— — — — — —

"Holy crap! No way—what are the odds?!"

Renzo couldn't help but curse out loud.

"Mr. Creator X! Mr. One Punch Man!"

At that moment, Busho came sprinting out of the Hero Association's HQ, panting heavily as he rushed over to them. "Did you guys hear the disaster alert just now? Just now—"

Before he could even finish, Renzo raised his hand and cut him off. "Yeah, we know. Saitama and I are already on it."

"Relax—we've got this."

With that, Renzo casually rested a hand on Saitama's shoulder and—whoosh!—they vanished into thin air.

"Whew..."

Watching them disappear, Busho let out a long breath and muttered to himself, "If Creator X says it'll be fine, then... it should be fine, right?"

"Last time he fought Tornado, she called down a whole meteor shower. It was crazy. Sure, those meteors weren't as big as this one, but he still warped them away like it was nothing."

"Yeah... this time won't be any different."

Reassured, Busho turned and ran back inside the building to monitor the situation live.

. . .

Meanwhile, back in Z-City

As Renzo looked up, his gaze immediately locked on the massive flaming meteor bearing down on the earth.

"That thing's huge," Genos muttered, brows furrowed. "If it hits... forget Z-City. Even the nearby cities will be wiped out."

"It's fine. Saitama's already moving," Renzo said calmly. "Let's go back him up."

Without wasting a second, Renzo grabbed Genos again—whoosh!—and the two reappeared atop a high-rise several kilometers away.

"Yo! Bang-san!" Renzo raised a hand and greeted the old man casually.

Silver Fang Bang looked up from his skyward gaze and offered a faint smile.

"You're the S-Class Rank 3 hero, Silver Fang Bang, right?" Genos asked, slightly surprised to see him here.

A big-name hero—he hadn't expected to run into him like this.

"Oh?"

Bang turned his eyes from the meteor to the newcomers. He didn't recognize Genos—being only B-Class Rank 34, he hadn't made a name for himself yet. But Renzo? That face, that power—unforgettable.

"Ah, it's you—Creator X, Renzo-kun!" Bang chuckled. "I'm glad you made it in time."

"Last time you sparred with Tornado, you used some kind of spatial skill to banish an entire meteor swarm, right? Think you can handle this one too?"

He might be strong, but this was a world-ending rock barreling down from the sky. Even he had to admit—he was out of his league here.

"Mm," Renzo nodded with ease. "Yeah. Leave it to me."

WHOOM—

A huge metallic figure came flying in from the distance. Upon spotting them, it changed direction and landed nearby with a mechanical thud. A robotic voice echoed from the giant machine:

"You must be the S-Class Rank 10 hero, Creator X—Renzo."

"I've been following your work. That satellite surveillance tech of yours is impressive. And your AI, Red Queen, is remarkable."

"I'm Metal Knight—S-Class Rank 6. Perhaps someday we can collaborate on some technical projects?"

As he spoke, the robot's sensors lingered on Genos, clearly analyzing him with interest.

"Hm?"

Renzo narrowed his eyes, noting that look.

"Don't even think about touching my disciple, Genos," he warned coldly. "Or I'll drag you out of your little hidey-hole myself, Dr. Bofoi. I've heard plenty about you from Dr. Kuseno."

"Others may not know where you're holed up—but you can't hide from me."

"As for your 'tech exchange' idea? Honestly, I was open to it before. But now? Yeah... I'm suddenly not interested anymore. Get lost."

He had seen right through him—Metal Knight was the type to sacrifice anything in the name of science. Ruthless and dangerous.

Renzo hated that kind of person.

Metal Knight fell silent.

"So... Kuseno's working with you now, huh? That explains a lot. In that case, I'll leave this mess to you. I'm out."

And with that, the robot took off, disappearing into the sky.

"Oh my..." Bang watched the exchange with interest, chuckling lightly.

He didn't say anything, but he could tell—something was definitely off about Metal Knight. Coveting someone else's disciple? Bailing on a meteor crisis the moment things didn't go his way?

That kind of person...

"Renzo-kun, if you're going to act, now's the time!" Bang called out. "There's not much time left!"

"Got it!" Renzo replied.

Whoosh!

He vanished, reappearing several thousand meters up in the sky.

Clasping his hands together, he began to gather an immense amount of spatial energy between his palms.

"Dimensional Cut!!"

In the next instant, a blade of pure space energy shot forth from his hands—growing to over a hundred meters long in the blink of an eye. It tore through the sky and materialized directly beneath the meteor, ripping open a dimensional gap.

CRACK— CRACK— CRACK—

The massive fireball didn't stand a chance. It was shredded apart, pulled into the gap and swallowed by the chaos of the dimensional cut.

"Alright! All done!"

Clapping his hands like he'd just finished taking out the trash, Renzo casually closed the spatial cut and teleported back to where Bang and the others were waiting.

FWOOOSH!!

BOOM!!

Just then, a blur of movement streaked through the sky and slammed into the ground not far from Genos. Who else could it be but the bald-headed hero himself—Saitama.

"Eh? Where's the meteor?"

Saitama blinked in confusion, looking up at the now-clear sky. Only the faint remnants of scorched clouds hinted that something massive had just happened.

"It's already been taken care of by Sensei," Genos said with a serious tone. "Saitama-san, didn't you leave even earlier than us? You're late."

"Hah? That's not fair! Renzo cheats—he can teleport!"

Saitama couldn't help but complain.

Then, with a shrug and a smile, he waved it off. "Eh, whatever. As long as the crisis is over. Honestly, even if I destroyed the meteor, it'd still cause serious damage. Renzo's space powers are way more useful in situations like this."

Saitama didn't really care about the credit. Ever since Renzo had helped get his achievements officially recognized, becoming an S-Class hero had made his life a lot easier.

"Oh? You must be S-Class Rank 17, One Punch Man—Saitama, right?"

Bang, who had been watching from the sidelines, finally spoke up. He'd only seen clips of Saitama before, but seeing the man in person piqued his curiosity.

Someone who could take out Dragon-level monsters in one hit… and just now, he even said he could destroy the meteor himself?

Bang didn't doubt it—but it definitely made him more interested in Saitama.

— — —

Meanwhile, back at Hero Association HQ, the mood was electric.

"The crisis has been resolved! As expected, Creator X pulled through again! Amazing!"

"Absolutely!"

"All hail Creator X!"

A Dragon-level disaster had just been resolved effortlessly—and only one person could've done it without damaging property.

---

Elsewhere, deep inside a secret underground lab…

"Tch… Renzo… I won't forget today's humiliation."

Bofoi Hakase—better known as Metal Knight—was muttering to himself with a scowl on his face.

He hadn't expected Dr. Kuseno to defect to Renzo's side, and even less that Renzo would just flat-out reject him—S-Class Rank 6—with zero regard for his status.

"Fine. We'll see how long you can keep that smug attitude."

Bofoi was genuinely interested in Renzo's tech—especially the satellite systems and AI. He'd even considered trying to steal them at one point. But Renzo was too versatile and too powerful. A direct confrontation would be a bad idea.

Now that the offer of "technical cooperation" had gone up in smoke, Bofoi could only shelve his plans—for now.

. . .

At the same time, far from the city, Tornado was handling a Dragon-level threat of her own.

But her eyes had been on the meteor incident the whole time.

"Tch. That jerk again! Just you wait, Renzo—I will get you back for this!"

She clenched her fist in frustration.

Even now, whenever she thought back to that day, she could still feel the soreness—and the shame.

— — —

Meanwhile, inside the Mental Space—

"Alright, everyone! I'm about to head out on my next journey—time to track down the legendary cooking utensils!"

Chef Renzo grinned as he announced his plans.

After training for over half a year, he'd learned everything he could from Pai-sensei.

Sure, Pai still had more experience and creativity, but Renzo had come a long way.

According to Pai herself, Renzo had more than enough skill to be considered a top-tier Special-Class Chef.

.

.

.