The journey to the examination point of the Hero Association was one that nobody felt rushed about. Saitama didn't start running, Genos didn't fly, and Roy didn't summon his supersonic fighter jet.
The three of them walked leisurely, slightly dispersed but still together.
During the journey, they engaged in conversation about the Hero Association. Saitama was mostly a listener, having never bothered to learn about it, he relied on Genos's explanations and didn't offer much input. As for Genos, his knowledge was limited to surface-level information, what the Hero Association publicly presented.
Now it was Roy's turn to speak.
He was the kind of person who didn't speak much under normal circumstances, but when it came to topics of interest or professionalism, he couldn't help but share his views and thoughts.
He enjoyed being a listener as much as being an opinion-giver.
However, when he did express his opinions, the audience was usually someone he knew well. After all, too much talk could lead to mistakes, and he preferred not to say too much in front of strangers.
Know thyself, know thy enemy, and you shall be victorious in a hundred battles.
Roy had a scientific mindset.
Science, as he understood it, was the systematic knowledge derived from repeated verification of the objective world in production and practice. It was a methodological approach that required summarizing and organizing one's observations and experiences to reveal underlying truths.
Summarizing and organizing what he saw and heard to delve into the essence of things was what Roy had been doing since arriving in this world.
It wasn't that Roy harbored any secrets, rather, it was his method of understanding unfamiliar environments. Whether it was individuals, groups, organizations, or even the entire society and world, Roy used this method to gain knowledge.
So it wasn't just monsters that were unique to this world, this hero society also warranted careful observation.
Only then could he clarify what he was doing.
Of course, Roy hadn't reached the level of a mad scientist, he wouldn't conduct experiments on living beings or perform unethical dissections... but he didn't need to.
The research materials Dr. Genus provided included studies on monsters. Roy wasn't particularly skeptical... rather, he had a keen sense to discern truth from falsehood. Therefore, since there were no distortions in Dr. Genus's research materials, there was no need for redundant experiments.
Although there was a possibility of errors in Dr. Genus's research, deviating from the truth, it wasn't important. In terms of cognition, the existence of such deviations was permissible.
But let's set that aside for now.
Initially, Roy felt that so-called professional heroes couldn't be considered true heroes, they were merely supplements to violent mechanisms like the police and military.
Therefore, the term professional hero shouldn't be held to the standard meaning of hero.
Because fundamentally, so-called professional heroes could only be seen as security guards or mercenaries. They did things for money, and that was it. Even though the term hero was used, it was just a word, like mooncakes, although it contains the word moon, it doesn't mean it was made using the moon.
Roy didn't have any biases about it. Although he wasn't very interested, he began to delve deeper into the topic due to Yumemi Okazaki's proposal.
The duties of professional heroes included patrols, security, resolving civil disputes, and combating supernatural disasters, among other things. In short, they dealt with anything and everything, from trivial matters to world-ending crises.
This seemed to overlap with the responsibilities of the police and military.
But what was even more worthy of criticism was that the right to use violence to maintain order had been handed over to professional heroes, to the Hero Association, to a private company.
According to the intelligence Roy had gathered, the government and the Hero Association had engaged in heated debates on this issue. In other words, initially, the government was reluctant to entrust such power to private entities, but eventually, they relented... though with some degree of restriction. Nonetheless, the floodgates had been opened, and it was an absurdity beyond imagination.
In Roy's world, this was something that could never happen under any circumstances.
But this world was not Roy's previous world.
As the saying goes, there is a cause for every effect. Since this phenomenon existed, there must be a reason for its existence, a rational explanation.
First of all, there was no concept of a nation here.
As mentioned earlier, this world was originally the same as Roy's starting world. However, due to a series of events and disasters, all surviving humans came to this supercontinent and established a new society.
There was only one country, which could be considered as having no country at all. In other words, humans no longer needed to fight among themselves, and without the need to guard against foreign attacks, there was naturally no need for a military.
However, this statement had a flaw.
Because monsters existed in this world, it was undoubtedly necessary to have a military. Handing over this power to heroes? Not to mention that it was abandoning the right to protect and maintain national security, it was also an act of evading responsibility.
Both morally and logically, it shouldn't be like this.
However, as the saying goes, there's a cause for every effect. The current situation is also related to people's thoughts.
One of the reasons people established a new society on this supercontinent was the runaway of state power. Due to conflicts between nations over interests without boundaries, people suffered and gradually developed distrust and even fear towards the government and the military.
That was a past of hardship, though for the present, it was a long time ago, but the weight of history couldn't be forgotten. The tremendous social upheavals and changes deeply affected all humans in this world.
Therefore, after arriving on the supercontinent, the government resembled the confederation system of the early United States, loose and lacking in coercion or constraints.
Each person was only responsible for themselves, and everyone was like an island.
Perhaps this was also the soil where hero culture took root.
However, strong individuals would eventually dominate over the weak, and anarchism would only breed chaos. After a period of time, the influence of the government gradually increased. Now, it maintained a basic level of social stability and normal life order.
If it was only about combating lawlessness and maintaining social order, the police were sufficient.
But this world also had monsters.
Combatting monsters required violent institutions, but people didn't trust the state's violent institutions, and superhumans with extraordinary abilities were unwilling to serve the state. Yet, someone needed to step up, so heroes emerged.
In fact, monsters existed even before the formal establishment of the Hero Association. Some believed that monsters were like a side effect of human development, malignant tumors attached to society that couldn't be separated.
Ordinary wolf-level monsters could be handled by the police, but if they were stronger, one could only hope that a meddlesome strong individual would pass by.
However, in recent years, the frequency of monster appearances had become increasingly frequent, eventually leading to the birth of the Hero Association and professional heroes. Professional heroes were a product of special circumstances, and from their development, they had a close connection to human history.
"The concepts of nation and ethnicity are weak, distrust of the government and military, and a preference for personal interests over collective interests. Perhaps this is the reason for the prevalence of hero culture." Roy thought. "Because individuals possess great power, they are unwilling to be constrained. Compared to public service careers, heroes with external glamor and individuality, such as flowers, applause, money, and fame, are the choice for these people."
Having said so much, it's actually just elucidating an objective phenomenon.
Roy himself had no intention of reforming society because it was the choice of this era and this history, and there were no significant, irreconcilable contradictions.
In other words, the emergence of professional heroes, to some extent, was in line with this society.
Roy elaborated at length.
However, both Saitama and Genos looked utterly puzzled.
Genos said, "Although it sounds impressive, what's the point of knowing all this?"
Roy responded, "If Saitama-san said this, I wouldn't be surprised, but Genos, do you really think it's useless?"
Saitama protested, "What do you mean if it was me, I wouldn't be surprised!"
Genos pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I don't understand."
Roy continued, "Power isn't just about physical strength. Strategy, knowledge, cognition, technology... anything that can defeat, strike, or intimidate others can be considered power. Know thyself, know thy enemy, and you shall be victorious in a hundred battles. By understanding the existence and movements of something, you can take targeted actions."
"I see, so this is about exploiting weaknesses?"
Isn't it simpler to just punch them? Saitama wanted to say this, but for some reason, he had a feeling that Roy knew what he was thinking. If he said it, Roy would surely criticize him mercilessly, so he decided against it. Saitama gave up thinking altogether.
The three of them, in friendly conversation, gradually arrived at their destination.
***
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