Back at Paradise #4

While Dr Tsukimi and Ein were leaving one of the elders came forward and said in a stern tone. "You cannot leave. There is a contract that the White Storm must uphold, not only to Creation but also to Baldimore."

Dr Tsukimi shook his head and took out the document that was made during the founding of Creation and the White Storm's beginning. "I think that you are misunderstanding something. The contract that was agreed upon did provide trade and help to Baldimore but that was only so long as Creation was allowed to remain. By taking action against us and colluding with others, you have already made it clear that you no longer need or want to have Creation within Baldimore. Without Creation, there is no more cooperation with White Storm and no need for us to uphold any contract."

The elder grit his teeth and looked a little ashamed. "Then do not leave. This is all just a misunderstanding! We were wrong!"

Dr Tsukimi shook his head and sighed. "Just hurry up and prepare the compensation for the emotional and physical damage you have all caused to my student and those of Creation. There will be some remaining that will not follow so you can all swallow up those leftovers but will that really be good for you? If they can betray us then they can betray you later. Haha."

Ein smirked and nudged her teacher. "Thanks teacher."

They both looked towards the distance and took in one last view of their birth place as they waited for everything to be sorted out neatly.

When everyone was ready to leave and they received the compensation that they had demanded, they set sail towards Rica Island.

While some of the elders did come to try change their minds with pure or malicious intentions, they were ignored and told to leave.

Even the kind Dr Tsukimi had turned cold to many of his friends because he was too disappointed in them.

Meanwhile the main culprits that had been the manipulators of the entire thing had ran to make a private call one after another. "It failed.. no it is not like that… you said that she would never make it here but she arrived early… we were caught off guard.. yes we did suffer a loss this time..what about the deal?… wait what?.. hey! Do not hang up!"

They were no longer of use to those that they were working with after Creation had left the island so they were all ruthlessly abandoned.

They received no rewards that they were promised and they had already suffered a big loss from losing the support of the White Storm so they felt uneasy about how they would be able to recover from their losses.

Those from Creation that tried to contact those that had turned them against their own organisation received nothing in return even after they followed the plan perfectly and were now left with nothing but the little resources they had remaining that could not last them a long time.

While there were some that were more frugal with their money and resources, most of the traitors were those that had a need for more as they were quick to use what they had and desired more.

It was one of the reasons why they were targeted because they had many bad habits, were greedy or wasteful.

They had weaknesses that could be exploited by those that were cunning enough so they could easily be manipulated, used and then abandoned.

The trip back to Rica Island was much smoother that the journey to Baldimore but there were some minor attacks from pirates which were quickly dealt with by Ein who was dodging cannon fire and firing the foam at them until they were all subdued.

If there was a big advantage about her modifications made to her suit then it would be its storage as it helped her to store up spare foam to be used so a lot of her energy did not need to be used right away.

There would always be spare containers that would be kept nearby in case of emergencies which could be quickly switched over if it was needed but there were many others kept in other places too.

When they arrived back at Rica Island and made their way towards the Sunken Castle, they quickly found that a large amount of those supplies had already become depleted.

There was a large amount of different animal shaped Automata standing around many groups of people which had been surrounded by the solidified foam.

Among the modifications that she had made, she had done many to the Automata to let them be able to capture their targets better and the foam technology was well suited to them.

Many if them opened their mouths and the foam sprayed out to capture anyone causing damage or harm to anyone or anything in the area.

They had many types of protection duties within the Sunken Castle to ensure the safety and security of the area but those that had been captured upon Ein's return were those that tried to cause a large disturbance once she left.

During the commotion, they had been subdued but it allowed others to slip past a lot of guards and Automata to gain entry into the more restricted areas like the castle itself.

They believed that they were successful at first but later found out how wrong they were when a Devil Ape emerged and captured them.

The ground near the castle opened up from below and something mechanical climbed out from within which revealed the Devil Ape inside of it which had started to fire the foam upon the many trouble makers.

Any kind of trouble ended just like that after the mech was deployed and it did not even get to show ofd the other fighting capabilities that it had.

The Devil Ape was greatly disappointed and returned back underground.

One of the biggest changes on the island was that the castle underneath the ground had been dug up and modified to allow more space but the ground level had been remade as its original look to make everything look normal.

Not many would be able to notice that there was a large space beneath it that was being used to store and invent all kinds of mechanical inventions.

Ein looked over the disturbances that had been brought to her current home and sighed. "They have too much power to be able to cause this much disturbance. If it had been successful then they would have probably ended up fighting among themselves over the spoils of war."

Dr Tsukimi asked. "Who is behind this? Who have you offended for them to go to such lengths?"

Ein put her hand on her chin and said calmly. "There are not many that can have such a hold over so many people from different places. The leak of information was probably intentional to lure me out. They had prepared traitors among those joining me and they prepared many ships to ambush if the assassination failed. Even if I survived.. the ship would have been too damaged to arrive before they put their plan into action. Without me being in either location, they could allow the plans they had set in motion to be successful without interference."

She then continued after taking a short breathe. "If they were successful then White Storm would have lost control over the Sunken Castle and had many things stolen or destroyed, Creation would have been no more within Baldimore and it would affect the reputation of the other parts of Creation and have a direct influence on the White Storm. While it does look like it is specifically targeted at me and Creation at first, this affects the White Storm the most as it is subtly causing damage to their influence, power and their source of wealth."

Dr Tsukimi let out relieved sigh. "It seems that you have not only grown as a scientist but also grown smarter towards knowing about these things too. It is good to see how you have grown."

Ein smiled but then looked very serious. "The main problem is that those behind it have this much influence and power to be able to carefully plan and organise such a trap. I can only think of one and that would be those at the very top of those in power. The Marines were involved too but they were just carrying out their duties but they could be under the same manipulation as the others so it must be the World Government."

Dr Tsukimi went silent for a while then spoke in a warning tone. "Even if we know it, we cannot do a thing about it so we need to carefully guard ourselves and be smarter so we can not get caught in another one of their traps in the future."

Ein agreed with her teacher. "I will show you around my new laboratory. There are many ongoing projects that could use your help."

Dr Tsukimi looked very excited as his eyes landed on the many mechanical inventions within the room. "Is that a single pilot mech? More types of Automata? What about these human ones.. why do some of them look a little familiar? Interesting! Wait.. why is there an ape working in the lab?"

While the troublemakers and traitors were all being punished or excluded depending on the severity of their crimes, the teacher and his student along with a Devil Ape started to get back to their work within the lab.

The White Storm did suffer some losses in manpower and damages to some of the environment or their resources due to the schemes used against them but it was also helpful for them to spot and remove potential dangers from around them and within.

They also made full use of the situation to make a show to warn others against betraying in the future and the consequences that would follow depending on the severity of their crimes.