Chapter 361

"The mystery lies here; there are all sorts of explanations for the reason…"

Hu Zi spoke, then suddenly fell silent, his expression hardening.

Jin Huang Qiu's face also changed.

Qi!?!

Both instantly adopted combat stances, their eyes sharply alert as they stared in one direction.

"Was that guy just some weirdo?!"

"No, it's not confirmed yet… but it's hard to imagine anyone living here. Let's go after him."

Both immediately chased after him.

Then, on a street, they saw a strange figure covered entirely in seaweed, dripping water.

Both froze: "Weirdo!"

"Oh, humans."

The seaweed creature, seeing them, looked surprised.

…………

The time was around 2:45 p. m.

Luo En arrived in the no-man's-land.

He happened to witness the seaweed-covered weirdo knock out Jin Huang Qiu, beat Hu Zi into a bloody mess, snap the sword from his hand, yet remain completely unharmed.

"So that's how it is. If I could just randomly encounter a monster like this, I wouldn't want to live here either."

Hu Zi panted heavily, and as he was about to pass out, he saw a shadow appear down the street ahead.

It was a young man wearing a baseball cap.

"Human? A human?"

Hu Zi was suddenly startled; he mustered his last strength and consciousness to shout toward the figure: "Don't come closer! Run away!"

"Boring, so boring. Whether human or hero, you're all so weak. I'm tired of playing. Humans should all just die."

The seaweed creature spoke, and a strand of seaweed as hard as steel whipped through the air like a lash toward the newcomer.

Hu Zi's pupils shrank violently.

At that moment.

The young man lifted his head, and beneath the brim of his baseball cap, a flash of crimson swordlight vanished from his blue eyes.

Shua!

Thousands of swordlights flickered across the seaweed strand, splitting it into countless fragments in an instant.

The next second.

A thick, cylinder-sized crimson swordlight descended straight from the sky.

"Huh?"

The seaweed creature looked up, stunned.

Then, before Hu Zi's dazed gaze, its entire body was utterly obliterated within that crimson swordlight.

Only a bottomless hole remained on the street's ground.

14, impossible? Why

Hu Zi could hardly believe his eyes.

Just moments ago, the seaweed creature—who had knocked out Rank 29 A-Class hero Jin Huang Qiu with a single blow, effortlessly blocked all his attacks, utterly crushed him in power, and made victory seem impossible—had just been annihilated into dust before his very eyes by a swordlight descending from the heavens!

"Could it be an S-Class hero? Is it Atom Smasher?"

He forced himself to lift his head and look toward the figure.

"No, it's not Atom Smasher…"

Though his vision was already blurring, he could still tell the figure was a tall, slender young man—not Atom Smasher, and certainly not matching the build of any S-Class hero.

Who is this person…?

At that moment.

The figure wearing the baseball cap stopped walking.

Boom—

Amid the roar of jet flames, a figure crashed heavily onto the street ground in front of Hu Zi from the sky.

Hu Zi's heart jolted.

Could it be… another monster?

He struggled to lift his head, but his consciousness gave out; all he saw was a golden-haired back turned to him, then darkness swallowed his vision and he fainted completely.

Jeno turned to glance at the unconscious Hu Zi, then at Jin Huang Qiu embedded in the nearby building, recognizing both as A-Class heroes.

He looked around at the battle scars and the bottomless hole in the street, forming his judgment.

He looked toward Luo En and asked: "That attack just now—was it you?"

Luo En smiled, saying nothing.

Jeno studied Luo En deeply.

"Just as Master Qi Yu said—you're strong."

Bam!

The ground beneath Jeno's feet exploded outward; his body vanished from where he stood.

The next second, he appeared behind Luo En, launching a punch wreathed in fierce firepower.

But the punch was caught firmly in one palm.

Jeno stared at Luo En, who hadn't turned his head or moved his body, his pupils contracting sharply.

This guy…

He immediately pulled back, putting more than ten meters between himself and Luo En!

"You don't even say a word before launching an attack… You're really impatient."

Luo En, with his back turned, pulled out his phone and checked: 2:50.

Genos, in a combat stance, stared intently at the young man with his back turned, utterly alert.

"Forget it, let's begin."

The moment Luo En finished speaking,

Genos swung his fist and fired a laser beam that pierced straight through his head.

But it was only a afterimage.

"So fast!"

Genos sensed Luo En's approach through his life detection, and as Luo En's kick came in, he raised his arm to block—but…

He was blasted sideways by that utterly unreasonable, monstrous force.

"What incredible strength!"

Shaken to his core, Genos crashed like a cannonball into a nearby house.

The house collapsed with a boom—

…………

Meanwhile,

Fubuki and Lily, after running through countless red lights, arrived here at top speed.

The two sprinted toward the no-man's-land.

"F-Fubuki my lord, why are we coming to this ghost town? Is there some weird person here?"

Lily, trailing behind Fubuki, asked with a puzzled expression.

"No."

"Then why?"

"You'll know when we get there."

Meanwhile, at Saitama's end,

After running all day, finally finding a monster and knocking it out with a single punch, Saitama, satisfied with his hero duties, went to a nearby discounted supermarket to buy some things, then headed home.

As he entered the street of the no-man's-land where his house stood, he happened to meet Fubuki and Lily entering the no-man's-land.

"Ah, it's that woman from the udon shop—what are you two doing here?"

Saitama, holding items in both hands, looked at them in confusion.