: Saitama's Frenzied Advancement

"And Metal Knight."

Boros turned his head, his crimson pupils reflecting the other's metallic body.

"If you want to test the performance of your new weapon, then go test it somewhere else, don't get in my way here!"

"Heh, the Azure Heaven Overlord Fist Boros, huh? Just as the database shows, he's arrogant and overbearing."

The three red dots above the Metal Knight's head flickered slightly, and the cold, mechanical voice remained completely still.

"However, I'm not here to engage in pointless arguments with you. I'm here as an S-class hero conducting an independent operation, testing new weapons. What business is it of yours?"

Before the words were even finished, the Metal Knight's round, silvery-white body suddenly emitted a sickening hydraulic contraction sound. The originally smooth armor plates bloomed open like flower petals, revealing the dense black components inside.

With a chilling mechanical sound of unfolding, countless black miniature missile launchers emerged from its body like a honeycomb. Each barrel gleamed with a cold, eerie light, and illuminated by the surrounding flames, it resembled a forest of death, clearly preparing to launch a missile attack.

"Since you can't understand human language, then disappear."

Boros's gaze suddenly turned deathly cold, as if he were looking at a pile of worthless scrap metal. Instantly, pale spatial energy gathered wildly in his palm, compressing into a terrifying sphere of distorted light, which then transformed into an extremely condensed, deathly beam of light that flashed past at a speed exceeding the limits of retinal perception.

The missile array, powerful enough to destroy a city, didn't even have time to unleash a single spark before the Metal Knight's steel body crumbled like fragile paper, turning into scattered scrap metal amidst a violent explosion, plummeting to the ground in plumes of black smoke.

"What are you standing there for? That's just a reconnaissance robot remotely controlled by Metal Knight, not the real thing. Hurry up and prepare to stop the meteor!"

Boros frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping over the astonished crowd before finally settling on Genos, who stood dumbfounded beside him, his voice tinged with displeasure.

Seeing that the meteorite was about to fall, Genos, who had just come to his senses, didn't have time to think about anything else. He put his arms together, palms facing each other, and the reactor in his body instantly went overclocked, emitting a piercing roar. All the energy in his body frantically gathered into his palms without reservation.

Immediately afterwards, a thick, blazing red beam of energy erupted and slammed into the sky.

"Full-power incineration cannon!"

A deafening roar tore through the sky as Genos's all-out incineration cannon collided violently with the burning giant meteorite. A blazing beam of energy fiercely halted the meteorite's descent.

A blinding flash of fire instantly engulfed half the sky, and the shockwave, carrying debris, spread wildly in all directions. In that breathtaking moment, the meteorite's massive body actually paused slightly.

However, this confrontation lasted only a brief second before the meteorite's unparalleled gravity and inertia crushed the energy beam, continuing its descent with even more ferocious flames, still carrying an aura of destruction.

"Is it... still not working?"

Genos's arms fell limply to his sides as he collapsed heavily onto the rubble. His energy was completely depleted. He gazed at the unstoppable natural disaster, his voice filled with deep helplessness and despair.

"Well done, Genos."

Boros's calm voice rang out, his gaze piercing through the billowing dust, as he spoke softly:

"What I want to see is not the result of you shattering the meteorite, but to forge your courage to face death and your determination to never back down in this desperate situation. Leave the rest to me."

As Boros spoke, he slowly raised his right arm.

"Collapse Star Roaring Cannon, Aaaaaah!"

A fierce voice suddenly rang out.

Boros froze abruptly, his raised right arm hanging in mid-air. He turned his head in confusion, his one eye fixed on Saitama standing not far away—that aggressive voice had clearly come from this bald man's mouth.

Seeing Boros looking at him, Saitama awkwardly scratched his head and said:

"Ah, isn't that the name of your signature move? I tried shouting it for you. Keep going, keep going, the meteor is about to fall!"

Boros "……………"

Damn it, if I could beat you, I could beat you up eight times a day.

Boros took a deep breath, abandoning the ritualistic act of shouting his move. He raised his arm again, gathering energy in his palm, which transformed into a huge, dazzling pure white pillar of light that shot into the sky, instantly enveloping the giant meteorite that was falling in the sky. Faced with this destructive energy, the meteorite's hard rock layers collapsed with a bang and were completely annihilated into nothingness cosmic dust.

"The meteorite...has it completely disappeared?"

Bangu suddenly raised his head, his eyes fixed on the sky that had been shrouded in the shadow of the meteorite. Now, only a clear blue sky remained, as if the catastrophe that had been enough to destroy the city had never existed.

"Although this isn't the first time I've witnessed Professor Boros in action, the level of power he possesses is truly astounding..."

Genos stood frozen amidst the ruins, his voice filled with awe:

"Every time, it feels... truly too powerful. This catastrophic power is so strong that it's beyond our reach."

Having already turned back after launching the energy, without even glancing at the result, Boros said calmly:

"These mere specks of sand are nothing compared to me. Let's go back."

Saitama was also dumbfounded. He was not surprised by Boros's power, but by Boros's behavior today, which made him seem to have realized something.

It seems that fighting monsters isn't just as simple as just punching them away. A tactic called "showing off" began to sprout in Saitama's mind.

On the way back, the setting sun cast long shadows. Genos immediately switched into meticulous note-taking mode, pulling out his treasured notebook from his chest. He hurried to catch up with Boros, frantically flipping through the pages, his brow furrowed, muttering to himself:

"Not even a fraction of what I have..." "Immovable as a mountain..." "A waste of time..."

He checked it word by word, afraid of missing a single punctuation mark.

Saitama, too, remained silent throughout, his gaze fixed on the ground, yet his focus was unfocused. He was deep in thought, simulating something:

"Next time I encounter a crab monster or something, should I turn my back to it first, and then turn around the moment it attacks, and casually say 'You're too slow'?" As he thought about it, a glimmer of expectation actually flashed in Saitama's eternally dead fish eyes.

"King, King"

Boros rubbed his hands together excitedly, leaned close to King, and whispered:

"Could I take a look at the video I asked you to record for me today?"

King said expressionlessly:

"I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

"What's going on? Are they trying to trick me?" Boros said, frowning.

"Let me hear the bad news first."

King nodded: "The good news is that I did record it for you."

"Damn, you selectively ignore human language too, huh?" Boros's unease intensified, and he continued, asking further:

"And the bad news?"

"The bad news is, I was so scared when the meteorite was about to fall that my hand trembled, and the equipment fell from the building..."

……

"So all that pretense I put on was for some old man? What a waste of my time!"

"Aaaaaah, King, take this from my Hellfire Unparalleled Blazing Wave Cannon..."

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

One day later, at the Hero Association headquarters

The heavy doors of the conference room slowly closed, shutting out the outside noise. High-ranking members of the Hero Association sat on both sides of the long table, a relaxed atmosphere filling the air. After all, the meteorite catastrophe that nearly destroyed the city yesterday had been resolved.

Sitch, sitting in the main seat, cleared his throat, spread an urgent document on the table, scanned the room, and broke the silence with a deep voice.

"This is an emergency task report on the handling of yesterday's meteorite disaster."

As he finished speaking, everyone's eyes were focused on that thin piece of paper.

"Based on the current tracking data, the list of heroes who participated in this rescue operation has been confirmed," Sitch read out the list.

"Silver Fang Bang, King, Azure Fist Boros, Metal Cyborg Genos, and... a C-class hero, Saitama."

"Great! S-class heroes are indeed very reliable!"

A logistics officer slammed his hand on the table. "They can even handle natural disasters like that. No wonder they're S-class!"

Another high-ranking official in charge of intelligence analysis adjusted his glasses and asked:

How is the battle described in the mission report? Is there a detailed analysis of the battle situation?

Sickey gave a wry smile and shook his head helplessly:

"Because the energy released at the scene was too violent, the shock wave interfered with all frequency bands, and our satellite monitoring was unable to capture any clear images at all, and even the audio was just a lot of noise."

"So, we can only see the result, but not the process?" someone asked, frowning.

"That's right."

Sitch pointed to the last line of the report, "Cause unknown, details unknown. The mission report only hastily wrote one sentence—Disaster response completed."

A low murmur of complaint immediately filled the conference room.

"Sigh, the mission reports from S-class heroes are basically useless. They're always so careless."

"However," Sitch changed the subject, his tone becoming more serious:

"It is worth mentioning that during this incident, Soten Hakuken and Metal Knight got into a dispute."

"dispute?"

"Yes," Sitch nodded.

"Based on the analysis of the robot wreckage left at the scene, it seems that the Azure Heaven Fist attacked Metal Knight's latest combat robot, turning it directly into scrap metal."

"That's not surprising," a high-ranking official scoffed.

"Golden Knight's lone wolf personality, it's no wonder they clash when they meet Soten Haken."

"I understand, but we still need to keep an eye on it." The coordinating official sighed.

"Let's try to mediate. As fellow S-class heroes, and even forces crucial to the survival of Earth, it's best not to let things get too tense."

After a brief silence, Sitch, who was in the main seat, looked around and posed the final question.

"So, everyone, what are your thoughts on yesterday's mission? Given that we successfully averted the meteorite crisis, I propose that we move up the rankings of all the S-class heroes involved in this event by one level, as a way of recognizing their achievements. What do you think?"

"agree."

I second that.

With a few crisp and decisive echoes, everyone raised their hands, and the resolution to raise the ranking of the S-class heroes who participated in this meteorite event by one level was unanimously passed.

Having resolved the S-class issue, Sitch's gaze returned to the report, his fingers lightly tapping the name "Saitama," his tone becoming somewhat tentative.

"Finally, there's Saitama, a C-rank hero. Considering he also participated in the operation, I propose we promote him directly to B-rank, second place. What do you think?"

"What? Isn't this too hasty?"

An official in charge of hero management exclaimed in surprise:

"Second place in Rank B? Or did he jump directly up from an unknown Rank C?"

"yes."

Another cadre frowned and echoed:

"This Saitama guy seems unremarkable in the previous records. He didn't seem to have done anything special, right? Maybe he just happened to be passing by."

Faced with everyone's questions, Sitch did not rush to refute them. Instead, he slowly pulled out another document from the folder, which was a top-secret file about the hero's background investigation.

"Everyone, this Saitama is not as simple as he seems on the surface."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, and slowly said:

"He entered the association in the same period as the cyborgs and scored full marks in the physical fitness test."

"Not only that," Sitch continued, "King even called specifically to ask him to be exempted from the assessment briefing."

The atmosphere in the meeting room began to become subtle.

"And, most importantly," Sitch raised his voice:

"The association's covert investigation revealed that Saitama, King, and Boros are extremely close. The three of them live under the same roof."

"ah?!"

This news came as a shock, leaving everyone present wide-eyed.

"The newly promoted S-class cyborg also visits their home every day!" the high-ranking official said, emphasizing each word.

"It's fair to say that these four people have formed an extremely stable little group."

A deathly silence enveloped the entire conference room.

A high-ranking official broke the silence with a muttered remark: "So it's just a small group of three S-class members?... "

"In a team full of S-rank heroes, how did this C-rank hero manage to sneak in?" Another officer pushed up his glasses, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.

"No matter what role he plays in there, it's definitely far more than just a C-level character."

"I agree to promote him to second place in Rank B."

The cadre who had previously been the most vehemently opposed changed his mind and nodded emphatically.

I agree.

This time, no one raised any objections. Thus, Saitama's blank resume now included the record of "assisting several S-class spies in eliminating the meteorite disaster."