"Qin... Zuke-sama."
Although inwardly Homeless Emperor was full of resentment toward Zuke, seeing Zuke sitting in the room, Homeless Emperor still immediately put on that fawning smile.
At this moment, the corporate slave habits buried deep in his heart actually broke through the self-respect he'd gained after becoming a Dragon-level monster, unconsciously surfacing.
Homeless Emperor himself probably hadn't imagined that he could still act as obsequiously as when he was a corporate slave—he thought he'd long forgotten those habits from working.
However, this couldn't be blamed on him. After all, he was very clear about how much control Zuke had over him. Last time before Zuke left the Monster Association, he had even commanded Homeless Emperor to commit suicide.
And at that time, Homeless Emperor had almost without any hesitation created a large light orb with "Divine Power" right in front of him, about to smash it into his own head.
If Zuke hadn't stopped his actions in time, Homeless Emperor really would have blown his own head off on the spot, becoming the first Dragon-level monster at the Monster Association to die in such an absurd manner.
Under these circumstances, Homeless Emperor felt that being obsequious toward Zuke was very normal. This couldn't even be called compromise, only identifying the times and acting accordingly.
"You're here, Homeless Emperor."
Seeing Homeless Emperor like this, Zuke also found it somewhat amusing—it seemed Homeless Emperor had truly been scared out of his wits by the experiment Zuke conducted on him last time.
That made sense too. Homeless Emperor was fundamentally just an ordinary person who had obtained "Divine Power." His mentality was no different from a nouveau riche, naturally very afraid of everything suddenly collapsing.
Last time when Zuke commanded him to commit suicide, his body unhesitatingly executed the command, proving that whether Homeless Emperor would collapse depended entirely on Zuke's whim. Naturally he was very fearful of Zuke.
Zuke withdrew the foot still being massaged by Psykos, then stood up under Psykos's speechless gaze, speaking to Homeless Emperor:
"Calling you here mainly to ask about 'God'—you should have a way to let people contact 'God,' right?"
"...Eh? About God?"
Homeless Emperor froze, then also reacted.
Indeed, with Zuke's strength, Homeless Emperor was just an insignificant small fry. So what could make Zuke pay attention to him was probably only his connection with "God."
However, speaking of this matter, Homeless Emperor instead showed a somewhat awkward expression, scratching his head as he said to Zuke:
"That... although I did indeed obtain 'God's' power, I really know nothing about how to contact God."
In Homeless Emperor's view, obtaining "God's" power was an instantaneous matter—while lying on the grass looking at the sky and lamenting humanity's insignificance beneath the entire sky, he was suddenly bestowed with power.
In this situation, how could he explain methods of contacting "God"? Should he have Zuke also lie on the grass like he did before, gazing at the sky and lamenting his own insignificance?
Leaving aside whether this method was reliable, with Zuke's current strength, could he feel insignificant before the sky? Zuke could flip the sky with one slap.
"You think you obtained 'God's' favor out of thin air, but the reality might not be so."
Zuke shook his head, then asked Homeless Emperor a crucial question.
"When you were homeless, did you ever come into contact with a black cube? About palm-sized, pure black cubic matter."
That's right, the means of establishing contact with "God" was touching the black cube from "God."
Homeless Emperor didn't know, but Zuke was very clear. In the original work, most characters who established contact with "God" had either touched that black cube, or were simply beside "God" itself.
Very likely Homeless Emperor had actually touched the black cube from "God" without realizing it, establishing a connection with "God," only he himself hadn't been aware of it.
"A black cube..."
Homeless Emperor froze, then lowered his head to carefully recall—for him, memories from before becoming a monster were unbearable to look back on, but since Zuke required it, he could only patiently reminisce.
Sure enough, Homeless Emperor soon seemed to recall something, suddenly lifting his head to speak to Zuke:
"Right! When I was homeless, I did pick up a black cube in some ruins. At the time I was thinking whether I could sell it for some money, but the scrap collection station wouldn't take it at all!"
"Then it seems that's the thing."
Zuke nodded satisfactorily—as long as there was that black cube, he could establish contact with "God."
To make Garou awaken as Cosmic Garou, he just needed to hand that cube to Garou and have Garou accept "God's" bestowal.
"Do you still remember where that cube is? Take me to retrieve it."
Zuke commanded Homeless Emperor. He then prepared to follow him to get that black cube.
Regardless of whether Homeless Emperor inwardly was willing, he could only agree—after all, the current Homeless Emperor was a member of the Monster Association, belonging to a part controlled by "King's Army."
"I understand. Though I'm not sure if that thing is still in those ruins... but I'll take you there."
Homeless Emperor nodded, then turned to start leading the way.
Zuke followed Homeless Emperor out of the room. Just as the door was about to close, he turned back to Psykos, who was still crouching on the ground, and said:
"You don't need to keep crouching either. Do whatever you need to do."
"Do you think I'm crouching for whose sake!?"
Psykos complained irritably at Zuke—she'd been commanded by Zuke to massage his feet and had been crouching until her feet went numb.
Yet this guy was leaving and still had to tease her. This made Psykos grit her teeth in frustration.
But no matter how much resentment built up inside, what could she do? She couldn't resist Zuke anyway. Now the entire Monster Association, including herself, already belonged to Zuke.
Watching Zuke and Homeless Emperor leave, the door closing as well, Psykos finally let out a long breath, then sat on the sofa where Zuke had just been sitting.
The sofa still faintly retained Zuke's warmth, causing Psykos to involuntarily blush—she had just thought Zuke coming to find her was to do that sort of thing again.
But unexpectedly Zuke had come on business. Psykos felt a slight disappointment inside.
Although she had been forced by Zuke before, honestly speaking, that overwhelming assault was still quite memorable for Psykos.
"Tch, why am I expecting that sort of thing!?"
Of course, though inwardly very expectant, she still had to verbally resist a bit.
To be continued…