Two hours later, in the meeting room of the Omega Spire.
"So, in the heat of the moment, you first removed the spare machine's arms and Hive missile launchers, then 'ate' the entire mecha. Is that right?" The War Factory's director was deathly pale. He looked at the most inscrutable presence in the room—Xingtian—with a calm, despairing gaze.
"Yes." Xingtian himself was still helping clean up the factory, but at everyone's insistence, he had joined the meeting as a projection.
"...Sigh." The director of the War Factory's eyelid twitched. He seemed to want to say something, but in the end, all he did was sigh.
"Director Jin, this accident should be laid at my door. I spearheaded the kaiju-mecha research project and misjudged the kaiju's self-repair capabilities." Dr. Miki rose from his seat at the head of the conference table and bowed deeply to everyone. "I'm willing to accept the appropriate punishment."
"What good does blaming yourself do? The War Factory lost thirty-four technicians, and every mecha was destroyed!" The man speaking up to reprimand him also wore an Omega uniform. He was middle-aged, with square-rimmed glasses and close-cropped hair that was already half white.
"Dr. Song Zhongxi, this isn't the time to assign blame. Let's first figure out what to do next." Director Jin tried to smooth things over.
"If we don't hold him accountable, should we wait for the Alliance to do it? Communications are down, and under the chain of authority, none of us can take action against him!" Song Zhongxi's narrow eyes fixed on Dr. Miki's face. "If we let someone like him stay in that position, it won't be long before we're all doomed!"
"I agree with Dr. Song Zhongxi. We may not have the authority to punish Dr. Miki, but we shouldn't let him