Terrible Tornado

"Ding~ Congratulations, Host. You have obtained one Experience Card."

"Forget it. The Talent Points were a bit scarce, but at least I got an Experience Card."

Wu Di muttered as he put on his mask and summoned the Talent Bloodline Fusion System interface.

"System, activate the Experience Card."

Wu Di's face was full of anticipation. So far, every Experience Card dropped from killing monsters had been extremely powerful.

"Ding~ You have obtained an S-Class Talent Experience Card. Genos, the 14th S-Class Hero. Talent: Detect Energy Reaction. Skill: Spiral Incineration Cannon."

"Another S-Class!"

Wu Di's eyes lit up. Still, considering he had killed a Dragon-level monster this time, it was only natural for it to drop an S-Class Talent Experience Card.

"Genos's talent is quite useful. It can quickly detect a monster's energy reaction, and he isn't weak either."

Wu Di nodded in satisfaction. After all, Genos had undergone several upgrades later on and could even withstand attacks from a Dragon-level Peak. His weakness, however, was that the limits of his modifications made it difficult for him to exert strength beyond that of his mechanical body.

"It's about time. I should go meet up with Saitama."

Just as Wu Di was about to leave, his entire body suddenly trembled. He felt an incomparably powerful pressure crashing down on him.

"This is?!"

Wu Di struggled to raise his head and saw a petite girl glowing with green light floating in the air, looking down at him with arrogant eyes.

"The Second S-Class Hero, Terrible Tornado!"

Wu Di swallowed. Aside from the long-disappeared Blast and the invincible Saitama, Tatsumaki was currently the Hero Association's strongest combat force. She was absolutely capable of instantly killing a Dragon-level monster.

"Hey, have you seen KING?"

Tatsumaki's proud, disdainful voice reached him. Cold sweat ran down Wu Di's forehead, but fortunately, he was wearing a mask and had not been recognized.

In the original story, this little ancestor had been deeply disdainful of KING's title as the Strongest on Earth. She had clearly come with ill intent this time.

"Do you mean Mr. KING? He went that way just now."

Wu Di forced himself to remain calm and pointed in a random direction. Tatsumaki prepared to leave after hearing that, but then stopped.

"Who are you? Why are you here? Did you see KING kill the monster?"

Suspicion appeared in Tatsumaki's eyes. According to the intelligence, a Dragon-level monster had appeared here. Even with KING blocking it, the aftershock of the battle alone should have been enough to instantly kill an ordinary person.

Moreover, Wu Di had worn a mask from beginning to end, making him all the more suspicious.

"Yes, I saw it. Mr. KING took out the monster in one move. It was truly terrifying."

A worshipful look appeared in Wu Di's eyes, and Tatsumaki's expression turned unpleasant.

"It was only a Dragon-level monster. If I had acted, I wouldn't have let it cause any damage at all. Damn KING, always rushing to steal the spotlight."

"Haha, of course. Compared to KING, you are the Hero Association's supreme combat force, humanity's beacon of hope."

Wu Di immediately began flattering her. Otherwise, this little ancestor would probably never let the matter go.

"Oh? You know me?"

"Of course! The Second S-Class Hero, Terrible Tornado! Who doesn't know you? Who hasn't heard of you? Humanity's strongest hero! In our city, even newborn babies know your name. I traveled all this way to take the Hero Association's test because of you. If I could fight alongside you one day, it would be the greatest honor of my life!"

Wu Di immediately put on the look of a devoted fan and praised her to the skies. Even Tatsumaki felt a little embarrassed.

"Ahem~ Since that's the case, work hard. I still need to find that KING guy. If you run into trouble in the future, just give them my name."

Tatsumaki looked extremely pleased. She did not make things difficult for Wu Di any further and directly used her Psychic Powers to speed off into the distance.

"Ah, got it. Take care, ma'am. Love you, idol!"

Only after Tatsumaki's figure had completely vanished did Wu Di finally let out a sigh of relief and wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

"As expected of the Second S-Class Hero. That sense of oppression was simply too powerful."

Wu Di's heart still pounded in fear. As his strength gradually rose, his perception of powerful beings had become increasingly sensitive.

Even when facing Dragon-level monsters before, he had never felt so suffocated. Wu Di knew that the current Tatsumaki could probably kill him in a single exchange. Even an immortal body was not something that could ignore everything.

If he encountered opponents whose strength far surpassed his own, they would likely crush him into ashes in an instant, leaving him no time to recover.

"It's about time. I need to find Saitama."

Wu Di adjusted his mask and made sure no one could recognize him before heading straight for Hero Association headquarters.

At the same time, the Hero Association's upper management had gathered in the conference room at headquarters for a discussion.

"So, KING was the one who handled this disaster again?"

"Yes. The preliminary assessment is that it was a Dragon-level disaster. Fortunately, KING happened to be nearby, or the consequences would have been unimaginable."

"I heard Terrible Tornado appeared as well and headed in KING's direction. They won't clash, will they?"

"Yes, but KING seems to have already left City A."

"Honestly, why are the stronger heroes always such problem children?"

The executives were also rather helpless regarding Tatsumaki. She truly was the Hero Association's strongest combat force at present, but she often ignored orders and preferred to act on her own.

"Let's move on to the next agenda item. The fifty-fifth Hero Assessment Examination is about to begin."

"The total number of examinees this time is 11,684, roughly twenty percent more than the previous session."

"Oh?"

The group's faces clearly showed delight upon hearing the figures, but then a deep voice rang out.

"Don't celebrate too soon. There may be many participants, but the quality of the heroes is poor, so it will still be meaningless in the end. The testing stages must therefore be stricter. That is also taking responsibility for their lives!"

"And I heard that the person you reported last time also signed up?"

"Yes, it is the Masked Black Hero who killed many monsters in City M. His information is also on this registration form."

Jace looked at Wu Di's file, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face. Those eyes always felt strangely familiar to him.

"Exam Room Six... Exam Room Six, this is it!"

After meeting up with Saitama, Wu Di pushed through the dense crowd and finally found the examination room assigned to them.

"Examinees, please form two lines and take the test in order."

The staff member's voice spread through the surrounding area via loudspeaker, and Wu Di and Saitama took their places at the very back of the line.

"Do your best!"

An excited expression appeared on Saitama's face as he gave Wu Di a thumbs-up.

"Of course!"

Wu Di smiled faintly, though he knew that without any particularly outstanding achievements, the results of this examination would probably not be ideal for either of them.