Since their eyes had t, a battle was naturally destined to begin (not really).
Encountering soone leaping across rooftops in a place like this ant the two sides were bound to et face-to-face—at least, that was how Alice saw it.
Fortunately, the blonde cyborg up on the roof harbored the exact sa thought.
In fact, he was a step faster than Alice, crossing the distance between them and landing right in front of her in just two bounds.
"You are the Hero Association’s S-Class Hero, the Hero." After running a quick data comparison, Genos imdiately recognized the girl before him.
At the sa ti, he casually inquired, "If I recall correctly, the identity you listed in your files is a robot."
"Alice is a Hero!"
Alice wasn’t particularly fond of Genos’s phrasing.
"My apologies, I ant no offense." Genos wasn’t entirely devoid of emotional intelligence.
Or rather, because he had once harbored his own doubts and existential crises regarding what exactly he was, he could better understand Alice’s current discontent.
Still, what needed to be said had to be said.
"I simply wanted to confirm that you are not a cyborg," Genos explained. "The motive stems from personal reasons. Now that I have verified it, if you feel insulted, you are welco to speak your mind and berate ."
Realizing he had yet to introduce himself, he added, "You can call Genos."
"A Hero would never do sothing like that."
Alice was thrown a bit off balance by his blunt attitude, but Genos wasn’t difficult to get along with.
A smile quickly returned to her face, and adopting a theatrical, dramatic cadence, she spoke: "O traveler of the road, have you also journeyed to this place because of the insect plague?"
The young girl didn’t mind his offensive deanor at all.
Unabashed as it was, this was actually within Genos’s expectations; he had naturally gathered data on Alice beforehand, conducting a certain degree of research and analysis on her.
In fact, had he been facing anyone else under suspicion just now instead of Alice, Genos’s attitude would have been far colder and harsher.
As for the girl’s question, Genos answered honestly, "Correct. In fact, I am currently pursuing the mastermind behind this mosquito swarm disaster."
He paid no mind to her eccentric phrasing and tone.
"The mastermind?"
Though she already knew what was going on, Alice still feigned a look of bewildernt.
"Yes, this disaster is not a natural phenonon," Genos explained. "I have detected that the movents of these mosquitoes follow a distinct pattern. Such a pattern cannot be attributed to re animal instinct, aning soone must be controlling them."
With that, he looked toward the center of the city. "You should be able to see it too. The insects are converging on a single location."
"Alice was just about to go check it out." The girl nodded, then shifted her tone once more. "In that case, would you care to join forces with ? As fellow travelers sharing the sa objective, even if our ultimate destinations differ, this brief alliance will surely beco an unforgettable mory for us both."
The slightly old-fashioned, narrator-like dialogue made the girl look all the more endearing, though Genos remained unfazed by it.
"Then let us move together," Genos said. "During combat, I will do my best to ensure you are not caught in the crossfire... Of course, I do not an this as compensation, though it aligns with my goal anyway."
Since he had been the one to offend her first, he intended to give the girl so practical gifts later as an apology, regardless of their monetary value.
However, Alice was only confused by his words. "Compensation? Why? Did Genos do sothing bad to Alice?"
I see. She is the type who doesn’t hold grudges or take such incidents to heart.
Genos understood, but compensating Alice was his way of taking responsibility for his own missteps. It didn’t require Alice’s understanding; if anything, it was for the best that she didn’t mind.
"Do not worry about it. More importantly, watch your own safety during the upcoming battle," Genos said. "Due to the nature of my chassis, my combat style inevitably causes widespread destruction. But fear not, I have already verified that there are no residents near the battlefield."
If anything, Z-City was notoriously sparse to begin with. After all, it was not only chaotic and dangerous, but it also lacked major supermarkets. Virtually no one lived here permanently.
"Don’t worry about Alice, Alice is super strong!" The girl flashed a pure, radiant smile. "Alice will protect herself, and Alice will protect Genos too! Protecting comrades and everyone else is a Hero’s duty!"
A speech like that could absolutely not co from the cyborg he was looking for.
Becoming even more certain of the point he had already clarified, Genos nodded.
He possessed absolute confidence in his own strength, so the girl’s words struck him as sowhat naive.
Then again, she was a rookie robot who had only just debuted; it was only natural she didn’t understand how unpredictable a battlefield could be.
He could use this opportunity to demonstrate proper combat execution as her senior.
Having decided to treat this as an instructional match, Genos spoke, "Then let us prepare to move."
With that, he intended to lead the way. But just as he turned around, the girl’s lively voice rang out from behind him:
"Da-dadada-dum! A new mber has joined! The Hero Party has expanded to two people! Let’s all work together to defeat the powerful enemy!"
While he didn’t believe the opponent would be particularly formidable, Genos had no intention of spoiling the mood.
rely marveling at how peculiar this girl’s quirks were, he gave a compliant nod. "Alright."
Z-City wasn’t large. Or rather, for the two of them, traversing a city required very little effort. Even without moving at full speed, it took them less than five minutes to reach the area where the mosquitoes were most densely concentrated.
When they arrived, what appeared before their eyes was a massive ’cocoon’ woven from tens of thousands of mosquitoes.
As if sensing their arrival, the mosquitoes forming the cocoon rapidly scattered in all directions, revealing the monster that had been enveloped inside.
It was a creature with human characteristics and pale purple skin—Mosquito Girl.
An appearance like this was hardly rare in this world. Scorpion-n, crab-n, tiger-headed n... due to all sorts of strange phenona, the monsters born here always ca in various bizarre shapes and sizes.
"Well, look at that. Two fools looking for death have co knocking on my door. Are you here to die?"
Feeling the surging power coursing through her body, Mosquito Girl casually sized up the duo. Finally, her gaze settled on Alice, and a smile spread across her face.
It was a smile that could almost be described as gentle, if one ignored the ferocious hunger burning in her eyes.
Yet when she looked at Genos, her eyes instantly filled with disdain.
This one is a total hunk of junk. He’s nowhere near as appealing as that little girl.
But no matter. She would drain this girl dry right now; she still had to visit other places to keep feeding and growing stronger.
"Dinner is served. Drain her dry for ," Mosquito Girl commanded, casually pointing at Alice as she ordered the surrounding swarm.
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T/N: If you want advance Chapters, you can find it at /AspenTL
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