"What? Nothing to say?" Tatsumaki was somewhat 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 meticulously styled, looked up. "What is it?"
"At 10:37 a.m. today, we detected an extremely intense anomalous high-energy reaction in Z-City!" The intelligence officer quickly displayed the data.
"The energy level exceeded our instruments' measurement 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 diameter exceeding ten kilometers, 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 became 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 mean?'
Fubuki opened her mouth, hesitating, uncertain whether to speak up.
Just then, the intelligence officer seemed to remember something 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 tournament called [Earth Games]."
"Whether Heroes or monsters, anyone can come 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 come from? Terminal Chuunibyo? Destroy Earth? Who does he think he is?"
He waved his hand, his tone relaxed. "Let some B-Class Heroes near A-City handle it. It's probably just some 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 some illusion in Z-City today? Or were you hypnotized by some psychic-type monster?"
"No! I'm perfectly clear-headed!" Fubuki shook her head vehemently. "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 mere lunatic claiming he can destroy Earth? I can crush him myself."
…
One week later, Hero Association's Headquarters, highest-level meeting 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 time? 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 time come? Was he expelled?"
Genos's metal face showed no expression. "Saitama-sensei is currently undergoing special training. He doesn't have time to attend such meetings."
"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?" Metal 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 some reason, attacking coastal cities like they're on steroids! Who's responsible if something 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?"
Metal Bat frowned. "I'm not too sure either. Heard something about changes in ocean tides. I don't know the details, anyway, I'll just beat them as I see them."
Just then, the meeting room doors opened.
A middle-aged man in a black suit, with an unusually grave expression, walked in quickly.
Behind him were several staff members 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 Emergency Response Team].
"Everyone, I apologize for summoning you all twice in such a short time." 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 time, it's not a prophecy or speculation. It's a reality that has already occurred."