"Me? Spar with you?"
King was a little stunned. In the original story, Genos had foolishly run off to spar with the Bald Demon King Saitama and ended up scared witless by a single punch.
After transmigrating, he'd taken Genos as his disciple by coincidence, and now this guy wanted to spar with him too—was this the convergence of world lines?
Genos looked dead serious, his eyes full of frustration at his own weakness, fists clenched tight.
"KING-sensei, after our last fight, I've come to realize how weak I am and to understand your teaching: practice is the sole criterion for testing truth!"
"If I want to keep getting stronger, I have to battle those stronger than me, and you're the strongest person I've ever met. Please spar with me—go all out, even if it kills me!"
Seeing Genos's look of grim resolve, King felt a headache coming on.
It wasn't that he feared the invitation; he was afraid he'd misjudge Genos's durability and use a tad too much force, scattering him into spare parts.
After all, the current Financially-Strapped Hero was so weak that if King seriously wanted him dead, a simple forehead flick would dismantle him completely.
But seeing how stubborn Genos was, King knew that if he refused, the guy would pester him like a stubborn plaster every single day.
"Fine, fine, I'll call someone else."
King waved a hand and dialed a number.
A glint of fighting spirit flashed in his eyes; the blood in his body surged like a raging sea, and his aura changed in an instant.
Just as Genos sought to advance by challenging the strong, King now felt the same desire.
He really wanted to know, after growing so much stronger, whether he could withstand the Bald Demon King's normal punch.
Even if he couldn't, it didn't matter—after all, the Bald Demon King didn't kill; at worst, he'd be maimed for two seconds before healing...
Out in the wilderness, far from the city, yellow sand drifted through the air, endless ochre earth stretching to every horizon.
At this moment, three people stood amid the flying sand, staring at one another.
The man on the left had neat blond stubble and wore a white shirt, but exposed mechanical parts all over his body made his identity clear.
The one in the middle was tall and broad, his long blond hair nearly brushing his shoulders, a domineering face and three savage scars across his left eye exuding a chilling, mighty pressure.
As for the man on the right, who kept checking the time, his gleaming bald head said it all.
"KING, won't this cut things a bit close? We've got to be at Master Banggu's dojo in two hours; what if he won't serve A5 wagyu when we get there?"
Facing Saitama's worry, King patted his shoulder.
"Relax, these two spars will be over in no time."
Yes, they'd be over very quickly.
After all, in both fights the two sides weren't even on the same level.
Genos vs. King—a match with zero suspense.
King vs. the Bald Demon King Saitama—still zero suspense.
"Then you two go first; I'll watch from the side."
With that, Saitama pulled a manga from nowhere, flashed, and appeared atop a nearby hill where the sand wasn't as thick.
Watching the guy lounge on the peak reading comics, King nodded to Genos.
"Let's begin."
The moment he said it, Genos's expression turned utterly focused; the core in his chest erupted with azure light, every component in his body supplying boundless power.
He raised his arms, which split and reconfigured, instantly forming a precision cannon. Fierce energy gathered as a crimson glow swirled within the barrel.
"Please instruct me, KING-sensei—High-Power Incineration Cannon!!"
Genos held nothing back, opening with his ultimate move.
Against the unfathomable Strongest Man on the Surface of the Earth, he dared not show the slightest negligence.
A violent orange beam wrapped in crackling lightning shot forward, turning everything in its path to scorched earth, and in the blink of an eye it surged to King's face.
Against an attack that could wipe most Demon-level monsters and even injure Dragon-Level ones, King merely stood still.
When the beam was less than a meter away, he casually slapped it aside.
The High-Power Incineration Cannon plowed into the sand, kicking up clouds of dust, yet failed to affect King at all.
A faint green Psychic Power shield enveloped him, blocking the flying grit.
Genos had known his ultimate move likely couldn't hurt King, but he never imagined it would be swatted away like a fly.
He roared, thrusters igniting; propelled by flames, he left a scarlet trail and vanished.
In a flash, he blinked behind King, arms whipping out so fast that countless fist-images rained down like a storm.
"Machine Gun Blows!"
King spun, raising his right hand toward the airborne Genos.
Not good!!
His mechanical irises contracted; instinctively, Genos assumed King was about to strike him while he was stuck in mid-air.
Since he couldn't dodge... he'd have to meet it with all-out offense!
Thrusters at full burn, Genos's punching speed rose another notch.
Yet King didn't attack as expected; he stood in place, right hand weaving back and forth.
Every lightning-fast punch Genos threw was effortlessly parried, inflicting no damage whatsoever.
What a joke!
After another punch was casually blocked, Genos's eyes flashed; the fist King had caught suddenly blazed with blinding light.
"Burn Cannon!"
That had been his plan all along.
Realizing every punch was being perfectly intercepted, he had already formed a counter-strategy.
While King's hand was still in contact with his fist, he'd fire the Burn Cannon at point-blank range, leaving no way to evade!
...
(End of Chapter)
[Throw some stones]