"What? Nothing to say?" Tatsumaki was sowhat surprised by Fubuki's rare silence.
She looked her sister up and down, frowning slightly. "You're not acting like yourself today."
Just then, an intelligence officer in uniform hurried into the command center, heading straight for the supervisor's desk.
"Supervisor! Urgent report!"
A middle-aged man in a suit, his hair ticulously styled, looked up. "What is it?"
"At 10:37 a.m. today, we detected an extrely intense anomalous high-energy reaction in Z-City!" The intelligence officer quickly displayed the data.
"The energy level exceeded our instrunts' asurent limits! Based on images transmitted from the scene, large-scale destruction occurred at the edge of Z-City's uninhabited zone. Preliminary estimates indicate a damage diater exceeding ten kiloters, depth..."
He paused, his voice dry. "Bottomless, suspected... reaching the mantle."
"What?" The supervisor's expression changed. "Reaching the mantle! Is it a new Dragon-level threat? Who were the combatants?"
"That's the problem," The intelligence officer's expression beca more perplexed. "We've gathered all nearby surveillance, satellite images, even deployed psychics for remote sensing. No trace of the combatants was found."
"No trace?" The supervisor frowned. "With that much destruction, how could there be no trace?"
"It's as if..." the intelligence officer hesitantly ventured a guess. "The battle occurred on a level we cannot observe."
Silence filled the command center, 'A level we couldn't observe? What did that an?'
Fubuki opened her mouth, hesitating, uncertain whether to speak up.
Just then, the intelligence officer seed to rember sothing and added, "Oh, there's one more thing."
"About 15 minutes ago, a young man calling himself 'No.17' broke into the largest television station in C-City, forcibly interrupted all programming, and conducted a global broadcast."
"A global broadcast?" The supervisor's attention shifted. "What was the content?"
"He said..." the intelligence officer swallowed. "He wants to build a fighting arena on the ruins of A-City and hold a tournant called [Earth Gas]."
"Whether Heroes or monsters, anyone can co and challenge him."
"But," the intelligence officer's expression turned grim. "If no one can defeat him within a year, he will destroy Earth."
After a brief silence.
"Pfft hahaha!"
The supervisor couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head as if he'd just heard an absurd joke:
"Where did this fool co from? Terminal Chuunibyo? Destroy Earth? Who does he think he is?"
He waved his hand, his tone relaxed. "Let so B-Class Heroes near A-City handle it. It's probably just so idiot desperate for attention, but we should still avoid causing pan..."
"No... no!!!" A trembling voice cut off the supervisor's words.
All eyes turned toward the source of the voice.
Fubuki gripped the edge of the table tightly, her knuckles white, her lips trembling.
"Fubuki-san?" The supervisor looked at her quizzically.
"That man... that No.17..." Fubuki's voice was laced with an uncontrollable tremor. "He was telling the truth!"
"I saw him! I saw him with my own eyes!"
Her voice echoed in the spacious hall. "He truly possesses the power to destroy the world!"
The hall was so silent you could hear a pin drop.
After a few seconds, the supervisor's smile slowly faded as he looked at Fubuki with a strange expression:
"Fubuki-san, are you perhaps overworked? Did you see so illusion in Z-City today? Or were you hypnotized by so psychic-type monster?"
"No! I'm perfectly clear-headed!" Fubuki shook her head vehently. "I wasn't hypnotized! Everything I said is true! That No.17... and his companions... they..."
"They aren't human! They're monsters!"
"That's enough." An icy voice cut through.
Tatsumaki slowly floated down before Fubuki, her eyes filled with mockery. "Fubuki, you've spent too long among B-Class Heroes. Have you forgotten the power of S-Class?"
"A re lunatic claiming he can destroy Earth? I can crush him myself."
…
One week later, Hero Association's Headquarters, highest-level eting room.
Over a dozen figures sat around a long rectangular table.
They were the S-Class Heroes of the Hero Association, the final line of defense against monster disasters. Each possessed terrifying strength capable of turning the tide of battle.
Tanktop Master, ranked 14th, impatiently tapped the table. "Summoning us twice in such a short ti? Do the executives think we're too free? My muscle training schedule is already disrupted!"
Tatsumaki ignored his complaints and looked at Genos. "Hey, cyborg, why didn't that B-Class baldy from last ti co? Was he expelled?"
Genos's tal face showed no expression. "Saitama-sensei is currently undergoing special training. He doesn't have ti to attend such etings."
"Special training?" Tatsumaki scoffed, her eyes filled with disdain. "So he finally understands his place? Knows there's an insurmountable gap between B-Class and S-Class, so he's hiding and working hard?"
Genos remained silent. His teacher's strength was far beyond what these Heroes limited to 'Earth standards' could comprehend.
"Since that B-Class isn't coming, everyone else is here, right?" tal Bat, ranked 15th, scratched his head irritably. "I was in the middle of dealing with the Seafolk uprising in J-City."
"Those undersea scum have gone crazy for so reason, attacking coastal cities like they're on steroids! Who's responsible if sothing happens to J-City while I'm called back here?"
"Seafolk?" Pig God, ranked 10th, kept stuffing snacks into his mouth, speaking indistinctly. "Wasn't Deep Sea King already defeated? Why are those aliens causing trouble again? Haven't they learned their lesson?"
tal Bat frowned. "I'm not too sure either. Heard sothing about changes in ocean tides. I don't know the details, anyway, I'll just beat them as I see them."
Just then, the eting room doors opened.
A middle-aged man in a black suit, with an unusually grave expression, walked in quickly.
Behind him were several staff mbers carrying files, their faces equally grim.
This man was Sitch, the head of the Hero Association's Disaster Response Division and leader of the [Earth in Danger Prophecy Ergency Response Team].
"Everyone, I apologize for summoning you all twice in such a short ti." Sitch walked to the conference table, his voice low and urgent. "But disasters don't wait for anyone. Earth is once again facing a crisis of annihilation."
"This ti, it's not a prophecy or speculation. It's a reality that has already occurred."
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