"It's wrecked this badly… probably beyond repair, huh?"
Saitama held two palm-sized crab claws, crunching them between his teeth as he curiously eyed the mechanical leg that Kizaru had dragged back.
"Most likely. Once I get my hands on Metal Knight, maybe I'll pick up a few more like this..."
Kizaru waved over Mountain Ape from the Blizzard Group to carry the mechanical leg back to the villa.
He'd already confirmed that Metal Knight hadn't left any hidden tricks in the leg. All he had to do was store it somewhere safe and later take it back to the pirate world as a gift for Vegapunk.
"Sensei, Swift Flash, what is that?"
Genos stepped closer, having now witnessed Kizaru's power in action. He finally understood why Sensei viewed Swift Flash with such high regard.
Despite also being an S-Class hero, the gap in strength between him and Swift was even greater than the difference between an S-Class and an A-Class.
"Hmm, think of it as a little toy Metal Knight gifted me…"
Kizaru lounged casually on a beach chair, in no rush to go after Metal Knight.
His earlier warning had scared Metal Knight senseless. The guy was now busy packing up his stuff and preparing to flee. Kizaru was waiting for him to expose even more of his bases before swooping in to finish the job and scoop up all the good loot.
Although Observation Haki couldn't sense the strength of machines or robots, this war mech's defense, offense, and mobility were all quite impressive.
If it hadn't run into Kizaru and Tatsumaki, it would've been a tough opponent for any lower-ranked S-Class hero.
Ever since he decided to become Fleet Admiral, Kizaru had developed a bad habit—he just couldn't stand to see good tech go to waste. Anything that could benefit the Navy, he had to bring back to HQ.
Once Tony, Orochimaru, and Ai Haibara succeeded in replicating the pure gold project...
Kizaru was planning to give a piece of pure gold to each of the Navy's top brass: Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Garp, Vice Admiral Tsuru, and old man Zephyr.
That way, they could keep shining in high positions within the Navy. After all, retiring at sixty or seventy was such a waste—especially someone like Garp, an elite powerhouse who could easily stay active at sea for a few more decades.
"The Association's top brass just sent a request to speak. Do you want to talk to them?"
Fubuki frowned as she asked.
At first, she had the same attitude as Tatsumaki, thinking Kizaru was making a fuss over nothing. But after witnessing the war mech's attack, she had to admit she'd underestimated Metal Knight's ambition.
"Tch. Fine, connect the call. Otherwise that damn fat guy might show up in person—what a pain."
Kizaru said lazily. These top officials at the Hero Association were just like the Navy higher-ups he used to deal with—always thinking too highly of themselves, as if heroes and marines were just pawns to command.
Anyone who dared push back was labeled unruly and needed to be "taught a lesson" to set an example.
If Kizaru hadn't debuted as an S-Class hero, which gave the Association some pause, he would've already been buried under layers of suppression by now—especially if he were just an A-Class or B-Class hero.
"Swift Flash, you—!"
As soon as the video call connected, a fat man named William from the Association's upper management immediately started to yell, trying to confront Kizaru.
Even though he was at the bottom of the high-level food chain, he couldn't stand Kizaru repeatedly cutting off his calls.
"Take a good look! Is this the 'compensation' your so-called Metal Knight offered?"
Before William could finish his tirade, Kizaru shoved the remains of the war mech right into the camera.
One second he was ready to throw a fit, the next he froze like a duck with its neck clamped shut—his words stuck in his throat.
The Hero Association had plenty of heroes using tech-based weapons, but few—if any—could create humanoid mechs of such precision. Most people would instinctively link it to Metal Knight.
That's why Dr. Bofoi's original plan had been to eliminate everyone present. Even if suspicion fell on him later, as long as there was no solid proof, someone would cover for him.
To avoid exposing internal strife, the Association itself would even help cover it up.
What he didn't expect was that Tatsumaki happened to be with Kizaru—and that this newly promoted S-Class hero was far stronger than anticipated.
The war mech he deployed not only failed to eliminate Kizaru but ended up exposing his assassination plot against another S-Class hero.
"Th-this is just… some wreckage. Not enough to prove Metal Knight was involved. Calm down—we'll contact Metal Knight from HQ. I'm sure… I'm sure he wouldn't do something like this…"
William stammered, trying to explain the situation, all while cursing Metal Knight and the rest of the Association's upper management in his mind.
Of all times, they chose now to make a move on Swift Flash? Seriously?
And what the hell was wrong with that lunatic Metal Knight? Had he been drinking motor oil again? Did he not know that Tornado of Terror, the S-Class Rank 2, Swift Flash, Rank 9, and Flashy Flash, Rank 14, were all in the same place?
Who gave Metal Knight the courage to provoke three S-Class heroes at once?
To be fair, if Dr. Bofoi had been there, he would've defended himself—he had no idea about Tatsumaki's relationship with Kizaru. He even tried to move Flashy elsewhere on purpose!
"Then go contact him. Oh, and remind Metal Knight for me—sure, sometimes the most dangerous place is also the safest, but if you're going to run, at least run far. Hiding less than twenty kilometers away from your last base? That's basically useless."
Kizaru shrugged. He'd sensed Metal Knight move for a bit before stopping again. He couldn't tell if the "underground rat" had just built two bases close together, or if he really thought that distance would keep him safe.
Either way, as the one preparing to wipe Metal Knight off the map, Kizaru figured it was only fair to let the man know: if you want to go up against him, you'd better be ready to become public enemy number one.
"What do you mean?"
William froze, asking instinctively.
But before he could even finish, the screen went black—Swift Flash had hung up again.
Even though William was known as the most mild-mannered among the upper management, he was absolutely seething. He'd lost count of how many times Swift Flash had cut off their calls now—the guy clearly didn't respect him at all!
Only now did William finally understand why the higher-ups before him had always looked down on the S-Class heroes.
He used to mock the other execs in his head for being overly concerned with pride. But now that he was the one getting humiliated by an S-Class hero, he realized just how hard it was to manage this group of bastards.
Kizaru, meanwhile, had no idea the other S-Class heroes were now being blamed on his behalf. Even Metal Knight—who was only using the Association as a platform for his experiments—wasn't as dismissive of the upper management as Kizaru was.
Fubuki, standing to the side, felt that maybe this behavior was a little inappropriate—but since Kizaru would eventually return to the pirate world, she didn't say much.
Saitama and Genos didn't really care about the Association's hierarchy either, and as for Tatsumaki—she even shot Kizaru an approving look.
With her dominant personality, she actually admired Kizaru's approach. She was sick of the Association treating her like some kind of ultimate weapon.
If it weren't for her own desire to keep crushing monsters, she probably would've ditched them all like Kizaru already.
Meanwhile, William was furious but had no choice but to reconnect with the other execs and call another emergency meeting.
Before, it had just been Swift Flash threatening to take out Metal Knight. Now, Metal Knight had actually launched an attack—and had a mech unit blown to pieces by Swift Flash, with only one leg left.
It was clear this was about to escalate. With Swift Flash's side outnumbering Metal Knight's, the doctor probably didn't stand a chance. If they fought again, it could get ugly fast.
"What the hell? I was about to go to a charity gala—why another meeting?"
"Couldn't you have settled this with a smaller group? I'm supposed to be at my granddaughter's wedding!"
"It's you again! William, I'm seriously starting to doubt your fitness as an executive in this Association!"
...
The upper management, called into another meeting, were all visibly annoyed. Every single one of them had their own industries to run.
Though there were many reasons they'd ended up on the Association's board, none of them liked being summoned like this all the time—even if it was just a virtual conference.
"William, what's going on?"
The voice belonged to Lady Perus, representative of the Agni family at the Hero Association. The moment she spoke, the rest of the room fell quiet.
Even among the wealthy elite, there was a pecking order. Lady Perus was not only the Agni representative but also one of that magnate's most trusted aides—her net worth far exceeded most others present.
Even the most hot-tempered among them didn't dare get on her bad side.
"Lady Perus… Metal Knight and Swift Flash are already fighting. Metal Knight sent a robot to launch an attack, but it got wrecked. Swift Flash is refusing to reconcile—he's now threatening to take Metal Knight out for good…"
William responded with a bitter expression. He could already see it—after today, the rest of the execs would see him as a useless burden who couldn't resolve conflict and only brought them trouble.
Even worse, no matter who won or lost between Metal Knight and Swift Flash, the fact that S-Class heroes were fighting amongst themselves would be nearly impossible to cover up.
Especially now that Metal Knight had made the first move and Swift Flash had smashed his bot to pieces—there was no backing down from this.
Whichever side lost, he, the one who failed to de-escalate things, would take the biggest hit.
"Ridiculous! Are you telling me Metal Knight launched a preemptive attack on Swift Flash?"
Madame Perus couldn't help but mutter a quiet curse. Her earlier "kind reminder" to Metal Knight certainly wasn't meant to make things worse.
If she ended up dragged into this mess, all the careful work she'd done over the years within the Hero Association would be wasted.
"Wait… isn't Metal Knight ranked 6th among the S-Class? Why is he losing to the 9th-ranked Flashy Flash?" A senior official, who didn't seem all that invested in the Association's current affairs, couldn't help but ask.
Officially, S-Class rankings weren't strictly based on strength, but higher-ranked heroes usually were stronger than those ranked lower.
Metal Knight, as a veteran S-Class hero, had more seniority than most of the officials present. Plus, his mysterious nature meant no one really knew how many tricks he had hidden up his sleeve.
So when the conflict between Metal Knight and Swift Flash was reported, most officials assumed Flashy Flash stood no chance.
But the reality was that Swift Flash had aggressively confronted Metal Knight, destroyed one of his robots, and even forced the official William to call an emergency meeting to discuss how to respond.
The fact that a mere 9th-ranked S-Class could cause such trouble left that official incredulous.
"Swift Flash's ranking isn't a normal promotion. Technically, he's a rookie. He was promoted straight to 9th for single-handedly taking down a Dragon-level threat," another official explained kindly.
Most other S-Class heroes climbed the ranks steadily, their power roughly matching their rank.
Swift Flash however, was still at 9th simply because he hadn't had the chance to move up yet.
"Not only that, but Swift Flash's subordinate, Flashy Flash, who's ranked 14th, has voluntarily joined Swift Flash training camp. Even the 2nd-ranked S-Class, Tatsumaki, seems to be siding with him."
William scratched his thinning hair with a grim expression. He had a sinking feeling that by the time this issue was resolved, he might be completely bald.
The previously indifferent officials suddenly became uneasy at the mention of Tatsumaki—after all, she was the Hero Association's trump card, their best weapon.
How had she suddenly linked up with Swift Flash? And why was she helping him go against Metal Knight?
°°°
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