[Orochimaru: Hmph, anything related to time is inherently mysterious. If no one else wants it, I don't mind offering 2,000 dimensional credits to buy one.]
[Tony Stark: Hey now, don't think moneybags Stark is backing down—I'll offer 3,000 dimensional credits.]
[Esdeath: Hmm? What are you guys talking about? Did a new member join? I hope it's someone strong this time!]
[Random User Trying to Cling to Luo Feng's Leg: Relax, powerhouses. Hermione doesn't have a Time-Turner yet. And besides, there's more than one in her world—maybe we can even reverse-engineer the tech…]
[Hermione Granger: Who are you people?!]
[Tony Stark: Oh, right—guess we never introduced ourselves. Standing before you is the genius inventor of the Iron Man suit, CEO of Stark Industries, friend to the U.S. military, and defense contractor extraordinaire—Tony Stark, at your service!]
[Ai Haibara]: Ignore that egomaniac. I'm Ai Haibara, pharmaceutical chemist. I also dabble in biology. Currently setting up an institute for extraordinary lifeforms and their applications. If you need help in that area, come find me.
[Orochimaru]: Heh. Orochimaru, Fourth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. You can browse my services in the group file: "Available Resources and Commissions – Konoha Branch."
[Borsalino]: Just call me Borsalino. I'm nothing more than your average Marine admiral. First-time fruit trades get a discount, newbies~
[Kobayashi]: Wow… everyone's so impressive…
[Hermione Granger]: But I'm just a student. Why am I even here…?
[Random Guy Hoping to Cling to Luo Feng's Leg]: You're a student at Hogwarts, a magic school. No need to belittle yourself—someday, you'll… oh wait, you don't really get that strong later on. Never mind then.
[Ai Haibara]: @Hermione Granger Don't mind that dumb mutt. When he joined, he wasn't much better than you.
[Fubuki]: Honestly, there's no need to introduce yourself. If you stick around the group long enough, you'll naturally figure out who's who.
[Borsalino]: That's true. Hang around and you'll see—everyone here's a good person. Totally.
[Esdeath]: So boring. Anyone up for a fight? This journey is killing me with how dull it is.
[Random Guy Hoping to Cling to Luo Feng's Leg]: Isn't Esdeath-sama currently suppressing the northern tribes?
[Esdeath]: Already slaughtered them. No point suppressing what's dead. I'm heading back to the capital now to see what that snake Minister Honest is plotting.
[Random Guy Hoping to Cling to Luo Feng's Leg]: Back to the capital? Then the Jaegers should be forming soon? Esdeath-sama, if you ever meet a girl named Chelsea in the future, please don't kill her! That's my one and only life's request!
[Esdeath]: What's that supposed to mean? "Jaegers"? Sounds interesting. Who's Chelsea? She dies at my hands?
[Random Guy Hoping to Cling to Luo Feng's Leg]: Chelsea's an assassin from the Night Raid. She's insanely cute. She was my first love…
[Ai Haibara]: First love? She's not even from your world…
[Random Guy Hoping to Cling to Luo Feng's Leg]: So what if I love a 2D girl?! Who says I can't have a relationship with a drawing?!
[Fubuki]: No offense, but if Miss Chelsea is just a regular girl, I doubt the two of you could even physically be together. The size gap is… astronomical.
In the One Punch Man world, Fubuki glanced at her sister Tatsumaki, still sleeping soundly beside her. Considering the size difference between Borsalino and her sister, he'd made her cry last night…
And that "Random Guy" was a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user—specifically the Ancient Zoan: Kong-Gorilla form. His physique now was worlds beyond what it used to be.
To the average person, Fubuki's subordinate, Mountain Ape, was already a "giant beast." But compared to him, Mountain Ape looked like a stunted baby gorilla.
Fubuki genuinely couldn't imagine how someone like that could date a normal-sized girl.
[Random Guy Hoping to Cling to Luo Feng's Leg]: Ah… d-did I overdo it at the gym?
[Tony Stark]: Hey, being buff isn't a bad thing. I know some lady billionaires who go for your type.
[Random Guy Hoping to Cling to Luo Feng's Leg]: No thanks. My stomach's sensitive—can't digest "sugar mama meals." Let Borsalino handle that. With his looks, he's definitely more their type!
[Borsalino]: ???
Borsalino yawned and opened his eyes after chatting with the bunch of clowns in the group, only to be met with a glaringly bald head.
"You're up, huh? I grilled a bunch of meat—let's eat."
Saitama held skewers of meat in both hands like he was offering treasure, enthusiastically passing them to Borsalino.
Thanks to Borsalino funding the Fubuki Group, they were rolling in cash now. All the meat was premium quality, no wonder Saitama was scarfing it down skewer by skewer.
"You've toured the place, you've eaten the food—so, when are you leaving?"
Borsalino politely refused the offering.
What he really wanted was for this bald menace to scram—as far away as possible.
Even though he knew Saitama meant no harm, having him squatting nearby constantly set off his Observation Haki. It was like camping beside a volcano that could erupt any second.
Only difference? A volcano couldn't actually threaten him.
Saitama could.
"When am I going back, huh…"
Saitama looked longingly at the glistening roast meat on the grill. This was the kind of premium meat he usually couldn't bring himself to buy—and no way would a supermarket ever put it on sale.
One bite and the juices burst out, flavor flooding his mouth. It was ridiculously delicious. He honestly felt like he could eat this every day for the rest of his life without getting tired of it.
"Once you're back home, I'll have people deliver roast meat to you every single day!"
Kizaru's mouth twitched slightly as he made the promise without hesitation.
As long as the baldy stayed far away from him, forget roast meat—he'd even deliver roast gold if that's what it took.
"For real?! You're such a great guy!"
Saitama was genuinely shocked. No one had ever treated him this nicely before. If he weren't a guy himself, he might've felt compelled to offer his body in return.
"Absolutely real. I always keep my word… well, except when it comes to scumbags."
Kizaru still cared about maintaining his credibility—at least in principle. Of course, if it involved pirates, that was a different story. In his eyes, pirates were already dead men. And words spoken to the dead? Those didn't count.
"Then I'm relieved. I'll repay you someday!"
Deeply moved, Saitama instantly maxed out his favorability rating toward Kizaru. This wasn't just a good friend—this was his best friend! A best friend who would deliver roast meat every day!
Kizaru just rolled his eyes at that.
Talking about "repaying kindness" while secretly itching to punch him in the face—this bald guy was the living definition of human trash.
"So… when are you leaving?"
Kizaru couldn't hold back any longer—he didn't even bother hiding his eagerness to get rid of Saitama.
Unless you'd experienced it yourself, it was hard to understand the kind of constant sensory stress that came from his Observation Haki being in overdrive. It felt like an old-school alarm clock blaring non-stop in his head.
Sure, Kizaru could suppress his Haki and endure it indefinitely.
But it's not like he wanted to become friends with Saitama. Why should he suffer for that damn baldy?
"Leave? No rush. I'll go once I'm full."
Saitama was double-fisting grilled meat into his mouth. He wasn't being greedy—no, he was just buying time so Genos could explore the place thoroughly. Yeah. That was totally it.
Kizaru was visibly annoyed but didn't say anything more.
He even summoned members of the Blizzard Group and told them to bring more roast meat—feed the baldy full, so he'd get lost sooner.
And so the sun set while they waited.
Saitama, now sporting a round belly, let out a satisfied burp. He casually waved goodbye to Kizaru and left the training ground with Genos.
Kizaru was left standing there, staring speechlessly at the mountain of used skewers.
He'd seen his fair share of big eaters in the pirate world—plenty of so-called "monsters" who could devour an entire cow in one sitting.
But a guy who could eat literally all day? Even Kizaru was slightly stunned. This was the One Punch Man world, after all—and that baldy's existence clearly operated on a different frequency.
"Lord Swift Flash, should we prepare more roast meat tomorrow?"
A member of the Blizzard Group asked nervously. That mountain of skewers represented a lot of running back and forth for them.
When they first noticed how much Saitama could eat, they even started placing bets on him—only to end up with the bookies themselves stunned into silence.
"Keep prepping. That guy probably won't come back tomorrow… Oh, and get more seafood—I want to switch it up."
Kizaru had come to terms with it: as long as the baldy didn't show up, eating a bit more was no big deal. Even if the guy could eat an entire slaughterhouse, Kizaru could just buy a few dozen more. Let him eat his fill.
But clearly, Kizaru had underestimated both Saitama's shamelessness and lack of boundaries.
Because the next morning, when he returned to the training ground with Tatsumaki and Fubuki, he saw two all-too-familiar figures at the gate.
To be honest, Kizaru's mood was already halfway to collapse.
"S-Class Rank 17, the demon cyborg… but who's the bald guy?"
Tatsumaki hovered in mid-air, glancing at Saitama with a hint of disdain.
She looked noticeably more mature than before, though her petite figure still gave her an airy lightness.
Ever since realizing she could no longer "control" Fubuki—first convinced by her sister's words, then by Kizaru—Tatsumaki had started to accept her fate.
Now, she was ready to settle down as Kizaru's partner.
And if she was going to be his partner, she had to understand everything about him. At least, that's how Tatsumaki saw it. That included understanding his social circles.
"If I remember right, he's C-Class Rank 5, the Caped Baldy. Rose through the ranks pretty fast—definitely someone with potential."
As the leader of the Blizzard Group, Fubuki kept close tabs on all B-Class heroes—and C-Class heroes who were nearing a promotion.
To her, someone like Saitama—who had jumped from Rank 388 to Rank 5 in such a short time—was absolutely worth recruiting into her group.
Of course, that would have to wait until he officially became a B-Class hero.
So far, all 30 members of the Blizzard Group were B-Class. No matter how promising someone was, Fubuki wasn't about to make exceptions.
"He's a seriously annoying guy. Just pretend he doesn't exist—once he's full, he'll leave."
Kizaru hadn't yet realized Fubuki was plotting to bring Saitama into her group. If he had, he'd definitely put a stop to it.
Just a few encounters had already been enough to get Saitama glued to him. If the guy joined the Blizzard Group, Kizaru would never get a moment's peace.
"Finally! Genos and I've been waiting forever."
Saitama greeted Kizaru with his usual overfamiliar energy, completely ignoring Tatsumaki and Fubuki behind him.
Maybe it was because he so badly wanted an equal opponent—every time he saw Kizaru, Saitama got a little weird.
Others might misunderstand, but Kizaru could feel it clearly: buried deep inside Saitama was a terrifying fighting spirit—like a primeval beast barely held in check.
That was exactly why Kizaru would never agree to spar with him. Who knew what Saitama might do if that monstrous intent ever broke free?
Kizaru had no intention of being the lab rat. A fully unleashed Saitama probably had at least star-busting power as a baseline—and the upper limit? No one knew. Better to leave that kind of opponent to a Super Saiyan.
"Good morning, Flash-senpai! Miss Tornado of Terror! Lady Blizzard!"
Genos greeted Kizaru and the two women behind him politely. He'd already seen everything worth seeing yesterday, but if his teacher wanted to visit Kizaru, he wasn't going to object.
"Morning. Come on in."
Kizaru rubbed his forehead. Out of respect for Genos, he didn't snap at Saitama.
To those far below Saitama's level—heroes who could only gaze at his back—this "for fun" hero was practically their guardian deity.
But for Kizaru, whose strength was on roughly the same tier, it was complicated. He could go toe-to-toe with Saitama, and that made his feelings more mixed.
"Lady Blizzard, Lord Flash, the seafood you requested yesterday… it's all ready…"
A Blizzard Group member came forward as Kizaru and the others approached—but before he could finish, he saw Saitama walking behind them.
Remembering how he'd nearly worn his legs down running in circles yesterday, the smile on his face twisted into something worse than crying.
°°°
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