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The two walked on the street, ignoring the strange looks from passersby, chatting as if no one else was around.
Saitama explained, "It's nothing major. It's just that you've always taken care of me, so I earned some money from my part-time job a while ago and wanted to treat you to hotpot. Although it might not be as explosive as your Sichuan-style hotpot, I'm confident in my cooking skills!"
"Oh? That sounds good!" Hearing Saitama's confident assurance, Kaito immediately became interested. "Let's do it today. I just took a train for half a day, and I'm a bit hungry."
"Eh... today?" Saitama subconsciously touched the pocket sewn inside his uniform, his expression stiffening.
"What, is it inconvenient?" Kaito saw through Saitama's situation at a glance. With the sudden aura of poverty emanating from him, he was probably out of money.
"It's not exactly inconvenient..."
"It's fine, then let's go to my place. I'll be responsible for the ingredients, and you'll be responsible for the cooking, no problem?"
"Eh, but I should be treating..."
"Then next time."
"Okay, I understand."
Having decided on hotpot, the two changed direction and headed to a nearby supermarket. They hadn't walked two steps when two people dressed as reporters ran over from not far away. The man's camera on his shoulder and the woman's microphone in her hand were almost simultaneously extended in front of Kaito. This is what you call professionalism.
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Kaito, 'Furious Thunder,' one of the heroes who resolved the Monster disaster in A-City three days ago?"
Kaito had a questioning look. When did 'Furious Thunder' become a strange title? "Well, if you're referring to the Crane Monster in A-City, I did indeed participate."
"That's great! We are reporters from Hero News. Your popularity online is currently very high, growing at a speed comparable to Miss Tornado of Terror before. Could you give us some time for an exclusive interview?"
Kaito glanced at Saitama, who was silently stepping back, and said, "You can book an interview with the Hero Association, but not today."
"Eh?" The blonde female reporter covered her mouth in shock, but with great professionalism, she put away her microphone and motioned for her partner to lower the camera. "Mr. Kaito, our program has very high ratings recently, which would be very helpful for your exposure. Would you like to reconsider...?"
"Sorry." Kaito shook his head and turned to walk towards Saitama.
"Why?" The female reporter was a bit anxious, even speaking her mind, "Being with that kind of suspicious person, if you're photographed and it gets out, it will affect your popularity!"
"My friend is not a suspicious person, you know," Kaito paused, then turned back to look seriously at the two who wanted to catch up. "If you don't retract that statement, I will refuse your interview."
"S-sorry!"
Leaving the two intrusive reporters behind, Saitama suddenly said, "So you're also a hero, Kaito? I thought your job was just a police officer."
"Yes, being a hero can be considered a part-time job, but it's also a very important one." Kaito nodded, and at the same time, a thought stirred in his mind, and he reminded him, "By the way, Saitama, do you want to register with the Hero Association? With your current strength, getting in would definitely not be a problem."
"Hero Association? An organization that manages heroes?" Saitama scratched his head, not knowing what he had imagined, and suddenly shivered with a chill. "No, thanks, I just want to be a hero for fun. If a hobby becomes a job, I feel like it would be completely different from my original intention, wouldn't it?"
Hearing Saitama's reply, Kaito swallowed the phrase he had originally intended to say, "There will be a good income, you know."
"In that case, we'll talk about it later."
He spent a day selecting police officers and setting up the framework for the Special Affairs Department. Since it was a newly established department, everything had to start from scratch. Kaito was not in a hurry.
He instructed them to do the basic work, and if he wasn't around during a Monster disaster, Akari would be the acting Chief and should contact the Hero Association for joint disposal immediately. In short: call for backup. After explaining everything, Kaito ignored Akari and the others' complaints and comfortably became a hands-off boss. Ah, saving the higher-ups of the police department makes you that confident.
At the same time, he didn't forget to report to Director Tanaka that he might be leaving for a period, and then he began to prepare for world travel. With his current strength, there wasn't much he needed to prepare. The nature of the Stand ability dictated that items made into Fantasy Cards would maintain their instantaneous state at that moment.
For example, food, once made into a card, would never mold or spoil, and even after being released, it could still maintain the temperature of being freshly made. So, theoretically, the Fantasy Cards' deck was an unlimited storage space.
During his initial Crossing, due to his sense of crisis, Kaito's deck was always stocked with a large number of daily necessities: clean water, ingredients, seasonings, and cooking utensils were all present, ensuring that he could maintain a normal life even in the face of severe disasters like earthquakes or tsunamis.
Even now, this habit has been retained. Due to his increased fame, he rarely used the Road Roller Attack, which was his favorite move in the novice stage. The main reason was that the method was too cruel and didn't quite fit the image of a hero. However, there were no such concerns when going to other worlds; after all, Lord DIO's taste was quite good.
After replenishing some ingredients and daily necessities, Kaito flew alone to the outskirts of Z-City. Although it wasn't his first time traveling through worlds, coming to the One-Punch Man World was completely passive. This time, however, he was actively traveling to another world, so being cautious was never a bad thing. If the commotion caused by the travel was too great and caused some destruction, it would not be worth it.
Flying out of the uninhabited area, the city's outskirts were surrounded by dense forests. Kaito found a flat clearing to land. Beside it was a shimmering lake, with many birds and wild animals inhabiting the surroundings, occasionally coming to drink and hunt. The environment was very quiet. In his leisure time, coming here for camping and fishing would be a good choice.
Kaito noted the location, snapped his fingers, and the "Black Box Fragment" obtained in A-City appeared out of thin air in his hand. Stand ability activated! The white Fantasy Card glowed, and the space in front of Kaito twisted and rotated, forming a dark portal leading to the void. At first glance, it was a bit unsettling.
Would it directly connect to the gods' home? Kaito immediately shook his head. Not to mention that the gods were still scheming to revive themselves, the power sealed within the Fantasy Card would inevitably be dominated by the Stand ability.
"Then, let's go." As Kaito stepped into the spacetime tunnel, the dark portal slightly expanded and then disappeared from its original location.
Spacetime Rift.
The first sensation was a feeling of losing ground, a sense of weightlessness. Kaito subconsciously activated his psychic power to envelop his entire body, but the situation did not improve. Or rather, this falling force was something he could not resist in his current state!