While Theo was waiting for everything to be completed before he could return, the people in the base experienced several problems.
"Shit." Maya gritted her teeth while hanging up the call. In front of her was Agata and Rea.
"What's wrong?" Agata furrowed her eyebrows, feeling something was wrong. "Are there any more problems?"
"Yeah. The bank has colluded with the government. They're trying to use this momentum to get the blueprints and the planes?" Maya let out a long sigh. She was annoyed by how they suddenly switched sides. But they must be confident with this momentum.
"I see." Rea nodded in understanding. She was watching the news on her Skylink regarding the rising government.
'Theo is missing?'
'Where is Theodore Griffith when we need him the most?'
'The Time God's appearance on the battlefield, crushing all the enemies.'
'Monsters are sighted near the base?'
There was a lot of news questioning Theo. Without even guessing, they already knew who dared to put up this question.
"Thanks to the Time God's appearance, the government manages to regain its image. Although it's not as powerful as before, because Theo hasn't made his appearance until now, they have a great momentum.
"If this continues, the government will regain all its glory and strength. Meanwhile, our group will be left behind and won't be trusted anymore. After all, the people are wondering whether Theo has left the base or not.
"The news spread like wildfire. We have fought too. Ava, Felix, Rea, and even the Dark Saint… All of us have contributed more than the Time God or the government. Yet, they're throwing shades on us. I'm getting annoyed.
"In fact, I want to abandon this base and let them handle the next enemy themselves. But Theo said that if we left this next battle, the enemy would become unstoppable. That's why we have to endure this period of time."
Maya and Agata pinched the bridge of their noses, contemplating their next move.
Agata asked, "Maya. What's the progress with your airplanes?"
"I have removed Theo's structures from the airplane. That structure is not included in the blueprints anyway, so it should be safe for now.
"The government and the bank might be able to reproduce the airplanes, but they won't be able to create a safe airplane. After all, Theo reserves the right to that structure.
"So, we can improve the engine and call it a second generation while adding safety measures into the plane. The government won't be able to take over it next time."
Agata nodded. "That's good then. Of course, there will still be many successful flights… I'm worried about those flights."
"Yeah." Maya nodded. "The basic airplane alone gives you a 90% chance of survival during the flight. With Theo's additional support structure, it raises the chance to close to a hundred. As for the threat of those flights… I'm afraid…"
"Yeah." Rea sighed. "It seems that more enemies will sneak in those flights like the former Griffith Family."
"I guess Theo has predicted that in one way or another, the former Griffith Family would be able to come and try to hit us from behind. And they have a lot of time to rebuild their strength. So, it won't be weird if we find more Mythical Rank Experts or even Transcendent Level Experts." Maya thought for a moment. "I'm not good at things other than business, so what are the problems? I think it's better to lay them down first."
"Sure. We have three major problems. First, the government's rising power. They're trying to attack us with their current momentum. However, we can't really react to their current rise because Theo is not with us.
"The second problem is none other than the enemies themselves. Of course, they're not limited to the slime. There are other enemies like the former Griffith Family. But our current manpower is limited because we have to spread our forces to watch out for a sneak attack. It's impossible to find these enemies. So, it's better if we stop the monsters and let those people from the former Griffith Family in.
"Last but not least, our allies become another problem. The allies I'm talking about are those greedy people that use this chance to become stronger through Theo's tutelage.
"They are asking for Theo's presence since they want to receive his tutelage. At the very least, they want to get something beneficial no matter how small it is. This way, they can be assured that they truly get the reward they deserve." Agata explained with a serious expression. She also had a headache thinking about this matter. Now that everything was laid out, the others could try coming up with a solution.
"Hmm…" Rea frowned. "In the second problem, I think we should just follow Theo's instructions. He has told us to spend our resources on figuring out the enemies' fighting power. The fact that he told us to do a half-ass investigation meant he wanted to focus on the monsters.
"So, I think we should ask the Griffith Family to search for the incoming monsters. Theo will be back in one to two weeks. So, the battle shouldn't have happened before his return. Or Theo would have used all his power to return before that."
Maya nodded. "That's true. I guess we can put this problem aside for the time being. What we should be concerned about are the first and third problems. They're gnawing at us right now. If we don't stop them, there might not be anything left when Theo returns."
Agata fell into deep thought. She had been racking her brain to come up with a solution, but as expected, the momentum couldn't be stopped easily.
"The third problem… I think it's better to find out who is our true ally right now." Agata's tone became cold. "There are those who are pursuing benefits. There are those who are helping us because they know Theo and his credibility. And there are those who are waiting for us to fall to swallow us. So, it's better to find the real ally first."
