Chapter 32: When Will the Cycle of Vengeance End? (Part 2)
"Huh? Heatstroke?"
king, who was walking into the arcade, heard the sound of someone collapsing behind him. He turned his head in confusion and saw the fallen penguin mascot. He recalled how the person in the penguin mascot had been stuttering just now. He had initially thought the person was just a stutterer, but now it seemed more likely that something was physically wrong with them, causing them to stammer. Hmm, looking at the situation, it was probably heatstroke. After all, it was a scorching summer day, and they were wearing a thick, heavy penguin mascot costume. It would be quite stuffy inside, so getting heatstroke was perfectly normal.
"I should quickly get him somewhere cool to rest."
He stepped forward to help up the penguin mascot, simultaneously glancing at the rabbit mascot. These two should be colleagues, right? Why was the rabbit mascot ignoring the fact that the penguin mascot had fainted? He just watched his colleague collapse and didn't even come over to lend a hand. In fact, he seemed afraid of getting into trouble and deliberately took a few steps away. Sigh, the world is really going downhill. How can people be so cold these days?
Annoyed, he called out to the rabbit mascot, "Hey, you! Don't even think about leaving! Get over here!"
The rabbit mascot froze. Inside, Stinger's face was filled with despair. He gritted his teeth and spoke quickly into his communicator, "I've been exposed. There's no chance to retreat. I'll hold King back. You guys get out of here, quickly."
The Assassin Commander was silent for a moment, then said in a heavy voice, "Take care!" He then ordered Leng Feng and the others to continue the retreat.
"Heh, from the moment I became an assassin, I was already prepared for death."
Inside the rabbit mascot, Stinger gave a wretched laugh. He pulled a combat knife from his trouser leg, spun around swiftly, and lunged toward king, his teeth clenched.
"King, even if I die, I'll take a piece of you with me!"
*Pfft!*
A faint sound of piercing and a blade entering flesh was heard. Stinger's body froze. He felt an indescribable force churning his insides into a chaotic mess. His energy and life force were draining away from his body. His face filled with terror as he muttered, "King… is truly terrifying..."
*Thud!*
Stinger collapsed limply, his eyes wide open, unable to rest in peace.
"Huh? Did another one get heatstroke? Oh, so he wasn't trying to avoid the penguin mascot just now, but he couldn't hold on any longer himself and was about to go back and rest? Sigh, I misunderstood you."
king stared blankly at the rabbit mascot, which hadn't moved since it fell to the ground. He was in a difficult spot. "Sigh, I can't carry two people by myself. I'd better find a passerby to help."
He stood up and scanned his surroundings.
"Damn it, he's spotted us! Speed up the retreat!"
The Assassin Commander saw king stand up and look around, and in a panic, he hurriedly ordered the other assassins to retreat quickly.
At the same time, Qixi secretly cursed King for his shamelessness, for actually having bodyguards willing to die for him at his side at all times. When she saw king seemingly observing something, she too was scared out of her wits. She feared being discovered by king; if that happened, her soda family would be truly wiped out, with no one left to avenge them.
To preserve their strength, she gritted her teeth, gave a sorrowful look at Meijiaoniang lying at king's feet, wiped away her tears, and heartlessly abandoned Meijiaoniang's corpse to flee for her life.
"Huh? Why is everyone running away one by one?"
king had just been about to ask for help, but to his surprise, the few scattered people around him inexplicably hurried away, as if terrified of being called upon. Sigh, the world is going downhill, and people's hearts are not what they used to be.
With no other choice, he could only go into the arcade to inform the staff and ask them to help carry the two who had fainted inside.
"Quick, take off their mascot suits! Let them cool down!"
After carrying the rabbit and penguin mascots inside, the few staff members who were helping immediately started to pull off the suits.
"Ah! It's a dead body!?"
When the rabbit mascot suit was removed, the tragically dead Stinger was revealed, bleeding from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. His terrified expression looked as if he had seen something truly horrifying.
"A dead body?"
king was also taken aback. My god, this wasn't a matter of needing to cool down anymore. This guy was completely cold.
Uh, wait a minute. What's with those suspicious looks? Are you suspecting that I killed him? Please, I'm a good person; I don't usually kill people.
He noticed that the gazes from the arcade staff were full of suspicion and vigilance. He cried injustice in his heart. From beginning to end, he hadn't even touched the rabbit mascot. How could he have been the one to kill him?
"Ah! A Monster!?"
At the same time, after they stripped off the penguin mascot suit, the already dead Meijiaoniang was revealed as well. The inside of the penguin suit was filled with the smell of soda.
"A Monster?"
king had a sudden realization. Staring at Meijiaoniang's body, he felt a strange sense of familiarity. This… wasn't this the female version of that annoying Soda Trio from last time?
"You… Who on earth are you? Are you a hero? Or a murderer?"
The arcade staff relaxed a bit upon discovering the Monster was already dead. Their gazes all focused on king. Among everyone present, only king could possibly be connected to the deaths of Stinger and the Monster.
"I..."
king thought for a moment. It seemed he didn't really have an entrance line. Not like Saitama, who, whenever asked about his identity, would always answer very seriously, "I'm a hero for fun." If he were to imitate that line, then his entrance line should be...
"Heh, I'm a hero by luck."
That's right, I'm King, the one who coasted his way to the top!
"A hero?"
The staff members were stunned.
"I didn't kill the man, and I didn't kill the Monster either. You guys can call the police and investigate it yourselves, okay? I'm leaving."
After dropping that line, king took the opportunity to slip away before his identity was exposed.
Jeez, people were dead, of course he had to run! Just look at the eyes of those staff members; they were all but screaming "You're the murderer."
"Hey..."
The staff members looked at each other, exchanging brief glances.
The murder suspect is leaving? Should we stop him?
Better not. What if he turns around and stabs us?
Right. It's not worth risking our own lives for someone who's already dead.
"Let's call the police. Anyway, we have security cameras in front of the store. If he really is a suspect, he definitely won't get away. If he's a hero… shouldn't a normal hero be trying his best to prove he killed the Monster? Why did he leave in such a hurry? It's more likely he's the killer."
After a brief discussion, the staff members immediately called the police.
More than ten minutes later.
*Wee-woo, wee-woo!*
The sirens of police cars rang out outside the arcade.
Hill, captain of the Z-City Police Department's Third Division, got out of the car. He immediately ordered the others to cordon off the scene, then led two subordinates into the arcade.
He glanced casually at Meijiaoniang before walking directly over to Stinger. He carefully examined the sharp combat knife in Stinger's hand, his brow furrowing slightly. He turned over Stinger's palms and found thick calluses. He ordered one of his subordinates, "Go and investigate this man's identity. I suspect he might be a wanted criminal."
"Yes, sir." The subordinate accepted the order and left.
Immediately after, he spoke to the staff, "Could you please pull up the footage from your store's security cameras? We need to review it and file it as evidence. Thank you."
"Of course, please follow me."
The staff member led Hill to the security room and had the guard pull up the recent footage, playing it on the computer. Hill sat in a chair, his eyes glued to the film-like recording on the computer screen.
"Stop!"
He saw a familiar face in the footage. Blond hair, a square jaw, and three distinctive scars... that was... His pupils contracted. It was the Hero Association's S-Class Hero, Rank 14—King!?
(end of chapter)