The scene returned to the moment Shinji destroyed Boros' sphere-like domain.
"The ship! Is the ship going to crash?!"
"I… I want to go home… Mom…!!"
"Could something have happened to Lord Boros?!"
"Shut your mouth, don't say such nonsense! How could Lord Boros be in trouble? He's never been defeated!"
"..."
Inside the ship, the few surviving low-level fighters felt the vessel tilt sharply and groan as if moments from tearing apart. Panic set in immediately.
As the craft gradually leaned and began to descend, Tatsumaki, unable to stay still, flew forward as though searching for something.
"Tatsumaki! Don't go over there! The ship is going to fall!" Bang shouted after her.
"Wait, isn't this spot dangerous for us, too?" Metal Bat asked, glancing up at the massive ship now threatening to crash.
"This is bad. Let's head toward the Association headquarters!" Bang urged, deciding he could no longer afford to worry about Tatsumaki's actions.
"Angel Dash!" Puri-Puri Prisoner, newly awakened and sensing danger, suddenly bolted into motion.
Atomic Samurai, concerned for his student, quickly scooped up Iaian and sprinted away.
"Is it over already?" Only Saitama remained composed, turning to address Shinji's wood clone.
"Yes. It's over," the clone confirmed with a nod.
"I see…"
Though Shinji's answer was vague, Saitama could tell Boros had been defeated. If the alien were still standing, the ship wouldn't be falling, and Shinji's clone wouldn't remain here unharmed.
Still, a quiet sense of disappointment and loneliness stirred in him. That alien, whom Saitama had mistakenly called the "Cosmic Dentist" due to the similar sound between "Overlord" and "Dentist" in Japanese, had seemed like a formidable opponent at first. But in the end…
Suddenly, Saitama looked at the wood clone.
"Shinji, why don't you have a match with me?"
He spoke casually, yet there was weight in his voice. Above them, the ship continued to tilt dangerously, but Saitama seemed unconcerned.
He had always known Shinji was strong, but today's victory over the so-called "strongest dentist in the universe" only reinforced it. Perhaps Shinji could help him rediscover the emotions he had lost.
Ever since Saitama had gone bald and gained invincible power, no battle had brought him fear or the thrill of combat. It was something that quietly troubled him.
In some ways, he was not so different from Boros. The only real distinction was that Saitama fought for justice, while Boros lived for domination. To Boros, justice meant nothing, as only power was absolute. Throughout his reign, the alien had never cared for ideals. He could wipe out all life on a planet without the faintest hesitation.
"Alright, once we're done here, I'll play a game with you," Shinji's wood clone replied, misunderstanding and assuming Saitama meant video games.
"No, I mean like your fight with the Cosmic Dentist, a real, all-out battle," Saitama clarified, his expression completely serious.
"That… that might be a bit difficult for me…" The wood clone's face shifted into an awkward but polite smile.
Faced with Saitama's challenge, there was no way the wood clone could casually agree on behalf of the real body.
"Also, Boros is the ruler of the universe, not the cosmic dentist… At least what he calls himself," the clone added, using the moment to correct Saitama's misunderstanding about Boros' title.
"Alright… if it's inconvenient for you, then forget it," Saitama replied, not pressing the matter.
"But still, isn't that the same as cosmic dentist?" His face became completely blank, as though the distinction meant nothing to him. To his ears, the pronunciation was identical, and unless Shinji explained in detail what "ruler" meant, Saitama would always interpret it as "dentist."
"..."
The clone could only keep smiling. The truth was, this had nothing to do with convenience; he simply couldn't accept such a request in place of the real Shinji. While the clone's abilities and appearance matched the original's, he possessed his own independent will and absolute loyalty to the true body.
Still, he chose not to explain. If Saitama realized the truth, he might seek out the real Shinji directly. If it were the actual Shinji standing here, he might agree to the fight, but that was far from certain.
Meanwhile, Shinji and Boros stepped out from the sphere space and returned to the real world.
The moment they arrived back on Earth, they saw the colossal spaceship plummeting toward the ground.
"See if you can save it. It'd be a shame to let such a huge ship crash like this," Shinji said to Boros, his tone making it clear the vessel held value in his eyes.
"…I will do what I can."
Boros paused briefly before nodding. Since Shinji had restored his life, his energy had been recovering at a remarkable pace. His power was renewable, his "Meteor Burst" mode functioned like anaerobic exercise for a human body, and just as stamina replenishes naturally, his energy could regenerate over time.
The problem lay in the vastness of his reserves. When he fired the Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon, he had completely drained himself, and refilling that enormous energy pool would take considerable time.
To put it in perspective: an ordinary person with 100 stamina might regain 1 point per second. Boros, however, possessed reserves in the tens of billions or even trillions. Even if he recovered a hundred million units per second, it would still take a long time to fully restore his strength.
Still, in the short time since Shinji revived him, he had already regained enough energy to power the massive ship.
Raising his hand, Boros released a torrent of energy that poured directly into the vessel's power core, the radiant flow visible to the naked eye.
With the new surge of power, the ship slowly steadied, tilting back into alignment until it hovered firmly in the sky once more.
"What… what's going on? Is the ship stable again?"
"Lord Boros must have noticed us! That means he won the fight, right?!"
"We're saved! This is amazing!!"
"..."
The remaining low-level crew were practically ready to celebrate on the spot.
"Shinji!"
Hearing the voice, Shinji turned to see Tatsumaki floating behind him, arms crossed, eyes fixed on him.
"Where did you disappear to just now? And why are you suddenly standing with that guy, acting like nothing happened?" she asked, her voice carrying both sharpness and urgency.
Shinji couldn't tell whether she was interrogating him out of annoyance or expressing genuine concern.