The video conference ended fifteen minutes later. The bigwigs gave the task force's progress high praise, which made Loyal feel proud and relieved.
What he feared most was spending the budget and manpower only to come away with nothing. That would've been humiliating.
But being recognized wasn't necessarily a good thing.
After the video conference, Uncle Qin gave him one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.
The good news was that the bigwigs were satisfied with their progress. The task force had even produced tangible results, and their colleagues in the medical field were more than happy to take over the research into those otherworldly potions. Since the operation had yielded results, it had to be rewarded.
So Loyal's team received more funding and greater operational authority.
The bad news was that they now had KPIs to meet.
The bigwigs had discussed it privately and decided that the next review meeting would be in six months. They wanted to see more information about the Golden Age and Creator technology, and most importantly, to find out whether the knowledge hidden in Transia could be put to use in the real world.
Scientific progress had always been difficult. Everyone believed in taking things one step at a time, but even the most traditional, stodgy scientists wouldn't turn down a chance to strike it rich in one go.
"Six months? That's downright brutal."
Loyal took off his mask in his office, lit a cigarette with a gloomy expression, and complained to Uncle Qin:
"We might not even beat the Black Calamity in six months. Where are we supposed to get the manpower and resources to explore the ruins of an age we don't even know how to find? Just hearing the name tells you it's a high-level dungeon. With