The interdimensional hero organization—the Hero League.
This was the first time Nick Fury had ever heard that name.
Judging from the title alone, it sounded like an organization dedicated to protecting the world.
But that was merely the most optimistic interpretation.
"Hold on," Fury frowned, clearly unconvinced. "If you've been protecting the world all this time, why have I never heard of you? S.H.I.E.L.D. maintains the most complete intelligence database on Earth. Anything humanity has ever observed is recorded there."
"The answer is simple," Aiden Cross said calmly.
"You are ants. And we exist above the divine throne."
He raised a pinky finger slightly, gesturing.
"Do you believe ants are capable of peering into the domain of gods?"
"What exactly are you implying?" Fury asked grimly.
"You are nothing more than a minor planetary security organization," Aiden Cross continued flatly.
"Our organization spans countless worlds and dimensions—so vast that you cannot even begin to imagine it."
"If not for the fact that your world is on the verge of facing catastrophic destruction, we would never have descended here."
His words were half-truth, half-deception—impossible to fully verify.
The Hero League, in theory, could grow into a force spanning countless realities.
But that was the future.
Right now, it had only just begun.
At present, aside from Aiden Cross himself, the League consisted of two A-Class heroes, one B-Class, and two C-Class members.
However, with sufficient energy points, expanding the roster was trivial.
If luck struck and a Vice-Chairman–tier entity were summoned—
Then annihilating someone like Thanos, the so-called "Cosmic Population Regulator," would be a one-handed affair.
In Aiden Cross's understanding, beings that qualified for Vice-Chairman–level combat power included:
Saiten Vale — the One-Punch Anomaly
Evelyn Cryptborne — the Necromantic Sovereign
Solomon Romain — the Crowned King of Wisdom
Orion Psyche — the Absolute Esper
Atlas Gearwright — the Mechanical Godchild
Tripitaka Rex — the Ascetic of Infinite Muscle
Omni-King Zenith — the Supreme Ruler of All
The Gourmet Deity — True Identity Unknown
Chronos Junior — Warden of Time and Space
And Aiden Cross's own ability allowed him to wield all League members' powers—enhanced by one full tier.
Even among Vice-Chairman–level entities there were differences in strength.
But possessing power one tier above Saiten Vale?
Crushing Thanos would take mere seconds.
"Rest assured," Aiden Cross said calmly.
"The Hero League has no interest whatsoever in your planet's political struggles."
"Our sole purpose is to ensure that worlds remain structurally intact."
"Don't misunderstand," he added coldly.
"We are not here to protect humanity."
"Even if every human on this planet died, we would not intervene."
"As long as the world itself remains intact, new intelligent life will eventually emerge."
"Humanity is nothing more than a temporary passerby."
"..."
Aiden Cross spoke nonsense with absolute confidence.
Yet for reasons unknown, Tony Stark, Nick Fury, and Phil Coulson listened with unnerving seriousness.
"So your appearance," Fury said slowly, "means that disasters capable of threatening the world's integrity have already emerged?"
"Correct," Aiden Cross replied.
"According to Hero League observation, your world has already welcomed three catastrophic entities."
"The Desert Emperor, Aurelion Azar."
"The Fox-Demon Sovereign of Foxveil Sanctuary, Crimson Sovereign Virelya."
"And the Primordial Spirit, Elysia Prime."
"All three qualify as Ultra-Dragon–level threats."
"And you are extremely 'fortunate,'" he continued, spreading his hands slightly.
"This world possesses a powerful gravitational pull."
"One that continuously attracts new disasters."
"In the future, you may encounter entities such as—"
"The Starforging Dragon Solarius."
"The Cosmic Overlord Boros Prime."
"The Eternal Titan Thanos."
"The Mythic Dragon of the Otherworld."
"The Genesis Apostles."
"The Eight Monarchs of the Devourer Realm."
"Or even the Creator Deity Arceon."
"Any one of them would be more than enough to destroy Earth thousands—no, tens of thousands—of times over."
"Some could even destabilize the very framework of your world, triggering total collapse."
Aiden Cross leaned back on the sofa, expression calm.
These claims were exaggerated—but not impossible.
Because the Hero League possessed three methods of expansion beyond recruiting local heroes:
Random Summoning.
Designated Summoning.
Special Summoning.
Random Summoning:
Consumes 100 energy points to randomly summon heroes, artifacts, bloodlines, or abilities.
Designated Summoning:
Specifically summons a chosen hero, with energy cost scaling by strength.
Special Summoning:
By offering a special Boss-class entity as a catalyst, a random hero is summoned—minimum B-Class.
The first two required energy points, obtainable only by absorbing powerful artifacts or slaying monsters.
The third?
A gamble.
A single roll could yield a luxury nightmare package:
Solarius.
Boros Prime.
The Mythic Dragon.
Genesis Apostles.
Devourer Monarchs.
Creator Deities.
Unfortunately—
Such beings were almost always classified as Disasters, not Heroes.
Recruitment was theoretically possible.
Practically speaking?
Nearly impossible.
Seeing the grave expressions on the three men before him, Aiden Cross felt a quiet sense of satisfaction.
Even Iron Man and the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. were completely disoriented.
Not bad, he thought.
"Still," Aiden Cross added lightly,
"there's no need to be overly pessimistic."
"Earth has its own guardians."
"Guardians?" Fury echoed.
"..."
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