"Welcome back, BOSS!"
"Ann, is this the seafood you mentioned?"
At that moment, Saitama, Mosquito Girl, and Beast King stood in the corridor, staring down at the octopus and various corpses piled up below. It was obvious at a glance that they were genuine seafood, and extremely fresh.
"Yes, the ingredients are plentiful."
Lucien nodded casually and lit a cigarette.
"BOSS, Mr. Saitama, how about we have an outdoor barbecue downstairs tonight?"
Mosquito Girl looked at the mountain of ingredients and suggested grilling everything.
Since she and Beast King had returned earlier, they had already brought back some additional supplies.
"Good."
Saitama's eyes brightened. His bald head still shone like a light bulb, and he remained in his pajamas and slippers, clearly showing that he had not stepped outside all afternoon.
"I'll go prepare the barbecue grill."
Beast King patted his bulging chest. He did not know if it was just his imagination, but he felt like he had gained a bit of weight recently.
"You handle it. I'm going to take a bath first."
Lucien waved his hand lazily.
"BOSS, do you want me to run the bath for you? I can also scrub your back!"
Mosquito Girl blinked her large eyes with anticipation.
"You really are versatile."
Lucien scanned her from head to toe. When it came to housework, Mosquito Girl was incredibly capable. She handled nearly everything with ease, making her extremely useful both at home and while traveling.
Mosquito Girl said nothing, but her eyes curved into crescents.
Her work had been acknowledged by her BOSS, and that alone made her happy.
"No need. Just start preparing dinner earlier. I'm hungry."
After hearing Lucien refuse, Mosquito Girl felt slightly disappointed, but she quickly smiled again and agreed.
Soon, only Saitama remained standing in the long corridor, blinking in confusion. Beast King had gone to prepare the grill, Lucien had gone to bathe, and Mosquito Girl was busy cleaning the ingredients.
It suddenly felt like he had nothing to do.
Why did it feel like he was freeloading here?
Forget it. I'll just go play games.
Scratching his smooth scalp, Saitama calmly returned to his room to continue his gaming session.
Today, he intended to clear the sixth level.
An hour later, night had fully fallen, and the moon tonight was unusually bright.
A gentle breeze drifted through the air. Only Lucien and the others lived in the entire building.
There was also a small garden downstairs, though it had long been abandoned.
Tonight's barbecue was being held there.
Surprisingly, within just an hour, Beast King had completely transformed the abandoned garden. The place was now tidy and well organized, and he had even strung up colorful lights for decoration.
Mosquito Girl wore simple home clothes along with an apron as she busied herself with the cooking. Beast King had originally been helping, but after enough food had been prepared, Mosquito Girl chased him away from the grill.
Beast King had also carried the television downstairs, which was currently broadcasting the evening news.
The report was about the Deep Sea Clan incident in J City.
"Oh, Ann, you're on TV."
Saitama pointed at the screen while chewing on a squid skewer.
"Oh, that. I just handled it casually while passing by. It wasn't interesting at all. We can fight again another day."
Lucien continued eating skewers. He raised his glass, gestured for Saitama and Beast King to clink with him, and then drank it down in one go.
"The Deep Sea King looks very strong. Beast King, you are also a king, so you should be stronger than him, right?"
Saitama looked curiously at Beast King.
"I can't beat him."
Beast King spoke honestly. After swallowing his grilled fish, he shook his large furry head. Although the Deep Sea King had been eliminated by Lucien with a single flick of his finger, the monster's battle record was still impressive.
"Ann, they were heroes, right?"
Aside from combat, Saitama's reflexes in everyday matters were slow. Only now did he realize that Lucien had casually killed the S Class hero Puri-Puri Prisoner.
"He looked like a pervert, so I didn't pay attention."
"Mosquito Girl, grill a few more octopus tentacles for me. Saitama, do you want more?"
Lucien deliberately changed the subject.
Time passed slowly. When most of the food had been grilled, Mosquito Girl finally sat down with them.
The four of them ate, drank, and watched various gossip segments on TV. At one point they even sat through nearly an hour of cartoons. Exactly how the four of them ended up watching cartoons together was unclear, but somehow it happened.
By around ten o'clock, the alcohol had begun to take effect.
Beast King and Mosquito Girl were already lying on the stone table, completely drunk.
Whoosh.
Without anyone noticing, golden lights suddenly appeared in the sky. They streaked across the night in dense clusters, rushing toward the garden with sharp whistling sounds.
Lucien and Saitama, who had been somewhat tipsy moments earlier, instantly sobered up.
In the next second, the entire garden was bombarded.
The sound of countless objects piercing the ground rang out repeatedly. When the dust finally settled, the ground had been filled with exquisitely crafted weapons of every kind.
Long swords, spears, tridents, halberds, and many other weapons covered the area.
However, the space around the stone table remained untouched.
Lucien and Saitama had already stood up. Behind them, Beast King and Mosquito Girl continued sleeping heavily.
Lucien's gaze turned icy as he looked at the figure slowly descending from the sky. A trace of surprise appeared in his eyes.
"I found you."
Olatayo floated in the air wearing golden armor. Behind him, countless golden vortices glowed like portals. Within each vortex, the tips of different weapons glimmered coldly, all aimed toward Lucien and Saitama.
"You appearing here means those two might have followed you as well."
Lucien's expression became serious.
He had always suspected that this world might contain other Reincarnators, but he had never expected that Nana, Olatayo, and Hayato, people who had once appeared in the Pirate World, would show up here as well.
Now that Olatayo had arrived, the situation had become extremely troublesome.
Could these people track him across worlds? Was there truly no way to escape them?
"Do you know each other?"
Saitama glanced back and forth between Lucien and Olatayo.
"He's hunting me."
Lucien lit another cigarette, exhaled a ring of smoke, and spoke calmly.
"Hunting you? So he's stronger than you?"
Saitama's eyes lit up with excitement. Aside from the brief thrill he had felt during his last fight with Lucien, he had not experienced that feeling in years.
"You cannot interfere unless my life is hanging by a thread."
Lucien had no intention of letting Saitama interfere. He wanted to trigger his near death ability.
He had waited a long time for a worthy opponent like this.
Now that Saitama was nearby, he had a safety net.
Whether he won or lost, it would benefit him.
If he won, he would grow stronger. If he lost, the near death ability would activate.
Either way, stepping into battle was necessary.
To put it bluntly, he was about to willingly endure a brutal fight.
High above, Olatayo looked at Saitama but said nothing.
He already knew which world this was and understood how powerful Saitama truly was.
Even so, it did not matter.
Every world had its own rules.
In this world, Saitama was essentially invincible unless someone surpassed a certain limit.
Saitama could be considered the favored child of this world, someone protected by a powerful blessing.
This blessing was often referred to as a World Blessing, a manifestation of the will of the world itself.
That was why characters known as Sons of Destiny existed.
People like Monkey D. Luffy possessed such blessings. In fact, the Pirate World had even granted Luffy a chance at rebirth once.
World Blessings could take many forms.
Sometimes they appeared as extraordinary luck. Sometimes they were connections, encounters, or sudden opportunities that turned danger into safety.
Other times they appeared as overwhelming willpower.
Many famous figures possessed them.
Characters like Eren Yeager, Tanjiro Kamado, Shirou Emiya, and Subaru Natsuki all carried such blessings, though they manifested differently.
Compared to Luffy's dramatic rebirth or Saitama's absolute strength, their blessings were less obvious but still significant.
In simple terms, these blessings created a massive gap between the Sons of Destiny and ordinary people.
Why could the protagonists achieve success from their efforts while ordinary individuals struggled endlessly?
The answer was simple.
They possessed extraordinary fortune.
In another sense, World Blessings were a kind of invisible cheat.
Of course, even destined villains sometimes carried similar blessings.
However, the blessing of a true Son of Destiny was complete.
Villains were always missing just a tiny fraction of it.
And that tiny difference was often the reason they ultimately lost.
Unfortunately for Lucien, he did not know any of this.
Unlike the organized Reincarnators, he lacked that knowledge.
And tonight, that ignorance might cost him dearly.
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