Meanwhile, Charlie was continuing his road trip with Vera, only starting their return to Oslo after sunset.

Along the way, Vera suggested, "Since you're planning to hit the Nigerian base when the three elders of the Elder Council depart, why not seize this timing to extend Earthnet's reach to the country, too? The three elders of the Elder Council will most likely be flying, and with eyes on the ground, we could get a fix on their position when they leave the borders."

Charlie nodded. "Sure, but we need to do this in two separate steps. The first is to have our people head to Nigeria and buy out various vending machine companies. The other is to purchase our own custom hardware, as the vending machines locally at present won't have security cameras equipped."

"I agree," Vera smiled. "And the security cameras equipped need to have internet connectivity, so we can demonstrate it as a direct upgrade to present machines. After that, we will also customize the vending machines so that th