like she was about to fall.
Her expression twisted into fury. "You bastard! You dare attack me?! Die!!"
With a scream, she flung her telekinetic power toward both Renzo and Saitama.
CRASH!!!
Then her eyes widened in disbelief.
What she saw shocked her to the core.
Renzo had summoned his own telekinetic force—not only matching hers, but overpowering it. A spherical psychic shield formed instantly around him and Saitama, blocking her attack effortlessly.
"Are you done throwing your tantrum, little girl?" Renzo said with a frown.
He'd originally thought Tatsumaki was kind of cute when watching her in the anime. But now that he was dealing with her in person?
Yeah—no.
She was a brat. A spoiled, arrogant little princess with zero self-awareness.
She didn't just attack fellow heroes without warning—she meant to do damage.
Not to mention her non-stop yapping and vicious attitude...
She was a nightmare.
.
.
.