Manino's heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself that it was exactly as he suspected. Goodman had indeed faced immense external pressure to make such a decisive call, essentially sacrificing ERAD without a second thought.
Not daring to pry, Manino quickly replied, "Understood! Mr. Goodman, you can leave it to me!"
After hanging up, Manino urged the helicopter pilot, "Why are we crawling? Speed it up!"
The helicopter was already flying quite fast, but the pilot dared not argue. "Yes, Mr. Manino!" he replied hastily.
The pilot pushed the aircraft near its safety limits, accelerating as they rushed toward kuachakuros.
ERAD paced the length of Madel's office, restless and cornered.
Manino's order had come at the worst possible time. If it had been delayed just a little longer, Madel's men would have finished the job. Once the deed was done, higher-ups couldn't say much. After all, handling things this way fit perfectly within the Bay group's standard operating procedures.
