Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Third Superpower
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Bang bang bang bang-!
Boom-!
"Hm?"
I turned around at the sound of distant gunfire and explosions. Far off in the distance, flames shot up high before vanishing.
"That's..."
The spot where the flames had erupted was where the Memory Hunter had gone to search.
"He found them."
I immediately stopped my search and sprinted full speed toward the noise. Leaping onto the factory roof in one bound, I spotted the Memory Hunter fending off villains and criminals with a single gun.
"He's holding his own."
The Memory Hunter hadn't managed to kill a single one of the criminals, but that was only natural. How could one ordinary person take down even a single opponent against dozens?
Only movie protagonists or superpowered folks like me could pull that off.
"Guess I should help before he gets himself killed... Huh?"
He was hanging in there well enough, but the Memory Hunter was undeniably in danger. I was about to rush over to assist him.
-Sob... Rachel sis is scary!
-I wanna see Mommy! Waaah~! Mommyyy~!
-It's okay. The heroes will come soon... Uncle will save us.
From inside one of the factories came children's cries and a familiar voice. It was Rachel's.
"......"
I glanced back and forth between the Memory Hunter and the factory with the kids. After a moment's hesitation, I made up my mind.
"Sorry, Memory Hunter. Hang in there just a bit longer."
I couldn't just leave trembling kids like that. And though unlikely, one of those criminal bastards might have a gun to their heads.
"Batman bro, first off, my apologies. I'm sorry."
If a criminal really had a gun to the kids' heads, I'd slaughter them without mercy. My no-kill rule might shatter today for real.
I leaped straight down into the factory.
"Eek?!"
"Waaah!"
The kids spotted me and burst into terrified wails.
Why are they crying? Oh, the skull on my mask? Next time, I should carry a kid-friendly one with Pororo on it.
Do they even have Pororo here? Probably not.
"Uncle!"
"Rachel."
Rachel, who had been comforting the kids, spotted me and ran over, throwing her arms around me in a tight hug. I gently patted her shoulders.
"Got bored, so I came to rescue you."
"I knew Uncle would come save us! Sniff!"
"......"
Rachel's shoulders began to shake in my arms. My suit grew wet.
"Uncle, what do we do... Mommy... Mommy...!"
"Don't worry."
"Sniff... Huh?"
"Your uncle here got bored and took your mom to the hospital."
"R-Really? For real?"
"Yeah. I have a hobby of taking injured people to the hospital when I'm bored. Your mom's safe."
I'd threatened the doctors and nurses in the ER that they'd die if they didn't save Rachel's mom, so they definitely would. If they refused surgery without guardian consent, I'd kill them all for real. Even Batman bro couldn't stop me then.
"Thank you, Uncle! Thank you so much! Sob... Waaah!"
"......"
Only then did Rachel finally break down crying like the other kids. Damn it! My eyes are about to flood with tears again!
"Don't cry..."
To hold back the tears, I started singing.
"Don't cry! Don't cry! Santa won't give presents to crying kids~!"
"...?"
Rachel looked up at me mid-sob, stunned by my heavenly harmony. They say crying and laughing makes your butt hairy.
"Anyway, let's get going. Time to head home."
"Okay! Kids! Uncle says he'll take us home!"
"Sniff... Really?"
"Really?"
"Yeah. This uncle's never lied once in his life."
Hm... Never? Probably not. I'm a corpse without my honesty!
"Oh, right."
Suddenly, I remembered the Memory Hunter holding off the criminals alone. Honestly, letting him die wouldn't bother me, but if not for him, I wouldn't have found the kids this fast. Since he'd helped, I owed him.
"But can you kids stay here by yourselves for a bit?"
"Huh?"
"Truth is, I came with another uncle... and he's in danger right now. I need to go help him."
"......"
Rachel fell silent at my words that I had to go now. She was mature for her age, but still just a little girl.
Staying here alone again would terrify her.
"Then... go ahead."
"What?"
"Don't worry about us. We'll hide over there. Just come back quick."
"......"
Rachel surprised me again. It had to be scary, she must want to bawl, but she held it in and overcame her fear. Something my past self could never do.
"...Wait here just a sec. My friend will come soon."
"Uncle's friend? You mean the one from earlier..."
"No, not that guy. I have lots of friends. And that dude I mentioned... er, the other uncle? He's not my friend. First time meeting him today."
"Huh?"
Rachel tilted her head, unable to follow.
"Anyway, wait about 30 seconds. Then my friend will come protect you. Got it?"
"Okay. Hurry back."
"You got it."
I patted Rachel's head and headed out. Then I thought to myself.
'I'll select superpower number 11, [Clone Master].'
After that, I burned 10 Superpower Level-Up Tickets to raise it to level 10, then launched myself to aid the Memory Hunter.
A moment later—
Step... Step... Step...
A man the exact same size as Steel Armor walked into the building with the kids. He even wore the identical skull mask as Steel Armor.
Perfect Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V!
The man crossed his arms and introduced himself to the kids.
"Pleased to meet you all. I am [Steel Armor MARK-II]."
Bang bang bang bang-!
The criminal bastards fired at me. But it was pointless. I charged right at them without hesitation and swung my fist.
"Guh?!"
"Argh!"
The criminals screamed as they flew back, crashing into the warehouse. For breaking the national rules, even the villain greeting of a hail of bullets was too good for them.
"Raaargh!"
Then, a guy with freakishly swollen arms lunged at me, swinging his massive arm. What kind of fist was as big as a drum barrel? With only his arms unnaturally huge, he looked just like a gorilla charging.
I casually raised my arm to block his punch.
"No way?! My... my fist blocked so easily...!"
"Then should I block it the hard way?"
"Raaah!"
He kept swinging his arms wildly. For their size, his swings were pathetically slow. Yawn! So slow it made me yawn.
"Hey, is that all you got?! Even my grandma could swing faster than that!"
"You bastard!"
Do I even have a grandma? Probably. But I've never met her. All I could set were my parents.
But at least my unseen grandma's faster than this punk. That's for sure.
My taunt worked; his punches sped up a bit. But still too slow to graze my clothes.
Getting annoying. Time to end this.
"Kuak?!"
I slipped into his guard in an instant and unleashed a Rising Dragon Fist. His chin met my knuckles, and he rocketed upward like a dragon ascending to the heavens.
Thud-!
But he wasn't dragon material. How could a gorilla wannabe become a dragon?
The only thing that can become a dragon here is my dick. My dick is the true dragon. Alright!
"Phew... That do it?"
With the villains and criminals down, the Memory Hunter emerged from his corner with a sigh. Holding them off had worn him out. The bloodstains on his clothes told the tale of his fierce struggle.
"Not bad, Memory Hunter."
"What? What about?"
"You bought time against these guys with that body of yours."
"Yeah. All I managed was buying time."
"......"
The Memory Hunter looked bitterly at his trembling hands.
"But that 'just barely' of yours let me rescue the kids safely. Be proud."
"No."
The Memory Hunter shook his head immediately. What the hell? I try to comfort him, and he flat-out rejects it? Maybe I should smash his thick skull.
"This isn't enough to even touch a hair on 'that guy.'"
"That guy?"
"Yeah. Someone I have to kill."
"Hm. Whoever it is, my condolences in advance."
"What?"
"Once you're on the case, he won't go down easy, right?"
"Heh. If only. Why's your speech so formal now?"
"Oh? Oops!"
I'd slipped into arrogant mode speech by mistake. Anyway, thanks to the Memory Hunter, I'd saved Rachel and the kids again, so I shouldn't act high and mighty.
He deserved my respect.
"So, what do we do with these guys?"
"Obviously, drag them to the Hero Association. Read their memories and root out their whole organization."
"Yeah? Hmm..."
Non-powered folks were one thing, but I wanted to take that big-armed guy. Gift him to my bug farm buddies as a new friend.
But these scum chose kidnapping kids amid all possible crimes. Couldn't let them slide. The Memory Hunter and Hero Association would handle them better than me.
Since he could read memories.
So what do I get?
No work, no pay. That's what I hate most. People deserve compensation for labor.
"Then I'll take their assets."
"What?"
The Memory Hunter glared at me.
"Nonsense. All that wealth goes back to society."
"That's the real nonsense. I don't move for free. Since I did the work, I claim my pay. Hero Association, protect workers' rights!"
"...? What bullshit is that?"
"Aah~ Whatever. Point is, I don't work without pay. So hand over their assets or yours or whatever. Otherwise, these guys stay with me."
"...Crazy bastard?"
Even whispering, you're too close for me not to hear, punk!
The Memory Hunter, looking up at me with arms crossed, spoke again.
"Pay, pay... Fine, I'll get you off the villain wanted list."
"What?"
What fresh nonsense is this?
"Why?"
"You seem wrongly labeled as a villain. I'll fix that..."
"Aah~ Stop stop. What the hell are you on about?"
"What?"
"Listen, Memory Hunter."
I spoke seriously to the greatly mistaken Memory Hunter.
"You think just 'cause we teamed up I'm misunderstood or whatever. Let me clear this up: I'm a villain. The Hero Association labeling me one? No mistake there."
"Then why take these guys down? Why save the kids?"
"'Cause they broke my code of justice."
Specifically, the national rules.
"Justice?"
"Yeah. Heroes have their justice, villains have ours. My first rule: 'Don't touch kids.'"
"......"
"These bastards kidnapped kids, violating my code. Especially Rachel, who'd just reunited with her mom. So they paid the price."
"...Imposing your justice on others?"
"Yep!"
"Yep...?"
"Exactly!"
I nodded proudly.
"Think I became a villain for nothing? I don't give a damn about others' values or justice. Zero interest. But mine? I impose it freely. That's what being a villain means."
The Memory Hunter stared at me incredulously, then chuckled and shook his head.
"You're not right in the head either."
"If I were, I wouldn't be a villain."
"Fair point."
"Anyway, back to my pay..."
"......"
The Memory Hunter frowned. I'd been whining about pay nonstop, so fair enough. But it mattered to me!
"Not money. Something else."
"Something else?"
"Yeah. From you."
He shook his head.
"What? Sorry, but I'm broke."
"How's an S-rank hero broke?"
"I blow my paycheck as soon as I get it."
"Damn spendthrift."
"What?"
"Oh, sorry. Inner thoughts slipped. Anyway, don't need money. I can earn that elsewhere. What I want from you is info."
"Info?"
"Yeah. I'll smash any villains or crime groups touching kids, no hesitation. Root 'em out completely. But I don't know where they are. Pull that intel from the Association and pass it my way."
"You want me to steal Association info... and give it to a villain like you?"
"Yep. You got it."
"Fine."
"I mean, if you're refusing... Huh? Fine?"
"Yeah."
"......"
I stared blankly at the readily nodding Memory Hunter.
No way! I prepped my 'if you refuse' bit, and he blocks it?! Give me a chance to say it, punk! And what hero hands info to villains? You a corporate spy or what?!
"Ijji-something, right? Taking out villains as a villain benefits the Hero Association too. Here's my card. Contact the number when you need info. Anyway, time to go. Heroes are coming."
"......"
Helicopter sounds approached from outside. Super annoying, but I pocketed his card and turned away.
"Steel Armor."
"Yeah?"
"See you next time."
"Whatever."
I shrugged and slipped out of the factory district, evading the helicopter. The heroes would take the kids home.