The next day.
"Hello? What? Yali gifted me an entire apartment building? I'm just one person, why would I need a whole apartment building? Huh? The first floor is a basketball court, the second is a golf course, the third is a bowling alley, the fourth is a gym... and my residence is on the twenty-second floor, with a swimming pool on the roof? Oh..."
King's morning grogginess was instantly swept away as he listened in shock to Sitch describe the life-saving gift Yali had sent him—the Emperor Apartment.
What utter extravagance!
He was starting to regret turning down the offer to join the Yali Conglomerate.
"Wait a minute, Yali also invited me and the other heroes who participated in her rescue to have fun in City F? A beach party? And she's already sent someone to pick me up?"
He rubbed his temples, exhaustion in his voice. "Fine, fine, I'll go. Just stop nagging me."
"King, don't hang up so fast. Actually, the Hero Association hopes you'll accept Director Yali's invitation. Apart from showing respect to Director Yali, there's another, more important matter. During yesterday's high-level regular meeting, according to the report from the C-City patrol hero Snakefist Cannon... oh, my mistake, Snek, it was reported that there's a mysterious black shadow at the bottom of the sea in City F. We're concerned it might be an unknown Mysterious Being and hope you all can go investigate and clear it out. Um, and have some fun for a few days while you're at it."
Heh, yesterday's high-level meeting had explicitly stated there was no need to worry about the shadow in City F, yet today they were claiming the Hero Association was taking the undersea shadow very seriously. In reality, it was just an excuse for King and the others to attend Yali's beach party.
"An undersea shadow? Hmm, I understand."
King sighed helplessly. The Strongest Man is very busy, either busy playing games or busy fighting monsters.
"Oh, there's still enough time to pay Saitama a visit." After hanging up, he glanced at the time. There was still a while before the driver arrived, enough to drop by Saitama's place.
"Saitama!!"
He silently recited Saitama's name and pictured his face. The positioning and tracking radar chart immediately materialized in his mind. However, to his surprise, the radar chart only showed his own green light; there was no red light belonging to Saitama.
"Where did that guy Saitama go?"
The radar chart's inability to display Saitama could only mean one thing: Saitama had left Z City.
"Genos!!"
Saitama's tag-along—Genos.
He wasn't there either.
"Don't tell me that guy Saitama dragged Genos to another city for a supermarket super sale?"
He slapped his forehead, feeling helpless about Saitama's obsession with sales.
***
On a street in City B, Saitama was leading Genos in... handing out flyers.
"Sensei, why do we have to hand out flyers?"
"Because heroes need to eat, too! There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Eating costs money, so naturally, you need to work part-time to earn it."
"Oh, I understand! Sensei is trying to tell me that it's impossible to gain power for no reason. One must endure hardship and put in the effort to obtain even greater strength. Hmm, what Sensei says is very logical. I must write this down."
"...I don't think that's what I meant!"
Achoo!
*Feels like someone's thinking about me.*
Saitama rubbed his own bald head and pulled out a flyer, quickly sticking it onto the door handle of a car that was speeding past.
***
"Yo, Silverfang, are you also going to the beach party?"
"An old man like me is so old, I lost interest in those lavish beach parties long ago. However, my dojo does have a hot-blooded young man, so... hmm, I'm mainly taking Charanko out to see the world and broaden his horizons."
The armored car sent by Yali had arrived. Inside were Bang, who also lived in Z City, and his top disciple—Charanko.
Charanko was dressed in beach shorts and a plaid shirt, a cool and refreshing beach outfit. He excitedly waved King over. "Mr. King, hurry up and get in." He could hardly wait to attend the "lavish beach party" his master spoke of—the kind of life young people yearned for.
"Yeah."
This time, King wasn't wearing his unchanging duckbill cap and white sweatshirt. Instead, he was also dressed in more casual beach attire.
The car set off.
Z City was quite a distance from City F, separated by City B and C-City in between. It took them half a day to reach their destination—the Yida Coastal Villa Community in City F.
Yida's real estate industry spanned the globe, with a large number of properties in almost every city. The cluster of villas by the City F beach was also one of the Yida Group's assets.
This time, Yali had invited King and the others over to stay in one of the beach villas within the community.
Before King and Bang arrived, Gunman, Chain Toad, Child Emperor, and Puri-Puri Prisoner had already gotten there. Not only had Bang brought family, but Chain Toad had as well—thirty-two small children. Hmm, he basically brought an entire kindergarten with him.
"Wow, it's King."
"The Strongest Man, King! He's my idol, he's my idol."
"I want King to hold me, I want a hug."
The moment King appeared, Chain Toad's kindergarten erupted. The little tots stared at King with excitement, all clamoring to play with him.
Charanko was completely bewildered. What about the promised lavish beach party? Hmm, there were a lot of cute little lolis, but... this isn't my cup of tea!
Charanko was dumbfounded, and King was even more stunned. In a matter of seconds, three or four kids were hanging off his body. This was the first time anyone had dared to be so presumptuous with the Strongest Man.
"Ahem, everyone, get down quickly. King, I'm sorry, so sorry. The kids don't know any better, please don't mind them, please don't mind." Chain Toad hurried forward to smooth things over, pulling off the children who were treating King like a koala on a tree. At the same time, he apologized profusely to King.
"It's fine." King waved his hand, not minding at all. He asked curiously, "Chain Toad, you have... so many children?" He must be really prolific!
"This..."
Chain Toad's expression stiffened. "I adopted these children."
"You adopted so many kids?" Charanko said in shock, "You didn't empty out some orphanage, did you?"
Chain Toad took off his toad head mask, revealing the face of an ordinary, even somewhat fierce-looking uncle. He looked at the puzzled King and the others and sighed softly. "Ever since monsters appeared, many happy families have been destroyed, and the world is now filled with countless orphans. I... adopted these children one by one from monster disaster sites while I was eliminating monsters." He looked at the children, who were chirping and chattering like magpies, and a gentle, contented smile appeared on his face. "The reason I wear a toad mask to be a hero is that I hope to win the children's affection. I hope to become a hero in their hearts, just like... just like you, King! To become the most solid shield for all children, protecting them so they can grow up healthy and happy."
"..."
King and the others fell silent. The greatness of any hero lies not in their hero rank, but in their heroic deeds. Clearly, to these children, Chain Toad was a great hero and a great father.
"Hey, kids, who wants to fly into the sky with the Strongest Man?"
After a moment, King showed a rare smile in front of others, his gaze soft as he looked at the clamoring little ones. He didn't know how to coax children, nor did he know any fancy tricks like magic, but he... could fly!
"Wow, really? Can King really take us flying?"
"Me, I want to go!"
"Oh! When I grow up, I want to be a hero too, just like King and Dad! Hmm, from now on, I'll call myself... I'll call myself Little Flying Hero!"
"Then I'll be Superman!"
As soon as King spoke, the children were overjoyed. They scrambled over each other to fly towards him, once again hanging all over his body.
"Haha, kids, one by one, there's enough for everyone. I'll definitely take all of you for a flight in the sky."
What child hasn't had a beautiful dream of flying?
His "Flight" skill could help these children fulfill their dreams. That's a kind of heroic act, right?
Heh, even a hero by chance can accomplish heroic deeds within his power!
(end of chapter)