The Emperor Engine's God-like Skill System

Atomic Samurai lowered his center of gravity even further, his chest almost touching the ground, with the blade pointing straight ahead, parallel to the ground.

"Atomic Concentration Slash..."

Atomic Samurai's hands bulged with veins, as if he were transferring his power directly into his weapons.

This is an upgraded version of the Atomic Slash, a precise move that concentrates the slashes, reduces the attack range, and increases the density of the area where the blade strikes.

boom!

Atomic Samurai stomped out, and the force of his foot pressed a sizable crater into the ground.

As Atomic Samurai charged forward, layers of afterimages appeared behind him.

"So fast..."

Bang, watching the fight with his hands behind his back, couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. As the current pinnacle of the martial arts world, he could still barely make out Atomic Samurai's move.

Heroes like Tank Top Master and Sexy Prisoner, whose strength is in the lower half of S-class, simply cannot keep up with Atomic Samurai's movements.

In their eyes, Atomic Warrior seemed to vanish, then reappear a few meters away in the next instant, with no sign of movement whatsoever.

But just as Atomic Samurai was about to unleash his attack, he froze, his movements halting.

Atomic Samurai stared in disbelief at the scene before him.

The long sword in his hand stopped a few centimeters in front of King—the latter stretched out his fingers and tightly gripped Atomic Samurai's long sword.

Chapter 11: Defeat and Advance to S-Rank 3

Even with all his strength, Atomic Samurai was unable to pull out his weapon or thrust it any further.

It was as if a huge mountain had been placed directly on the long sword.

The veins on Atomic Samurai's forehead were almost bulging out of his skin, his face was flushed red, and his shoes made a crisp sound as they rubbed against the ground.

However, the long knife between King's two fingers did not budge an inch.

"How...how is this possible?!"

Everyone in the spectator room was shocked by what they saw.

They never imagined that Atomic Samurai, ranked fourth among the S-class heroes of the Hero Association, would be in such a sorry state.

Iaian, who was Atomic Samurai's apprentice, was so surprised that his mouth dropped open and he couldn't say a word for a long time.

In his mind, Atomic Samurai was an almost invincible being.

His master, however, did not gain any advantage over King.

Iaian naturally knew that Atomic Samurai had used 100% of his true power, but King had not launched a single attack from beginning to end, nor had he moved his feet even half a step.

"A monster..."

Looking at the expressionless King on the screen, Iaian could only squeeze out those two words.

In the combat simulation room, King tightened his fingers slightly, and the Atomic Samurai, gripping the long sword, was unable to withstand the force transmitted and collapsed to his knees.

The next second, the blade at King's fingertips shattered with a crash.

"Shall we continue?"

King slowly walked up to Atomic Samurai, lowered his head, and said calmly.

"No, no need."

Atomic Samurai shook his head absentmindedly, dusted off his knees, and slowly stood up.

Everything that had just happened felt unreal. He himself hadn't expected that even if he used all his strength, he would have no chance to fight back against King.

"It seems I am not even qualified to ask Mr. King for help. Please forgive my overestimation of my abilities."

The defeat in the sparring match did not frustrate Atomic Samurai at all; on the contrary, a clear smile spread across his face.

"I lost."

At the same time, Atomic Samurai reached out his hand, wanting to shake hands with King.

This is Atomic Samurai's style of doing things; he only associates with those he considers strong.

King simply nodded indifferently.

"I only shake hands with people who have the ability. Once you have enough ability, I will shake hands with you."

That should give it a lot of momentum.

As King finished speaking, he began to mutter to himself.

To be honest, being watched by so many people is quite nerve-wracking.

If it were before, I wouldn't have bothered, but now I seem to be quite powerful, so I need to appear more assertive.

That said, if I make myself look too impressive now, won't it be awkward to ask about salary later?

I've been a shut-in for a while now, and I'm really short on money. Otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed to join the Hero Association.

"So, I wasn't good enough after all..."

Upon hearing King's words, Atomic Samurai could only awkwardly withdraw his hand. However, he was not angry at all; on the contrary, he felt quite at ease, and his smile became even more pronounced.

Atomic Samurai had said the same words King just spoke to many of his subordinate heroes.

This made the once proud Atomic Warrior realize that he still had a long way to go.

"I once thought my skills had reached their peak. Thanks to Mr. King, this defeat made me realize my shortcomings. Only by having the strength of Mr. King can one have the right to be arrogant."

"I will continue my training to further improve my strength."

"Once I achieve a breakthrough, I will challenge you again, Mr. King. Next time, I will definitely impress you!"

After speaking, Atomic Samurai bowed deeply to King.

Just then, the door to the room slowly opened, and Sitch and the other heroes entered the room.

"Wow, that's amazing, Mr. King!"

Sic was the first to be approached, his face full of ingratiating smiles.

He never expected that even Atomic Samurai, using his full power, would be so weak in front of King.

King has now agreed to join the Hero Association, which will be a huge boost to the association's fighting strength.

Perhaps it can rival a tornado...

It might even be above a tornado!

Is this something to celebrate?

King's face remained expressionless, showing no joy despite his victory over Atomic Samurai.

For King at this moment, defeating Atomic Samurai seemed like an inevitable event, as natural as breathing, and he didn't understand why the others looked surprised.

Sitch was about to offer a few flattering words when he remembered that Atomic Samurai and the others were still by his side. Even though Atomic Samurai had lost the match just now, he was still an indispensable fighting force for the Hero Association.

"So what will my ranking be?"

At the same time, King spoke, his voice deep yet powerful.

According to the association's plan, they reserved the seventh S-class hero position for King, but King was not satisfied with this.

“I am willing to give up my position to Mr. King.”

Just then, Atomic Samurai spoke up from the side.

“Mr. King has proven that he has the strength to surpass mine, so it is only right that he is ranked above me.”

In Atomic Samurai's mind, he had already fully recognized King as a person, and even believed that the other party was fully qualified to be in the top four.

"Since Atomic Samurai has said so, Mr. King, are you satisfied with fourth place?"

Sitch quickly asked.

"I am also willing to give up my position to Mr. King."

Bang, standing to the side, squinted and said with a smile.

He was hunched over with his hands behind his back, looking like an ordinary, kind old man. But in reality, he was the third strongest in the Hero Association, with immense strength, arguably the absolute pinnacle of martial arts in the world.

Upon hearing Bang's words, everyone present was somewhat shocked. No one had expected Bang to directly express his willingness to give up his position to King.

Before anyone else could speak, Bang explained directly:

"I have just finished watching the battle between Mr. King and Atomic Samurai, and I have come to realize that King's strength is far superior to mine. Moreover, if it weren't for Mr. King's intervention, the consequences of that Dragon-level monster's sudden attack on City A would have been unimaginable."

Chapter Twelve: The Tsundere Girl Who Broke In with an Excuse

"In my opinion, Mr. King deserves to be in the top three, both in terms of ability and achievements."

"Therefore, I am willing to give my position to Mr. King."

After Bang finished speaking, the other S-class heroes all nodded in agreement.

Bang is currently the highest-ranking hero among them and has extremely high prestige. Even the other S-class heroes generally respect Bang. In addition, they all witnessed King's powerful appearance during the battle just now, so they have no objection to Bang's words.

After this battle, they believed that those outrageous rumors about King were true.

"Then, Mr. King, you should be quite satisfied with the third option, right?"

Sic's smile widened, thinking that King would surely accept the third-place position.

But King's face remained expressionless, his gaze fixed on Sitch.

Although Sitch had interacted with various S-class heroes and didn't feel excited or nervous when seeing them like ordinary people, he didn't dare to look King in the eye at this moment.

That gaze gave Sitch an unprecedented sense of immense pressure, causing this man, who had previously been indifferent to superheroes, to be drenched in sweat.

"Only third place?"

King spoke calmly, but his voice was incredibly heavy, like thunder.

"Only third place...?"

Sitch swallowed hard; at that moment, he finally understood what King meant.

King wants more than just the third position...