Everyone Was Stunned (Bonus Chapter for Ranking Up)

As a fairly even-tempered Baltan Alien, he had never learned any of those flashy tricks. He couldn't teleport or do anything like that. The only superpower he'd mastered was transformation.

He'd never imagined that one day he'd be trained in a crucial defense facility on Earth.

I'm just an ordinary alien office worker, retired from Yakuza. I only want to live out my life in peace. Why do I have to suffer like this?

The Baltan Alien lay on the floor, tears mingling with sweat on the smooth surface.

"Get up! You're already giving up?" The burly Demon King hauled him to his feet with one hand.

"You can't even beat a Crow Man, and you're slacking off!" Zhou Hong rushed over and gave him two brutal slaps. "Am I supposed to come collect your corpses next time?"

After all the verbal and physical encouragement—and with things on this planet genuinely getting more and more dangerous—the Baltan Alien gritted his teeth and summoned up his courage again, taking a deep breath to steady himself before resuming his training.

A bag of sandbags hung on his back, bobbing up and down with every movement.

The ordinary Earthlings nearby watched the completely unscientific, ridiculously intense training and carefully huddled in a corner.

This wasn't the time to show off. People could die!

Just as the training was in full swing, Zhou Hong's PDI rang.

He opened it and saw Horii's visibly cheerful face.

"Horii, what's up?"

Horii looked conflicted. He hesitated before finally asking, "Ahong, could I ask you for a favor?"

Although he was an advisor to GUTS, what people remembered most about Zhou Hong was his formidable strength.

And if Horii was calling him at a time like this, it meant he needed some muscle.

"When and where? Who's the enemy? Do you want them dead or alive?"

Horii froze and hurriedly waved his hands. "It's not an enemy! I just need you to help subdue someone."

"Please. He's a very good friend of mine. If possible, Ahong, go easy on him."

The Crow Men whose skulls had been cracked open last time were still fresh in Horii's mind. Afraid Zhou Hong would bash in Sanada Ryosuke's head the moment he arrived, Horii quickly added that plea.

A wicked smile curled Zhou Hong's lips. "Don't worry. I definitely won't kill him."

Horii heard that and felt anything but reassured.

With no other good options, Horii scratched his head. "Use the PDI to locate me. Please get here as fast as you can."

"I'm great at flying the T-1, as you know." Zhou Hong gave a thumbs-up and immediately locked onto Horii's location.

Zhou Hong's quick response made Horii feel much safer. But every time Zhou Hong took the T-1 out, the maintenance crew cursed up a storm.

The Rookie Squad didn't take part in repairs. Everything was left to the maintenance department. As for GUTS, Shinjoh and Daigo were both veteran mechanics.

The maintenance crew didn't dare approach Zhou Hong directly, so they complained to Horii instead.

Since Horii often worked with the maintenance staff on equipment design and modifications, they hoped he could give Zhou Hong a gentle reminder.

"Go! Go! Go! Ahong, as fast as you can!"

Before leaving the training room, Zhou Hong specifically asked Hibiki Gousuke, "Captain, please keep an eye on these guys for me."

Hibiki Gousuke's loud "Yes, sir!" was his reply.

Under the hopeful gaze of the maintenance crew, the T-1 kicked up a fierce blast of air and vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.

Tears welled up in their eyes at once.

The T-1 reached Mach 5.5, and it didn't take long to arrive at Horii's location.

As soon as the T-1 landed vertically, Horii rushed over and grabbed Zhou Hong by the hand, wasting no time. "I had Shinjoh and Yazumi help me look up the information."

"Sanada Ryosuke—my friend—stole the alien cells, Evolu, without permission and implanted them in himself."

"I'll explain the details about the Evolu cells on the way."

Horii was a nimble fat man, walking surprisingly fast. He didn't stop talking as he quickly explained the effects of the Evolu cells to Zhou Hong.

They could drive a person berserk, increase their physical strength, and make them dependent on electricity to survive.

"Ahong, I hope you can knock Ryosuke out before he goes berserk or transforms. I'm begging you." Horii's voice was heavy with sorrow.

Some people were determined to walk into their own graves, and there was nothing you could do to stop them. But since Horii had asked him like this, Zhou Hong naturally wouldn't refuse.

"There's a chance I could kill him. And there's a chance I could leave him paralyzed," Zhou Hong said honestly. "Do you still want me to do it?"

If he wanted to kill him, all it would take was hitting him hard enough. But knocking out an ordinary human was another matter, and Zhou Hong knew that.

Who knew how much force Sanada Ryosuke could withstand after being enhanced by the Evolu cells?

Too little, and he wouldn't pass out before turning into a monster.

Too much, and one chop could send his head flying.

Horii gritted his teeth. "Please."

"I can't stand by and watch him get himself killed. Just do your best to control the force, Ahong. After that, it'll be up to Ryosuke's own fate."

"Sorry for putting you through so much trouble." If they hadn't been jogging, Zhou Hong thought Horii would have bowed deeply to him.

Horii could shoot Crow Men without hesitation, but when it came to dealing with humans, he wavered.

From a distance, they spotted a man and a woman walking along a deserted beach.

The man already looked as if he were suffering from kidney deficiency.

"If I'm not number one, no one will love me!" Sparks danced over Sanada Ryosuke's body, and his voice rang out loudly.

"Ahong, that's him!" Horii shouted anxiously.

The muscles in Zhou Hong's legs tensed in an instant, and he raised one high.

The beach burst apart as if struck by artillery, sand flying everywhere and coating Horii.

In the instant the sand blocked their view, Zhou Hong had already rushed to Sanada Ryosuke's side.

His chop came down on the back of Ryosuke's neck with the terrifying force of a blow that could sever his head.

Fortunately, his head didn't fly off.

Unfortunately, his eyes rolled back.

Electricity coursed through Zhou Hong in an instant, making his hair stand straight up.

He was stunned.

Literally.

The woman beside them hurried forward and caught Sanada Ryosuke. "Ryosuke, look at Horii. Sure, he has short legs, he's fat, and he's always telling stupid jokes. You could say he's full of flaws."

"But even with all those flaws, everyone still loves him."

Horii was stunned too.

Emotionally.

As the title says, there'll be two more chapters tonight.