Teen Team headquarters.
When Eve left the cemetery and returned to the Teen Team, she stared at the empty building in front of her and felt a crushing loneliness. Everything from before seemed like it had already become the past—Robot had been called away by Cecil, Dupli-Kate had locked herself in her room and was quietly sobbing, and Rex had already been laid to rest…
In the huge Teen Team base, she was the only one left. Alone…
Eve wrapped her arms around herself. After thinking for a while, she left the Teen Team, flew out of the base, and headed for the Grayson house…
In the end, Jovian was still the winner.
Meanwhile, at the Global Defense Agency…
After the Guardians of the Globe were slaughtered, the most anxious person wasn't Nolan and Jovian, and it wasn't the countless people on Earth either.
The most anxious person was the GDA director, Cecil.
"In the end, I'm the one who has to clean up this fucking mess."
"This planet can't go even one day without the Guardians. I need new candidates, but…"
Cecil clutched his head, a pounding headache setting in. To be honest, with how things looked right now, in his eyes there were barely any people qualified to join the Guardians at all. And the only one who met every standard in his mind might even be the enemy. It was miserable.
"Cecil, you called for me."
Robot walked into GDA headquarters and stopped in front of Cecil.
"The task of rebuilding the Guardians of the Globe is yours."
Cecil looked at Robot and spoke plainly.
"Me? Rebuild the Guardians of the Globe?!"
Robot froze. He didn't understand why Cecil would hand him both the chance and the responsibility to assemble the new Guardians.
"Cecil, if I may speak frankly, I think either Omni-Man Nolan or Nolan's eldest son, Freeman Jovian, would be more suitable than I am! Especially Jovian—he's young, but he's even stronger. He could absolutely serve as the new Guardians' leader. If he joined, the Guardians would be stronger than ever. They might even become the strongest, greatest superhero team in history." (TN: not a typo, I guess it's just another alias)
Robot genuinely admired Jovian. Strong. Free. Jovian perfectly matched everything Robot imagined a superhero should be. In Robot's eyes, Jovian was a born leader. In a moment like this, he should step forward and become the new pillar.
"Heh."
After hearing Robot's words, Cecil only gave a cold laugh. As if he didn't want Nolan or Nolan's son Jovian to join the Guardians. Of course he did. But it was nothing but a fantasy.
Even before the Guardians were wiped out, Nolan had already refused Cecil with every excuse imaginable. And now something like this had happened…
In Cecil's eyes, Jovian and Nolan were two murderers with hands soaked in blood.
"Nolan has always refused to join the Guardians. He's always worked solo."
"As for Jovian—if he inherited Nolan's blood, I doubt he likes acting as part of a team with us."
"Either way, it's yours. I believe you can handle it…"
Cecil lightly patted Robot on the shoulder, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked away.
"…"
Robot watched Cecil's back, confused.
From the few missions Jovian had done with the Teen Team, Robot hadn't sensed any rejection from him. On the contrary—Robot had felt something he'd never felt before: equal treatment. As if it didn't matter whether you were a robot or a living, breathing person—there was no difference in Jovian's eyes. He'd even refused to call him "Robot" and instead gave him a human name, even though he already had a name and it definitely wasn't Jack…
So Robot didn't follow Cecil's instruction.
He planned to invite Jovian and Mark—and he even planned to invite the senior veteran, Omni-Man Nolan, to come and witness it.
"Mark, Jovian, are you guys free?!"
"Yeah, yeah—if you don't want to join, you can still come take a look…"
"Great. I'll be waiting for you at GDA headquarters…"
After a few calls, Robot successfully invited Jovian and Mark, and also Nolan—though he wasn't sure whether Nolan would actually show up.
On the day of the new Guardians of the Globe selection…
"Whoa~"
"So this is GDA headquarters?!"
"Oh my God! It's all superheroes I've only ever seen on TV!"
Mark walked down the corridor beside Jovian, staring at the heroes inside the base and shouting excitedly.
"…Yeah."
Jovian glanced at Mark. His idiot little brother's hopelessly starry-eyed behavior was honestly embarrassing.
"Of course. Becoming a Guardian is the highest honor for superheroes. Naturally, they all came."
Robot walked ahead with his hands behind his back, explaining when he heard Mark.
"Is that Fight Force?! Fuck! Why are those idiots—who do nothing but beg HQ to drop a nuke—here?!"
Mark suddenly noticed Fight Force, a bunch of heroes who looked like pure comic relief—walking punchlines who existed to be a "power level unit."
"So, let me invite you two again—here and now. I hope you'll join the Guardians of the Globe. Become part of the team…"
Robot brought Mark and Jovian into the main hall of heroes. He turned to face them and made the invitation loudly.
"I really want to join, but Dad seems to want to train me himself."
Mark hesitated. He truly wanted to join the Guardians, but Nolan believed joining the Guardians would just waste time that should be spent getting stronger.
"I'm completely fine with it, Jack! I thought about it all night. I've decided to join the Guardians! When the Guardians were defeated by an unknown enemy, I should step up! I should shoulder the banner of the veterans!"
Jovian smiled after hearing Robot. Of course he could join. No problem at all.
If the captain of the strongest superhero organization on a planet was a Viltrumite too, then what would that planet have left to resist Viltrum? Just imagining it was amusing.
"Then congratulations, Jovian. Starting today, you're a member of the Guardians of the Globe!"
Robot looked at Jovian—who seemed one step away from shouting that he would never coexist with evil—and felt deeply satisfied. He knew he hadn't misjudged Jovian. He knew that when darkness covered the world, Jovian would be the light that tore it apart!
And it definitely wasn't because Jovian was the first person to treat him like a living person, so Robot had an automatic filter every time he saw him. He truly meant it…
"Wait."
Just as Robot unilaterally announced Jovian's membership, a huge, tall brute of a man stepped forward.
"Do you have a problem, sir?"
Robot's eyes flickered as he asked politely, confused.
"This isn't fair! Just because he's Omni-Man's kid, he can become a Guardian directly?"
The brute protested at Robot.
"Yeah! Exactly!"
His words got immediate support from a crowd of heroes. They stared at Jovian—who was about to join without any trial at all—and felt it was completely unfair.
"Hmph."
Hearing the support behind him, the brute's mouth curled upward, proud.
"Everyone here came because we have the resolve—and even the willingness to die. We don't want to watch some second-generation hero who doesn't need to prove anything, just because his father is Omni-Man, come in and take our resources and our place! I think that's the greatest disrespect to the veterans!"
The brute walked up to Jovian. With his over-two-meter height, he stared down at him.
"This hero—please calm down. Freeman's strength meets every condition for the Guardians. I'm not giving him special treatment because his father is Omni-Man. I'm choosing with absolute fairness and impartiality—"
Robot stepped between the brute and Jovian and started explaining.
"Jack."
Before Robot could say more, Jovian placed a hand on Robot's shoulder. With his hands behind his back, he gently floated up off the ground and drifted right in front of the brute—now staring down at him instead.
"It looks like you don't accept me."
Jovian wore a warm, gentle smile.
"Of course I don't—"
Under that sunlit smile, the brute felt an inexplicable pressure. His heart hammered as he pushed through it and voiced his anger.
"Good. Anyone else who doesn't accept me?"
Jovian looked past him to the heroes who had been supporting him.
"Me!"
"And me!"
"We don't accept you!"
One hero after another looked at each other, then spoke up together, letting their frustration spill out.
"Good."
Jovian nodded, then looked back at Robot.
"Jack, what do we use here to select members of the Guardians?"
Jovian asked about the rules and standards.
"Defeat your opponent."
Robot explained the rule.
"Perfect. You all heard that. Then let's begin."
After getting his answer, Jovian turned back to the heroes.
"Begin what?!"
The heroes looked at each other, not understanding what Jovian meant.
"Obviously, we begin fighting! You little bitches!"
The instant Jovian finished speaking, he reached out and pressed his hand onto the brute's shoulder.
Boom!
A terrifying force slammed the brute down onto his knees in front of Jovian. With a sharp crack, it wasn't just the floor that shattered—his kneecaps did too.
"Fuck you. I don't like people looking down at me."
The moment the brute dropped, Jovian kicked him under the chin, crushing his jaw and launching him away.
"Bro, you need to watch your strength!"
Mark shouted nervously. He was afraid Jovian would get too excited and turn someone into ketchup.
"I already am."
Jovian didn't even turn his head. The fact that he hadn't smashed the guy's skull like a watermelon into a spray of chunks meant he was already holding back.
"Hello?!"
"Is this medical?!"
"Yes, this is Robot. Please dispatch a medical team to the training room…"
The moment Jovian moved, Robot started calling medical.
"How many people do you need sent to the training room?!"
Hearing the medic's question, Robot paused and looked toward Jovian and the crowd of heroes.
Boom!
Jovian turned into a bolt of lightning and hurled every hero who'd opposed him straight into the air.
"…Send everyone who's free. As many as you can."
After a few seconds, Robot spoke again while watching those heroes drop from above—snapping backs, breaking legs, crumpling on impact.
"My back… it's broken, it's broken…"
"My leg…"
"Damn it—he's a monster…"
One spandex-clad hero after another clutched their wounds, twitching on the floor and wailing.
"Listen up! Not everyone who wears spandex and a mask is a superhero! Circus clowns do it too!"
"Look at the state you're in. How much do you resemble superheroes? You're just a bunch of attention-seeking clowns!"
Jovian stood in the middle of the wailing "clowns," his voice low and cold.
Whoosh!
At that moment, Eve dropped from the sky. She stared at the scattered superheroes on the ground and at Jovian in the center, blinking in surprise.
"Did I miss something?!"
"What is Jovian doing?"
Eve looked at Robot and Mark and asked.
"Giving the newbies a lesson."
Mark explained gently.
"Teaching children."
Robot's explanation was much more blunt.
"Hmph."
"What a pathetic Guardians lineup."
"You die, and the best heroes this country can scrape together are just a bunch of people in spandex doing a goofy act."
"I almost regret killing you so early. I should've let you see your successors first—then die."
Nolan stood behind a second-floor glass window, looking down at the heroes sprawled across the floor, his eyes full of disdain. They were weak. Laughable.
"So—does anyone still have a problem with me?!"
Jovian scanned the room and shouted.
"I do! I have a problem with you!"
In a pink suit, Eve floated up in front of Jovian.
"Eve…"
Jovian flashed forward and pulled Eve into his arms.
"Are you upset because I haven't had time to be with you?"
He held her close, teasing—then kissed her while holding her by the waist.
"What the fuck? When did they get together?"
Mark stared at Jovian and Eve and blurted out.
"Hell if I know."
Robot shrugged. He wanted to know too.
"Alright, everyone. Our tryout continues…"
Robot walked up to the superheroes lying on the floor and spoke.
"Now—anyone who still has the strength to stand, please say something. Thanks for your cooperation! This is the Guardians selection. You're all face-down and not getting up—how are we supposed to pick anyone like this?!"
A few seconds passed.
When nobody answered, Robot asked helplessly.