Chapter 104: Iron Palm’s son.
The words of the terrifying blue-eyed young man threw a bucket of cold water over the minds of all the students, who instantly understood that those 10 million points were sealed. Now they could only fight among themselves for the leftovers, so they quickly began to seek their own groups while Kai laughed casually.
Meanwhile, in the stands, the attending heroes began to look at each other in confusion, at which point one of them—a robust-looking man with blond hair, dressed in a white and green jumpsuit, a yellow cape, and a strange headband with wings on his forehead—commented with some disgust in his tone as he gazed disapprovingly at the young man on the screens.
"What is this 'unafraid of death' talk? Is that what a hero should say?"
"Who is that boy? Why is he so arrogant?"
Another hero, a slim man with brown hair and a mask that resembled a dragonfly, asked irritably. A nearby hero commented thoughtfully while staring intently at the young man on the screen, hand on his chin, lost in his memories.
"For some reason, the surname 'Saito' feels incredibly familiar..."
"Wasn't that Iron Palm's surname?!" Upon hearing the comment, a nearby heroine with light-brown hair and a flamingo-shaped scarf exclaimed with sparkling eyes, which drew surprised looks from all who heard her.
"Hair as dark as coal! Eyes as blue as sapphire!! That's Iron Palm's trademark!!!"
Soon, a middle-aged man with a reptile-shaped helmet covering his entire face commented excitedly as he watched the young man in the arena. But at that moment, a voice filled with disdain and scorn was heard from the back.
"So we have before us Iron Palm's disgrace, the killer kid."
"You son of a bitch, do you want to die?!"
The hero with the reptile helmet retorted, full of rage, as he looked back. He found a man seated arrogantly with orange hair styled in a Mohawk, street clothes full of studs, patches, and tears, several piercings in various parts of his face, and two huge gauges in his ears.
"Hehehe, does the truth hurt a fan that much? The kid is crazy, and the fact that he was the only survivor is too strange. Everyone knows it; don't try to cover the sun with a finger."
"The only crazy one here is you!! How dare you accuse an innocent victim of something like that?! Can you still call yourself a hero?!"
The man with the reptile helmet retorted indignantly, while several of those present began to look at the despicable individual with equal parts contempt and anger. However, several around them chose to look away, as if silently agreeing with the mohawk guy.
"Hehehe, I'm just stating a fact. That old fans of a fallen hero want to play blind is another matter."
The mohawk man responded mockingly, which further angered those glaring at him, to the point where several stood up from their seats to teach him a lesson. But at that moment, several heroes serving as event security approached to calm the situation.
"We cannot allow any disturbance at the event; please follow us."
A tall and robust man with short gray hair, wearing a tight red hero suit with a V-cut on the chest, revealing his muscles. White gloves and boots, and what seemed to be a thin hose coming from his back connecting to one of his gloves. He commented in a serious tone while looking intently at the people who had stood up.
"Fine..."
The man with the reptile helmet commented with contained anger, which elicited a mocking laugh from the mohawk man. At that moment, the hero in the red suit looked at him and remarked sharply.
"You too, come with us."
"What?! Why me?" The mohawk man replied angrily, to which the hero in the red suit responded firmly, looking directly into the guy's eyes.
"Because you are the cause of this incident."
"I refuse! I was just stating a fact! Those guys were the ones who wanted to cause problems!" The mohawk man commented arrogantly and full of superiority, to which the hero in the red suit replied seriously, though slightly annoyed.
"This is the last warning: follow us, or we will have to use force."
"Heh, I want to see how you..."
The mohawk man responded condescendingly, but before he could finish his words, he was suddenly enveloped in a red substance that looked like blood, which quickly hardened, immobilizing him and sealing his mouth. He was then lifted off the ground by what seemed to be a robust humanoid dog with a muzzle and carried like a sack.
As he was taken away by the heroes, the mohawk guy couldn't help but look one last time at Iron Palm's son in the arena, only to find him staring directly at him with a slight smile on his face—one that, for some reason, gave him a powerful chill, to the point where he began to sweat cold while his body refused to stop looking at the boy, until he disappeared from view when he exited through the stands' door.
"So the boy is Iron Palm's son?"
"He's like the second coming of Iron Palm!"
"Is he really crazy?"
"You can't be criticizing a victim!"
"Is it really safe for someone like that to be at UA?"
"Do you want to fight Iron Palm's fandom or what?!"
The gossip that Iron Palm's son was competing in the sports festival soon spread like wildfire among the stands, which inevitably generated endless discussions that soon reached the ears of the Pussycats. They could not help but display dark expressions while clenching their fists, filled with anger and impotence. Although there were voices defending Kai, those labeling him as crazy or a murderer were unbearable to hear.
This was especially the case for Shino and Ryuko, who began to feel incredibly guilty for having set up their whole 'plan' to make Kai win the festival and stand out, as that had undoubtedly caused this to happen. But at the same time, they knew this was something inevitable; it would eventually occur, and only Kai's excellence could silence all that gossip.
For her part, Nemuri, who managed to hear some of what was being said in the stands, had an incredibly cold expression on her face, casually glancing at all those spreading nonsense, as if storing them in her memory. Meanwhile, the students preparing for the start of the next game couldn't help but look at Kai with different expressions, especially Momo's training group, who had already learned the whole story.
With a casual expression, as if he couldn't hear what was being said about him, Kai lifted the irate Momo, who seemed about to shout at the stands, and then seated her on his shoulders, while Salem jumped onto his head. At that moment, the beautiful black-haired girl commented in a worried and angry tone.
"Kai... don't pay attention to them..."
"Don't worry about that; I knew something like this could happen and came here despite it, so it doesn't affect me. Besides, in a way, it's something inevitable; this is the 'hero legacy' my father left me."
"..."
In a casual and calm tone, Kai explained as he walked toward the competition area, leaving Momo in silence, not knowing what to say in response. She felt incredibly angry and powerless at the same time; after all, it had been so complicated for Kai to relax about heroism, but now, most likely, all that hard work had been lost thanks to some loudmouths who didn't know what they were talking about.
Meanwhile, at Kai's mansion, Keiko and Yumiko were watching the giant cinema screen in front of them with expressions full of indignation, while using their virtual assistants to take notes and make all kinds of calls. The world of heroes and showbiz was about to receive a new wave of upheaval after almost a decade of tranquility.
"Well, it's time to start."
Just as the counter on the holographic screen reached zero, Nemuri commented in a much more serious tone, and although she still maintained her previous style, it was evident to anyone that she was not in a very good mood. At that moment, Present Mic's voice resonated throughout the stadium, extinguishing any trace of discussion and reigniting the public's excitement.
"After 15 minutes forming teams and strategies, 13 cavalry teams have been formed!!"
"There are some very interesting teams..." The guest commentator, Aizawa, commented in a serious tone as he looked at the teams in the arena, at which point Present Mic exclaimed full of excitement.
"Now, raise your battle cries! It's time for a bloody battle at UA!! Light the signal fire!!!"
With the announcement, all the cavalry groups—which generally consisted of three students acting as the horse and one as the rider—approached the demarcated area in the arena. At that moment, Present Mic announced with excitement and anticipation.
"I won't ask if you're ready or not; now begins the countdown to the battle royale!! Three!, Two!!, One!!..."
"Start!!!"
Nemuri announced loudly, which initiated a massive charge of students trying to steal the headbands marked with a point value on the heads of each team's 'riders.'
Although many teams began to fight among themselves, there was one person who especially caught Kai's attention—a young man with short blond hair and violet eyes who was shouting stupidities with exaggerated expressions, moving from one side to the other copying quirks.
[Sage, study that guy; I'll approach him in a bit so he tries to copy me.] Kai quickly ordered his reliable assistant through their mental connection, who promptly responded in a serious tone, standing by his side in [In] mode.
[Understood, master.]
The reason for Kai's interest in the boy was very simple. Although he had more or less identified how One for All made modifications to give quirks to its bearers. The problem was that so far he had not discovered how to copy his own quirk to give it to someone else. If One for All was rare, his own quirk was a damn mystery.
Unlike the quirks he knew, his quirk was too strange, to the point that he couldn't identify his quirk factor responsible for his Aura and Haki. Although his body wasn't precisely the most normal in the world—with his muscles and bones being excessively strong and compact, and a myosin that was freaking insane, allowing him to have base strength, speed, and endurance that easily surpassed strengthening quirks—his Aura and Haki were a complete mystery.
Although he had done some tests, the most he could replicate in others was his strength—something not very useful now that he had the [Vital Reactor]. But if that guy managed to copy his quirk, or at least his Aura, it would be a gigantic advance in his somewhat stalled project of giving Aura to the girls. Although, now that he could give them his pirated version of One for All with the next update of the Accomplices, it wasn't so high priority, so he'd take it easy.
As Kai casually watched the blond boy with Momo on his shoulders, the ground suddenly turned soft, as if it were quicksand. At the same time, a group came running toward them, led by a man with beige-colored hair and a face that resembled a skull—lipless, with exposed teeth. He served as the 'horse' for another man with gray hair, no eyebrows, and enormous eyelashes that framed his eyes like some sort of mask.
"Those 10 million points are ours!!!"