Foreign Visitor

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

"Cut the act. You're not getting out of this mission." Li Chen's temple throbbed.

Mash covered her mouth and chuckled. She had never expected that beneath the skin of a legendary **hero lay the soul of a comedian.

"Ahh—"

Kizaru slumped listlessly in his seat, yet he could not stop yawning, looking like a sun-dried salted fish.

"The African war zone is in critical condition. You will depart to reinforce it in three days."

"Understood." Reinhard's response was as sharp as a sword leaving its sheath.

"~What a hassle~" Kizaru dragged out the last syllable longer than a Seastone chain.

Veins bulged on Li Chen's forehead. Back when this old monkey had been a Marine admiral, he had kicked Supernovas around like sandbags. Now he went around calling himself an "old man" every day.

"Kizaru, can you put the effort you use to slack off into actual work?"

"Chairman, I've already got one foot in the grave..."

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

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

"Smack."

Billy King casually raised an arm to block. The surging force of the punch instantly sent Mumen Rider, who had been defending with his shield, flying. He spun three times in midair before crashing down hard, his body immediately dissolving into blue motes of light—in the training room, that only meant his virtual body was resetting. Three seconds later, Mumen Rider reappeared completely unharmed.

"You missed, kid."

"My strength is insufficient." Mumen Rider knew that Billy King had deliberately restrained his power, but the gap between them was still an abyss. Still, the practical combat ability he had gained recently meant he was no longer all passion and no ability.

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

It was a one-sided crushing match. Mumen Rider, only around mid-D-Class, faced Deep Sea King at the peak of Demon Level. The difference was like an abyss. "This kind of one-sided beating is meaningless." Reinhard shook his head. A pure instant kill could neither test one's strength nor count as real combat training. Aside from experiencing repeated deaths, there was nothing to gain—unless one was a masochist, no one would choose this training mode.

Li Chen flicked a finger, changing the scene. The wilderness instantly became an urban jungle, and panicked citizens flooded the streets. This time, Mumen Rider was not instantly killed. Instead, he displayed astonishing resilience. While screaming 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 one after another as if igniting his cosmos. Even when he was repeatedly blasted into heaps of rubble, he would struggle back to his feet, covered in blood, and cling 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 regarded him with solemn respect. "He could definitely become a spiritual symbol in the Marines." Kizaru gave a rare serious evaluation. "As expected of the man I acknowledge!" Billy King gave a thumbs-up. Mash's eyes widened. "That ability to take a beating is absurd!" No one could believe it—the weak man who had been instantly defeated earlier was now creating a miracle through sheer willpower.

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

Mumen Rider watched Deep Sea King's retreating figure. At last, he could no longer hold on. He collapsed to the ground and vanished in a wisp of blue light.

His body had long since been shattered beyond repair. Only his will had kept him standing.

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

It seemed that when the difference in strength became too great, even that unyielding tenacity could not change the outcome...

On the streets of New York, people were still dazed by the end of the disaster.

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.

"Finally got this game."

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

Today was the release date for several new games. As an S-Class Hero of the Hero Association—albeit a fake one—he earned over a hundred million dollars a year. Buying a few game discs was nothing to him; he could easily buy the entire store if he wanted.

Of course, King had not forgotten to wear a hood. With his current fame, if he did not 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.

Even though his face was covered, he had still been recognized. For King, this was an extremely troublesome situation. Right now, his mind was filled with the newly purchased Total War: Three Kingdoms and the first-run limited edition of the dating game Heart-Pounding Sisters.

The anticipation from buying the games to getting home made it impossible to sit still.

But reality often failed to live up to expectations.

"Where's King?"

"Is it that tall guy wearing a 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.

King, who was being mobbed and treated like a top celebrity, felt nothing but agony.

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

Excited shouts continued to rise from the crowd:

"Lord King, please give me an autograph!"

"How can I become as strong as you?"

"Stop blocking the road! You're interfering with Mr. King's mission!"

The metal bracers at his cuffs glinted coldly.

Maybe I should just activate Mark VII and fly away.

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

A gap instantly opened in the encirclement.

I have no idea what these people are imagining...

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

"King!" A boy with a topknot 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—

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

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

They absolutely cannot find out...

The dating game in the shopping bag was growing hot.

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

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

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

The child standing only a step away from King suddenly began to tremble violently.

It was actually a shape-shifting Wolf-level Threat. It had intended to disguise itself as a child, approach King, launch a surprise attack, and cut off the hero's head to make a name for itself.

It had never expected that King would see through its supposedly flawless transformation in an instant.

"It's over... I'm too close... I'll die... He'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. Its body twisted and collapsed like a melting wax figure, eventually turning into foul-smelling sludge. Fragments of the child's bones accidentally pierced its vital point, ending its life.

"What is going on?!"

King appeared calm on the surface, but a storm had already erupted in his heart.

What was this strange puddle of goo? How had a perfectly normal child turned into rotten water?

"As expected of Lord King! He crushed the monster's scheme with sheer pressure alone!"

"He didn't even need to move! His aura alone shattered the enemy!"

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

Listening to the fervent cheers around him, King expressionlessly gripped the game case. He only wanted to get home quickly—why did buying a game always end with some monster destroying itself?!

Foreign Visitor

The market in New York's old district steamed with a mingled stench.

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

"Click—"

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

As though drawn by an irresistible summons, Ahri's legs had carried her here to this market of their own accord.

As she passed the dazzling array of stalls, her gaze swept over dozens of bamboo baskets filled with all kinds of strange trinkets. Smooth pebbles gave off a faint glow, shells engraved with seafaring legends sat quietly on display, and there were dice made from turtle shells along with other curious objects.

"Come take a look! Legendary gems excavated from a secret realm!"

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

"Miss, the friendly price is only one hundred dollars."

Faced with the merchant's enthusiastic sales pitch, Ahri merely smiled faintly, shook her head, and continued onward. She knew very well that the stone carried no magical fluctuations at all. It was nothing more than a merchant's exaggeration.

Her slender fingers tightened around the pair of sunstones as Ahri deliberately quickened her pace. As an innate trait of the Nine-Tailed Fox, even if she deliberately restrained it, ordinary people would still be driven mad by her charm. She needed to leave this area before passersby noticed her face.

As she moved through the various stalls, she could not help frowning in thought. "Why do these ordinary objects hold such a special attraction for me?" She pulled her cloak tighter, afraid that her presence might disturb those around her. After all, Ahri was no longer the fox demon who brought chaos to the world. She was now an official member of the League of Heroes.

"Fortune-telling! See the future!"

"Seeking true love? Use burdock root to banish bad luck!"

"If you wish to place your fate in the hands of heaven, I can also answer the doubts of your past."

A fortune-teller's call suddenly came from a secluded corner. Ahri followed the sound and saw a mysterious figure wrapped in a purple cloak. Though she could not sense any magical fluctuations, the fox's keen instincts told her—this was the presence that had called her here.

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

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

"Hehe, you truly possess soul-stealing charm." The figure in purple gave a hoarse laugh. "Unfortunately, I have long since lost that sort of desire."

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

"But judging from your expression, you must have a hidden past, or perhaps some breathtaking experiences... Is there something important you wish to ask about, **?"

"No need." Ahri's brows drew together slightly as she warily stepped back half a pace. "I'll keep looking."

Though the thing she sought seemed close at hand, she smelled a trace of ill omen in the air. Some carefully concealed yet unsettling presence 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 last two are in your palm."