After hearing President Stuart’s introduction, the heads of state from each nation looked at me.
Many of them looked at me with their eyes shining, and the Korean president wore a delighted expression, but a few countries paid me no mind.
As the American president continued his introduction, I observed the people on the screens.
[That one is the British prime minister, and there are the German chancellor and the Israeli prime minister. That one looks like the Canadian prime minister, and…]
I could not recognize everyone on the screens, but Thorpe was different.
Perhaps he had studied diligently all this time, because he recognized every person appearing on the screens.
According to Thorpe, the people on the screens were the leaders of twelve nations.
Among them were countries that had originally been allies of the United States, such as Britain, Germany, Canada, France, Israel, and Korea, as well as the leaders of China and Russia, whom the United States had been forced to include.
And there were also the leaders of India, Brazil, Japan, and Italy, who seemed full of dissatisfaction at having joined only this time.
Just like their disgruntled expressions, the leaders of those countries erupted in anger at the American president the moment the introduction paused midway.
“Why did you not inform us in advance that such a thing had happened! Were we not allies of the United States?”
There was the Japanese prime minister, his face red with anger in a way that did not seem very Japanese,
“We are deeply disappointed in America. You informed Germany, Britain, even Israel, and yet left us out. You have treated Italy with far too much contempt.”
and the Italian prime minister, furious that other European countries had been informed while he had been excluded.
“Damn it! What have we been preserving the Amazon for all this time? If we had known in advance, it would have helped that plan!”
There was the Brazilian president, venting his anger not only at America but at every country gathered here, while the Indian prime minister merely glared at the screen without saying a word.
After the uproar passed, President Stuart opened his mouth.
“I apologize for informing you late. It was unavoidable in order to maintain security. The relic you saw when you promised secrecy was not something common. It was not easy to make that relic usable on Earth, where there is no dark energy.”
After offering an apology that sounded more like an excuse, the president swept his gaze over the heads of state shown on the monitor.
Several representatives still seemed dissatisfied.
The president spoke to them again.
“Besides, you are not late either. There are still countless countries that do not know this truth. You and your nations, who are taking part in this meeting now, have been chosen.”
If the countries not present here heard those words, they would have been enraged, but the heads of state nodded at what he said.
They, too, now sharing the information, understood.
Destruction was right around the corner, and there were not many tickets left for the ship of escape.
The dissatisfaction they had just spewed out had only been to secure more seats as compensation for being brought in late.
“Even so, if you had told us beforehand, we could have helped during the Korean War!”
Of course, there were still those like the Japanese prime minister, who could not let go of resentment, but his words gained no support from the others.
Instead, I could hear the disgruntled muttering of the secretary of state sitting beside the president.
“That’s why we didn’t tell you. If Japan joined the war too, how would we persuade Korea or China afterward?”
He was not wrong.
If Japan had joined this war as well, China would not have simply sat by and watched.
Korea would have been offended too.
Right now, the United States was in no position to consider its traditional allies.
That much was clear from the fact that Australia and New Zealand, both members of the Five Eyes, were absent from this meeting.
Once the grumbling Japanese prime minister stopped speaking, President Stuart continued introducing me.
“Mr. Hyeon is the deputy commander of the Trappist expedition and the leader of the exploration team. He explored the ruins on that planet, killed countless monsters, and sent to Earth a black stone with tremendous energy called Akzar black stone.”
At the president’s words, some people looked as if they were hearing about me for the first time, while others seemed to have heard the story, though they were seeing my face for the first time.
“We are operating the spatial transfer relic using the Akzar black stones he continues to send even now. It was also thanks to Mr. Hyeon’s help that we were able to send more personnel and add new countries.”
The more the president spoke, the more the expressions on people’s faces changed.
Some looked at me with startled eyes, while a few nodded and gave instructions to someone beyond the screen.
“It is an extraordinary accomplishment, but that alone is not why we invited him to this meeting. As I said earlier, this time he brought us a medicine capable of creating superhumans who can use dark energy.”
President Stuart showed the glass bottle I had handed him to the others.
Enough awakening agent for four thousand people.
“As long as this medicine continues to be supplied, we will now be able to create up to one hundred additional energy user candidates every month.”
Though the probability was only one in fifty to one in one hundred, the American president spoke of the maximum value.
One hundred each month was not a small number, considering the number of energy users currently on Trappist.
But compared to Earth’s population, it was a drop in the bucket.
Moreover, considering the candidates to be selected from China, which had joined not long ago, and India, which would join this time, it was not a large number at all.
However, that awakening agent was not simply an item that increased the number of user candidates.
“More than anything, by using this medicine, one can become a superhuman at a probability of one in fifty. Your families can also become superhumans, and you can even create armies made up of superhumans.”
Ordinary people could go to Paradise as well, but there was bound to be a difference between going as an ordinary person and going as an energy user.
As the president said, either they themselves or someone in their families might become a candidate.
Or they could use the awakening agent on their guards or military to create units of users.
On top of that, although the people here did not know it, in a few years, people would no longer be able to live in Paradise.
In the end, everyone would have to go to Trappist.
Becoming a user candidate was far more important than the others thought.
“The United States alone could possess this medicine, but we have decided to share it with all of you. There will be differences depending on each nation’s level of support, but we will send as much as possible to your countries.”
He phrased it indirectly, but what he meant was that America would hand out this medicine depending on each country’s support.
In the end, if they wanted to create personal guards or make their families into user candidates, they had to listen to America.
He intended to use the medicine I had given them to seize the reins of each nation.
In truth, what the American president said was not very different from what I had expected.
Even when I revealed the “magic flower” to America, I knew America would use it for its own interests.
In the end, I knew it was only benefiting others and would not be of much help to me right away, but there had been no other way.
The only country capable of distributing this medicine to people and protecting it was the United States.
If I gave it to another country or organization, war would undoubtedly break out immediately.
That was why I had handed it to America, but hearing the American president speak like this did not feel good.
They were providing sufficient support, and I had received their help many times, but there was no way I could like watching them try to get a free ride like this.
They would probably try to give me some kind of compensation after the meeting, but there was not much they could give me.
There were many reasons, but I also did not like that they had not told me in advance.
So I subtly changed my posture.
Thud.
With an expression that showed my displeasure, I tilted my head to the side.
Since I was standing a little farther back than the others, the president and the other officials could not see me.
But the people on the other side of the screen could see me through the camera.
The owner of the medicine, seemingly dissatisfied with the American president’s announcement.
Seeing me, the people’s eyes sparkled.
Thorpe said,
[As expected, you have a personality that enjoys stirring up trouble.]
[Do you dislike that?]
[No, I like it. I was a rebel myself.]
As expected, when it came to things like this, Thorpe and I had the same taste.
Still maintaining my crooked posture, I listened to the president chatter on.
After using the medicine I had given him to put everyone in their place, the American president announced the start of the meeting in earnest.
“How will the personnel departing for Paradise be allocated?”
“There are security issues as well, so we will not be increasing the number itself drastically right away.”
First, the heads of state asked about the most important matter, the number of people going to Paradise, and an official in charge on the American side stepped forward to answer.
The other agenda items proceeded in the same manner.
“The countries joining us this time, please begin testing to select user candidates as soon as possible. We need more energy users in order to obtain black stones.”
America made requests to the heads of state,
“The food situation is worsening.”
“We will pressure the grain companies to cough up the food they are holding.”
“When should martial law begin…”
“We have decided to hold out a little longer.”
“The movement of supplies is a problem. If the number of merchant ships heading to Djibouti suddenly increases, many countries will become suspicious.”
“What about diverting attention? If we cause a small conflict somewhere else…”
“Ahem. That is not something to discuss here.”
and they continued their discussions, raising their voices at one another.
As the meeting progressed, more and more topics came up that were difficult for me to understand.
Disputes with neighboring countries, stocks and bonds, suppressing demonstrations, the state of raw materials.
Countless problems poured out.
The conversation continued on matters unrelated to me, and just as I was about to get up, the Chinese premier brought up something I knew.
“I have something to say regarding the Tibet ruins.”
I had heard about the Tibet ruins from the deputy director of the intelligence agency.
An ancient ruin that America had informed them of in order to bring an end to the Korean War.
Until now, China had been excavating that ancient ruin.
At the Chinese premier’s words, President Stuart congratulated him first.
“I heard that you activated the ruins and visited a new planet. Congratulations.”
It seemed China had ultimately succeeded in excavating the ruins.
And even explored a planet.
If things continued like this, China seemed likely to obtain a planet of its own.
Perhaps thinking the same as I was, the heads of the other countries looked at the Chinese premier with envious eyes.
However, the premier’s expression was not bright.
“We require support regarding that matter.”
At the Chinese premier’s words, the American president tilted his head.
“Is there a problem? You said you would handle it on your own, so we withdrew our involvement.”
The American president subtly expressed his dissatisfaction as he replied.
At any other time, the Chinese premier would have shown displeasure at those words, but this time was different.
“I apologize. At the time, I did not know we would be this short on time.”
The Chinese premier bowed his head to the president.
Everyone looked at the premier in surprise.
I heard American officials whispering nearby.
“What’s going on?”
“It seems the military’s dissatisfaction, which had built up from the nuclear explosion, the end of the Korean War, and the development of the Tibet ruins, has exploded. The movements of China’s regional armies are unusual.”
“Are you saying a civil war might break out?”
“There is a possibility.”
That was certainly a problem, but judging from the premier’s expression, this was not about that.
President Stuart asked,
“What sort of support do you need?”
“The exploration team that departed for another planet a few days ago was annihilated. Only a few people returned to Earth. According to them, there is a terrifying monster on that planet.”
I thought I knew what support the Chinese premier wanted.
China needed someone who could kill the monster.
And in this place was the strongest energy user.
The American president looked at me.
A deal