The burly blond man.
Oh, no.
He should have been called the burly bald man now.
Deliberate Heavy Punch spun around sharply.
He discovered that the gust from Qi Wu's punch had blown his blond wig onto the floor.
All the onlookers could see was a gleaming, shiny bald head.
The entire venue fell silent, then erupted into thunderous laughter.
Everyone pointed at him and roared with laughter:
"Wait, what happened to our heartthrob?"
"Hahaha! This dude's flowing blond hair was fake!"
"Holy shit, seriously? Deliberate Heavy Punch's actually bald?"
"Does his superpower have a side effect that makes him bald? Haha!"
Faced with the crowd's uproarious laughter.
Deliberate Heavy Punch's face instantly turned a furious shade of purple.
The people mocking him had actually guessed right.
The superpower he had originally obtained was called "bald hero."
This superpower could massively enhance his muscle strength.
However.
That powerful physique came at the price of going bald.
Yes.
He had gone bald, and he had gotten stronger.
Although his body had been enhanced, Haymaker found the price a little embarrassing.
After all, he had always taken pride in his stylish hair.
Suddenly going bald.
Was a little more than he could accept.
So he had always carefully hidden this secret.
He always wore a wig.
And today, Qi Wu had exposed his secret.
That sent Haymaker completely over the edge.
His whole body trembled, and veins bulged on his forehead.
He slammed a fist into the ground, making the entire training arena shake.
"All of you, shut the hell up."
A violent blast of air swept across the arena, knocking several nearby operatives straight to the ground.
But rather than stopping, the laughter became even more brazen.
"He's mad! He's mad!"
"Bald is bald. Why get so worked up over it?"
Many of the 749 Bureau's regular forum users lived for the entertainment.
One moment, they had been mocking Qi Wu mercilessly.
The next, they saw the burly man embarrass himself and immediately burst out laughing.
They really knew how to get under someone's skin.
Seeing Haymaker fly into a humiliated rage only egged the spectators on.
A few bold ones even pulled out their phones to record him, while someone improvised a little rhyme on the spot:
"Strong Baldy, Strong Baldy,"
"One punch sends ten walls tumbling,"
"Too bad his hair just wouldn't stay,"
"He stomps the training floor all day!"
Deliberate Heavy Punch trembled with rage, veins bulging across his bald head. His face burned red, making him look like a human-shaped braised egg.
He whipped his head around to glare at the culprit, Qi Wu, only to find him leaning leisurely against the wall, somehow already munching on sunflower seeds.
"You!"
Deliberate Heavy Punch gritted his teeth.
"This is all your fault!"
Qi Wu spat out a seed shell, looking utterly innocent.
"What does this have to do with me? You're the one who sucks at putting on a wig."
"You... I'll kill you!!"
The burly bald man's muscles swelled, his veins bulging as he became a savage beast in human form.
"Die!"
[You exposed the bald man's secret. The bald man is utterly enraged.] [Annoyance points +500] [Annoyance points converted. Current Satoru Gojo fusion progress: 43%]
He shattered the ground beneath his foot and charged at Qi Wu with devastating force. The power of this attack was enough to smash an entire building to pieces.
Qi Wu merely sighed softly.
"Boring."
Did this dude think he was some bald, caped hero who finished everything with one punch?
He raised his right hand and spread his fingers-
Boom!
Amid the deafening explosion, everyone instinctively closed their eyes.
Yet the devastating shock wave they expected never came.
When they timidly opened their eyes, they saw a sight they would never forget-
Qi Wu had caught the burly bald man's full-strength blow with one hand, without moving his feet even an inch.
Even more terrifyingly, the ground beneath him remained completely intact. All the impact had been perfectly contained within an extremely small area.
"Th-this is impossible..."
The burly bald man's face was filled with terror, and even his voice trembled.
Qi Wu flashed a carefree smile.
"My turn."
With a casual flick of his hand, he sent the burly bald man flying like a rag doll. The man slammed into the training arena's wall and became embedded in it.
Dead silence fell over the arena.
Qi Wu dusted off his hands and looked at the dumbfounded crowd below.
"Anyone else?"
Qi Wu swept his gaze around the arena. Everyone he looked at instinctively took half a step back.
The operatives who had been jeering moments earlier now kept deathly quiet.
An eerie silence settled over the training arena, broken only by the pained groans of the burly bald man embedded in the wall.
"If there's no one else, I'll be going."
Qi Wu shrugged and turned toward the exit.
The spectators automatically parted to make a path. No one dared stand in his way.
Even the forum veterans who had clamored about teaching him a lesson now lowered their heads and pretended to straighten their clothes.
Feng Yuyao stood in a corner, watching Qi Wu's departing back with a complicated look in her eyes.
She gently rubbed her chin and murmured to herself:
"What kind of monstrous second superpower did this guy obtain? Even his hand-to-hand combat is... this powerful..."
Just then, she keenly noticed a gaze from the observation area on the training arena's second floor that had been following Qi Wu.
It belonged to a hooded figure, entirely shrouded in shadow.
"That's..."
Feng Yuyao narrowed her eyes, but the figure had already vanished silently into the darkness.
At the same time, as though sensing something, Qi Wu glanced back at the second floor, the faintest hint of a smile curling his lips.
He casually stuffed the remaining sunflower seeds into his pocket and left the training arena humming a tune.
[Your strength astounded the spectators.] [Popularity points +100] [Popularity points +250]
[Your strength attracted the attention of a mysterious powerhouse.] [Popularity points +200] [You received special attention from the witch.] [Popularity points +300] [Popularity points converted. Current Satoru Gojo fusion progress: 45%]
Back at his dorm.
Qi Wu opened the forum and discovered that his private-message inbox had been flooded.
[System notification: You have 99+ unread messages.]
He opened a few at random:
[Storm]: Carry me, boss! I've already reached fifth-tier. I definitely won't hold you back! [Little Nobody]: Qi Wu, you're so handsome~ I could be your personal support~ [Ice Newbie]: Pick me, boss! I'm only fourth-tier, but I can warm your bed!
The fight just now had thoroughly convinced the forum users of Qi Wu's strength.
Quite a few people were now competing to team up with Qi Wu.
However...
Qi Wu quickly scrolled through the screen, and the corner of his mouth soon began to twitch.
Their profile panels were downright painful to look at-either their combat power was low or their superpowers were practically useless.
"Nothing but a bunch of useless scrubs..."
If he teamed up with this lot, he would be lucky if they didn't hold him back.
There was no point expecting them to contribute anything.
Qi Wu had intended to use this opportunity to find a few teammates worth developing and invite them to join his team.
But seeing how poor the applicants were.
His hopes would probably come to nothing.
"Fine. I'll carry you for one run."
He muttered to himself and was about to pick someone halfway decent to fill a slot.
Suddenly, a distinctly different friend request popped up:
[Friend request: Jiang Qingyue (trainee operative)] [Note: Hello, could I have a word with you?]
Before you continue