Chapter 173: Against the tide
"I assure you! Whatever she is doing might feel tumultuous, but it will not harm anyone or anything!" Elder Ron argued.
Carmen waved his hands behind him, pointing to all the worried scientists. "From what I can see, it already has..."
Elder Ron couldn’t take it anymore, yelling as he pointed at his long-hated rival. "Cut the crap, Carmen! What is it you actually want?!"
Carmen’s eyes flashed sinisterly — just the words he was waiting for.
"Hehe, don’t be like that, old friend. You speak as though I have ulterior motives." Carmen chuckled as he adjusted his glasses.
His words only earned him a scorned glare from Elder Ron.
Elder Ron wouldn’t hate a fellow engineer for no reason! It wasn’t that he hated Carmen — he was just disgusted by Carmen’s scheming persona.
As a straightforward engineer, there was nothing Ronald hated more than wily scums like this bastard.
"Speak while I’m willing to listen!" Elder Ron hissed.
Carmen chuckled at this reaction, his arms raising in mock surrender. "Fine, fine. Sheesh, old age really doesn’t play nice on patience, huh?"
He clasped his hands behind his back. All of a sudden, Carmen’s face went cold, his demeanor undergoing a 360-degree switch.
"Let us observe for ourselves what she is doing. Then we will be the ones to judge if it will be too harmful to continue!"
Elder Ron’s eyes bulged, his fury reaching its peak, his face flushed red from anger as he suddenly understood this bastard’s aim.
"Y-you! Bastard!" the elder hissed, eyes burning with rancor as he pointed a trembling finger at Carmen.
The greedy bastard’s aim wasn’t to stop whatever Kylie was doing!
No, Elder Ron would even bet Carmen would never want her to stop.
His aim from the beginning was to glean whatever she was creating that was causing such a commotion.
From the shared copies of Dyson’s Mecha Index, it was clear to everyone that the only person with a sure chance of cracking that log first was his granddaughter.
This bastard must have assumed she already had and was already on the next stage of crafting.
And he was here to glean shamelessly from her craft. By watching an engineer work, though you might not comprehend a hundred percent about their creation, it was sure to give him enough clues to crack the Dyson’s Mecha Index. Plus, they could even use the opportunity to map and steal his granddaughter’s blueprint!
This calculating, conniving bastard! Elder Ron almost spat blood from fury.
Especially since he knew his granddaughter never cracked the Dyson’s Mecha Index — not because she couldn’t, but because she hadn’t even attempted yet.
Meaning whatever was happening beyond those walls was something else entirely.
Seth must have handed her another unimaginably valuable blueprint or log for her to help craft him something.
Whatever it was, it had to be so valuable for Seth to keep it for himself.
This wasn’t a public craft — it was private. He had to help the boy gatekeep it.
"No! That’s not happening! An inventor’s craft is private. We all know this unwritten rule — no circumstances would warrant spying! You shameless bastard!"
Carmen’s eyes flashed, but he didn’t budge as his lips curled. "Whoa, whoa, old friend. Who said anything about spying? We will just be inspecting for a bit!"
Carmen turned his head to the others. "Right, guys?"
"I agree! If we are not sure how long this will continue, how can we be at peace?" a figure voiced.
And that was the breaking point, as a chorus of voices all aligning with Carmen began to speak out.
Though there might be some genuinely worried among them, at the end of the day it was obvious these guys were being used by Carmen.
Making Elder Ron feel quite conflicted, but in the end, with the majority against him, there was only so little he could do.
It was his prestige that kept these guys at bay for so long. In respect for him, they had been this patient.
If it was anyone else, this banter would have been unnecessary...
But even respect had its limits. With how antsy these guys were, reason would soon be out the window.
Elder Ron’s expression turned ugly. In the end, he was left with two choices: go in there and tell Kylie and Seth to stop, or relocate them to another location. But even then, where else would they find a facility with enough power generation to support their work?
It was either that, or he caved and let them spectate. Naturally, they would have to do it from the security room, through the surveillance feed, so as not to distract Seth and Kylie.
After weighing the pros and cons of both options, as much as it pained Elder Ron, he had no choice but to give in.
"Just so you know, my granddaughter isn’t there alone! She was commissioned by the head member of Apex, and trust me, he wouldn’t be happy with this breach of privacy!" the elder let out a last comeback.
Everywhere went silent, almost leading Elder Ron to believe his words worked.
But he was wrong...
"Who the fuck is an Apex?" It was unknown who said it, but the sentiment was shared by everyone.
As scientists who dedicated all their lives to research and inventions, they barely interacted with the outside world much.
And even if they did, as they weren’t members of the military or government, their knowledge about Apex would still have been too vague.
Carmen’s eyes flashed with wary lights. For this old coot Ronald to throw this name at them, it meant it had weight.
But still, Carmen was assured. With his value as an asset, the government surely wouldn’t stand by and watch anything happen to him.
And besides, like Ronald, he had a direct relation to the president. Surely whoever this Apex was, he could never measure up to such a figure.
"Hmph, enough with the threat, old man. Lead the way — we have waited enough!"
Elder Ron glared at Carmen, his teeth grinding. ’Just you wait. You have no idea who you are offending!’
With that, reluctantly but surely, he turned and walked away, the small crowd following right behind.
Amongst them, a few had gazes burning with anticipation!
