Top Slacker

Even an S-rank ninjutsu capable of severing lightning encountered obvious resistance as it pierced Apocalypse's body.

As the strongest mutant, Apocalypse's advantage lay in his command of hundreds of superpowers.

Among them were no shortage of special abilities that strengthened his physique and enhanced his resistance to electricity.

"Explode!"

Kakashi Hatake's Sharingan abruptly contracted as the Lightning Cutter rapidly changed form.

Violent lightning-natured chakra erupted, carrying astonishing destructive power.

The silver-haired ninja used the momentum to leap backward, swiftly escaping the ** range...

"Smack—"

A hand suddenly seized Apocalypse's arm, forcibly stopping the attack.

The attack, which had been inches away, froze in place. The sharp nails were only a centimeter from Kakashi Hatake's eyeball.

Sosuke Aizen had been lurking for quite some time, coldly observing the entire battle.

He did not leisurely appear to block the fatal strike until the silver-haired ninja had exhausted his strength.

The robe of the Night Void Palace fluttered lightly in the wind, while the removed glasses reflected a cold gleam.

Beneath his slicked-back brown hair, those eyes that looked down upon all living beings no longer held their usual gentleness.

"So you were the one troubling that lord?"

"Your strength is passable. Why not submit..."

"Crack—"

The crisp sound of bones breaking suddenly rang out.

The body said to be indestructible was as fragile as paper in his grasp.

"Bang—"

Apocalypse slammed into the wall like a rag doll.

As the mutant used his self-healing ability to reconstruct his bones, Beast Instinct was frantically sounding alarms.

Storm and Angel rescued Magneto, who had been buried deep underground.

The four horsemen formed a defensive formation, protecting the unconscious Professor X at the **.

Every wary gaze focused on the brown-haired man.

"Who gave you permission to ** the dignity of the League of Heroes?"

"Arrogance has spread through this world for countless millennia, yet insignificant humans continue to emerge one after another."

"Heh, anyone who dares obstruct our leader will atone with death."

Sosuke Aizen gently stroked the hilt of his sword. His cold words accompanied the icy gleam of his Zanpakuto leaving its sheath. The cold radiance reflected by the blade seized everyone's hearts, and before they realized it, they had already fallen into the illusion of Mirror Flower, Water Moon.

"It seems I'll have to get serious."

Scarlet beams burst from Apocalypse's eyes, instantly piercing Sosuke Aizen's body. His left arm transformed into a blade, and amid the restructuring of matter, he severed Aizen's head. The entire sequence flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water, so effortlessly that even he began to doubt himself—could that display of might earlier have merely been a bluff?

"I don't have time to waste with you."

Shaking off the strange feeling in his mind, Apocalypse walked straight toward Kakashi Hatake. His fingertips became hooked claws, and he forcibly gouged out the Mangekyo Sharingan before embedding it in his own left eye. The pain of torn flesh was insignificant to him. Vast ocular power surged within the newly transplanted eye, while illusionary energy capable of distorting space flowed through his veins.

Ignoring Wolverine Logan and the others, who stood frozen in shock, Apocalypse summoned the four horsemen and prepared to use the unconscious Professor X as a hostage before making a spatial transfer.

After a crisp snap of his fingers, the expected teleportation did not occur.

"Sshk—"

The Zanpakuto had somehow already pierced Apocalypse's abdomen. With a slight turn of the blade, it cut him cleanly in half at the waist.

"How is this possible?!"

Apocalypse, shocked and furious, watched his wound rapidly heal before counterattacking and piercing Sosuke Aizen's heart behind him.

Yet three identical Sosuke Aizens had silently appeared behind him. "Is this all you can do?"

His eyes were filled with disdain for this ignorant fool who called himself a "god."

Under Sosuke Aizen's Mirror Flower, Water Moon, Apocalypse was toyed with as freely as a puppet on strings.

It had to be known that after fully merging with the Hogyoku, Aizen no longer needed to rely on the Zanpakuto Mirror Flower, Water Moon—he alone had already surpassed the peaks of both Soul Reapers and Hollows.

"Interesting, but before a true god, it is nothing but futile struggle!"

Apocalypse swung his arm and flung out three cold flashes, instantly piercing the chests of the three "Aizens."

The "Aizens" clutched their wounds and fell one after another with stunned expressions...

"Don't embarrass yourself with such a clumsy illusion."

"Is that so?"

The sound of a mirror shattering suddenly rang out.

When the illusion was dispelled, Apocalypse's smile froze on his face—the real Aizen was still standing there completely unharmed.

Pained groans came from behind him. The four horsemen had the blades he had just fired embedded in their chests. Professor X, Kakashi Hatake, and the others had long since vanished.

"Clap, clap, clap—"

Aizen applauded and laughed softly, amusement gleaming in his eyes.

"Wonderful! 'God' personally executed his own apostles."

"Bastard!"

Apocalypse glared at Aizen with bloodshot eyes, finally realizing that he had been played from beginning to end. Although the lives of the four horsemen were insignificant, he still needed their help for his subsequent plans.

With a swish, he severed four fingers and flung them toward the horsemen. The blood containing hyper-regeneration factors immediately sealed their fatal wounds.

"The game should end now." Aizen's smile vanished. "Please rest assured and die."

"Lowly insect, this god has no time to entertain you."

Apocalypse was secretly alarmed. Such a powerful being had emerged during his slumber?

Before Aizen could notice, he quietly constructed a spatial barrier and dragged the unconscious horsemen into it—yet at the instant the barrier closed, a sword flash wrapped in Reiatsu pursued him inside.

A miserable scream tore through the sky...

Apocalypse let out a heart-rending scream, and a severed arm suddenly lay on the ground.

The edge of the Zanpakuto struck directly at the soul. Such an injury was far beyond anything the ** could compare to.

A new arm soon grew from the wound, but the limb that had lost its connection to the soul ultimately became nothing more than a useless shell...

"This subordinate failed in his duty and allowed that eyesore of a bug to escape."

"Was it a mistake, or intentional?"

"As expected, nothing escapes your eyes."

Sosuke Aizen dropped to one knee, his gaze behind the lenses humble yet profound. Under the control of his Mirror Flower, Water Moon, which manipulated all five senses, Apocalypse was merely a trapped beast being toyed with. Even with regenerative abilities, slashes at the soul level would still turn him into a walking corpse with only a shell remaining.

He had spared that clown only because he valued his talent for stirring up chaos. The moment he awakened, Apocalypse launched every nuclear weapon in the world. Yet that world-destroying catastrophe instead benefited the League of Heroes. As mushroom clouds rose across every continent, the organization's prestige soared beyond the heavens, spreading from New York to every corner of the globe.

With a few more "performances" like this, the League of Heroes could rightfully be crowned ruler of the world. Not through iron-fisted **, but by making all living beings submit through genuine feats of salvation.

"Only this once."

"Understood."

Aizen pushed up his glasses. Of course, he would continue doing as he pleased; the curses of mortals were nothing more than mosquitoes buzzing by his ears. Li Chen watched his subordinate's slightly swaying hair and ultimately said nothing more. After this battle, the Hero Academy relocation plan had to be accelerated. Once everyone was settled beside headquarters, he wanted to see which blind fool would still dare cause trouble.

If Apocalypse dared show his face again...

He would let him experience what it meant to be **ed in a second.

"Senior."

Her white uniform outlined the girl's slender figure as Mash entered with a clipboard in her arms.

"How are your injuries?"

**"Thanks to Senior's telekinetic barrier, it protected me at the instant of the ."

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Mash's ultimate defensive skill—"Eternal City of Ideals" (Lord Camelot)—indeed possessed nearly perfect defensive capabilities.

However, this ability had one fatal weakness: it could protect every companion within its range, but it could not protect its caster.

If Li Chen had stood by and done nothing, Mash would very likely have perished under the ** bombardment of hundreds of **.

Therefore, at the instant Mash activated her Noble Phantasm, Li Chen used telekinesis to construct a dense protective layer around her body. Its strength could even withstand the shockwaves of hundreds of ** detonating at once.

"Have Billy King, Flashy Flash, and King all returned?"

"Yes. The first two are at the Hero Training Grounds. King said he was going to buy the limited edition of the strategy game Total War: Three Kingdoms."

"The training grounds? What are they doing there?"

"Apparently, the newly promoted S-Class Hero—Sword Saint Reinhard—is there too."

As Mash softly added this, her fingers unconsciously rubbed the edge of her shield.

To her, every one of these people was a monster capable of moving mountains and overturning seas at will. Their ** power was far beyond what Mash, who excelled at defense, could comprehend.

**"So many dangerous people gathered in one place... They aren't planning to form a group and , are they?"

"Probably... not?"

"Don't answer in such an uncertain tone." Li Chen pressed his fingers to his temple and sighed. "Aizen, I'll leave the cleanup to you."

"Understood."

The perfect butler, Sosuke Aizen, silently handled every kind of cleanup work without ever uttering a single complaint.

Li Chen pushed away from his swivel chair and headed straight for the training grounds with Mash. From far away, he could already hear the sounds of impacts from inside.

"Justice Tackle!"

Mumen Rider's roar penetrated the metal doors. Grappling with him was none other than ** hero—[Combat Philosopher] Billy. Training against the real person was far more effective than any virtual projection.

This young man, who had once consumed a "Life Fruit," was now tempering himself by pushing past his limits every day. His panel stat had soared from the initial "1" to "4." Though he was still at an ant-like level, he could now strangle a Wolf-level Threat to death with his bare hands—this was the dawn of transformation brought by a Devil Fruit.

"That strength is still far from enough, Mumen."

Billy King stood completely unmoved as he endured Mumen Rider's charge. With a slight flex of his muscles, he sent him flying. Mumen Rider crashed heavily beside his Doran's Shield, sweat beading across his forehead as his chest heaved violently.

Fighting a powerhouse like Billy King, even when the other man deliberately held back, still left Mumen Rider needing a long time to steady his breathing after every blow.

In the spectator stands, Li Chen took a seat beside Reinhard with Mash. This Sword Saint, with flame-red hair and ice-blue eyes, stood as straight as a green pine. His face resembled a finely carved jade statue, and he embodied every virtue in the world—uprightness, courage, and humility. Hailed as a living model of chivalry, he was not only the kingdom's guardian deity, but also the flawless national hero in the hearts of its people.

"He is testing the results of his training." Reinhard watched the training grounds, his voice like a clear spring striking stone. "Billy King, who just returned, accepted his request for a spar. What people admire most about this hero is his resilience—he will rise again even after falling hundreds or thousands of times."

Although Mumen Rider was currently only average among D-Class Heroes, his unyielding will was enough to move every observer.

"Tch, that stubbornness is really frightening~" Kizaru sprawled in his seat like a sloth basking in the sun. The Marine Admiral, who had just finished clearing the battlefield with light-speed kicks, now looked as though he could not even be bothered to move a finger. Li Chen glanced sideways at this seasoned workplace slacker and could not help thinking of the model worker Aizen—the exemplary employee who handled documents from all seven continents while remaining active on the front lines of suppression. By comparison, Kizaru's seat was practically about to grow mushrooms.

"But..." Kizaru suddenly lifted one eyelid, and a faint glimmer flashed across his golden lenses. "This kid does have what it takes to be a Marine."

"With a little training, he can indeed become an outstanding knight."

Reinhard and Kizaru spoke in unison.

Although his current strength was **, after swallowing the legendary Devil Fruit, Source of Life, Mumen Rider's transformation had already begun—he merely needed time.

This pure heroic heart and will of steel were destined to make him a treasure coveted by the Marines, knight orders, and Hero Association alike.

"Also, there's something I need to tell you."

"Ouch! I threw out my back, Chairman. I'll be leaving first!"

"Get back here, top slacker!"

Li Chen grabbed Kizaru by the back of his collar and dragged this slippery old fish back into his seat. This guy had practically become a spirit; the moment Li Chen opened his mouth, he immediately put on the act of an injured patient.