Visitors from Another Land

"Chairman, these old bones of mine... I even sprained my ankle kicking ** last week..."

"Cut it out. Don't even think about getting out of this mission." Li Chen's temples throbbed.

Mash covered her mouth and chuckled. She hadn't expected the legendary **hero to hide such a comedian's soul beneath his skin.

"Sigh—"

Kizaru slumped listlessly in his seat, yet he couldn't stop yawning, like a dried-up salted fish left in the sun.

"The African war zone is in urgent need of help. You will leave to reinforce them in three days."

"Understood." Reinhard answered like a sword leaving its sheath.

"~What a pain~" Kizaru dragged out the final syllable longer than a Seastone chain.

Veins bulged on Li Chen's forehead. Back when this old monkey had been a Marine Admiral, he kicked Supernovas around like sandbags. Now, he talked about being an "old man" every day.

"Kizaru, could you put the same energy you use for slacking off into actual work?"

"Chairman, I'm already halfway into the grave..."

"You think I'd believe you? You old liar are rotten to the core!"

The core narrative logic and character interactions are retained, with the wording adjusted as follows:

Pirates whom Kizaru called "scary" often couldn't even withstand one casual blow from him. Once Li Chen made the decision—"We leave in three days"—even Kizaru, who habitually slacked off, had no choice but to pack lightly and head to the African war zone as reinforcements.

"Justice Iron Fist!" Mumen Rider, his face covered in blood, let out an explosive roar. He gathered all his strength into his right fist and hurled it at King Billy. The exaggerated description of the recoil was merely rhetorical—in reality, the attack hurt King Billy less than a mosquito bite.

"Smack."

King Billy casually raised an arm to block. The surging shockwave from the punch instantly sent Mumen Rider, who had been defending with his shield, flying. He spun three times in midair before crashing heavily to the ground, his body immediately dissolving into blue particles of light—in the training room, this merely meant his virtual body had reset. Three seconds later, Mumen Rider reappeared completely unharmed.

"You slipped up, kid."

"My strength isn't enough." Mumen Rider knew his opponent had deliberately suppressed his strength, yet the gap in their levels remained as vast as a chasm. Still, his recently improved combat ability meant he was no longer someone with nothing but hot blood and helplessness.

Li Chen, who had been watching, suddenly snapped his fingers to signal a change of opponent. Deep Sea King replaced King Billy. This Demon Level monster, which had once ravaged the land, knew nothing of holding back. The instant they clashed, Mumen Rider's body was smashed apart by its claws—after all, Devil Fruit users retained their weakness to water even on the virtual battlefield.

This was a crushing match with a vast disparity in strength. Mumen Rider, who was only around the middle of D-Class, faced Deep Sea King at the peak of Demon Level; the gap between them was like a chasm. "This kind of one-sided crushing is meaningless." Reinhard shook his head. A pure instant kill could neither test one's strength nor count as practical combat training. Other than repeatedly experiencing death, there was nothing to gain—unless one was a masochist who chose this kind of training.

Li Chen flicked his fingers, switching the setting. The wilderness instantly became an urban jungle, and panicked citizens flooded the streets. This time, Mumen Rider wasn't killed instantly. Instead, he displayed astonishing resilience. While shouting himself hoarse as he directed the evacuation, he desperately used his flesh and blood to hold back the powerful enemy. "Justice Shield Bash!" "Grappling Chokehold!" He unleashed fighting techniques in rapid succession as though igniting his cosmos. Even after being blasted into rubble again and again, he would struggle back to his feet covered in blood, clinging to Deep Sea King like an unkillable cockroach.

Bleeding from all seven orifices, Mumen Rider remained between the citizens and the monster. He could have escaped by playing dead, yet he clung desperately to Deep Sea King's ankle. "What a tough guy." Reinhard was filled with respect. "He could definitely become a spiritual banner in the Marines." Kizaru gave a rare serious assessment. "As expected of the man I acknowledge!" King Billy gave a thumbs-up. Mash widened her eyes. "His ability to take a beating is ridiculous!" No one could believe it—the weakling who had been instantly defeated earlier was now creating a miracle through sheer willpower.

"Don't even think about getting past me and hurting anyone!" Amid Mumen Rider's roar, Deep Sea King finally broke down. This unkillable, unbreakable piece of gum disgusted it to the point of madness. After uselessly punching him dozens of times, the Demon Level monster actually fled in panic.

Mumen Rider watched Deep Sea King's retreating figure, then finally could no longer hold on. He collapsed to the ground and dissolved into a wisp of blue light.

His body had long since been shattered beyond repair. He had only remained standing through sheer will.

With a dull thud, that ruined body turned to dust. A hero's conviction had driven those broken remains to fight again and again. "This is the proper way to train." "From now on, use this as the standard." "The next target—Dragon-Level Disaster Champion." "Snap—"

It seemed that when the gap in strength was too great, that unyielding resilience ultimately couldn't change the outcome...

On the streets of New York, people were still caught in the daze of the disaster's aftermath.

The shocking sight of hundreds of ** exploding simultaneously was beyond anything ordinary people could imagine. And when Mash deployed her Noble Phantasm, the towering walls of Camelot left countless people in awe.

"I finally bought this game."

Having just finished supervising Kizaru's mission, King hurried to the game store.

Today was the release day for several new titles. As an S-Class Hero of the Hero Association—albeit a fake one—he earned an annual salary of over a hundred million dollars. Buying a few game discs was naturally nothing to him; he could even buy the entire shop without breaking a sweat.

Of course, King hadn't forgotten to wear a hood. Given his current fame, if he didn't disguise himself, people would probably gawk at him like he was a monkey in a zoo.

"It's King! That's King, right?"

As he walked down the street, a child suddenly pointed at him and shouted.

Despite covering his face, he had still been recognized. This was an extremely troublesome situation for King. At that moment, his mind was filled with the newly purchased Total War: Three Kingdoms and the first-edition limited release of the dating game Heart-Pounding Sisters.

From the moment he bought the games to the moment he got home, the anticipation made it impossible to sit still.

But reality often failed to live up to expectations.

"Where's King?"

"Is that big guy in the hood?"

"It has to be him! I saw those three scars!"

In an instant, the crowd surged in like a tide, surrounding King so tightly that not even water could pass through.

Surrounded by people and **enjoying the treatment of a top superstar, King only felt incomparably tormented.

Dealing with so many people at once had long exceeded this shut-in's social limits.

Excited shouts continuously came from the crowd:

"Lord King, please give me an autograph!"

"How can I become as strong as you?"

"Don't block the road! You're interfering with Mr. King's mission!"

Metal bracers gleamed coldly beneath his sleeves.

*Maybe I should just activate Mark VII and fly away.*

"Everyone, move aside!" A child's voice suddenly rang out from the crowd. "King still has monsters to eliminate!"

A gap immediately opened in the encirclement.

*Though I have no idea what these people imagined...*

The game console made a faint clattering sound inside the shopping bag.

"King!" A boy with a ponytail sticking straight up suddenly lunged at him. "Can you carry me into battle?"

"Wait..."

"That's Heartthrob Girlfriend: Limited Edition in your bag, right? I want to play it too!"

The bracers suddenly erupted with the roar of an engine—

That **engine**, enhanced after the war, carried the oppressive force of an S-Class Hero through its sound alone.

"Whoa! Why did you suddenly enter battle mode?" The boy staggered backward.

*They absolutely can't find out...*

The dating game inside the shopping bag was burning hot.

At this moment, was it his heart or the engine that was pounding so violently?

To everyone else, it clearly sounded like the deathly rhythm of someone entering combat.

"Give up on me." The voice beneath the mask carried electronic distortion. "Getting close to me will only... leave you even more disappointed."

The child only one step away from King suddenly began trembling violently.

It was actually a Wolf-level Threat monster capable of changing shape. It had intended to disguise itself as a child, get close, then launch a surprise attack and cut off the hero's head to make a name for itself.

It hadn't expected that King would instantly see through what it believed was a flawless transformation.

"It's over... I'm too close... I'll die... it's too terrifying..."

The monster's breathing grew heavier. The shadow of death gripped its heart. Extreme fear made it unable to maintain its disguise, and its body twisted and collapsed like melting wax. In the end, it turned into foul-smelling sludge. Fragments of a child's bones accidentally pierced its vital point, ending its life.

"What is going on?!"

King appeared calm on the surface, but stormy waves had already risen in his heart.

What was this strange puddle of slime? How could a perfectly fine child turn into rotten liquid?

"As expected of Lord King! He shattered the monster's scheme through pressure alone!"

"He didn't even need to move! His sheer presence shattered the enemy!"

"What do you know? He clearly used telekinesis just now!"

Listening to the fanatical cheers around him, King expressionlessly clenched the game case. All he wanted now was to get home quickly—why did buying a game always result in him running into a monster that self-destructed!

Visitors from Another Land

The market in New York's old district steamed with a mingled array of smells.

Amid the scents of spices and rotting leaves, the Nine-Tailed Fox played with the Twin Sunstones that had accompanied her for years. Her tail swayed uneasily beneath her cloak, and the golden stones turning between her fingertips suddenly gave off a crisp chime.

"Click—"

The two flame-shaped gemstones fit together seamlessly, forming a **orb. After inexplicably arriving in this unfamiliar world from Valoran, only the warm magic in her palm and these mysterious tokens could slightly soothe the turmoil in her heart.

As though drawn by some irresistible summons, Ahri's legs involuntarily brought her to this marketplace.

As she passed the dazzling array of stalls, her gaze swept over dozens of bamboo baskets filled with all kinds of strange little objects. Smooth pebbles glimmered faintly, shells engraved with seafaring legends sat quietly on display, and there were dice made from tortoise shells along with other novel trinkets.

"Come take a look! Legendary gemstones excavated from secret realms!"

"They're said to grant you the strength of an S-Class Hero!"

"This customer, a fair price of only one hundred dollars."

Faced with the merchant's enthusiastic sales pitch, Ahri merely smiled faintly and gently shook her head before continuing onward. She knew perfectly well that the stone had no magical fluctuations at all; it was nothing but a merchant's exaggeration.

Her delicate fingers tightly gripped the pair of Sunstones as Ahri deliberately quickened her pace. As an innate trait of the Nine-Tailed Fox, even if she deliberately restrained herself, she could drive ordinary people mad. Therefore, she had to leave this area before passersby noticed her face.

As she moved through the various **stalls, she couldn't help frowning in thought. "Why do these ordinary objects exert such a special pull on me?" She wrapped her cloak tighter, afraid that her aura might disturb others. After all, Ahri was no longer the demon fox who had brought calamity to the world; she was now an official member of the League of Heroes.

"Fortune-telling! See the future!"

"Find true love and destined romance! Use burdock root to remove bad luck!"

"If you wish to entrust your fate to the heavens, I can also answer your past doubts."

A fortune-teller's cry suddenly came from a secluded corner. Ahri followed the sound and saw a mysterious figure also wrapped in a purple cloak. Although she couldn't sense any magical fluctuations, the fox's keen instincts told her—this was the being calling out to her.

"Would you like your romantic prospects read, beautiful **?"

"You... aren't affected by me?"

"Hehe, you truly possess soul-capturing charm." The figure in purple gave a hoarse laugh. "Unfortunately, I lost my desire in that regard long ago."

For someone who had lost **, Ahri's power of ** naturally lost much of its effect.

"But judging by your expression, you must have a secret past, or perhaps thrilling experiences... Is there something important you wish to ask about, **?"

"No need." Ahri furrowed her brow slightly and cautiously stepped back half a pace. "I'll keep looking."

Though what her heart sought seemed close at hand, she could smell a trace of ill omen in the air. Some carefully concealed yet unsettling aura was silently spreading.

"You won't find a second Yimelo Stone in this entire market." The purple-robed merchant nodded toward the Sunstones in Ahri's hand. "The final two are right there in your palm."