Unable to contact him?
Taduo froze for a moment, then understood. Right, that Transcendent was already five or six hundred years old. He belonged to the first generation, which had endured countless hardships and dangers.
When he left Human Civilization, perhaps... humanity had yet to develop? That happened often enough. It was understandable.
He smiled readily. "Mr. Wang, we can contact him!"
"Before we parted, my elder brother Gangduo gave him a Furnace Communicator!"
Taduo stroked his beard and laughed heartily. "We can cover the Source of the World cost! All we need is your agreement. That would be a weight off my shoulders, too. After all, my superiors gave me strict orders."
Old Wang's heart turned cold. But... how could he stop this?
With such enormous interests involved, he could not stop it!
In other words, even if humanity's entire leadership collectively went mad and insisted on refusing to let the Transcendent lead the expedition, rejecting the greater benefits...
The Macrosteel People would contact him privately anyway!
They could hardly stop other people from making private contact, could they?
Could private contact possibly trigger a war?
The Macrosteel People might laugh themselves silly. We've lured your Transcendent away. You brain-damaged idiots of a civilization can go play by yourselves!
Old Wang felt as though he had plunged into an ice cellar. He could only stall for as long as possible, his mind churning as he considered how to discuss this with humanity's leadership.
There was no hiding it anymore. He would let the higher-ups worry about it.
He could not shoulder that responsibility anyway.
"Then let's contact him after we've finished all our negotiations... that way, we can report on the progress of our cooperation, too."
Taduo interpreted this as a bargaining chip of sorts.
He laughed heartily and