Chapter 113: Acting as a Psychological Counselor Again
Attacks as heavy as mountains roared continuously against his opponent's face, chest, abdomen, arms, and other parts!
Even their fists sometimes collided, setting off violent shockwaves!
The ice layer at the bottom shattered time and again, only to be frozen over once more.
His face suffered the fierce battering of giant fists covered in green scales!
The resulting fist winds and explosive impacts shattered the hollowed-out permafrost behind Darkshine!
"No problem, with my muscular defense, I can withstand this!"
Darkshine's gaze was resolute as he swung his fist back in counterattack!
...Speaking of which, Aokiji is really just using pure physical strength to spar with me.
He hasn't used his freezing Psychic Power, nor has he utilized that [Aura? Energy?] wrapped around his attacks when he fought Metal Bat.
He clearly still has a lot of strength in reserve... So is the power he's releasing now his total?
A dark fist punched through the air barrier like a thin sheet of dough! It landed on Aokiji's broad chest!
The surging, chaotic airflow instantly swept out even more violently!
Aokiji, taking it head-on, didn't show the slightest tremor or hesitation.
His upper body led his arms into a large backward twist, and his dragon tail curved to transmit force; his entire being was like some giant throwing machine, power tightened and accumulated to the limit!
BOOM————!!!
The aftershocks split the island!
In an instant, it was filled and frozen over by ice shards!
"Puh-hu————" The fist imprinted on his chest forcibly squeezed the air out of Darkshine's lungs!
A numb, dull sensation was transmitted.
Darkshine's heart trembled.
His punches... have gotten heavier??!!
After throwing this punch, Aokiji felt a sense of pleasure.
As expected, combat is the best nourishment for becoming stronger!
Improvement is much faster than through Training!
The stacking of templates has indeed caused my strength growth efficiency to stack simultaneously.
Vaguely... I feel like I'm about to touch something... Superalloy Bazooka!!
Dark, shiny muscles expanded to their limit!
Bulging veins and blood vessels ran from thighs thick as logs, through clearly defined chest and abdominal muscles, to fists blurred into lines!
It was the same process of transmitting power scheduled from the entire body!
A complete, perfect, and absolute strike landed on Aokiji's face!
An invisible impact that distorted the air, like a brakeless steel train, carved a path through the earth!
The ground above bulged high following the impact, raging fiercely!
Bang raised his leg and stepped!
The hard ice and permafrost surged like flowing water.
The impact that had plunged beneath the island charged straight into this 'watery region'!
Tumbling 'waves' rose up!
The impact was scattered and decomposed!
"Young people just don't know their own strength." Blocking the aftershocks heading toward the spectator seats, Bang shook his head.
"It's like those old movies, just standing opposite each other trading punches." Saitama recalled the tough-guy movies he had seen during his student days.
His head, which had tilted back slightly, slowly straightened against the fist.
A pleasant curve pulled at the corner of Aokiji's mouth as he said:
"It's my turn again."
BOOM——————!!!
Condensed and compressed Bursting Core muscles propelled the green-scaled fist into Superalloy Darkshine's abdominals!
The floating island cracked again!
And was subsequently repaired by the glacier.
Oppressive, dull pain spread slowly from his abdomen.
It wasn't an illusion, he really has gotten stronger... Superalloy Darkshine bent over, unable to stop himself from exhaling again.
His gaze was fixed on the fist buried in the muscles he took such pride in, which was now slowly being withdrawn.
"Your turn, Darkshine."
He heard the voice speak.
Thump, thump, thump—
The excited throbbing of muscles?
No... it was the trembling of his heartbeat... A hint of hesitation appeared in Darkshine's eyes, and the speed at which he raised his fist slowed significantly.
The attack, which could still easily blow a Monster apart, landed on Aokiji.
Hmm?
Aokiji instantly sensed something was wrong.
The power was still formidable, but it wasn't the same as before.
Looking at Darkshine's abdomen which had just been hit, confusion welled up in Aokiji's heart.
I didn't even break his skin, why has he gone limp?
Wait, in the original plot, Darkshine's mental collapse didn't seem to start from an injury.
Rather, it was sensing Garou's incomprehensible growth speed, realizing his muscles trained to the limit were just a stepping stone for the opponent; his cowardly heart unconsciously conjured the word 'defeat.'
It seems he's sensed my growth in strength, Aokiji thought.
However, one thing better than the original plot is that they aren't in a life-or-death battle against a Monster right now.
Otherwise, the moment the cowardice in Darkshine's heart surfaced,
The fear of death would instantly awaken all the shadows of inferiority from his childhood and youth.
But right now, it's just a spar between colleagues.
Darkshine wasn't yet swallowed by fear; at most, he felt hesitation and unease.
Glancing at the progress bar and calculating in his mind, Aokiji frowned.
According to his plan, the progress accumulated recently plus today's rare Hero Meeting should have been enough to fill the progress bar directly.
But now that Darkshine is flagging, the combat intensity isn't high enough, and the progress bar increase might be insufficient... Sigh, for the sake of the next template, I'll be a psychological counselor one more time.
"Darkshine, why did you become a hero?"
Superalloy Darkshine was stunned, looking at Aokiji, who hadn't counterattacked but instead asked a question.
Has he noticed my state... Superalloy Darkshine's thick lips parted, and he spoke hesitantly and slowly:
"I... probably didn't do it for justice."
"Before joining the Association, I already had no opponents in various competitions. Perhaps... I treated hero activities as a higher-level competitive stage."
"Becoming a hero was probably just to train and show off my muscles..."
Superalloy Darkshine's voice gradually grew lower.
He felt uneasy about the cowardice he had forgotten in his heart resurfacing, and he felt ashamed of his motives for his hero career.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of, it's mostly the same," Aokiji's voice was steady. "I joined the Association just because I wanted to get stronger."
He pointed toward the spectator area.
"That bunch is the same—promoting their Dojos, wanting to fight, looking for men, or treating the Association as a testing ground for scientific research."
"Except for Saitama, who purely wants to be a hero for the sake of being a hero, everyone else's reasons for becoming a hero aren't pure."
Superalloy Darkshine listened silently, without speaking.
Aokiji simply led the topic straight to the point.
"Your punches just became sluggish. Why?"
"I..." Superalloy Darkshine stammered.
"You're afraid, aren't you?" Aokiji spoke the words for him. "Why are you afraid?"
...I don't know."
"Then let me change the question: why should you be afraid?" Aokiji stared at the silent Darkshine and answered for him, "Because you don't want to face [Failure]."
"I heard your conversation earlier."
"You only picked up a dumbbell for the first time at fifteen. Day after day of training cleared away the inferiority of your weak past."
"You treat your muscles as a protective shell. When the shell isn't broken, you feel omnipotent. But when just a tiny crack appears in that shell, you forget that you built this shell with your own hands."
Aokiji paused to organize his words.
At the same time, he lamented in his heart that this job of persuading people was truly difficult.
Superalloy Darkshine was stunned, his expression conflicted, yet he could find no words to rebut.
"How long has it been since you've rested, Darkshine? Is it true that from the first time you won a competition until becoming a hero now, you haven't had a single day of proper relaxation?"
Superalloy Darkshine nodded silently.
"Muscles need sufficient nutrition and rest to grow; you should know this very well, yet you're too tense."
"Treating muscles as your only sanctuary, thinking only of training."
Aokiji waved his hand: "Starting tomorrow, I'll have the Association stop assigning you missions for a while. Give yourself and your muscles a good rest."
"As for today..."
Aokiji smashed his fists together and smiled:
"Forget about winning, losing, success, and failure. Remember that fifteen-year-old self holding a dumbbell, with eyes full of light."
"By the rules you set yourself, the battle isn't over yet."