Upgrade complete

Meanwhile, Lanny used her phone to ask a colleague in Information Technology to look up Bang's details, and couldn't help marveling.

Was the little old man standing before her really that powerful?

By the time Bang's test results came out, she had already become his fangirl. "Amazing! Master Bang, your technique is absolutely incredible!"

Bang nodded in satisfaction, thoroughly pleased with the young woman's reaction.

I've still got it!

Then he glanced at Josen, and his face fell.

What's that brat spacing out for?

I'm putting in all this effort, and he won't even look.

Josen really wasn't paying attention to the old man glaring and bristling at him. His attention was entirely focused on a purple card in his hand.

[Fantasy Card: Water Breathing Technique]

[Card type: Ability Card]

[Rarity: SR]

[Description: The basic breathing technique of Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.]

[Effect 1: Water Breathing]

[Uses a special breathing method to regulate and amplify physical strength and flowing-water energy, greatly enhancing attack power and speed while allowing the user to deflect and weaken enemy attacks.]

Josen: ?

After Saitama, a second person he could milk for benefits had appeared.

And another thing...

Hadn't Fantasy Card turned into an egg and entered its upgrade phase? How did it still have the energy to stir things up?

Summoning a tangible deck of cards into his hand, Josen immediately understood. His Stand had finished evolving, and apparently awakened a new Stand Ability.

Well, all right then!

[Fantasy Card (Fantasy.Cards)]

[Stats]

[Destructive power: D; speed: D; precision: C; growth potential: A; persistence: A; range: B]

[First ability: Card Control]

[Bestows the concept of "cards" upon things, turning them into Fantasy Cards and controlling the power within.]

[Second ability: Fate Draw]

[Randomly draws one Fantasy Card each day. Unused draws can accumulate.]

[Third ability: Element Pickup]

[Randomly collects fragments of supernatural elements within a ten-meter radius and turns them into Fantasy Cards.]

(C rank: equivalent to an ordinary human.)

Receiving feedback from his Stand, Josen learned the results of this version update.

The biggest change was undoubtedly Fantasy Card's newly awakened third ability. On top of its previous active card creation, it now had a passive pickup function. Dropped supernatural elements had to appear within ten meters of Josen, and the odds were random, just like Fate Draw.

A host of powerful Heroes and monsters flashed before Josen's eyes, before their images all turned into...

Big, woolly sheep waiting to be shorn.

Slurp!

Saitama was finally no longer all alone in the sheep pen. Tears of gratitude couldn't help trickling from the corner of Josen's mouth.

Besides gaining a new Stand Ability, Fantasy Card's stats had also improved compared to their initial values.

Power and speed had risen from E rank, which was roughly equivalent to zero, to D rank. Range had also increased by one rank, reaching B.

Though they were still pretty damn useless.

The range increase was easy enough to understand. The third ability's maximum pickup radius was ten meters, so it could count as a ranged skill.

But what good were increased power and speed? Surely he wasn't supposed to materialize his Stand and throw it at people?

Unable to figure it out, Josen shook his head and put his Stand away.

He looked up to find an unfriendly old face right in front of him. It was Bang.

"Hey, young Josen, do you have some complaint about my demonstration?"

Sensing trouble, Josen fired off three denials. "I don't. That's not it. Don't put words in my mouth."

"Then why did you..."

Bang was about to continue questioning him when Josen reached out and slapped his own chest. The old man froze, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

What had he just seen?

Within two or three breaths, an aura he knew better than anyone inexplicably rose from the young man before him.

The aura of Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist!

How was that possible?!

The old man's pupils trembled, then his eyes filled with burning enthusiasm.

An unpolished gem? This was a priceless gold nugget!

"I tried copying your breathing method from earlier, Master. Could you check whether I'm doing anything wrong?"

Josen asked with an apologetic smile. Doing this would put him completely out there, but the little old man was a decent person. There was nothing wrong with making another friend.

The key was that Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist was just too tempting!

Of course, becoming his disciple was out of the question. Not in this lifetime!

Otherwise, when everyone hung out together, wouldn't he end up in the same generation as Genos?

Huff, huff...

A true martial arts master, Bang quickly calmed himself.

Past experience told him that taking on a disciple was something he absolutely couldn't rush.

After coughing twice, he regained his earlier masterly bearing and said with a genial smile, "You copied it very well. There's nothing wrong with it. Do come visit my dojo when you have time, and we can discuss it in greater depth."

Josen promptly took him up on the offer. "Sure thing! No problem!"

"Now it's your turn, Josen."

"Then pardon my humble attempt."

"Um, Miss Lanny," Josen flexed his fists and turned toward the woman with long, wavy blonde hair, who was practically drooling. "If I accidentally break something, I won't have to pay for it, right?"

Lanny blinked at the question, but a staff member beside her chuckled. "Rest assured, we have plenty of testing machines here. It's fine even if you break one."

"Good to know."

Josen nodded. As he spoke, his eyes abruptly turned silvery white, and azure psychic flames shrouded in a mantle of lightning appeared around his body.

Secret art: Lightning Armor advancement-

"Lightning Release Chakra Mode!"

Stepping back and turning halfway around, he unleashed terrifying power with a twist of his waist. His lightning-wreathed right hand left an afterimage as it struck the testing machine's padded target!

Bang-

A violent blast of air sent Lanny's skirt, the staff member's white coat, and Bang's beard flying backward together.

None of the three showed much change in expression, mainly because the electricity had numbed them.

The testing machine, supposedly capable of withstanding a head-on attack from a Demon-level Monster, had become a heap of metal scrap crackling with sparks, embedded in a wall over twenty meters away.

The staff member, who had thought Josen was bluffing just a moment earlier, felt his mouth twitch. He wanted to cry, but no tears came.

Just because you don't have to pay doesn't mean you should actually smash it!

Lanny came back to her senses, her eyes shining.

A psychic and a martial arts master-bringing in two powerhouses in a single day was an incredible windfall.

Bang's thoughts were written even more plainly on his face.

This kid was a psychic too. Now taking him as a disciple would be even harder!

"Mr. Josen, full marks..."

The scorer stiffly announced Josen's result, and Lanny hurriedly led the two of them onward to continue the tests.

No matter what, she had to secure these two today!

Neither Josen nor Bang disappointed the Association. Starting with the strength test, they broke the records for every assessment, one after another.

Jump rope, high jump, weightlifting, side-to-side jumps, a 1,500-meter sprint-figures that shattered human limits were recorded one by one, thrilling everyone following the tests.

"Aces! We're about to have ace Heroes of our very own here in Z City!"

"That's right! And two of them at that!"

"I'll report to Headquarters right away!"