Chapter 25: There are Monsters on the Road Ahead, What a Trap!
The news Sitch and Child Emperor had revealed shook everyone's spirits.
After a long while.
Metal Bat snorted, "I don't care if it's a Special Dragon Level or a Regular Dragon Level, I'll smash it anyway."
"What the heck, it's clearly so weak, yet it insists on portraying itself as very strong." Tatsumaki snorted, "Just leave that monster called Four-Faced Striker to me; I can eliminate it by myself."
Metal Bat pointed his angry bat at Tatsumaki on his shoulder. "Shorty, who are you calling weak?"
Tatsumaki crossed her hips and glared unhappily at Metal Bat. "Who are you calling shorty? That's incredibly rude! Do you believe I'll twist you into a pretzel?"
Sitch, exasperated, watched the arguing Metal Bat and Tatsumaki, then asked Child Emperor, "Child Emperor, have you thought of a way to deal with the monster?"
Child Emperor tore open a lollipop and suggested, "Currently, only robots are unaffected by the monster's influence, but Dr. Bofoy's robots have already been defeated. This method is now useless, unless Dr. Bofoy is willing to deploy more powerful robots. The other method is to eliminate the monster without getting close to it."
Sitch paused, instantly grasping Child Emperor's meaning. "You're saying... have Tatsumaki summon meteorites to eliminate the monster?!"
"Yes, besides that, I can't think of any better methods. The current situation is that no matter which hero faces the Forked-Gaze Striker, they all lose consciousness and fall into a vegetative state."
Sitch hesitated for a moment. "While Tatsumaki's ability to pull meteorites from outer space with her psychic powers is immensely powerful, its destructive force is equally vast. It would destroy a small urban area of O-City, and afterward, the citizens would surely complain. The public already harbors vague doubts about the Hero Association, which is now facing a crisis of trust. It's best not to use Tatsumaki's psychic powers if possible; otherwise, the Association's predicament will become even more difficult. Oh, right, do you think King has the ability to eliminate the monster?"
Child Emperor shook his head. "The genius scientist Schwartzgeid once said that nothing in the world can, or should, violate the laws of nature. From what we've seen so far, the monster's power is a completely new natural law, specifically targeting humanity. No human can escape its judgment, and King is no exception."
Sitch asked in disappointment, "Then there's no other way? Even if we have to use Tatsumaki's power, can we at least minimize the damage?"
"Oh, let me think." Child Emperor lowered his head in thought. "Perhaps we can find a way to lure the monster to an uninhabited wasteland, and then have Tatsumaki pull down meteorites from outer space to eliminate it."
"Lure it?"
Sitch was lost in thought.
"Ke Erhe, request the government to mobilize the rocket launcher squad. Head to the mountainous area between A-City and O-City, target and shoot the monster, slowly luring it towards the mountains."
"Yes, Director."
After Ke Erhe received the order, he immediately contacted the government.
Sitch glanced at Tatsumaki, who was still arguing with Metal Bat, and exasperatedly patted his head. "Tatsumaki, we need your psychic powers. We hope you can lend a hand."
Tatsumaki crossed her arms and snorted, "Tch, in the end, you still rely on me." She pointed at Metal Bat, "Hmph, see that, weakling? The monsters you can deal with, I can deal with too. The monsters you can't deal with, I can *still* deal with. That's the difference between you and me."
Metal Bat roared, "What did you say?! Do you believe I'll shave off those pineapple curls of yours?"
Tatsumaki retorted, unwilling to show weakness, "You wouldn't dare, you idiot with hair like a chicken-feathered hat!"
"Come on, come on, let's go outside! I'm going to teach you a good lesson today, shorty!"
"What?! You dare call me shorty? I'll make sure you don't leave this room!"
Child Emperor cast a glance at the arguing Metal Bat and Tatsumaki, and said helplessly, "Sitch, hurry up and finalize the plan. I'm afraid if those two really start fighting, Metal Bat might die. In that case, the Association's losses would be immense."
Metal Bat indignantly yelled, "Hey! Elementary school student, are you siding with her?"
"Tatsumaki, the government forces have already headed to the mountains. Please take the Association's aircraft to the designated location and wait for the monster to arrive."
Sitch rapidly gave his orders, separating Metal Bat and Tatsumaki.
"Hmph, once I've eliminated the monster, I'll come back to deal with you, pompadour!"
Tatsumaki whooshed out of the command center, rushing towards where the Association's aircraft was parked.
"Hey, hey, if you've got the guts, don't leave! I'm going to knock you down a few more inches!"
Metal Bat continued to clamor.
"Sigh~"
Sitch looked at the unreliable heroes he had summoned, his face full of helplessness.
...
Meanwhile, King was already sitting in Mike's car, having entered A-City from M-City.
"Huh, Mike, did you take a wrong turn? This is the highway leading to O-City."
king raised an eyebrow, quickly noticing the problem. The highway signs all indicated "XXX kilometers to A-City," yet it was quite clear they were on the road leading to O-City.
Mike stared at the highway ahead and replied, "Last time, a monster appeared in A-City, causing widespread destruction to a large urban area of A-City. It hasn't been fully rebuilt yet, so we need to take a detour."
"Oh, so that's how it is."
king nodded. He had been present when Vaccine Man appeared last time and knew that a large urban area of A-City had indeed been destroyed. However, with the inhuman construction speed of the building companies in the One Punch Man world, it was quite unexpected that A-City's reconstruction work was still incomplete.
"Rumble!"
Just then, a series of rumbling thunder suddenly echoed in the sky ahead, and the sky erupted with beautiful sparks.
"What's happening?"
king stared blankly at the sparks in the sky ahead and asked, "Mike, is... is someone setting off fireworks this season?"
Mike was equally bewildered. "I don't know either, but the sound doesn't seem like fireworks. It's more like the roar of artillery fire."
"Artillery fire?" king was surprised. "Has the government gone mad? Firing cannons so close to A-City and O-City, aren't they afraid of accidentally harming civilians?"
"I'm not sure."
Mike frowned, vaguely sensing that something was amiss.
"Ring, ring, ring!"
His phone rang. After connecting, he said, "Hello, this is Mike. Is this Headquarters? I'm Mike. Lord King and I have already detoured around O-City and will soon enter A-City, reaching Headquarters in roughly an hour. What? A Dragon Level monster has appeared in O-City? We need to evacuate immediately? Can it be that even Lord King can't handle it? Okay, okay, I understand."
He hung up the phone and quickly relayed the situation to king, "A Dragon Level monster has appeared in O-City. The monster possesses a unique power: anyone with 'hunger,' 'sexual desire,' or 'killing intent' will immediately fall under its judgment. S-Class Superalloy Darkshine, due to carelessness, has already lost consciousness and become a vegetative person. Metal Knight's robot army also suffered setbacks. Currently, the Association is using long-range rocket launchers to lure the monster to an uninhabited area, so Tatsumaki can summon meteorites to try and kill it. We must turn back and choose another route to A-City."
"Damn it... A monster? A Dragon Level monster? A Dragon Level monster that can defeat Superalloy Darkshine and Metal Knight? Alright, no more wasted words, let's run!"
king's mouth twitched, and his heart pounded a couple of times. A monster of this caliber, even if he was holding a four-star Vaccine Man card, he likely couldn't deal with it. The current situation was to run for his life. And A-City? Forget it, it would be best to go back to B-City and play games.
"Hoo~"
He took a few deep breaths and calmed down, saying, "Mike, hurry up..." He was just about to tell Mike to speed up when suddenly, a few strange shouts came from not far within O-City.
"Hunger!" "Killing Intent!" "Sexual Desire!" "Judgment!"
"Mike, did you hear something?"
king paused, pricking up his ears to listen.
"Lord King, I'm sorry, I can't accompany you any further. Watch out for the monster..."
After Mike finished speaking, he limply collapsed onto the steering wheel.
king was stunned. "Big brother, don't mess around! Can you at least stop the car before suddenly fainting?! What a trap!"
"Huh? Why is my head also so dizzy? Could it be that strange power of the monster Mike mentioned?"
He clutched his head, a sense of exhaustion and weakness flooding his mind, giving him a strong urge to sleep.
"It's over."
Before he completely lost consciousness, he saw the out-of-control car begin to crash into the nearby buildings, and a wave of despair washed over him.
"Bang!"
The front of the speeding Hummer was smashed in, puffing white smoke.
Inside the damaged car, Mike and king lay unconscious.
"Hunger!" "Killing Intent!" "Sexual Desire!" "Judgment!"
Those strange calls continued to echo.
(end of chapter)