"What the heck is happening?"
Fang Mo was totally confused when he saw a bunch of avatars crowded around the doorway on the minimap.
Glancing over, Fang Mo noticed, aside from the two bald heads he recognized, there were a bunch of people he didn't know, or seemed somewhat familiar. Undoubtedly, the original 'Hotpot Group' must have all gathered; after all, those S-class heroes were quite recognizable.
As Fang Mo was carefully identifying the avatars on the map, Xiao Yao popped her head out of the kitchen and yelled at him.
"Didn't you hear the door knocking, big brother?"
Xiao Yao kept talking, not even pausing her cooking: "We're both busy with the ingredients, hands all greasy... Can't you help open the door?"
"I don't want to let them in..."
"It's because Ah Xue spoils you too much, you wouldn't even help if an oil bottle fell at home."
Before Fang Mo could finish speaking, Xiao Yao started complaining. Then, she turned to instruct Ah Xue in the kitchen: "Ah Xue, don't spoil him too much next time. You hate to see him lift a finger here, but you have no idea he could dig in the mines for three days and nights without sleeping back then..."
"Alright, alright, I know, Madam," came a gentle laugh from the kitchen. "I'll be more careful next time."
"Damn it..."
Hearing this, Fang Mo instantly felt a headache coming on; he even thought his mom had time-traveled too: "Never mind, I'll go open the door."
Saying that, Fang Mo put down the Feminization Core he was holding and stood up to head towards the door.
When he reached the entrance and opened the villa's main door, he suddenly saw a crowd outside.
After a casual glance, Fang Mo noticed that among those who came were not only the members of the hotpot group like Saitama, Genos, KING, Bang and Bomb, Fubuki, and even a few unexpected guests; like several association staff, Atomic Samurai with his three disciples, Tanktop Master, Child Emperor, and Pig God. Of course, Ancient One was also unsurprisingly mixed in there.
Honestly, seeing so many people gathered at his doorstep made Fang Mo even suspect that his Demon God identity was exposed by Ancient One.
"What the heck... what are you guys doing here?"
Seeing the crowd in front of him, Fang Mo was utterly baffled and scratched his head, not understanding why all these people had come to his place. Were they here to group up for a boss fight? But surely, they couldn't beat it like this?
"Hello, S-class hero Priest."
The first to speak was Blizzard of Hell, the first rank of Class-B.
Unlike her proud sister Tatsumaki, Fubuki was not only tall and voluptuous but also very beautiful, now smiling gracefully at Fang Mo: "We were actually having a meeting at Saitama's house, but since it was too small, he suggested we use your place instead, please don't mind..."
"Yes, that's right."
Bang also nodded and said: "Priest, my friend, we're pretty familiar... I believe you wouldn't refuse, right?"
"You might not believe this."
But unlike the others, KING was actually looking miserable: "I just wanted to go play games at Saitama's because my power went out, and somehow I ended up dragged here, can someone please take me home?"
Even though KING said this, no one paid him any heed.
"Ahem, ahem, ahem... we're not here for nothing, though." Just then, the leader of the hotpot group, Saitama himself, chimed in.
"This time we brought some premium food, Genos, bring that thing out."
"Yes, Master Saitama."
Genos nodded and then took out a gift box from behind and handed it to Fang Mo: "Mr. Fang Mo, in appreciation of your daily care for my master, this is a premium beef gift box from my benefactor... Doctor Kuseno, let's use it for the hotpot today."
"That's right."
Bang also nodded: "I also bought some tofu on the way."
"I brought some eggs." Saitama happily lifted a plastic bag: "And also some freshly bought cabbage and seaweed."
"Like sukiyaki or something?"
Fang Mo rubbed his temples, recalling that this scene also existed in the original story, where several people gathered at Saitama's house for a Japanese hotpot... also known as sukiyaki, thus readers jokingly referred to them as the 'Hotpot Group'.
But this so-called hotpot group... only consisted of Saitama, Genos, Bang and his brother Bomb, Doctor Kuseno, and KING. Thinking of this, Fang Mo also looked at the remaining few, namely Atomic Samurai and his group: "They came to mooch off the hotpot, what are you guys here for... it can't be to mooch off food as well, right? Does the entire world know that my food is super delicious?"
"We came to get weapons."
Atomic Samurai said with a grass stalk in his mouth: "We are about to go to war with the Monster Association, and I indeed need a suitable weapon, didn't you say that joining the Original God Church could get a weapon?"
"I... came to express my gratitude."
Tanktop Master scratched his head, still slightly wounded but he was holding something that looked like a gift: "I heard about what happened before, they say you saved me, I can't repay this debt... please accept this carefully prepared gift."
"Hey, thanks for what, we're all brothers."
Fang Mo smiled and took the gift from Tanktop Master.
Although he lacked nothing at the moment, this gift was still the other party's thoughtfulness, and it would be too impersonal not to accept it.
After taking the gift, Fang Mo turned his gaze to Child Emperor.
"I... I want to discuss something with you." Child Emperor looked away slightly when Fang Mo looked at him: "sir Priest, I have some issues that have puzzled me for a long time, I hope you can help me solve them."
"Yes, yes, yes, what a good boy."
Hearing this, Fang Mo immediately smiled: "Don't worry, Priest guarantees to guide you... no, guarantees to properly enlighten you, come on, let's go inside."
"Then I'll be troubling you."
Child Emperor was indeed very polite, nodding and taking off his shoes to walk into the house.
And once Child Emperor entered the house, Fang Mo casually glanced at Pig God and the association staff.
"Ah?"
Pig God and Fang Mo's gazes met, and he also awkwardly asked: "Didn't you invite me over for a barbecue?"
"Uh..."
Fang Mo was also stunned for a moment, that was indeed what he had said, but the other party was really straightforward to come over for the appointment.
"Don't worry, I've brought my own ingredients, won't cost you anything."
Pig God said, and also pulled out a bunch of ingredients from the backpack he was carrying, but the amount of his ingredients was a bit absurd, just the fruit alone was two bags, not to mention all kinds of fish and meat, but considering his appetite... that was normal.
"Ah, I thought what was it, no problem, no problem, there's definitely enough food here."
Realizing this, Fang Mo laughed again and patted Pig God's stomach, assuring: "Just eat as you like."
"Hmm..."
Pig God nodded and didn't say much, but his personality was like that, a bit dull and really didn't talk much.
"Alright, alright, let's all go inside first."
After figuring out the intentions of these people, Fang Mo didn't let them keep standing foolishly at the door, but directly invited them to walk into the house.
However, in the end.
The few association liaisons didn't go inside.
"sir Priest."
Seeing the other heroes had entered the house, the association liaisons finally spoke up: "Can we speak privately for a moment?"
"What's the matter?"
Fang Mo glanced at the association liaisons, casually closed the door, and then led a few people to the yard: "Is there something wrong with the association?"
"That's right, sir Priest."
Seeing that there were no other heroes around, the association liaisons looked at each other and quickly explained the situation: "Currently, after deliberation by the upper echelons of the association, we suspect that there might be a spy from the Monster Association among the S-class heroes... Do you understand what this means?"
"I understand? What can I understand?"
Fang Mo rubbed his head and asked: "So am I the spy?"
"Of course not, you are the association's top sponsor, we would never suspect you," the liaison hurriedly explained, then his gaze deepened: "In fact, we have always suspected there is an insider, but only after receiving intelligence this afternoon did we have some clues... sir Priest, are you aware of 'Hero Hunting'?"
"Oh, you mean Garou?"
Fang Mo nodded: "I originally wanted to intercept him at the martial arts tournament, but he didn't even show up."
"We had set up a large encirclement specifically against this hero hunter," the association's liaison said. "But unexpectedly, Mr. Silverfang, who was the main force in the encirclement, held back during the fight, allowing the Monster Association's Elder Centipede to rescue him."
"That so."
Fang Mo instinctively rubbed his chin.
If he remembered correctly, Elder Centipede should have been one-punched by Saitama at this point in time.
It's probably some kind of butterfly effect, Saitama being diverted from the martial arts venue by himself just missed the encounter with Elder Centipede, causing the latter to survive, but this doesn't really affect the storyline.
Thinking this, Fang Mo nodded: "Then what?"
"According to the intelligence we currently have, the Monster Association has an item called 'Monster Cells' that can transform humans into monsters, and after becoming monsters... their strength will experience a staggering leap."
The expression on the liaison's face was grave: "Currently Garou is still human, but even so, he has defeated Super Alloy Darkshine and Tanktop Master, who are both in the top ten of S-class, which means he already possesses Dragon-level strength, and if he becomes a monster... the consequences might be unimaginable, so we must act in advance to eliminate him and the Monster Association together."
"So you mean the total assault on the Monster Association might be advanced?"
Fang Mo asked.
"That's right." The association's liaison nodded: "However, in order to avoid detection by the Monster Association, we must eliminate the insider."
"Eliminating the insider means..."
"sir Priest, we hope you won't tell Mr. Silverfang about this."
The liaison looked at Fang Mo seriously: "As for the other S-class heroes... we will contact them individually, probably by noon tomorrow, we will launch a total assault on the Monster Association."
"Oh, I see."
Fang Mo nodded, he didn't make excuses for Bang, after all, the innocent would clear themselves, instead, it was the association's upper echelons that were completely rotten, explanations were useless: "So basically just don't tell Bang, right? Alright, I'll pretend I don't know."
"Thank you very much for your cooperation."
The association's liaison immediately bowed deeply.
"Now that the serious business is done, how about joining us for a meal?" Fang Mo waved his hand, invitingly: "We're having barbecue today, care to join?"
"We're very sorry but we still have things to do."
The association's liaison shook their heads, touched by the offer: "We appreciate your kindness."
"Alright then."
Fang Mo didn't insist, casually handed them a few gold bars: "You guys also have a tough job, running to this uninhabited area late at night... take this."
"sir Priest, this..."
Seeing the palm-sized gold bars, the few were obviously stunned, this was much more than the previous tips, and they all felt a bit uneasy for a moment.
"Meeting is fate."
Fang Mo casually smiled: "Take it, and don't come here again in the future, I've pretty much had my fun, and after this war, I'm planning to go back to my hometown to get married."
"...What?"
The liaison didn't quite understand, but still tried to grasp what was said: "sir Priest, are you saying you don't want to be a hero anymore? Or are you saying..."
"I might leave for a while, see the scenery outside."
Fang Mo waved his hand casually, indeed there was no need to tell them so much, so he simply stuffed the gold bars into their pockets, then turned and went back into the villa.
Only, he didn't expect that just as he returned, Fang Mo immediately heard a burst of exclamations.
Fang Mo instinctively looked up ahead, only to find that at the dining table there was an exceptionally large woman sitting, and right beside her was a shocked Child Emperor, his mouth wide enough to fit an egg.
"Damn, what the hell is this?" To be honest, even Fang Mo himself was shocked.
"...Where did this eight-foot lady come from?"
~~~
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