Genos stepped forward, his face grave, blond hair fluttering in the wind, mechanical eyes glinting coldly.
He turned his head, a trace of puzzlement in his voice:
"Silver Fang, why didn't you run? With your strength, escaping Z-City before the meteor hits should be easy."
Hearing this, Bang looked skyward, the corners of his mouth curving into a smile as he shook his head in resignation.
"How could I leave? The Flowing Water Rock-Crushing Fist dojo I poured half my life into is right here; my life took root here—why abandon it?"
"Besides," Bang paused, gaze settling on King beside him, voice firm:
"With The Strongest Man on Earth standing guard, I've no reason at all to fear."
In Bang's view, no matter how terrifying the meteor above, every one of KING's past feats was more inconceivable than stopping a meteor.
Genos nodded firmly at Bang's words:
"As expected of Silver Fang—straight to the point. With KING-sensei here, a mere meteor can't amount to anything."
With that thought, Genos produced a black case and turned to King for permission:
"KING-sensei, if possible, may I try to stop the meteor?"
In Genos's mind, the moment KING-sensei acted, the imposing meteor above would vanish instantly—
—but before that, he wanted to test himself.
In the battle against the Deep Sea King that day, Genos had tasted true, minute control.
Since then, he'd gained some insight.
Inside the case were his newest upgrade parts—though their use came with heavy restrictions.
Facing Genos's request, King nodded:
"If you want to, go ahead."
"Thank you, KING-sensei!"
With permission granted, Genos wasted no time, opening the black case to reveal two extra arm modules that greatly boosted firepower.
The trade-off: after unleashing their overwhelming force, his body would overload and lose all combat ability.
Amid clanging metal, the modules locked onto his arms, looking fierce and imposing.
Seeing Genos eager to show his stuff, Saitama—about to jump up and punch the meteor—slowly lowered his fist.
No point spoiling the kid's moment.
A gentle breeze rose as Genos's arms, now fused with the modules, transformed into an intricate, heavy cannon.
Bang sensed the vast energy gathering within and couldn't help widening his eyes, surprise stirring inside.
Such firepower… Genos lifted his head, mechanical eyes blazing with Battle Intent, faint blue arcs dancing around the cannon.
"High-power incineration cannon!!"
A beam of annihilation shot skyward, its crimson glow dyeing the horizon deep yellow.
The colossal energy beam shimmered with countless tiny arcs, turning into a soaring Dragon that roared toward the falling meteor.
The next instant, meteor and High-power incineration cannon collided head-on; a shock-wave of air swept in all directions, the violent energy turning into blinding white light that forced people below to shut their eyes.
"Aaaaargh!!"
Genos roared, the core in his chest blazing blue, pouring ever-greater energy into the cannon.
Under this desperate output, the meteor's descent actually slowed, inching toward a halt.
Seeing this, Genos curled his lips and pushed the core again, trying to blast the rock back into space.
But the next second, disaster struck.
Smoke billowed; the cannon shattered, and Genos dropped to one knee, blue arcs crackling over his ruined frame—he'd reached the limit.
Still not enough… Can't control the body any longer… With resistance gone, the meteor resumed its fall.
Seeing even that sky-spanning crimson beam fail, despair spread across faces below.
Was Z-City truly doomed today?
"Wait! Look at the rooftop—who's that!"
The shout cut through the clamor; every head turned toward the rooftop the man pointed out.
"Good heavens! It's the strongest man on earth, S-Class Rank 7 KING! S-Class Rank 14 Caped Baldy! And S-Class Rank 3 Silver Fang—three S-Class Heroes!"
"We're saved! With KING here, the meteor crisis is over!"
The moment they saw King's face, people wept for joy, telling loved ones they'd survived.
Though the meteor still hung overhead, everyone knew that with the strongest man on earth present, it was no longer a threat.
Meanwhile, King had already thought of a solution, but wanted to test another option.
"Saitama, go up and see if you can shove the meteor back into space."
"Huh?"
Saitama gaped, raising a fist clad in a cheap red plastic glove:
"Why not just punch it to pieces? Doesn't look that tough."
King sighed; as expected, Saitama hadn't considered the fallout of obliterating the rock.
In the original story, after Saitama one-punched the meteor, the city hadn't been annihilated outright, but the rain of fragments still nearly leveled Z-City.
"Smashing it outright solves one problem but causes a mess. Listen—go up and try carrying it away first."
"Fine."
With a nod, Saitama crouched, the ground denting beneath him as he rocketed skyward.
This time, instead of instantly obliterating the meteor as in the original tale, the Bald Demon King reached out with both hands…