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Chapter 371: A Serious Punch Collapses the Yonko's Worldview
However, King—whom Shanks saw as 'completely unfazed' and 'currently charging his power'—was actually having a complete mental breakdown!
Ahhhhh!
Help!
Somebody, save me!!!
Tears welled up in King's eyes. It wasn't that he didn't want to dodge; his legs had simply turned to jelly! He was so paralyzed by fear that he couldn't even twitch a finger.
Looking at the buildings collapsing like toy blocks around him, and the massive, sky-obscuring form of Elder Centipede, King felt his bladder violently twitch.
Is this really a battle meant for humans? I'm just a shut-in who came out to buy a dating sim! Why am I being forced to experience this hellish, nightmare-difficulty dungeon?! Move! My legs, I'm begging you, just move! If I don't run, I'm going to turn into centipede feces!
Thump-thump-thump-thump—!!!
His heart was beating so fast it felt like it would burst from his chest. That extreme, paralyzing terror pushed his "King Engine" to maximum output. The air around him literally rippled with visible soundwaves from the high-frequency vibrations!
Amidst the chaotic battlefield, that cursed noise was as conspicuous as a blinding searchlight in the dead of night.
Elder Centipede, previously engrossed in its destructive rampage, suddenly paused. Its crimson, compound eyes snapped around, locking dead onto the man standing frozen in the ruins.
"That sound... That loathsome heartbeat..."
A look of extremely human-like, venomous resentment twisted across the grotesque human face of Elder Centipede.
"Is that King!? The legendary strongest hero who has defeated countless monsters?!"
"ROAR—!!!"
"Perfect! I'll use you as the newest sacrifice for my immortal legend!"
Boom—!
Elder Centipede instantly abandoned its pursuit of the pesky red-haired flea. Its colossal body violently twisted, hurtling toward the paralyzed man like a derailed high-speed train carrying apocalyptic momentum!
"Damn it!" Shanks' expression drastically changed from afar. "It was drawn in by his King Engine! Was he acting as a decoy?! No! That distance is way too dangerous!"
Shanks wanted to rush back and help, but his previous evasive maneuvers had put too much distance between them. Several collapsing buildings stood in his way, making it completely impossible to reach him in time!
"Dodge it!" Bone Cracking Bat screamed hoarsely, sprawling in the rubble. "Mr. King! Stop trying to tank it to protect the city! You can't block an attack like that!"
Everyone present believed King was charging his power, preparing to take the devastating strike head-on. Only King knew the truth: he was just waiting to die!
Staring down the abyssal maw that grew larger by the millisecond—teeth the size of trucks and a foul, metallic stench washing over his face—King's pupils completely dilated. His life began flashing before his eyes.
I haven't even unboxed the magical girl figure I bought yesterday. I haven't finished clearing the heroine's route in Tokimeki Memorial. I haven't even read this week's issue of JUMP... Am I really going to die here? I don't want to! I really don't want to!
In his final moment of absolute despair, King mustered every last ounce of his strength to scream from the bottom of his soul.
"Saitama-shiii—!!!"
"Save me!!!"
Perhaps God heard his prayer. Or perhaps... the bald hero had been listening the entire time.
Just as Elder Centipede's fangs closed within half a meter of King's forehead, and just as Shanks clenched his fist, bracing to witness the fall of a legend...
Swish—!
A yellow flash of lightning tore through the void without warning! It was so fast that even Shanks' Future Sight Observation Haki completely failed to track its trajectory! It was as if the man had simply materialized out of thin air.
A second later, a lazy, somewhat exasperated voice echoed in everyone's ears.
"Good grief... King, didn't we agree to go grocery shopping after you finished your game? Why did you wander off to a place like this again?"
Boom!!!
Accompanying those words was a fist. A completely ordinary-looking fist. It was clad in a red rubber glove, devoid of any visible muscle definition or terrifying aura.
The bald man who had suddenly appeared stood firmly in front of King. Facing a Dragon-Level monster capable of leveling cities, and staring down an abyssal maw that could swallow a skyscraper whole, his expression remained entirely blank. His dead-fish eyes looked as though he were swatting a particularly annoying, buzzing fly.
Casually, effortlessly, he threw a punch forward.
"Killer Move..."
"Serious Punch."
Time stood still.
There were no blinding, radiant special effects. There was no earth-shattering wind-up. There wasn't even the apocalyptic clash of Haki that Shanks had anticipated. It was just... one punch. Making contact.
Poof—!
A soft, almost muted sound rang out. The moment Elder Centipede's monstrous, twice-evolved, hyper-durable head made contact with that red glove, it simply... annihilated!
Yes. It didn't shatter. It didn't explode. It was completely and utterly annihilated at the molecular level!
Immediately after, a terrifying, indescribable gale force erupted outward from the bald man in a massive, fan-shaped shockwave!
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble—!!!
This was true, unadulterated terror! Before this hurricane of force, Elder Centipede's indestructible, kilometer-long body melted away like snow under a blazing sun. Segment by segment, chunk by chunk... it instantly vaporized into fine dust!
The shockwave didn't stop there. It tore through the atmosphere, scattered the cloud cover, and forcefully obliterated the entire mountain range looming in the distance!
The colossal shadow that had previously obscured the sky vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye. All that remained was the blinding light of the setting sun and a fine mist of dust drifting through the air.
Silence. Deathly silence.
It was as if that single punch had turned all of Z-City into a vacuum. Every sound ceased to exist.
Shanks stood with his mouth wide open, his eyes bulging out of his head as his mind went completely blank. Benn Beckman was equally frozen; the cigarette he always kept lazily dangling from his lips fell to the ground with a soft pat as they both processed the scene before them.
"Wh-What is this?!"
What had he just witnessed? One punch? He completely erased a monster that Shanks had found incredibly troublesome, perhaps even impossible to defeat... with a single punch?!
And looking at the bald man, he wasn't even breathing heavily! He looked as relaxed as if he had just tossed out a bag of trash!
"Phew..."
The bald man pulled his fist back. Despite unleashing such cataclysmic destruction, not a single speck of dust had landed on his cape. He scratched his shiny head, which gleamed under the setting sun, and glanced down at King, who was currently slumped on the ground, paralyzed by shock.
"Hey, King," the bald man complained, his tone laced with genuine annoyance. "I think I used a bit too much force just now. If I accidentally wrecked the supermarket's bargain section, we're in big trouble. Today's premium beef is half-price for hotpot."
Beef... half-price?
Hearing those words, Shanks felt his entire worldview collapsing.
Who the hell is this guy?! He just casually threw a punch with the yield of a nuclear bomb, and all he cares about is discounted beef?!
"Um..." Shanks swallowed hard. All of his pride as one of the Four Emperors had been instantly shattered. He slowly walked forward, staring at the seemingly harmless bald man, and asked in a dry, raspy voice.
"Excuse me... young man. Are you an S-Class hero too? What rank are you?"
The bald man turned around, locking his dead-fish eyes onto Shanks, and casually picked his nose.
"Huh? S-Class? No, I'm just a hero for fun. I'm Saitama. Right now, I think I'm... B-Class, Rank 7?"
B-Class...
Shanks' mouth twitched violently. He glanced down at his own system panel, which mockingly displayed [C-Class Rank 388], and suddenly realized something.
The ranking system in this world was absolutely, certifiably insane! You call this B-Class?!
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