Chapter 26: The Strongest Man's Fated Conversation
"Ding, detected Host's consciousness being stripped, life threatened. The System automatically activated the awakening mechanism."
"Ding, System energy insufficient. Consuming Cards to replenish energy."
The System continuously consumed the two-star Card: Shibabawa and the one-star Card: Vaccine Man (Young), and also showed that king had already leveled up to 5, gaining 5 Attribute Points and 1 Skill Point. Unfortunately, he hadn't comprehended any Skills.
"Ding, energy sufficient. Awakening mechanism initiated!"
Ouch!
In the dilapidated car, king awoke from his daze. Clutching his dazed head, he pushed open the car door, stumbled out, and fell onto the ground.
He was completely unaware of what he had just experienced! He didn't even notice that two Cards were missing from the System.
"I get it now. Although King's luck stat is maxed out, there's an old saying, 'Extreme fortune brings decline.' So, I must embody both the strongest luck and the strongest misfortune."
After his head cleared a bit, he couldn't help but complain, "My god, how unlucky do I have to be to continuously encounter all sorts of dangers? Not to mention Monsters, a few days ago I ran into some thugs, and now a car accident! This wretched luck, even that Noh-Masked Star isn't as unlucky as I am!"
"Hmm, Mike?"
After his body recovered, he leaned on the car and stood up. Through the shattered car window, he saw Mike had fainted in the driver's seat. He reached in, opened the car door, and pulled Mike out.
Slap, slap, slap!
"Mike, wake up..."
He fiercely slapped Mike a few times, very hard. Hmm, he wasn't retaliating; he just purely wanted to wake Mike up.
"That's strange. His heartbeat is normal, and he's not injured, so why is there no reaction?"
He checked Mike's body; he hadn't been injured in the car accident, and his heartbeat and pulse were normal. He looked at Mike's pale face: "This fellow, he can't actually be sick, can he? Or was he cursed by some Monster?"
Seeing that he couldn't wake Mike, he glanced around. They had already entered the outskirts of City C. There were scattered buildings, but the surroundings were eerily quiet, with only a few insects and birds flying by. Not a single person was in sight.
"Where did the Monster go?"
Before the car accident, he had clearly heard the Monster's roar. How could it have disappeared so quickly?
"Hmm? An unmanned supermarket still open? Car keys left in the ignition? It seems a Monster truly was here just now, causing all the citizens to flee. Well, as the saying goes, 'A good horse doesn't eat old grass.' Monsters probably won't return, right? Which means this place is temporarily safe."
He slowly supported Mike as they walked towards the urban area, hoping to flag down a taxi. However, the streets were deserted. Cars were abandoned on the road, empty but with keys still in their ignitions. The supermarket was also empty, but its doors were wide open.
Clack, clack!
Faint footsteps came from the alley entrance.
"Hmm? That Dragon Level Monster Mike mentioned?"
king's breathing suddenly caught. Unwilling to gamble on who the newcomer was, he hastily supported Mike into the abandoned supermarket to hide.
Thump-thump... thump-thump...
He and Mike hid behind the shelves, their hearts pounding nervously. A strange, engine-like sound echoed through the silent supermarket, particularly jarring.
"Damn it, when I get rich, I definitely need a heart transplant, otherwise this 'Emperor Engine' heart will shut down sooner or later."
king pressed his hands hard against his chest, desperately taking deep breaths, hoping to suppress his pounding heart.
"Um, is anyone in the supermarket?"
At the supermarket entrance appeared a bald man, with droopy eyes, a relaxed posture, wearing a yellow superhero suit, red rubber gloves for washing dishes on his hands, cheap red rain boots on his feet, and a white cape draped over his back. With such obvious characteristics, I believe everyone has already guessed his identity.
That's right, he is the Caped Baldy, Saitama, who will soon be famous throughout the world!
"Oh, so there's no one here. The supermarket's sale flyer clearly said the special offer would end in another hour, so why have people already left work? Damn it, I shouldn't have wasted time on that ugly Monster with four faces just now."
Saitama, looking dejected, crumpled a supermarket flyer.
"Huh, what's that 'thump-thump' sound?" He scratched his face doubtfully with a finger. "It's almost exactly like the sound of me farting!"
"..."
Ever since king heard the voice, he knew the newcomer wasn't a Monster, because no Monster would politely ask "Is anyone here?" Their question would likely be "Who else is here?"
"I'm off. There's a special sale on Nice brand underwear in City P. It's time to finally decide to get a new pair of underwear. Who goes over a year without changing underwear? Hmm, that's how I'll convince myself."
Saitama threw away the old supermarket sale flyer, rummaged through his body, and pulled out another City P supermarket sale flyer. He glanced at the cover, which featured king only in underwear, and thought, "Hmm, he looks pretty good in them, they should suit me!"
"Hey, wait a minute."
king put Mike down and walked out from behind the shelves. He saw a bald man, whose figure was very familiar and heroic, standing at the supermarket entrance. He vaguely guessed the other party might be Saitama. His heart was slightly excited and stirred. Seeing the other party about to leave, he hastily called out.
After all, Saitama had saved him several times, but he never had the chance to thank him in person. What's more, his current status and reputation were largely due to Saitama's contributions.
He absolutely had to thank him properly for such a great favor.
He walked over with an excited expression, his hand already extended, preparing to shake Saitama's hand and personally convey his gratitude for years of life-saving kindness.
"Huh?"
Saitama heard someone call him and turned around, perplexed. Seeing the excited king, he looked curious and pointed at king, saying, "Huh, are you underwear?"
"..."
king's excited expression suddenly froze, and his enthusiasm as he walked over likewise stiffened. Ha... haha... what a cold joke. You bastard, you damn baldy, who are you calling underwear? *You're* underwear, your whole family is underwear!
He took a deep breath, calming his inner excitement and agitation. Pointing at Saitama's bald head with a blank expression, he said, "Huh, are you a hard-boiled egg?" Hmph, come on, let's hurt each other! Who's afraid of whom?
Saitama was momentarily stunned, then carefully scrutinized king for a few seconds. Pointing at king's left cheek, he said, "Huh, you have three scars?"
"..."
Damn it, who has three scars? Those are three *scars*, they're my hero's medals! Get out of here with your 'three-eight'! Can't you talk properly? Can't you speak nicely? Also, has your character setting changed? Why are you so sharp-tongued and venomous? Isn't that Tatsumaki's personality?
king's mouth twitched. Fine, want to continue this fight, do you? I'm not afraid of you!
He pointed at Saitama's head: "Huh, you're bald?"
Saitama's eyes widened, and he angrily yelled, "How can you be so rude? Who are you calling bald..." He then damn it suddenly paused, "Wait a minute, I'll be late for the City P supermarket sale."
"I have an urgent matter, I'm leaving first."
He blurted out his remark, assumed a running posture, his hands clenched into fists held to his chest, and his feet transformed into rapidly spinning wheels. With a *whoosh*, he shot off several hundred meters. In the blink of an eye, he was gone, leaving behind only an advertisement flyer for a City O supermarket sale, blown up by the wind created by his speed.
king, dumbfounded, stared at the wisp of breeze stirring on the street and the flyer fluttering in mid-air. He waved towards the shelves, "Hey, Mike, wake up quickly. I think I just saw the bald Flash."
(end of chapter)