: Meteorite Attack

A few pleasant days slipped by quietly in the midst of tranquility.

At first, when it was shown that Tiger-level or even Wolf-level monsters were causing trouble, Boros would feel a little excited and go to suppress them. But before long, he found that the Hero Association would quickly clean up these kinds of disasters. Most importantly, the energy points given by the system were pitifully small. After a few days, he completely lost interest. Unless he encountered a disaster of Demon-level or higher, he would spend his days holed up in his apartment playing games and watching TV.

Saitama, who had just become a C-class hero, had become quite diligent lately, no longer slacking off. His desire to advance to S-class drove him to go out every day at dawn to search for any monsters that might appear. After all, everyone else in the group was S-class, even his newly accepted disciple, making him feel extremely embarrassed.

That day, Genos came over with breakfast as usual. The group sat around a small table and quickly finished their meal.

Saitama, rubbing his slightly bulging belly, was about to go out for a stroll as usual to digest his food and see if he could hunt some monsters when he was stopped by Genos, who had a serious expression on his face.

"Teacher, please wait." Genos's eyes were filled with unprecedented sincerity and longing.

"Please teach me how I can become as powerful as you and Master Boros?"

Seeing this, Saitama sat back down on the sofa, abandoning his nonchalant expression and staring intently at Genos:

"Genos, are you really mentally prepared? If you want to become as strong as me, you'll have to endure hellish training that most people can't even imagine."

"Yes, teacher! No matter how hard or tiring it is, I can persevere!"

Genos's tone was firm, and even King, who was standing to the side preparing to play a game, was infected by the serious atmosphere. He silently put down his controller and leaned over to listen to Saitama's secret to becoming stronger.

"Alright, since you've asked so sincerely, I'll share my exclusive experience with you," Saitama cleared his throat and raised a finger.

"Listen up, there are only four steps to getting stronger: do 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10-kilometer run every day. Do all of these exercises every day, rain or shine."

Another important point is to eat three meals a day on time. But the most crucial secret is—no matter how hot or cold the weather is, never turn on the air conditioner! If you stick to these basic practices for a few years, you'll become as strong as me.

An eerie silence fell over the living room.

After a long pause, Genos finally couldn't hold back any longer and retorted emotionally:

"Saitama-sensei, please don't joke like that! These training programs are just basic physical exercises, not difficult at all. I became your student because I genuinely want to learn the secrets to becoming stronger, not to listen to these perfunctory jokes!"

"Ah, but there really isn't anything else." Saitama felt a little wronged because Genos misunderstood him.

"Jack, don't get excited, don't get excited," Boros advised from the side.

"Actually, Saitama is already a freak of nature, so his methods of becoming stronger are not applicable to anyone else except himself."

"You bastard pineapple head, who are you calling a pervert?"

Boros selectively ignored this and continued speaking to Genos:

"Speaking of which, Genos, your situation is different from ours. You're a cyborg, so you don't need to forge your physical body. To become stronger, you just need to load a more efficient engine and more powerful weapons to continuously upgrade this metal body, right?"

"Is that so, Professor Boros?" Genos's eyes, which had been burning with fighting spirit, dimmed instantly, and his voice revealed an undisguised sense of disappointment.

"Even someone as powerful as you can't teach me anything? Is it because I'm a cyborg, and the only way to improve me is by upgrading my parts and weapons?"

"Of course! I can also teach you the art of showing off, making you exude confidence and charisma..."

The thought flashed through Boros's mind, but in order to maintain his image as a great and imposing mentor, he obviously couldn't say such a thing in this serious setting.

Seeing Genos looking dejected and listless, Boros quickly winked at the bald man, signaling him to say something.

If I don't say something, a perfectly healthy and sunny young man might lose his life goals and become despondent. That would be truly misleading and a disservice to him. It's not because I'm afraid of losing an all-powerful family robot or anything like that.

"Damn it, that darn pineapple head, he actually gave me such a difficult problem. I don't have anything to teach him at all. Think quickly, think quickly, is there any training method that won't be exposed? I'm doomed, all I can think about is physical training. Genos will definitely not be satisfied with this. It makes me sound like I'm lying to him."

Saitama tried to come up with a solution, sweating profusely as he pondered, but couldn't come up with anything.

Seeing that the bald man had been thinking for a long time without uttering a single word, Boros could only clear his throat, adopt the demeanor of a peerless master, and say earnestly:

"Genos, while we can't really help with hardware upgrades and body modifications, I believe that on the path to forging a true powerhouse, besides a cold, mechanical body, there's something even more important: an indomitable spirit and the determination to protect everything in battle."

"That's right!" Saitama also looked serious after hearing this. Although he didn't understand what Boros was talking about at all, it didn't stop him from blindly following along.

His eyes were sharp, and he began to spout nonsense with a straight face: "Genos, I endured those inhumanly painful training sessions solely because of my belief that I wanted to become a hero. It wasn't just because of the increased physical strength, but also because I possessed an unwavering will of steel!"

This invisible force, the belief that allows me to persevere through even the most painful and desperate moments, is the ultimate secret to my becoming stronger! As a cyborg, instead of blindly pursuing physical limits, why not try changing your mindset and finding a goal to strive for? That might just help you break through your limitations and become even stronger!

"Saitama is right, Genos." Boros's expression became more serious than ever before, and even his voice lowered.

"A person's strength is multifaceted. That is to say, you not only need to increase your physical strength or hone your skills, but most importantly, you need to forge your will and temper your spirit to be stronger than steel!"

Boros took a step forward, his eyes fixed intently on Genos:

"Although you're currently an S-class hero, you're only ranked at the very bottom! This doesn't reflect your potential at all. So, as your teacher, I'm setting a small goal for you: strive to break into the top ten of S-class heroes within six months through both mental and physical training, surpassing my current level. Do you understand?"

"I see..." Genos's previously dim eyes regained their fighting spirit, and he involuntarily straightened his metal body, speaking with solemn respect.

"So this is the real secret to the two teachers' strength! I understand now. From this moment on, I will never let my teachers down. I will engrave this will into my very being, work hard, and strive to achieve the goals they set for me as soon as possible!"

Seeing that Genos had taken the advice to heart, his hope for life was rekindled.

Boros and Saitama exchanged a glance, wiped the cold sweat from their brows, and both breathed a sigh of relief, thinking at the same time, "Great, we finally managed to fool everyone with all that nonsense we rambled on about that we can't even remember ourselves."

Overhearing Boros and Saitama talking about possessing an iron will, and recalling their usual lazy and unambitious behavior, King fell into deep thought...

........................

The air in the conference room of the Hero Association headquarters in City A seemed to freeze, so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

Dozens of high-ranking association officials sat solemnly around a long table. Their usual power struggles and bickering had vanished, replaced by a deathly silence. On the enormous electronic screen, a scarlet dot of light was rapidly approaching Earth's coordinates, the cold, impersonal countdown numbers piercing the nerves of everyone present.

"The situation has been confirmed." The officer in charge of intelligence analysis broke the silence, his voice trembling slightly. "The Civil Aviation Administration just sent an emergency notification: a super-giant meteorite will impact the Earth in thirty minutes, heading straight for Z City."

The moment the words left his mouth, the atmosphere in the conference room plummeted to freezing. Some gasped, while others closed their eyes in despair.

"According to calculations, once the meteorite hits the ground, Z City will be completely annihilated in an instant. The shockwave generated will even affect several surrounding satellite cities, and the casualties will be incalculable." Another cadre pointed to the simulation animation on the screen, in which the bustling city was reduced to dust in the flames.

"The disaster level has been officially designated as Dragon-level, and it is a special-level disaster."

"I have urgently contacted all the S-class heroes on standby," a senior leader of the association said with a grim face, his brow furrowed with anxiety. "Have any capable heroes immediately attempt to intercept or deflect the enemy's trajectory."

"However..." The leader paused, his tone becoming unusually heavy, "Everyone must prepare for the worst. The most suitable person to deal with this kind of natural disaster would normally be the trembling tornado, who possesses the telekinetic power to alter atmospheric flow. However, just now, after personally observing the scale of the meteorite, she fell silent."

"What?! Even tornadoes…" a young cadre exclaimed, his face full of disbelief. "Isn't she usually the most confident one, always clamoring to be handed over to her to handle all the powerful enemies and intractable disasters?"

"There's nothing we can do about it," a senior cadre sighed, his eyes filled with helplessness. "After all, this is a true natural disaster, something that the human body or telekinesis can't withstand. It's the violence of nature, the crushing force of the laws of physics."

"Damn it... Is there really no other way?" The other person slammed his fist on the table, his eyes red-rimmed.

"That's an entire city! Millions of lives! Half an hour isn't enough to evacuate everyone, not even a tenth!"

The meeting room erupted in chaos as everyone argued amongst themselves. Some suggested using missiles to intercept it, while others proposed activating air defense shields. But every proposal seemed utterly inadequate in the face of that massive meteorite.

"Enough!" The association leader slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly, sternly stopping the pointless argument. He looked around, his eyes resolute.

"Now is not the time for blame or wishful thinking. Listen, immediately issue the highest-level emergency evacuation notice to Z City and surrounding areas across all channels! Tell citizens to run as far as they can and hide as deep as possible!"

He turned around, his back to the crowd, and looked at the approaching Death Star on the screen. His voice was low as he said, "Save as many people as you can..."