Looking at the fierce-faced King in front of him, Saitama thought hard and realized he really didn't remember this guy.
King's face was smeared with green blood, and since Saitama had almost no memory of ever saving KING, he couldn't recognize him at all.
After confirming he truly didn't know this person, Saitama cautiously asked,
"Uh… who are you, exactly?"
Saitama didn't want to waste any more time here; if he dallied, he might miss the supermarket flash sale.
King planned to buddy up with the Bald Demon King—after all, the man was the strongest on Earth, so forging a friendly connection could only help.
As for how to do it, he already had the fastest method in mind.
Hearing the puzzlement in Saitama's tone, King put on a look of heartbroken dismay.
"I can't believe you don't remember me. We once fought a rampaging monster together."
"And now you've forgotten me—what a shame. I heard you became a hero for fun and even bought several boxes of high-grade beef so we could celebrate over hotpot…"
High-grade beef?!
The keyword snapped Saitama's eyes into sharp focus. After a second's thought, he warmly clasped King's hand.
"Now I remember—you're that… that…"
Think, brain, think! Or the high-grade beef will fly away!
Staring at the face before him, Saitama suddenly recalled a visage he'd seen on TV.
"You're KING, right? I've long admired you. When are we having hotpot at my place? It's been ages!"
At that moment, Saitama's IQ peaked.
For the sake of high-grade beef, anyone called KING had to be his friend!
Seeing Saitama's sparkling eyes, King found it rather amusing.
A being who could blow up a planet bare-handed—and with a slight power-up, obliterate entire star systems—was felled by nothing more than high-grade beef.
With arms slung over each other's shoulders, Saitama told King he lived in Z-City's ghost town, then waved.
"You absolutely must come! The supermarket rush ends soon—I'm off to grab some cabbage. See you tonight!"
With that, Saitama vaulted away; the ground beneath him erupted as he shot into the sky like a streak of light.
Both sides felt they'd scored big.
King figured he'd secured the Bald Demon King's friendship in record time for just a few boxes of high-grade beef.
Saitama was even happier: he'd merely stepped out to dispense justice, only to meet a generous soul who gifted him premium beef on sight.
Watching Saitama disappear, King broke into a cold sweat; his frantic heartbeat thundered across the area like an Emperor Engine.
Others might not sense it, but King perceived every beat with crystal clarity.
Facing Saitama, he felt utterly insignificant—like a speck of dust gazing up at a mountain that pierced the heavens.
He was certain that even if he unleashed Night Gale, it wouldn't survive a single slap from the Bald Demon King.
Still, the road was long. Surpassing Saitama might be impossible, but with the System in hand, continual growth wasn't hard.
Right—besides the Ultra-Regeneration passive, hadn't he also earned some attribute points?
King murmured inwardly, and a pale-blue data panel materialized before him.
His mind swept across the interface and quickly opened the character stats page.
[Name: King][Gender: Male][Abilities: Emperor Engine, Ultra-Regeneration][Strength: 10,000][Speed: 10,000][Stamina: 10,000][Defense: 8,000][Spirit: 3,000][Note: Minimum requirement for Dragon Level is 1,000 in every stat.]
Seeing his now off-the-charts attributes, King swallowed hard.
The threshold for Dragon Level was 1,000 points, yet outside of spirit, every one of his stats crushed an ordinary Dragon-Level monster.
His fight with Vaccine Man moments ago had been a pure numbers steamroll.
Ding-ding-ding!!!
A sudden ringtone yanked him back to reality. He fished out his phone; the caller's name glowed on the screen.
[Hero Association ● Sitch]
The moment the call connected, Sitch's anxious voice burst through.
"Mr. KING, our sensors show Vaccine Man's Dragon-Level energy signature has vanished. Did you defeat him?"
At Hero Association HQ, Sitch was on edge, staring at the big screen that no longer displayed Vaccine Man's energy blip. Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
If KING had beaten Vaccine Man, all was well; if the monster had simply escaped, the consequences would be catastrophic.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
After the question, the unmistakable Emperor Engine pounded through the receiver, each heartbeat shaking the listener's soul.
King's low voice followed, calm, as though he hadn't just fought a fierce battle.
"Vaccine Man is dealt with. Send a cleanup crew immediately."
With that, he hung up.
Hearing confirmation that KING had beaten Vaccine Man, the heavy stone in Sitch's heart finally settled.
His tense body went limp; he collapsed into his chair and exhaled a long, shaky breath.
This disaster had been one of the worst since the Hero Association's founding; mishandling it would have slashed the Association's public influence.
As expected of the Strongest Man on the Surface of the Earth…
Just as Sitch praised KING's reliability, his face suddenly changed.
He sprang from his chair and barked anxiously at the staff members.
"Quick, call Tatsumaki! Tell her the Dragon-Level threat Vaccine Man has been resolved by Mr. KING—she doesn't need to go!"
After all, Tatsumaki had originally been assigned to handle this crisis. The famously short-tempered, prideful powerhouse was already halfway there—only for KING to snatch the kill.
Sitch didn't dare imagine what kind of sparks would fly between Earth's strongest man and the Hero Association's top combatant…