Chapter 140: The Rematch with Sonic
"I'll take him with me first. Someone will come to repair the Dojo later."
Aokiji said to Bang.
Then, he slapped the silent Garou away.
Bang hesitated, and finally spoke up just before Aokiji was about to leave:
"Tell that kid Garou that the Exploding heart release Fist is indeed powerful, but it's easy to injure oneself... tell him to be more careful."
"Since you haven't expelled him, tell him yourself when he returns."
Aokiji didn't look back, just waved his hand behind him.
In the next instant, he slapped the air and vanished.
Bang watched the two small dots gradually disappear into the horizon.
Then he looked around at the ruined Dojo.
"Sigh... luckily Garou agreed, but absolute justice..."
Bang suddenly smiled.
He hadn't expected such a dream to be hidden beneath Garou's rebellious behavior.
Speaking of which, there was a time when I also thought about solving everything with absolute force. (Original Bang, thoughts from his youth)
Could this be a Legacy?
..."Hey, where are we going now?"
After flying inside the bubble for a while, Garou finally spoke.
"There's another new colleague waiting to join. We're going for an interview."
Aokiji replied casually while looking at the location sent by Flash.
According to Flash.
Sonic had no resistance to becoming a Professional Hero.
Perhaps he saw it as an opportunity to escape, or maybe he just didn't care.
In any case, the message Sonic sent back had only one requirement.
He wanted Aokiji to witness his true speed!
Simply put, Sonic wanted to fight Aokiji again.
Aokiji agreed indifferently.
He had planned to beat Sonic into submission if he didn't agree anyway.
Now he only had to beat him once, which was easier.
Aokiji was considering the third candidate.
Which S-Class Heroes haven't joined yet? Let's see... Blast, Atomic Samurai, King, Zombieman, Drive Knight, Pig God, Tanktop Master, Genos.
Which of them would be the easiest to find and recruit into the association?
Aokiji just wanted to unlock the progress bar quickly.
Then quickly exploit bugs to fill the progress bar and unlock the next template.
Garou silently looked down at the miniature city through the bubble.
After a while, he asked casually:
"In the future you saw, what was my ending after I failed?"
"You escaped, and then you moved cargo as a laborer."
"Huh??" Garou turned his head sharply in surprise.
"The person who defeated me, and those heroes, none of them thought about killing me?"
If he truly became the existence of absolute evil, he could actually survive after failing?
Not to mention what others would do.
Based on his knowledge of himself, Garou believed he would definitely seek death after failing.
"In that future, you monsterized to become absolute evil. Many people wanted you dead, but the one who defeated you still treated you as a human, and the child you helped was also protecting you."
Aokiji glanced at Garou and said:
"Bang couldn't bring himself to kill you either."
"The reason you survived after your failure was because of those three people."
These words silenced Garou once again.
Aokiji was happy for the peace and quiet.
He continued browsing his phone, checking information on other S-Class Heroes who hadn't joined yet, considering which one would be the most suitable.
"Hmm? The Martial Arts Tournament?"
Aokiji clicked on a push notification on the webpage.
If I remember correctly, at this time... "Suiryu has once again easily defeated his opponent! He's blowing kisses to the audience—oh wait, he's only blowing kisses to the female fans!"
The commentary of The Martial Arts Tournament rang out excitedly.
Aokiji nodded as expected.
As expected, before Suiryu officially appeared in the plot, he had won The Martial Arts Tournament four times in a row and spent three years squandering the prize money.
Calculating the time, this match should be the fourth tournament he participated in.
Instead of going through the trouble of finding other heroes.
Isn't this a ready-made candidate?
The unlock condition for the progress bar didn't require good character, as long as they could at least reach the "quite talented" rating.
This guy Suiryu certainly has talent.
As for the way to make him join?
Just use fists; he won't be able to take it.
I'll finish up with Sonic quickly and then head over to The Martial Arts Tournament to recruit him.
Aokiji having made his decision, he slapped the bubble several times in succession.
The speed skyrocketed instantly!
Everything in Garou's vision was pulled backward!
Becoming streaks of neon light!
It was so fast it blurred, making it completely impossible to capture and process the visual distortion caused by the ultra-high speed!
From the perspective of the city below.
A wave-like ripple suddenly surged across the sky like white foam.
Spreading slowly across the entire sky.
Anyone with even a bit of knowledge was beyond shocked; what looked like a slow spread from this distance was actually a shockwave sweeping through at a terrifying speed!
Kicking up a storm of white waves that could be clearly seen from the surface.
Just what kind of powerful being was that?!!
..."You once attacked Aokiji too, and he dodged everything?"
Sonic sat on the ruins of a building, rubbing and maintaining his beloved sword.
Beside him, Flash stood with arms crossed, leaning against a smooth-cut stone pillar.
"Yeah... back then, he only had the [Ice] Psychic Power."
"However," Flash emphasized, "I wasn't using my full speed then either."
Sonic snorted twice.
It was unclear whether he believed it or not.
"It doesn't matter. At most, his reactions are a bit faster. My full speed..."
The bubble, seemingly stretched into an ellipse, turned into light.
Descending at a speed so extreme that the roar of shattering air was left far behind!
Boom—!!!
First came a visible, murky white shockwave barrier.
Instantly sending countless surrounding building remains flying and shattering!
Then, thick dust rose hundreds of meters high, sweeping through like an apocalyptic tsunami!
From the bubble's descent to the entire wasteland being completely enveloped in dust, it was only a brief instant!
At that moment.
The Sonic boom from the bubble breaking the sound barrier finally reached the ground!
As delayed explosions echoed through the sky.
From a huge bear-paw-shaped crater, Aokiji walked out yawning.
As the dust slowly settled, the sight of Flash and Sonic with their swords drawn and on guard was gradually revealed.
"...Aokiji?"
Flash recognized the figure and loosened his grip on his sword.
Sonic, however, became even more tense.
He hadn't reacted at all just now... even if he was in a relaxed state chatting, could he have reacted to that speed even if he were serious?
Sonic's heart sank.
After multiple duels with Flash these past few days, he had already learned the gap in speed between him and his former companion.
Was he going to be surpassed again?!
Sonic took a side-on lunge, holding the hilt with both hands level with his eyes, the tip of the blade pointing forward.
He was already exuding a murderous Aura!
"Starting without any nonsense, just how I like it."
Aokiji beckoned him with a finger.
"Come on."
Only then did Garou walk out of the crater.
Although the bubble protected the passenger, the jolt when it burst upon landing was not small at all.
Especially after falling at such an extreme speed.
Garou clutched his head, where a large bump hadn't fully subsided, feeling a bit dizzy.
Swoosh—!
The air was cleanly sliced through, letting out a piercing shriek!
Garou looked ahead.
Several afterimages of the same person launched an unreserved attack on Aokiji!
Sword slashes, Exploding Shurikens, and cutting kicks—
Almost blocking all of Aokiji's directions!
A fierce offensive rained down!
Yet Aokiji closed his eyes as if he were asleep.
But his body moved and shifted with absolute precision, weaving through the countless attacks as if he were the untouchable afterimage.
Multiple layers of Observation Haki brought his sensory precision and future foresight to an extraordinary level!
Without seeing or hearing, he sensed danger and avoided it.