"According to the latest press conference of the Hero Association, there have been significant changes in the ranking of S-Class Hero, and two new S-Class Hero have been added: Hellish Blizzard, ranked nineteenth, and Suiryu of the Void Fist..."
On television, a beautifully dressed female host is reading the news.
On the other side of the pool, Saitama, dressed in pajamas, brushed his teeth while listening to the morning news.
Z-City is no longer safe to stay in. The place where Meikyō, Saitama, and Genos lived was in the no-man's land of Z-City, which happened to be above the Monster Association. Although it wasn't directly below, it was still very close to the center of the battle and had long since become a ruin within a ruin.
He is currently in the Hero Apartment in A-City, which is located inside the Hero Association Headquarters.
After the Monster Association incident, the Hero Association designated a large area at its headquarters in A-City as apartments. Professional heroes of A-rank and above could apply to move in. Not only was the rent fully paid, but water and electricity were also free with a limited allowance. Unless you opened a factory there, the allowance would definitely be enough.
The only requirement is that A-rank heroes are rotated regularly to lead the guard team to patrol the surrounding area.
In order to increase revenue, the Hero Association used the pretext of having A-rank or higher heroes stationed there to attract wealthy people to move into the upscale residential area they developed in A-City.
With the increasing frequency of high-level monsters appearing here, many wealthy and powerful people have moved here for safety, making the Hero Association a fortune.
However, this doesn't matter to Saitama, because this patrol mission has different hard targets than the C-rank patrol mission. He only needs to check for potential safety hazards that day. Moreover, there are already about twenty A-rank heroes before Saitama, which means that Saitama only needs to take three days out of every two months to carry out the mission.
"Speaking of which, back in Z-City, I didn't have any neighbors besides Genos and Meikyō. This time, I suddenly have about twenty more neighbors. I wonder if they'll be easy to get along with."
Saitama took out milk and a convenient sandwich from the refrigerator and ate his breakfast while thinking silently.
He didn't expect that his neighbors would come to visit so soon, and there were three of them at once.
"Oh, is this your neighbor? I just happened to pick up three teacups. They have some cracks, but thankfully they don't leak."
Saitama pushed three water glasses, filled with water but riddled with cracks, in front of the newcomer.
"I am Chain Toad, ranked 36th in A-rank, he is Rhythm Heaven, ranked 31st in A-rank, and this one is Butterfly DX, who is ranked 16th in A-rank, which is also in the upper-middle range."
Wearing Red Toad headgear and a karate uniform, Chain Toad stretched out his hand and introduced himself to Saitama.
"We are all residents on the same floor as you."
Butterfly DX thought it was ranked the highest, so it crossed its arms and held its head high with an air of self-importance.
"Although I haven't heard of you, you're welcome nonetheless. I'm Saitama, who was just promoted to A-rank last month, and today I've just been promoted to the thirty-seventh rank of A-rank."
Saitama responded with a goofy smile.
"Never heard of me? How could that be? I'm quite famous among A-rank heroes! I'm a well-known player who's recognized as having the potential to become a top ten A-rank player!"
Butterfly DX couldn't hold back any longer and ran back to her dormitory in a flash, then ran back again in a flash.
At this moment, he had taken off his vest, leaving only his underwear. He had a butterfly wing that was a mix of green and purple on his back, and his chest and leg hair were exposed. He also had a headdress with butterfly antennae tied on his head, making him look like a naked middle-aged man with a cross-dressing fetish.
(Looks like this:)
"This guy just loves to show off."
Wearing sunglasses and headphones, he shrugged, giving a rap-like Rhythm Heaven.
"This is my usual outfit! I usually wear this to fly between skyscrapers, rescue the wounded, and with the help of weapons and aerial advantage, there are almost no Tiger-level monsters that can stand against me. Last year, I even attracted the attention of a Demon-level monster in the air and worked with the S-rank Sexy Futanari to kill it. This is also the key factor that makes my hero ranking so high!"
Butterfly DX struck a flying pose and said with a smug look on her face.
Saitama suppressed his urge to vomit and looked at the other two.
"I am Chain Toad."
The Chain Toad said a few words and then took off its hood, revealing the face of a middle-aged man with a full beard.
After taking a sip of water, the Chain Toad quickly put the Toad head cover back on.
"Um... is the reason you're wearing a headgear because you have autism?"
"You're the one with autism! I was just an ordinary C-rank hero with little popularity, but after putting on the Toad headgear, I became very popular among children, and in just over a year, I worked hard to become A-rank hero, about two months ago."
The Chain Toad straightened its hood and said.
"And what about you?"
"I am the Rhythm Heaven, and I am used to fighting to the rhythm of the music."
"Wouldn't it be easy for accidents to happen during battle if we couldn't hear clearly?"
"You don't believe me? Let's go outside and have a one-on-one fight, and I'll show you how powerful we seniors are!"
Just as Saitama was welcoming his new friends, a new meeting began in the Hero Association's conference room.
Only six heroes were present at the meeting: Genos, Sweet Mask, Zombie Man, Flashy Flash, King, and Meikyō.
"Gentlemen, this meeting was initiated by me, and it mainly concerns the follow-up to the last Monster Association incident."
The Zombie Man said calmly.
"I obtained some information from Homeless Emperor. There is a deeper shadow behind this Monster Association incident. Behind Homeless Emperor, there is an existence called God. Originally, when I first captured Homeless Emperor, I wanted to interrogate him, but at such a critical moment, the so-called God withdrew his power and he died. However, Phoenix Man's Reincarnation Light revived him. At that time, he had lost the power of God and lost God's attention, so I extracted some information from him."
The Zombie Man propped himself up on his hands and addressed the crowd.
"According to him, he was originally just a homeless man who complained about his fate, until he found a black cube box, which enabled him to communicate with the God, make contact with them, and receive power from them."
Meikyō suddenly noticed that when the black cube box was mentioned, both Sitch and King's expressions changed.
"In that case, I do know something about it."
King suddenly interjected.
He actually came today to play games with Meikyō and Saitama, and to celebrate the two of them moving into their new house with Genos. However, when he found Meikyō had just been dragged to a meeting by Flashy Flash, so he followed along in a daze.
"As expected of King, he actually found out about this information long ago."
The Zombie Man exclaimed in admiration.
"... It wasn't me, it was Blast."
King addressed the crowd, recalling the scene from that time.
On the other side, Meikyō could feel that Sitch's heart was beating faster and faster.
"Blast said that the black box could access a certain being, and if one was tempted and corrupted by it, one would become a monster. Therefore, he used some kind of ability to seal it. Afterward, he told us that the power of the God on the surface had leaked out again. After sending us out, he left again, saying that he was going to another dimension to continue fighting against the God."
No sooner had King finished speaking Flashy Flash immediately took over the conversation.
"This is a sketch I drew based on the image King described, and coincidentally, this thing looks very familiar to me."
Flashy Flash took out a sketch and then a photograph.
"Fifteen years ago, I saw something exactly like this. It was something hidden in the deepest forbidden area of Ninja Village. And under this thing was a creature that didn't look like a human at all. That should be the person who founded the Ninja Village. This photo is of the ruins of the Ninja Village. Doesn't it look like an enlarged black cube box? It just has many inexplicable gaps on it, as if it was erased from the spatial dimension."
At this point, Flashy Flash turned his gaze to Meikyō.
"Scarlet Ninja, you're a ninja too. Do you know anything about that guy?"
Meikyō shook her head.
He really didn't know.
"Although I don't know, I think there shouldn't be any information that can stop a ninja of my rank from investigating."
Meikyō said confidently, then looked at Sitch.
"What do you think, Mr. Sitch? Your heart is beating very fast."
Everyone's eyes immediately turned to Sitch.
The others were curious and scrutinizing, while King hoped Sitch would finish quickly.
Being around a bunch of S-Class Hero is incredibly stressful.
"Sigh... there are some things I can't explain clearly. Let me take you to find the Blast yourself and ask him."
Sitch sighed, knowing he couldn't hide it any longer, and finally stood up, leading the way as he spoke.
"This information is top secret. Previously, only Blast and I knew some of it within the Hero Association. Lord Arnieg had some understanding of it, but not too much. Instead, he entrusted us with solving it because he believed that Blast, the strongest hero in human history, could overcome all difficulties."
As Sitch spoke, he led everyone to an elevator.
"Next, please do not disclose the information you have learned to others, because if the news about the God spreads, then that guy's influence on the world may be further deepened. This is why Blast has been operating in secret all these years. Even the other high-ranking members of the Hero Association are not completely unaware of these things, but you are all top-notch experts in the hero industry, so you should be able to keep these secrets."
The elevator stopped, Sitch led everyone out to a huge glass window.
A tall man wearing sunglasses, a cape, and armor stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the busy laboratory below.
S-Class Hero Number One: Blast!
"Hey, Sitch, you're here. Looks like you had a tough time being interrogated by them, didn't you?"
Seeing Sitch's expression and the group of S-Class Hero behind him, Blast immediately realized what had happened.
"Blast, we've come to ask you about matters related to the God."
Genos said to Blast.
"And the relationship between that so-called God and the Ninja Village."
Flashy Flash added.
"Ninja Village... Judging from your appearance, you seem to be from that place, and so does this Scarlet Ninja..."
"No, I am a clan ninja. My parents and ancestors have been ninjas for generations, and it has been passed down from generation to generation."
Meikyō interrupted Blast, speaking vaguely.
Blast didn't suspect anything, he just looked at Sitch.
"I don't know how much you know right now, or where to begin. Sitch, why don't you start?"
Sitch nodded, stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looked down at the busy researchers in the laboratory below, and said:
"As for the so-called God, we don't really know their origins, or rather, no one knows their origins, because their existence is too ancient, possibly dating back to ancient times."
"We made many assumptions: higher-dimensional beings, aliens, or even just a charlatan organization or individual. But in the end, we speculated that he was actually an extremely ancient and powerful monster who claimed to be God in ancient times. He used that black cube box to create monsters as his agents in various eras, build altars, and enjoy faith and sacrifices."
"When faced with monsters and natural disasters, weak humans can only worship God and pray for protection, which solidifies the God's position. According to archaeological discoveries, such ancient temple ruins do exist all over the world. However, these are just our speculations. We still don't know the specifics. For more information, you'll have to ask Blast."
Everyone's attention turned to the Blast.
"It's roughly the same as what Sitch said. This guy should be a being at a very high level of life. His true form is hidden in another dimension for some reason. Perhaps he was sealed inside. But his power is too strong. He can create those black cube boxes to contact the outside world and select agents. Maybe he plans to use some kind of ritual to free him. But to free such a being, the price of the ritual would be extremely high. Maybe it would be the entire Earth."
"Blast," he said, shrugging.
"Because I have the ability to manipulate space and time, I barely qualified to face that guy. For many years, I and some others with the same qualifications have been suppressing its power in the shallow layers of another dimension and collecting those black cube boxes all over the world to seal in other dimensions."
At this point, Blast's eyes turned to Flashy Flash.
"As for the person who founded the Ninja Village, he was once our comrade, but that was only in the past."