City Z, the House of Evolution.
"Mosquito Girl lost? One punch?"
In a dim room, Dr. Genus reviewed hero dossiers, eyes pensive.
"KING was present as well?" The feed switched to KING's file.
In the photo, three savage scars slashed his face. His gaze was razor-sharp, expression severe, an undeniable aura of a top-tier powerhouse all over him.
"KING… has felled many powerful monsters, but his methods remain a mystery—no footage exists. A man of extreme enigma," a clone observed.
"Rumor has it that before he strikes, you can hear an engine roar from within—'King Engine.' A symbol of his power," another clone added.
"He's just a test subject. Send envoys to invite those two over. The bald one and KING of S-Class—invite them to visit the House of Evolution."
Seated, Genus brimmed with confidence. Since reversing his age with a genetic serum, his self-belief had turned obsessive.
He was convinced genetics were the sole key to evolutionary progress for all life.
"I want to see why those two are so strong…"
Five days had passed since the Mosquito Girl incident. After the shared hotpot, Lin Mo could clearly feel he'd closed the distance with Teacher Saitama.
He often visited under the pretext of dropping by—and bought heaps of game carts, to Saitama's yelping delight.
"Saitama, brainless strings don't work."
Lin Mo shook his head at the nearly dead bunny girl on the screen, aura of "strength" radiating off him.
"Allow me to show you… what a real combo is."
The on-screen bunny girl crouched, slipped the pounce, and sent Saitama packing with a silky little string.
"Damn it! Cheating! You have to be cheating!" Saitama flushed and flung the controller, "overheated."
[From Saitama: anger. Energy Points +20!]
"Your moves are too monotonous," Lin Mo said. "Once-in-a-lifetime openings show up and you just mash. I could beat you with my eyes closed."
Saitama went limp. "Ahhh," he groaned, sprawled in a big X on the tatami, soul departed.
"Ding-dong—" The doorbell cut through the room.
"Who is it? I haven't bought anything online lately…" Saitama grumbled, dragging himself up to answer.
He opened the door to a familiar blond face.
"Hm? You look familiar. Have we met?" Saitama squinted at Genos.
"Yes, Teacher Saitama. You saved me from Mosquito Girl. I've come to thank you," Genos bowed deeply. "Please—accept me as your disciple."
—
Back to five days earlier—after Lin Mo and Saitama went home, Dr. Kuseno found Genos and repaired him.
Then came five days of tailing.
Investigating, he naturally discovered that Lin Mo was KING, while the bald man was a nobody.
KING's power he could understand—recognized by the Association and the public, with many feats to back it up.
But the bald man's strength—where did it come from?
To clear the riddle, he scrutinized their daily lives.
He saw them scrabble for supermarket specials, saw them at home reading manga and gaming.
He even bought the same top-grade wagyū they often ate.
Analysis showed the beef only had higher-quality protein, fat, and marbling—no special energy or gene-inducing agents.
The deeper he looked, the bigger the mystery grew. Finally, he concluded:
Teacher Saitama must have trained by some unknown regimen to reach this level!
And that training—was precisely what Genos longed for!
"I must become stronger," he vowed, staring at the bald head.
Inside, Lin Mo exhaled in relief between games. He'd worried Genos might try to apprentice to him. Good thing he didn't—Lin Mo was here to cling to a thigh.
Genos began giving Saitama his life story…
"Idiot—twenty words or less," Saitama snapped, already grumpy from getting bodied by KING.
The ceiling exploded with a bang. A monster dropped in.
"Kekeke, I am the Mantis—"
He hadn't finished when Saitama, face stormy, punched him into paste. "You're paying for that ceiling!"
"Leave this to me, Teacher Saitama," Genos said tactfully, charging outside to handle the others.
But outside, Frog-Man and Slug Monster had already been hammered into the ground by Saitama, only their top halves sticking out, unable to move.
"Use the door, you morons!"
In the room, Lin Mo jumped—then hurried out.
Saitama had been dragged underground by Ground Dragon, only his head showing. Genos was battling Armored Gorilla.
The House of Evolution's number two, the lion-type Beast King, shook his golden mane. Seeing KING, he ignored the bald man.
He approached KING and even bowed, oddly gentlemanly:
"Mr. KING, we are from the House of Evolution. Dr. Genus cordially invites you and your companion to visit."
Eyeing the short, blond man, Beast King felt a flicker of contempt. This was an S-Class hero? If he could kill him…
The thought caught and spread like wildfire.
Beast King's pupils slit to vertical. His leonine mane bristled. A savage, bestial aura erupted.
"If I kill S-Class KING, then I, Beast King, will be the strongest monster in the world!"
Facing a killing-intent-flooded Beast King, Lin Mo kept calm—he saw Saitama had wriggled free.
Sure enough, just as Beast King was about to unleash a thunderous blow, a figure appeared at his flank like a teleport.
"Consecutive… Normal Punches."
A storm of fists fell. Beast King was reduced to a lower half in an instant.
[From "Beast King": astonishment. Energy Points +2000!]
Lin Mo let out a long breath and looked toward Genos's fight. "Come on. Genos should be about done—let's go ask."
-------
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