SSS Cosmic Policing System: Overpowered Cop's Odyssey

High up in the conference room…

Now there were only about three individuals left sitting; the rest had all gone to attend their duties.

Richard's brows were furrowed as he read through the report brought to him.

"Tch! I didn't know Lords could be cowards…" He spat in disappointment.

"To think that twenty-one Lords retreated at the sight of three… tch, even among those of prestigious status there are bound to be cowards." Ethan seconded.

Rachel frowned.

"No, you guys might be looking at this the wrong way. What if those three were just that strong? And what if…" Her voice trailed into silence, leaving her question unfinished.

Richard raised a brow nonchalantly.

"What… you want to ask what if Lionel is defeated? That's highly unlikely. And even if they do, they would never be able to beat the one I sent for backup."

Rachel nodded, her expression easing.

"That's true…"

Richard continued, his fingers caressing his forehead as he spoke.

"I can't be bothered with those hostile Lords that trespassed… Instead, what bothers me most are those visiting Lords who seemed to somehow hold an invite given by our Lord."

Ethan glanced at him and spoke.

"One of them could be the Lord Master went to visit while I was recruited. It might be since then the invite was given."

Richard nodded in agreement but still remained exasperated.

"I could deduce that much. What I'm more concerned about is the deal that was finalized… I don't know anything about any agreements or proposals both parties might have made.

And that puts me in the spot. They would definitely request for Master. What do we say? We can't even be sure if the relation between them and Master is purely business or potential allies… This makes things quite complicated and stressful."

After listening to Richard's reasoning, Ethan kept silent for a bit, deep in thought, then voiced his conclusion.

"Richard… this… might be the opportunity for us to do as Dio suggested."

Richard's expression changed unpleasantly, but he kept quiet, his finger tapping on the table in rhythm.

Ethan continued.

"I have done my best. Even the legendary hero healer Trion has done his best… but Master still slumbers.

Without his presence, a lot of things have stagnated. There are the legendary Summoned Heroes — they can't display their true worth because they are limited by Master's stagnated level.

There's the territory. After the upgrade, we got a lot of rewards, seventy percent of which we can't use because they can only be accessed by our Lord.

Then the most obvious — another calamity is heading our way, and we can't postpone it or even have a chance at surviving it without the Lord's presence… The list goes on and on."

The more Richard listened, the more grave his expression became.

It was as said — without their Master waking, the things they could accomplish were severely limited.

While still pondering, the doors swung open.

Led by Layla were the nine allied Lords, who were here on invite.

"This is our Head Captain, Richard Gauntlets." Layla introduced as she led them to take their seats.

All captains didn't stand or try to bow before the nine Lords. That was tantamount to disrespecting their Lord — the only figure that deserved their respect.

After leading them, Layla was quick to leave, not only because she didn't want to be pressured by what came next but also because she had work to do.

At the corridor, a captain rested on the wall, his hands and legs crossed.

A male with striking red eyes and obsidian short hair, with a face average in looks, stood about the height of 7'1 — almost too tall.

"Let's go," Layla called as she passed by him.

He quickly got to walking as a grin graced his lips.

"Time to round up the strays…"

---

Back at the conference room…

Lord Roderick, a robust man who was quite hairy in his facial region, his hair rough and brown, his brilliant yellow pupils scanned the room before speaking.

"I don't see a Lord here… Would you like to explain why?"

By his side, a lady dressed in an exotic green gown, her hair a matching green but her eyes similarly yellow, added:

"You should know a Lord having his subordinates attend to other Lords instead of showing face himself is one of the highest levels of disrespect a Lord can show."

The atmosphere became tense…

At this point, even Vera couldn't say much to calm the rest, as it was obvious her words had no cause.

Richard hesitated, glancing at Ethan, who subtly nodded.

He turned to Rachel, who smiled wryly but didn't nod — she didn't feel like she had enough connection to their Lord to deserve to give a suggestion.

Richard understood her. He sighed, turning his gaze to meet the cold oppressive stares of the nine Lords.

"Good day, esteemed Lords. To begin, our Lord has no intentions of disregarding or disrespecting you great ones…"

He went silent, his expression shifting erratically, still struggling with hesitation. But in the end, reason won.

Expression solemn, he continued.

"You see, our Lord… he isn't well. Or to be more accurate, he is fully healthy, but he seems to be in a deep state of coma."

The moment they heard this, the Lords' expressions softened, with Jane feeling a bit guilty inwardly.

"What? Something's wrong with Roy?" Exclaimed Vera, standing upright suddenly, her face filled with deep concern and worry.

Richard replied.

"Yes. After the clash against the territory upgrade calamity, our Lord suffered grievous injuries both physically and in the soul.

It took us a lot of time to treat him and nurse him to full health, but we couldn't bring him to consciousness. That was why we isolated our territory — as without our Lord, facing the other territories wouldn't be too wise."

Noelle frowned as she questioned an inconsistency.

"If he's still in coma, why did you open the barrier regardless? You just admitted facing other territories without your Lord wouldn't be wise…"

Richard nodded.

"Yes, it wouldn't be wise — but that was then. We have gathered enough strength, so now we are confident of our chances. And also, as you must have seen, we have developed our city to the best. We have refined our people to our utmost best.

We can confidently say there's nothing more to do in our lands for now, and we'd rather start focusing on the outside."

Richard's words made sense to the Lords. They had noticed the portal dungeons littered across the territory as they rode the air.

So it was understandable where Roy's subordinates got the resources they needed during the past two months.

Roderick glanced at Vera.

"You brought us here to meet this Lord Roy… so you get to decide. What do we do?"