The hero activities had ended, and today was another peaceful day in Z-City.
Johnson walked with his hands in his pockets, heading to the nearby food street for a late-night snack.
Suddenly, his long-dormant spider sense triggered a warning — he was being targeted.
Without breaking stride, Johnson tilted his head as he walked, and with a "whoosh", a bullet-like projectile grazed past his ear.
Bang!
A dull impact sound came from the ground behind him.
His Psychic Powers expanded, revealing in his perceptive field a deep crater in the asphalt road — almost half a meter deep — with pulverized stone debris at the bottom. Wisps of smoke from the high-speed friction rose from the hole and dispersed into the air.
What had attacked him was merely a thumb-sized pebble. Yet giving such a small stone enough kinetic energy to penetrate the road surface was definitely not something an ordinary person could accomplish.
Combined with the faint blue light that had flashed through his awareness, Johnson already had a good idea of the attacker's identity.
First, he ruled out Tatsumaki. That green-haired loli had a terrible personality and lacked restraint in her attacks — she was even capable of the horrifying act of killing a colleague.
But if it had been her attacking, the intensity would have been at least ten times stronger.
If it wasn't her, yet had similar psychokinetic powers, the answer was obvious.
Tatsumaki's sister, the Esper Sister with a figure that could make the green-haired loli jealous for a whole year — Blizzard of Hell.
Having figured it out, Johnson's head instead sprouted three handsome question marks.
Strange, when did I ever offend her? We've never even met face to face!
Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh—
The dense sound of objects cutting through air arose. In Johnson's perception, countless arm-sized prismatic rocks shaped by Psychic Power came hurtling from the sky like cannonballs, targeting him!
This is getting ridiculous!
Azure mental flames ignited as his right hand formed blade-like fingers and slashed forward.
A streak of azure Psychic Power transformed into a blade-like field slicing through the sky. All the incoming rock projectiles were intercepted by his AT Field blade, instantly compressed and deformed.
With the collision of Psychic Powers, the rocks exploded into powder and dispersed like smoke.
"Come out, Blizzard of Hell." Johnson's gaze locked onto a specific spot in the dark sky, "How long are you going to play these childish games? Attacking a fellow hero — if I report this to the Association, it could seriously damage your record."
"As expected of the man I've set my sights on." From the darkness, a perfect figure outlined by a green dress gradually appeared. Fubuki stared intensely at him, "I acknowledge your strength. Join me, and I'll make you the vice-leader of the Blizzard Group — an absolute core member!"
"..." Johnson was momentarily speechless. After a long pause, he sighed, "Being beautiful isn't an excuse for being willful, young lady. I have no interest in becoming someone's subordinate. And let me give you some advice — you won't recruit followers this way. Goodbye."
With that, he turned and walked away.
"Hmph, of course I know the normal recruitment methods." Fubuki snorted coldly, her gaze sharp, "But you stood me up for a whole day, so you should be the one apologizing, right?"
"When did I..." Johnson paused mid-step, suddenly recalling a scene from his office that morning.
...
"Then our section chief isn't here!"
"Hmm? Kyoko, who's looking for me? What do you mean I'm not here?"
"Hmph, just a nuisance call."
"Oh, alright."
...
"I see." Johnson sucked on his teeth.
A subordinate's actions were a superior's responsibility. That Kyoko girl must be getting cocky lately to dare withhold information from him.
It seemed he needed to find an opportunity to discipline… no, to teach her a lesson.
"Hmph, admitting it? At least you have some integrity." Fubuki crossed her arms over her chest, maintaining her habitually superior aura, "Then treat me to dinner as an apology."
Johnson was about to object when his superhuman senses detected her slightly trembling legs beneath her aloof demeanor. His ears picked up strange gurgling sounds.
Gurgle~ Gurgle Gurgle...
The night sky was clear with sparse stars, and no pigeons flew within ten miles. The unmistakable source of the sound was Fubuki's flat, almost sunken stomach.
'Oh.' Johnson understood immediately.
The kid was starving. She probably hadn't eaten all day.
Johnson imagined a scenario where a hungry Fubuki might lead to her green-haired sister showing up at his doorstep in a rage. To protect Z-City from destruction, he decided to treat her.
"Fine, come with me. I was heading out for a late-night snack anyway."
Fubuki instinctively wanted to snap back, but her already cramping stomach wouldn't allow it. She silently followed with her head down.
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Half an hour later.
Bubble Bubble...
"Mmm... this is so good..."
At a roadside izakaya on the food street, Johnson and Fubuki sat side by side at the counter.
Each had a small hot pot in front of them; she had the specialty sukiyaki pot, while he had ordered the extra-spicy super 'Naruto Hungry As Fuck' ramen pot.
"You can't even handle spicy food, yet you want to recruit me into your so-called Blizzard Group? Weak."
"Are you kidding me?! I just... just don't want that spicy food to damage my skin!"
"Weak."
"Say that again?"
"Weak."
"What did you say? I'll fight you!"
Fubuki, for the first time in her life, was being ridiculed for not being able to eat spicy food. It was also the first time she had encountered a male who treated her this way. Her emotions, which had just been soothed by food, flared up again.
The surrounding objects gradually became enveloped in green Psychic Energy.
The instigator, Johnson, showed no fear as he continued eating while glancing sideways, "Hey, don't cause trouble in someone else's shop. If you damage something, the owner will be troubled, right?"
The izakaya owner smiled at the young couple's bickering, seemingly reminiscing about his own youth, his wrinkled face full of kindness, "Ah, as long as the super-powered young lady is happy."
"Uh, alright." Seeing the plates of exquisite ingredients before her, Fubuki immediately backed down, "We'll settle this after we eat!"
"Come on, I'm treating you, you know. Haven't you heard the saying about not biting the hand that feeds you?"
"Shut up, this is your apology!"
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The lively meal lasted until late at night.
Having been hungry all day, Fubuki was thoroughly satisfied and even found Johnson — her meal provider — to be more agreeable.
Nevertheless, she didn't forget her original purpose and took the opportunity to explain her philosophy and the importance of establishing a hero group.
"Johnson, you're one of the heroes with the fastest-rising popularity recently, but you should know this is only temporary."
The number of registered heroes in the Hero Association keeps increasing, but the Association's resources — specifically the daily exposure through various media channels — is limited. If you continue to work alone, there will always be some newcomer who suddenly appears, replacing you and stealing the public's attention."
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