Chương 119: Chapter 112: The Hearth of the Anomalies

The transition from the claustrophobic, freezing depths of the subterranean cyber-hubs to the pristine, sun-drenched avenues of Atlas was enough to give anyone whiplash. The floating city above the clouds was a gleaming monument to technological perfection. Towering white skyscrapers pierced the bright afternoon sky, their glass facades reflecting the sunlight, while elegant hard-light bridges connected the sprawling commercial sectors.

The air here was crisp and clean, entirely devoid of the smog and desperation that choked Mantle far below. Team RWBY, Team JNPR, Oscar Pine, and Penny Polendina strolled down the wide, immaculate sidewalk, their brand-new, thermal-weaved Atlesian combat gear keeping them comfortably insulated.

"I cannot believe we actually finished before the sun went down," Yang Xiao Long cheered, stretching her arms high above her head and letting out a loud, satisfying groan as her joints popped.

"I feel like I've been fighting in the dark for a week!"

"It was certainly a grueling deployment," Lie Ren agreed quietly, walking with his hands neatly tucked into his pockets.

"But the network is purging. We have earned a brief respite."

"A respite?!" Nora Valkyrie bounded forward, practically vibrating out of her heavy winter boots.

"We're in the most advanced, glittering city in the world, and we actually have free time! We shouldn't be resting! We should be having fun! Think of the arcades! The indoor amusement parks! The gravity-defying waffle stands!"

"I have to side with Ren on this one," Blake Belladonna sighed, her feline ears drooping slightly beneath her sleek, new asymmetrical haircut.

"My Aura is stable, but my legs feel like lead. Honestly? How about our beds? A long nap sounds like absolute heaven right now."

"Blake, you can sleep when you're eighty! Come on, we have to celebrate!" Yang laughed, slinging a heavy, affectionate arm over her partner's shoulders.

"Weiss! Penny! You two are the locals. Give us some recommendations. Where is the best place to blow off some steam?" Weiss Schnee walked with impeccable, aristocratic posture, her pale blue eyes scanning the familiar storefronts with a mixture of pride and lingering melancholy.

"Well, the Diamond District has the finest boutique shopping on Remnant," Weiss offered, a faint, genuine smile touching her lips.

"If we wish to relax, a quiet afternoon browsing the high-end dust-weavers and partaking in some authentic Atlesian tea would be delightful."

"Ooh! Ooh! I have a recommendation!" Penny hovered slightly off the ground, her green thrusters humming as she raised her hand enthusiastically.

"There is a highly-rated technological exhibition currently displaying the newest advancements in automated street-sweeping! It is said to be incredibly fascinating!" The entire Vanguard stopped walking, exchanging a collective, profoundly blank stare.

"Penny," Ruby Rose giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.

"I love you, but looking at street sweepers sounds exactly like watching paint dry." Before Penny could defend the merits of municipal sanitation, the group rounded the corner of a high-end commercial plaza. Walking directly toward them on the pristine sidewalk were two highly conspicuous figures. Neopolitan strutted forward with absolute, predatory elegance. She wore a warm, beautifully tailored black trench coat and a pristine white scarf wrapped snugly around her neck.

She carried her pink-and-white parasol casually over her shoulder, and in her other hand, a light, high-end shopping bag swinging cheerfully. Walking right beside her with perfect, unblinking, robotic rigidity was Ciel Soleil. The dark-skinned Huntress-in-training wore her crisp Atlas Academy uniform and blue beret, holding a small, neat shopping bag with military precision.

"Neo!" Ruby called out in surprise, jogging forward with the rest of the group.

"What are you doing out here? I thought you'd be hiding out in the penthouse!" Neo simply offered a smug, theatrical curtsy, her heterochromic eyes sparkling with amusement as she twirled her parasol. She pointed a delicate, gloved finger at Ciel.

"Ah, Team RWBY. Team JNPR," Ciel greeted, before looking to Oscar.

"And you must be Oscar Pine. General Ironwood has informed me about you."

"Wait, you're one of Penny's team during the Vytal Festival!" Jaune Arc waved awkwardly, rubbing the back of his newly trimmed, spiky blonde hair.

"It's been a while!"

"Correct. My name is Ciel Soleil," Ciel's voice was a rapid, near-monotone delivery, entirely devoid of inflection.

"It has been exactly seven months since our previous encounter. It is good to see you again."

"Salutations, Ciel!" Penny beamed, her mechanical eyes glowing with absolute joy as she floated over to her former teammate.

"Greetings, Penny," Ciel responded, halting her march to execute a flawless, crisp salute. She immediately raised her wrist, tapping the face of her oversized pocket watch.

"I have registered your arrival time at sixteen-hundred hours and twelve minutes. Visual diagnostics indicate your Aura reserves remain at an optimal ninety-four percent. However, the servomotors in your left lateral thruster are currently operating at a micro-fractional delay. I strongly advise a localized diagnostic recalibration within the next four hours to prevent long-term chassis degradation."

"Thank you, Ciel!" Penny smiled brightly, placing her hands on her hips with fierce pride.

"But do not worry! I am always combat ready!"

"Confidence is an acceptable variable, but maintenance is a logistical necessity," Ciel advised flatly, her eyes never leaving her watch. Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and Oscar watched the exchange in sheer, unadulterated bewilderment.

"It's like watching two actual robots talk to each other," Yang whispered loudly to Blake, leaning in.

"I heard that," Ciel stated, not looking up.

"However, Penny's maintenance must wait. I am currently engaged in a highly classified, Priority-One escort mission authorized by General Ironwood himself. My main monitoring duty is explicitly assigned toward our...

'secret weapon'." Ruby tilted her head, her silver eyes filled with confusion.

"Secret weapon? Wait, you mean..." Weiss's pale blue eyes darted from Ciel to the smug, smiling illusionist standing beside her. She noticed the small shopping bag in Neo's hand, and then realized something crucial was missing.

"If Neo is here," Weiss muttered, a sudden wave of exhausted realization washing over her face.

"That means..."

"Why are there so many stairs in this city?!" The loud, nasal, incredibly whiny voice echoed from the bottom of a nearby marble staircase leading up from a lower commercial tier. Trudging up the steps, looking like a mob-boss who had just lost the will to live, was Saitama, in his sharp black suit with white trench coat, and Roman Torchwick's bowler hat resting securely on his bald head.

However, the intimidating, underworld aesthetic was entirely ruined by the fact that he was currently carrying no fewer than ten massive, bulging grocery and shopping bags. Plastic handles dug deeply into his red gloves. One of the transparent bags prominently displayed a massive, incredibly expensive three-flavored cake box.

"Seriously, umbrella girl, you couldn't carry one more bag?!" Saitama comically complained, his dotted eyes narrowed in pure irritation as he finally reached the top of the stairs, panting slightly for dramatic effect.

"I'm the one who bought the cake! Why am I the one hauling your weird boutique clothes too?!" Neo simply smirked, tapping her chin innocently and shrugging her shoulders. Ciel immediately turned, her posture rigid.

"Mr. Saitama. You have deviated from the optimal walking pace by fourteen seconds. Please increase your stride." Saitama groaned, his shoulders slumping under the weight of the groceries. He looked up, his dotted eyes finally landing on the massive group of heavily armed teenagers standing on the sidewalk.

"Oh. Hey kids," Saitama greeted, his expression completely flat and unbothered.

"Welcome back."

"Hi, Saitama!" Ruby grinned, waving enthusiastically.

"Good to see you're surviving the shopping trip," Jaune laughed nervously. But as Team JNPR and Team RWBY moved to greet him, they realized something terrifying. Penny was standing right next to them. The students froze in absolute, collective horror. Their eyes slowly turned toward the android. Penny's glowing green eyes were fixed directly on Saitama. Her synthetic pupils dilated.

Her internal memory banks cross-referenced the yellow suit she had seen him wear in the combat footage against the man standing before her. Penny's face erupted into a massive, blinding smile of absolute, star-struck reverence. She raised her finger, her thrusters kicking into overdrive.

"WOW! THE HERO OF--""MMPFHH!!" Ruby and Pyrrha moved with terrifying, supersonic Huntsman speed. Ruby dissolved into rose petals, materializing on Penny's left side, while Pyrrha lunged to her right. Both girls simultaneously clamped their hands violently over Penny's mouth, physically wrestling the android backward as they looked around the crowded Atlas street in sheer, unadulterated panic.

"Shhh! Shhh! Penny, quiet!" Ruby hissed frantically, her face turning bright red.

"You cannot say that out loud!" Pyrrha whispered desperately into Penny's ear, her emerald eyes darting toward passing pedestrians.

"It is an absolute secret!" Penny blinked in confusion, her muffled voice buzzing against their gloves. After a few seconds, she offered a firm, understanding nod. Ruby and Pyrrha slowly, cautiously removed their hands.

"I apologize!" Penny whispered loudly, leaning in close to the group.

"But why did you not inform me that the invincible anomaly of Vale was currently residing within Atlas?! That is spectacular news!"

"Because we aren't allowed to tell anyone outside of Professor Ozpin's inner circle!" Ren whispered back, casting a nervous glance at Saitama.

"He is strictly undercover. If the public finds out he's here, General Ironwood's entire geopolitical cover story collapses."

"I understand perfectly!" Penny beamed, placing a hand over her heart.

"Your secret is entirely safe with me! I am excellent at keeping classified data secure!" With the crisis averted, Penny turned back around. She engaged her thrusters, dashing forward at blinding speed and stopping exactly one inch away from Saitama's face. Saitama flinched backward, nearly dropping a bag of leeks, his dotted eyes crossing slightly as he stared at the incredibly energetic girl hovering in his personal space. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Salutations, Hero!" Penny beamed, her voice vibrating with mechanical enthusiasm.

"I am Penny Polendina, the protector of Mantle and the friend of Team RWBY and Team JNPR! It is an absolute honor to make your acquaintance!" Saitama leaned back, his brow furrowing in profound, comedic bewilderment. He looked at her glowing green eyes, the halo of floating swords on her back, and the faint, humming sound of a generator inside her chest.

"Uh... nice to meet you... I guess," Saitama answered awkwardly, shifting his grocery bags. Penny did not back down. She leaned in even closer.

"I have reviewed the combat footage of your kinetic output during the Vytal Festival aftermath! It defies all known laws of thermodynamics! How do you achieve such mass acceleration without an active Aura?! Are you truly from an alternate dimension?! Have you traveled to other worlds before Remnant?! What is your exact caloric intake to sustain that muscular density?!" Penny fired the questions like a minigun, her eyes practically sparkling with insatiable, synthetic curiosity.

Saitama's left eye twitched violently. A massive, heavy sweatdrop formed on the side of his bald head, hidden safely beneath the bowler hat. He stared at the robotic, hyper-analytical teenager buzzing in his face.

"Great," Saitama groaned, his voice dripping with absolute, soul-crushing misery.

"Another Genos variant."

"Mr. Saitama's caloric intake is largely irrelevant, Penny," Ciel stepped forward, pulling out her sleek data-pad with clinical authority.

"His power violates biological logic entirely. My current hypothesis suggests a localized manipulation of gravitational physics upon impact, though he consistently denies it."

"But Ciel!" Penny argued cheerfully, turning to her teammate.

"If his biology is untethered from Remnant's physics, his metabolic processing must require unique environmental sustenance!"

"I am currently tracking his nutritional purchases to test that exact theory," Ciel retorted, tapping her pad.

"However, his acquisitions consist entirely of discounted produce and high-sodium instant meals. The data is infuriatingly inconsistent." Saitama stood between the two robotic, highly analytical girls as they rapidly debated his biology right in front of him, speaking entirely in complex algorithms and mathematical theories. He let out a long, agonizing sigh, his head dropping in pure, comedic vexation.

"I had to listen to the mustache guy and the fast coffee guy talk my ear off about history and caves back at Beacon," Saitama murmured miserably.

"Now I have two teenage supercomputers analyzing my grocery list. I just want to go home." Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and Oscar watched the scene with profound, incredibly awkward sympathy.

"I actually feel kind of bad for him," Oscar whispered, rubbing the back of his neck as Saitama looked like he was ready to collapse onto the sidewalk. Neo, on the other hand, was having the time of her life. She stood safely out of the crossfire, her hand covering her mouth as her shoulders shook with silent, absolutely hysterical giggles, thoroughly enjoying her invincible meat-shield's psychological suffering.

As Penny continued to debate with Ciel, her glowing green eyes suddenly caught sight of the items peeking out of one of Saitama's heavy plastic bags.

"Oh! Fascinating!" Penny gasped, pointing at the groceries.

"You have acquired thinly sliced beef, napa cabbage, enoki mushrooms, and a massive quantity of kombu broth! Are you preparing a traditional hot pot?!" Hearing the words 'hot pot', the ears of every single student on the sidewalk instantly perked up.

"Hot pot?!" Ruby gasped, her silver eyes lighting up with massive, sparkling stars. She turned to Neo with a desperate, pleading gaze.

"Neo! Are you and Saitama making hot pot tonight?!" Neo blinked. She looked at the groceries, then at the desperate Huntsmen. With a smug, elegant shrug, she offered a slow, confirming nod.

"Oh my gosh!" Nora shrieked, practically levitating with excitement as she grabbed Ren's arm.

"Ren! Hot pot! Real food! Not frozen travel rations or military MREs!" Ruby spun around, slamming her fist into her open palm.

"Guys! I have the best idea ever! We have a few hours before curfew! We should all go to Saitama and Neo's penthouse and have a massive hot pot dinner together to celebrate the success of our mission!"

"That sounds absolutely delightful," Pyrrha smiled warmly, clasping her hands together.

"I haven't had a proper, sit-down meal in weeks," Blake admitted, her amber eyes softening with anticipation. Oscar beamed.

"It would be really nice to just... relax for an evening." Ruby turned her ultimate, devastating puppy-dog stare toward the illusionist.

"Neo? Can we please, please, please join you guys?!" Neo popped a gummy candy into her mouth. She looked at the eager, exhausted teenagers who had literally just saved Mantle. She smirked, twirling her parasol over her shoulder, and offered a dismissive, incredibly casual wave of her hand. Do as you like.

"YES!" Yang cheered, pumping her golden gauntlets into the air.

"We should invite Ciel and Penny, too," Weiss suggested, looking at the two Atlesian students.

"It would be a wonderful way to catch up properly."

"I would be absolutely thrilled to partake in a communal dining experience!" Penny cheered, her thrusters humming happily. Ciel adjusted her beret, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

"A communal gathering in his localized habitat... This presents a highly optimal opportunity to gather unprecedented behavioral data on the anomaly in a relaxed environment. I accept."

"Awesome! Let's go!" Ruby yelled, leading the charge.

"Hold on a second!" Saitama's loud, incredibly panicked voice shattered the celebration. He stepped backward, using the grocery bags as a physical barricade between himself and the mob of teenagers. His dotted eyes were wide with pure, unadulterated refusal.

"Absolutely not!" Saitama yelled, his voice cracking.

"My penthouse is not a cafeteria! I bought exactly enough meat for two people! If all of you come over, it's going to be way too crowded! You'll eat all the beef, you'll make a massive mess, and I am NOT playing babysitter on my day off!"

"Oh, come on, Saitama, don't be so stingy!" Yang laughed, stepping forward and playfully punching his shoulder.

"We'll bring our own snacks! It'll be a party!"

"Please!" Nora begged, dropping to her knees on the sidewalk.

"I'm starving! I'll break if I don't eat real meat!" Weiss Schnee stepped forward, crossing her arms and fixing Saitama with her most potent, aristocratic glare.

"Need I remind you, Saitama," Weiss said coldly.

"The only reason you are currently residing in a multi-million Lien luxury penthouse with heated floors is because my sister and I secured it for you. I believe hosting us for one evening is the absolute least you could do to show your gratitude." Saitama flinched, a massive sweatdrop running down his face as Weiss ruthlessly played the 'free rent' card.

"L-Look, it's just too much noise!" Saitama argued desperately, clinging to his introverted peace.

"You kids are way too loud! I just want to sit in silence and eat my cabbage!" Ciel Soleil turned to Saitama. Without a single word, she reached into the inner pocket of her crisp Atlas uniform. With military precision, she withdrew a tremendously thick, heavy stack of high-denomination Atlesian Lien notes. She held the stack of cash out, pointing it directly at Saitama's face.

"Mr. Saitama," Ciel stated, her voice a perfect monotone.

"If you permit me to analyze your domestic routine within the penthouse for this one evening, I am authorized by General Ironwood's discretionary budget to provide you with this compensation." Saitama froze. The bustling noise of the Atlas commercial district completely faded away. Time seemed to stop. Saitama stared at the massive, beautiful, glorious stack of Lien. The classic, comical symbols of currency practically ignited within his blank, dotted pupils. He didn't just want the money. He needed the money.

With that much Lien, he could buy the premium crab legs tomorrow. He could buy a new video game console. In a fraction of a microsecond, the intense, annoyed refusal entirely vanished from his face, replaced by a devastatingly serious, incredibly intense look of pure, transactional acceptance.

"How did it come to this..." Saitama muttered. A single, comical tear of sheer exhaustion forming in the corner of his eye. Saitama was standing in the center of his opulent, massive penthouse living room. The room was absolutely, mind-numbingly packed with energetic, loud teenagers. Saitama stared blankly at the wall, a prominent, throbbing vein pulsing on his bald head beneath his bowler hat as the chaotic noise washed over him. The Schnee-sponsored luxury penthouse had descended into absolute, brilliant chaos.

In the center of the expansive living room, resting on the plush, heated hardwood floor around a low, elegant glass coffee table, Pyrrha and Blake were meticulously arranging the hot pot equipment.

"We used to do this often in Kuo Kuana when I was a little girl," Blake smiled warmly, carefully placing a portable induction burner in the center of the table. Her feline ears twitched happily in the warm air.

"My father would catch fresh tuna from the bay, and my mother would make this incredibly spicy, rich seafood broth. It was the only time our house felt truly quiet."

"That sounds beautiful, Blake." Pyrrha carefully laid out an array of porcelain bowls and chopsticks, her green eyes shining with fond nostalgia.

"My family in Argus had a similar tradition, though ours was mostly centered around hearty stews during the winter. It was always a massive event. All my relatives would crowd around one tiny pot, fighting over the best cuts of beef. It's a wonderful way to bring people together."

"It really is," Blake agreed softly, looking around the noisy penthouse with a deep sense of belonging. Meanwhile, in the state-of-the-art, marble-lined kitchen, an unexpected culinary dream team had formed. Jaune, Ren, and Oscar stood shoulder-to-shoulder at the massive island counter, wielding incredibly sharp chef's knives with Huntsman-level precision.

"Pass the daikon, Oscar," Ren requested calmly, his hands moving in a hypnotic, fluid blur as he julienned a massive pile of carrots into perfectly uniform, microscopic slivers.

"Your slice on those leeks is remarkably consistent."

"Thanks!" Oscar beamed, expertly dicing a row of green onions with the swift, practiced rhythm of a boy who had spent his entire life working on a farm.

"My aunt taught me how to prep vegetables for the harvest festivals. It's all in the wrist!" Jaune stood at the cutting board next to them, humming happily as he carved the premium Wagyu beef into impossibly thin, beautiful slices.

"You guys are doing great," Jaune grinned, shifting his weight.

"Growing up with seven sisters, if you didn't know how to cook in bulk, you didn't eat. I've been prepping family-style dinners since I was eight."

"A true leader provides for his team on and off the battlefield," Ren praised smoothly, tossing a perfect handful of sliced mushrooms into a prep bowl. On the opposite side of the kitchen island, leaning over the grocery bags like crime scene investigators, were Ciel and Penny.

"Fascinating," Ciel muttered, adjusting her beret as she held a single, ordinary leaf of napa cabbage up to the overhead lights, inspecting it with terrifying intensity.

"The cellular structure of this vegetable is entirely standard. It possesses no anomalous Dust trace elements or Aura-enhancing properties."

"Are you suggesting that his impossible kinetic output is derived entirely from standard carbohydrates and amino acids?!" Penny gasped, her synthetic eyes whirring as she scanned a package of enoki mushrooms.

"It defies all logic," Ciel stated flatly, jotting notes furiously onto her pad.

"If his metabolism processes standard groceries into world-shattering energy, his digestive system must operate like a miniaturized nuclear reactor. I must calculate the exact caloric conversion rate of this tofu."

"I will assist with the calculations!" Penny cheered, her thrusters humming with excitement. Back out in the living room, the rest of the Vanguard was treating the multi-million-Lien penthouse like an amusement park.

"Whoa! Guys, look at this!" Ruby shrieked in awe. She had discovered the remote for the automated, massage-therapy lounge chairs. She threw herself onto the leather recliner, hitting a button that caused the chair to vibrate aggressively, sending her voice into a comical, shaking vibrato.

"I-t-t-s l-i-i-i-k-e r-i-d-i-n-g a t-r-a-i-n!"

"That is nothing!" Weiss boasted proudly, stepping into the center of the room like a tour guide.

"This penthouse features the latest in Schnee Dust Company smart-home integration! Observe!" Weiss snapped her fingers. The grand crystal chandelier above them instantly dimmed, shifting into a soft, warm amber glow, while the massive, floor-to-ceiling smart-glass windows turned completely opaque to block out the freezing Atlesian night.

"Incredible!" Yang laughed, throwing herself onto the massive velvet sofa and kicking her boots up onto a pristine white ottoman. She grabbed the universal remote.

"Let's see what kind of sound system this place has!" Yang smashed a button. Instantly, the neon disco lights erupted from the baseboards, and a deafening, bass-heavy Atlesian techno track blasted from the surround-sound speakers, physically vibrating the floorboards.

"TURN IT UP!" Nora screamed over the music, practically vibrating as she slid across the heated hardwood floor in her socks.

"THIS FLOOR IS LIKE A GIANT HEATING PAD! MY TOES ARE ON FIRE IN THE BEST WAY!" Standing near the hallway, watching the absolute, unmitigated destruction of his peace and quiet, Saitama's left eye twitched with enough force to generate a localized earthquake.

"HEY!" Saitama roared, his voice cutting cleanly through the booming techno music.

"Get your boots off the furniture! And turn that stupid disco light off! I already broke it once today!" Yang laughed, quickly hitting the remote to kill the music and the lights, while Ruby scrambled out of the massage chair. Saitama let out a massive groan, rubbing his temples. He turned his head, looking toward the corner of the plush sofa. Neopolitan was ignoring the chaos entirely.

She had her legs crossed elegantly, completely engrossed in the television, and was currently taking a massive, unapologetic bite out of a huge slice of the three-flavored, premium cake he had bought her.

"Hey!" Saitama yelled, pointing a furious red glove at her.

"What did I tell you about eating the cake before dinner?! Put that down! You're going to ruin your appetite for the hot pot!" Neo slowly stopped chewing. She turned her head, looking him dead in the eye. With agonizing, deliberate slowness, she dragged her lower eyelid down with her pinky finger and stuck her tongue out in a flawless, highly mocking Akanbe face. Then, she took an even bigger bite of the cake.

"You absolute brat!" Saitama scowled, stalking toward the sofa to confiscate the dessert.

"Give me that!" Before he could reach her, a loud, terrifying crash echoed from the kitchen. Saitama whipped his head around. In their intense, robotic debate over the nutritional value of Saitama's diet, Penny and Ciel had accidentally knocked over a massive, unstable tower of canned broth. The cans clattered loudly across the marble floor, rolling directly into Jaune, who tripped over one, wildly flailing his arms and sending a bowl of freshly chopped carrots flying into the air like confetti.

"Whoops!" Jaune yelled, crashing onto his back.

"The carrots are airborne!" Oscar panicked, trying to catch them with a colander.

"I will intercept the vegetables!" Penny cheered, flying across the kitchen and completely knocking over a stack of plates in the process. Saitama stood in the center of the living room. To his left, Ruby, Yang, and Nora were currently arguing loudly over which movie to put on the massive flat-screen TV. To his right, Neo was smugly eating cake. In front of him, the kitchen had descended into a chaotic, flying-vegetable warzone.

The invincible hero, the man who had effortlessly shattered a meteor, caught a supersonic bullet, and pulverized a Leviathan without breaking a sweat, dropped to his knees on the heated hardwood floor. He clutched his bowler hat with both hands, pulling it down over his ears in a desperate bid for silence.

"I can't take it..." Saitama whimpered comically, tears of pure, administrative exhaustion streaming down his face as the teenagers destroyed his sanctuary.

"Babysitting is too hard!! I just want to go back to Vale and sweep the dirt!!"