Saitama pointed at the huge hole in the ground:
"Oh dear, that monster actually had an accomplice. I'm going after the partner—bye!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Saitama dug another hole without the slightest hesitation and vanished into it.
Bystanders: "..."
Buddy, that's a pretty creative exit.
Meanwhile, underground.
Inside the thick soil, a mole-like creature was frantically clawing at the dirt, carving an escape tunnel as it fled.
Earth-Dragon's eyes were bloodshot, his heart overflowing with dread—his soul had practically scattered in terror.
Are you kidding me! That was Beast King! He could crush every evolved creature except that one monster—and he got one-punched!
And Doctor still wants us to capture something like that? Give me a break, damn it!
Good thing I can burrow; that Mechanical Gorilla can only run on the surface. Let him draw the aggro while I escape.
Just as Earth-Dragon was feeling smug, the soil ahead collapsed.
A shiny bald head poked through.
"Sure enough, you're in this direction—found you."
Earth-Dragon: "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
The surface burst open; the terrified and fainted Earth-Dragon shot out, with Saitama climbing out right behind him.
He hoisted Earth-Dragon up, choosing not to kill him, then sprinted off in the direction the Mechanical Gorilla had fled.
To Saitama, these guys were just small fry; if that lion hadn't provoked him and mocked him as bald, he wouldn't have bothered to blow him apart with one punch.
The Mechanical Gorilla looked back every few steps; seeing no movement behind, he finally relaxed a little.
Looks like that human didn't give chase—what luck. He probably went after Earth-Dragon.
I have to get this news back to Evolution House so Doctor knows how terrifying the target is and can prepare!
"From now on I'm never accepting any 'capture alive' missions again. Let's just get back to Evolution House."
The gorilla's cranium slowly opened and an antenna-like data probe extended from his brain, transmitting everything he'd just seen back to Evolution House.
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye he spotted a gleaming bald head.
Without even waiting for his brain to approve it, the Mechanical Gorilla instinctively dropped to his knees and began kowtowing in terror:
"Don't kill me! I'm just an ordinary gorilla—only slightly modified, honest! Please don't kill me!"
To show sincerity, he even stripped off his armor, looking exactly like a talking zoo gorilla.
Watching a zoo-worthy gorilla prostrate and kowtow, Saitama found the scene increasingly bizarre:
"Alright, alright, stop kowtowing. Where's this Evolution House of yours? I'd like to take a look."
Saitama was genuinely curious: he'd spent three years as a hobby hero and no one had ever sought him out.
Yet shortly after registering as an S-Class Hero, some organization he'd never heard of named him specifically—of course he had to check it out.
"Oh..."
The gorilla swallowed hard, staring at Earth-Dragon dangling limp as a dead chicken by the neck in Saitama's grip, his heart leaping into his throat.
He really won't kill me?
To save his hide, the Mechanical Gorilla spilled Evolution House's address without holding anything back.
Of course, before speaking he'd shut off the link to Evolution House—those words couldn't reach the Doctor.
After getting the exact location, Saitama was ready to set off when his phone suddenly rang.
"Eh, it's KING calling!"
He answered; King's voice came through:
"How's it going, Saitama? Got your hero name sorted out?"
At the mention, Saitama's face turned gloomy again:
"Anyway, the name thing's still up in the air, but some organization that feels like a zoo—with gorillas and lions—wants me to drop by. Wanna come?"
King on the other end froze; he could pretty much guess which group that was:
"You mean Evolution House?"
Saitama's eyes widened in surprise. "How'd you know? This gorilla just agreed to guide us; when are you guys coming back?"
"Send me a location; we'll be there in a few minutes."
"Got it."
Two minutes later a red streak tore across the sky and landed squarely in front of Saitama.
King brushed nonexistent dust off his clothes. "The giant's taken care of. So Evolution House's monsters just paid you a visit?"
Saitama gestured to the shivering Mechanical Gorilla and lifted the limp Earth-Dragon. "These two. There was also a pretty cool lion, but he seems to have exploded from one punch."
So it really is Evolution House... What puzzled King was when Dr. Genus of Evolution House had set his sights on the Bald Demon King.
Up to now, the Bald Demon King had barely shown his power in the main storyline—he'd only gone to take a hero exam. How had he been targeted?
After two seconds of thought, King gave up.
What's the point? Evolution House is just a small gang of trash—steamroll them and be done with it.
King sighed; he'd almost used his brain.
My super-wisdom tells me it's time to use super-strength to solve the problem... Meanwhile, a hundred meters underground.
In a dim laboratory.
A skinny, pale young man with glasses and a fringe of bangs was drenched in cold sweat, staring in disbelief at the replay on the screen.
"How could this happen! Beast King was crushed so easily! He was the strongest creation after that one monster!"
And the third-ranked Mechanical Gorilla plus the escape-artist Earth-Dragon were both beaten in an instant—are you kidding me!!
...
(End of Chapter)
[Throw some stones]