Chapter 941: Chapter 941

Dawn City · Glorious Palace

The bright daylight shone on the old stone desk as a man in a white shirt tiredly flipped through the documents in his hands.

At that moment, a crisp knocking sound came from outside the door.

The man closed the file in his hand and looked up at the office door.

Then the office door was pushed open, and a man with a silver ponytail, holding a translucent tablet, walked into the office.

He looked up at the person sitting behind the desk and closed the office door with his hand, "Did you stay up late again?"

"I spent some time last night organizing some documents,"

Christos looked up at the ponytailed man, rubbed his palms together, warmed his palms, and placed them on his cheeks. After a brief wait, he dropped his hands, seemingly somewhat revitalized, and asked with a hint of puzzlement, "Is there something the matter?"

"You might want to look at this."

The ponytailed man handed the tablet to Christos.

The dimmed screen of the tablet slowly lit up, and the original glass-like translucent shape began to display an image.

In the picture was an energetic elderly man, sitting behind a marble desk, seemingly saying something.

Christos rubbed his brow, took the tablet, and watched its content, "Is he giving a speech? About this morning’s events? Denouncing last night’s assassination attempt?"

As Christos asked, the elderly man’s calm voice echoed in the sunny office, and as the man’s words continued, Christos’s previously weary gaze gradually sharpened, revealing a glimmer of liveliness.

He reached out and turned up the volume on the tablet.

The ponytailed man didn’t say anything, just stood by, quietly watching Christos, waiting for his reaction.

The sunlight outside the window shone on both sides of the desk, illuminating the silhouettes of two men, one sitting and one standing.

The whole office was exceptionally quiet, with only the elderly voice giving the speech from the tablet computer in between them.

Just as the elderly man had said at the beginning of the speech, the speech was not long. Even though he spoke slowly, making sure everyone understood his words, it still only took about ten minutes.

When the entire speech ended, Christos, sitting behind the desk, put down the tablet, and the tiredness in his eyes had completely dissipated.

He raised his head and looked at the ponytailed man in front of him, taking a deep breath, "He’s trying to establish a pathway, one that bypasses the city council, bypasses the traditional media, bypasses all the propaganda institutions of the former Yilan City, a channel that directly ’communicates’ with the grassroots citizens."

"From what we have learned before, the city council of Yilan City has always been in a state of disarray, and the Ruling Alliance established by Mayor Lin En in the city council is actually not very stable and can easily be splintered by the consortiums," the silver-haired man said softly, looking down at the tablet screen.

"And the majority of Yilan City’s major media are also under the control of those large consortiums. Given the current situation, those consortiums would rather he died sooner rather than later, so they will not only refuse to cooperate with him in spreading his message but will also have all their media smear him."

"So in his situation, he has no other choice,"

Christos leaned back in his chair, his eyes also fixed on the image on the tablet, and finally, he let out a soft sigh, "Very bold."

The ponytailed man also sighed then looked up at Christos, "But isn’t this approach a bit too drastic? By openly showing hostility towards the consortiums and laying all the hidden issues bare, isn’t he making himself a target and putting himself in an even more dangerous position?"

"His situation couldn’t get any more dangerous than it already is,"

Christos looked up at the window, "Whether or not he actively instigated the conflict, he has already become a target of the Consortium,

"As the fourth-largest city in the Federation and adjacent to Dawn City, now that we hold Dawn City, if Yilan City were to have a leader inclined towards the reform faction like us, and he managed to consolidate control over the city,

"Then, leveraging these two cities to spread outward, the grip of the large Consortiums over the entire Federal East would be greatly weakened.

"So they cannot tolerate another mayor like Linen emerging in Yilan City, which is why they are going to great lengths to obstruct Linen’s policies and strangle him in his mayoral position.

"This is not just about handling the situation in Yilan City but also the entire Federal East, and even the entire Federation’s landscape.

"They aim to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys, to show us, as well as all the cities in the Federation, what happens to those who oppose them; they want to completely crush ’K’ and the ethos we’ve brought about.

"And the scale of Yilan City just happens to be the perfect ’chicken’: it is neither as powerful as Dawn City, which would require significant effort to overcome, nor as insignificant as other smaller cities, which wouldn’t send a deterrent message to the entire Federation.

"So as you just said, Linen is actually at the very heart of the entire whirlwind, and his situation is much worse than ours.

"He doesn’t have stable support in the city council; the council is perennially in the Consortium’s grip, council members are fickle, and his governing group has likely lost control. The Consortium’s power permeates the city, and even the loyalty of the City Defense Army is not firm; an assassination could happen at any moment.

"On the surface, he holds the highest authority as mayor, but in reality, he could end up dead on the streets at any time.

"In such dire straits, his choice to lay all cards on the table, circumventing the Consortium’s many years of arrangements in Yilan City’s upper class by maximally utilizing his identity to try uniting the power of Yilan’s citizens, seemed a bit ’overly radical’ on the surface, but was actually a very cunning move,"

Christos bowed his head down, then looked again at the Elderly man sitting at the tablet,

"A clear and firm viewpoint is needed to resonate with those he wants to influence. Any wavering or ambiguity usually results in losing favor with both sides.

"He is acutely aware of who his potential supporters are, who his friends are, what stance represents his supporters, what the people of Yilan City truly want, and how to promptly inform his potential supporters that he is a leader of their cause and worthy of their trust."

"He has completely torn off the facade that was camouflaging the storm, exposing its naked ferocity for all to see, including those previously muffled by the facade, who now have the chance to perceive the storm’s true form and choose their path.

"This may cause the storm to appear even more cutting and vicious, but for those who were blind to the tempest yet still had to bear its consequences, it is a blessing. At least, they now have an opportunity to fight for something in this tempest."

"It sounds like the strategy of a very shrewd and wily politician,"

The ponytail man opened his mouth slightly and sighed, "When Linen was here, I thought he was more of an indecisively kind-hearted kind of person."

"I too assumed he was too soft for a leader; indecisiveness isn’t exactly a compliment in this context.

"However, it seems he’s actually concealed quite a lot; after all, he’s an old predecessor of many decades—there must be something to him,"

Christos slightly turned his head and glanced out the window at the city bathed in brilliant sunlight,

"After all, nobody within the Federation has ever done something before, and his speech capitalized on the Assassination case’s momentum. Probably no one anticipated that he would make such a move, and it likely caught the Consortiums by surprise.

"But the effect would only be this immediate if it was enacted this morning. A delay would have given the opposition time to prepare, rendering this move ineffective.

"If I were in a similar position, I doubt I could have made such a resolute decision in such a short period,"

"Some think an old lion has lost its fangs, looks like they’re about to be severely schooled by this old lion."

Then he redirected his gaze to the pile of thick documents beside him, "However, since he has started the fight over there, we need to lend a hand here, giving the Consortium folks something to worry about,

"This isn’t just a battle for Yilan City, but a larger game involving the future of us all and the future of the Federation. If the Consortiums concentrate their power and take out Linen, we’ll be next."

"So we’re working late tonight?"

The ponytail man looked at the pile of documents.

"Call over the staff team,"

Christos picked up the documents, "We need to speed things up, try to finish this tonight."

The ponytailed man extended his hand, raising his wristband as if preparing to contact the staff team. Then, he seemed to suddenly remember something, looked at Christos, and quickly said, "Linen’s daughter is still at Dawn University."

"We should send some extra security over there,"

Christos nodded slightly and then seemed to recall something else, looking at the ponytailed man and pondering before asking, "Have you heard from Viktor?"

"He sent a message not long ago, saying that he’s found the opportunity for promotion to B-level. It should be soon."

The ponytailed man recalled for a moment, then replied.

"Try to get in touch with him to see if he has any suggestions. He’s an expert in both assassination and protection. Some things would be much easier to handle with him around."

Christos sighed softly.

The ponytailed man nodded lightly, lifted his wristband, and dialed the number of the Glorious Palace’s chief of staff.

Yilan City· White Jasmine Palace

Raindrops flowed down the corridor’s glazed windows, turning into slender streams that slid down the glass.

"Follow this corridor inside, and then walk forward to the edge, and you will reach the Mayor’s office."

The man with the goatee stood beside the lean man, gesturing down the corridor as he spoke softly.

"There are no guards in this corridor?"

The lean man’s gaze drifted around as he saw the narrow corridor, his brow slightly furrowed.

"It looks like most of the Mayor’s Guard have gone to escort office staff to the safe room, which is why it seems so deserted here,"

The man with the goatee also glanced around, "But the number of guards at the Mayor’s Mansion today seems a bit low; I haven’t seen many just now."

"Most of the Mayor’s Guard are out there stopping our people."

The lean man replied calmly.

He lifted his head and looked up the vacant corridor.

He knew well that these corridors should be riddled with various types of cameras; he had seen the White Jasmine Palace’s inner security facility layout given to him.

Although he didn’t know how they got their hands on it, it was evident that the internal protection of the White Jasmine Palace was far less stringent than usual.

Even though the remarks on the security facility layout stated that due to the prolonged peace and stability, the White Jasmine Palace’s security had not been as strict as required, it still shouldn’t be the deserted state it was now.

Could it really be that due to most of the Mayor’s Guard being sent out, with the small remainder diverted to guide staff into the safe rooms, the entire security status found itself unprecedentedly vacant?

Is his luck really that good?

"Are you sure Linen is in the Mayor’s office?"

The lean man turned around and looked at the man with the goatee.

The goatee man was startled by his cold stare, then nodded firmly, "I asked the members of the Mayor’s Guard who came to the Cabinet meeting room earlier, and they said Linen is in the office right now."

"He told you just because you asked?"

The lean man slightly raised an eyebrow.

"I am still the Minister of Cabinet Education, after all."

The man with the goatee took a deep breath, straightened up, and said coldly.

Standing behind the two men, the chubby man looked up at him but remained silent.

"Let’s go, you go first,"

The lean man gestured with a wave for the man with the goatee to lead the way.

The man with the goatee hesitated for a moment but then quickened his pace, proceeding down the corridor.

The lean man followed behind, scanning the corners where cameras were hidden as he moved.

Relying on human oversight for each camera’s feed is slow, so Federation mainstream security surveillance combines intelligent monitoring with manpower.

Intelligent algorithms mark everyone inside the White Jasmine Palace; should any unfamiliar person be detected, an alert is sent to the security personnel watching the monitors.

At this moment, the clothes on the lean man were specifically designed to deceive the intelligent algorithms of the White Jasmine Palace surveillance equipment.

These garments hid many optical lines, clearly distinguishable to the human eye but would disrupt algorithms once captured by cameras, identifying his movements as ’objects’ rather than people, preventing alerts.

However, the time he could buy with this ruse was actually very limited.

Aside from the intelligent algorithms, there were people watching.

Whether and when he would be discovered largely depended on when the security staff would see him.

But with two familiar ’Cabinet members’ at his side, perhaps at first glance, there would be no great suspicion.

He couldn’t gamble any longer, though.

Under the lead of the lean man, the three men continued forward, finally reaching the end of the corridor.

Throughout the entire journey, no surprises occurred, and no alarms were tripped.

The lean man lifted his gaze to the office door ahead, looking at the plaque marked ’Mayor’s Office,’ and for a moment, felt bewildered.

Was it really this easy?

Could it be that Linen actually wasn’t in this office and had already gone to the safe room?

Is that why there were no security personnel on this floor? Is that why no one had discovered them yet? Because their focus was not on this floor’s corridor at all?

Why would this so-called ’Minister of Education’ deceive him into coming to this office? Was there an ambush inside?

After a brief hesitation, the lean man looked at the man with the goatee beside him and stepped aside, "You open the door."

The goatee man was taken aback for a moment, then clenched his teeth, put his hand on the doorknob, and slowly pushed open a gap.

There was silence behind the door; nothing stirred.

Watching the goatee man’s cautious actions, the lean man grabbed his arm, hiding behind him, and suddenly thrust the door wide open?

No one and no ambush.

As the cluttered chairs near the office entrance came into his view, his tense heart eased slightly.

It was an empty room; Lin En was most likely already in a safe room.

Then, his gaze inside halted abruptly.

At the end of the room, behind the old marble desk, the elderly man with white-flecked hair closed the book in his hands, looked up at the people at the door, his eyes falling on the lean man,

"Finally here? Pick a spot to sit down; I just happen to have a few questions for you."