The bounty on Ashton's head went viral like a zombie outbreak in space, but not for the reasons one would have expected.
While some enthusiasts wanted to claim the life-changing bounty, most of the news about the bounty was limited to the time it activated.
It had been a short time since the news of Phantom's defeat was publicised. As such, Reaper's reputation had skyrocketed.
Reaper and his Ghosts were being hailed as heroes like no other before them, and to release a bounty on his head at this time only meant some organisations wanted revenge for Phantom's death.
The citizens across varying civilisations did not take kindly to it. But it wasn't like the Metal Sharks or the Cult gave a fuck about people's opinion of them. They were terrorist organisations, for fuck's sake! Not some privately run security firm.
But people did have influence over various organisations that could foil their plans.
That's why while Ashton gave up on doing anything about the bounty, others came to his rescue. The Kernel Tower had already softened the blow and aided him without his knowledge.
While the Tower had never forbidden anyone from taking jobs from the malignant side of merc jobs, Mazton would not stand for the same this time and let someone harm the hero who took down Phantom.
Within moments of the bounty going live, an announcement was made throughout the Orion sector of the galaxy. Anyone directly or indirectly acting upon the bounty against Reaper would make Mazton and the entire Tower their enemy.
Surprisingly enough, Mazton wasn't the one who made the announcement but the mysterious President of the Kernel Tower. The S-grade humanoid was known not to associate with such matters, but he wouldn't stay neutral this time for some reason.
The Tower wasn't the only organisation that came to Ashton's aid in such a crucial time. Lord Testickles from the Orion empire and the Gold Water leader announced that an attack against Reaper would be considered an attack on them.
Although not sure, everyone knew everyone was jumping to protect Ashton because of Kernel Tower's President. After all, the President had good relations with the Orion Empire and Gold Water Merc organisation.
With not one but three space giants backing Ashton, any organisation would think twice before acting against the Phantom slayer.
The Malignant, or as everyone called it, Dark Guild, was also taken aback by the shocking move of the 'Trinity'.
The Sharks did not even get to take a breather before everything went wrong with them.
The Cult was beyond infuriated by the sudden shift in momentum against them. By offering such a high bounty, they were confident the task would be accomplished sooner than later.
But with the unpredictable involvement of those bastardly organisations, their confidence evaporated. Increasing the bounty reward wouldn't accomplish much, as no sane being would want to make an enemy out of a third of the galaxy.
It didn't seem they'd be able to get rid of the Reaper soon. For now, the sharks and the Cult could only grind their teeth in frustration, As their 'mortal' enemy inevitably escaped from their clutches again.
***
On Earth, Otiga, Ashton, Vulcan and the rest of his lieutenants held a meeting to tackle a troublesome issue, except Anna, whom Ashton had forced to take some rest.
Surprisingly, Viper was also included in the meeting. After all, Ashton planned to get him and some humans officially registered as mercenaries under his crew once they got to the Tower.
Although Vimur had no interest in topics that didn't concern violence, even he was in attendance, which alone was sufficient to know the gravity of the situation.
Once Otiga informed them about the bounty placed on their captain and vice-captain, it was time to brainstorm a solution.
"For the Sharks to so blatantly declare war on us," Leon spoke first, "It shows how weak they view us to be!"
"Aren't we weak, though?" Laihud replied, and immediately all attention was on him, "Let's see it from the enemy's point of view. Why did they only declare bounty for Reaper and Bella, no one else?"
The answer was quite obvious. Ashton and Anna were at the centre of every job the Ghosts had accepted.
While the rest of them played an essential role in maintaining the team, there was no denying that their main attack force wasn't all that impressive without Ashton and Anna.
Excluding Ashton's summons, they didn't even have enough soldiers to qualify as a Level-2 faction. Usually, a Level-1 faction had twenty mercs, while Level-2 had about fifty.
At the moment, the Ghosts were a Level-3 faction, which would definitely get to Level-5 once they cashed in the renown for defeating Phantom. Yet, they only had thirty-six people, excluding Viper, humans and Guilt.
"That's not the only reason," Otiga exclaimed, "Since Reaper's home world is a low-grade planet like Earth, people often underestimate his capabilities. I admit, at first, I did too."
Everyone nodded in agreement. If someone narrated Ashton's mercenary career by remarking that he was from a backward planet like Earth, no one would hire him.
"There's a saying on my planet," Vimur mumbled, "Powerful people come from powerful places. While I now know that's complete bullshit, most people we have worked for would agree."
"Be as it may," Ashton replied, "By the time Earth becomes a powerful place, my great-great-great-grandson would be roaming somewhere in a different galaxy, not knowing of a planet called Earth."
Everyone chuckled but soon regained composure.
"Joke aside, that bit has been worrying me as well." Ashton continued, "I cannot leave the planet to fend for itself. Not because of some heroic responsibility but because of the people I care about. Sadly, uplifting Earth isn't something we can do-"
"Who said you can't?" For the first time, Vulcan offered his two cents on 'trivial' matters, "You're a hero for Precursor's sake! Half of the galaxy is grateful to you for what you did. Thus, if you called in some favours, no one would refuse the opportunity to forge a better relationship with you!"
The look on everyone's faces told the entire story. Vulcan was correct. Although it would take years before Earth reached the level of most advanced planets, it was still better than doing nothing.
Reaper's name alone would attract countless organisations and merchants to fund the planet's development. If that happened, the average strength of people on Earth would increase along with their loyalty towards Ashton.
Which, in return, would give Ashton an endless amount of soldiers under his wing. It was a win-win situation for everyone!
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