Chapter 68 |
The main conference room of the Hero Association headquarters was a place of solemn gravity.
Normally, only the highest-ranking officials of the association were permitted within its walls, but on this occasion, the room was filled with the elite members of the S-Class.
Following the Monster Association's formal declaration of war, the Hero Association had immediately issued an emergency summons. Every S-Class hero had responded to the call, with the sole exceptions of Metal Knight and Blast.
"It seems we're at a distinct disadvantage."
Child Emperor licked his lollipop and spoke slowly as soon as Sitch finished his briefing. "We know absolutely nothing, aside from the fact that the enemy deliberately abducted Mr. Saman."
Sitch nodded gravely. "Since the intruder spoke on behalf of the Monster Association, we can conclude that the monsters have formed their own organized group. We lack concrete intelligence on them, but given they dispatched several Demon-level threats just to capture Saman and dared to declare open war, we must assume there are several Dragon-level monsters in their ranks!"
Child Emperor rubbed his temples, feeling a headache brewing. "Our greatest edge over the monsters has always been their lack of organization. We usually have extensive data on them while they, as scattered individuals, know almost nothing about us. But now... that advantage is gone!"
The Hero Association possessed minimal information on the Monster Association, whereas the monsters had likely spent their time gathering detailed profiles on every hero. To make matters worse, they would now be acting in coordination—just like the heroes themselves.
Such a development boded ill for the future of the city.
Child Emperor turned his gaze toward Yeruashi, who sat at the far end of the long table.
"Let's just wipe them out," Yeruashi replied with utter composure.
"..."
Child Emperor face-palmed and let out a helpless sigh. "Mr. Thunder God, no one doubts your strength, but we have zero concrete intel on the Monster Association! You realize that enemies like Boros or the One-Eyed God could be standing on their side?"
Yeruashi leaned back in his chair, looking relaxed. "Speculation is pointless. We only have two choices: we either abandon Saman or we take the fight to the Monster Association on their own turf."
Saitama took a sip of juice and raised his hand. "He has a point. We just beat up all the monsters, and that'll be the end of it."
Child Emperor sighed again, feeling more powerless by the second. "We need to gather some information first! At the very least, we need to know where they're keeping the hostage..."
"Tch..." Tatsumaki spoke up with a sneer. "Just because a bunch of useless trash decided to huddle together doesn't mean they've stopped being trash. I could handle that pile of garbage by myself any time I want. Are you all actually scared?"
"There truly is nothing to fear," Flashy Flash added with cool indifference.
Atomic Samurai plucked a long piece of straw from his mouth. "We'll just slice them into ribbons and be done with it."
Sssluuurp!
Saitama finished his juice with a loud draw through the straw and waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, I don't think we'll have any problems."
Child Emperor's expression darkened as he let out yet another weary sigh. He watched as the S-Class heroes, one after another, threw their weight behind the "plan" of a direct assault.
Same as always...
It was simply impossible to exercise any real leadership over the S-Class.
"The Monster Association is pressuring us to attack within the next three days," Child Emperor noted. "This suggests the hostage will be kept alive during that window, otherwise their previous actions would be meaningless. That gives us three days to gather intelligence on their organization."
He pulled a small laptop from his school bag and flipped it open. "Even though you haven't shown up for the meeting once again, you must be aware of the situation, right, Mr. Metal Knight?"
"Heh heh heh. You've found yourselves in quite a predicament this time, haven't you?" Metal Knight's voice chuckled through the speakers. "I have already made my move. I will contact you once I've secured intelligence."
The Metal Knight gave a dry laugh before abruptly cutting the video call.
Child Emperor closed his laptop, looking somewhat satisfied. "Metal Knight is on the move, and I'll deploy all my tracking devices as well. We must uncover something concrete about the Monster Association in the next three days. Any scrap of intel could significantly increase our chances of victory..."
"You handle the information gathering then. As for me..."
Tatsumaki placed a hand over her chest and declared with absolute confidence, "...I'll turn those monsters into mincemeat in three days."
Yeruashi took a sip of tea, his gaze lingering on Tatsumaki as she spoke.
Despite her consecutive, crushing defeats at the hands of his Ten-Tails form and Boros, Tatsumaki didn't seem to have lost a shred of her legendary self-confidence.
Metal Bat swung his bat through the air and barked irritably, "Hey! Are you serious?! Tomorrow is a day off! I was planning to spend time with my little sister!"
"..."
Sitch massaged his forehead in exasperation.
Just as he was about to speak, a holographic projection flickered to life over the table. An agitated and worried Association staff member appeared. "Emergency report to headquarters! We have a crisis! The human monster, Garou, who was previously defeated by Mr. Thunder God, has escaped from his prison escort!"
"Why now of all times..."
Sitch's face clouded over.
It wasn't enough that the Monster Association had declared war; now one of their most dangerous criminals was back on the loose.
"Let him go," Yeruashi said casually, utterly unconcerned. "There's no need to worry. I'll just catch him again later."
Garou's escape came as no surprise to Yeruashi. He had already placed a spatial mark on the man, allowing him to track his location whenever he wished. If Garou managed to reach a Divine-level threat, he would become another magnificent "dish" that could significantly increase the probability of Pain's evolution.
Once that evolution was complete, Yeruashi would finally prove that he could surpass Saitama—all without having to go bald!
"You're right..."
Sitch nodded, though he still felt a headache coming on. "Garou escaped right in City Z, not far from the suspected location of the Monster Association..."
"Hmph, fine by me!" Tatsumaki said indifferently. "I'll turn that so-called human monster into mincemeat if he's foolish enough to hang around with the useless trash from the Monster Association."