"I was wondering who it was—turns out it's just some hero with a death wish." Nightshadow sneered. "Looks like my little pets couldn't stop you. But it doesn't matter…"
He pressed a button on the control panel.
"Go, my newest treasures! Come out, my Shadow Hounds!"
From the factory's shadowy corners, three massive, muscle-bound Shadow Hounds sprang out in an instant!
They were far larger than the fodder outside, their fangs jutting outward. Black, energy-like saliva dripped from their mouths, and their eyes were a pure, poisonous white.
They were unbelievably fast—and they seemed able to blink through shadows at short range, appearing and vanishing as they lunged at Saitama from three different, vicious angles!
"Pretty fast," Saitama commented.
The first hound pounced straight at his throat. Saitama shifted slightly aside, the claws scraping past his cape. Then he threw an uppercut from below—
—smashing into the hound's jaw and dispersing it into black smoke on the spot.
The second one silently slipped out from the shadow on his left, snapping at his waist.
Saitama didn't even look.
His left foot kicked backward like he'd predicted it ahead of time, landing precisely on the hound's nose—
and its head exploded.
The third used the opening to strike from his right rear. Its claws were about to reach his back—
but Saitama moved as if he had eyes behind him, whipping his right arm back and striking the side of its head dead-on.
Bang!
The third hound also vanished into nothingness.
The entire exchange happened in a blink—so fast Nightshadow's cold smile hadn't even had time to freeze before his three enhanced hounds were gone.
"What?!" Nightshadow's face went pale as he stumbled back. "You… who the hell are you?!"
"A hero just passing by." Saitama walked toward him. "Turn off your fog-making toy."
"In your dreams!" A flicker of madness flashed across Nightshadow's face. He slammed the biggest red button on the control panel.
"If I can't have it, nobody can! Self-destruct program activated! Converter core overload—three minutes until detonation! Enough to wipe out the whole town and ten miles around it! Hahahaha!"
A piercing alarm screamed through the factory. The converter core's rotation sped up violently, radiating an ominous, blinding red glow as a strained, overloaded buzzing filled the air. The energy readings skyrocketed crazily!
"You're seriously annoying." Saitama frowned.
Nightshadow laughed wildly and bolted toward a hidden escape tunnel entrance inside the factory.
Saitama didn't chase him. He looked at the converter—screaming alarms, on the verge of exploding.
With one burst of speed, he dashed forward and wrapped both arms around the machine, which was several times bigger than he was.
"Kinda heavy," he muttered, then pushed off with his legs.
Boom!
Hugging the massive converter, he smashed through the factory roof and shot into the sky. After quickly judging the direction, he flew toward the barren plains far away from town.
A few seconds later, he landed in a completely deserted wasteland—nothing but rocks and dead grass.
The converter core in his arms was glowing red-hot, the shriek of its buzzing at its absolute limit—about to blow at any second.
Saitama set it on the ground, clenched his right fist, aimed at the wildly spinning, dangerously unstable core, and lightly punched downward.
His punch precisely controlled its force, striking only the most fragile part of the core's internal energy structure.
There was no earth-shaking explosion.
Only a soft "pfft," like popping a balloon.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For 20+ Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!] [[email protected]/Draumel]
[Thank You For Your Support!]