Shigaraki wasn't surprised by Muscular's reaction at all.
After all, although Muscular looked like some big, muscle-brained brute who could be fooled easily, in reality, he was merely too lazy to think most of the time.
That didn't mean he was actually stupid.
Besides, not long ago, he had personally witnessed All Might shatter a spatial wall with a single punch.
Shigaraki simply didn't believe Muscular could walk out from the shadow of that punch so quickly.
Not everyone was as shamelessly carefree as he was.
Thinking this, Shigaraki pondered briefly before slowly raising his head.
"That said, we can't just let those two brats continue ruining our operation."
"Once they rescue all the hostages, All Might will be completely freed from restraint."
"And when that happens…"
"We're finished."
At this point, Shigaraki couldn't help clicking his tongue in irritation.
"Seriously, what the hell is Kūgai doing?"
"He actually let such a huge opening appear over there, and now he's nowhere to be seen."
Hearing this, Muscular quietly muttered a few words in Kūgai's defense.
Not because he wanted Kūgai to owe him a favor.
He simply felt it would be too unfair if Kūgai got branded incompetent just because of this.
After all, the man genuinely had too many things to handle at once.
He had to deliver "gifts" to All Might in rotating batches, monitor the movements of the other Pro Heroes, and simultaneously search for the No. 5 Hero, Edgeshot, who had hidden himself from the very beginning.
With so many responsibilities piled on him, it was only natural that some small mistake would eventually appear.
Besides, Kūgai clearly wasn't suited for direct combat in the first place.
Bakugo Katsuki and Akaya Kaiun had suddenly barged into his territory, and both possessed extremely strong close-combat abilities.
If he could easily suppress those two head-on, that would've been stranger.
"He probably never expected those fodder villains to be so useless that somebody would actually make it all the way to his base."
"And he's probably busy handling problems in other areas right now, so he can't personally deal with those two."
"Even if he wanted to, he might not be able to."
"After all, he isn't a combat-type fighter."
Hearing Muscular's words, Shigaraki secretly clicked his tongue.
Of course he knew he was being somewhat unfair toward Kūgai.
There was even a slight element of shifting blame in his earlier words.
After all, he really had assigned Kūgai an absurd number of tasks.
With that level of workload, some flaw appearing somewhere was completely normal.
Kūgai wasn't a god.
He couldn't perfectly manage every single dimension without the slightest mistake.
And besides—
Bakugo and the others had appeared far too suddenly.
The fact that Kūgai had reacted quickly enough to seal the passage again, maintain the operation of the other dimensions, and continue imprisoning All Might was already fairly impressive.
Even so…
Shigaraki was still irritated.
His original arrangement had been extremely clear.
Kūgai would lead some of the fodder villains in restraining All Might.
The remaining fodder villains would stall Kamui Woods and the other ordinary heroes.
Muscular would deal with Best Jeanist.
Sludge Villain would accompany Shigaraki in hunting down Edgeshot.
And Kurogiri would remain on standby at all times, ready to evacuate everyone instantly if necessary.
Originally, the situation had been perfect.
And yet because of one tiny oversight, Bakugo Katsuki and Akaya Kaiun had actually managed to break into Kūgai's base and nearly come into contact with All Might.
It was ridiculous.
Was this what people meant by "man proposes, heaven disposes"?
Thinking this, Shigaraki lowered his head and thought for a moment.
Then he slowly raised it again.
"Fine."
"I'll personally deal with that fire-spitting brat."
"And while I'm at it, I'll see whether I can lure Edgeshot out."
"As for you…"
"Go deal with Best Jeanist first."
"After that, regroup with me."
"Yeah, sure."
Muscular shrugged indifferently.
"You're the boss. Whatever you say."
To him, it genuinely didn't matter who his opponent was.
Edgeshot.
Best Jeanist.
Either one was fine.
As long as he could enjoy himself, he didn't care who Shigaraki assigned him to fight.
As long as it wasn't All Might—
that monster wearing human skin.
After all, fighting All Might wasn't battle.
It was just volunteering to get beaten one-sidedly.
And Muscular definitely wasn't a masochist.
Seeing Muscular behave so obediently, Shigaraki nodded in satisfaction.
A subordinate who followed orders without nonsense—
that was what a proper subordinate should look like.
"As for this girl…"
With that thought, Shigaraki shifted his gaze toward another screen.
The central figure displayed there was none other than his disciple—
Akaya Kaiun.
Watching Akaya Kaiun use the combat techniques he personally taught her to beat up his own subordinates, Shigaraki's expression became increasingly strange.
A disciple taking the lead in sabotaging her master's operation?
And even encouraging civilians to gang up on her own master's people?
What was this supposed to be?
Had he taught her too well?
No.
This was outright betrayal.
Thinking this, Shigaraki clicked his tongue irritably.
He decided that after this incident, he would absolutely give Akaya Kaiun—a rebellious disciple who dared sabotage her master's plans—a proper lesson.
"Other than having barely acceptable fighting skills, she's nothing special."
"She even needs a numbers advantage just to beat people up."
"She's embarrassing her teacher."
"I'll notify the stronger Quirk users among those fodder villains and have them deal with her."
"If those useless trash still can't handle one Quirkless little girl…"
"…then they might as well die."
"I don't keep useless trash under my command."
"Especially trash more incompetent than pigs."
"Got it."
"I'll finish off Best Jeanist as quickly as possible, then regroup with you, boss."
Although Muscular felt Shigaraki's expression and tone became strangely subtle whenever he talked about the girl—
almost like an elder complaining about a troublesome junior—
he was smart enough not to ask about the relationship between them.
Curiosity killed the cat.
And the more you knew, the faster you died.
Muscular understood both truths extremely well.
So he simply nodded, accepted the task, and stepped fully through the portal he had already half-entered earlier.
Then his figure disappeared completely.
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