"...What?"
Upon hearing the claim of the Mumen Rider, Fang Mo was actually quite surprised as well.
Honestly, someone like the previous Sonic, who was characterized as a haughty and comedic figure, it was not unexpected for him not to want to become Fang Mo's apprentice.
But the Mumen Rider was different.
He was the kind of true hero who was kind-hearted and filled with a sense of justice.
If he could greatly enhance his own strength, wouldn't he be able to protect more people?
Of course, that's what Fang Mo thought, so he found it incredible when the Mumen Rider refused him, after all, the latter was just kind-hearted, not foolish. Shouldn't the principle of equipping oneself well to do good work be clear to him?
"You…"
After thinking for a long time, Fang Mo still curiously asked, "Don't you want to become stronger?"
"I am well aware of my own situation."
Upon hearing this, the Mumen Rider looked down with a hint of apology and said, "Priest, I am truly sorry, I am just an ordinary person with no talent at all, not a genius, so if I were to become your apprentice, I would definitely cause trouble in many ways."
"I'm not really afraid of trouble though…"
Fang Mo shook his head.
"You are a good person. An untalented ordinary person like me becoming your apprentice would surely bring you shame."
The Mumen Rider paused slightly as he said this, then looking at his severely worn armor, he smiled in resignation: "And besides, speaking of which, a mediocrity like me really shouldn't waste too much time on training, knowing that there are so many people in the world who need help... how could I stop?"
"That's so."
Hearing this, Fang Mo couldn't help but reply, "But good deeds are never-ending."
"If a person has endless money and endless delicious food, they will feel happy," the Mumen Rider said with a smile. "So why must good deeds be completed? Helping others... should only make one happier, right?"
"..."
Hearing the Mumen Rider's words, Fang Mo didn't know what to say anymore, so he just patted the other's shoulder: "When I conquer another fairyland world in the future, I'll use the merit to help you ascend to sainthood."
"Haha, I don't really understand all that."
The Mumen Rider laughed and scratched his head: "But I appreciate your kind intentions."
"No, no, that won't do."
After hearing the Mumen Rider's words, Fang Mo immediately shook his head: "Actually, I tend to act recklessly. When I say I want to help you, I must help you, regardless of the consequences or the plot… it's all about feeling good."
"Uh…"
The Mumen Rider felt a bit awkward: "Well, I'm not that pathetic, you don't really need to go out of your way to help me…"
"How about this, then I help you a few times?"
Fang Mo asked.
"…No, please just help me once." Even the Mumen Rider couldn't help but facepalm.
Fang Mo couldn't help but laugh when he heard this: "Don't worry, even if you really are just a mediocrity, I can still prop you up against the wall, since I have over ten years of experience in wall reinforcement... cough, wall reinforcement experience."
"Then, I'll be troubling you."
The Mumen Rider really didn't know how to refuse anymore and could only smile helplessly.
"Look at your skeptical face."
Seeing the expression on the Mumen Rider's face, Fang Mo immediately understood his thoughts and summoned his stand, Steve, who controlled him to take out a regular golden apple from his backpack.
A flash of white light passed, and the pixelated item turned into a golden fruit.
"Here, a meeting gift."
Fang Mo said, handing over the golden apple: "Take it home and mix it into a salad or something, and after you finish eating, come to me to become an apprentice, and then as your master, I will give you a big gift for apprenticeship."
"This... This must be very valuable, right?"
The Mumen Rider received the golden apple, hesitating as he looked at the yellow, heavy fruit in his hand.
The item felt heavy, its golden surface smooth as a mirror, honestly, just looking at it, it didn't seem like an ordinary item, making him unsure whether to accept it.
But just then.
Suddenly, a voice came from beside them.
"Just take it."
The Mumen Rider looked up and saw a bald man he somewhat recognized—it was Saitama: "This guy is rich, just boldly freeload off him, no need to feel guilty."
"That's right, it's like that."
Not far away, Genos also earnestly nodded: "If you become Mr. Fang Mo's apprentice… at least you won't have to worry about food."
"You make it sound nice."
Hearing this, Fang Mo turned his head and teased Genos: "Then you should become my apprentice…"
"I'm sorry, I am a robot."
Genos calmly said: "Although I can eat, both simple meals and delicacies are the same to me, so Saitama-sensei is indeed more suitable for me."
"You double-crosser…"
"Alright, alright, everyone."
"Oh, sure, then let's go together."
Saitama didn't really care, just nodded his head.
"We two will not go."
Upon hearing the others' conversation, the Armored Gorilla suddenly spoke up: "The doctor is waiting for our biological samples, we need to get back soon."
"No problem."
Genos responded: "I will report your contributions to the association, and then the points will be added directly to your doctor, alright?"
"Mhm, thank you."
The Armored Gorilla nodded, then pulled the sulky Ground Dragon next to her, preparing to leave.
And after these two agents had washed their clothes and left, the rest of the people also gathered their equipment and then left the beach, heading towards the shelter.
However, it's worth mentioning.
The so-called samples taken by the Armored Gorilla were not taking the entire body of the Deep Sea King away, but rather extracting some of his blood, spinal cord, or muscle slices, while the body of the opponent was still soaking in the sea water.
Seeing this, the Puri-Puri Prisoner didn't mind, washed up and dragged one of the opponent's legs towards the shelter.
"Why are you still taking him with you?"
Seeing this scene, Fang Mo couldn't help but ask the Puri-Puri Prisoner.
"Showing this to everyone might reassure them," the Puri-Puri Prisoner explained while walking: "The leader of the monsters has been defeated."
"This guy isn't the leader of the monsters though."
Saitama said from the side: "This guy can only be considered a small fry, the real monster seems to be called Cthulhu, an immortal giant octopus head."
"Speaking of this."
Genos then began to speak: "I also requested support from the association before and stated that the disaster level had been upgraded to at least dragon level, I don't know how they will handle it…"
During the conversation.
The people had also returned to the shelter.
And when they reached the shelter, the A-rank heroes were still anxiously guarding the entrance.
Even apart from these A-rank heroes, many citizens were also poking their heads out, probably because the terrifying storm above J City had disappeared, they also felt the crisis had been averted.
Seeing the S-rank heroes return successfully.
"…Is it resolved?"
Including heroes like Snake Fist Sneck, Stinger, and Lightning Max, who saw this scene, sighed in relief, then hurriedly greeted them: "That's great, it looks like everyone has been saved."
"Please rest assured."
And the Puri-Puri Prisoner, indeed an old hero by now, said as he threw the Deep Sea King's body onto the ground: "The monsters have been dealt with, J City is now safe."
"Oh oh oh!!!"
Hearing this, many citizens became excited: "We've been saved... not having to die is really great!"
But just then.
Suddenly a discordant voice came.
"Wait, didn't you just say it was upgraded to a dragon-level disaster?" Upon hearing this, everyone looked and saw the speaker was a sleazy, slightly chubby man: "Why did they only bring back a sea folk's corpse?"
"…Huh?"
A few people nearby heard this, also seemed stunned for a moment, wanting to instinctively explain something: "But either way, haven't we been saved?"
"Isn't it only natural for heroes to protect us?"
The man suddenly snickered sarcastically: "I heard it with my own ears, something about requesting the association to classify this disaster as dragon level, but… this really isn't that strong a monster, look, they don't even have a scratch on them."
"Hey hey, you this…"
Other citizens couldn't stand it anymore, wanting to stop him.
But somehow, this guy saw that others were paying attention to him, and instead got more excited: "It's just the heroes showing off among themselves, you guys actually took it as some terrifying dragon-level disaster… you were really fooled."
"Just take him for instance."
Here, the guy suddenly pointed at the Mumen Rider's nose: "He's a C-rank hero, the Mumen Rider, everyone saw the strange phenomenon at the beach earlier, if that was really a dragon-level disaster, do you think he could come back unharmed? You know how trashy he is, don't you?"
"This…"
Hearing his reasoning, indeed some citizens couldn't help but fall into thought.
Yes, the Mumen Rider was also an old hero, although it was rumored that he was kind-hearted, everyone was more aware that his strength was definitely very weak as a perennial C-rank, yet he had rushed towards that mountain-like figure at the beach alone.
Of course, it was one thing not to die, but it was too strange that he didn't even get injured?
Could it really be some deliberate showmanship?
It was said that if it was a dragon-level disaster, the association would also give a considerable amount of compensation to the heroes, so they had concocted a lie together?
Many citizens' faces changed.
But among them, there were also a few who weren't misled, like a blond hooligan who couldn't stand it anymore and suddenly grabbed the man's collar.
"Have you said enough?"
The blond hooligan seemed a bit angry: "They saved us after all, if you keep being ungrateful, be careful I beat you up."
"You… why are you getting angry at me…"
Seeing someone charge up, the sleazy man also got a bit scared, hurriedly said: "We all pay taxes to the hero association, can't I even question it a bit? You… you wouldn't be in cahoots with them, right?"
"What did you say!?"
Upon hearing this, the hooligan immediately clenched his fists.
But before he could throw a punch, a strange clapping sound suddenly came from not far away.
The curious citizens turned their heads to look, only to find that the person clapping was none other than a well-proportioned, black-haired man dressed in black clerical attire.
"You spoke well."
Seeing him, the man couldn't help clapping his hands, giving the sleazy man a thumbs-up: "Well said."
"…Huh?"
The sleazy man also paused upon hearing this: "Your sarcasm is useless, you must be angry, right? Did I hit a sore spot?"
"Sorry, you're not worth it."
Fang Mo smiled, then suddenly waved his hand, and several dark stones fell from the sky: "But honestly, I kind of agree with your statement… you must think that we're all acting and lying about the compensation, that these monsters are very trashy, and that anyone could defeat them if they just try hard, right?"
"Yes… yes."
The man was a bit perplexed, but still nodded: "If you don't want people to doubt you like this, then bring out evidence, anyone can talk big."
"Oh, okay."
Fang Mo also laughed at this, and the next second, his left hand already had a black scepter, while his right hand picked up the thick Abyssal Book.
Accompanied by a series of cracking sounds, the dark stones in front of him shattered, turning into a series of bizarre altars, and then Fang Mo threw a name tag and a large number of elemental molecular clusters into them, and flipped open the Abyssal Book.
As pure potential energy continuously poured into it, countless symbols like worms emerged from the book, and finally a nauseating thunderous roar directly exploded in everyone's hearts.
And as the shocked crowd watched, the body of the Deep Sea King slowly began to move.
"Ah... haha, here comes the evidence."
Fang Mo smiled and said.