One Punch Man: Heroics Start with Dual Kamui

Chapter 156 156: Rebellion

"So, you really won't let me go after all." Called back by Shinji, Garou wasn't surprised. "That's more like it."

Even if he might die here, his heart barely wavered. If he could survive this trial, he would have greater hope of becoming the strongest monster. If not, then it only proved he lacked the ability.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I don't intend to kill you. I'm just giving you a warning. Train however you like, but if you start indiscriminately attacking professional heroes, I won't stand by."

There was a clear edge of threat in Shinji's voice. Although Garou's attacks on heroes followed the so-called "heroes don't die" rule, the injuries were real. At the very least, they meant long hospital stays.

"Ahhh! what a drag!" Garou scratched his head in frustration.

He had planned to become the "Hero Hunter," preying exclusively on professional heroes. But before he could even get started, the idea had been strangled in the cradle.

"You want to attack heroes to make everyone fear you, right? Becoming the strongest monster is nothing but the compromise you settled for."

Shinji spoke plainly. "You realized you could never become the flawless hero you envisioned, so you compromised. Harsh as it may sound, your way of thinking is still too childish."

In some ways, Garou and Sweet Mask were alike. Both clung stubbornly to the image of a perfect hero.

The difference was that Garou, a human, wanted to become a monster. Amai Mask, already half-monster, longed only to return to being human, to become a true hero.

"Fuh." Garou's mind reeled as if struck by lightning. His gaze darkened, though he quickly forced himself back to calm.

Shinji's words trampled on his deepest sore spot, yet he had no way to refute him.

"I don't need your lectures. If you're not going to kill me, then let me go."

With his hands shoved in his pockets, Garou looked every bit the delinquent teenager, brushing off Shinji's words as if they were nothing but noise.

"I'll give you some advice. To become the strongest monster, keep challenging the strong and pushing your limits. Don't waste time bullying weaker heroes at random. If it's a hero with a rotten character, sure, give them the beating they deserve."

Shinji added sincerely, "But in the end, you'll realize something. The perfect hero you imagine doesn't exist. And you are destined never to become the strongest."

It all boiled down to one simple truth: Garou would never surpass Saitama, no matter if he reached Monster Garou or Cosmic Garou.

"..."

Garou paused for a moment, but said nothing. Without looking back, he kept walking away. Shinji wasn't surprised in the least.

At this stage, Garou was much like a young Bang, rebellious, unruly, and unwilling to bow his head. However, Bang had only changed after being beaten into shape by his older brother, Bomb. Garou, too, would one day need someone to wake him up.

….

By now, Shinji had already returned to Hero Association Headquarters.

"That lunatic who called himself a monster, has Mr. Kamui already dealt with him?" Seeing Shinji return, Blue Fire immediately asked.

"More or less. I just gave him a beating and let him go." Shinji nodded.

"You only gave him a beating?" Heavy Tank Loincloth looked a bit surprised.

"What else, kill him on the spot? Sure, what he did was excessive, but not enough to warrant death. I already warned him."

As he spoke, Shinji glanced at the defeated thugs on the ground. "Besides, didn't you notice? They were beaten badly, but none of them are in mortal danger. In a way, he actually did us a favor."

Some of the thugs had already regained consciousness, but their bodies hurt so much they could only lie there groaning.

"That's true. Magic Trick Man isn't seriously hurt either. He's already been taken by the medics to recover." Heavy Tank Loincloth nodded.

"Even so, I don't agree with the Association turning to the underworld for help. Now that they've all been flattened, what should we do, Mr. Sitch?" Blue Fire asked.

"There's no helping it. After today, word will spread, and no underworld group will ever trust us again. Even if we wanted to recruit more hands, it's no longer possible. We'll have to look for other strategies…" Sitch replied with a tone of helplessness.

"Don't worry. Even if a large-scale God-level threat really shows up, Boros' spaceship can be put to use." Shinji reassured him.

"I just don't know if Lord Boros would be willing to let us use that ship," Sitch muttered, recalling the massive craft that blotted out the sky. He had never seen anything so enormous.

"He would. And besides, I already have the clearance to operate it," Shinji said casually.

To be precise, the spaceship was currently stored in his Kamui dimension.

After distributing the cosmic treasures on board and finishing the repairs, Shinji transferred the entire ship into Kamui.

As for the low-level alien soldiers, he had temporarily relocated them to the uninhabited zones of City Z. There was no way he could keep them in Kamui.

That was also why he hadn't moved the ship right away. The treasures and repairs had to be handled first.

"That's a relief."

Sitch let out a long breath before something occurred to him. "By the way, Mr. Kamui, don't you also have foresight? You predicted the Dark Matter Thieves before they arrived. Do you have any clues about the next God-level disaster?"

"Well… what I know is that there's a very high chance another God-level threat will appear within half a year." Shinji answered calmly.

If Garou were allowed to keep evolving, he could eventually reach Horned Garou or Monster Garou, both comparable to Boros, at least by the Hero Association's standard of "above Dragon." (As ONE once said in an interview.)

By their definition, that qualified as God-level. But if you use Saitama as the benchmark, it fell short. Saitama's existence was a complete bug, so overwhelming that the top monster class had effectively shifted from "God" to simply "Above Dragon." That man is a complete cheat.