In fact, King was just preparing to approach Mumen Rider, since he still had the Hero's Heart mission to complete.
"Mumen Rider your path is different from mine."
King pondered for a moment. Sweet Mask was a monster himself, so letting him walk the path of Monsterization to the extreme was the clear choice. Genos also had his own path, which King had already mapped out, but because he was always by Saitama's side, there hadn't been a suitable opportunity.
As for Mumen Rider, his type actually leaned more towards Saitama, belonging to the path of simply relying on his physical body to break his limiter.
"How about this: I have an urgent mission right now. When I return, I will take you to meet someone."
An image appeared in King's mind. If it were him, he would surely be able to guide Mumen Rider very well.
"Understood, King-san. I will wait for you, no matter how long it takes." Mumen Rider's eyes were firm, he had one hundred percent trust in King.
—
"It's about time. Hmm? You are..."
After bidding farewell to Mumen Rider, King had just walked out of the apartment when he ran into a blonde man.
"King, I have something to discuss with you. Come with me."
Flashy Flash seemed to have been waiting here for some time, and his eyes lit up upon seeing King appear.
"Fine."
King didn't say much more and followed him all the way to the training grounds inside the Hero Association.
Wind Blade Kick!
Swish!
Flashy Flash suddenly unleashed an arc-shaped kicking technique, but it was easily dodged by King.
"I have already received the Association's notification, but before heading out on the mission, I still want to test your strength personally." A gleam of excitement appeared in Flashy Flash's eyes.
Earlier, when King summoned thunder to instantly kill monsters, it had ignited his desire to battle.
"Suit yourself." King boredly picked at his ear.
The S-Class Heroes of the Hero Association were basically all unruly existences. Getting these people to cooperate to complete a mission was difficult.
Flashy Flash moved through the training ground, subsequently utilizing his extreme speed to trace eerie arcs in the air, launching a barrage of kicking attacks.
Swish... Swish...
Every time, King used the smallest range of movement to dodge all the incoming attacks.
Flash Kick!
Flash Punch!
Boom! Boom...
The ground exploded, but Flashy Flash's attacks didn't even touch the corner of King's clothes.
Secret Technique: Flash...
Just as Flashy Flash was about to draw his sword to use his ultimate technique, King's figure vanished from where he stood.
Thump! Thump...
The roaring King Engine sounded, and a terrifying aura instantly suppressed all of Flashy Flash's movements.
'How is this possible? Just by relying on his aura, he makes me unable to draw my sword.'
Flashy Flash broke out in a cold sweat, his hands unable to stop trembling. He couldn't launch any attack at all.
"The base just suffered an attack by a monster and is still under reconstruction. If we make too much of a scene, the upper management will have complaints."
The terrifying aura receded like a tide.
A look of trepidation appeared in Flashy Flash's eyes. Since graduating from the Ninja Village, he had never encountered such a powerful enemy.
'This is King, the strongest man on Earth.'
Flashy Flash watched King's retreating figure, silently marveling in his heart.
—
"You've arrived."
Inside the Hero Association conference room, Blast had already been waiting there for the arrival of King and Flashy Flash.
"Flash, do you know the location of the Ninja Village?" Blast asked straightforwardly.
"Although I grew up there, as far as I know, the Ninja Village has long since been abandoned. Those rats who cannot see the light have reorganized into the Heavenly Ninja Party and have been active everywhere recently."
Flashy Flash did not hide anything. Being the most outstanding trainee of the 44th class, he had killed all the instructors and classmates of his class and escaped the Ninja Village with his younger brother, never returning again.
But precisely because of this, he was listed as a priority assassination target by the Ninja Village. Over these many years, he had secretly dealt with countless assassins and had long since become accustomed to it.
"Since their target is you, then you should know at least something about the whereabouts of Empty Void from them."
"Now they all refer to him as 'That Man.' It is said that he has been dormant for a long time, but recently there indeed seem to be signs of him awakening."
"The last time I encountered them was at the Monster Association—those two idiots, Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame, though I cut them down." Flashy Flash recalled carefully.
Blast began to ponder with a furrowed brow.
"However, they seem to have found Speed-o'-Sound Sonic, and they have issued a challenge to me. Here is the location."
King glanced at the location on the note, he knew Flashy Flash wouldn't have given it up so easily.
"In that case, let's depart now."
Blast prepared to create a portal, but was refused by Flashy Flash.
"I still have matters to finish up. I will head over later." Flashy Flash didn't give the two men a chance to speak and turned to leave.
"Hmm? Same here. It's better to be fully prepared when dealing with Empty Void."
King suddenly sensed a trace of abnormal fluctuation wandering around A-City. Seeing that Blast didn't react, he decided to go and investigate it on his own.
"Alright, then I'll head over first."
Blast took a deep look at the two of them and didn't say anything more.
...
In the suburbs of A-City, two figures were lying in ambush in the woods.
"Is the intelligence accurate?"
"Accurate. It is said that when the monster invasion occurred, Flashy Flash appeared to reinforce the Hero Association."
"Hmph! That bunch from the Heavenly Ninja Party is unreliable. In the end, we still have to be the ones to take action."
Hellfire Flame had a look of disdain on his face. He and Gale Wind had originally been cut into two sections by Flashy Flash in the Monster Association. But in the end, they had inexplicably resurrected.
Come to think of it, this matter was related to King, because back when he was fighting Phoenix Man, the light of resurrection had once enveloped the corpses of Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame, which was how they had luckily resurrected.
As for the subsequent battles, the two of them had no interest in participating and had fled the battlefield.
"This time, besides us, those people from the Heavenly Ninja Party seem to have found Speed-o'-Sound Sonic as well."
"That cowardly guy—we kindly gave him a monster cell, and in the end, he actually didn't eat it."
"You two have misunderstood that. It's not that Sonic didn't eat it, he foolishly tried to cook it. The monster cell lost its activity, so he didn't succeed in Monsterization."
"So that's it. Sonic really is stupid."
"However, there have long been rumors that the relationship between Sonic and Flash is not simple. Only the two of them survived the 44th class."
"Is that so? In what way is it not simple? Tell me more in detail." King curiously leaned his head between the two of them.
Only then did Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame realize something was wrong.
"Holy crap! Who are you?"