Several hours later, the abandoned zone that had swallowed a large portion of the city looked like the aftermath of a natural disaster.
Collapsed buildings lay in heaps of broken concrete and twisted steel. The streets were littered with the remains of monstrous creatures, their bodies scattered like discarded props after a brutal play. Smoke still curled lazily into the sky.
When the last of the black creatures was cut down by Atomic Samurai's blade, the tension finally snapped.
Every hero present let out a breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding.
Bang, who had been forced to sit out due to his injuries, watched the battlefield with a heavy sigh. "The Monster Association… they were no joke. Honestly, I can't even picture us winning this head-on without Saitama here."
From inside the aircraft hovering nearby, Noah Vale rested his chin in his palm and replied dryly, "Or maybe it took this long because all of you insisted on finding opponents that 'matched your style' and fighting solo."
That earned a wave of awkward laughter.
Everyone knew he wasn't wrong.
With Saitama's strength, this entire operation could have been over in under an hour. Instead, most of the heroes had treated it like a proving ground, taking on monsters one-on-one while Saitama stood by as insurance.
And when they ran into monsters at the very top tier… things got ugly fast.
In the end, many of them had been beaten badly before Saitama stepped in and ended things with his usual effortless punches.
Now, as they looked at the bald hero standing there in an unscathed suit, calmly defeating anything with a single strike, a quiet sense of awe settled over the group.
Then, almost instinctively, their attention shifted to Noah.
They hadn't forgotten what happened earlier during the hero meeting. Saitama, who showed no interest in anything, had actually proposed sparring with him.
Which begged the question…
Just how strong was Noah Vale?
Noah, however, didn't seem interested in entertaining their curiosity. "Since the fighting's done, I'll leave cleanup to you."
With Saitama around, he hadn't needed to lift a finger anyway. Watching from the sidelines had been more than enough. The mission only required the Monster Association's destruction, and that box had been checked.
After that, the world settled into an unusual calm.
For nearly a month, things stayed quiet. Occasionally, a Demon-level threat would pop up, only to be swiftly eliminated. Otherwise, life drifted into a steady rhythm.
For Noah, most days blurred together into a comfortable loop of eating, sleeping, and spending time with Tatsumaki.
By his estimate, it would only be a few more days before he returned to the main system space and wrapped up this mission.
But just as his routine settled into place, something unexpected stirred in the Interdimensional Chatroom.
[Civilian of Crime City]: @DeepBlue, please… you have to help me!
[DeepBlue]: What's going on over there?
In the heart of Gotham, beneath a sky choked with smoke, Gavin knelt on the ground.
In front of him, a row of luxury villas burned like funeral pyres.
Inside… his family.
His children.
All gone.
Behind him, Batman stood in silence, his cape barely stirring in the heatwaves. He already had a good idea who was responsible.
The Penguin.
Over the past month, Gavin's vigilante activities had begun cutting into the city's criminal operations. That made him a target. And in Gotham, targets didn't stay safe for long.
Gavin's identity hadn't been difficult to uncover either. A newly rich figure appearing out of nowhere in the central district was bound to draw attention.
Everything that followed had been inevitable.
By the time Gavin arrived, it was already too late. The explosion had already happened.
Back in the chatroom, Gavin quickly explained everything. His message was brief, stripped of anything unnecessary, but it still hit like a hammer.
The group fell silent.
So… the "hero game" had gone very, very wrong.
[DeepBlue]: What do you want me to do? Get revenge for you?
Gavin hesitated for a long time before replying.
"I can handle revenge myself. But… can you bring my family back? If you can… I'll give you everything I have."
[DeepBlue]: Not now. I've got things to deal with. You're still alive, aren't you? I'll think about it in a few days when I'm free.
The response landed like ice water.
Gavin stared at the message, his chest tightening. "How… how can you say that…"
The man he had seen as generous now felt distant. Cold.
But Tony Stark, watching from the sidelines, understood perfectly.
That was just how Noah operated.
A friend of a friend wasn't automatically his concern. Gavin had been in the chatroom for over a month, barely speaking, never building any real connection.
And now, in his worst moment, he expected Noah to drop everything?
That wasn't how this worked.
Standing before the ruins of his home, Gavin fell into silence.
After a long time, he rose to his feet.
Carefully, he gathered what remained of his family… then turned toward the darkness.
"Where are you going?" Batman asked from behind him.
"To settle things," Gavin said without looking back. His voice was steady, but something dangerous simmered beneath it. "Don't try to stop me. Anyone who gets in my way… dies."
Batman watched him go, caught between instinct and uncertainty.
His code wouldn't allow him to stand by while someone crossed that line.
But stopping a man consumed by grief and rage without pushing him further… that was another matter entirely.
Back in Saitama's world, Noah closed the chatroom and set the issue aside.
He wasn't ignoring it. Just postponing it.
He still had a few days left in this world, and leaving early wasn't an option.
He had arrived here through Sasuke's connection. If he left midway and tried to return later, chances were he'd end up back in the Naruto world instead. Losing access to this world and the main system space wasn't a risk he was willing to take.
Better to finish things properly.
Then, he could bring Sasuke into the system space for a mission and use him as a stable anchor between worlds.
"Life really is… quiet at the top," Noah murmured, staring at the steam rising from his teacup.
Tatsumaki, sitting across from him with her arms crossed, raised an eyebrow. "What are you even talking about?"
"Nothing," Noah said casually, fanning himself. "Just wondering what to eat later."
Tatsumaki narrowed her eyes.
Then, after a moment, she spoke again. "You said you're leaving in about two months, right? So… not much time left now."
"Yep," Noah said, glancing at the countdown in his mind. "About ten days."
He grinned. "What, getting attached? Don't tell me you'll miss me after all the time we've spent together."
Tatsumaki's face flushed instantly. "As if! I can't wait for you to leave and stop annoying me!"
She turned her head with a huff, then added more quietly, "Though… if you begged me, I might consider being generous."
Noah chuckled. "Alone? Not really. I've got plenty of women in other worlds."
Tatsumaki froze.
"…Other worlds?" she repeated slowly, her grip tightening on the edge of her dress. "How many?"
Noah pretended to think. "Let's see…"
He started counting on his fingers.
"One… two… three… thirteen… fourteen…"
He didn't get any further.
Tatsumaki's expression darkened like a gathering storm.
A green glow ignited around her, psychic energy surging as the air itself began to distort.
"You absolute trash—die!"
The explosion of telekinetic force swallowed Noah whole.