…
That evening.
Genos returned with a massive package of mechanical parts and rare materials.
The moment Skynet saw them, her eyes gleamed with excitement. She immediately carried them off to her room, muttering about "optimization algorithms" and "power output ratios," completely forgetting about dinner.
Fenric could only shake his head helplessly.
"Skynet, take it easy! Don't destroy the house," he called after her.
"I know, Brother! You can go eat!" she replied without looking back.
Fenric sighed as he watched her go. "She's becoming more and more human…"
He smiled faintly.
Maybe after she finishes upgrading, I should give her a new name—a human one.
…
The upgrade of Skynet seemed unlikely to be completed anytime soon.
Fenric wasn't in a hurry; he still had more than two months to wait.
Before entering the One-Punch Man instance, Fenric had checked a guide. One of the notes mentioned that during the final days of the instance, a giant spaceship would appear in the sky above A City...
It seemed that the samsaras were unaware that it belonged to the cosmic overlord Boros, and even less aware of the coming battle between Saitama and Boros!
Before attacking the Monster Association's stronghold, Fenric had also notified the higher-ups of the Hero Association.
He didn't intend to do good deeds anonymously!
Even if he didn't care about the credits, giving them to Saitama would definitely be a good idea.
One-Punch Man is a vast, multi-dimensional world.
In other words, as long as Fenric remained alive and active in the Samsara Space, he would certainly have another opportunity to enter it in the future...
Saitama's fate had already been changed by Fenric.
Perhaps.
The next time he entered this instance world, the Saitama he encountered would be different again.
...
Early morning.
Near a residential area in City Z.
Fenric and Saitama appeared there, standing outside a house.
"Teacher, this is where I used to live."
Saitama gazed at the second floor of the dilapidated house, his voice filled with nostalgia. "I lived here for over a year, and I almost got evicted because I couldn't pay the rent. Luckily, I met the teacher later..."
Fenric smiled and patted Saitama on the shoulder. "From now on, my home will also be your home."
"Thank you, teacher..." Saitama said, deeply moved.
At this moment.
A young man appeared on the second-floor balcony, hanging clothes out to dry.
"It looks like someone lives here!" Saitama said. "Teacher, should we go up?"
Fenric replied, "No need to go up."
Saitama nodded, his gaze involuntarily drifting toward the young man. After a long pause, he spoke softly.
"He's just like me when I was younger..."
Fenric glanced at the young man on the second floor and noticed the lifelessness in his eyes. His face looked dejected, and there was hardly any vitality left in him. Although he was obviously young, he seemed tired and listless, almost like an old man.
He really did resemble Saitama from three years ago!
"If I hadn't met my teacher, I might still be like him, right?" Saitama murmured.
"Let's go, Saitama."
Upon hearing Fenric's voice, Saitama turned his gaze away from the young man.
On the second-floor balcony, the young man who had been hanging clothes finally noticed Fenric and Saitama.
However, he only glanced at them briefly and paid them no mind...
...
"Teacher, where are we going now?"
Fenric thought about it carefully.
In the original storyline, the Monster Association's hideout was located underground beneath that small house.
And the entrance was somewhere nearby!!
In the original storyline, there was a small detail: King—the man known for the "Emperor Engine"—had accidentally discovered the entrance to the Monster Association's base while passing by Saitama's house. However, he hadn't thought much of it...
So the entrance should be somewhere in this area.
If he really couldn't find it, Fenric would have no choice but to use brute force to break in...
"Saitama, I'll go this way. You go that way. Let's split up and search. If we find any suspicious entrances, notify each other immediately," Fenric said.
"Yes, teacher."
Saitama looked full of energy.
The two then split up, one heading left and the other right.
It didn't take long for Fenric to spot a suspicious location: a strange house!
A large hole had been smashed into the wall, and some unknown slime covered the entrance. After Fenric crawled inside, he discovered that the house was completely empty—there wasn't a single person or piece of furniture.
Then, behind a wall, Fenric discovered an entrance leading underground!
At this point, Fenric was almost one hundred percent certain that this was the entrance to the Monster Association.
Fenric immediately took out his phone and dialed Saitama's number.
"Teacher, have you found anything?" Saitama's excited voice came through as soon as the call connected.
Fenric replied, "Yes. Come over here. I'll wait for you at the entrance."
"Okay, teacher, I'll be right there!"
When Saitama said "right away," he truly meant it.
Almost immediately after the call ended, Saitama appeared...
When this guy ran at full speed, his velocity was astonishing!
"Teacher, I'm here!" Saitama looked a little excited. "Is this the place?"
Fenric nodded. "This should be it."
"Okay, teacher. I'll go down now."
Saitama said this and was about to jump into the entrance.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Fenric quickly grabbed Saitama and said, "There's something I need to tell you..."
Hearing that Fenric had something to say, Saitama immediately stopped and listened attentively.
"Teacher, please tell me."
Saitama always obeyed his teacher's orders without question.
Fenric then said, "I've looked into the Monster Association. Their leader is called the Great Serpent King(Orochi). If you run into him later, make sure you don't kill him. Leave him to me."
"Understood, teacher."
"Okay, let's go."
The master and disciple then crawled into the entrance together.
...
Following the passage, Fenric and Saitama arrived underground.
Underground, it was almost like another world!
The dominant atmosphere here was darkness and filth.
The pervasive, pungent odors made both Fenric and Saitama frown in discomfort.
It was the complete opposite of the glamorous world above ground.
Upon seeing the underground world, Fenric suddenly understood why those strange beings kept invading the surface.
It was simply not suitable for living underground...
"Teacher, it smells awful here..." Saitama said while pinching his nose.
"It's connected to the sewers down here, so of course it stinks," Fenric replied, also pinching his nose. "If we act quickly and resolve this sooner, we can get back up there sooner."
"Yes, teacher."
There were many underground passages, and neither of them knew which one led to the Monster Association's base.
However, Fenric knew the plot and was aware that the area where the Great Serpent King operated was located directly beneath Saitama's old house.
Therefore, Fenric determined the direction of Saitama's former house and followed that direction into one of the tunnels.
Not long after, the master and disciple encountered a strange creature.
"Cricket, cluck... something's moving. Cricket, cluck... what's coming over here?"
A strange figure that resembled a rat-like monster appeared in Fenric's line of sight.
Upon seeing the creature, Saitama immediately clenched his fists and prepared to step forward.
Saitama was not usually this impatient.
However, he now had a mission assigned by his teacher—to eliminate the Monster Association. So whenever he saw a monster, he instinctively wanted to take action.
"Wait, Saitama."
Fenric stopped him and said, "Let's interrogate it first."
As soon as he finished speaking, a golden rope appeared in Fenric's hand.
He was too lazy to waste time interrogating it normally, so he directly used the Lasso of Truth…
...