Finally, Midoriya and Todoroki, the leading members of the first group, arrived at the 80th floor, panting heavily. However, they were surprised to find that the path to the 81st floor was blocked by an alloy gate.
"Hahh... hahh... what should we do? Should I just break it down?" Todoroki asked, catching his breath while eyeing the gate.
Compared to the sweaty and exhausted Midoriya standing beside him, Todoroki hardly looked tired at all—probably thanks to his Quirk.
"Uhh..."
Midoriya hesitated. He didn't know much about the central tower's layout, and he wasn't the type to act recklessly in a situation like this.
"We should wait for Melissa. Maybe she can come up with a better plan. Besides, we need to rest. If something happens later, we'll be in trouble if we're too exhausted."
"Good idea."
Todoroki nodded in agreement, then walked over to lean against the wall and recover.
"Midoriya-kun! Todoroki-kun!"
About five or six minutes later, Momo and Asui from the second group arrived. Soon after, Melissa and Kyoka from the third group also caught up, all gathering in front of the alloy gate.
"We can't just destroy the gate!"
When Midoriya asked about breaking through, Melissa immediately dismissed the idea. Still catching her breath, she explained:
"If we break it, the security system will trigger an alert, and the villains will know we're heading for the top!"
"But didn't Kaminari destroy a door earlier?" Minoru Mineta asked in confusion.
Melissa shook her head. "Kaminari-kun only destroyed the lobby entrance on the first floor. The villains probably assumed we escaped the tower instead of heading up."
"Then... can't we just go through here?"
Mineta casually walked over to an iron door on the right and reached for the handle. To his surprise, the door swung open easily.
Midoriya and Melissa's expressions changed instantly.
"No—don't!!"
They shouted at the same time, knowing the villains must have noticed them by now!
---
System Control Room, 200th Floor
"Huh? What's going on?"
"Why did the door on the 80th floor suddenly open?"
Inside the control room on the top floor, a pink-haired man in black took a drag from his cigarette before walking up to a white-haired man in black sitting at the monitoring station.
The white-haired man didn't respond immediately. Instead, his fingers danced across the control panel, adjusting the surveillance feed.
Moments later, the screen displayed the 80th floor, showing the figures of Melissa, Midoriya, and six others as they sprinted down the staircase.
At that moment—
Not only did the villains on the top floor see them, but so did the red-haired enforcer on the second floor, All Might, and everyone else watching the security feeds inside the venue.
"All units near the 80th floor, get there immediately! Do not let a single one of those brats escape!"
The iron-masked man barked his orders through his headset, then handed a pistol to one of his men and motioned for two others to go provide backup.
As for himself?
He remained where he was, overseeing the hostages with a squad of ten armed guards.
After all.
They were just a bunch of kids. There was no need for him to step in personally.
---
Back on the 80th Floor
Midoriya, Todoroki, Momo, Kyoka, and the others followed Melissa's guidance, quickly rushing toward the emergency stairwell on the other side of the tower.
But before they could make it.
"No! Todoroki-kun!"
Midoriya's eyes widened as he saw every gate along their escape route beginning to close one after another.
"Tch!"
Without hesitation, Todoroki created massive ice blocks, jamming them between the gates just in time—buying Midoriya the space he needed to leap through.
[Smash!!]
The moment Midoriya landed, he punched a metal door attached to the adjacent wall, breaking it down with brute force.
At this point, there was no need for subtlety.
The villains already knew they were here, there was no point in holding back anymore!
"Where... is this?"
After sprinting through the broken iron door, the eight of them were shocked by the scene ahead.
All around them.
Plants. Trees. Shrubs.
If not for the metallic flooring, Kyoka and Tsuyu might have mistaken this place for an outdoor park.
"This is a plant cultivation lab!" Melissa explained as she followed closely. "They're studying how plants grow under the influence of Quirks."
"Look over there!"
Kyoka suddenly pointed to a distant elevator, the display above it showed it was moving up.
"The villains must be on their way!"
Midoriya's expression hardened.
It wasn't that he was afraid of fighting.
But right now, avoiding a fight was the better strategy.
"Quick, hide! We can't let them find us!"
---
Outside the Hospital in the Living Area
While the situation in the central tower grew more dangerous, Kaminari finally reached the hospital entrance in the residential district.
Behind him.
A sea of deactivated security robots filled the streets, their red warning lights extinguished.
If these were living beings instead of machines, then Kaminari would have left behind a mountain of corpses.
"!"
The moment he saw doctors and nurses rushing out to meet him, he exhaled deeply.
The tension in his body finally eased.
But—
Just like that, his strength gave out.
He collapsed onto the ground, still clutching Tetsutetsu.
His eyelids barely stayed open as he watched the hospital staff approach with a stretcher.
"Hurry… prepare for a blood transfusion!"
"He's lost too much blood, move quickly, or it'll be too late!"
Hearing that, Kaminari finally let his eyes close.
---
Hospital Room
When Kaminari woke up, the first thing he saw was a yellow-white ceiling.
Then, a familiar voice reached his ears.
"Yo, you're finally awake!"
Instinctively, he turned his head.
There—lying on a hospital bed—was Tetsutetsu, smiling at him. Above him, four blood bags were hanging from an IV stand.
Kaminari pursed his lips.
He didn't say anything.
He didn't need to.
Tetsutetsu was alive. That was enough.
Then, a thought hit him.
His parents.
"...Do you know how long we were out?" Kaminari asked.
Tetsutetsu hesitated. "Not sure... I just woke up too."
At that moment, a doctor walked in, flanked by two nurses.
"You only slept for about ten minutes," he said with a smile.
Then, glancing at Tetsutetsu, the doctor's expression turned to mild surprise.
"Kaminari-kun just collapsed from stress and exhaustion, so it's not surprising that he recovered quickly."
"But you—you almost died from blood loss. Yet, you're already awake?"
"Ahaha!" Tetsutetsu laughed. "Well, I do have a Body Hardening Quirk! My physique's a lot tougher than normal. Plus, I train a lot—"
As they spoke, Kaminari quietly got out of bed.
The doctor frowned. "Where are you going?"
"You need rest, physically and mentally!"
Kaminari's response was short.
"No."
(To be continued.)
***
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