: The Belt-Breaking Monster

Meanwhile, King, who had already returned home, waited and waited for Boros to appear, but he couldn't help but dial the number. The phone was answered as soon as it rang, and he asked:

"Feed? Boros? Are you guys still fighting?"

"Ah, it's Mr. Saitama? Okay, okay... Could you please bring him back? My address is..."

A moment later, the doorbell rang. King opened the door and saw a humanoid creature covered in bandages standing in the doorway. His heart skipped a beat—

"Oh no, it's the Bandaged Monster!"

He instinctively reached to close the door, but then noticed Saitama standing behind the bandaged monster, and abruptly stopped himself.

………………

"You mean... this bandaged monster is Boros?" King asked, somewhat confused, as he watched the figure being carried onto the bed and returned to the living room with Saitama.

"Ah, that's right." Saitama scratched his head. "We had a fight, and then he passed out. I gave him some basic first aid, and I was wondering whether to take him home—after all, there's only enough food for one person. Luckily, you called in time."

King was shocked. He didn't quite understand just how strong Boros was, but in his opinion, he should be no less powerful than even the top-ranked S-class heroes. To have beaten Boros so badly without sustaining any damage himself—just how terrifying was Saitama's strength...?

King inwardly marveled at the sheer number of monsters in the world, but outwardly remained impassive as he turned and extended an invitation to Saitama:

"Mr. Saitama, since you're here, why don't we have a simple meal together? I just bought a lot of fresh ingredients."

Saitama's eyes lit up instantly upon hearing this, but he still politely declined, saying, "This... wouldn't that be too much of a bother? You still have to take care of the wounded."

"It's okay, I bought a lot. We'll have beef hot pot tonight, what do you think?"

Upon hearing the words "hot pot," Saitama's already wavering will instantly crumbled, and he immediately nodded sincerely in agreement: "Thank you for the treat."

………………

Boros woke up, and what first awakened him was not the excruciating pain in his body, but a rich aroma—the smell of butter, chili, and top-quality Wagyu beef fat simmering in a boiling broth.

He opened his single eye, his vision gradually focusing, and found himself already inside King's apartment building.

He instinctively tried to sit up to check the situation, but was shocked to find that his once proud and strong body was now completely wrapped in dense white bandages, from head to toe, making him look like a newly unearthed mummy, with only his single eye sticking out, making him look extremely comical.

"..."

Boros was speechless. His lips twitched. He tried to sense his internal condition: although his energy was depleted, his external injuries had actually healed automatically while he was unconscious. These bandages covering his body were useless except for restricting his movement and cooling down.

"Which incompetent doctor tied me up like this?"

With a thought, the faint remaining energy within him surged forth, transforming into a visible white wave of energy. Immediately afterward, the bandages wrapped around his body vanished.

Having regained his freedom of movement, Boros stretched his somewhat stiff shoulders and walked out of the room shirtless.

In the spacious living room outside, King and Saitama were sitting around the dining table, enjoying a bubbling hot pot. They were stuffing large mouthfuls of meat into their mouths, sweating profusely as they ate.

Boros strode to the table, looked at the bubbling red oil in the pot, swallowed hard, and said to King, "King! You big, handsome guy, you didn't even invite me to eat hot pot? That's so unfair!"

King: "Boros? You woke up so quickly? I thought you were badly injured and wouldn't wake up for several days!"

At this moment, Saitama, sitting opposite, was engrossed in his work, struggling with the mountain of beef in the pot, his cheeks bulging. Hearing the noise, he finally managed to lift his head, still chewing meat, and mumbled at Boros:

"Boros, you're awake? Perfect timing! Come and sit down! This beef is really good quality, the taste is superb. I just discussed it with King. After all, I caused your injuries, and I'm a very responsible person. I plan to stay at King's house for the next few days to take care of your injuries."

"Huh?" Boros sat down opposite Saitama, casually picked up a piece of beef and stuffed it into his mouth, secretly despising Saitama. Look at me, so energetic and lively, which eye of mine saw that I needed someone to take care of me? I've already seen through your sinister intention of trying to freeload.

However, he didn't expose Saitama's sinister plot on the spot. Firstly, he was afraid that Saitama would get angry, since Saitama's punches really hurt. Secondly, with his thin arms and legs, he needed to hold on tightly to Saitama's leg.

So, Boros naturally joined the hot pot party, and while eating, he asked curiously amidst the steaming heat, "Saitama, were you serious during our fight during the day?"

"It's alright, but Boros, you're the strongest I've ever seen."

Seeing that Saitama was vague and didn't say whether he was serious or not, Boros understood that Saitama probably wasn't taking it too seriously.

What the heck?!

He was already a peak powerhouse who had traversed the galaxy without ever being defeated. Previously, with the system's enhancement, he had broken through his limiter. Although it was just a simple superposition of power, the chain reaction of changes in his entire cellular structure made him much stronger than the original. However, even so, he was still not qualified to satisfy Saitama.

So here's the question: just how strong was Garou from the original manga, who could fight Saitama to a standstill? Did Saitama hold back at all?

"And on what grounds?"

Having seen countless inhabited planets, Boros couldn't find a single opponent of equal strength. How could such a small planet like Earth possibly produce monsters like Saitama, God, Star Wolf, and Blast—monsters of equal strength who could even overwhelm him? Is this reasonable? Is this scientific? Was his title as the overlord of the universe just a joke?

"Damn, I only have myself to blame for appearing too early. If I had appeared a few seasons later, with my daring to call myself the Overlord of the Universe, I might have been able to go toe-to-toe with the gods later on. People like Star Wolf and Blast would have made them kneel down and call me daddy, wouldn't they?"

"Sigh, Shanks appeared early and even had his right arm bitten off by Poseidon. I'm already doing pretty well, barely keeping up with the current version," Boros consoled himself.

Boros fell into deep thought, and when he came to his senses, he found that most of the food on the table had disappeared. He was immediately shocked and turned his grief and anger into a voracious appetite, joining the ranks of those who devoured the food.

After dinner, the three of them sprawled on the sofa, their bellies round and full. Saitama let out a satisfied burp, his gaze casually sweeping over the corner of the living room, where two top-of-the-line game consoles stood gleaming. Instantly, his usually stoic face lit up with a rare gleam in his eyes:

"King, Boros, do you guys play games too? To be honest, I'm actually quite good at them."

You're such a noob, yet you dare to pretend to be a gaming pro in front of King and me? You're just ignorant and showing off your limited skills. "Heh heh."

King didn't say anything, while Boros responded with two polite chuckles.

Seeing that the two were ignoring him, Saitama walked to the game console on his own:

"Since you don't seem too convinced, I can show you a few tricks. In this most popular hero fighting game on the market, I can teach you a few combos, and you'll be able to dominate the platform!"

"Hehe, Saitama, don't be too sure of yourself. I'll be embarrassed for you if you find out you're actually a noob." Boros continued to chuckle.

"How could that be? King, Boros, either of you can try and fight me. I'm really super strong." The bald man said confidently.

Boros had initially been very confident in his abilities, but he had been thoroughly discouraged by King lately. He decided to play it safe and observe the opponent's strength first, so he said to King:

"King, go and fight Saitama. Let him know what a gaming master is. He's just showing off in front of us two kings. He's completely ignorant of his own limitations."

"Come quick, come quick!"

King, feeling helpless, sat down in front of Saitama, grabbed the controller, and the two prepared to battle.

"Hey? King, there's a hero in this fighting game with the same name as you? And he looks just like you too." The blind student noticed something interesting.

"Um, actually, this character is me. This is a game that the Hero Association specially developed and released to promote the image of heroes. The characters in it are all designed based on the heroes in the association."

"This is so cool, and you're an extremely rare hero that's super hard to get! Do you think I can join the Hero Association and have them make a game character for me?" Saitama's eyes lit up as he fantasized about dominating the battlefield with a game character based on himself.

"Saitama, with your strength, joining the Hero Association will definitely not be a problem. If you need it, I will write a letter of recommendation for you to headquarters," King promised.

"Forget about recommendation letters, that would make me a nepotism hire. Just tell me the process for joining the Hero Association, and I'll apply myself." With his own strength, Saitama was sure to have a place among the super rare heroes. He began to look to the future.

"King, why are you picking only green cards? Let me tell you, these characters are all pretty weak. Even if you don't have any rare heroes, you could at least pick a blue one."

The hero King chose in the game brought Saitama back to reality. Saitama thought King wasn't very familiar with the game, so he quickly explained it to him.

"Saitama, I'm used to using these characters, it's fine."

"Alright then, I won't hold back. Don't blame me if you get wrecked."

Saitama shrugged.

Foolish bald demon king, howl in despair and tremble in fear before King's absolute power, hehehehehe.

"Boros, you're behind us with that sinister grin on your face. What's going on?" Saitama asked without turning his head.

"Um, did I just laugh out loud? Sorry, sorry, you guys continue, you guys continue, don't mind me, hehe."