Viltrumite, Is Your Mightiest Chat Group Fake?

After wrapping up the selection, Robot came over to the two of them.

He looked at Leon and asked in a cold electronic voice,

"Who is this? There is no record of him in my database."

Cecil crossed his arms.

"A newcomer with limitless potential."

"I want to verify his abilities, and actual combat is also the fastest way for your team to develop coordination."

"Actual combat?"

Robot's green eyes had difficulty conveying his confusion.

"Based on my expectations for this team, that would require considerable ability. Has he already reached the level of the Global Guardians?"

He did not wait for Cecil's answer. Data streams flickered in his eye sockets.

"I understand."

Without looking back, he headed down to the training ground, gathered the team members, and explained Cecil's intentions.

Just as Cecil had predicted, aside from Black Samson, most of the young people showed their displeasure.

Rex Splode was among them, complaining,

"What the hell? Someone suddenly drops in out of nowhere to train with us? Is this some kind of joke?"

He pointed directly at Leon.

"Look at him. He doesn't even have a suit. He looks like some guy who bought a mask off the street and decided to play hero."

"Is this another joke our serious boss came up with?"

If I'd actually shown up in a Viltrumite uniform, you wouldn't have liked that either.

Leon shot back,

"Sounds like that outfit means everything to you. Without it, you're nothing?"

That struck Rex where it hurt. He pulled out his usual explosives.

Explosive energy began filling his hand.

Robot stopped him.

"Calm down, Rex. We'll begin shortly."

This new hero was enough to contend against all of their combined strength...

Robot guessed that Leon might have been the person who split apart the building and defeated Immortal Man.

Cecil had simply not mentioned it, and without confirmation, he could not point it out.

On the training ground, Leon stood facing the seven-person team.

He also saw Monster Girl and Rex making insulting gestures at him from across the field.

At the same time, Robot was still trying to command this new team over their internal comms.

"Listen, everyone. We don't know what his powers are, so have the strongest—"

Before he could finish, he heard Leon's voice behind him.

"Robot."

The man lightly tapped the brass-colored metal shell.

"You're all machine underneath, right?"

"Yes?"

Then Robot's vision accelerated into the ground. Alarms blared through his system, and the section displaying head damage lit up red.

Leon, who had still been standing across from them, had suddenly appeared above Teen Team and taken out their commander first.

The processor that had once gleamed with intelligence had now been crushed into a flat metal disc.

When did he get here?!

The remaining six were briefly stunned, and to Leon, that was the perfect opening.

The next target was—

Everyone.

Atomic Eve had not raised a shield, Rex Splode had not charged up, Monster Girl had not transformed...

They had underestimated Leon and made no preparations.

With their commander decapitated and Leon, whose speed was no different from a speedster's, thrown into the mix,

the outcome had already been decided.

A few minutes later, Robot's spare body stepped through the automatic doors.

He looked at Leon standing beside Cecil, then at Teen Team, who stood off to one side with their heads hanging low.

He walked up to Leon first.

"You are very formidable. We paid the price for underestimating you."

"You're all quite capable too. If your openings hadn't been so obvious, dealing with you would have taken quite a bit of effort."

Leon nodded sincerely.

Especially the greatest difficulty: controlling his strength well enough not to split them into pieces.

For someone who had been soaked in blood for more than a decade, that had never been easy.

"Are you certain?"

Robot's CPU whirred as he considered whether that was flattery or a deeper form of recognition.

After all, when he returned, he had already analyzed Leon again and again using the training room cameras.

After running a hundred simulations, Teen Team could win at most once.

With the data so severely lacking, he felt that win rate was already overly optimistic.

"How much do you plan to pay for this job?"

Watching Robot's back as he headed toward Teen Team, Leon asked.

"A price that will ensure your satisfaction."

Cecil did not hold back his praise.

"With an unquestionable victory, you shattered their inflated confidence. I think they'll reevaluate their own strength now."

At the same time, he had already sent the combat footage to headquarters for analysis.

Although the results had not yet come in, based on his decades of experience dealing with superhumans,

Leon's threat level definitely needed to be raised again.

An unknown individual who could defeat a currently top-ranked seven-member hero team in under a minute.

Oh, right. He could also slice open buildings.

But honestly, that might have been some ultimate move with numerous prerequisites.

As for defeating Immortal Man, Cecil reserved judgment for now.

In the end, Immortal Man had been buried under the shattered building rather than directly defeated.

Based on the accounts, Immortal Man's old habit of recklessness had also played a part.

At the very least, Leon was an Omni-Man, and he might possibly surpass Immortal Man.

That was Cecil's assessment.

After returning home, Leon received a message from Marcia before setting out.

"Leon, do you have time to come to my house with Eve and the others? It's a study exchange session. I think you should catch up on your lessons."

Leon agreed while he was at it.

Over this period, the two of them, who got along well, had often exchanged things like this.

Besides mentioning her family situation, Marcia often brought up her father.

It seemed that his accomplishments as a writer were so great that she both admired him and worried about him.

Could she become as great as he was?

Still, for Leon, that counted as a happy kind of trouble.

His parents in this life were two Viltrumite gods.

Apparently, they had disliked each other several centuries ago and had competed ever since.

They competed over whose fists were heavier and who could conquer planets faster.

Even eighteen years ago, when the Regent proposed a mandatory breeding plan, they had gone head-to-head.

They competed over whose genes could overwrite the other's, and whose genes were stronger.

Honestly, Leon's memories of family from his past life had already grown blurry, completely overwritten by Viltrumite education.

He had even asked about it before.

[Viltrumite Honor Student: A friend of mine says she lives under the shadow of her great father. What do you think?]

[Spicy Donkey Head: Mom and Dad were very good to me... I kind of miss them.]

[Kansas Farm Boy: Thanks to them, I was able to grow into a decent person. I don't think there was any shadow.]

[Yellow Weasel, Neither Man nor God: I have no impression of that. If there was, I think I've already surpassed it.]

[West China Tiger: I don't remember my parents. Grandpa raised me.]

Clearly, the group members were no help.

Leon raised an eyebrow. Maybe he should ask Nolan later?

I Think Her Parents Will Be Very Welcoming

This time, Nolan chose the surface of Mars.

According to him, there was a civilization beneath the planet's surface, and Martian Man of the Global Guardians came from there.

But they were extremely xenophobic and rarely appeared on the surface.

On the red sands, Nolan stood with his arms crossed and explained to Leon,

"This time, we'll be conducting regular combat training. You can think of the previous session as an assessment of your strength."

"So, did I make it into the advanced class, sir?"

"Looks like you've adapted well to high school. But don't get too full of yourself."

Nolan rose into the air, poised to strike.

By Viltrumite standards, that windup was already a huge opening. They normally started fighting the moment their eyes met.

Leon raised his fists as well. Intelligent Atom supported his body as he prepared for the first impact.

Nolan moved first, as usual.

Whoosh!

His cape trailed behind him like a red line as he swung his fist viciously at Leon.

Leon barely dodged, but the fist carved a bloody gash along his waist.

Only then did the dust kicked up by Nolan's flight reach them, instantly engulfing both of them in red.

The next second, the dust cloud was blasted apart.

Nolan flew backward out of it, stopping in midair, his eyes filled with surprise.

The force he had used was based on the results of their previous battle. By all rights, it should not have been too far off.