Chapter 265 Proactive Envy
As for Daniel, he seemed to notice something off about Odysseus' injury, coinciding with the time when Penthesilea quietly slipped away in the night, telling him she wanted to find some clue about how these Hightower mages managed to infiltrate their island.
Upon her return, she informed him that it was nothing more than a false alarm, and she and Odysseus ended up having a drink together. The night took a turn for the worse, resulting in a brawl that left Odysseus in his current state, needing to consume only soup and porridge for weeks as almost all of his teeth were nearly broken off.
Daniel put two and two together and made a guess that Odysseus might have done something foolish behind his back. However, given that Odysseus had been beaten to such an extent by a fierce amazones warrior such as Penthesilea, he decided to let it slide this time, feeling that Odysseus had already received his due punishment.
— 3 Days later —
Daniel found himself in his office at Astral Tech, basking in the success the company achieved post-launch. Foreign companies flooded them with lucrative deals, predominantly centered around collaborative space program development.
The offers ranged from utilizing their metal scarab constructor bots to construct space stations, tackling hazardous projects like oil platforms, to ambitious ventures like a geothermal facility harnessing energy from an entire volcano.
While Daniel delegated the oversight of these deals to professionals like Aryan, the tech mogul, despite establishing the company for the ease of explaining his miraculous artifacts, remained keen on maximizing profits.
With the launch phase behind him, Daniel refocused on undermining the Hightower once more. The Hightower's attempt to divert attention by using Daniel's space program as bait had succeeded, alleviating pressure from the public and Europe.
However, Daniel had no intention of letting them revel in this respite. His plan involved reaching out to Greed, urging her to influence Congress to pressure the UK government to investigate the so-called secret military laboratory that had mysteriously appeared in London.
Taking up the phone, Daniel dialed Greed's number and patiently waited. While Greed usually promptly answered his calls, the recent weeks had seen her occupied with the skirmish between the USA and the Confederacy.
"Hey, Danny. What's up? I'm pretty swamped right now, so make it quick," Greed's voice came through the phone, amidst background discussions about necessary provisions.
"Are you sure it's a good time to talk? You sound busy," Daniel inquired.
"Believe it or not, this is my most free moment in weeks. Just let me know what you need, and I'll take care of it, okay?" Greed reassured her lover.
But at this moment Greed's voice was cut off and a voice of a man spoke in her place.
"Mr. Emberweave, please refrain from making excessive requests to Ms. Goldwyn. She's currently supporting our cause in reclaiming Texas from those Confederate slavers, and her resources are stretched thin as it is," the man asserted with authority, and then Daniel heard a sound suggesting Greed was taking her phone back.
"Get the f*ck out of my office, Mr. Vance!" Greed's forceful command echoed through the phone.
"But... Vicky!" Vance attempted to argue, only to be abruptly cut off.
"Get the f*ck out! NOW!" Greed's threatening voice left no room for negotiation.
After a moment, Greed spoke to Daniel again. "That guy was a clingy, delusional second-generation rich young master idiot who thinks I have something for him, Danny. Please don't misunderstand," Greed promptly clarified.
"You don't need to explain, Vicky. I trust you," Daniel responded with a smile.
"Awww, now you're calling me just like that idiot," Greed teased Daniel.
After a few minutes of light banter, Daniel shifted the conversation to business.
"Greed," Daniel began, using Greed's alias to signal the transition to business talk. "Can you ask Congress to apply pressure on the UK government to investigate the Hightower? Even if it's just an appearance of an investigation, I want the world's attention directed to the London headquarters."
"Hmm, I'll try, but right now Congress has their hands full with the skirmish with the Confederacy. They're planning to retake Texas from the Confederacy, so I don't think they can pressure the UK government for this," Greed explained.
"I see… Do you want any help?" Daniel offered.
"Of course! Can you send those soldiers in hulking power armor to us? Right now, we lack a reliable assault team that could punch through the Confederacy defense line," Greed asked.
"Huh? I thought it should be easy. Wasn't the Path of Knowledge losing influence, and they can't use any supernatural beings in their war anymore?" Daniel inquired, as what he saw on the news and what he heard from Greed seemed like different stories.
The news reported that the USA was gaining an advantage in the skirmish.
"The news also speaks the truth, but only the part where we have some skirmish with the Confederacy. But piercing through rows of magical enchantment fortress defense lines to Texas is another story. Their fortress is impervious to normal bombardment since they use magic shields, but they present it to the world as their newly invented shielding technology. Just like you did, Daniel, they disguise magic as technology," Greed explained.
"Sorry, Greed. I shouldn't have started this whole mess of disguising magic as technology in the first place. Now they use the same strategy as us," Daniel apologized, knowing he was the one who initiated this approach.
"Nah, don't bother. I know their type. If they were in a pinch, I know they would use this lame excuse anyway," Greed reassured Daniel, denying him the need to apologize as she understood it wasn't his fault.
While the two were discussing and sealing the deal for Daniel to send reinforcements to help in the skirmish in the US, Envy entered Daniel's office with her tablet.
She placed the tablet for Daniel to see, and on the screen, there was a picture of a large cargo ship navigating through the ocean. The information displayed on the screen indicated it was in the Indian Ocean, about 5 days away from Sector Alpha City.
"Daniel, transfer the line to the screen. I want to talk with Greed too," Envy said.
Daniel nodded and transferred the line to the monitor within his office, even though it was sound only since Greed only used the phone and not a live conference.
"Greed, you don't need to put pressure on Congress anymore. I already did that part on my end to make the UK government run a check on the Hightower in London," Envy said to both Daniel and Greed.
"Huh? What did you do?" Daniel asked in confusion.
"I asked the queen to put pressure on the government, and they are going to send someone to check on the Hightower HQ. It's not in the news right now, but at this moment, the higher-ups in the Hightower can't sit still, and they blame Cyrus because of this. If Cyrus fails in his attempt to recover his glory, he will be demoted to just an associate, no longer even a Councilor," Envy said with a hint of ruthlessness in her eyes.
"Wait… didn't Cyrus stop the queen? or that guy, the Golden Scale? Didn't he stop the queen?" Daniel asked.
"He can't because I just undid the seal on the Camelot ruin from here. And he didn't have a choice but to personally reseal it, since no one can know about the ruin of Camelot," Envy explained.
Daniel was amazed by Envy's tactics. After the time when Sloth was attacked by the Hightower mage, Envy was very proactive in undermining the Hightower, and each of her moves could be said to be ruthless, hitting exactly where it hurts for the Hightower authority. In just a few days, the higher-ups of the Hightower couldn't even sit still.
"Aunt Envy… you're so kickass right now," Greed said in amazement at Envy.
"Who told them to target Sloth? That girl just regained consciousness last night! After three days, she just gained consciousness last night! And her mind even affected by the terror magic from the Eisenhart Clan. I still haven't paid that clan back for what they did. Let me regain my old body first, and I'll visit them personally," Envy grudgingly said. It seems what Eisenhart and the Hightower did is really pissing her off.
"By the way. What is this?" Daniel changed the subject and picked up the tablet on his table to see what it is.
"It's the ship that brought Cyrus and his people to this city. And it seems that whoever is controlling my body right now was with him too. The ship is in the Indian Ocean right now and is about 5 days away from Sector Alpha City," Envy said, pointing at the ship picture on the tablet, taken by the satellite they just sent to orbit a few days ago.
Hearing this, Daniel went silent for a moment before speaking. "Greed, can you hold out for a month? Let me resolve this first, then I'll bring some reinforcements to help you myself," said Daniel.
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