After they finished admiring how strong the Principal was, Alex and Mira were ushered to enter the round table room by Principal Farnes.
When they first entered through the doors, they felt a little underwhelmed, as the room looked rather normal compared to what they were expecting.
The Nexus building was known to everyone across the entire federation, as that was where all of the important management and administration decisions were made regarding the operation and laws of the entire federation.
The Round table room was even more famous, as that was where people like the president and other important figures met to discuss matters that would affect the quintillions of humans residing in the federation.
With such a reputation, one would expect the place to be decked out with all sorts of luxurious decoration.
But it was just normal.
However, Alex and Mira's attention was quickly drawn away by something else.
Or rather, someone else.
'The President!'
President Price, the current leader of the federation, was sitting down in one of the seats surrounding the round table.
All of the other seats were filled too, except for one, which Principal Farnes went over at his usual leisurely pace to sit in.
Normally, there were only 9 people who met in this room at most times.
But there were 10 now with the addition of the President.
That 10th seat was technically reserved for the elusive 'Strongest Human', but since they were never present, it became the norm for any important figures or guests like the President to use that seat.
'Do we just stand here?'
Though Alex felt a little bit awkward as there were no seats prepared for him or Mira.
In fact, he looked over and saw a woman in military uniform, proudly wearing the badge of a Major General, who was forced to stand as well...
'I guess I'm not important or strong enough for that yet...'
Alex gave up all ideas of sitting when he realised it was some sort of unspoken privilege in this room.
He could feel the slight power radiating off of Major General Lyndal, and if someone like her wasn't qualified to sit, then he definitely wasn't.
"Alex."
Suddenly the silent tension in the room was broken by President Price, as he called out Alex's name after everyone cough Principal Farnes cough had settled into their seats.
"First of all, congratulations on returning alive from your unexpected adventure into Alien territory!"
President Price began.
"Your contribution on Ceres-9 has saved the lives of over a billion souls. That, you have my respect for, young man. The planet would likely have been decimated if you hadn't been there to stop that beast."
Alex nodded.
'He seems pretty chill.'
Admiral Olgierd probably had the most influence out of all the people in this room, as he literally had the entire federal military at his disposal.
Finally, when all the introductions and congratulations were over, Principal Farnes took the floor.
"Alex, the way the Federation—and the human race in general—operates in a very 'Survival of the fittest' system. I'm sure you would have noticed that by now. However, we still have to give credit where credit is due, and you will be properly rewarded for your efforts."
He took out a ring from his pocket, and flicked it in the air shortly after.
It disappeared, before reappearing in Alex's hand an instant later.
'Just like when we teleported from Mars to Earth.'
Alex noted.
"Inside this ring is your reward for bringing the Kree freighter back to us, as well as a special something from myself."
Alex looked inside the storage ring, and was honestly shocked by what he saw.
'A ship!'
A huge ship was floating in the void within.
It was at least 100 metres long and looked like nothing he had seen before—nothing that was commercially available, at least.
"This is the latest iteration of our warships that our technical division just recently finished. This is the first ship we produced, so it's the first of its kind." Admiral Olgierd explained.
Alex showed his emotions for the first time since entering the room, and even Mira had an excited look on her face behind him.
This was probably one of the only rewards he was actually very happy to receive.
He was half expecting something like beast cores again, which he would be massively disappointed with since he wouldn't even be able to use them.
But this ship wasn't something he could get his hands on even if he wanted to.
He had the money to buy a similar sized ship for sure, but he couldn't get one like this.
The way technology worked in these times was simple.
The military had access to the cutting edge tech, while the public had access to slightly, or sometimes drastically less impressive tech.
Ships were one of the cases where the tech was drastically better from the military, and military-grade ships were one of the only things money couldn't buy.