Chapter 402: The Great Car Thief (1)
Chapter 402: The Great Car Thief (1)
While the man explained his country’s pitiful history, I repeatedly rummaged through the surroundings to see if there was anything to gain. However, the search concluded with absolutely no harvest by the time his story ended.
So, to consult on our next move, I approached the refreshing Young Man who had finished his explanation and spoke to him.
“What the hell is with that look?”
It was the question I had been most curious about for a while now—something I felt I couldn't move past without asking.
Something strange had clearly happened, but since neither Baek Si-hyun, Han A-bin, nor even the man himself showed any reaction, I had spent some time observing the situation, wondering if I was the weird one. But seeing that toothy grin on that face was more than I could bear.
Why on earth had Ultimate turned into a refreshing, handsome Young Man with the kind of moderate muscle you’d see in a sports manga?
You’re not that type of guy.
Just before getting out of the car, he was such a suffocating mass of muscle that I’d wondered how he even fit into the driver’s seat. What was with him turning into some youth the moment he stepped out?
I demanded an explanation for the phenomenon, but the man in question merely looked puzzled.
“Hmm?! Does my appearance look different to you?”
His sweltering way of speaking remained the same, but unlike his usual shouting tone, his voice wasn't that high. The quality of his voice was also closer to a Young Man’s than a muscle-bound brute’s.
The mismatch was causing me endless agony.
If he was going to do that, he should have at least changed his speech pattern to something younger. What was he thinking?
“Yeah. You look like one of those guys who throws the ball in your country’s violent version of football.”
He had a decent amount of muscle—not too much, not too little—and his face was fairly handsome, so girls would probably like him.
As I spat out that sarcastic remark, he laughed.
“As expected of Crimson★Hammer! To think you could see through my camouflage!”
Thwack. Thwack.
The youth presumed to be Ultimate laughed and slapped me on the shoulder.
Since his muscles had vanished and his frame had shrunk, the hands hitting me were smaller too, but...
That hurts, you bastard.
It seemed his idiotic strength remained unchanged; every slap of his palm vibrated through my entire body.
Anyway, putting that aside.
“Camouflage?”
“Indeed! If I were to walk around in my true form, wouldn't everyone notice my arrival? Though it wasn't intentional, I am a celebrity, after all! That is why I live in this form when conducting infiltration missions or leading an ordinary daily life!”
Uh... sure. I guess since it’s him, he’d have that level of superpower. Even if he didn't, his S-Rank ability would probably make it happen somehow.
That explained his transformation, but there was one problem.
“Then why don't your disciples notice?”
“Ah, that is because a mental-type superpower is radiating from me, ensuring they do not find my change suspicious!”
“...Huh?”
What was he talking about?
“To put it simply, it works like this! If they see me in this form and fail to associate it with Ultimate, it becomes difficult for them to perceive that I am Ultimate in disguise. Conversely, those who already recognize me as Ultimate will simply believe that this is how I originally looked!”
Ah... so, even though a Blonde Man in a white, blue, and red skin-tight suit is running around, it prevents people from realizing it’s Ultimate transformed? Just because he lost some muscle and looks a bit younger?
“What a damn convenient superpower...”
...Wait, something’s weird.
No, wait, surely not.
I doubted it, but just in case.
“Is that form right now... is it not an illusion or something? Did your physical body actually change like that?”
“Indeed! I used physical modification to transform into a different body! It is a shame to see my sturdy muscles vanish, but my strength remains the same, and I have no issues using my other special abilities!”
“...I think this is the first time I’ve seen a complete physical mutation ability.”
Transformation or illusion Type S are common, but those are usually just external. I don't think I've ever seen someone whose actual physical body changes that drastically.
Of course, that’s limited to Heroes. You see it quite often with Mutants and the like...
...Let’s count the Yellow King as an exception.
Just as I was wondering where Ultimate’s limits lay.
“Of course! There are limits! Even with modification, it is restricted to a certain range within my own gene pool!”
Ultimate smiled and showed me his hand, but...
“...In English, please.”
When I asked back with a blank expression, unable to understand his words.
“Hmm, it would be faster to show you directly!”
Ultimate shouted with a toothy grin and struck a Side Chest pose.
In that instant, the Young Man before my eyes transformed into a Middle-aged Man.
He had aged appropriately, but he still had the sturdy body of someone who had worked out in his youth.
The middle-aged Ultimate immediately struck another pose.
His silhouette looked thin, but he became an Old Man with gnarled, "compressed" muscles.
However, all of them shared a common thread.
Right, so that’s what he meant.
I hadn't understood the "gene pool" part, but this was the gist of it.
Though the shades were slightly different, they all had hair that could be called blonde.
And if I looked closely at the faces while knowing for sure it was Ultimate, I could see they definitely shared a similar appearance.
The power to change his age and appearance within his own possible range.
Was this also a derivative of his S-Rank ability?
If so, it made some sense.
Having finished my thoughts and resolved my curiosity.
“I get it, so change back to the youn—”
Just as I was about to tell Ultimate to stop the body show.
Ultimate struck yet another pose.
This one was different from the others.
Moving away from the bodybuilding poses that emphasized muscle, a distinctly alien posture erupted from Ultimate’s body.
He pushed his hips back, thrust his chest forward, curved his back into a bizarre arc, and placed his hands on his waist.
What the hell is that?
The moment that thought crossed my mind.
A being fitting that pose appeared before my eyes.
Since the person was still wearing the skin-tight suit, the silhouette of the body was heavily emphasized...
“God fucking damn it, Jesus, Buddha, what the hell.”
You bastard, you’re mocking me, aren't you?
A being so irritating that curses automatically flew out of my mouth appeared before me.
A blonde-haired person in a skin-tight suit that revealed lean muscles.
A woman.
Fuck.
Now I can't even use a nut-kick.
I had vowed to give this bastard a magical asexual gender-swap, but to think he’d go and do it himself.
“How is it! Now I am just like you!”
Wow, even after transforming like that, the way he speaks is exactly the same?
God truly has abandoned this world.
“Fuck off.”
Wait, there’s nothing left to kick off.
God damn it, seriously.
“Hmm? It seems there is a problem with the translation. What did that mean just now?”
How kind of the translation protocol to break down right at this moment.
“I said drop dead.”
No, please, seriously. Go out past the Great Barrier and do some fasting meditation for about 180 days.
Gain enlightenment there, return, write a scripture about your yearning for muscles on the spot, and then pass away peacefully to become a Living Buddha and found a Muscle Cult or something.
I’m sure people would build sacred gyms all over the world where they’d sweat in memory of you while lifting weights for the rest of their lives.
Reciting a line of scripture for every cycle of exercise would be perfect.
“Hmm. I prepared this thinking you would like it, but I suppose it cannot be helped!”
With those words, Ultimate struck another muscular pose.
He immediately returned to the form of the Young Man.
Of course, that didn't mean my anger had subsided.
“Wha— Why the hell is everyone around me getting gender-swapped lately?!”
Is everyone crazy?
Why does this kind of crap keep happening around me these days?
What’s even more annoying is that these bastards are all reversible.
I can't even go back, but these guys all have a way.
“Die. Just die already.”
As I said that, I kept kicking the young Ultimate’s shins.
Perhaps because a level of anger beyond my imagination had surged within me, it seemed my limiter had loosened slightly.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Every time my foot connected with Ultimate’s shin, shockwaves spread out and cracks formed in the ground.
Yet, even in the midst of that.
“Ha! Ha! Ha! That hurts, so please stop! Crimson★Hammer!”
This bastard only said it hurt; he didn't show a hint of pain and stood firm like a metal statue, so my anger wouldn't dissipate.
At least fall over while screaming, ‘Argh, my shins!’ or something.
While I was engaged in this short-lived but utterly unproductive nonsense.
“Um. Excuse me. Senior?”
Suddenly, a new voice cut in between us.
“What is it, A-bin?”
I immediately suppressed my anger, forcibly reapplied the limiter, and turned to look at my disciple.
“Well, um, I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation, but a problem has occurred.”
“What is it?”
If it’s urgent, just say it.
Don't beat around the bush.
As I swallowed the irritation burning inside me instead of letting it out.
“The car. It’s been stolen.”
...Huh?
I heard something impossible.
Why would the car be stolen?
Why would anyone steal a piece of junk with blown tires and a missing door?
No, more importantly.
“How does a car get stolen?”
When we’re standing right next to it?
When I asked back in shock.
“Well... by the time we noticed, it was already like that...”
As if she didn't know how to explain it either, A-bin quickly pointed somewhere with her finger.
As Ultimate and I turned our heads to follow her finger.
An incomprehensible sight met our eyes.
On the large road leading into the heart of Detroit, filled with cracked asphalt and stone debris.
The car we had arrived in was speeding away.
“....”
That really is our car.
For a second or two, I froze, my brain unable to process what had happened or how to react.
“Well... we weren't sure if we were allowed to go in there on our own...”
Ah, so that was it.
The car was swiped while neither Baek Si-hyun nor Han A-bin noticed.
By the time they realized, the car was already racing down the inner roads of Detroit.
I don't know about Baek Si-hyun, but Han A-bin immediately realized it wasn't a situation where she should act on her own and informed us of the anomaly.
Well, it was an appropriate response.
If the group got separated while chasing that, it would be nothing short of a disaster.
At least, by Han A-bin and Baek Si-hyun’s standards.
“What kind of gutsy bastard steals our car?”
I immediately spat out my fury and sprinted down the road.
To deliver judgment upon the heinous villain who had trespassed upon my private property.
The tires were blown, the windows were cracked, and a door was missing.
But regardless, wasn't it a rental car that had to be returned to the Management Bureau?
Rather than submitting a ridiculous report saying, ‘I left it for a moment and it was stolen by a car thief,’ I’d rather smash the car with my own hands and just return the emblem.
Since I’d be returning part of what used to be a vehicle, it would count as returning the car in my book.
The moment I finished that thought.
CRASH!
I immediately brought my hammer down, blowing away the rear of the vehicle.
With this, the object that had barely managed to fall into the category of a "vehicle" was completely pulverized into a piece of junk that used to be a vehicle.
Even then, I spotted someone in the driver’s seat stepping on the accelerator and revving the engine, trying to escape.
“You’re prepared, right?”
No matter how much of a slum thief you are, you should distinguish between who you can touch and who you can't, right?
Thinking that, I smashed the window and tried to drag the person in the driver’s seat out by force.
...What is this?
A strange sight entered my vision.
There was definitely a person sitting in the driver’s seat.
However, I felt a slight doubt as to whether I should call it a person.
The person was melting. Like a person made of mud had started to run.
Eyes, nose, and mouth all existed, but they had slid down into strange positions.
The arms and legs protruding from the clothes had skin stretched long, making them look like fins.
What the hell is this?
“Get out.”
To secure this strange being intact, I opened the door instead of breaking the window.
In that moment, the being slowly closed its eyes and stopped moving.
The moment a startled me forcibly dragged it out of the driver’s seat.
“...It’s dead?”
It had died.
Without even giving me time to understand what had happened.