Can't Touch Him! The Ant King's Despair!

The golden glass-like ground was still radiating residual heat.

Saitama's hand was still resting on Netero's wrist, and his offhand question—"Who's taking me to get something to eat?"—drifted lightly through the air.

Meruem's golden pupils slowly contracted.

He had not sensed when this bald man had appeared.

But he did not care.

As the King of the Chimera Ants, he had never, from the moment of his birth, felt killing intent from any creature that posed enough of a threat to him. This idiot in a tattered yellow jumpsuit, clutching a ripped plastic bag, was naturally no exception.

Shaiapouf was still furiously roaring three meters underground, repeating "He's a monster" over and over.

Meruem simply ignored him.

It was nothing more than a subordinate who had been beaten within an inch of his life and scared witless.

He moved.

Without the slightest warning.

His tail split the air like black lightning, instantly teleporting him behind Saitama—far faster than Neferpitou's Godspeed, reaching a limit completely imperceptible to human eyes. The tail spike, carrying a sharp whistle through the air, stabbed precisely at the back of Saitama's neck.

That strike was powerful enough to pierce any alloy.

Saitama tilted his head slightly.

The tail spike skimmed past his ear and struck empty air.

It had not touched even a single hair.

Meruem did not pause.

Using the momentum of his missed tail strike, he spun violently. His right fist, carrying tremendous force, shot straight at Saitama's face. Saitama tilted his head, and the fist flew past his cheek.

Meruem planted his left foot and teleported to Saitama's left again, driving his left knee viciously toward Saitama's ribs. Saitama took half a step back. The knee grazed the hem of his yellow T-shirt without even wrinkling the fabric.

One punch.

One tail strike.