The most critical question was finally confirmed: the man before them really was Magneto.
"System, help me confirm the side quest," Saitama said at once.
[Ding. Verifying quest.]
[Mutants in this world are pitiful. Become good friends with Magneto, then help him defeat Professor X so humanity in this world will accept mutants!]
"Oh! Okay." Saitama let out a small sigh of relief. "So the quest says I have to become good friends with Magneto first, huh?"
He sighed helplessly. "Alright then, Ma'ers, we—"
"It's Erik…" Magneto murmured, exasperated.
"Fine, fine—Old Man. Looks like we've had some misunderstandings. So… can we be friends?" Saitama paused. "No—good friends."
Everyone: …
Faintly, Saitama seemed to hear a crow cawing somewhere.
"Ahem." He coughed. "It's sudden, I know. How about this—if you're willing, I'll treat you to pork cutlet rice. But no egg."
Watching Saitama keep a straight face while saying that, Magneto felt his brain short-circuit.
Yes—this was a psychic attack.
It had to be a psychic attack!!!
Was this some illusion Charles had cooked up?
Magneto subconsciously took a step back, a spike of pain lancing through his head. That one step, however, made the people behind him jump to conclusions.
"As expected—this guy's one of Charles's!" A dark-skinned teen burst out, muscles swelling as he sprinted. In a single second he was behind Saitama. His transformation finished in mid-stride—jet-black fur rippled across his body, glossy and hard as steel.
"Steel Leopard, watch out!"
At the instant Steel Leopard appeared at Saitama's back, Saitama had already lifted his hand. From the outside, it looked like the teen rammed his head into Saitama's fist. The recoil flung Steel Leopard away like a ragdoll.
"Eh?" Saitama blinked, turning to the limp teen as if he'd just swatted ten flies without thinking.
That casual attitude lit everyone's fuse.
And who followed Magneto? The kind of hardcases who believed humans and mutants could never coexist, who wanted to overthrow human governments and enslave humankind.
In short: people who'd been oppressed for years and now lived to fight back—volatile to the core.
Three of them lunged at once. One sprouted steel claws from both hands. Another sprang to the ceiling; his mouth gaped and a long tongue shot out. The third slammed both palms to the floor—and the ground turned viscous, sucking at everyone's feet like a swamp.
Watching the trio rush him, Saitama sighed. "Hey, I only wanted to be your friend!"
The ceiling crawler—Toad—had already snared Saitama's arm with his tongue. "Hurry up and—"
Before he could finish, Saitama gave a tiny flick. Toad went whipping away, but because his tongue was still glued to Saitama's arm, he slingshotted back again—just like a yo-yo.
"My God…"
That was the general sentiment.
Toad's tongue had an adhesive pull of over eight thousand tons, and the suction cups on his feet were gecko-strong—each with thousands of tons of grip. In plain terms: if you didn't use equal force to break free, you'd never shake him off.
And yet this guy just peeled him off like nothing.
Damn. How strong was he?
Everyone on site stood dumbfounded.
The clawed mutant—mid-pounce—was swept up by Toad's flailing rebound and smashed into the wall with a splat.
Everyone present: …
"Hey… what exactly are you all trying to do…" Saitama casually pinched Toad's tongue, tugged, and popped it free from his own arm. Then he started walking toward Magneto. "Old Man, you okay? I don't think I hit you just now."
Mystique's face tightened and she started forward to shield Magneto, but he raised a hand. "I—I'm fine…"
He studied Saitama, frowned, and said, "Go check on Logan and the others first."
Damn it—now that he'd felt how terrifying this man's body really was, he couldn't afford to let his people get hurt.
"…Wait—did you say Logan? Logan is here?" Saitama's eyes brightened with genuine excitement.
Magneto blinked. "Er… yes. You know Logan?"
"Of course!" Saitama grinned. Finally—someone he actually knew! Then a thought hit him: that guy who popped claws earlier…
Was that… Logan?
"Ah!!!" The man Toad had slammed aside roared and staggered to his feet. Eyes bloodshot, he scanned the room—then locked onto Saitama. In a heartbeat he lunged. "I'll kill you!"
"Ah!!! Logan!!!" Saitama threw up a hand and waved, delighted.
Everyone else: baffled.
Saitama wore the face of someone seeing an old friend. Logan wore the face of someone spotting his father's murderer.
They charged at each other in the blink of an eye.
Mystique muttered, "Wait… didn't Logan lose his memory back then?"
Everyone broke into a cold sweat.
Bang!
Saitama wrapped Logan in a bear hug. Logan's twin claws pressed uselessly against Saitama's body.
Snikt…
The onlookers all had the same thought: Here we go—an amnesiac Logan, about to kill his old friend?
(End of Chapter)
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