Chapter 192: Then How the Hell am I Supposed to be S-Class Rank 1?!
Garou's words hit home like a piercing arrow, striking straight through Bang's emotional defenses.
The titan of the martial arts world lowered his head. When he looked up again, his wrinkled eyes were rimmed with a faint, glistening red.
"What made you want to come back suddenly? Do you no longer wish to carry out your path of 'Absolute Evil'?"
Facing Bang's question, Garou scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He pointed a thumb at his chest, his gaze defiant but softer than before.
"Not exactly. This genius still intends to become Absolute Evil. I've just decided to change the method."
At this point, a flash of genuine guilt crossed Garou's eyes. He suddenly bowed his head, his voice thickening with a slight tremor.
"I'm sorry, old man. I shouldn't have done what I did. I threw your hard work back in your face. Just... give me one more chance. This time, I'll find the right way to reach my ideal."
Bang stood frozen for a long time. Finally, he raised a hand, his palm trembling slightly.
He placed his hand on Garou's head, ruffling the coarse, spiky white hair.
"It's good to have you back... it's good to have you back..."
The two locked eyes, and in that moment, the years of estrangement and the broken bond between master and disciple were mended.
Bang stroked his white mustache, his voice full of joy.
"Now, can you tell your Master exactly what happened during your time away from the dojo?"
Garou nodded and began to recount his journey since his defection.
When Bang heard that Garou had the audacity to challenge King—the Strongest Man on Earth—only to get slapped into a coma and tossed into a jail cell, the old man couldn't help but chuckle.
So this brat actually did time in the slammer!
However, when the story reached the part where Garou was hijacked in prison by the mastermind known as GOD, Bang's expression soured.
It seems my intuition wasn't wrong back then... I just didn't realize... that Garou was being piloted like a puppet...
"You must have suffered much on this road," Bang said, his voice raspy with emotion.
Garou, who had been talking a mile a minute about his exploits, suddenly paused. He pursed his lips.
"Psh, it was nothing. I'm a beast, remember? A few bumps in the road don't mean a thing. But forget that part—I haven't even gotten to the main event yet!"
Bang continued to listen as Garou described the final battle.
When he heard that King had literally chased GOD into the heart of a star, beaten Him into submission, and then dragged a dying Garou out of the solar fire, Bang finally lost his composure.
The battle was that intense?!
Bang's final memory of the war was King appearing like a descending god, taking GOD away while one-shotting Solar Sperm. He had no idea the fight had escalated to a cosmic scale beyond the stars.
"If that's the case," Bang teased, "how do you plan to carry out your 'Absolute Evil' now? King is a pretty high wall to climb, after all."
Hearing the jab, Garou puffed out his chest with renewed confidence.
"I've already talked it over with the 'Strongest Man.' He gave me a bit of a roadmap."
"To become Absolute Evil, I don't necessarily have to beat every hero into the hospital. There's a more efficient way to prove I'm the ultimate representative of monsters.
"I'm going to become a professional hero. I'll climb the ranks until I hit S-Class Rank 1. I'll surpass that mysterious guy, Blast, and stand at the very top. And then, once I'm the undisputed number one hero... I'll reveal my monster form! I'll turn the entire system on its head! It'll be the ultimate Absolute Evil move!"
Bang understood King's intent immediately.
I see... King wants Garou to become a hero... to let him experience the weight of that title and the essence of protection... essentially steering him back to the light through his own ambition...
Unexpectedly clever... and surprisingly gentle.
Wait...
"Become Rank 1 by surpassing the mysterious Blast?" Bang looked at the excited Garou with a very strange expression.
This kid... is he really this out of the loop?
As it turned out, Bang's hunch was correct. These past few days, Garou had been busy tracking down the new location of the dojo and worrying about where his next meal was coming from. He hadn't checked a single news report about the updated hero rankings.
To this day, Garou still believed that Blast was the occupant of the top spot.
Looking at Garou's fired-up face, Bang sighed and decided it was time for a reality check.
"Garou... Blast isn't the Rank 1 hero anymore."
The words caught in Garou's throat. His eyes went wide.
"Hah? Not Blast? Then who the hell is at the top now?"
A very bad feeling began to bubble up in his gut.
No way...
When Bang finally dropped the name, Garou's face turned an impressive shade of green.
"The current Rank 1 of the S-Class is the man who saved you—King. After showing his true power in the Great War and with Blast voluntarily stepping down, the Association gave him the crown."
Garou went dead silent.
"Then how the hell am I supposed to become S-Class Rank 1?!"