Yama vs. Serious Punch

Bai Cangshu looked at Saitama, who had appeared before him, and nodded without hesitation.

Saitama looked at the ruined city, the humans who had been "revived" like walking corpses, the terrified female reporter screaming behind him, and Fubuki, pale-faced yet still clutching Mercenary Tao.

He slowly raised his fist.

"Don’t, Mr. Saitama!"

Lilith instinctively spoke up to stop him, but regretted it the moment the words left her mouth. She had no idea why she had tried to stop him. After thinking for a moment, she continued,

"These people are temporarily alive because of Mr. Mercenary Tao’s ability. Maybe if you kill Mr. Mercenary Tao, they’ll die again…"

"And… Mr. Mercenary Tao saved us before…"

At first, she tried to use logic to persuade Saitama, but soon she could no longer convince even herself and began spouting "nonsense."

In the end, she did not think Mercenary Tao was a good person either. It was simply that without this evil and cruel Mercenary Tao, she would never have been able to survive in this world.

After saying a few words, Lilith fell silent without Saitama even needing to refute her. She was begging for Mercenary Tao’s life only out of selfish desires she herself could not explain. She felt too ashamed to face Short Hair and Loka, who had died so miserably in the battle between Mercenary Tao and the Sage.

Saitama looked at this weak, innocent woman with an expression completely different from the one he showed Bai Cangshu.

Among that "group" of people, she was probably the only one he had encountered who still seemed "human."

She still retained everything that made a person human.

When faced with danger, she felt fear, called for help, prayed, and called for heroes.

When others were in danger, she felt empathy and instinctively wanted to help.

Even though… these people and the natives of this world were probably not even the same species, this woman had still risked her life to save Fubuki.

"You, leave."

Saitama waved his raised right hand, signaling Lilith to leave. He did not throw that punch.

Then he looked at this guy before him, this "fraud." His gaze was cold. In his eyes, Mercenary Tao had smashed apart the city blocks, then used the so-called power of a god to save others for no reason other than to keep deceiving them.

To earn himself the title of hero.

This behavior was far more twisted than that of Professional Heroes who acted only for fame and profit.

He was exploiting humanity’s instinctive yearning and hope for heroes.

"You’re not running?"

Saitama clenched his right fist. At that instant, the oppressive sensation in Bai Cangshu’s heart reached its peak. Death Intent surged through his chest, while the power of Yellow Springs beneath his bloodline swelled madly as never before.

Bai Cangshu shook his head slowly, his aged muscles making the motion awkward.

Yet he still clenched his left fist bit by bit. Myriad Death Intent continuously gathered, its intense force surging together with Yellow Springs. In the span of a breath, that one-of-a-kind Unique Trait had already been activated.

Yama!

A phantom appeared behind Bai Cangshu, and the boundless Yellow Springs seemed to begin churning.

Fubuki’s expression was filled with shock and uncertainty. She really had heard the sound of rushing water colliding, and… it was so cold.

Around Mercenary Tao, the temperature plummeted at a visible speed. Almost instantly, white frost began to appear with every breath she exhaled.

This was some kind of ability…

Bai Cangshu suddenly swung his right hand.

Boom!

The extreme speed of Eighth-Order Instant turned his own right arm to dust in an instant, but the gale it stirred still sent Fubuki and the black sedan flying dozens of meters away.

"Stay farther away, weaklings~"

Bai Cangshu’s voice was hoarser than ever, yet his tone remained soaring and spirited.

Lightning continuously spilled from his severed right arm. His Heart of the Thunder Emperor was beating beyond its limits.

This was precisely the battle Bai Cangshu had dreamed of most. Throughout all this, his gaze never left Saitama for even a moment. He had driven away Fubuki and Lilith not because of any benevolence.

It was because he truly felt that their presence was getting in the way.

Saitama probably would not want to involve them.

Facing Saitama, running was meaningless.

Whether Saitama threw a full-power punch or a restrained one, either possessed the ability to kill him. Therefore…

He wanted to see Saitama’s true strength!

As Bai Cangshu’s hair kept falling out, all sorts of information about Saitama continued to appear and flood into his mind.

"Hey, hey, hey, if you die at a time like this, we’ll be in serious trouble…"

Satoru Gojo’s voice appeared, but the next moment, it was suppressed by an even more vast soul, leaving him unable to continue speaking.

Within the pure-white world of consciousness, Satoru Gojo fell from the edge of the Throne of the Heart. In his eyes, the jade-white throne was now covered in cracks.

"This guy…"

Satoru Gojo sensed Bai Cangshu’s will. That Soul Power was so intense that he could not approach it at all. Clearly, Bai Cangshu’s focus had reached its utmost limit.

What came next would likely be his peak strike, the final brilliance of this host’s existence.

Bai Cangshu’s fighting spirit was so frenzied that it surpassed Satoru Gojo’s understanding. At this moment, he felt the difference between himself and Bai Cangshu. Although both possessed the self-awareness of natural aberrations,

when it came to Mental Power and willpower in such desperate circumstances, he… was inferior.

"Heh, I really lost to you…"

Satoru Gojo stopped struggling. As the Throne of the Heart continued to crack apart, he lay on his back and fell into the churning Yellow Springs.

Suppressing the agitation of the soul within his heart, Bai Cangshu forced the corners of his mouth upward.

He clenched his left fist, and the enormous phantom behind him clenched its fist as well.

"Ha… Now there’s no interference, Saitama…"

Saitama saw everything. At this moment, he possessed a kind of insight that seemed to see through all things—or perhaps it was simply intuition.

He did not want this world to become what it was now.

But once these people who had suddenly appeared were no longer content with trapping him or using him, he lost the right to stand by and watch.

These people wanted to change him… They wanted to use the lives and deaths of countless ordinary people in this world, and the death of another noble soul, to change him.

That was what Saitama found disgusting.

He hated Reincarnators.

Warning, the World Main Storyline has changed

World Main Storyline: Survive

Mission Description: Survive the pursuit of Special Plot Character Saitama

Mission Reward: Leave this world and obtain A-rank Anomaly Point*1, Dimensional Points*15000

Failure Penalty: None

Crimson words refreshed before Bai Cangshu, but he did not even look at them. He merely clenched his left fist with all his strength.

Satsui no Hado surged so violently that blood began to seep from all over his body, while golden aura howled as it gathered.

Conqueror’s Haki coating complete.

Then came a rushing sound.

Murky yellow waters of Yellow Springs began to emerge beneath his feet, while massive waves rose within the phantom behind him.

The black phantom raised its left fist. Bai Cangshu raised his left fist and stepped toward Saitama with his right foot.

Intense killing intent carried an icy will of absolute death. At that instant, overwhelming fist intent gathered behind Bai Cangshu.

Saitama raised his head. As he saw the black phantom clench its fist, an Illusory Gate opened. It was the Gate of the Underworld, the gate of life and death.

This was a madman obsessed with battle.

This was an inhuman aberration without a human heart.

This was a twisted person who even regarded his own life lightly.

Saitama suddenly gained much more understanding of this man who called himself Mercenary Tao.

His loneliness and this man’s coldness were entirely different, but at this moment, he decided to fulfill this madman’s final desire.

He clenched his fist and pulled it back in an instant, then spoke.

"Finishing move, Serious Punch."

Bai Cangshu’s white long hair vanished completely, and a satisfied smile bloomed across his wrinkled face.

Boom.

It was as if countless spirits of the dead howled out from the opened Gate of the Underworld. The black phantom threw a punch, and the aura of all things dying burst outward.

But the next moment, boundless light and heat spread out. Bai Cangshu’s pupils dilated as he felt all information being drowned away.

You have come into contact with the Limiter

EX051, you have suffered a Concept-level Attack: Serious Punch. Exemption check in progress...

Exemption failed

Amid the sound of the world shattering, boundless darkness engulfed Bai Cangshu. Then, an enormous broccoli appeared in his consciousness. The black phantom began to break apart, and Bai Cangshu’s consciousness vanished with it.