'What's going on...?'
This sudden and shocking turn of events sent a jolt through the hearts of everyone present.
Whether it was that hazy pillar of white light...
Or the sudden change in the weather...
Or even the disappearance of the monster and the creation of that bottomless pit...
It was all a reality that was difficult to process in an instant.
The sound...
Both the sound and the attack had come from the sky...
Many of those who reacted first immediately looked up at the heavens.
As the clouds had dissipated and the weather had cleared, the view of the sky was completely unobstructed.
And so, they saw a figure that would be etched into the depths of their memories.
Strands of hair and the hem of his clothes fluttered gently in the breeze.
His eyes gazed downward with a cold indifference.
In his left hand, he loosely held a long, black-and-white sword, while his right hand rested over his left.
Strange, bone-white markings snaked across his handsome face.
An ethereal and otherworldly aura radiated from his form.
In a daze, the people who had just survived the crisis viewed him through a thick filter of awe.
At this moment, they felt as if... they were looking upon a god.
Mumen Rider, who was only a dozen centimeters away from the edge of that bottomless pit, seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. His body went limp, and he slumped onto the ground.
'I'm actually not dead...'
The reality of it gave him the intense feeling of having narrowly escaped death.
"Mr. Lexon!" the battered and broken Genos called out, his voice filled with excitement as he looked at the figure in the sky.
"Yo... Genos." Lexon waved a hand from mid-air and responded with a smile. "How did you end up in such a state?"
"Uh..." Genos didn't quite know what to say.
Mr. Lexon had even had Mr. Smoker give him special training, yet in his first outing after that training, he had been beaten so badly that he ultimately needed Mr. Lexon to save him.
'It's really quite embarrassing.'
Genos couldn't help but feel a sense of shame.
'Still, it's a good thing Mr. Lexon arrived when he did...'
He felt a small measure of relief.
"Mr. Lexon, it's a good thing you received the distress signal in time... otherwise..." Genos said.
Lexon didn't respond to that.
Originally, he hadn't realized the message was a call for help.
Fortunately, Saitama had later mentioned that the location was the shelter.
Only then did Lexon realize...
Even if the message didn't explicitly mean 'save me,' it at least meant 'the shelter is in desperate need of protection.'
Although Lexon felt that Genos was much stronger than in the original story and should have been able to handle the Deep Sea King.
But this crisis involved the entire Seafolk race, not just their king.
If Genos was too preoccupied with the fight against the Deep Sea King, then asking for help was perfectly understandable.
In truth, Lexon had arrived early.
Incredibly early.
He had been hiding above the clouds, peeking through his Sharingan the entire time.
Whether it was Mumen Rider stepping up to face the Deep Sea King head-on, or the sight of the other heroes working together only to be taken down in a single blow...
Or the moment Genos and Puri-Puri Prisoner arrived only to be neutralized, followed by the heavily injured Mumen Rider standing up once more to give his moving speech...
He had seen it all.
He watched everything.
In fact, while watching the show from above the clouds, he had even taken out a bottle of cola and some popcorn worth 500 Reincarnation Points from his spatial ring to enjoy the spectacle.
The people below were fighting for their lives.
The person above was lounging in leisure.
He truly was a villain.
"It's enough that you're alive." The white markings on Lexon's face gradually faded as he returned his Nichirin Sword to his spatial ring. He descended from the sky and landed next to Genos.
"Yes," Genos nodded heavily.
"Are... are you... a hero?" a weak voice asked.
Lexon looked toward the source of the voice, his gaze falling upon Mumen Rider.
"Yeah, I am," Lexon answered.
"Thank you... for eliminating the monster, for saving me, and for saving everyone..." Mumen Rider said gratefully.
"You're welcome," Lexon accepted his thanks naturally.
"Hiss... you're so strong... are you an S-Class hero?" Mumen Rider asked, forcing a smile despite the pain wracking his body.
"No," Lexon shook his head.
"You're not?" An expression of surprise appeared on Mumen Rider's face.
Clearly, in his eyes, it was extremely strange that someone with such immense power wasn't an S-Class hero.
"I'm just a B-Class hero." With that, Lexon left Genos's side and walked over to Mumen Rider. He crouched down and placed a hand on the other man's shoulder.
Whether in the original story or during his observation just now...
He felt that Mumen Rider was a rather decent character.
Though his apparent strength was weak, in reality, he was a truly powerful individual.
Compared to the so-called heroes of the Hero Association who were shackled by profit and fame...
Compared to those with great power who were essentially just kind-hearted people with obsessive personalities...
Without a doubt, Mumen Rider was a true hero.
In the world of One Punch Man.
In Lexon's view, there were only two real heroes.
One was the bald Saitama, and the other was Mumen Rider.
This could be considered a form of praise from Lexon.
Among all the worlds he had experienced so far, there weren't many characters Lexon considered 'decent.'
Moreover... he even found the man 'interesting.'
A few 'interesting' ideas popped into his head.
So, Lexon decided to help heal his injuries.
He channeled his Yang Power.
In an instant, all the pain and injuries on Mumen Rider's body vanished without a trace.
The versatile Yang Power could even cure Itachi's potential future health issues, let alone these ordinary injuries.
Naturally, they disappeared in a flash.
'Speaking of which, I wonder how many times Itachi has sown his seeds while I've been away.'
'And whether he's reached his limit under the lash of that big capitalist, Sasuke...'
'I'll have to go back and check on him later.'
'I need to give him a heal in time, or else he might turn into a shriveled husk.'
Lexon suddenly thought.
"A B-Class her—" Mumen Rider was about to say something more about his surprise at Lexon only being B-Class, but then he felt the pain in his body completely vanish. He was beyond shocked. "I... you...?"
Lexon responded with a smile, saying nothing.
"Thank you, truly..." Mumen Rider didn't ask further, simply lowering his head in sincere gratitude.
However... though his head was lowered, for some reason, Mumen Rider felt as if he couldn't easily lift it back up.
If anyone could see his expression at that moment...
They would surely see that...
Besides sincere gratitude... there was something else.
Namely, a very obvious sense of loneliness.
"Do you want to become stronger?"
Suddenly, the bowed Mumen Rider heard those calm words.
Mumen Rider's expression shifted, and he snapped his head up.
After staring blankly at the other man's indifferent face for a moment.
Mumen Rider gradually brought his expression under control, calming himself.
He nodded heavily and said to Lexon with determination, "Yes, I want to become stronger."
"Then become my disciple," Lexon said, his voice flat.
"..." Mumen Rider didn't agree immediately; he was clearly hesitant.
"A hero cannot lack character, but similarly, a hero cannot lack power," Lexon said pointedly.
Mumen Rider no longer hesitated. His eyes shone with a bright light as he said, "Alright, I will be your disciple!"
Having received an affirmative response, a smile spread across Lexon's face. "Good."
He was looking forward to it.
Could the weak Mumen Rider, who possessed the heart and character of a hero, maintain his current mindset after becoming powerful?
Would he still do everything in his power to protect everything...?
He didn't want to make Mumen Rider strong because he was weak...
He simply wanted to see what the final result would be.
Pure curiosity.
It just felt like doing this would be interesting.
Just like when he had taken the initiative to suggest to Sarutobi Hiruzen that he become the instructor for Team 7 in the Naruto world.
He was laying the groundwork for an interesting future reality.
It was also Lexon's own bit of dark humor.
...
"A Monster Cell?" In a dim underground structure, a clone who looked exactly like Lexon but radiated an unusually sinister aura stood before a massive, chubby monster with four arms and a single large eye on its face. The clone murmured while holding a horrifying object that was still pulsing strangely in his hand.
"Correct," replied Gyoro-Gyoro, the second-in-command of the Monster Association. "You are human. Though you are powerful, there is ultimately a difference between us. To join the Monster Association, you must consume this Monster Cell and become a true 'monster.'"
"Ah, is that so," the Lexon clone said casually.
Even though he understood the situation, he made no move to consume the Monster Cell in his hand.
Seeing this, Gyoro-Gyoro couldn't help but narrow her eye.
"If you ask me, this human should just be killed..." From a dark corner, a tall, morbidly obese man with an exceptionally hideous face stepped out. He spoke in a gloomy, terrifying tone, "A guy who looks this good... it makes me burn with envy and hatred! Tearing him apart and killing him is the best way to handle this!"
This hideous humanoid monster was Fuhrer Ugly, an executive of the Monster Association who harbored the most intense hatred for good-looking people.
Seeing the clone's handsome face, which was identical to the original, he couldn't suppress his killing intent.
"Don't move," Gyoro-Gyoro said in a heavy voice.
"Gyoro-Gyoro... I didn't join the Monster Association as an executive to take orders from you..." Fuhrer Ugly was a bit displeased by Gyoro-Gyoro's commanding tone.
"I wasn't talking to you... I was talking to the human," Gyoro-Gyoro continued.
"What are you talk—"
"Killing an executive just so I can replace them sounds about right."
Before Fuhrer Ugly could finish his sentence, he suddenly heard a voice right by his ear.
This caused his heart to leap in shock.
Turning his head slightly, he was horrified to find that the human who had been standing in front of them was now, at some unknown point, standing on his shoulder.
This speed...
Fuhrer Ugly's heart sank.
However, he didn't make any rash moves.
"There's no need to replace an executive position; anyone with the ability can hold one," Gyoro-Gyoro said.
"Fine then." Lexon jumped down from his shoulder.
Then, he casually tossed the Monster Cell into his mouth like a piece of candy, chewed it slightly, and swallowed it.
"Now I'm a monster... and an executive of the association, right?" The clone's sinister gaze fell upon Gyoro-Gyoro.
"Yes," Gyoro-Gyoro nodded.
"Alright, then I'll just find a place to stay." The Lexon clone said nothing more and turned to leave.
'Not a single sign of rejection...'
Watching the receding figure, Gyoro-Gyoro's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts.
"What on earth is that human?" Fuhrer Ugly asked Gyoro-Gyoro, his heart still racing with lingering fear.
"I don't know," Gyoro-Gyoro replied, shaking her head in confusion. Her gaze shifted slightly, landing on an immensely massive monster curled up in a vast open area nearby. She murmured to herself, "Regardless... he is likely a being as terrifying as Orochi..."
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]