Chapter 339: So-called Heroes

"The 【Planeswalker】 is dead, the Regeneration ability had no effect; that bald man was, in all likelihood, indeed Saitama."

The fleeting, soul-chilling glimpse just now felt like a phantom dream; Saitama had merely thrown a backhand punch because the 【Planeswalker】 had unleashed an overly powerful Illusion Light Spell, causing this somewhat well-known Reincarnator to die instantly on the spot.

Of the Reincarnators inside the shop, three or four fled in that instant; only the 【Planeswalker】 who had used the Illusion Light Spell was killed, while the others, whether they fled directly or remained where they were, suffered no attacks.

The Tree Shepherd rose from the table by the window, cast a calm look at the barista, and in the next moment, a tree root from beneath the floor pierced directly into the other's body.

"Urgh..."

The barista's mouth opened and closed, not yet dead, eyes bulging as if experiencing immense pain; the Reincarnators remaining in the coffee shop all noticed this scene, but no one would make an enemy of the Tree Shepherd for the sake of an ordinary Plot Character.

Li Qingzi did not even glance at it; she merely frowned, leaning against the corner, the tension not yet having fully faded.

【Saitama】, the absolute ceiling-level organism of the 【One Punch Man】 world; the eye contact in that instant just now had almost made her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.

She had never felt such terrifying pressure; clearly, the other party had not even attacked, yet her Observation Haki made her feel as if she had already walked to the edge of a cliff.

If he attacked, she would die.

But thinking about it now, she clearly realized that this 【Saitama】's state was not right.

In the original work, although Saitama possessed the ability to kill almost all enemies with a single punch, he was a very Outlier personality; because of his overly powerful strength, his human desires had gradually faded, and he had become increasingly uninterested in most things.

Only a few things, such as supermarket discount groceries and being a hero for fun, could make him invest himself.

Furthermore, Saitama was a hero who "does not kill humans."

Even though 【Garou】 called himself a Hero Hunter and eventually completed monsterization, becoming a monster stronger than almost all heroes, he still did not kill Garou.

Yet the Saitama who appeared just now was not only indifferent to the human who died in the shop, but even killed the 【Planeswalker】 without a word when the latter instinctively released an Illusion Light Art to obscure vision.

Both these points were completely different from the Saitama in the manga.

In other words, something must have happened in this world that caused 【Saitama】's personality and Logic for handling affairs to change.

"Heh, it seems those who stayed are all smart people..."

The Tree Shepherd stood up and straightened his hair; he did not hide his fear, for as the person sitting by the window facing Saitama directly, how could he not be afraid?

"Then you must all also realize that we should now go collect Intelligence and grasp the root cause of this world's changes."

While speaking, that barista had already walked out of the coffee shop with a blank expression, following the flow of people outside, heading toward an unknown destination.

Li Qingzi had heard of the Tree Shepherd's abilities; the other party had an incomparable advantage in this kind of Intelligence collection.

"How about it, is anyone willing to join my team in this world?"

The Tree Shepherd stood by the window, extended a hand, and issued an invitation to the others.

The cross between his brows emitted a gray luster; seeing no one respond, the corners of his mouth curled up, as he could feel that these fellows were wary of him.

Being wary of him meant that these people were afraid of him.

No one could see the Arrogance in the Tree Shepherd's eyes; even these Reincarnators, who could be considered decent among the 【Strong】 tier, were all weaklings in his eyes.

They were lambs he could herd at will.

"Rest assured, I can allow you to request that I sign a Contract, so that we cannot attack each other within this world."

The Tree Shepherd's voice carried a special rhythm, allowing one to perceive his sincerity.

Clang!

A sword-ringing sound rang out, and a verdant sword light instantly flared.

The Tree Shepherd turned his head and saw that the tall woman wearing a half-mask had already sheathed her sword; the entire wall behind the coffee shop then tilted and collapsed.

The sunlight shone in completely, and the woman's black half-mask looked like a black solar eclipse under the daylight.

"Sorry, I plan to act on my own."

Li Qingzi was extremely sensitive to that kind of Arrogance; she did not know how many times she had seen it in Bai Cangshu's eyes, and guys with this expression surely had no room for teammates in their hearts.

She turned and left; the Tree Shepherd tapped his fingers against the air, calculating whether to fall out with 【eclipse】 at this moment to keep this person—she knew very well that this guy calling herself 【eclipse】 likely had the true identity of 【Moon Demon】.

But in the end, he did not attack; the sudden appearance of Saitama just now had truly made him feel a bit of trepidation, and if he caused a disturbance now and some other powerful hero appeared, his abilities would be more easily mistaken for those of a monster.

Li Qingzi walked out of the coffee shop, and the chill behind her finally vanished.

She walked onto the street, merged into the flow of people, and began trying to figure out the changes in this world.

This city was quite prosperous, not at all as dilapidated as Z City where Saitama resided in the original work; billboards were everywhere on the main street.

The most eye-catching were the portraits of various heroes.

Heroes of all kinds were used as signs, erected above those shops and buildings, accompanied by the names of various Hero Agencies.

Li Qingzi suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Hero Agencies?

If she remembered correctly, in the One Punch Man World, heroes should all be registered by the 【Hero Association】.

She quickly walked into a convenience store; sure enough, even in this kind of shop, quite a few advertisements for Hero Agencies were posted.

"These heroes' advertisements are really everywhere."

She spoke in a casual tone, and the proprietress, who was looking down at the register, followed up.

"Sigh, who's to say otherwise? When something actually happens, you can't reach anyone; there are no monsters, but heroes are everywhere, ptooey!"

It was obvious she didn't want to post these ads herself; she was full of resentment.

Li Qingzi picked out quite a few items from the shop and then continued to chat with her.

"This hero business, can just anyone do it?"

She vaguely sensed that she might have found a clue to the reason for Saitama's change.

The proprietress shook her head; she really missed the old days.

"Spend some money to register, then find someone to write a few newspaper articles, know how to hype it up, and anyone is a hero."

After saying this, she looked at the poster on the wall, where a handsome man holding two silver revolvers in both hands was displayed: 【Twin Gun Cowboy】.

She tore the poster down and said,

"This hero, it seems he encountered a robbery last week and was beaten to death by someone; hero... heh..."

——

Bai Cangshu and Lilith sat on the wooden floor; Ayase Seiko did not have the habit of entertaining guests, and being able to bring a few people back to sit for a while was already out of consideration for the fact that they claimed to know the truth about the Great Catastrophe from half a year ago.

Continuing from the topic discussed earlier, Bai Cangshu revealed a smile full of interest.

"So one can become a hero just by spending a little money, ha, there's actually such a good thing~"

With his back to the others, Reigen Arataka, who was sitting alone at the doorway smoking, heard Bai Cangshu's words and exhaled a puff of white smoke.

Sometimes he felt that perhaps his disciple was right; among Ability Users, evil people occupied the majority after all.

Things like abilities are not necessarily good things.

Bai Cangshu looked at the few people and said,

"How about I go and become a great hero first?"

(End of this chapter)