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"Alright, It's here."
Seeing the commotion not far away, Fang Mo also turned his head to speak to his partner.
"What... what is this?"
At the same time, the audience in the stands had clearly also noticed the huge disturbance.
"Oh no, it's a monster!"
Unlike the ordinary audience, the fighters here generally had better reflexes and were immediately on alert: "I didn't expect a monster to attack here... Quickly, notify the Hero Association!"
"Wait, are they holding something in their hands?"
Soon after, someone else shouted, and the crowd looked up to see that, upon closer inspection, a few crows indeed had several people in their grasp, all of whom had already passed out.
"These people... They seem to be the injured fighters from earlier."
A few keen-eyed individuals immediately recognized their identities, which caused even more panic: "Oh no, have we been surrounded? Why would they capture those fighters?"
"No... It's alright."
The host of the event was relatively calm, trying to reassure the crowd: "We have S-Class heroes from the association here, and several A-Class heroes are also present; nothing will happen to us..."
However, before he could finish his sentence, a massive shadow suddenly attacked him.
This shadow was not the monster itself, but a giant foot – yes, it was from that building-sized humanoid monster...
At this moment, it had reached the central fighting arena and kicked towards the host.
The host didn't even have time to react; he suddenly exploded like a watermelon, with his flesh scattering around in a radial pattern, and a strong scent of blood immediately permeated the air, attracting several crow monsters who screeched and flew over to peck at the scattered flesh.
Seeing this scene, the crowd seemed to be frozen in shock.
It took a few seconds before a battered microphone managed to fall from the sky, hitting the arena with a 'thud'.
By then, the whole venue was in complete chaos.
Many spectators began to scream, crying and scrambling to escape the area.
Of course, there were also some calm individuals who stayed put, like some of the fighters and heroes. In fact, a small number of ordinary people also didn't run away; these were the true die-hard fans who believed they could instantly resolve the monster situation.
"This guy... what is this aura about?"
Even though they didn't flee, the expressions on the fighters' faces were very grave.
Indeed, from the moment he appeared, everyone sensed his formidable aura; this wasn't just any ordinary monster. This oppressive feeling was like a mountain, making it extremely difficult for them to even move.
You should know that they were also the top fighters from various cities, and the fear they felt was proof that this monster was no ordinary foe.
"It looks like all the contestants are here now."
At that moment, the giant monster also began to speak slowly: "Although you are all trash... the quantity is still acceptable. Let's turn you all into monsters then."
"...What?"
This unexpected statement stunned everyone.
"Is that strange?"
The hero seemed quite calm: "What I said is true. I didn't expect the martial arts world to have degenerated this much... But even if you are trash, turning into monsters might make you somewhat decent."
"You, what are you doing barging in here just to say such nonsense?"
However, at that moment, a few somewhat familiar figures actively confronted him, led by Lightning Max.
He was followed by several A-Class heroes.
These individuals were martial artists participating in the fighting tournament, like Snake Fist Sneck... In fact, he practiced Snake Fist, although he was also a part-time hero of the association.
"Oh, great! It's Lightning Max!"
The ordinary people witnessing this scene started to get excited again: "Truly a hero, not afraid of monsters at all, great, we don't have to run..."
However, before he could finish speaking.
The monster went straight up with a kick.
The few heroes didn't even have time to react; they were instantly spitting blood and thrown out of the arena. It has to be said that the hero's strength was indeed strong; his kick actually directly threw several people out of the fighting venue, and it was a long while before a faint 'plop' could be heard from outside.
"Mind your tone."
After dealing with a few A-Class heroes, the hero spoke as if he had just done something trivial.
"They... They were wiped out in an instant!?"
Seeing the monster instantly kill the heroes, the fighters here were also clearly worried, indeed this guy was as terrifying as he looked.
"Maybe we should run."
Not just the fighters, the ordinary people once again panicked, with many turning to run: "I really shouldn't have trusted the heroes..."
Meanwhile, Fang Mo and Xiao Yao also left the spectator stand.
At this point, the audience had begun to scatter in all directions, but the main target of the monsters was not them, so they didn't pay much attention, allowing quite a few people to escape. As for Fang Mo, he walked towards the rest area, casually killing a crow monster blocking his path with a punch.
"So what are you up to?"
Xiao Yao floated beside Fang Mo, asking puzzledly, "Isn't the main event already here? Why don't you just kill it with one punch?"
"Letting him show off a bit longer won't hurt."
Fang Mo shook the blood off his fist, "A Dragon-level monster counts as a boss after all, ordinary people can't snatch our prey. Right now, the most important thing is to first lure away a certain monster-hunting fanatic... Oh, I'm starting to gain experience now, so it really is set up so that you only gain experience by killing enemies?"
Indeed, after hammering the crow monster.
Fang Mo finally felt his Iron Fist module start to gain experience.
Originally, he just had to watch his fist closely to see a progress bar indicating 0/100,000.
After previously sending the fighter Choze flying with a punch, Fang Mo had noted the progress bar, and it hadn't increased. However, now that he had killed the crow monster with one punch, his experience finally started increasing, and not just by a single point—his progress jumped by 5 points, now showing 5/100,000.
"Killing monsters increases experience?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yao also looked down at her own pale little fist, "Can I use this module too?"
"It seems you can."
Fang Mo continued walking forward as he spoke, "We tested it before, didn't we? You unlocked the gluttony and storage backpack modules... so this one should work too."
"Oh, then I get it."
Xiao Yao nodded, then pulled out a dark blue longsword from her embrace. She paused to think for a moment, then tentatively started stabbing the ground where a patch of gore lay.
"…Are you trying to mince meat?"
Fang Mo turned back with a puzzled look.
"Shut up." Xiao Yao glared at him, then continued stabbing the gore twice more.
"Aren't you a vicious woman, still desecrating a corpse…"
Fang Mo was about to speak when, unexpectedly, the previously pulped crow monster suddenly revived.
Yes, like using a dark altar to perform a resurrection ritual, the gore on the ground wriggled and then reformed into a giant humanoid crow.
"…What the hell is this about?" Fang Mo was also taken aback.
"It's niobium."
As Xiao Yao spoke, she sheathed her sword, then rushed over and punched the crow monster, but the crow only staggered back a step, seemingly unharmed.
"What is this?"
Fang Mo felt a shift in his instincts, "Does this sword pick cotton too?"
"Ah, right, right, it also steals things from your backpack."
Xiao Yao said irritably, then pointed a single finger at the crow monster. The next second, a white-blue light shone brightly, and the crow monster's skull was violently knocked off. Xiao Yao then floated over and punched the monster's brain.
With a 'plop,'
The crow monster convulsed a few times on the ground and then died for good.
"Oh, it actually gave me experience."
After dealing with the crow monster, Xiao Yao felt a surge of realization: "It actually gave 5 points of experience, this guy seems quite valuable."
"Your method of killing is somewhat unique."
Fang Mo couldn't help but comment after seeing her technique.
"Can't help it, my physical strength isn't strong." Xiao Yao shrugged, "After all, I'm not a succubus, I don't have your rich experience..."
"That's understandable."
Fang Mo nodded, surprisingly not angered, "It's like people don't like to eat grass; they have to let cows eat it first, then drink the milk... Why don't you try mine?"
"I like beef, why don't you cut a couple of pieces off for me?" Xiao Yao countered.
"Small matter."
Fang Mo smiled easily, then summoned Steve who promptly handed him something. A second later, through materialization, a suspicious piece of meat appeared in his hand.
Previously, Fang Mo had unlocked a module called 'Cannibalism', so now Steve could drop a food item called 'mofang meat' with a right-click of his carving knife, and after processing through materialization... this thing really turned into his own flesh.
"Here, take my meat." Fang Mo nonchalantly offered the meat forward, "Pick whatever part you like, I'll butcher it right here for you..."
"I'm not eating that, it stinks."
Seeing this, Xiao Yao floated back with a look of disgust, "Throw it away, it's disgusting."
"Sorry, this piece of meat has indeed been in the backpack for a few months."
Upon hearing this, Fang Mo laughed and casually threw the meat away, though he didn't forget to take advantage of the moment: "If you want something fresh... you can sprinkle some cumin on me when the first light of dawn hits, then come over and move your mouth, I promise I won't run."
"Are you sure?"
"Hehe, but I guarantee an explosion."
"Get lost!"
…
After a brief interlude.
The two continued bickering as they walked towards the rest room.
During this process, Xiao Yao also explained her sword's principle to Fang Mo. The principle was simple; the sword was made of a Tinker' Construct alloy called 'niobium', which had a revival property.
In the game, niobium's feature was that after killing a monster, there was a chance the monster would revive, and you'd have to fight it again. Fang Mo, more concerned with efficiency in combat, pursued one-hit kills and high drop rates, so he had ignored this material's attribute.
What Fang Mo didn't expect was that this property, when brought into the real world, could actually revive creatures.
However, according to Xiao Yao, the revival property of niobium metal did not inherit the dead monster's NBT data, meaning if Fang Mo killed a butcher villager, although the villager might revive, he might just come back as an idiot villager.
Discussing these game mechanics.
The two soon arrived at the entrance to the rest room.
Just as Fang Mo was about to push the door open, several heroes suddenly walked out from inside.
Fang Mo looked up to see they were all old acquaintances, like the earlier Lightning Max, and Snake Fist Sneck, among others.
Clearly, after being kicked out by the hero, they hadn't run away but had toughed it out back here, changed into their hero equipment, and were preparing to go back out to confront the monsters. Notably, even the bald cape-wearing hero, Saitama, was now dressed and ready to go into battle.
However, this unexpected meeting made it apparent they also noticed Fang Mo in front of them.
"…Is it you?"
Snake Fist Sneck looked up to see Fang Mo and paused slightly, "S-Class priest? Weren't you out there fighting the monster?"
It's worth mentioning that Snake Fist Sneck was wearing a suit of smooth, emerald snake leather that Fang Mo immediately recognized as the Twilight Naga armor he had given him; he must have gone back and somehow dismantled this armor to tailor a new set of hero gear.
"No good, my OP cross and Dark Bible are all here."
Faced with Snake Fist Sneck's query, Fang Mo was completely unflustered and responded, "Without these props, I can't channel divine power from the Original God."
"I see."
The others also nodded instinctively.
In the world of One Punch Man, many heroes needed specific equipment to perform their abilities, which they took for granted, so they didn't find anything amiss.
"How is it up front?"
This time, Lightning Max spoke up, "Priest sir, has there been any casualty so far?"
"Shouldn't be." Fang Mo casually shook his head, "That guy called Suiryu is quite capable, should be able to hold on for a while. Anyway, you guys go and support first, I'll follow shortly."
"Alright, I understand."
The heroes nodded, then prepared to head in the direction of the arena.
"Wait a minute, Saitama, wait for me." However, just as Saitama was also preparing to follow, Fang Mo suddenly reached out and pulled him aside.
"Don't go yet, I have something to talk to you about…"