Chapter 84: Fubuki and King Join the Hot Pot Group!
Time passed swiftly, and it had been over a month since Bane arrived in this world.
During this period, quite a few things had happened, but Bane basically hadn't participated in any of them, only operating within Z-City. Z-City truly lived up to its reputation as the "Gates of Hell"—monsters appeared frequently, and Bane, as an S-Class hero, used them for plenty of practice. He'd resolved several disasters in Z-City, and after sealing a falling meteorite directly into dark space in one decisive move, preventing what was classified as a city-destroying catastrophe, his hero ranking had risen from S-Class rank 17 to S-Class rank 8.
His original hero name "Dark Demon" had also been corrected several times by the Association. Now, his hero name was Dark Knight.
The main reason was that he carried a sword daily and wielded dark-type psychic abilities.
While Bane operated in Z-City, Saitama's hunting range was much broader. He'd recently gone to J-City to deal with the Deep Sea King, and his hero rank had now risen to B-Class.
As for Zoro and Genos, they were still in G-City. Zoro was completely absorbed in the Sword Saints Association's training and had barely done any hero work. Genos was similar—he'd taken action a few times in G-City, but most of his energy was focused on investigating the mysterious organization that had destroyed his hometown.
Flowing Water Rock Smashing Fist Dojo.
At this moment, Bang was cutting vegetables on a cutting board alongside Saitama. Not far away, a hot pot was set up, though it hadn't started boiling yet. Meanwhile, Fubuki was preparing dipping sauces, looking like they were about to have a hot pot party.
Some distance away from them, Bane was sparring with an elderly-looking man. Both moved with swift, powerful motions, yet their control was perfect. The force generated by their clashes only swirled within three meters around them, not affecting anything beyond.
From the battle situation, Bane was clearly at a disadvantage, though his opponent seemed to be holding back—or rather, he was actually feeding Bane moves!
This showed the considerable gap in martial arts mastery between them. That elderly man was Bang's older brother, Bomb.
Though not a hero, he possessed extremely formidable strength. According to Bang, his brother was even slightly stronger than him in martial arts.
After dozens more exchanges, Bomb stepped back at precisely the right moment, causing Bane to reveal a slight opening. The instant this opening appeared, Bomb stomped hard on the ground while explosive force erupted from both arms, landing a strike on Bane's chest.
Two cross-shaped slashes burst blood from Bane's chest, sending him flying.
Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist!
This was Bomb's fighting style—fierce and sharp. A single punch could dismember an opponent, extremely brutal and highly offensive.
After flying back more than ten meters, Bane staggered as he landed and stopped. Looking down at the bloody wound on his chest, he clicked his tongue: "As expected, Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist is more aggressive than Flowing Water Rock Smashing Fist."
"Hahaha, your growth rate has exceeded my expectations. You've only been seriously learning martial arts for half a month, yet you've already grasped several key aspects of Flowing Water Rock Smashing Fist. If I hadn't watched you grow from nothing with my own eyes, I'd seriously suspect Bang had been teaching you for years," Bomb laughed heartily.
He wasn't particularly worried about Bane's injuries. During this recent period, he'd happened to be visiting Z-City as a guest, staying at Bang's dojo and helping Bang guide Bane. Initially, when they sparred and he injured Bane, he'd been somewhat concerned. But after discovering this guy had extremely strong self-healing abilities, he stopped holding back so much.
"Actually, Bang has an even more ferocious fighting style than my Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist, but that style isn't suitable for teaching others. If you're interested, you can learn Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist from me during this time. I'll hold nothing back either," Bomb patted Bane's shoulder and said with a smile.
Bane naturally knew that Bang possessed another fierce fighting style from his youth—something like Exploding Heart Release Fist. It was extremely violent and stylish, but because it was too vicious, Bang had later sealed away that fighting style.
"I won't hold back either," Bane laughed heartily.
He'd already become close friends with both elderly men despite the age gap, and their relationship was excellent. Moreover, Bomb was quite interested in Bane's Six Powers and Haki techniques, so it was a fair exchange.
"The hot pot is boiling! We can add ingredients now, and the dipping sauces are ready too. Come quickly!" Fubuki called from nearby.
Soon, the group gathered around the table and began eating hot pot.
After savoring a slice of beef, Bane said contentedly: "Really, thanks to you, Fubuki. You always manage to get such high-quality ingredients."
Though Fubuki's strength wasn't particularly impressive, her social status seemed quite high. She could easily obtain ingredients that weren't available through normal channels.
The group ate hot pot while chatting about trivial matters, the atmosphere quite pleasant.
Speaking of which, during this time, Fubuki seemed to have hardly managed her Fubuki Group at all. Instead, she'd become a regular of this "Hot Pot Group," basically hanging out with Bane and the others every day. This Flowing Water Rock Smashing Fist dojo was practically becoming her base of operations.
Just as Bane and Saitama were competing for food in the hot pot, new footsteps and panting sounds came from outside the dojo.
"Hey, you guys already started eating before I even arrived?" a man's voice came from the entrance.
"You're always the slowest," Bane greeted with a laugh, teasing him.
S-Class hero rank 7, known as the strongest man on Earth—King!
"Well, I don't live in Z-City, so I have to take transportation every time," King greeted everyone familiarly, then quickly squeezed between Saitama and Bane, unceremoniously picking up chopsticks and starting to eat.
"Saitama, you still haven't returned that game disc you borrowed from me," King chatted while eating.
Unlike the original story, through a twist of fate, Saitama had met King earlier. After learning about King's true situation, he'd gradually become good friends with King, and they often visited each other's places to play games.
Subsequently, King had also gotten to know Bane and the others. Of course, so far, only Saitama and Bane knew King's actual situation—the others still regarded him as a top-tier powerhouse.
"Saitama mentioned last time that you might be leaving in about two months?" King suddenly brought up the topic about Bane.
Obviously, Bang and the others seemed to already know about this, showing no unusual expressions. But this was Fubuki's first time hearing about it. She froze in place, and the food on her chopsticks fell onto the table.
"How careless," Bane immediately picked up the food from the table, very calmly dipped it in his sauce, and ate it.
Then he picked up King's topic: "Yeah, Zoro and I both come from across the sea. This trip out was for training and experience. There's a whole pile of things back home waiting for us to return and handle. At most two months, I'd say, then we'll have to go back."
Fubuki had now composed herself and returned to her normal state, though she still seemed somewhat absent-minded.
King was just asking casually and didn't think much of it, saying offhandedly: "Will you come back?"
"Of course, though I can't be sure about the timing," Bane said with a smile.
Soon, this topic passed, and everyone began talking about other things.
With two gluttons like Saitama and Bane around, nothing would be left over. Bane almost drank the soup base too. After finishing the hot pot, the two old men went for a walk, saying that at their age, they needed to digest. King directly pulled out a gaming console from his backpack and started playing online battles with Saitama.
As for Bane, he was now standing at the cliff's edge with a cigarette in his mouth, looking at Z-City's scenery.
Before long, Fubuki walked up beside Bane and asked with a smile: "How come you never mentioned leaving before?"
"Well, you never asked," Bane exhaled smoke and looked at Fubuki's somewhat forced smile, speaking softly.
"You're an S-Class hero, Z-City's guardian god. Don't stay away too long—come back soon," Fubuki said again, suppressing her emotions with some difficulty.
Looking at Fubuki's forced cheerful expression, Bane felt somewhat complicated inside. Of course, he didn't think that after about a month, their feelings had deepened to the point of being inseparable. Actually, during this time, their interaction had been more like friends.
Just as Bane was about to say something, suddenly, both his and King's phones rang.
Looking down, it was from the Hero Association. When two S-Class heroes simultaneously received calls from the Association, it already proved something big had happened!
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