[Kizaru: Metal Knight? I don't think I've ever crossed this guy. Is he looking for trouble?]
[Fubuki: If it's Metal Knight, I think I know why...]
[Fubuki: I remember a long time ago, my sister had a fight with him. I think it was because he was secretly gathering intel on her behind her back.]
[RoadieWhoWantsToHugLuofeng: S-Sister? Whoa there—are you sure you're not just Haibara Ai in disguise? She's the only one in the group who keeps calling her "sister" like that!]
[Kobayashi: That's true, I remember Fubuki-san always struggled with how to deal with her sister. Since when did you two get along so well?]
[Fubuki: Idiots! Ai-chan already taught me how to get along with her! You think I'm still the same as before?]
In the One Punch World, Fubuki, who was nestled beside Kizaru, suddenly opened her eyes and snuck a glance at the man still chatting away in the group.
To be honest, what helped her more was how Kizaru attracted all the "aggro." As long as he was around, Tatsumaki's attention was completely on him, leaving no time to focus on Fubuki.
[Haibara Ai: Dumb mutt. If I catch you bad-mouthing me behind my back again, I'll drug you mute!]
[Haibara Ai: @Tony Stark Did the pure gold molecular structure analysis come through yet? I need it, ASAP!]
[Tony Stark: No worries, Stark Express is en route~]
[Kizaru: Already down to the molecular structure? When can we replicate it?]
[Haibara Ai: Still a long way off. And at the current pace, I doubt I'll make progress anytime soon. Better keep an eye on what Playboy and Orochimaru come up with.]
[Tony Stark: Pure gold is insane. I swear it's the most unique material I've ever seen. I can't even begin to imagine how it was made.]
[Orochimaru: Heh. Same here. But Haibara's research gave me a new idea. I'll run a few experiments later to verify it...]
[Kizaru: Alright, I'll just wait for the results then.]
[Tony Stark: Don't worry! There's no problem in this world that I can't crack!]
[Esdeath: Darling, if you need a hand, remember to call me!]
[Kizaru: Will do. If anything comes up, you'll be the first to know. Weren't you heading back to the Empire for debriefing? How are you still chatting in here?]
[Esdeath: A rebel group from some northern tribes showed up at the fortress. Seems like they're trying to rescue their prince or something. I figured I'd stick around and play with them for a bit.]
[Kizaru: Uh… good luck with that.]
---
Kizaru quietly exited the Dimensional Chat Group while silently mourning the unlucky souls now caught in Esdeath's sights.
Those people had probably celebrated long enough by now. Tomorrow's training was going to need a little dose of cold reality—just to keep their egos in check.
"Lord Swift is finally here!"
"Haha, come check out the monster we took down!"
"So this is what an S-Class threat looks like? Not that impressive!"
---
The heroes stood triumphantly atop the Sea King's corpse, proudly showing off their spoils to Kizaru.
If they had just defeated the Deep Sea King, that alone wouldn't have meant much. But the key was that the Deep Sea King had previously defeated an S-Class hero—so rounding things up, they could just barely claim they had taken down an S-Class threat.
That was something almost unimaginable in the past. Otherwise, S-Class heroes wouldn't hold such elevated status.
Flashy Flash stood nearby, frowning slightly but saying nothing. Even he had to admit that these A-, B-, and C-Class heroes had progressed far beyond his expectations. It even made him feel a bit of pressure.
"Oh, not bad! Seeing you all this lively puts me at ease. Well, I'll head out now—make sure you run back to City B quickly, or you'll miss hotel dinner time…"
Kizaru said with a lazy smile. Technically, he should be praising the heroes, but the One Punch World was too dangerous—and these guys got cocky too easily. They took down a monster barely at dragon-level threshold and now dared to underestimate the S-Class?
They didn't realize that even among true powerhouses, there were major differences between S-Class heroes. If they went in with the mindset that "numbers win fights" and rushed into battle, they'd be better off never joining Kizaru's training camp at all. At least then they wouldn't end up this arrogant.
"Ugh... we have to run back?"
General Mizuki, who had just been cheering, now let out a groan. Not that she was out of stamina—she just found it hard to accept that after celebrating victory, she was suddenly hit with bad news.
"What's the big deal? It's just running back!"
"Let's show Lord Swift what we're made of!"
"Race you back to the hotel!"
...
Thankfully, aside from naive types like Captain Mizuki, most of the heroes had mentally prepared for this.
After all, Kizaru had told them when they arrived to reserve enough stamina for the return trip. Plus, they only had one helicopter—surely nobody was dumb enough to think Swift would give it up for them.
"Oh right, I almost forgot—seeing how full of energy you all are, I figured the original training plan needs a little tweak. How about we increase the intensity by 50%? That should be fine, right?"
Just as the heroes were preparing to run back to City B, Kizaru—already halfway into the helicopter—clapped his hands like he'd just remembered something, smiling as he spoke.
That threw the group into chaos. Kizaru's training regimen was already absurdly intense. Aside from stamina monsters like Mizuki, even Flashy Flash had to conserve energy just to make it through.
Sure, the training load was far beyond the average hero's—but that still wasn't an excuse for Kizaru to just jack it up by 50% on a whim.
And just as the heroes opened their mouths to protest this brutality, the helicopter had already taken off—completely denying them the chance to object.
"Can they really handle that kind of training load?"
Fubuki, who boarded the helicopter with Kizaru, asked with concern. She was mainly worried about the members of the Blizzard Group.
Judging by the current training results, there was a high chance that some of her team would be in the next round of eliminations.
At this rate, the last remaining core members of her group might soon be wiped out entirely.
"If they're already struggling, they'd have been eliminated sooner or later anyway. Better to weed them out early and stop wasting everyone's time."
Kizaru's words were harsh, but it was the truth. If he were staying in the One Punch World long-term, he might be more patient. But the truth was, any hero who qualified for this training camp would've been top-tier Navy candidates back in the One Piece World.
With proper training, they could become core officers within a few years—at worst, commissioned Navy officers.
But Kizaru didn't have time to spare. He was only able to take a "vacation" to the One Punch World and fool around thanks to buying time with a fake Pure Gold sample for the Five Elders.
Once he returned to the One Piece World, the post-Marineford workload was enough to kill a few naval strategists—not to mention the funds allocated by the World Government and the Elders had to be "justified."
And on top of that, he still had to make his big moves: dealing with the Revolutionary Army, the pirates in the New World, and all while keeping the Five Elders convinced their investments were worthwhile.
Most importantly, he had to cover up the fact that he was skimming off naval funding for personal use. Just thinking about all the responsibilities gave Kizaru a headache.
Maybe he could trick Dragon into coming back to work—wipe the slate clean of debts owed by him and Ivankov. Even Sengoku could be pulled out of retirement if needed… though he'd have to make sure those two didn't punch each other out first.
"If that's the case… Eyelashes and Glasses are definitely getting eliminated…"
Fubuki sighed for her teammates. Kizaru had clearly made up his mind to thin the group, and it didn't look good for Eyelashes or Glasses.
It wasn't that they weren't trying hard—just that their opponents were on another level. No matter how much faith Fubuki had in her team, she didn't believe they could outperform A-Class elites like Blue Flame or Magic Trickster.
"Not necessarily. Human potential is limitless. You've got to believe in them."
Saying something even he didn't believe, Kizaru comforted Fubuki while quietly wrapping his large hand around her waist, taking advantage of the situation without changing expression.
It had been nearly a week since he'd last had any "action," and for a playboy like Kizaru, that was already pushing the limit.
Tatsumaki's recent close watch hadn't exactly been airtight, but it had definitely made his plan to get to home base a lot more troublesome.
"You…"
Realizing the hand behind her was getting bolder, Fubuki's face turned bright red. But she didn't know how to stop him.
Because of the deafening noise of the helicopter, their conversation had to happen over headsets. Besides them, only the pilot was aboard—even Flashy hadn't managed to hitch a ride on this "free lift."
Right now, the pilot hadn't noticed Kizaru's little stunt, but if she made a sound or reacted too strongly, it would definitely draw attention.
With no better options, Fubuki could only glare at Kizaru with puffed cheeks, occasionally giving him a hard pinch when he crossed the line.
Unfortunately, for someone as thick-skinned as Kizaru, that level of resistance only added a bit of playful spice to the moment.
The only pity was that J-City and B-City were too close. Before Kizaru could fully enjoy himself, the helicopter had already landed on the rooftop of the villa he and Fubuki were staying at.
Tatsumaki, who had been asleep all day, was now wide awake. Seeing Kizaru helping a red-faced Fubuki down from the helicopter, her heart instantly sank.
She wanted to read something from Fubuki's expression, but not having any personal experience herself, she couldn't really tell.
"Are you okay, Fubuki?"
Tatsumaki stepped forward to support Fubuki, whose legs were a bit shaky. She immediately turned to glare at Kizaru—despite the sisters' very different heights and appearances, their angry expressions were eerily identical.
"…I'm fine, Sis."
Fubuki's face was burning. She hadn't felt that embarrassed when it was just her and Kizaru. But now, caught between her sister and Kizaru, she realized just how much she'd been taken advantage of.
"Miss Tatsumaki, are you still planning to keep watch tonight? I don't mind…"
To Tatsumaki's surprise, Kizaru wasn't the least bit ashamed. Instead, he even smiled with the smug air of a victor, nearly causing her to explode on the spot.
But then she found herself at a crossroads. If she stayed up tonight to supervise again, she wouldn't be able to function tomorrow. As a powerful esper, her combat and destructive abilities were top-tier.
But physical stamina was always the soft underbelly for both sisters. Forget fighting for ten days and nights like Aokiji and Akainu—pulling one all-nighter was already pushing it.
Fubuki's physical stats were bottom-tier even among C-Class heroes—she was weaker than some average but sturdy civilians. So how much better could Tatsumaki be?
So… not going to keep watch tonight?
As that thought crossed her mind, Tatsumaki glanced at Fubuki's flushed face. But instead of anger, all she saw was shyness. That sealed it—she immediately abandoned the idea.
At this point, it wasn't about guarding against wild boars from stealing her cabbage—it was about stopping the cabbage from delivering itself to the boar. And knowing Fubuki like she did, that was very likely.
"You two enjoy your chat. I'm going to shower… ahh, sure wish someone could help scrub my back~"
Kizaru, ignoring Tatsumaki's inner turmoil, casually waved and strolled off toward the bathroom, leaving the two sisters staring at each other.
"Keep dreaming!"
Tatsumaki was so furious she forgot she was an esper. She yanked off a little slipper and hurled it at Kizaru—only for him to catch it and keep it.
As one of the top-tier playboys, Kizaru knew exactly when to press the attack—and when to play hard to get.
If Fubuki was already in his mouth, then Tatsumaki was practically on the plate.
Dealing with a tsundere like her meant ordinary tactics wouldn't work—what mattered was luring her in so she came willingly.
Kizaru still had plenty of tricks up his sleeve, but the key lay in Fubuki's role as his "assist partner."
Of course, Tatsumaki didn't have much room to complain—after all, the two sisters were each other's "assist partners." As long as one fell into the bottomless pit that was Kizaru, the other was bound to get dragged in too.
°°°
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