I arrived at Knowhere and, with the documents in hand, first met and talked with the mine workers. Checking the ledgers confirmed that the Collector had been exploiting the workers significantly, so with improved treatment and salary increases, I was acknowledged as the new owner of the mine.
After that, I met the people managing various shops and facilities, and they were also glad to be free from the Collector and smoothly acknowledged me as the owner. While moving around like this, I recruited a few necessary personnel, among whom were Carina, who had been the Collector's slave, and Karuna, who had been one of the Collector's collectibles. The two were friends, and it was said that the Collector had locked Karuna in a collection box because he didn't work well.
"We serve the new master."
They clasped their hands together and bowed very respectfully to me.
"Since you're not slaves anymore, don't call me 'master'. Call me 'Chairman Cassian'."
"Understood, Chairman Cassian."
Perhaps because they had been severely abused by the Collector, they had a slave mentality ingrained to the bone and couldn't easily shake it off.
'Well... they'll gradually get better.'
After that, while organizing the Collector's collections, I freed various species and recruited necessary personnel. Among them was Howard Duck, so I recruited him right away.
"Looks like a decent friend has come this time. So, what's my job?"
"You see, I'm thinking of developing this place a bit. So, I'm going to start a broadcasting station. I'd like you to take charge of it. How about it?"
"Oh~ That's a good idea! Alright!"
I had four plans for Knowhere. First was refurbishing Knowhere. I intended to brighten up the dark mining city. Second was interacting with the Ravagers. I planned to establish a guild in Knowhere so that the Ravagers could easily take on requests, similar to guilds in fantasy worlds. Additionally, I'd earn commission fees and sell weapons and spaceships.
Third was spaceship racing. To develop the economy, I needed to create entertainment. That would increase foot traffic and boost the economy accordingly. However, this plan would start after the first plan of refurbishment was complete. Fourth and last, I planned to manufacture things I couldn't make on Earth due to scrutiny, like massive spaceships or special weapons.
After finishing up, I gave one of the empty buildings the Collector owned to the employees for lodging. Since Knowhere was a place the Collector had operated through exploitation, it didn't take long for me to take over. Occasionally, some guys tried to start trouble, but after a bit of physical education, they sorted themselves out.
I couldn't stay here forever, so I teleported back to Earth to check if everything was alright. At Gundam Island, the two androids with the long-awaited future technology had finally been completed. They looked exactly like 2B and A2 from Nier: Automata, just as I preferred.
They had basic healing via nanoparticles, and their skeletons were made of adamantium. Their hearts utilized the latest arc reactor with coronatite for simultaneous energy storage and production, and the energy produced could enhance their bodies, be channeled into weapons, or generate shields.
Even without enhancement, they were very strong, but with enhancement, they could have strength similar to the Hulk. Of course, their brains were equipped with learning-type artificial intelligence. Plus, I had preloaded various information like swordsmanship, martial arts, and general knowledge.
"Master, your command!"
As soon as they were produced, they asked for my command.
"You two will call me 'Cassian'. That's the first command."
"Understood, Cassian."
"And I'll put you in the inventory for now, so wait a moment."
"Understood."
I put them in the inventory. Since they were androids, I was worried they might not be considered living beings and wouldn't go in, but fortunately, they did.
Four additional androids of the existing version were completed, and they named themselves Nana, Nini, Moo, and Myo. Androids with names starting with 'M' were for Earth use, 'R' for personal use, and 'N' for space use. And since all the androids were incredibly beautiful, I had already given strict commands to prevent anyone from hitting on them.
I put Nana and Nini in the inventory, and had Moo and Myo stand by for now. These two were to manage the Avengers headquarters. With the android matters settled, I moved to my house in New York to order machinery for the automated production line and nanoparticle producers from Lara and Lulu to build an automated production line in Knowhere, similar to Gundam Island.
As soon as I arrived home, Natasha and Cosmo ran up to me.
"Where have you been until now!"
"Huh? Is something wrong?"
Natasha pointed at Cosmo and asked with a disbelieving expression.
"Where on earth did you get Cosmo from?"
"Huh? I just took him because he was in someone's hand."
"Don't lie! I thought Cosmo looked familiar, so I looked it up. He's the dog the Soviets used in rocket experiments during the Cold War! And Cosmo admitted it too!"
Natasha, having worked a lot in Russia, seemed to have quickly figured out Cosmo's identity.
"I never lied. I just didn't say 'Earth'. I rescued him from space. Right, Cosmo?"
"Yeah! That's right!"
At that, Natasha was shocked and asked again with an incredulous look.
"What!!! Is that for real?"
"Yes, I found him on another planet after going from Asgard. Some alien had locked Cosmo up somewhere."
"I see... It feels like things are getting more and more beyond common sense."
"Probably, Cosmo drifted into space due to the Soviet experiments and ended up there."
"Then, what's with the telekinesis?"
It seemed Cosmo had used telekinesis while playing with Natasha.
"Well... maybe he got hit by cosmic radiation while drifting in space. Wanda uses telekinesis too."
That was the original setting for Cosmo.
"Sigh... I'd like to get hit by that kind of radiation too. I don't even know anymore..."
Natasha, as if her head hurt, held her forehead and went to her room. I asked Cosmo.
"Is there any food left?"
"No, it seems almost gone."
"Really? Then let's go buy some."
"Okay!"
I took out a Talaria camper van and drove around New York with Cosmo, buying a few of the snacks and food he chose from pet shops. When we got home, I had Minerva order them in bulk online. Of course, I made sure to choose a balanced variety to prevent picky eating.
"And you, you need to practice telekinesis. That way, you can become a good dog."
"Really?"
Cosmo wagged his tail and asked again.
"That's right. If you can't handle telekinesis properly or use it carelessly, people will call you a bad dog."
Knowing the original story, I was aware that Cosmo wanted to be called a good dog. I decided to use that to train him.
"Then I should practice. How do I do it?"
I decided to introduce a training method similar to Wanda's for Cosmo. I started with large baby Lego blocks.
"You have to assemble this."
"I see. I'll try."
"If you get hungry, tell Momo. But I'll only give snacks after the assembly is done. If you get bored, tell Natasha and ask her to play with you."
"Okay."
After training Cosmo like that, I took the androids Myo and Moo to the Avengers headquarters. There wasn't much going on here either. With many members, some were resting, some were filming commercials, and some were out subduing criminals.
I showed Myo and Moo to their rooms and gave them each clothes, daily necessities, and a card. These were common items given to androids.
"From now on, you'll exchange information with Minerva and take charge of managing the Avengers headquarters. If you need anything, buy it with that card, and for production items, ask Minerva. And from now on, call me Chairman Cassian."
"Understood, Chairman Cassian."
Then Tony came over, saw Myo and Moo, and spoke. Naturally, being Tony, he complimented their looks first.
"Wow~ New beauties this time. Cassian, if newbies come, you should introduce them to us first."
"Right, let's do that."
I announced via intercom that I was introducing the new members. So, everyone gathered in the lounge. I introduced Myo and Moo.
"These are Myo and Moo, who just joined. They're sisters to Mimi from Odyssey. They'll be taking care of managing our headquarters."
After I finished the introduction, Myo and Moo greeted everyone in turn.
"Hello, I'm Myo."
"Hello, I'm Moo."
As they greeted, people started murmuring.
"Wow~ They're sisters to that iron lady Mimi?"
"They are sisters. They feel similar."
"Yeah, completely cold women with no smile."
"Right, I couldn't even joke because of the atmosphere."
This time too, Tony brought out the black box for initiation.
"Initiation time, hehehe."
Then, Myo and Moo took turns putting their hands in the black box, drawing mission slips, and checking the missions. Myo came to me and kissed me on the cheek.
"Mission complete with this."
But Moo went to Tony and held out her hand.
"Give me your underwear."
Tony seemed quite shocked by that. Probably Vulture put it in as a prank.
"What??? That Vulture guy!!!"
"Hurry up and give it. Or I'll enforce it."
"Whoa~ Calm down for a second, miss!"
Moo ignored Tony and slowly started drawing her sword.
"Based on observing the opponent's pulse, body temperature, and expression, the probability of giving underwear is less than 10%. Starting forced enforcement."
If she says things like that, it'll give away that she's an android, so I'll have to explain later.
"Alright, alright, I'll give it! But there's privacy, so I'll take it off in my room and give it to you!"
Tony was flustered.
"The probability of giving underwear has risen to 70%. Understood."
Moo put away her sword and followed the grumbling Tony, waiting at his door until she received his underwear. The members who watched until the end were busy laughing hysterically.
"Puhahahaha~"
"I knew he'd get it once, hahaha~"
"Yeah, right! Kekek!"
"Ah~ This is driving me crazy."
Tony said to the members with an angry face.
"You guys are really doing this!"
Hahahaha~!!
At Tony's angry expression, the members laughed even louder. Honestly, since the situation was funny, I joined in among the members, watching and laughing along.
Two months passed like that. During that time, on Earth, nothing much happened except Cosmo's telekinetic skills improved, and Knowhere began to change beyond recognition. I built my production line, house, and office at the highest point in Knowhere and hired drones and many workers from Earth to brighten the streets, widen and pave the roads, and carry out renovations.
I started operating a large hospital, broadcast station, and Ravagers guild. Since the guild head, Stakar, helped actively, thinking they'd use it, there were fewer problems than expected. Plus, I built a very large spaceship landing pad and opened weapons and spaceship shops next to the guild.
Not many people were using it yet, but since customers were steadily increasing, I thought it was a matter of time. And since many people would come and go in the future, I started building a large hotel and bathhouse. It was like playing SimCity after a long time, and I really enjoyed decorating the city.
One day, Stakar, the head of the Ravagers, came and asked me to build a bar with hostesses since all they had for entertainment was gambling, so I promised to build one near the guild, considering the help he'd given. Since the Ravagers are space pirates, this part seemed unavoidable.
Pumping money into large-scale construction, I could see the economy gradually revitalizing. People's faces were much brighter too. But I wasn't spending money recklessly. All the materials for construction were supplied by me using [Matter Manipulation], so only the workers' wages were spent.
This was what happened in Knowhere over two months. My secretaries, Carina and Karuna, helped actively. At first, they tried to come into my room at night to serve me when I was resting at home, but I told them it wasn't necessary. It was clear what kind of treatment they had received. But now, I could feel their expressions genuinely improving, not faked.
And the androids Nana and Nini recruited personnel to form a security force to handle public order, but as the population grew, it became unavoidable. Since there were often big disputes where they got hurt while resolving them, Nana and Nini upgraded their skin tissue with nanoparticles for automatic recovery even if wounded and armed them with energy shield shields. They were the first androids to be upgraded among the regular ones.
"This won't do..."
Certainly, the population was increasing, but there was a shortage of personnel for public order. I considered taking out the 2B and A2 I had made for other works, but decided to make separate security androids instead.
I started making male-type androids with large builds and strong strength for defense. I made a total of ten, inputting basic gun kata and combat skills during production. Plus, I started producing drones continuously; the ones made in Knowhere were combat-type drones with plasma cannons and energy shields as standard.
As soon as production facilities were set up in Knowhere, they worked hard.
"Sigh... Even with two bodies, it wouldn't be enough..."
I had been too busy lately. There was almost no time to rest. It was an unavoidable part until Knowhere stabilized.
"I should go to Naruto and learn shadow clone jutsu or something..."
Another month passed, and now the security androids started coming out one by one. I equipped them with energy shield shields and plasma pistols, and assigned two drones per security member. That definitely created some leeway in public order. So, I had Nana and Nini help with my work.
Now the hotel and bathhouse were under construction, and I built the promised entertainment establishment a bit flashily. I wondered how to get hostesses, but since the Ravagers said they'd handle it, I left it to them. Once things were somewhat sorted, I finally started building the race track. Why were buildings going up so fast? Like China? Something like that, but this was outer space. The construction technology was on a different level from Earth's.
"Now I just need to organize the residential areas a bit."
Then Carina said to me.
"Chairman Cassian, I hear the Ravagers can't handle the guild requests these days."
"Really? Alright, I'll go check it out."
I went straight to the guild to check what the problem was. With the rumor spreading that a Ravagers guild had been established in Knowhere, requests were coming from various planets, but since the personnel were too limited, they couldn't handle them all. So, I discussed it with Stakar.
"Hmm... So, you're saying we should divide the requests by grade and assign easy jobs to newcomers?"
"Yes, that's right. It's a bit much for a veteran like you to do things like finding pets, isn't it?"
"That's true."
"So, let's assign those to newcomers to build their skills too."
"Then the Ravagers should have grades accordingly."
As expected of an experienced expert, he caught on quickly.
"Yes, exactly."
"Alright, I think that would be more efficient too. It reduces risk."
Stakar, also too busy lately, immediately agreed to dividing by grades.
"And I'd like to take in more personnel, but the incoming requests are overwhelming."
"Yeah, there's no time to rest lately. But if we take in weirdos, it'll only lower trust. I'll look into that problem."
"Alright."
If we took in Yondu's family, it would be solved right away, but that story was hard to bring up.