Meteor Impact

"I've decided to join the Hero Association!"

Inside the newly built building of the House of Evolution, Saitama, with a serious expression, looked at Vegapunk and spoke.

Vegapunk paused for a moment, then turned to look at Saitama:

"If you want to join, just join. Why are you telling me this?"

Saitama blinked, looked at Vegapunk, and said somewhat shyly:

"That... the cheat earphone you were going to give me back then..."

"Oh, I see. Here, this is my little invention!"

Vegapunk tossed an earphone to Saitama, Saitama left with a smile, overjoyed. Dr. Genus, who was assisting Vegapunk, looked up and asked, somewhat puzzled:

"Didn't you tell him that, with your authority in the Hero Association, you could directly recommend someone for A-Class Hero?"

Vegapunk shrugged and chuckled as he spoke:

"He didn't ask!"

Even if you pass the exam to join the Hero Association and get a perfect score, you can only start as a B-Class Hero.

Genos, that Demon Cyborg, was promoted to S-class because of his many verifiable achievements. Even if Saitama, with his Akari Aura, cheated on the test with his earpiece and got a perfect score, he'd probably still be at the bottom of the B-Class Hero rankings.

Dr. Genus rolled his eyes after hearing Vegapunk's words and said calmly:

"What's the use? Even if he starts as a B-Class Hero, with Saitama's strength, he could probably become S-Class Hero in just ten days to half a month, right?"

Vegapunk gave a cryptic smile, looked at Dr. Genus, and said mysteriously:

"That's not necessarily true. Given Saitama's appearance, even if he defeated Monsters in front of everyone, many people probably wouldn't believe it!"

"Are there really such stupid idiots?"

Dr. Genus asked with some doubt, but after thinking about it, he nodded:

"That's true, there are often idiots like that among ordinary people! That's why I hope to help all of humanity evolve!"

In fact, this PhD is also an arrogant person. He looks at ordinary people no differently than he looks at monkeys, so it is perfectly normal for him to have such a reaction.

"Alright, forget about that guy, let's study this Vaccine Man first! Does the Earth beneath our feet really have Planet Will? That's a really intriguing topic..."

Time flew by, and after about half a month, Vegapunk and Dr. Genus actually discovered something—a kind of will that enveloped the entire planet.

"Some of the Monsters in this world seem to have been created by this Planet Will. Perhaps we can find quite a few Monsters by looking at the directions in which these Planet Will are distributed!"

Dr. Genus looked at the graphs generated by the computer analysis and spoke to Vegapunk.

Vegapunk was also looking at the computer screen, stroking his chin, pointing to the two largest red dots on the screen, and said somewhat strangely:

"These two directions... one is Z-City, where we are, and the other is the city where the Hero Association is located, isn't it?"

"Huh?! It really is! What's going on?"

Dr. Genus was also completely baffled and couldn't figure out what was going on.

One is the Hero Association, and the other is the Monster Association? It seems that even things created by the Planet Will can split!

Or rather, it wasn't some kind of Planet Will, but something else entirely?

In any case, in Vegapunk's memory, there were indeed some kind of mysterious powers in One-Punch Man, such as the Planet Will of a planet or gods, but they never actually appeared; they were only revealed in the background.

Besides, no matter how strong the Planet Will is, can it be stronger than Bald Qiang? If Bald Qiang punches it, he could smash the planet itself to pieces, let alone the Planet Will!

So Vegapunk doesn't need to consider things like planets or gods at all. If he senses something is wrong, or if he wants something to use as a test subject, he just closes the door and releases... no, I mean Saitama!

Not only Vegapunk, Dr. Genus also seemed to have thought of the power of a certain Bald Demon King, and a Zen-like expression gradually appeared on his face.

Why worry about so much? I'm just a researcher. If there's a real crisis on Earth, I can just send out the Bald Demon King!

"Doctor, this is brand new material on the Monsters! And some research data as well!"

Fubuki's arrival interrupted their thoughts, but the Monsters materials controlled by Fubuki's telekinesis made Vegapunk and Dr. Genus a little dizzy.

"What a huge thing... What is it?"

The two walked closer and examined it carefully for a moment before confirming that it was actually a finger!

At that moment, Vegapunk seemed to suddenly realize something: wasn't this the giant from the very beginning of One-Punch Man?

The giant's older brother developed the ultimate steroid, "King Biceps," and after giving it to his younger brother, his brother instantly transformed into an enormous giant. Unfortunately, he was unlucky and encountered the Bald Demon King, who knocked him down with a single punch. The moment he fell, he destroyed the entire B-City.

I remember there was news a couple of days ago that B-City was destroyed by Monsters...

Speaking of that scientist Malgo or Fulgor, is the stuff he developed that can turn people into giants really a steroid? Can your steroids really make someone grow thousands of meters tall in an instant?

Vegapunk had actually considered finding this wild scientist to see his drug formula, but firstly, this guy was more like a pseudo-scientist, and Vegapunk couldn't even remember his name clearly, so it wasn't easy to find him.

Secondly, this amateur scientist's dream is to conquer the world and become kings with his brother... Regardless of whether such a dream is low or not, or whether it is ignorant of one's own limitations, people with such ideas are not easy to control.

"There's so much to research lately, it's giving me a bit of a headache!"

Looking at the fingers of the colossal giant before him, Vegapunk felt as if there were too many good things to study.

The giant in front of us was created directly, and its research value is much greater than that of ordinary Monsters. Fortunately, some research materials for giant potions were found in the ruins of B-City, which greatly reduced the burden.

"By the way, who killed that giant?"

While looking at the research materials salvaged from the ruins, Vegapunk asked a question.

Logically, this should be the achievement of some Caped Baldy, but given the Caped Baldy's Akari Aura, it's estimated that the lion's share of this achievement will definitely not be attributed to him.

"It was Mr. King who killed this terrifying giant. It's said that he smashed the giant's head in one move!"

"However... it might also be related to Saitama! At the scene, both of them were there. The Hero Association staff believed that Mr. King killed him, but Mr. King claimed that Saitama defeated the Titan with one punch, but no one believed him."

Fubuki knew a little about the Bald Demon King's fighting power; otherwise, she probably would have thought it was just King being modest. Now, she was somewhat skeptical.

"How does the Hero Association make its determination?"

Vegapunk asked a question, Fubuki seemed to think for a moment before replying:

"The credit is mainly attributed to Mr. King. As for Saitama, he only benefited from this mission, which boosted his ranking. He is now ranked tenth in B-Rank."

Yes, Saitama carries the Akari Aura, which naturally makes him seem less worthy of respect.

However, just like in the original work, even though he went from being an absolute main force to a passerby who basked in the credit every time a mission was settled, Saitama's ranking actually rose quite quickly because he was always dealing with Demon-level and Dragon-level Monsters.

The reason why people feel that his rise is too slow is simply because readers, observing from an omniscient perspective, know that his strength and achievements have been greatly diminished, which is completely inconsistent with his ranking.

In fact, Saitama's rise in the original work was already fast enough; otherwise, there wouldn't be any heroes in the Hero Association who felt envious or jealous of Saitama.

Like Mumen Rider, without mutations, martial arts talent, or superpowers, no matter how diligently he works or how many Monsters he fights, he will ultimately only be the top-ranked C-class monster.

Mumen Rider is basically a reflection of the vast majority of the Hero Association heroes. Once they reach a ranking that matches their strength, it's difficult for them to improve further, no matter how hard they try.

At this time, Saitama, who seemed to be dull and bald, suddenly rose to prominence. He seemed to be climbing the rankings by taking credit for others, which naturally made the heroes with lower Moral Level in the Hero Association resentful.

"Ranked tenth in B-Rank, that's not bad. Judging by the timeline, he shouldn't even be a member of the Hero Association yet..."

"Doctor, what are you saying?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing!"

Just seven or eight days after Vegapunk obtained the Titan's body material and began his research, a new crisis descended once again.

"Hey, Dr. Vegapunk! Something terrible has happened!"

Fubuki walked over with a flustered expression and said:

"Let's leave Z-City quickly, or it will be too late!"

"What happened? Why are you in such a panic?"

Vegapunk looked up and asked, somewhat puzzled. Fubuki is now S-Class Hero; with the convenience of her superpowers and the vast amount of Ninjutsu she inherited, she could easily contend with even weaker Dragon-level Monsters.

This is the first time I've seen such a chaotic situation. What could possibly be so intimidating to this guy? Could it be that Tatsumaki broke free of its restraints and attacked again?

However, Fubuki quickly interrupted Vegapunk's reverie, shouting loudly:

"It's a meteorite! It's a meteorite! A huge meteorite has broken out of its orbit and is falling towards what is now Z-City!"

Upon hearing this, Vegapunk finally realized that this was the meteor crisis from the original story. He remembered that it was ultimately shattered by Saitama's punch, and the fragments fell throughout the city, turning the already desolate Z-City into complete ruins.

It's fortunate that there aren't many living people in Z-City now. After all, in such a terrifying city where you might encounter Monsters people even when buying groceries, apart from those poor people who can't even afford to rent a house (Saitama: Hmm?), or scavengers who come to this city hoping to find something, normal people have long since run away.

Otherwise, the damage caused by that meteorite would probably be several hundred times greater. Of course, it is precisely because the city has very few actual residents that no powerful heroes have settled here, and no heroes were willing to come when the meteorite fell.

But...

"Just how big was that meteorite? Couldn't you stop it with your Psychic Power?"

Vegapunk asked with considerable surprise, a strange feeling creeping into his heart.

Given Fubuki's current Psychic Power, lifting a battleship would be a piece of cake. Although the meteorite was extremely fast, if Fubuki slowed it down little by little, she should be able to stop it from falling.

"The meteorite is made of a very special material. It is not only extremely hard and heavy, but even the missiles that were launched did not cause any damage to it. It also has a certain energy immunity."

"To date, neither the Hero Association nor any of the missiles or energy weapons launched by various countries have managed to cause a single fragment of that meteorite to fall!"

"Oh!?"

Hearing this, Vegapunk finally became somewhat interested, and at the same time, he remembered the situation in the original work.

It seems that in order to fight the meteorite, both the Metal Knight and the Cyborg Genos had directly attacked the meteorite.

Honestly, given the size of that meteorite, even if it were made of steel, it should have been reduced to dust by the attacks of two S-Class Hero.

However, the result was that the attacks of two S-Class Hero did not even slow down the meteor's descent, let alone knock down any fragments!

This doesn't look like an ordinary meteorite at all. You know, that meteorite wasn't that big, not even as big as those meteorites that were pulled down directly with the Rinnegan.

If it were an ordinary meteorite, Vegapunk believed that any S-Class Hero from the technology side could easily shatter it, and there was no way he would be helpless.

"Therefore, that meteorite must be composed of some kind of very advanced material! It should be able to withstand missile-level firepower! It might even be much stronger!"

Thinking of this, Vegapunk couldn't help but feel restless. He had no interest in meteorites at all; how could those things be as valuable as Monsters?

But now that I think about it, I was too narrow-minded. Even in ordinary modern society, meteorites can only cause disasters when they happen suddenly. If they are expected, unless it is a giant meteorite that is tens of kilometers in size, any kind of meteorite can be blown to dust.

In the One-Punch Man World, where technology is far more advanced than in real society, a meteorite that looks to be only a few dozen meters long can be rated as Jackie Chun- level disaster, which shows that it is absolutely not comparable to an ordinary meteorite.