Slayer: Look directly at the Seraph, standing on the sun

Genos was stunned.

Borrowed?

He wanted to ask more questions, but seeing Zhang Hai's expression, he kept quiet.

That expression was more complex than ever before. It contained nostalgia, gratitude, sadness, and a kind of loneliness that Genos couldn't understand...

“The person who lent me power,” Zhang Hai suddenly said, “is dead.”

Genos remained silent.

“His name is Escanor,” Zhang Hai continued. “He has a title: ‘The Sin of Pride’.”

He looked down at his hands.

"He told me that arrogance is the original sin. But he himself was the least arrogant person."

Genos didn't know what to say.

He simply stood there, listening to Zhang Hai tell a story he had never heard before.

The story features a man named Meliodas, a woman named Elizabeth, a thief named Ben, a fairy named King, a witch named Merlin, a mystery named Gowther, and a giant named Escanor.

There is a world in the story called Britannia.

There is a war in the story called the War of the Demons.

There is an ending to the story called farewell.

After Zhang Hai finished speaking, he fell silent.

Genos also fell silent.

After a long pause, Genos finally asked, "Do you want to go back?"

Zhang Hai raised his head and looked at the sky.

"I want to," he said, "but I can't go back."

How do you know we can't go back?

Zhang Hai turned his head and looked at Genos.

“Because I’ve tried,” he said. “In this world, I can’t find any energy that can traverse space. There’s no chakra, no Six Paths power, nothing I’m familiar with. This place is like a closed box, only you can get in and not out.”

Genos looked into his eyes.

Those eyes were calm, but beneath that calm lay endless exhaustion.

“Then you can stay,” Genos said.

Zhang Hai was taken aback.

“Stay,” Genos repeated. “Although we can’t go back to the original world, there’s a teacher here, and there’s me. We can eat together, play games together, and fight those reckless monsters together. This… can be your home.”

Zhang Hai looked at him without saying a word for a long time.

Then he laughed.

It was a very faint smile, so faint that it was almost invisible.

But Genos saw it.

"Okay," Zhang Hai said.

From afar, Saitama's voice came: "Hey—you two—dinner's ready—we've got hot pot today—"

Genos laughed.

Zhang Hai smiled too.

They walked together toward the sound.

The sunlight shone on them, casting three long shadows.

One of them was bald.

One is mechanical.

One of them was wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt.

Three figures stretched out long across the ruins, eventually merging together and becoming indistinguishable from one another.

That morning, Zhang Hai was awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door.

He opened his eyes and saw that it was just getting light outside the window. The old alarm clock pointed to 5:45—a full two hours earlier than he usually got up.

The knocking continued, accompanied by Genos's voice: "Zhang Hai! Wake up! We have to take the hero certification exam today!"

Zhang Hai lay on the mattress and stared at the ceiling for three seconds.

Hero recognition exam.

This story begins three days ago.

That afternoon, Saitama was holed up in his dilapidated shack playing video games, while Genos was reading an email from the Hero Association. The email was long, and the gist of it was: In view of the fact that your three recent activities in the No Man's Land have attracted the attention of the Association, the Association sincerely invites you to participate in the Hero Certification Exam and become officially registered heroes.

Genos read the email three times, becoming more and more excited with each reading.

“Teacher! This is a great opportunity!” he said. “After becoming an official hero, I can get the association’s stipend and subsidies, and I won’t have to rummage through the ruins for expired cans anymore!”

Saitama finally looked up from the screen: "A stipend? How much?"

“Depending on the rank, C-rank heroes start at 100,000 yen per month, B-rank at 300,000 yen, A-rank at 1 million yen, S-rank…” Genos paused, “S-rank has no fixed upper limit; it is awarded based on mission completion.”

Saitama's pupils dilated.

One million.

How many bowls of instant noodles is that?

He immediately threw down the controller, rushed into the adjacent room 302, and shook Zhang Hai, who was still sleeping, awake.

"Zhang Hai! Get up! Go take the exam!"

Zhang Hai was shaken until he was dizzy: "What kind of test?"

"Hero certification exam! Pass and you'll get money! With money, you can buy instant noodles!"

Zhang Hai looked at him and remained silent for three seconds.

Then he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"When?"

"Three days later!"

Zhang Hai looked at the moon outside the window, then at Saitama's glowing face.

"...It's only 8 p.m. now."

"Prepare early!" Saitama said matter-of-factly. "What if the exam tests some strange things? Like how to protect civilians in battle, or how to determine the level of a monster. We need to learn these things in advance!"

Looking at him, Zhang Hai suddenly felt that when this bald man got serious, he was even more terrifying than those weirdos.

Three days later, at 5:53 AM.

Zhang Hai got dressed and walked out of the house.

It was still dark outside, but Saitama was already standing on the ruins, waiting. He was wearing a brand-new tracksuit—supposedly bought by Genos in the city—and a baseball cap, trying to cover his shiny bald head.

"How is it?" Saitama asked, "Doesn't it make you look like a decent person?"

Zhang Hai looked at him.

Beneath the hat, the bald head still stubbornly reflected the morning light.

“...It’s alright,” he said.

Genos walked over from another direction, carrying three breakfasts. He was dressed in a well-fitting casual outfit, his hair was neatly combed, and he looked like a social elite going to a job interview.

"Teacher, Zhang Hai, have breakfast." He handed over the breakfast. "We'll set off after you finish eating. The Hero Association's testing center is in City A, which is an hour away by car."

Zhang Hai took the breakfast, which consisted of a sandwich and a bottle of milk.

He took a bite, and it tasted surprisingly good.

"Did you do this?" he asked.

“Yes.” Genos nodded. “Dr. Kusno taught me some basic life skills. Although I am a robot, my teacher said that I can’t rely on machines for everything.”

Saitama, who was eating a sandwich nearby, mumbled, "Genos is a good apprentice. He can cook, clean, and even help me write reports."

Zhang Hai glanced at him.

"Do you still have reports to write?"

“Of course.” Saitama said matter-of-factly, “The Hero Association requires us to submit mission reports every month, otherwise they won’t give us our stipends. I didn’t know that before I registered, but I found out from Genos.”

Zhang Hai thought for a moment and asked, "So how did you live before?"

Saitama chewed on his sandwich, his expression nonchalant: "Go through the trash can."

Zhang Hai fell silent.

A powerful individual who can kill a monster with a single punch rummages through trash cans just to get food.

This world is truly fascinating.

After breakfast, the three of them set off.