What surprised Grimmjow, and brought a smile to Qin Yi's face, was that the moment the crowd on the street heard the words "Hero Union," they grew even more excited.
"Hero Union! Hero Union! Hero Union!"
Wave after wave of cheers rang out, whipping the atmosphere into a frenzy.
At that point, Qin Yi and the others walked out of the café and faced the growing crowd filling the street.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Qin, President of the Hero Union. Please spread the word: from today onward, the Hero Union will protect the peace and stability of this world! Any monster that threatens this world or puts your lives in danger will face our full force!"
Those few words sent the crowd into wild cheers.
People in this world had almost no sense of security. Monsters appeared out of nowhere far too often, and no one ever knew when one might burst out from underground and destroy everything in its path. That was precisely why people were so obsessed with heroes, making the sudden appearance of an organization like the Hero Union insanely appealing to them.
Before long, female reporters were interviewing Qin Yi, with a few taking advantage of their good looks to throw flirtatious glances his way.
Three days later, with the help of several wealthy investors, Qin Yi and his men had secured an entire office building to handle the Hero Union's affairs.
"The Hero Union has announced that it will take responsibility for global safety."
"During their recent display of strength, every member of the Hero Union demonstrated power far beyond the limits of ordinary humans."
"The public can finally rest easy. With the Hero Union here, the world will be completely safe!"
Qin Yi watched the television broadcast with a faint smile.
Even the government had begun heavily promoting their existence, and Qin Yi understood why: it was all to reassure the public. In a world this chaotic, government authority had been stretched to its limit, and public trust was practically nonexistent.
Three days earlier, information gathered by their reconnaissance drones had brought a critical discovery to light: Saitama hadn't appeared yet. In other words, they had arrived too early.
Before becoming a hero, Saitama had been nothing more than an ordinary guy. Qin Yi had tried using government databases to search for him, but turned up nothing.
There were two possible explanations: either Saitama's records didn't exist in the system, or the will of the world itself was deliberately protecting him and concealing his existence. Neither possibility was ideal.
"Let's establish our influence in this world first and use the Hero Union's reputation to recruit talent," Qin Yi said. "When necessary, we can also cooperate with a few research institutes and feed them a bit of tech."
He frowned slightly before continuing, "Besides, it's not like they'll be able to figure anything out anyway. The most important thing is still finding Saitama."
Tossing a photograph onto the table, Qin Yi gave his orders quickly. "Ulquiorra, take some people to Z-City and lead the search personally. Pay particular attention to the abandoned districts. As soon as you find him, notify me."
Ulquiorra silently picked up the photograph and nodded.
The man in the picture had messy hair and an utterly ordinary appearance, there was nothing remarkable about him at all.
After Ulquiorra left with his team, Qin Yi leaned back comfortably in his office chair.
"Grimmjow, for now, you take care of any monsters that pop up around the world."
Grimmjow stretched lazily. "Fine."
Qin Yi waved his hand, signaling the remaining Arrancar to leave.
Just then, a knock sounded at the office door. A attractive secretary in a sleek uniform and black stockings walked in with a professional smile.
"Lord Qin, someone from the Peace Association is here."
Qin Yi raised an eyebrow. "The Peace Association? Let him in."
Before he even finished speaking, a burly blond man stepped into the office with a cold, haughty expression.
"You're the leader of the Hero Union?"
His arrogant tone immediately rubbed Qin Yi the wrong way.
Qin Yi frowned. "Your attitude is making me very unhappy."
The moment those words left his mouth, a figure flickered into existence behind the burly man. In a flash, Grimmjow's claws were wrapped tightly around the man's neck.
"Want me to crush his head, Master?" Grimmjow asked with a vicious grin.
The blond man went pale, his legs trembling violently. He hadn't even registered what happened before he was completely restrained.
"W-What are you going to do?"
Qin Yi raised a hand, stopping Grimmjow from snapping his neck, then leaned forward slightly.
Grimmjow understood immediately. He kicked the back of the blond man's leg, forcing him to his knees with a heavy thud.
"I really don't like people looking down on me," Qin Yi said coldly. "And you've successfully made me dislike you. Tell me why you're here."
The sheer chill in Qin Yi's voice completely shattered the man's earlier arrogance. He suddenly realized just how terrifying this 'Hero Union' really was. Even the savage man standing behind him radiated pressure no weaker than the strongest members of his own organization.
"I-I represent the Peace Association! I'm here to discuss cooperation!" the man blurted out frantically.
"Cooperation?" Qin Yi laughed, casually waving his hand. "We don't need to cooperate. Throw him out."
The blond man let out a terrified scream as Grimmjow laughed, grabbed him by the collar, and hurled him straight through the window.
"T-This is the twenty-third floor! W-Won't he die?" the secretary asked, her voice trembling.
Qin Yi smiled. "Don't worry, he's not an ordinary person. He won't die."
The secretary breathed a sigh of relief. "That's a relief..."
"Though he might spend the rest of his life in a hospital bed."
Qin Yi's follow-up instantly drained the color from her face again.
---
News of the incident quickly reached the Peace Association, a loose organization dedicated to world peace that hadn't been particularly famous even in the original story.
"Is that so? Their leader refused our cooperation and went that far?"
"That's outrageous!"
"What should we do?"
"Observe them for now. We don't know where they came from, and they clearly aren't easy to handle. Besides, our goal is to maintain world peace and protect humanity, not fight among ourselves!"
Outraged members within the Peace Association initially demanded revenge for the blond representative, but their voices were quickly silenced by leadership.
And so, world affairs settled into a calm rhythm. Qin Yi found this life to be perhaps the most peaceful he'd ever experienced.
"This really is the easy life. It's so quiet I'm almost not used to it."
Without a doubt, though, he liked it.
(End of Chapter)
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