Gacha Kingdom Building-Chapter 284 - 284: Expanding Network (02)

--This chapter is written using Erik's POV--
Besides Maria and Adriarch, who distracted themselves with the pictures sent by Maya, the meeting room fell into silence.
The cause was a pile of documents distributed by Ceres.
The 73-page document contained all the information the AOTG could gather on Miwen and his associates.
George: "You can't be serious... Isn't this a record?"
The first to speak on it was George, the leader of Team Mars and the man holding the strongest Gift in the AOTG, after mine.
It wasn't hard to deduce what his surprise stemmed from.
Since the women accompanying Maya's brother were clearly not from Earth, most of the information in the document revolved around Miwen himself.
On the first pages, a possible timeline of events was outlined.
It went from his birthday, the day he supposedly obtained his Gift, to the appearance of the blue-haired girl and her companions a few days ago.
One of the most outstanding points was that Miwen's journey as an adventurer had started only a few months ago, yet he had already achieved top-rank status.
Erik: "Remember, the scout team wasn't able to identify his current level before Piper took him. He may be the world's first level 90."
There were other claimants to that title, but if we were to believe every unfounded rumor, we'd have dozens of level 100's walking the streets every day.
For better or worse, Miwen was the most credible to own that title.
Alexis: "Hm... I'm more worried about this."
The leader of Team Mercury, a woman I recruited from another world, pointed to a page in the document that, ironically, also identified confrontational information regarding other worlds.
More specifically, the page detailed how, according to the sightings by CCTV and other sources, Miwen had recruited his other-world friends before the barriers that isolated Earth from other worlds fell.
Meaning, his Gift had, at least in a way, the ability to connect to other worlds.
Because of this, we also theorized that the place he might've disappeared to was, in fact, another world.
Alexis: "So... He can summon his allies to his side whenever he wants. They can do the same. And then... They can retreat whenever they want?"
Erik: "Most likely."
Adriarch: "So they can always fight together, huh? I like that."
Undeniably, it was a valuable ability.
If we wanted to inflict damage, we'd have to corner them, and possibly deny this effect of his Gift.
Erik: "Take a look at the conclusions reached with the reconstruction of Lance's battle."
While we didn't have much information on his aides, this battle summarized their abilities.
They fought at a disadvantage, in most cases coming close to death, yet they emerged victorious.
This proved their ability, their experience as seasoned warriors, as well as their loyalty and fearlessness.
Among our analyses, it was determined that negotiations and backroom deals were impossible.
If our paths crossed, we'd have to battle.
Adriarch: "I understand that this timeline only reflects the boy's experience, is that right?"
Erik: "Yes."
Adriarch: "In that case, why is his danger level equal to the Demon? Lassie has a higher level and is definitely more experienced."
While true, Miwen's danger assessment came from his battle against Lance.
He was more than met the eye.
Maria: "Ah, it's no good to underestimate my boy... People tend to think Maya is a perfect ten, and that Miwen is a seven at best, but in reality, he's more like a minus ten too. You know? Perfect in his own way."
I'd like to say this was a mother's distorted view of her son.
However, unfortunately, evidence contradicts that perspective.
I still wouldn't put him in the same category as Maya, but his abilities were indeed far more developed than they seemed.
He was a man capable of reading the playing field, and more dangerously, capable of doing what's necessary.
Maya's weakness was that she was an optimistic dreamer.
Miwen, while not having equal abilities, didn't suffer from the same restraint.
If needed, he'd do it.
Regardless of morality.
Adriarch: "Hm... The lad is well built, at least. Maybe we can exchange fists."
Maria: "Hey, old man! Can you stop trying to pick fights with my family?"
Adriarch: "Ahaha! Sorry, but it's your fault for raising little rascals."
Quite.
Erik: "Regardless, I assume Alpha Team, now reinforced with these allies, will make their move before the end of the month. We will reinforce our defenses with that in mind."
Ceres: "...And why is that? Just so that we're all on the same boat?"
For all of her info-gathering abilities, Ceres was surprisingly slow.
Even her Gift wasn't as useful as she first made it seem.
If not for the information she handed and the two members of Alpha Team that she captured, I'd already have replaced her with someone more suited.
Her value was dwindling, but she was still competent enough to maintain her position as Saturn's chief.
If barely.
Erik: "One month from now, there'll be another Divine Event. Once Earth's citizens enter the Divine Realm, no operations can resume."
The government was also quite bureaucratic, especially with adventurers, given the number of them that turned their backs against the establishment.
While Alpha Team may have approved Miwen, he'd still need a background check, and it would take at least a few days for him to receive official permission to start operating under them.
We had to prepare in the meantime.
Erik: "...I should inform you that I'll be one of the participants in this Divine Event."
Adriarch: "Oh, nice work, boy! I'll be rooting for ya."
Erik: "Yes, thanks."
Sincerely, I couldn't care less about this.
However, there may be benefits to be reaped from it.
Ceres: "Isn't that dangerous, though? I mean... If he has [Hollow Destiny], can't he break your contracts?"
No.
He had already used [Hollow Destiny] on me once, and I even had Lance test it for me when the Gift belonged to him.
The contracts that I've established with the AOTG members work like a curse.
While the curse can be temporarily stopped, for it to be broken, it must be forcibly removed, or the caster must be killed.
Doing it individually would take a long time, but doing it on a large enough scale was impossible without a proper reaction from my side.
As for killing me, that was equally, if not harder.
But neither Ceres nor the others had to know about this.
Erik: "I have countermeasures. Not to mention, the chances of him also having been selected are small."
If he did, though...
Depending on the circumstances, it might be a good chance to write him off once and for all.
Especially if he didn't have access to his summoned friends.
While dangerous, without them, he's weak enough for me to handle alone.
Erik: "In any case, while I'd like to force them to attack one of our defensive positions, we can't halt operations against the government because of Miwen. We'll continue performing as we did, but I'll make a few changes to the structure."
First, every executive was to work in pairs.
Except Adriarch, who didn't need extra protection, and Ceres, who got reinforcements from both Mercury and Mars.
Second, we would, from this point on, focus on quick operations.
The more time we spent in the open, the more chances we gave Alpha Team of catching us in an offensive battle.
With their ability to suddenly concentrate their forces, this could be devastating.
Erik: "You'll see countermeasures for each known member of Miwen's group. Study them. Also... I've personally tested a few countermeasures of my own against his Gift. They might prove useful, so I'm allocating special equipment to all of you. Make good use of it."
Ceres: "...What about Piper Williams? And Maya? No countermeasures for them yet?"
Erik: "Not yet."
Piper was a problem that could only be dealt with brute force.
Maya was a problem that required elegant and imaginative measures.
Miwen was a problem that necessitated care and attention.
It was a giant web to untangle, but each one of them had its own set of weaknesses we could exploit.
Most importantly, not a single one of them could stop the AOTG alone.
Erik: "That was all. You're free to go. Except you, Maria."
Maria: "Hm? Am I in detention?"
Erik: "Something along those lines."
I needed more information on Maya.
While she had turned their back on the government and would likely not work together with her brother, that action itself was still a big mystery to me.
I needed her mother's insight before I could recalculate the best route against her.
Besides...
Erik: "Ceres is hiding a message from Maya. I allowed her to speak up about it on her own, but... It seems I overestimated her thinking. What do you think of this?"
Maria: "It's coded. Which means Maya doesn't want you to know... Which means it probably leads to a wild goose chase until there's a final, satisfying answer."
As I thought.
Erik: "We'll discover soon enough. For now, tell me, what do you think of Maya's behavior? Can you see her strategy?"
Maria: "Hm... It would be hard to explain with words... Do you have a deck of cards I can use? Actually, we'll need two."
An odd request.
But for me to understand that absurd girl's moves, anything could be arranged.