"Wait! About the UFO!"
At that mont, a robot controlled by tal Knight rushed over.
The reason he had sent one of his machines here was to secure the UFO. This wasn't just any ship, it was the vessel of the Cosmic Overlord, practically representing the peak of universal technology. Its value was beyond words.
Just as tal Knight arrived, Boros descended from the sky, reverting to his base form, the released-power state.
"Boros, what are your thoughts regarding the ship?" Shinji asked him directly.
"…If possible, I'd like to keep my ship. In return, I'll hand over all the treasures on board as compensation for the destruction of this city." Boros replied calmly.
In truth, he gave this answer mostly because of Shinji. From the mont Shinji had supplied him with energy to repair the ship, it was clear Shinji wanted the vessel preserved. Even so, Shinji had left the decision entirely in Boros's hands.
If not for that consideration, Boros wouldn't have cared much about the ship at all.
"…I see. That's truly a sha." tal Knight's tone carried regret.
The treasures held little value for him. What he truly desired was the ship itself. But Boros wasn't willing, and there was no way to force him; doing so would require the strength to support it.
tal Knight's power was highly unusual even among the S-class, since he could mass-produce forces at the dragon-level of threat. But compared to Boros, he still didn't asure up.
With no way to obtain what he wanted, tal Knight simply recalled his robot and left.
...
After the Dark Matter Pirates incident concluded, A-City was wiped off the world map. Aliens had invaded, and A-City disappeared. As a historic catastrophe, the dia naturally covered it for days on end.
In particular, reports about Shinji defeating the Cosmic Overlord, as well as the Overlord himself joining the Hero Association, were pushed heavily.
At that point, the Hero Association's top priority was to show sincerity. Not only did A-City need to be rebuilt from nothing, but the refugees left holess required financial aid.
If Shinji hadn't urged the citizens of A-City to evacuate to other cities ahead of ti, every last one of them would have been vaporized by Boros's energy cannon the mont the ship arrived. That outco would have spared other cities from the burden of refugees, and the Association would not have needed to distribute nearly as much aid.
However, the citizens' survival created an enormous strain on the Association and the surrounding cities. To calm public unrest, the Hero Association had no choice but to issue relief funds.
Fortunately, the treasures Boros offered from his ship perfectly solved this problem.
After all, they were called the "Dark Matter Pirates." While Boros himself cared only for battle, his countless subordinates still needed to be provided for. Whenever they conquered a planet, Boros allowed them to plunder freely, which ant the ship had accumulated staggering amounts of wealth over the years.
Of course, Shinji knew exactly what the Association's executives were like. Aside from Sitch, few of them were trustworthy. So he and Boros personally oversaw the strict managent of the treasure.
Otherwise, the upper ranks of the Association and their corporate backers would have siphoned off most of the wealth, leaving little to reach the refugees.
"Converted into value, every refugee from A-City will receive one million yen in relief funds. Other cities also need to build more housing to settle them. In addition, each staff mber of the headquarters and every hero who fought in the battle will receive a bonus. tal Knight will get his commission. As for the remaining treasures, they will be under the joint care of myself and Boros. Does anyone have objections to this?"
Shinji discussed the allocations with the Association's executives.
One million yen might sound like a large amount, but in reality, it was only about $10,000. Not extravagant, but more than enough to show sincerity. On top of that, there would be ongoing relief paynts, especially for those refugees who had owned hos in A-City. Even though the number of A-City refugees was massive, the wealth stored on Boros's ship was more than enough to handle it.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't really a discussion, since the executives had no room to refuse.
Boros stood beside Shinji, and the two of them together put imnse pressure on everyone present.
"I have no objections. I believe Kamui's proposed distribution of the alien treasures is fair," Sitch spoke up first.
He was the only one who felt no pressure, since he fully supported Shinji's stance.
The other executives, on the other hand, all had thoughts of skimming sothing off the top, the only difference being how much. But with Shinji and Boros's overwhelming power looming over them, none of them had the balls to say it out loud. The pressure was crushing.
Shinji had already calculated every expenditure the Hero Association would need after the Dark Matter Pirates incident, leaving them with no excuse to demand extra funds.
"Since no one is speaking, I'll take that as agreent," Shinji said lightly.
"Wait!" One of the executives couldn't hold back and spoke up.
"Oh? You have an objection? Feel free to say it directly," Shinji replied calmly.
"Ah… no…" The man opened his mouth, but his words stalled.
Shinji's deanor stayed friendly, his faint smile free of arrogance. But beside him, Boros stood with his arms crossed, his single eye glaring at the man with a sharp, predatory look.
That alone sent chills down the executive's spine. Even though the Cosmic Overlord had been "recruited," his presence was still terrifying.
Anyone could see the truth: aside from Shinji, Boros wasn't going to listen to anyone else. The man feared that if he spoke his mind, Boros might give him a free ticket to have an audience with God.
Between money and survival, he knew which was more important.
"N-no… nothing at all…" he muttered, lowering his head.
With the alien treasures allocated, the rest of the matters no longer concerned Shinji, and he had no interest in ddling further. Whatever remained of the treasure would be kept securely on the ship, and he had no intention of keeping any for himself.
"By the way, about Boros's hero codena. Why not decide it here as well?" Sitch suggested.
"Let's just call him Cosmic Overlord. What do you think?"
"I agree. At the very least, Boros will definitely be satisfied with it."
"Then it's settled. Boros, the [Cosmic Overlord], we look forward to seeing your performance from here on."
The executives made the decision in under half an hour, so out of laziness, others drenched in cold sweat and simply desperate for the eting to end.
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