Bang's Approval

Hearing the familiar air raid siren, Baicang secretly rejoiced. Good thing I got away quickly. Crying kids really are annoying.

It was a shame he hadn't gotten to chat more with Fubuki, whom he had been looking forward to meeting for so long.

Still, he didn't have the nerve to approach Fubuki now. After all, Tatsumaki, her incredibly powerful, utterly unreasonable, and fiercely overprotective older sister, still showed up around her from time to time. If Tatsumaki set her sights on him, he could only turn to Saitama to save his life.

With nothing weighing him down anymore, Baicang continued in the same direction as before.

Being clever, he stopped sprinting along the ruined road and instead darted and leaped between collapsed high-rises. That way, no one could get a clear look at his face and report him.

Whenever he encountered injured civilians along the way, he took a quick look, then continued on after confirming their injuries weren't fatal.

"What?! C-Class Heroes aren't allowed near it?!"

Baicang stared unhappily at the male Hero Association employee in front of him.

He was still a step too late. Hero Association headquarters had already sent people to completely cordon off the giant's corpse, which lay in City B.

Their public explanation was that they had yet to determine whether the giant's body posed any other dangers, so civilians and heroes below A-Class were prohibited from entering.

Although Baicang had already prepared himself for this, he still couldn't accept it. He had worked so hard to get here and given up time with Fubuki. There was no way he would just stand outside and watch. Maybe he should...

Seeing Baicang suddenly smile, along with the fist drawing steadily closer to him, the employee sensed trouble. Years of workplace experience had taught him that when an angry person suddenly started smiling at you, something was about to go very wrong!

In desperation, he dropped straight into a textbook prostration before Baicang, lowering his sweat-drenched head and shouting, "I am! Truly! Sorry!"

Baicang said, "..."

That was fast. Baicang's raised hand froze in midair. As he debated whether to bring it down anyway, an elderly voice rang out, hoarse yet still strong.

"Could you tell this old man what's going on?"

A slightly stooped, white-haired old man approached. Looking at the kneeling employee and Baicang's raised hand, he asked in puzzlement, "What happened here?"

The third-ranked S-Class Hero, Silver Fang, Bang, had arrived!

Once Baicang got a clear look at the old man's face, he was a little surprised. Why was he running into so many important characters from the anime today?

But then he realized that, as an S-Class Hero, it was perfectly normal for Bang to come help deal with the disaster the giant had caused, so he didn't dwell on it.

Seeing Bang staring at his raised hand, Baicang hurriedly pulled the kneeling employee to his feet, afraid Bang would mistake him for a thug attacking the man.

"Haha, he was just tying his shoelaces!"

Bang might have looked like a little old man in his eighties, but once he took his shirt off, his physique was like that of those old men doing calisthenics in neighborhood parks: a demon back and eight-pack abs. Beating up a youngster in his twenties like Baicang would have been child's play.

Since the employee merely kept wiping away his sweat without saying anything else, Bang didn't ask about what had just happened. Instead, he asked about the situation inside the cordon.

"Oh, um, thank you, Mr. Bang. The disaster has been dealt with. An enormous giant attacked Cities D and B, and it's already been defeated. However, its body fell onto City B, causing devastating damage. Headquarters has now sent people to seal off the area, and they're investigating why the giant appeared."

The giant had already been defeated! Bang was shocked as well. Given the terrifying scale of the destruction, the giant's strength had to have been at least close to Dragon-level. Yet someone had dispatched it so easily in such a short time.

"Which S-Class Hero took action? Tatsumaki?"

"We don't know. Lady Tatsumaki has another assignment. We're still investigating who did it." The employee didn't know much about the matter either.

Watching the two trade idle remarks, Baicang had no intention of standing there listening to them ramble. He turned to head inside.

This time, the employee said nothing more. After all, his boss was responsible for work-related problems, but his own safety was his responsibility.

"You wouldn't mind taking this old man along, would you?" Seeing that Baicang wanted to enter, Bang called out to him.

"Of course not, Mr. Bang."

Although Baicang didn't know why Bang wanted to go in with him, he didn't mind. Unlike the smug Atomic Samurai, Bang was one of the few veteran S-Class Heroes who treated people kindly and behaved normally. Baicang respected him quite a bit.

"Young man, why are you so determined to come in? You're only a C-Class Hero, aren't you? Aren't you afraid the giant might revive and pose a new threat?"

In fact, Bang had already overheard Baicang's conversation with the employee from nearby. He had only stepped in to stop Baicang after noticing that he intended to knock the employee unconscious and force his way inside. That made Bang curious about what Baicang wanted to do, and he was accompanying him as a precaution against any ill intentions.

"I just want to see for myself what the giant that caused so many casualties looks like, and avenge the people who died in the disaster!" Baicang declared, his face full of grief and indignation.

Of course, Baicang couldn't tell Bang that he was here to look for remnants of the serum.

To fool a hero with Bang's sense of justice and responsibility, he had to present himself as someone acting for the city and its people.

"I may be a mere C-Class Hero, but I won't fear any danger. Even if the giant has already been defeated, I still have to punch it myself for the citizens it hurt. Only then can I quell the anger in my heart!"

Baicang's "agitated" expression didn't look like a lie, and Bang felt deeply heartened.

As monsters appeared more frequently and the Hero Association continued to expand, more and more heroes had emerged. But most were only after the prestige of being a hero, acting solely to improve their rankings and earn rewards. Many had already forgotten what being a hero truly meant.

In Bang's eyes, however, Baicang was a promising rising star who possessed the essence of a true hero.

"Have compassion for others, and do what is right!" Bang gave Baicang's shoulder a firm pat in approval.

Seeing that Bang had believed him, Baicang couldn't help reflecting that life was a play, and acting skills were everything! Perhaps he should enter the entertainment industry like Handsome Mask?

Hmm... probably not. The domestic entertainment industry was already done for.

As they walked, Bang and Baicang became increasingly engrossed in their conversation. Since Garou, Bang had rarely admired a young man this much. That thought brought Garou's troubles back to mind, giving him another headache.

Soon, on a stretch of ground that had been completely leveled, surrounded by collapsed and damaged buildings, Baicang spotted the giant's corpse lying on the ground.

Even lying flat, its body rose higher than the surrounding crooked, ruined high-rises, showing just how terrifyingly enormous the giant was.

"Isn't this a little too ridiculous?!" Baicang looked up into the distance. They were probably near the giant's thigh, and all he could see ahead was an enormous wall of flesh. He couldn't make out its whole body at all.

"It truly is a terrifying creature. Its size alone puts it at Dragon-level."

Bang's gaze grew increasingly grave as well. His Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist would have a hard time dealing with a monster of such terrifying size. A monster this powerful, with Tatsumaki not here... could Blast have taken action?

Meanwhile, with Baicang away, a certain bald man was frantically devouring the fatty beef rolls in the hot pot.

"My big brother hasn't eaten yet!" ╰(‵□′)╯

Poor little Runo, weak and helpless...