In just one day, after going through numerous selection processes, the Hero Association still managed to recruit a full two hundred heroes.
Among them, Gawain saw too many characters that he vaguely remembered.
There's no need to mention characters like Superalloy Darkshine, Puri-Puri Prisoner, and Flashy Flash; they're all quite famous characters from the original work.
Besides them, there's also Snek, who came out of the factory earlier—the one who played with snakes in front of the others...
In short, the Hero Association is generally well-received by people around the world.
The frequent emergence of Monster has led to a significant yearning for the title of hero throughout society.
Upon hearing that heroes now had an association, people naturally flocked to join.
And after so many heroes gathered...
The association will obviously need to introduce a considerable number of policies to delineate regular patrol areas for the heroes.
More importantly, we need to explain the salaries and benefits to the heroes. How much money the heroes will receive is the most crucial point!
Meanwhile, at a meeting of high-ranking heroes...
Well, since the heroes haven't been categorized yet, there's no future S-class hero conference at this time.
At this moment, the only ones qualified to sit at the conference table are Gawain and his group, who joined the Hero Association beforehand.
Drive Knight did show up this time, but Metal Knight remained as mysterious as ever.
Fubuki, taking advantage of Gawain's presence, sat proudly beside Gawain.
Not far away, Child Emperor was organizing his computer, then projecting a series of images onto the projector.
While playing the PowerPoint presentation, Child Emperor spoke in an exceptionally mature tone.
"For now, we have recruited a considerable number of heroes. For a newly established association, this number is sufficient to support the early stages of hero activities."
Each city needs at least ten heroes stationed there, which is just enough to maintain order and handle emergencies involving Monster.
Of course, even if the strength of these ten heroes is distributed evenly, they can only barely stop the appearance and destruction of Demon-level Monster.
If we want every city to be able to develop countermeasures against Dragon-level Monster, then we need to increase the number of beings who can stand shoulder to shoulder with us.
Now, there are fewer than ten heroes like us.
After examining Zombieman, Superalloy Darkshine, Puri-Puri Prisoner, and Flashy Flash.
The four of them might barely qualify to sit next to us, but even so, their numbers are still far from enough.
After all, we have a total of twenty-six cities..."
At this point, Child Emperor pondered for a moment, then lit up a portion of the city on the computer.
"The two cities furthest away are, of course, City A and Z City, and the current allocations are actually quite excellent."
With Lord Gawain in charge of City A, Gawain speed can cover at least two or three surrounding cities.
Therefore, within the area from D City, only Lord Gawain is needed.
As for Z City, which is the farthest from City A, Bang's dojo happens to be located there. Bang's strength can at least influence one or two surrounding cities in Z City.
In this way, Mr. Gawain and Bang, one in front and one behind, one at a distance and one near, can effectively protect civilians while also promoting the power of the Hero Association to the greatest extent.
Meanwhile, within the city limits in the middle, I hope Tatsumaki... Sister."
Child Emperor paused slightly, unable to help but recall the beating he had received the day before yesterday.
She's clearly a 25-year-old woman, yet she acts like a child in every way—body shape, appearance, and personality—and forces herself to call her "sister"...
Ah, if Aunt Tatsumaki's personality were as steady as Mr. Gawain's and Bang's, the association's future would be far greater than it is now!
Thinking of this, Child Emperor gently shook his head.
How could that be!
What are superpowers?
In the world we live in, superpowers are essentially the abilities of half- Monster.
The mutation of Monster often has a threshold, and the reason for the Monster is the Monster's own... stubborn personality.
Every Monster is either exceptionally stubborn, confident, or extremely insecure; these are all effects of character weaknesses being brought to their extremes.
Those with superpowers are only one step away from Monster.
Therefore, the superpowered individuals in the world today are all as stubborn as mules, and it is impossible to change their will.
In this situation, it's already a good thing that Tatsumaki doesn't transform into Monster; as for her minor flaws in personality...
Who cares?
With a soft sigh, Child Emperor glanced at Tatsumaki before continuing.
"Tatsumaki doesn't need a fixed city to be stationed in. My view of Tatsumaki is that she is qualified to replace Lord Gawain."
The work of Gawain and Tatsumaki should complement each other. When Gawain is stationed in City A, Tatsumaki needs to deal with all the powerful Monster that appear outside the radiation range of City A.
However, when the number or strength of the Monster exceeds Tatsumaki's ability, or when Gawain- sama goes to other cities to participate in activities.
Then Tatsumaki will replace Lord Gawain and return to the headquarters in City A to be stationed there.
In addition, besides Gawain- sama, Bang- senpai, and Tatsumaki- neechan, I hope that everyone else can each take care of at least two cities.
This is quite difficult; it requires a rapid and urgent mobilization after Monster appear in neighboring cities.
But even if there are some difficulties, I'm sure you won't be afraid of them.
Therefore, please select from the cities I have temporarily highlighted, choose the location you wish to set up camp, and submit it to me after the meeting. Mr. Gawain, Mr. Bang, and I will make the final decision.
Besides...
I think it's necessary for us to increase the number of high-level heroes as much as possible.
"This is indeed crucial. If every city can guarantee at least one high-level hero, then even if many cities simultaneously experience the appearance of Dragon-level Monster, we will have a certain ability to control the destruction caused by the Monster."
Bang nodded in agreement, then pointed to several cities on the projection screen.
"I have a senior brother whose strength is similar to mine, and he now lives in Y City."
Although he won't join the Hero Association, he won't ignore the Monster appearing in Y City either, so Y City can be temporarily removed from the list of places to be stationed there.
Besides, Blast doesn't have a fixed place to live; he prefers to wander from city to city, and we can't even contact Blast.
However, regardless of the circumstances, what if an incredibly powerful, legendary god-level Monster were to appear?
"At least the Blast will be there to help us."
"This is good news, but I will not include external forces within my own sphere of influence."
In response to Bang's statement, Child Emperor gently shook his head.
"Although I greatly admire Mr. Blast, after joining the association, I must prioritize the association's arrangements."
The heroes who are willing to obey the association's orders are the force we truly need to rely on.
No deployment means no plan; no plan means unforeseen circumstances.
But life can't withstand accidents..."
Shaking his head, Child Emperor couldn't help but glance at Gawain.
If only Mr. Blast could be as gentle as Mr. Gawain.
In the past, Child Emperor idolized Blast the most; Blast was the most powerful hero in his mind.
But now...
Child Emperor's adoration for Blast largely transferred to Gawain.
Because Gawain was also very strong, he was even willing to cooperate with him.
With a slight smile, the Child Emperor glanced at Gawain with admiration and appreciation.
After glancing at them, Child Emperor continued speaking to the crowd.
"Besides our work in the city, the three of us— Drive Knight, Metal Knight, and I—also need to try our best to manufacture hero equipment for the association in our spare time."
This requires the cooperation of the association. Next, we need to create exclusive equipment for the heroes based on the hero information collected by the association.
However, there is a question of sequence here, since we only have what we have now in terms of industrial power and wealth.
The heroes will inevitably acquire their equipment at different times and in different orders.
Therefore, in order to more effectively enhance the overall strength of the association, I propose that, in the events of the next month, we should combine the strength and enthusiasm of all the heroes to make a legitimate and collaborative ranking of them!
On the one hand, proposing rankings can greatly improve the efficiency of equipment production.
On the other hand, ranking the heroes can also motivate them to compete with each other, thereby increasing their enthusiasm.
As for the ranking method...
A simple serial number would be perfectly suitable.
Therefore, I propose that we take Mr. Gawain as the first in line and use this as a basis for numerical analogy!
"Etc."
Gawain Teuchi Child Emperor, and then smiled and said softly.
"Of course I don't mind being number one, and I believe I deserve the responsibilities and obligations that come with being number one."
But I think it would be too boring if there was only one number one in the association.
Therefore, I propose that while classifying the heroes, we should further classify them into stages based on their overall strength.
For example, heroes like us who are relatively strong can be classified as S-tier heroes.
Below us, we should use a standard to specify the stage for achieving Level S.
Below S-rank is A-rank. It is necessary to separately divide A-rank into first and subsequent ranks. This allows heroes to strive for breakthroughs at each rank, so that heroes with heroic aspirations but lacking sufficient talent are not left only to watch our rankings.
At the same time, the four levels of S-class, A-class, B-class, and C-class correspond to the monster strength levels of Tiger-class, Ghost-class, Dragon-class, and God-class.
Only several C-rank hunters are qualified to hunt Tiger-rank hunters.
Only several B-rank individuals are qualified to defend against Demon-rank hunters.
Only several A-class monsters are qualified to face a Dragon-level Monster.
So much so...
Only a few S-class individuals could possibly contend with a god-level Monster, which serves as a standard for quantifying future work allocation.
This way, the heroes can have a clear comparison of their own strength, preventing them from recklessly losing their lives in front of Monster beyond their capabilities!
As soon as he finished speaking, Gawain gently tapped the table.
Not far away, Child Emperor nodded quickly.
"That's right, heroes do need to know the limits of their own abilities."
I couldn't help but project my own experiences onto others.
Not every hero is like us, capable of handling the vast majority of Monster.
Relatively weak heroes need to know their limits!
At the same time, classifying heroes into different tiers can better define the standards for hero upgrades.
That's indeed a very good idea.
As he spoke, Child Emperor typed a few keys on the computer!
A moment later, everyone's names appeared on the projector.
"Well then, there's no time like the present, so let's start by ranking the S-class heroes to motivate all the heroes."
This is my tentative hero ranking list. If you have any objections, please feel free to raise them with me!
At this point, new serial numbers appeared before the names on the screen, the first one being...
Rank 1, Gawain of Thunderstorm!
No one disagreed with this; Gawain's strength was such that even a mysterious guy like Metal Knight wouldn't want to mess with him.
Everyone nodded, readily agreeing to the ranking.
But as for the subsequent rankings...
The rankings are as follows:...
Second in S-Class: Blast!
S-Class Rank 3, Tatsumaki!
Fourth in S-Class: Silver Fang!
S-Class Rank 5, Atomic Samurai!
S-Class Rank 6: Child Emperor!
S-Class Rank 7, Metal Knight!
Eighth in S-Class: Drive Knight!
Rank 9, Zombieman!
S-Class Rank 10: Tanktop Master!
Eleventh in S-Class: Puri-Puri Prisoner!
S-Class 12th, Flashy Flash.
Thirteenth in the S-Class: Superalloy Darkshine!
The moment the ranking appeared, Atomic Samurai slammed his fist on the table in dissatisfaction.
"Heh, what is that? Blast didn't even appear, how did he get second place?"
Even setting aside Tatsumaki, Blast attacks probably wouldn't be able to defeat Bang.
Child Emperor, aren't you taking your idol too seriously?
Atomic Samurai is that kind of person; he always has a big mouth, and within the association, he only respects those stronger than him.
Gawain goes without saying, he respects Bang, but he can't beat Tatsumaki.
But besides these, what exactly is "Blast"?
If they haven't fought, then they're essentially non-existent in Atomic Samurai's mind.
So he immediately opened fire on the Blast.
Hearing that his former idol had been slandered, Child Emperor narrowed his eyes uncomfortably. Atomic Samurai was really annoying!
Fortunately Bang gently tapped the table.
"I've personally witnessed Blast's power; he's far stronger than me!"
As for comparison with Tatsumaki..."
"Mr. Blast is my benefactor, he definitely deserves to be ranked ahead of me!"
"Hey, if you and that stinky guy with the long ponytail dare to talk nonsense, believe me, I'll beat you to death on behalf of my benefactor!!!"
Tatsumaki brandished her little fists at Atomic Samurai helplessly chewed on some grass and sat back down.
Forget it, since they say so, I'll just pretend the Blast didn't happen.
It doesn't matter anymore...
After resolving the Blast issue, the people present made a series of comparisons with the four S-class heroes who were not present: Zombieman, Puri-Puri Prisoner, Superalloy Darkshine, and Flashy Flash, and slightly adjusted their rankings.
Besides...
Gawain finally spoke to Child Emperor.
"There is a hero in S City who always wears a dog costume."
Although he almost never leaves S City, he still deserves the title of S-class hero.
Therefore, let's add him to the S-class heroes as well.
Then...
Tentatively ranked: S-Class, 14th, Watchdog Man!