Saitama was already almost at the exhibition hall entrance. Hearing the commotion behind him and Genos's words, he stopped again and turned to look at the stone man that was wrecking everything. He scratched his head.
"Why can't I even come to an exhibition in peace…"
Genos had already charged in. Flames blasted from his palms as he tried to melt the stone man. But the fire only made the statue's surface glow slightly red—it didn't actually damage its structure. The stone man raised its stone axe and chopped down at Genos. The power was enormous, the swing howling through the air. Genos sprang back and dodged, and the stone axe cleaved a deep trench into the floor.
"Its defense is extremely strong! Sensei, be careful!" Genos warned while dodging and analyzing.
Saitama watched the stone man swing its axe, then glanced at the connection between its stone neck and body. He didn't really want to get involved—he didn't want to break things and have to pay compensation (though usually Genos ended up paying). But Genos didn't look like he could finish it quickly, and the stone man had already smashed a lot of display cases. It was about to hit the golden coffin in the center—the one that looked like the most expensive thing in the room.
"Sigh… fine." Saitama let out a small sigh and walked over.
At that moment, the stone man had its back to Saitama. It raised its stone axe high, preparing to chop down at the dodging Genos again. To Saitama, its movements looked slow and full of openings.
Without making a sound, Saitama walked behind it. In the instant it committed to its full-power swing Saitama raised his right hand and clenched his fist. Then, like he was greeting it, he casually
Lightly
Tapped a punch onto the stone, cone-like protrusion at the joint where the statue's neck connected to its head.
"Thunk."
It wasn't even a loud hit.
Time seemed to pause for a split second.
The stone man's axe-swing froze midair. The red light in its eyes flickered violently a few times—then quickly went out.
Next, starting from the point where Saitama's fist had struck, tiny cracks spread instantly across the entire neck like a spiderweb.
"Kacha… crash!"
The stone man's head snapped clean off at the neck and dropped onto the carpeted floor with a heavy thud. The headless body stayed in its raised-axe pose for a brief moment—then collapsed with a roar, scattering into a pile of ordinary rocks, completely motionless.
The exhibition hall fell into dead silence. Only the alarm was still blaring. The tourists who had fled to the distance, and the security guards who had just managed to scramble back up, all stared blankly at the bald man standing beside the stone man's remains, his face utterly calm.
Genos disengaged from combat mode and walked over to Saitama. He looked at the broken stones as streams of data flashed across his electronic eyes.
"Sensei… again, you did it effortlessly… I didn't even detect a clear energy burst. It was purely physical impact, yet it destroyed its core structure…"
Saitama, however, bent down and picked up the stone head, weighing it in his hand as he looked at the broken cross-section.
"Seems hollow inside? And there're patterns."
Genos's attention snapped over immediately. "Patterns? Sensei, please let me see!" He took the head and began carefully examining the inside of the fracture.
Meanwhile, Saitama's focus had already shifted. He looked toward the hall exit, rubbed his stomach, and said, "Alright, done. Genos, hurry up—let's go to the sushi place. If we're late, we'll have to line up."
To him, dealing with a suddenly animated stone man was like casually snuffing out an annoying spark—nowhere near as important as the discounted sushi that was waiting.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For 20+ Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!] [[email protected]/Draumel]
[Thank You For Your Support!]