Chapter 339: Deceiving the World
"Ah! It's a monster!"
Chaos erupted in the city center once again. A green giant, over four meters tall, appeared suddenly from nowhere, holding a huge club in its hand and swinging it wildly.
Boom!
With one swing of the club, a shop front was completely smashed. The shop assistant who couldn't run out in time was smashed directly into meat paste. This scene triggered even more fear and screams.
The green giant had only one eye. At this moment, that eye was slightly red, as if it was becoming increasingly crazed amidst the slaughter, continuously swinging that huge club indiscriminately.
In just moments, dozens of people were smashed to death on the spot.
This tragic scene had long scared many people into weak knees. Ignoring worries about the high fees for hero assistance, they immediately started contacting the most reliable Hero Agencies they knew.
But despite many calls, heroes still didn't appear. Too many [Hero Agencies], and even some shell agencies that only did business referrals, occupied a large amount of promotional resources.
Truly capable heroes were thus diluted.
Sitting in her high-end sedan but unable to move because of cars all around, Aisha watched in despair as the giant got closer and closer. At this moment, she deeply regretted helping those 'Professional Heroes' do massive publicity for money over the past two years.
Even more so, she regretted slandering the heroes of the past.
She was a director at J-City TV Station. She once felt complacent about being able to knock those high-and-mighty great heroes into the dust.
But at this moment, she finally realized when exactly people needed heroes.
"Save me..."
She saw the giant's single eye had noticed her. She could clearly see the flesh and hair stuck to the club, and the stench of death filled her nasal cavity.
The giant grinned, raised the club, and was about to smash it down.
"Someone save me!"
She could hardly even utter a cry for help. Her throat felt blocked by something, tears flowed uncontrollably, and she even wet herself.
Whoosh!
A whistling sound of tearing air appeared. That was the sign of something flying at unimaginable speed. The scene of [Tornado of Terror] during a rescue, casually breaking the sound barrier while flying, appeared in Aisha's mind.
Is it a hero?!
Bang!
A white figure smashed down轰然 from the sky.
In the next moment, a white cape fluttered in the airflow. A man wearing a blue-and-white tight hero suit stood in front of Aisha's car, raising one hand to catch the club covered in flesh and blood.
Boom!
A shockwave swept through the surroundings. Sitting in the car, Aisha's body shook along with the vibration of the car and the ground. Her breathing almost stopped, and her vision blackened slightly due to her overly violently beating heart.
The excellent sound insulation of the high-end car prevented her from hearing the impact of the airflow outside. She also couldn't hear if the hero said anything. But at this moment, her eyes were blurred, filled entirely with the other party's figure.
"Hero..."
That rejoicing of crawling out from the abyss of death turned into the deepest adoration.
She rolled down the window, even wanting to open the door.
Bang!
Subsequently, she saw golden ripples fluttering like ribbons from behind the hero. Accompanied by a large golden spear piercing through the giant, having rolled down the window, she heard the terrifying sonic boom explode轰然.
Squelch!
Green blood and flesh flew everywhere. The monster that was terrifying just a moment ago had its chest blown apart directly and fell down dejectedly.
"It's that... Nameless Hero!"
"It's that hero for fun! He appeared again!"
Waves of cheers suddenly erupted around them.
The people who got out of the cars behind with Aisha, ignoring the relief of surviving a disaster, were jumping and shouting the word 'Hero' loudly.
Aisha stood in place, her legs still wet with her own urine, but tears streamed down her face. Only at this moment did she fully understand the weight of the word [Hero].
"This is... a Hero..."
She took a few steps forward, suddenly having the idea of doing an in-depth report on him. Such a true hero, in this post-cataclysm era, deserved to be praised by everyone.
When that person just looked back at her, under the sunlight, his face seemed bathed in sunbeams. It was so dazzling she couldn't see his face clearly at all.
Then, with a bang, he soared into the sky. After changing directions a few times in the air, he stepped onto a blue-and-white skateboard-like vehicle and disappeared.
"A hero for fun..."
Touched by the brilliance of this pure idealist hero, Aisha stood there looking up, unable to calm down for a long time.
Half a day later, J-City TV Station began massive reporting on topics like [Nameless Hero] and [Hero for Fun], collecting a large amount of video footage from the public and pushing it on a large scale directly.
For a time, topics like idealist heroes and true heroes began to trigger massive discussions.
This move received complaints from many Hero Agencies. But including J-City, several TV stations ignored the protests and chose to continue reporting.
This behavior also garnered support from many citizens.
[Asuka]'s face was pale. Standing on top of a building, seeing the [Giant Goblin] that his team spent a fortune to capture with great difficulty being killed by Mercenary Tao with one punch, he couldn't care about the loss, only feeling fear.
He had thought about running away, but Mercenary Tao obviously had some ability to lock onto them. Previously, after his Cursed Spirit was eliminated by Mercenary Tao, both he hiding in the mall and [Ri Mo] hiding on the rooftop were locked onto and caught directly.
Moments later, Asuka was picked up by another member driving a car and returned to the temporary camp in the suburbs. That Mercenary Tao, who had now become a 'Classical Hero' in the eyes of the world, had changed back into that iconic pink robe and was standing in front of everyone.
"You guys did well. As long as you continue to cooperate with my actions like this, I will naturally set you free."
Ri Mo lowered his head, muttering something. Contract Beasts were important resources for their team. Now, just to cooperate with Mercenary Tao's so-called hero activities, they were casually killed by him, causing him heartache.
But he dared not argue at all. Just now, [Gilgamesh] (Golden Skin), who merely uttered a sentence of rebuttal, had his arm torn off casually by Mercenary Tao. Mercenary Tao's strength was too terrifying, making him dare not resist rashly.
[Lilith] stood behind Mercenary Tao. Somehow, looking at this team whose strength level was roughly similar to her original team, she unconsciously felt a trace of superiority.
At least, Mercenary Tao wasn't this rough with her.
She simply cooperated with Mercenary Tao to accurately find that TV producer named Aisha. A plot character with no power; finding her posed no difficulty. And for that, she received Mercenary Tao's praise.
Meanwhile, this group of people, who sacrificed a decent Contract Beast, were still on tenterhooks.
Lilith sized up these people and suddenly understood: she wasn't timid, she was just weak. In this Space, as long as you had power, you could do anything you wanted.
Just like Mercenary Tao. Clearly a heinous villain who committed all kinds of evil, yet he packaged himself as an unimaginable great hero, searching everywhere for monsters and evil spirits to kill. If there were really no monsters, he made Reincarnators create 'monsters' for him to kill...
Lilith took a deep breath. Hearing footsteps, she turned back to see the Reincarnator who also received Mercenary Tao's praise rushing back.
The person was codenamed [Asuka], a Reincarnator who controlled many Cursed Spirits.
Seeing the severed arm on the ground and the pale-faced, bandaged [Gilgamesh], Asuka instantly understood what had happened and immediately lowered his head, daring not to speak.
Kaito, however, raised his hand and patted this timid Reincarnator on the shoulder. He was a Reincarnator without aptitude, and also an incompetent Jujutsu Sorcerer. Even with Cursed Spirit Manipulation, such a cowardly personality made it impossible to obtain powerful Cursed Energy.
"Don't be afraid, Asuka. I'm not some demon..."
"You completed the action beautifully. Not only will I not kill you, I might even give you some rewards..."
Asuka looked at his nearly achieved [Man Slayer] milestone, but there was no joy in his heart.
He was no different from those plot characters—just a pawn and puppet under the hands of a more powerful person...
"Sensei, did you see the news?"
A young man wearing a jacket and a baseball cap entered a convenience supermarket. Inside, a bald man wearing a red-and-white staff uniform was organizing shelves with dead-fish eyes.
Seeing Saitama-sensei show no reaction, Genos walked directly to him and took out a newspaper. The newspaper featured a tall man wearing a white cape, standing in the sunlight, with everyone around him raising their hands high in excitement.
The headline read: [A Hero for Fun — The True Hero]
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