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The commotion at the Hero Association headquarters building ultimately concluded in a way no one had anticipated.
The Strongest Man on Earth, KING, without shedding a drop of blood, merely 'persuaded' Terrible Tornado to retreat with a single sentence.
This news, as if it had grown wings, spread within the Hero Association at an astonishing speed, and was embellished into countless versions.
Some said KING suppressed Terrible Tornado's psychokinesis with just his gaze.
Others claimed the roar of the Emperor Engine directly intimidated Terrible Tornado's soul.
Even more outlandish rumors suggested that the two had actually engaged in a three-hundred-round psychic battle in another dimension, with KING ultimately emerging victorious with an absolute advantage.
Regardless of the version, each one elevated KING's image to another level.
Meanwhile, KING, the protagonist of these rumors, was sitting cross-legged in his ordinary apartment.
He was stuffing potato chips into his mouth while flipping through the latest fashion magazine, his face filled with a look of utter despair.
"What kind of nonsense is this…?" Lin Mo couldn't help but complain.
On the magazine cover, he wore a simple yet expensive black trench coat, its collar pulled high, covering half his face, revealing only a pair of eyes that had been digitally enhanced by the photographer to appear incredibly sharp, staring coldly ahead.
Next to him, a large title in bold, bright gold, exaggerated font read: "The King's Style: I Don't Do Meaningless Things."
Good heavens! How did they even include that? Lin Mo felt embarrassed just thinking about it.
His thoughts at the time were not what the public imagined; he merely wanted to stabilize Terrible Tornado.
He irritably flipped open the magazine, and the contents inside made him even more exasperated.
The usual resident cover stars and popular idols of those fashion magazines were now pitifully squeezed into a tiny corner section.
Over eighty percent of the entire magazine's space was dedicated to close-up photos of him from various angles, along with various over-interpretations of his personal style, behavioral patterns, and even his philosophy of life.
After all, this was a world where strange beings emerged endlessly. A hero possessing "strongest man on earth (title/epithet)," a symbol of absolute power, clearly had far more appeal than stars who were merely beautiful in appearance, singing, dancing, and acting.
Of course, 'Sweet Mask' was an exception; as a hero, he was also a popular celebrity, which gave him considerable influence within the Hero Association.
However, what was gratifying was that the "energy points" Lin Mo was currently accumulating had increased significantly, bringing him some comfort.
"Forget it, forget it. Out of sight, out of mind."
Lin Mo casually tossed the magazine that gave him goosebumps into the wastepaper basket in the corner, hitting it accurately.
"No more thinking about it. Let's check out my new game. The core framework is almost complete."
He sat in front of his computer and skillfully opened the game development engine.
On the screen, a pixel-style hero stood before a massive, ferocious dragon.
"Optimizing combat logic… adjusting numerical balance… Hmm, the Beginner's Guide also needs to be more user-friendly."
Lin Mo's fingers rapidly tapped on the keyboard, a focused and joyful expression on his face—this was his true world.
"Once the first beta version is complete… I'll let that guy Saitama test it out first."
"Yes, that's right. Even pure novice players must be able to have a complete gaming experience…"
He nodded to himself, muttering, approving of his "considerate" decision.
— — — — — —
Meanwhile, at the other end of Z-City, inside a dark, abandoned warehouse.
"KING… The Strongest Man on Earth?" A middle-aged man in a high-end custom suit, but with an incredibly gloomy face, squeezed out the name through clenched teeth.
His voice carried a hint of hoarseness and undisguised jealousy, as he sneered, "Hmph, he's nothing more than an idol carefully packaged by the Hero Association, a bandit who stole our market!"
The man, named Agawa, was the president of an old-established apparel group.
Ever since KING endorsed the clothing brand of a major shareholder of the Hero Association last time, the entire industry's ecosystem had undergone a devastating change.
KING's personal influence, like a tsunami, instantly swept across the entire market.
Consumers frantically bought "KING merchandise," as if wearing those clothes would imbue them with a trace of strongest man on earth (title/epithet)'s domineering aura.
Agawa's company and other competitors saw their sales plummet, and countless specialty stores suffered immensely.
In desperation, they also tried to find heroes to endorse their products, but reality dealt them a heavy blow.
Other clothing merchants were in distress and, out of helplessness, also chose to find heroes for endorsements.
But they didn't have the capability to invite S-Class Heroes, and other S-Class Heroes wouldn't be as idle as KING Lin Mo.
While A-Class and below heroes also had a certain level of popularity, the market effect they brought could not be compared to KING's.
This led to a group of capitalists, led by Agawa, uniting in desperation and conceiving a crazy idea—since they couldn't defeat KING commercially, they would make him disappear physically!
To this end, they spared no expense, using various black market channels, to contact the world's largest underground assassin organization.
A mysterious organization known as the "Tian Tian Hao" Group, which claimed "money in hand, gods shattered," and operated with efficiency and ruthlessness.
"Are you confident?" Agawa handed a heavy metal briefcase to the group of men in black opposite him, asking, "That's The Strongest Man on Earth! An S-Class Hero, rank six!"
"Don't worry, we are professionals. There's no one in this world who can't be killed, only a price that can't be paid."
The masked man weighed the briefcase, seemingly satisfied. "Just relax at home, prepare your celebratory champagne, and wait for the good news of 'Hero KING's accidental demise' to be broadcast on TV."
Behind him, a tall, thin silhouette in black tapped the final enter key on a laptop.
On the screen, KING's detailed information, daily activity range, apartment building structure plans, and even the locations of his frequent supermarkets and game stores were clearly displayed as 3D models.
In another corner, a man as burly as a bear was wiping a strangely shaped pistol.
Clearly, this was a well-organized assassin squad.
At this moment, Lin Mo was unaware that he had been targeted; he was calling Saitama, inviting him to a cafe to test the game he had personally created.