Dimensional Chat Group: Speed-o'-Light

"Mmm... this chocolate cake is amazing... the donuts are so good... and these chips and soda... wow..."

While Tony Stark and Ai Haibara were busy reviewing technical data and high-end equipment, and Kizaru was looting mechs, missiles, and weapons, Xiao Mei, fresh from the Dou Qi Continent, had completely fallen in love with the pleasures of modern life.

One could only imagine how Xiao Yan would react when he saw his little cousin returning with arms full of chips and junk food, after tagging along just to mooch a few benefits.

"Aliens take twenty years just to reach Earth, but people from other worlds can just pop in whenever they want..."

Tatsumaki had come to terms with the idea of a dimensional chat group, but that didn't stop her from throwing a sarcastic jab.

"We're all just regular people, really. I went to Ai-chan's world once—they couldn't even guess who I was."

Fubuki smiled, joining the conversation. The only thing she regretted was not being able to bring her sister into the group chat. Going on multiverse adventures with Tatsumaki would've been a dream.

Luckily, Orochimaru was still researching that kind of tech—maybe there was hope.

"Hm? Did you ever run into any locked-room murders?"

Kizaru walked over carrying a remote-controlled tank. Even though he had buried all evidence deep underground, it hadn't even been two days since Dr. Bofoi's death when Child Emperor personally showed up.

As Bofoi's former assistant, Child Emperor wasn't there to point fingers—he just wanted to confirm if it was Kizaru who had done it.

If so, then fine—he and Dr. Bofoi hadn't exactly been close. In fact, when he heard about the old man's death, he'd been tempted to set off fireworks.

But due diligence demanded he rule out other possibilities—like a powerful monster or surviving alien faction still hiding on Earth.

Even as someone whose hero rank now surpassed Metal Knight's, Child Emperor had to admit—Dr. Bofoi was a terrifying old man.

Anything capable of killing him—whether monster or alien—was something worth fearing.

Fortunately, Kizaru admitted it quite straightforwardly—at least in private. If it had been someone from the Hero Association's upper brass, he'd have definitely shifted the blame.

Child Emperor had no intention of pressing the matter.

In fact, it was Kizaru who called him over and, using gadgets looted from Bofoi's labs, bartered for a bunch of strange contraptions.

Ruler lightsabers, umbrella shields, pencil missiles…

Maybe not the most viable in real combat, but the black-tech level was high enough to make him look like Doraemon at a cosplay convention.

Even the toy cannon on Kizaru's remote tank could match the firepower of a real battle tank.

"Murder case?"

Fubuki tilted her head, tapping her lip with a finger and showing a puzzled expression—clearly not catching Kizaru's reference.

Understandable. No matter how deranged a serial killer might be, they'd probably freeze in shock upon encountering someone with psychic powers. Totally different genre.

"Haha, I just heard from the locals. They say Ai's world is full of locked-room murders, and I got curious if that's actually true."

Kizaru chuckled, fiddling with the remote tank. He was already planning to toss the device over to Vegapunk to reverse-engineer some of this black-tech.

Compared to Dr. Bofoi's high-end, high-cost, and hard-to-mass-produce weapons, Kizaru much preferred these "gadgets."

He didn't even need them to be as crazy as this remote tank—just getting every basic marine soldier a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher would be a game-changer.

Forget the Yonko or the Warlords. Even the Supernovas would get blown up—ship and all.

Tony Stark, of course, wanted to win that contract. Sure, the profit margin on a single rocket might not be high, but with the Navy's huge numbers and constant consumption, it would be a long-term goldmine.

Landing that deal would mean Stark Industries wouldn't need to worry about orders for decades.

Too bad Kizaru just glanced at the quote and coldly told them to scram.

He even firmly rejected Tony Stark's attempts at bribery with beautiful women. That might've worked when Kizaru was still working under the World Government—but now that he was planning to overthrow them?

There was no way he'd spend that kind of money on overpriced military gear.

With his wealth, he could outfit a million marines with gear on par with US Special Forces—but the bullets, shells, and rockets weren't one-time costs. They'd burn through his wallet like wildfire.

If he didn't want to be held hostage by supply chains—or see his gold vaults drained—he had to produce locally.

Unfortunately, the Navy's engineering skills were still subpar.

Even after Kizaru provided samples, they still hadn't made anything up to his standards.

Out of options, Kizaru began looking into some "unorthodox" solutions—trying to enhance the Navy's combat capability with black-tech.

"I never ran into one... But are you really okay handing the whole training camp over to that bald guy in a cape?"

Fubuki shook her head, still looking anxiously toward the direction of the training grounds.

Even though Kizaru had repeatedly said Saitama was strong, it was hard for Fubuki to imagine it for herself…

That dopey-looking bald guy—stronger than even the universe-conquering tyrant Boros? It didn't quite compute.

"Don't worry. He's reliable… well, unless there's a supermarket sale."

Kizaru knew exactly what was on Fubuki's mind. But honestly, if he didn't send Saitama to mess with Groribas and those other heroes, who else was going to deal with them—him?

Especially after hearing from Groribas just how terrifying Boros was—well, terrifying in his eyes, anyway—Saitama had started giving Kizaru a very mournful look.

He hadn't outright complained that Kizaru stole a great opponent from him, but the hints had been there—constantly pressing Kizaru for "compensation."

At this rate, if Kizaru didn't find him something to do soon, Saitama might just come up with an excuse to fight him out of boredom.

"By the way, the Association just released the new hero rankings. They also finalized the bonuses and rewards for those who contributed during the alien invasion…"

Since Kizaru seemed dead set on his decision, Fubuki gave up trying to change his mind and switched topics, bringing up recent news from the Hero Association.

Normally, heroes receive monthly stipends based on their class ranking.

On top of that, there are bonuses for defeating monsters or protecting civilians.

Usually, these are awarded directly to the heroes. But the alien invasion had been catastrophic—City A was practically flattened, and Kizaru's final attack had lit up half the planet.

To keep public morale stable, the Association had released the full details of the god-level disaster, along with updated hero rankings and rewards.

"Oh, they finally put it out? I was wondering how long they were going to stall."

Kizaru curled his lip in mild annoyance. He'd started wondering if the Association was targeting him, or maybe they'd already guessed he was the one who took out Madame Pelus.

"According to the new list, the top three S-Class spots remain unchanged. You're now ranked fourth. Atomic Samurai dropped to fifth, Child Emperor to sixth. Metal Knight was removed completely after refusing to be mobilized and offering no explanation afterward.

After that it goes: KING, Drive Knight, Pig God, Flashy Flash, Zombie Man, Superalloy Darkshine, Genos, Watchdog Man, Tanktop Master, Metal Bat, and Puri-Puri Prisoner…"

It was Fubuki's first time seeing such major shifts in the Association's rankings, but then again, this had been the first time nearly every S-Class hero had participated in an operation.

"Doesn't sound like the list changed that much… Wait, KING? I don't remember him doing anything."

Kizaru tried to recall the details. Though he had been busy soloing Boros, the power gap had been so vast that he still had bandwidth to observe what was happening on the ground.

With KING's actual combat strength, it was hard to believe he'd contributed in any meaningful way. Not exactly someone fit to play the hero.

"Because of how unique the enemy was this time, KING didn't really get a chance to shine. But the Association mostly ranks based on merit and presence. Otherwise, you'd be sitting at number one!"

Fubuki explained, though halfway through she couldn't help casting a look of awe toward Kizaru.

Sure, she had seen him in action before—back during the Marineford War, she had watched a live stream of his powers through the group chat feature.

But witnessing Kizaru in person as he saved the entire Earth was on a completely different level.

"I see… Makes sense, I guess."

Kizaru said with a suppressed smile. KING's whole situation was absurd, but then again, Buggy the Clown existed too. When you remembered that, everything else started to feel pretty reasonable.

"Also, the event has been officially classified as a theoretical-level 'God Disaster'!"

Tatsumaki chimed in at that moment. With her strength, she didn't normally worry much about Dragon-class disasters.

Most Dragon-level monsters weren't even close to being a threat to her. But even she had felt powerless in front of a foe like Boros, the conqueror of galaxies

°°°

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