One Piece: With Sign-in System

Chapter 323 - 24: Alien Invaders

"By the way... you didn’t tell your sister where I live, did you?""Nope, don’t worry. I already told her not to mention anything to the Hero Association."

"You think Tatsumaki’s actually going to listen to you?"

"Well... that’s... debatable."

"Whatever. Just know you owe me one now. Your debt’s cleared."

"Wait, what?!"

Ron shot her a glance. "Got a problem with that?"

"...No."

——

At the dining table.

The two sat across from each other, quietly eating their lunch.

"Where did your sister go today, anyway?"

"Hmm... not sure. I think the Hero Association called an important meeting—only S-Class heroes were invited."

"That so..."

Hearing this, Ron’s eyes glinted subtly.

Could it be...?

Fubuki noticed his expression. "What’s wrong?"

"Nothing," he replied.

The conversation gradually shifted to the topic of inviting Genos and Bang into the Blizzard Group.

Ron gave her a few suggestions, which Fubuki quickly jotted down in her notebook.

Just as they were about to finish eating—

Ron suddenly turned his head toward a certain direction—toward City A.

His expression grew serious.

"What is it?" Fubuki asked, puzzled.

The next moment, the ground beneath them began to tremble slightly.

"An earthquake?"

"No... not that."

Ron narrowed his eyes as he stared into the distance. "They’re here."

"They? Who’s they?"

Fubuki was completely confused.

"Turn on the TV. You’ll see."

Ron stood up. "I’m heading over."

In the next instant—

A brilliant flash of azure surged in his eyes, and then—he vanished right before Fubuki’s eyes.

She quickly turned toward the TV, murmuring, "What’s going on...?"

——

City A.

The city was gone—flattened completely.

Floating above the ruin was a colossal alien mothership.

Under its terrifying barrage, nearly everything had been turned to rubble—except for the Hero Association’s headquarters, built from specialized reinforced materials. It stood alone, defiantly clinging to the ground.

"City A’s destruction level has reached 99.8%! It happened in seconds! What the hell just happened?!"

"This is insane!"

Members of the Hero Association stared at the monitors, faces pale with disbelief.

Metal Bat slung his bat over his shoulder as he climbed the Association building along with other S-Class heroes.

They all looked up at the mothership—faces grim and stunned.

"What the hell is that thing?!"

Genos narrowed his eyes at the object in the sky. "An attack... from space?!"

Bang crossed his arms behind his back, sharp eyes focused upward. "It’s flying. That’s going to make this difficult."

"So this is it, huh... The prophecy from Madam Shibabawa... The crisis that would destroy the Earth..."

Child Emperor muttered, lollipop in hand.

Tatsumaki’s eyes were also narrowed, aura flickering.

King stood beside them—his "King Engine" rumbling ominously.

Suddenly, one of the top three alien warriors descended from the ship—a grotesque multi-headed creature known as Melzargard. It stationed itself beneath the mothership, watching over the wreckage.

"Are there... survivors in that mess?"

It extended a hand toward a father and son trapped beneath the debris. Its fingers stretched and elongated unnaturally.

"Purge."

——

BREAKING NEWS

Mysterious flying object appears over City A!

City A obliterated in seconds—Hero Association under fire! Who are the attackers?!

A sudden crisis of unprecedented scale—can the S-Class heroes save the day?!

Emergency Alert: All citizens near City A are instructed to evacuate immediately. We repeat—

Fubuki sat frozen in front of the TV, watching scenes of the destroyed city and the alien mothership.

"This... this can’t be real..."

She glanced anxiously out the window.

Sister... capable of such power!

Everyone from the Association, all the S-Class heroes—stood frozen.

Who... who did this?

Floating mid-air, Tatsumaki’s eyes flickered.

She suddenly sensed a powerful presence and sharply turned her gaze downward.

There—standing tall among the rubble, wearing a baseball cap, was a young man with jet-black hair.

A lingering crimson glow still shimmered in his right hand.

Tatsumaki stared at him, her voice low and trembling.

"...Swordmaster."

- - - - - - -

T/N:

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