The Altered Mob and Saitama (3K)

"It really… came out…"

Lilith stretched out her hand in disbelief, feeling the warmth of the sunlight.

Even the air carried a sweetness that she found pleasant.

"I’d advise you not to breathe too much of the air in a place like this, little girl~"

A languid female voice interrupted Lilith’s musings.

She turned her head and saw a woman several dozen meters away, her white long hair shooting straight upward. Wrapped in a cloak, she stood outside a cordon line with a metal weapon resembling a baseball bat in hand and a cigarette dangling from her lips, sizing up Lilith and Mercenary Tao.

Lilith looked back at the sewer she had just escaped from. There was no sign of a hospital behind her—only vast patches of multicolored, dazzling hues suspended in midair, constantly shifting.

"If you’re alive, you should hurry over to my side."

The woman continued reminding Lilith. Lilith naturally wanted to leave, but she turned back to look at Mercenary Tao, who had not moved.

Everyone in the space was saying that Mercenary Tao had hunted down Rainbow Mage: Qilin Temple, a Title-level Reincarnator, head-on, and had even placed the other party’s Scarlet Drop Card on his stall.

Lilith did not think that, as a spellcaster-type Reincarnator of the same rank, she could escape his pursuit from such a distance. Thus, she wisely made no move to flee.

Of course, if the person who had come were not Ayase Seishi from Dandadan, but some powerful S-Class Hero from One-Punch Man, she might have tried asking for help.

Bai Cangshu "heard" the thoughts of this weak woman and glanced at her. Her thoughts were so simple that he could practically understand them without mind reading.

Bai Cangshu looked around. This was probably the outskirts of some city, with the city’s outline visible in the distance. However, a vast area of space behind them had been occupied by that strange energy.

Those dazzling, multicolored hues did not inspire any sense of brilliance or beauty. Instead, staring at them for too long caused discomfort and nausea.

That place emitted a special aura. All power from the real world was cut off, and even the wind completely dispersed when it blew into that space.

Sunlight could not shine into it, and air could not circulate through it. It was clearly an isolated, independent space.

"Stop looking. That side has already been completely infested by the Spirit World. Your companions can’t be saved. Give up."

Ayase Seishi reminded the two who seemed reluctant to part with their companions. She did not dislike people like that, but in times like these, such people were becoming fewer and fewer.

When she saw the tall, handsome man and the slender black-haired woman emerge from beyond the cordon, Ayase Seishi frowned.

This man carried an intense bloody aura.

"Spirit World infestation?"

Bai Cangshu realized that she was probably a Plot Character arranged by the space to introduce the world background and current situation to the Reincarnators escaping this Side Mission, so he went along with the conversation.

After receiving that call for help, Ayase Seishi had made a brief calculation and learned that people had once again been trapped within this Spirit World Infested Zone. She had come only to observe whether there had been any new changes in the area.

She had not expected there to really be survivors.

"Half a year ago, someone tore apart the boundary between the Spirit World and reality, causing the Spirit World’s power to spill massively into the real world. The number of monsters and ghosts exploded, and many places became like this. Tch, it’s dangerous…"

The woman spoke listlessly. The changes in this world were no longer something a single Spirit Medium like her could resolve.

Listening to the woman’s brief description, Bai Cangshu understood that this was undoubtedly part of the world background.

He looked beyond the cordon lines. A motorcycle was parked by the roadside, and a man whose hair nearly covered his face leaned against it, smoking.

"Hey, you know what happened half a year ago, don’t you…"

"Mr. Reigen Arataka."

Ayase Seishi, who had been about to leave, also stopped. The Spirit Disaster half a year ago had dealt an almost devastating blow to Spirit Mediums like them. Their lineage had already begun to fracture due to modern society’s lack of recognition, and the overwhelming number of supernatural incidents had nearly crushed them.

Many Spirit Mediums had died during the Spirit Disaster.

The moment Bai Cangshu heard Ayase Seishi mention that someone had torn apart the boundary between the Spirit World and reality, he recalled the voice that had seemed to belong to Reigen Arataka when he had previously heard that group trying to seek help from Shigeo Kageyama.

That person had said Reigen Arataka was merely a fraud, but had only remained silent about Shigeo Kageyama’s whereabouts.

Combined with the currently known world setting, Bai Cangshu felt there were not many figures capable of tearing apart the boundary between the real world and the Spirit World.

There were probably only a few, such as Saitama, Shigeo Kageyama, and God. Tatsumaki was likewise a top-tier Supernatural Ability User, but a description like tearing apart the Spirit World fundamentally fit Shigeo Kageyama and God better.

As for Saitama, due to his special characteristics, he could theoretically accomplish nearly any destructive feat.

Combined with Reigen Arataka’s appearance here and his dejected demeanor, Bai Cangshu could almost confirm that the one who had caused the terrifying Spirit Disaster was Shigeo Kageyama—or rather, a darkened and rampaging Shigeo Kageyama.

In the bustling center of a city, within a crowded commercial street, the aroma of coffee mixed with the stench of blood inside a coffee shop bearing the sign of Shandora Maid Cafe.

Several youthful and sweet maids had been torn apart and lay collapsed inside the shop. Only the barista in a white dress shirt and suit remained, his head lowered as he prepared coffee behind the counter.

His face was pale, and his hands trembled. He could not perform the skills he had once excelled at, while inwardly he wailed without end.

Someone save me. Anyone, please, come save me!

But no one answered his pleas. Pedestrians came and went outside, seemingly without any interest in looking into the shop. He even saw several Professional Heroes pass by the window, yet they still failed to notice anything unusual.

Inside the shop, nine men and women dressed in various styles sat separately. The man by the window wore a gray trench coat and a hat. He lowered his head to sip his coffee before speaking.

"Though being assigned to the same area as me means that all of you are at least veteran-level Reincarnators, with rather good evaluations in the space, I still need to share some intelligence and a few words of advice."

"Based on what we currently know, this world has been confirmed to contain elements from both One-Punch Man and Mob Psycho 100. Therefore, there are several Iron Rules that I hope everyone will follow."

"First, no matter what type of Reincarnator you are—lawful, neutral, or evil—and no matter what goal you want to achieve in this world, do not, in any form whatsoever—remember, any form whatsoever—provoke Saitama, Tatsumaki, Shigeo Kageyama, and the others!"

The man stressed his words as he removed his hat, revealing his face. A cross-shaped mark was branded between his brows.

"If you want to capture female slaves, fine, but don’t set your sights on Hellish Blizzard."

"If you want to torture and kill Plot Characters to satisfy your own desires, no problem, but don’t do it in front of these people."

"If you want to kill Plot Characters for Singularities, that’s OK too, but stay away from Hellish Blizzard and the people around Shigeo Kageyama."

At this point, everyone in the coffee shop recognized the speaker as Tree Herder, the fourth-ranked figure of the Far East Magic Society and a Title-level Reincarnator.

His Fierce Reputation was well known, yet his words repeatedly told everyone to behave themselves.

Li Qingzi wore a half-mask and stood against the wall at the innermost side. From the corner of her eye, she took in everyone’s expressions.

Those assigned here were probably all Reincarnators above the upper-middle tier. Two recognizable Title-level Reincarnators were present, yet neither spoke. Clearly, the Iron Rules Tree Herder spoke of were some kind of pattern summarized by Reincarnators who had entered these two worlds before.

She briefly recalled Shigeo Kageyama’s appearance when he lost emotional control and went berserk in Mob Psycho 100, as well as Saitama’s overwhelming strength as established in One-Punch Man.

Then she understood why such arrangements existed.

These so-called Iron Rules had probably been explored through the lives of countless Reincarnators.

"Second, Reincarnators with nonhuman bloodlines should avoid appearing before Saitama whenever possible."

"Third, the Limiter is not something we Reincarnators can touch. I advise you to put away any thoughts you shouldn’t have and stay as far away from Saitama as possible. If anyone comes into contact with Saitama and causes the plot to mutate, I will kill them directly."

These so-called pieces of advice were basically all centered around several excessively powerful Plot Characters. Before anyone could raise an objection, Li Qingzi’s expression suddenly changed.

A bald man in a casual hoodie appeared outside the window, carrying a bag.

Thump, thump!

Li Qingzi’s heart suddenly contracted. In that instant of terror, she realized in a daze that her Observation Haki had not detected his approach at all.

Even more frightening was that the spell at the coffee shop entrance meant to drive away humans had not affected him. Those dead-fish eyes looked directly into the shop.

Not one of the Reincarnators in the coffee shop was weak, nor was any of them stupid. They might not necessarily agree with Tree Herder’s words, much less believe that he could become the temporary leader of their group.

But none of them had clashed with Tree Herder before confirming that it was safe.

The more mission worlds one experienced, the more one understood that those who relied on a Reincarnator’s power, abandoned thought, and caused trouble everywhere often died in sudden conflicts.

At that moment, nearly everyone’s gaze froze. The coffee shop fell unnaturally silent in an instant, with only heartbeats sounding one after another, along with the clinking of cups as the barista prepared coffee with trembling hands.

Tree Herder sat beside the window. Even his heart, long replaced with a pure elemental body, began beating uncontrollably faster.

Damn it, it can’t be this much of a coincidence, can it? Saitama actually appeared here directly?!

His face turned ashen, and the cross between his brows began to glow.

Almost everyone else tensed up as well. Trusting the effects of the human-repelling spell and blinded by the arrogance rooted in these powerful Reincarnators, they had not even bothered to conceal the horrific scene inside the shop.

When Saitama’s dead-fish eyes, like the eyes of the King of Hell, looked into the shop, a Reincarnator finally could not bear the pressure.

Boom!

Blazing Battle Aura erupted. Wind and lightning exploded around one person as he smashed through the rear wall and vanished in an instant. Gusts of wind and thunder roared, as if countless figures had appeared at once.

Three Thousand Thunder Movement!

Then magic power erupted. One person pointed at Saitama, and magic power exploded, flooding the entire space with intense light.

Li Qingzi’s muscles trembled instinctively. She possessed an extraordinary trait of divine speed, and paired with the explosive speed of Soru, she could escape in an instant.

But as she watched the Reincarnators display their various abilities, she forcibly suppressed her fear, crouched down, and pressed herself against the wall.

Pfft!

Amid spraying blood, a destructive impact swept past Li Qingzi.

Then the radiance of magic power dispersed. The Reincarnator who had unleashed the powerful magic was left with only half his body on the ground, while the distorted spatial teleportation had completely shattered.

Tree Herder gripped the table tightly with both hands. He did not move, lowering his head and refusing to meet the bald man’s gaze outside the window.

Then, amid everyone’s subtly changing expressions, the bald man in the hoodie turned and left without any emotion. He did not even ask a single question about anything inside the shop.