"Of course, it's always better to get promoted if you can," Qingshui said. "To achieve a hero rank that matches your strength, I suggest you check the association's past exam questions online, especially for the written test. You wouldn't want to ace the physical exam only to fail the written one."
"The next assessment is… let me see. Perfect, it's next Saturday. Enrollment is today, and the selection process doesn't start for another ten days or so. If you cram, even if you don't get a perfect score, you should be able to handle most of the basic questions."
Qingshui looked at the information displayed on the association's official website. With a flick of his hand, the nanotech Black Samurai Armor helmet automatically opened, transforming into a compact computer that projected the screen in front of Saitama.
He genuinely hoped Saitama could achieve a relatively high hero rank right away.
Saitama deserved it, and Qingshui was also concerned that if he ever encountered an evil Garou, or God-level disasters like actual gods, and couldn't defeat them, he'd have to rely on Saitama.
He naturally hoped to be on good terms with Saitama.
In reality, for someone so overwhelmingly powerful yet utterly lacking ambition, posing no conflict of interest, it was always best to befriend them, never to make an enemy.
At the very least, Saitama absolutely had to pass and join the Hero Association.
In the original timeline, Saitama barely scraped by, becoming the last C-Class hero by a single point.
Now that he had changed the plot, what if Saitama didn't perform well and missed passing by two points?
If there were missions involving infiltrating the Monster Association later, facing Monster King Orochi, the upgraded Psykorochi, and monster-fied evil Garou, or Cosmic Garou, and Saitama wasn't there to take the lead, Qingshui wasn't confident he could handle it all himself.
"No need, absolutely no need, really."
Saitama waved his hands repeatedly, recalling the days in school when he was swamped with endless practice questions.
"I've been a hero for three years, after all. I'm quite experienced. It's just some basic questions for new recruits, no problem."
"It's fine, just give me your email. I'll send you the supermarket sale guide along with it. At least some of the exam tips and tricks inside are very useful, and it won't take much of your time."
"Uh… okay."
Saitama thought for a moment, then finally nodded blankly.
At least he had to get his salary.
Not long after, Saitama eagerly checked his phone for the supermarket sale guide Qingshui sent him and set off to grab some bargains.
After notifying the Hero Association that the Monster had been eliminated and no corpse remained, Qingshui returned home and resumed his daily training.
...
The next day.
Early in the morning, Qingshui copied some prepared documents to a USB drive, opened a Portal, and headed to T-City.
Two days prior, he had obtained Dr. Kuseno's contact information through Genos. After an initial chat, they agreed to meet at Dr. Kuseno's laboratory in T-City.
Under the bright lights, the gray-iron walls still seemed somewhat dim.
Various experimental equipment and high-tech weapons were neatly arranged in the corners and around the laboratory.
The most eye-catching was a tall metallic battlesuit, standing on a platform in the center of the lab, with many mechanical tubes connected to it. The central energy core pulsed with a blue light, seemingly charging.
"That's the iron battlesuit I built for myself, to support Genos," Dr. Kuseno said with a chuckle, seeing Qingshui's gaze drawn to the metallic battlesuit. "Although I'm not a cyborg, this battlesuit's performance is relatively limited, but it has the ability to contend with Demon-level Monsters. Its weapon components can also be reassembled onto Genos, giving him the ability to injure Dragon-level Monsters for a short period."
"Does that battlesuit also use the Scorching Core function you invented, Doctor?"
"That's right. While it can't achieve cold fusion or self-supply large amounts of energy like the Arc Reactor you invented, theoretically, its peak energy output is much higher. However, it requires fuel and electricity to recharge."
Speaking of his proud invention, Dr. Kuseno proudly explained to Qingshui.
In that case, the Arc Reactor and the Scorching Core really complemented each other.
One could provide a large amount of energy for charging, and the other could receive that energy to boost its output.
If they could be combined, perhaps his battlesuit could undergo a major upgrade?
"Theoretically?"
"Yes, while the Scorching Core has a very high output ceiling, its energy output is extremely violent. Due to material and technological limitations, neither this battlesuit nor Genos's body can fully withstand such energy output, especially with heat dissipation. If the energy load is too high, the metal body might melt or even explode, so it has to be restricted to a certain output level.
This means that while the Scorching Core has a high upper limit, there's a lack of technical means to fully utilize its energy. And even if it could be fully utilized, due to the Scorching Core's energy density, it couldn't sustain high energy output for long.
I'm currently researching techniques like the Thunderlight Core and Dragon Roar Core, which are based on the Scorching Core but change the energy output format, trying to break through this limitation. But so far, I've only managed to produce a half-finished product."
Dr. Kuseno adjusted the straw hat he used to cover his thinning hair on his head, sighing as he pointed to a box on the table towards Qingshui.
That was for Genos, designed to comprehensively improve Genos's output efficiency.
It was the Boxer Genos Form, capable of elevating him from his current ordinary Demon-level to at least upper-tier Demon-level, giving him the ability to contend with the Deep Sea King.
However, this item was not yet complete.
"Can I try the Scorching Core?"
Qingshui asked Dr. Kuseno.
"You can. I also hope you can offer some suggestions."
Dr. Kuseno still held some expectations for Qingshui's technology.
On the way here, through their conversation, he had already realized that this S-Class Hero was definitely an expert among experts. In fact, many of his views and technologies mentioned were things that even he, a veteran in the field, had never heard of.
Those must be his unique techniques.
Soon, Dr. Kuseno retrieved one of the Scorching Cores he had made.
This item was intricate to produce, highly technologically advanced, and its materials were difficult to acquire. Dr. Kuseno only had four or five in reserve.
These were for his iron armor and Genos's spares.
Qingshui took the spherical metal core, and the Black Samurai Armor on him automatically nanified, extending a port to connect to it.
Dr. Kuseno watched this scene, marveling, and couldn't help but feel a surge of anticipation.
Fully automatic metal nanification technology.
He hadn't seen it anywhere else!
And with such high achievements in the nano field, many materials science-related technologies could also see a leap forward.
This technology alone was enough to improve the output efficiency of some Scorching Cores.
Replacing the second-generation Arc Reactor with the Scorching Core can indeed effectively increase output efficiency, and the latter is indeed capable of powering the Scorching Core. However, as Dr. Kuseno said before, while the Scorching Core has high energy density, unlike the Arc Reactor, it cannot autonomously generate large amounts of energy and requires charging.
So, when connecting two different types of energy cores, the Scorching Core can be seen as a high-burst ability with a charging cooldown.
Qingshui thought, looking at the string of question marks displayed on his armor's eye-level screen.
As for how much burst his armor could handle from the Scorching Core, that would require testing.
"Should we go outside and find an empty, open space to try it?"
Dr. Kuseno, being knowledgeable, proactively asked after Qingshui installed the Scorching Core.
"Alright," Qingshui nodded to Dr. Kuseno.
"Then let's go. There's an uninhabited reef off the coast of a beach south of City T. Genos and I usually test our firepower there. From here, it'll take about ten minutes of subsonic flight to get there."
Dr. Kuseno said, stepping onto the platform, unplugging the tubes connected to the iron armor, and beginning to suit up with the help of mechanical arms.
Since Qingshui hadn't been to that beach and didn't know the exact location Dr. Kuseno was referring to, he couldn't use a Portal to get there directly. So, he departed with the fully equipped Dr. Kuseno, flying leisurely for over ten minutes until they found the beach.
"Are you ready?" Dr. Kuseno asked Qingshui.
"Let's begin."
Qingshui raised both hands, and nano-metal particles flowed from the Black Samurai's chest, automatically assembling into a massive cannon barrel, beginning to charge.
As energy converged, the Scorching Core's bright red light also shone from his chest.
The edge of the cannon barrel also became red-hot at this moment.
However, the armor's internal cold circulation system, using Flash Freeze Coolant as its core, began to function at this moment, rapidly cooling it down.
"This energy level..."
Dr. Kuseno's eyebrows twitched as he looked at the data detected by the iron armor, and he quietly retreated a distance.
While it was still some way from fully unleashing the Scorching Core's maximum potential, it was already far more powerful than Genos.
If this power were unleashed, it would likely be...
*BOOM!*
A scorching beam of energy instantly erupted, like an endless, red-hot iron pillar plunging into the ocean.
In an instant, the ocean was split in half!
Under the scorching heat, endless seawater was completely evaporated, and scalding steam rose from the exposed seabed, turning into a dense fog.
On the distant seafloor, a circular channel extending further away also appeared.
The terrifying power made Qingshui hastily stop the attack.
Dr. Kuseno, still shaken, hid in the distance, staring dumbfounded at the nearly off-the-charts data displayed on his iron armor.
Fortunately, he was wearing his iron battle armor, which provided protection strong enough to meet Demon-level standards, so he wasn't harmed.
And thankfully, this large undeveloped beach was an uninhabited area, so no innocent people were affected.
At this moment, Qingshui, who had stopped his attack, also flew into the sky, taking up the Kan position.
First, he split off a Shadow Clone with nearly half of his own energy.
"Kan Character: Sea-Stabilizing Needle!"
Qingshui's main body then moved to the Xun position and began to cast a spell.
"Winds of Waltum!"
Beside the exposed seabed, the surging seawater that had been filling the void now calmed, slowly flowing toward the seabed under the effect of the two spells. This prevented the seawater from rushing too quickly and forming a tsunami that would assault the city.
At the same time, the white mist rising from the sea surface was also blown further out to sea by the strong winds.
"With these changes in airflow and temperature, it shouldn't overly affect the city behind us. At most, it'll be affected by the diffused, recirculating water vapor, leading to two days of heavy rain," Qingshui said with a sigh of relief after more than ten minutes, observing the calm sea.
He had only wanted to test the Scorching Core's power, but he hadn't expected it to be so strong, almost causing a disaster.
"This level of power... few Dragon-level Monsters in the past could achieve it. How's the Scorching Core doing?" Dr. Kuseno slowly flew over to Qingshui, looking out at the vast ocean.
"That laser cannon can probably last for about twenty more seconds before the Scorching Core runs out of energy. Once it's depleted, given the Scorching Core's recharge rate, the Arc Reactor will need about three minutes to fully charge it. The entire energy capacity of one standard-sized Arc Reactor is only enough for a single full charge."
Qingshui glanced at the data projected onto his retina from the Black Samurai Armor's eye display and replied to Dr. Kuseno.
Just as Dr. Kuseno was about to say something, a phone rang.
"I'll take this call first."
On the other other end of the line was Sitch.
"Hello, hello, is this Black Lightning? Are you currently on the coast south of City T? There..."
"I'm experimenting with new techniques. I'll be more careful later so as not to affect the public."
"Understood."
"Alright, if there's nothing else, I'll hang up now."
Sitch had intended to say that the Hero Association headquarters actually had places for S-Class Heroes to train and experiment, but after looking at the vast expanse of ocean that had been completely evaporated, displayed on the large screen in front of him, he decided against it.
It might not be able to withstand it.
Those high-strength metals, under Tatsumaki's psychic powers, became as soft as play-doh. Even an S-Class Hero with top-tier attacking power, like Atomic Samurai, could easily slice through them. Seeing the destructive power displayed in the video, he was genuinely afraid it might not be able to withstand it.
If it could withstand it, then there would naturally be no problem. But if it couldn't, then even though the entire association building was built by Metal Knight and possessed extremely high defensive capabilities, it might still suffer some damage.
Since Black Lightning said he would be careful not to affect the public, he should indeed be mindful, so there was no need to worry.
However...
Could the new technique he was experimenting with really be so powerful?
It seemed his strength had improved again. He must be able to rank relatively higher among the S-Class now, right?
"Okay."
After Sitch hung up, Qingshui resumed his conversation with Dr. Kuseno.
-----------
Machine Translation by: https:// beta.randomtranslator.com/
Read 1111+ original & fanfic translations in English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, or Русский at: https:// beta.randomtranslator.com/
Join our Discord: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------