Chapter 416: Return (3k)

"Before we talk about Saitama, Dr. Bofoi, could you tell me what your true purpose is in constantly hiding in the shadows and going to such lengths to monitor top-tier heroes like Blast and Tatsumaki?"

"Or rather, what is the threat you have been guarding against all this time?"

The S-Class Rank 6 Metal Knight is a rather mysterious hero in the original work; he rarely takes action, and the only thing known is that he possesses immense technical prowess, continuously develops various new types of robots, and has absorbed the legacy of the Boros Dark Matter Thieves.

Moreover, he has shown intense wariness toward the vast majority of heroes, claiming that he has always been guarding against a threat in the shadows.

The slender humanoid robot's movements paused; he had finished uploading the physical data of 【Nameless Hero · Tao Baibai】.

"Are you guarding against... us, Doctor?"

Bai Cangshu spoke in a joking manner, yet Dr. Bofoi gave an affirmative answer.

"Of course, you mysterious Ability Users who have appeared are naturally a part of what I am guarding against now, but before that..."

"Mr. Tao Baibai, what do you think constitutes a threat to humanity?"

Dr. Bofoi did not answer but asked instead; he acknowledged the intelligence Bai Cangshu displayed and seemed to want to initiate a discussion at this moment.

"Is it robots that might go berserk and cause massive casualties, or artificial intelligence technology that might develop self-awareness?"

"Is it the ethereal gods of legend, or the monsters and yōkai that are constantly being born?"

"Or is it... those heroes who can easily destroy a city with a mere wave of their hands?!"

The robot's mechanical voice lacked any inflection, yet Bai Cangshu could clearly sense the other party's intense unease and wariness.

Bai Cangshu pondered slightly and understood the other's logic; it was likely a philosophy of 【Absolute Anthropocentrism】, or rather, Dr. Bofoi placed the collective of 【Humanity】 above any individual.

He was wary of anything that could potentially cause disaster to the 【Humanity】 collective.

"To weak humans, all of those are threats."

Bai Cangshu spoke calmly.

【Your actions have earned the appreciation of Metal Knight; your Reputation with him has increased significantly. Current: Friendly (60/100)】

Metal Knight greatly appreciated the intelligence and mindset possessed by this suddenly appearing "hero."

"Correct, they are all threats, which is why I am wary of everyone. For the sake of Justice and humanity, I must be ready at any time to deal with the power of those threats!"

Bai Cangshu withdrew his gaze; no matter which Superhero story it was, it seemed there would always be a character like Dr. Bofoi.

Only an individual with great power can do what others cannot in times of crisis, turn the tide, and become a hero.

But at the same time, when an individual possesses that hero-level power, they will be feared by the collective.

To some extent, this could be called the 【Hero Paradox】.

It is the same with Batman's unease toward Superman in the DC world, and the same with the high-level authorities' wariness of the Avengers in the Marvel Universe.

Bai Cangshu's eyelids drooped, his long black hair moving without wind. He turned around, his fingers gently brushing against the metal tabletop and the surface of the instruments; the harsh scraping sound was enough to make an ordinary person feel intense discomfort.

Because the weak lack a sense of security, they must guard against or even suppress the power of the strong; this logic of behavior made Bai Cangshu feel it was absurd and ridiculous.

He thought again of Kageyama Shigeo, who had voluntarily died by his hands; even now, it still made him feel unpleasant.

"Saitama's power far exceeds that of Tatsumaki and Blast; he is an enemy you absolutely cannot defeat on the level of power."

"No, I should say, if you treat him as an enemy, you will absolutely never win, Dr. Bofoi."

Bai Cangshu skipped the previous topic and brought Metal Knight's attention back to Saitama.

"In other words, even in the eyes of you mysterious outsiders, that Saitama's power belongs to a type that is difficult to resist..."

Dr. Bofoi extracted the information he wanted from Bai Cangshu's words on his own.

Seeing that the other party did not understand his intent, Bai Cangshu did not dwell on it; regarding the current Saitama, Bai Cangshu did not have any particularly good methods.

Even if he utilized the hands of Plot Characters, it would at most be intervening in Saitama's actions at the level of Plot Characters. Once Reincarnators appeared on a large scale and resumed activities, Saitama would likely start attacking again.

"Doctor, since you have surveillance everywhere, I think it wouldn't be difficult for you to help me find some of my lovely peers now..."

"Just consider it as you helping Mr. Saitama clean up the pests of these worlds faster, heh..."

Metal Knight was silent for a moment, seemingly analyzing Tao Baibai's behavioral patterns and the underlying nature of his personality. Bai Cangshu's meaning was very direct: he wanted to use Metal Knight's Intelligence channels to hunt down those other Ability Users who came from the same place as him.

——

Hongchen, trembling all over, remained motionless. It was only after Saitama walked past him that he gasped for air as if exhausted.

"Damn it, did that Excellency's plan fail? How did Saitama become so terrifying..."

He felt he had been favored by the God of Luck. Previously, because he heard that woman's cry for help, he had instinctively attacked those two Reincarnators and left an impression in front of Saitama.

At this moment, Saitama actually did not kill him.

【Return】!

Hongchen dared not linger. After Saitama left, he immediately abandoned his current mission and chose to return. The Elite squad 【Chaos Sage】 had almost completely perished in this world, and now there was a high probability that His Excellency had also met with misfortune.

He couldn't wait to return to the space to obtain detailed Intelligence; he could feel that a massive upheaval had already occurred.

The tragic results of this large-scale deployment would likely be unacceptable to most Gatherings and teams; the Reincarnator forces in the East District would face violent tremors.

The only thing he was unclear about was whether that madman codenamed 【Tao Baibai】 had survived.

Hongchen's figure then turned into a white stream of information and disappeared from the world.

Almost at the same time, most Reincarnators in this world with a certain ability to collect and process Intelligence knew, to varying degrees, that Saitama was hunting Reincarnators.

The quick-witted immediately chose to abandon all missions, follow the space Safety Regulations to give up their gains, and leave the world. A small number of greedy people harbored wishful thinking, feeling that since they were hiding in the city, Saitama might not necessarily find them.

But as more and more Reincarnators were killed, the Reincarnators in this world were on edge.

Somewhere in K-City, the Tree Shepherd frowned. He was currently hesitating. He possessed a special ability called 【Tree Shepherd】, originating from the 【Amber Sword】 world, which could add alien Bloodlines possessing divine power into other people's bodies, thereby transforming them into special life forms called 【God's Envoy】.

The transformed 【God's Envoy】 would possess combat power ranging from 【Strong】 to 【Fierce】 due to the power of the Bloodline Item and the strength of the transformed body itself.

In a sense, he was actually a transformation-type and summoning-type Reincarnator.

Moreover, the Bloodline possessing divine power that he required was not as rare as the Bloodline Items used by common Reincarnators; he possessed the possibility of mass-producing God's Envoys.

In this world, there existed a body that made him covet it immensely, and now he had just made some headway, but unfortunately, Saitama's hunting now made him feel extremely uneasy, and he dared not stay any longer.

Creak, creak, creak.

Heavy mechanical footsteps on the ground, the sound of footsteps unique to hydraulic instruments, made the Tree Shepherd turn his head back. He saw a pitch-black robot appear at the corner.

Three pitch-black cannon muzzles were already aimed at him.

But the Tree Shepherd did not care about this robot; instead, he focused on a man with long black hair who was holding two Scarlet Drop Cards in his hand.

At this moment, he finally understood that the few God's Envoys under his command who had suddenly lost contact were not killed by Saitama, but were actually hunted down by Tao Baibai.

"Tao Baibai?"

"You aren't dead yet?!"

Bai Cangshu put away the Drop Cards; his condition was poor, and the Tree Shepherd was quite strong. Without the full support of Metal Knight, it would be difficult for him to kill the other party without attracting attention.

"Heh, naturally I am not dead, but as for your His Excellency, the outcome was somewhat miserable."

The emerald-green blood in the Tree Shepherd's veins emitted a faint glow as he judged the truth of Tao Baibai's words. His Excellency had indeed lost contact, and the abnormal changes in Saitama were very likely caused by His Excellency.

Bai Cangshu did not waste words and directly had Metal Knight project a video.

In the video, the scene of Saitama dragging a giant arm as he left the desert made the Tree Shepherd's pupils shrink—that was... the true form of the True Word God Clan after their Release!

Then the image changed; a Bitter Sea filled the sky above the city, and seven or eight Reincarnators used various methods to try to escape from the Bitter Sea, but they were subsequently beaten into a mist of blood by a tyrannical punch.

The scene where Tang Sanzang's golden body was shattered and he was slapped to death completely silenced the Tree Shepherd.

He had not expected that not only His Excellency Fate Eternal, but even a powerhouse like Tang Sanzang had already been killed by Saitama.

But what he could not understand even more was how Tao Baibai had survived when such top-tier Reincarnators had all been killed; could it be that Saitama had shown him mercy?

A flash of light then appeared in Bai Cangshu's hand, and a giant head emerged. It was a head composed of a constantly flashing and flickering pitch-black shadow; just by being brought out, it began to continuously extend into the surroundings, as if it were about to invade the real world.

【Material: Head of the Spirit World Evil Lord】

"I hope that after you return to the space, you will do this..."

Seeing that giant shadow head, the Tree Shepherd recognized at a glance that it was the posture revealed by the Spirit World Evil Lord that Kageyama Shigeo had transformed into.

Such an existence had actually been turned into a material in Tao Baibai's hands?!

At this moment, the Tree Shepherd immediately overturned all his previous estimations of Tao Baibai's strength; this was absolutely not a newcomer.

The other party was definitely a veteran Reincarnator using a new 【Avatar】!

Only this could explain everything happening now.

Listening to the other party's words, the Tree Shepherd felt a shock in his heart, but looking at Tao Baibai and thinking of the changes that would occur in the space after the death of His Excellency, he finally nodded.

(End of this chapter)