"How could you speak in their favor?" Volta turned to stare at Faraday with an incredulous expression.

"I'm just speaking the truth. The academic world has become a little too conceited," Faraday replied with a shrug. "Just because we want to see it doesn't mean that they have to show it to us. Don't look at me like that! I had an epiphany just now: we are only scientists, what can we do in the face of a powerhouse like the Cathayan Underworld? Can we unite all scientists to sanction them? Can we withhold our patent usage rights from them? If we could accomplish that, perhaps the Cathayan Underworld would concede to us, but have you considered how difficult it would be to unite all scientists?"

He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair as he heaved a faint sigh. "We should be thankful that Cai Lun is no longer in the underworld. Otherwise, the Cathayan Underworld would be able to immediately retaliate using Cai Lun's paper patent. Otherwise, our only other alternative would be to join the Prometheus plan."

Volta fell silent upon hearing this.

In contrast with Franklin, who had decided to take a gamble on the Prometheus plan, he wasn't optimistic about this plan's outlook.

Even though Archimedes had already analyzed the situation for everyone, and he was willing to admit that he found Archimedes's theory to be quite sound. It was most likely the case that the Cathayan Underworld wasn't far ahead of the...