Upon hearing that the Hero Association was calling all S-class heroes, Fang Mo had already guessed what was about to unfold.
At this point in time, the House of Evolution had been disbanded, the meteorite had been smashed on the spot by Fang Mo, and the invasion of the sea folk had been dealt with by the collective efforts of the heroes... Even Bang had sent Charanko to invite him to visit the dojo.
If Fang Mo accepted the invitation, Bang would probably mention the renegade Garou in passing.
This was essentially setting the stage for the upcoming Garou saga.
Unfortunately, Fang Mo was truly too lazy to go, so this setup was not triggered, but even so, he had guessed what was about to happen next.
"Hmm... the invasion by Boros?" Fang Mo touched his chin subconsciously. At this moment, combined with the fact that only S-class heroes were invited to the meeting, it was obviously the next big event—the invasion of Earth by Boros, the cosmic emperor.
Speaking of Boros, Fang Mo had quite an impression of him.
After all, like the other major villains who had stirred up significant events, Boros had far more prestige than other villains.
According to his backstory, Boros was born on a planet with an extremely harsh environment, naturally possessing formidable physical abilities. Later, he founded the Dark Matter Thieves by himself, defeated countless powerful adversaries across the universe, and became a dominant force in the cosmos.
But because he was too invincible, he suddenly felt a sense of emptiness and loneliness...
So he believed his people's fortune teller who prophesied that there was someone on the distant Earth who could provide him with a worthy battle.
To reach Earth, Boros spent twenty years traversing the universe, hoping to experience the thrill of battle. Unfortunately, he met Saitama, who defeated him with a serious punch, ending his life.
Honestly, his fate was rather tragic.
In terms of setup, he was powerful, somewhat resembling Marvel Universe's Thanos or Dragon Ball's Frieza, as they are all cosmic overlords. Under normal circumstances, he could have been portrayed across many chapters.
It's just a pity that Boros was a villain in the anime "One Punch Man."
Thus, his fate was no mystery; he was defeated by Saitama with a single punch.
Even though Boros's strength was almost the ceiling for all monsters, even the later Monster Association or a grown Garou might not be a match for him.
After all, he was considered a "god-level" disaster by the great fortune teller.
"Hmm, I see."
After briefly recalling Boros's setup, Fang Mo soon came back to his senses and nodded to the association's staff members: "Well, I'll get ready and head over."
"...Thank you for that."
The two association staff members seemed to breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing Fang Mo's willingness to attend the meeting.
It couldn't be helped; Fang Mo was now a key figure in the Hero Association.
Not only was he powerful, but he was also a major shareholder of the association, and due to his previous coin-spewing behavior in J City, his popularity among the public was unusually high. If he really didn't attend the meeting... the association probably wouldn't be able to do anything about it and would have to vent their frustration on themselves.
"Wait, did you just mention something about a Boros invasion?"
However, just then, Sonic suddenly asked, "What is that? They haven't mentioned the specifics yet, right?"
"Yeah, Priest."
Hearing this, Puri-Puri Prisoner also nodded, "Do you know something? Is this guy the reason the association called us here? Boros?"
"More or less."
Fang Mo waved his hand casually, not hiding anything: "Just a mere cosmic overlord, who believed in some prophetic nonsense, then traveled all the way to Earth to meet his death..."
"A mere cosmic overlord, impressive."
Everyone couldn't help but facepalm upon hearing Fang Mo's remark.
In fact, not just them, even the two staff members from the association were equally baffled because even they were unaware of the specifics of this meeting. Yet, here was Fang Mo, explaining everything clearly, as if it were the truth.
"Mr. Fang Mo, when you say he specifically came to Earth to die..."
Then, the Mumen Rider, pondering for a moment, also asked, "Does that mean this cosmic monster is weak?"
"Oh, not very strong, indeed. If he's piloting his spaceship, he could at most level a few cities, and his ultimate move would only destroy the surface of an entire planet, nothing impressive," Fang Mo waved his hand and said, "Compared to me... he's just an alien runt."
"Leveling a few cities?"
Mumen Rider was stunned upon hearing this.
"Destroy the entire surface of a planet!?" However, the others were clearly more shocked than him, like Puri-Puri Prisoner: "Isn't that a god-level disaster!?"
"More or less."
Fang Mo casually dug his ear.
"No, how exactly do you know all this?" This time Sonic, who was still very concerned about this issue, asked, "Have you met him before?"
"Well, I'm a priest, after all. Isn't a grand prophecy normal for me?"
Fang Mo looked at Sonic with a 'you're hopeless' expression, "And you, why not follow me properly in your training instead of messing around with those pathetic shurikens? I've been in the Ninja World for a while, after all. Who knows ninjutsu better, you or me?"
"Then teach me!"
Upon hearing this, Sonic shouted angrily, "You always have me doing chores... What kind of ninja training is that!?"
"Mr. Fang Mo."
However, just as Sonic was complaining, Mumen Rider suddenly spoke again, his tone unusually serious, "This time with the monster invasion... May I act alongside you?"
"Ah?"
Fang Mo was somewhat surprised by the look in Mumen Rider's eyes.
However, the latter looked hopeful: "Even though I've only been doing chores recently, I feel like I've gotten a lot stronger and should be able to help you a bit."
"Well, maybe next time."
After thinking it over, Fang Mo eventually shook his head and refused: "You still have a lot of weaknesses that urgently need improvement."
As he spoke, Fang Mo magically pulled out an essence berry and handed it over: "Here, eat this."
"Mr. Fang Mo, what is this?"
Mumen Rider took the essence berry, examining it carefully since its skin was not broken, and thus it had no taste.
"Essence berries."
Fang Mo simply explained, "Anyway, find some time to eat it."
"I want some too!"
However, no sooner had Fang Mo finished speaking than Sonic also suddenly extended his hand, boldly saying, "After all, we're all your disciples, you can't keep favoring one over the other, right?"
"Alright, alright, here you go."
Seeing Sonic's gesture, Fang Mo did not refuse and happily handed him a handful of essence berries.
"Power!"
After receiving the essence berries, Sonic was visibly excited.
Just looking at these fruits, it seemed they contained some mysterious energy, and Sonic almost anticipated that after eating them, his strength would greatly increase. He might even be able to cut down Fang Mo in one strike.
With that thought.
Sonic opened his mouth and poured all the essence berries into it.
He then proudly chewed on the essence berries in his mouth, showing off to Fang Mo.
He was still dreaming of being able to cut down Fang Mo with one strike when suddenly, the next second, the essence berries in his mouth all melted into a thick, icy, foul-smelling, and bitter paste.
The absurdly intense stench exploded in Sonic's mouth, the aggressive taste even shooting up to his brain.
Sonic felt as though he had swallowed a concentrated, liquefied, rotten fart.
His throat involuntarily surged upward, causing his eyes to roll back unintentionally, the pungent smell bringing tears to his eyes, and soon he could no longer bear it. He dashed to the restroom in an instant, and then a "lot" of vomiting was heard from inside.
"This..."
Everyone saw Sonic's appearance and looked at each other.
Especially Mumen Rider, who stood there somewhat at a loss with a bunch of essence berries in his hand, seemingly unsure of what to do next. "Mr. Fang Mo, about Sonic..."
"Oh, he ate them too quickly; that's why it's like this."
Fang Mo laughed and explained, "These don't taste like golden apples; they're quite hard to swallow. Usually, I take them like snake gall, just pinch one and swallow it straight."
Saying this, Fang Mo also took out an essence berry.
Then, in front of Mumen Rider, he threw the essence berry into his throat and tilted his head back to swallow it before it had a chance to melt.
"Hmm..."
Seeing this, Mumen Rider also tried to pinch one and swallow it like Fang Mo.
Even though the taste of the essence berries was still not good, Mumen Rider immediately felt his body changing: "This... what's this power?"
He said.
Mumen Rider clenched his fist tightly.
Although his physical strength was already far beyond ordinary people, after swallowing the essence berry, he still felt a slight increase in his strength.
The feeling of becoming stronger was very real.
"I really... got stronger?"
Mumen Rider was somewhat surprised as he looked at his hands, then looked up at Fang Mo: "Mr. Fang Mo, this kind of thing must be very precious, right?"
"Oh, these things are actually quite common."
Fang Mo said nonchalantly, "I think I've stockpiled a few hundred sets by now, so just eat them with peace of mind."
He wasn't lying about this; after all, the taste of essence berries was honestly... perhaps even a real-life Minecraft dung brick might taste better.
And since Fang Mo had mastered the ability to realize Minecraft items in reality, to be honest, he hadn't encountered a need to fight all out for a long time; without a threat, naturally, there was no motivation for progress, so Fang Mo really hadn't eaten essence berries for a long time.
You should know that Fang Mo has already tricked his precious partner into coming.
So if he really wanted to become stronger first, he could just have his little demon rub up a few hundred Knowledge Book for him, or he could even stuff an entire emerald storage tank into his mouth.
At this point...
As long as Fang Mo wished, he could turn anyone into a god among men.
Of course, the prerequisite is... this person at least has to be able to withstand the kind of crazy torment that Fang Mo nearly force-feeds.
"...Hundreds of sets?"
Mumen Rider, hearing Fang Mo's words, seemed to relax a bit. He might not understand the unit of "sets," but it seemed his teacher didn't care much about this stuff, so he started swallowing them one by one.
And while Mumen Rider was swallowing the essence berries...
Sonic also kicked open the bathroom door, knife in hand, ready to settle the score with Fang Mo.
"You dare to trick me, I'll kill..."
Before he could finish, Sonic saw Mumen Rider swallowing the essence berries, and he suddenly froze.
After all, Mumen Rider was a strong fighter brought up by Fang Mo using Minecraft items, not knowing how to hide his own aura. At this moment, as he swallowed the essence berries, his aura also climbed step by step, and since the others were true strongmen, they quickly noticed his change.
Like Super Alloy Darkshine nearby.
With each essence berry that Mumen Rider swallowed, his expression became uglier, and by the end, that black face even had a somewhat pale look, which honestly was a bit eerie.
"This guy... is actually getting stronger?"
Sonic incredulously watched the distant Mumen Rider, then looked at the essence berries in his hand: "Do these things really work? Did he not trick me?"
With that thought, Sonic rushed over and grabbed an essence berry.
"That, Sonic-kun."
Mumen Rider not only didn't stop him but even kindly reminded him, "Master said that these need to be swallowed to work, otherwise they're hard to swallow."
"..."
Sonic didn't say anything, just threw his head back and swallowed the essence berry in his hand.
He quickly felt a warm flow throughout his body, as if some energy was nourishing his limbs and bones, all his cells cheering at that moment.
"It's... actually making me stronger?"
Sonic was somewhat surprised as he looked at his hands, excitement rising from the depths of his heart.
But in an instant, he remembered the portion he had vomited out, which meant he had been tricked by his unlucky master again, and his face immediately darkened.
But before he could open his mouth to curse...
Suddenly a hand reached out beside him, holding a handful of shiny essence berries.
"?"
Sonic paused, looking directly at Mumen Rider.
"Sonic-kun, let's get stronger together." However, what responded to him was Mumen Rider's sincere smile: "Although Mr. Fang Mo likes to play pranks, he's really a good person. I'll share half of mine with you."
"You... this guy..."
A trace of astonishment flashed across Sonic's face.
But quickly, Sonic adjusted his emotions and deliberately turned his head away with a scoff: "Heh, keep them for yourself. Otherwise, as a genius, I might surpass you too soon, wouldn't that be too boring?"
After saying this, without waiting for Mumen Rider to say anything more.
Sonic disappeared in a flash, no one knowing where he had gone.
"This..." Mumen Rider was a bit stunned, his raised hand still hanging in mid-air, seemingly a bit awkward.
And just then, another voice sounded.
"Ah, this really makes one envious."
Everyone turned their heads and saw that it was Puri-Puri Prisoner who had spoken, his face filled with longing as he said to Fang Mo: "I didn't expect that Priest's boys are all so cute, it's great, I almost don't want to leave here."
"You get out of here."
Hearing this, Fang Mo couldn't hold back and pointed towards the door with a single hand, saying: "Now, right away, immediately leave this place."
"Then I'll wait for you at the meeting."
Puri-Puri Prisoner smiled, then pulled Super Alloy Darkshine along to leave, after all, they were both S-class heroes, indeed needing to set off early to head to the headquarters of the Hero Association.
"..."
However, after hearing Puri-Puri Prisoner's words, Fang Mo was somewhat speechless, turning his head to look at the two staff members who were watching the show.
"So, can I not go?"
~~~
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