Ghosty watched as five Specter Cages came from the floor above him and went past Ghosty's Lab to Gemini.
He fell into deep thought.
His conversation with Mundus from 30 days ago shot through his mind.
Ghosty remained silent for a long while.
Herman just looked at Ghosty with worry.
He had already sighed several times within the last couple of minutes.
Herman was the CEO of Ghosty's Lab, but that was technically only in name.
In truth, Herman always deferred to Ghosty when there was a decision to make.
After all, this was Ghosty's Lab, not Herman's Lab.
Ghosty's Lab was the oldest Manufacturer in all of Crimson City, and its longevity was all thanks to Ghosty.
Herman would trust in Ghosty's decision.
Right now, Ghosty was at a crossroads.
Which path should he choose?
His mind was telling him to go one way, but his heart was telling him to go another.
Ghosty definitely followed his mind far more often than his heart.
And yet, following his heart still felt great.
The smart decision?
Or the dumb one?
He thought back to many years ago.
The city had looked very different back then.
How did the city develop ever since then?
Did it get better, or did it get worse?
Was it good right now?
The city had changed a lot over the years, and Ghosty hadn't always been happy about it.
Ghosty reached into his uniform and pulled a remote with several buttons out.
Herman had never seen this remote before.
"What's that?" he asked.
Ghosty looked at the remote for a while.
"Insurance," Ghosty said before putting it back into his uniform.
Herman didn't ask for clarification.
Ghosty remained silent for several minutes as he just looked out of the window.
Ghosty wasn't making a decision that would impact his or his company's survival.
No, Ghosty's Lab would survive regardless of which side won.
He was confident in that fact.
Ghosty was deciding on the city's survival.
If Kugelblitz won, things would return to how they used to be.
Maybe they would get even worse since Kugelblitz wouldn't need to contend with Anatomy anymore.
If Anatomy won, it would rule over the city.
The common people wouldn't see much change since Anatomy would still need to comply with Aegis' basic principles, but all the other Manufacturers would be eradicated and their Extractors turned into coral people.
Well, except for Ghosty's Lab, of course.
Nevertheless, Ghosty didn't like either option.
More time passed.
Then, Ghosty took a deep breath.
"Herman," he said.
"Yes?" Herman answered.
Herman waited.
Down below…
"Hahahaha," Julian kept laughing.
Nick was not surprised.
Six Specter Cages left Anatomy and traveled to Ghosty's Lab.
"Seems like the old man is tired of standing on the sidelines," Julian said.
Nick didn't answer.
"Spite is such a beautiful aspect of you humans," Julian said.
Nick still didn't answer.
Meanwhile…
"Are they crazy?! Do they not realize what they are doing?!" the fat man in Kugelblitz's meeting room shouted in outrage. "First, Gemini took five Specters for themselves, and now, Ghosty's Lab is taking six as well?! They're dooming us all!"
"Please, not so loud," Wilfred said with a soothing voice. "We are still in a meeting, remember? Just because Aria and Vernon left doesn't mean that this meeting is over."
The director took a deep breath to calm down. "Apologies," he said as he sat back down.
Wilfred nodded.
"Now, let's get back to voting. I am for."
"For."
"For."
"For."
"For."
Silence.
Everyone looked at the last two people.
One of them was the fat man, and another one was an older man.
Both of them looked extremely nervous.
The others looked at them expectantly.
The two of them looked at each other.
Finally, the older man looked at the table in defeat.
"For," he said.
Then, everyone focused on the fat man.
The fat man gritted his teeth.
Then, he slumped into his chair and put his head in his arms.
"Fine, for," he said.
Wilfred smiled.
…
"Ahahahahaha!"
Julian kept laughing.
By now, his laughter had become very loud.
Nick just looked with absolute disgust upward.
Five more Specter Cages were moving towards Kugelblitz.
Nick's expectations of humanity were extremely low to begin with, but he still felt disappointed.
"Oh, Nick, Nick, Nick," Julian said.
Nick didn't answer.
"Your opinion of humanity is too low," Julian said.
"You were the one who taught me," Nick answered. "Is my opinion not in line with yours?"
Surprisingly, Julian didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he just smirked as he looked upward.
"Maybe you're right," Julian said, eliciting two raised brows from Nick.
Then, he turned to look at Nick. "Or maybe I just have access to more information than you."
Then, Julian chuckled again.
Nick didn't ask.
He knew that Julian loved gloating and that he would tell Nick anyway.
"It seems like I'm not the only one taking advantage of Kugelblitz's scattered ownership," he said.
Nick raised an eyebrow, and a moment later, the image of Mundus' strings shot through his mind.
"Are you suggesting that Mundus is having a hand in this?" Nick asked.
Julian just chuckled.
That was all he needed to hear.
Kugelblitz might be the strongest Manufacturer with the strongest Extractors, but the only strong Extractor who had ownership in the company was Aria.
The remaining ownership was scattered among one Specialist, one Expert, and even normal people.
"I've never managed to get my hands on Wilfred," Julian said. "No matter how many times I tried to get him to be my friend, I could never get to him."
"This explains why."
Nick glanced at Julian. "Was he controlled during the meeting in which those decisions were made?"
Julian chuckled. "That's the genius part."
"He wasn't."
Nick looked at Julian in surprise. "Then, how?"
"Aria would notice if Mundus controlled Wilfred," Julian said. "Because of that, he had to prepare for this moment for a long time."
"Most likely, he found a way to secretly get to Wilfred, and over many individual sessions over many years, he managed to control him by making Wilfred's values align with his values."
"In short, he's controlling without controlling."
Julian smiled.
"Just like me."
Julian chuckled a bit more.
"And as for the directors, that's not difficult. The directors just fulfill the desires of the owners they represent."
"Mundus just needs to control the owners when they tell their directors about what they want."
Nick looked upward again.
It didn't look good for Kugelblitz.
Yet, a couple of moments later, Nick noticed something.
A person jumped down from the layer with all of the big Manufacturers, and by the looks of it, the person was jumping right toward Dark Dream.
"Would you look at that," Julian said. "It's one of my dear friends."
Nick narrowed his eyes when he recognized the person.
Some seconds later, the person silently landed in front of the two of them.
The person gave Julian a short greeting before turning to Nick.
Silence.
The person took a deep breath and approached Nick.
Nick didn't say anything.
"Can we talk privately? I have something to discuss with you," they asked.
Nick's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Fine," he said.
Nick walked into Dark Dream.
Vernon Melfion followed him.