"Why did I say 'again'? Never mind."
Putting those irrelevant thoughts aside, Baicang hurried toward the spot where the giant had fallen. Helping disaster-stricken civilians along the way had already delayed him for a while.
Ideally, he would find some leftover serum before the Hero Association sealed off the scene. Failing that, he would at least scrape some samples off the giant for experiments.
Naturally, Baicang knew nothing about such advanced science, but he had already picked out someone to do the grunt work of researching it for him. As for who that lucky soul was...
"Mommy, where are you? Waaah..."
Hearing faint sobs in the distance, Baicang stopped as he made his way through the ruins, then pressed a hand to his forehead in dismay. "It couldn't really be that much of a coincidence, could it?"
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ruins.
"Xiao Cai! Little girl!"
"Where are you?"
A group of men in black suits shouted toward the collapsed buildings and the surrounding area.
After they had called out for a long time without any response, a man with astonishingly long eyelashes turned to the woman leading them and asked in confusion, "Lady Fubuki, are you sure this is the right way?"
The woman had neat, short black hair and wore a fitted green dress with a white coat draped over her shoulders. Tall and curvaceous, she was the famous second-ranked S-Class hero, Terror Tatsumaki...'s younger sister, the top-ranked B-Class hero, Hellish Fubuki.
Without turning around, Fubuki gazed into the distance and said calmly, "There's no mistake. The voice came from this direction just now."
The man with long eyelashes could only nod and resume searching the area with his companions.
At that moment, however, Fubuki was feeling deeply frustrated. Upon learning that Cities D and B had suffered a major disaster, she had immediately brought most of the Fubuki Group here. Even if they could not deal with the monster responsible, she had hoped they could help some injured civilians, raise the Fubuki Group's profile, and prove her abilities to her older sister, Tatsumaki.
Yet, for some reason, they had not found a single person along the way.
Only a short while ago had they encountered a group of civilians waiting for further rescue in an open area.
Although a "stinky" middle-aged man lying on the ground crying had startled her, Fubuki had at least learned from them why she had not found anyone: a C-Class hero named Baicang had beaten her to it!
Fortunately, a mother had asked Fubuki to find her daughter, so her efforts today had not been entirely wasted.
Following the direction that mother had pointed out, Fubuki and the others had searched all the way here and finally heard a girl's sobs nearby. But for some reason, the crying had suddenly stopped again, leaving Fubuki to search the area with her subordinates.
Seeing the operation she had intended to make a big splash with turn into a group search for a child, Fubuki seethed, blaming Baicang for all her misfortune today.
A mere C-Class hero dared to steal my credit. Baicang, I'll remember you!
"Aah!"
A dark shape flashed past, and a member of the Fubuki Group flew out from the roadside with a scream, landing at Fubuki's feet.
"A monster! Protect Lady Fubuki!"
The other members of the Fubuki Group reacted quickly, drawing their weapons and gathering around Fubuki.
A girl wearing a lily ornament on her head pulled out a three-section staff and shielded Fubuki behind her, while a burly man with a cleft chin and the long-eyelashed man from earlier stood on either side of Fubuki to guard against another attack.
Seeing her subordinate lying motionless, Fubuki quickly crouched to check his injuries. Once she discovered that he had merely passed out and was not seriously hurt, she relaxed and turned toward the ground, which kept bulging upward.
"You people, shouting all over the place! Don't you know moles are nocturnal? Damn you!"
A giant, half-humanoid mole wearing a hard hat and goggles angrily emerged from underground, shrieking and waving the hoe in his hands. Apparently, Fubuki's group had disturbed his pleasant dreams.
Fubuki, however, was delighted to see a monster show himself. At last, today's trip would not be wasted!
"Mountain Ape, draw his attention from the front!"
"Yes!" the burly man with the cleft chin roared, charging at the Mole Monster.
"Eyelashes, keep him occupied from the side." Eyelashes nodded. The eyelash curler in his hands bent and extended into two long spikes, and he charged forward behind Mountain Ape.
"Everyone else, if you have ranged weapons, look for an opening to attack. If you don't, watch the surroundings for any other monsters with him."
"Yes!" Some of the Fubuki Group's members spread out around the area.
Fubuki calmly directed the members of the Fubuki Group in battle, then turned to the girl in front of her. "Lily, be ready to help at any moment."
"Right!" The girl nodded firmly, then stole another glance at Fubuki, her cheeks flushing slightly.
Wow... Lady Fubuki looks so beautiful when she's serious!
The Mole Monster's strength clearly did not match his temper at being woken up. He barely managed to fend off Mountain Ape and Eyelashes while the other members occasionally caught him with surprise attacks from the sidelines. Before long, Eyelashes's long spike slashed through the fur at his waist, and Mountain Ape seized the opening to land several punches.
"That hurts! You've made me angry! Damn you! Damn you!"
As though his injuries had triggered something, the Mole Monster threw down his hoe. His eyes turned crimson, and he screamed wildly in place as his body began to convulse. His hideously contorted appearance kept Mountain Ape and Eyelashes from approaching recklessly.
"Mountain Ape, Eyelashes, stop him!"
Although she did not know what the Mole Monster was doing, he had put down his weapon, and Fubuki thought this was the perfect chance to finish him off.
"Yes, Lady Fubuki!" Upon receiving her order, Mountain Ape and Eyelashes immediately advanced to attack the Mole Monster, who had not moved from his spot.
The Mole Monster continued trembling, and his body suddenly doubled in size. Long black hair rapidly sprouted from his previously humanlike hands as they transformed into terrifying claws.
He swiped at the two men closing in on him. The long spikes in Eyelashes's hands were sliced straight in half, and he was sent flying. Mountain Ape hurriedly raised his arms in front of himself, but he too was hurled backward with a gash deep enough to expose bone.
"Not good!" The situation reversed in an instant. A green glow radiated from Fubuki as she swept both hands outward, sending small chunks of nearby rubble crashing toward the Mole Monster. Lily also charged forward with her three-section staff.
Seeing the hail of rocks approaching, the Mole Monster immediately turned and jumped back into the hole he had emerged from, avoiding Fubuki's attack.
"You ugly hag! How dare you throw rocks at me!"
The Mole Monster poked half his head out of the hole and shouted at Fubuki.
Fubuki's expression remained blank. The green glow around her intensified as she sent even more, larger rocks flying toward the Mole Monster.
"You disgusting creep, shut up!" Lily rushed forward and swung her staff at the mole's exposed head.
Smack! It struck only the mound of dirt at the entrance. The Mole Monster had burrowed back into the hole.
"Lily, calm down."
Fubuki spoke in a low voice, staring intently at the hole, but the Mole Monster did not emerge. Suddenly sensing movement beneath her feet, she immediately enveloped herself in psychic power and flew into the air.
Boom! A large hole burst open where Fubuki had been standing, revealing an enormous claw.
"Hmph!" Seeing Fubuki take flight, the Mole Monster shifted his sights to the other members of the Fubuki Group.
"Everyone! Get off the ground now! Climb onto the higher parts of the ruins!"
Fubuki saw what the Mole Monster intended, and the others hurried up onto the collapsed buildings.
Fubuki also used her power to send her unconscious subordinate flying away, but Mountain Ape fell behind because of his injury.
Noticing signs of the ground bulging beneath Mountain Ape's feet, Fubuki hurriedly lifted him with her psychic power, only for her own body to begin swaying uncontrollably in midair.
She was not a powerful esper like Tatsumaki. Fubuki had already been using her psychic power continuously for some time. Keeping herself and her unconscious subordinate airborne, with Mountain Ape's heavy body added to the load, was leaving her exhausted.
"Hahaha, you fell for it!"
Laughing loudly, the Mole Monster burst out of the ground beneath Fubuki and hurtled toward her in midair.
Fubuki was just about to fly away when a red light flashed in the Mole Monster's eyes. Her mind suddenly grew hazy, preventing her from dodging immediately.
"Lady Fubuki!" Lily screamed in despair from the sidelines, while the other members of the Fubuki Group looked on in horror.
I can't! Not here! Sister!
Watching those sharp claws draw closer and closer, Fubuki could no longer maintain her composure. Helpless, she thought of the older sister she had always "hated."
Just then, a white figure flashed past.
A single kick sent the wildly laughing Mole Monster back into his hole. The figure caught Fubuki as she lost her balance in midair, slipped an arm around her waist, and gathered her into his arms before landing steadily on the ground with her in a bridal carry.
"Hello, Miss Fubuki. Nice to meet you."
Before you continue