chsdbacks Chapter 72 Official Promotion
Chapter 72 Official Promotion
Chapter 72 Official Promotion
Alicia listened quietly.
She poured herself another cup of black tea, watching the brownish-red liquid ripple slightly as it trembled.
Only after the arguing subsided did she press the call button; her clear, cold voice drowned out all the noise.
"My uncles and elders."
Her voice, at this moment, possessed a penetrating power.
"You all heard it. Lowe didn't hide any details. He told us that the wheat was poisonous; he told us that it tasted like grit; he even told us that long-term consumption could cause mild hallucinations."
After speaking, Alicia's purple eyes stared directly at Fabian Valentine through the holographic projection.
"Uncle Fabian, you've also dealt with the Inquisition. Please tell me, if Rowe was truly corrupted by Chaos, if he really was a follower of Nurgle, what would he do?"
Fabian paused, then frowned and said, "He will—he will try to cover it all up."
"That's right."
Alicia approached the projector, placing her hands on the table, her posture resembling that of a lioness guarding her food.
"The true heretics will describe mutated wheat as a gift from the emperor, package toxins as sacred nectar, and try every means to trick us into eating it in order to complete their blasphemous rituals."
"But Lowe didn't do that."
"He was like a calm forensic pathologist, dissecting the toxicity of every grain of wheat, and planning how to detoxify it through high temperature and high pressure, turning it into even more despicable orc biscuits."
"He wrote down all the risks, side effects, and avoidance methods in black and white in the report."
Alicia's dignified gaze swept over the elders of the Executive Yuan, and she continued in a loud voice: "This frankness, this almost cold-blooded utilitarianism, precisely proves that he still has humanity."
"He maintained an absolute loyalty to the Governor's Office based on a contract, even if that loyalty was based on an exchange of benefits."
"If he wanted to harm us, he only needed to mix poisoned wheat into regular flour, and we might already be praising an evil god in our hallucinations."
"However, he chose to hand us the hilt of the knife—"
The secret room suddenly became quiet.
The elders looked at each other in bewilderment.
They were used to deception and shirking of responsibility in officialdom, so Luo Wei's behavior of compiling "evidence" into a table and submitting it directly was indeed so unusual that they couldn't refute it.
"The risks are still very high," the finance elder said weakly. "The war on the other side of the Great Rift is intense, and the latest interstellar communications indicate that next year's tithe may increase by 15%. If we put all our eggs in one basket with this madman—"
"Do we have any other options?"
Alicia countered with a question, throwing out her final trump card.
"If production doesn't increase, what will you use to fill the 15% shortfall? Will you take out the grain reserves hoarded by your family, or will you stuff all the serfs on your estates into processing plants to be made into starch?"
"If you can't pay your taxes by then, the court's black ship will arrive, and none of you will die with dignity."
This statement struck a nerve with everyone.
Faced with the pressure of survival, so-called dogmas and risks become secondary.
Fabian Valentine remained silent for a long time before slowly sitting back down in his chair.
The murderous intent in his eyes hadn't faded, only deepened and hardened. He said, "Very well, Governor. Since you insist, we can approve this appointment. Let him become the official head of that eastern granary."
"However, the Executive Yuan will not endorse his madness. Three months later, it will be the day of the first large-scale harvest."
"As is customary, the Ministry of the Interior will send people to conduct random inspections. If he fails to deliver on his promised yield, and if that wheat does indeed attract the attention of the court—"
"You won't need to lift a finger," Alicia said coldly. "I will personally initiate the purification process, using him as a scapegoat and throwing him into the incinerator to be burned to ashes."
"Very good, we'll wait and see."
Fabian nodded coldly.
The high-speed rail elevator is plummeting.
The feeling of weightlessness pressed against my eardrums.
The view outside the window quickly transitioned from a clear blue sky to a rolling sea of clouds.
Finally, it was swallowed up by the grayish-yellow industrial acid fumes that forever shrouded the earth's surface.
Inside the somewhat cramped cabin of the shuttle, there were only him and Lilith, the head of the guards responsible for escorting him.
The humming sound of the machinery was monotonous and tedious.
Luo Wei's thoughts were racing.
He was unaware that a hearing had just taken place inside the spire above him.
However, relying on his professional sensitivity as an auditor from his previous life, as well as his understanding of the imperial bureaucracy over the past month, he built a rough model in his mind.
This appointment came too quickly and carried too much weight.
Given the usual practices of the Imperial Executive Yuan, a low-level clerk with no connections would typically need a "probationary period" of three to five years to become a permanent employee.
During this process, there will be countless rounds of persuasion, wrangling, and the transfer of benefits.
Alicia skipped all the procedures and handed over real power over the Eastern Granary to him.
This is by no means simply because she admires his talent.
It's not because of any so-called "trust".
In the political arena, there is never a free lunch.
The only explanation is:
Alicia is facing unprecedented internal pressure and desperately needs a knife—a knife that can do dirty work, break the deadlock, and be discarded at any time when it breaks.
This appointment letter is both a scepter and a target.
She put him in a very difficult situation.
If he succeeds, Alicia can use this to subdue the old guys in the Executive Yuan and consolidate her position as governor.
If he fails, he will be the perfect scapegoat.
All the "heretical experiments" were his personal acts of madness and had nothing to do with the Governor's Office.
"What a shrewd investor!"
In his mind, Lowe defined the governor.
He was not angry.
On the contrary, this pure exchange of benefits made him feel at ease.
In a world filled with betrayal and fanaticism, only the bond of shared interests is the strongest chain.
The only way to avoid being abandoned is to continuously increase your value, making yourself a sharper and more irreplaceable tool.
What are you laughing at?
Lilith broke the silence.
She wore a black breathing mask, revealing only her sharp, hawk-like eyes.
Luo Wei suppressed his smile, neatly folded the appointment letter, and put it into the inside pocket of his jacket.
"I was thinking that although the air up there was fresh, it was definitely a bit oxygen-deficient."
Lilith turned her head and gave him a deep look.
"Director Lowe, you're a smart man. You should know that this piece of paper can make you powerful down here, or it can make you die a horrible death."
The elevator passed through the clouds, and the Seventh Agricultural War Zone below gradually became clear.
The massive grain storage complex resembled a colossal beast lurking in the smoke, with countless pipes and chimneys spewing out exhaust fumes.
"Those big shots at the top don't care much about the process, they only care about the result."
Lilith then revealed some more information to Rowe.
"Lady Alicia offended many people to protect you. Especially the Valentine family, who have been eyeing the lucrative eastern granary."
Valentine————
Upon hearing the name again, Luo Wei made it etched in his mind.
The nobleman who almost got appointed as the head of the Seventh Grain Depot, as mentioned by the governor, clearly comes from this family.
Upon learning that he had been officially promoted, this person must be so angry he wants to kill someone.
"Don't forget where your roots are." Lilith pointed to the filthy land below. "The winds are strong up there. Only by planting your roots deep in the dirtiest mud will you avoid being blown away."
"I've learned something." Lowe nodded and replied calmly, "I will put my roots deep. After all, nutrients only come from the mud."
The elevator crashed to the ground.
The airtight door is opened.
Rowe greeted Lilith and walked away.
Eastern granary, administrative building.
When Rowe stepped into the hall again, the atmosphere was completely different from before.
The news of his official appointment spread very quickly.
Once upon a time, those middle-level clerks who outwardly complied with his wishes but inwardly defied him.
-
Those clerks who had bet on him in the break room that he "wouldn't live past next month" with harsh words were now filled with trepidation.
Officials of all ranks stood ramrod straight and held their breath.
Although "agent" and "formal" differ by only two words, they are worlds apart in the balance of power.
The former is merely a paperhanger, someone who can be sacrificed at any time, a lump of mud used to plug leaks.
The latter means that it has received the dual endorsement of the Executive Yuan and the Governor-General's Office.
This means that within this walled territory, he possesses legitimate and unquestionable power of life and death.
Luo Wei ignored the fearful looks from the crowd.
His gaze swept coldly across the lobby before he walked straight toward the elevator.
Back in his office, he pressed the call button.
A moment later, old John pushed open the door and entered.
This gaunt old man, who usually hunched over and rolled in the mud of the refugee camp, was now beaming with health and his back was straight as a board.
For Luo Wei, being promoted to a permanent position was not just about securing a powerful backer.
It also means that he has gone from being a stray dog that could be kicked away at any time to a hunting dog with an owner.
"My lord, praise be to the Emperor! This is an extremely joyous occasion!"
Old John rubbed his rough hands together, his face plastered with a fawning smile.
"How about we give the workers an extra meal tonight to celebrate? Even just an extra spoonful of green soup would make them shout your name."
Lowe did not respond to old John's suggestion.
He took out the gold-embossed letter of appointment.
This is the tangible proof of power.
He then placed the appointment letter into the photocopier, and as the gears turned and the light flashed, ten copies, still smelling of warm ink, were ejected.
Lowe threw the stack of papers in front of old John.
"We won't eat more, John. Fear makes people remember who's in charge more effectively than food."
Lo Wei interlaced his fingers and rested them on his chin.
"Post these copies in the canteen, dormitories, workshops, and the most conspicuous places in the refugee camp, especially in the places where troublemakers are most likely to see them."
"I want everyone here, from the workshop supervisor to the lowest-level sanitation worker, to clearly realize one fact."
"Love said calmly, yet with an air of authority," he said.
"The previous chaos is over."
"From this day forward, here, my will is the only rule, and my orders are the only law."
He was not merely asserting power.
In a world where human life is cheap, chaos means inefficiency, and inefficiency means the inability to complete the tithe.
Failure to pay the tithe meant death.
He had to use this appointment to forcibly integrate all the scattered, chaotic, and disloyal hearts into his cold and efficient survival logic.
Only in this way can he, and these ants, live a little longer on this despairing planet.