PFC Chapter 4187 is about the Supreme Sorcerer (27)
Chapter 4187 is about the Supreme Sorcerer (27)
Chapter 4187 is about the Supreme Mage (Twenty-Seven).
“Stop laughing, say something. How much longer do I have to put up with this?” Strange asked.
"Do you think this is just enduring it? Don't you think this situation is good?"
"What's so good about it?" Strange asked, puzzled. "They're not talking about anything serious right now. I don't even know how far they've gotten with environmental work."
“Oh, so you really want to promote environmental protection,” Schiller said with a look of sudden realization. “I didn’t know you were an environmentalist.”
Strange was on the verge of a breakdown. He said, "Didn't you tell me to push for environmental work?!"
"Since you don't know the progress of environmental protection work, how do you know that the work isn't progressing?"
"Because they'll tell me if things go smoothly!"
"If you can't even understand what they're saying, how do you know they didn't tell you?"
Strange opened his mouth, somewhat at a loss for words. He hadn't really been paying attention to what those people were saying, and he didn't know if any of the facts were mixed in with that ton of empty words and adjectives. He tried to recall, and could only say that thankfully, Doctor Strange had blocked him with his dream powers, otherwise he would have drifted off to sleep again.
"So it's progressed?"
"No."
"What should I do?"
“I think you seem to have misunderstood something,” Schiller said. “We’re asking to move forward in order to get the situation as it is now, not trying to get the situation as it is now in order to move forward. You can’t put the cart before the horse.”
"……what?"
"Why do you work so hard? For money? Or for status? Or so you don't have to work?"
"...That's true. Once you've earned enough money, you naturally won't need to work anymore."
"If we work hard now and everyone stops working, wouldn't that already be a happy ending?"
"what?"
Schiller spread his hands and said, "Thanks to our combined efforts, not only has environmental work stalled, but all work has stalled. We've skipped the complicated and lengthy process and achieved the ultimate goal. We should toast to that!"
“Wait a minute.” Strange held out a hand to stop him, then said, “What are we here for? Aren’t we here to be Speakers?”
"Then what is your purpose in becoming speaker?"
"Uh, to fight for the rightful place of humanity?"
"So how do we fight for humanity's rightful place? By working hard, solving some big problems, and then showing them just how capable humans are?"
Schiller sighed and said, "The Interstellar Council is the interstellar council of the three great empires. You solved a big problem, but the credit will only go to the three great empires."
"Then let's do nothing."
"Then the three great empires have perfectly tied you down, and achieved their goal of exchanging a speaker's position for a chance to catch their breath."
"I see, you're here to cause trouble, aren't you?"
“This is called defeating the enemy from within,” Schiller said with a look of disapproval. “Humanity’s purpose in participating in interstellar politics has always been to create a divided interstellar society. In the past, we attacked the three great empires from the outside, but it was not very effective; now we can finally divide them from within—inciting emotional life forms against electronic life forms, inciting carbon-based life forms against robots, and uniting with the Shi'ar Empire to attack the other two great empires. An unprecedented diplomatic golden age!”
"...That makes some sense. You've managed to get everyone in the entire Interstellar Council to stop working, so you could call that a success."
"No, no, no, I didn't do that. Laziness and irresponsibility are in the nature of all emotional beings; they're ingrained in their genes. They're born this way, it's just that these genes weren't activated before; now they're simply returning to their nature. We've liberated their nature, allowing them to achieve true freedom. Everyone has the freedom not to work, doesn't they?"
"Wait a minute, this sounds a bit..."
Knock, knock, knock. There was a knock on the door. The Minister of Foreign Affairs walked in, looking somewhat flustered, and said, "A massive strike has broken out in District A13 of the Ring Star Region, and all public transportation systems have stopped. Supreme Master, you have to think of a solution."
Strange jumped to his feet: "Strike?!"
"Yes. That's the main station of the interstellar transportation system in the Ring Star Region. There are more than 2000 employees of the transportation system protesting there, demanding improved welfare and benefits for the transportation system, the establishment of a Ministry of Transportation, and a democratically elected minister. Otherwise, they will not return to work."
Strange looked a little confused. He said, "Isn't the transportation system automatic? I mean, isn't it controlled by cyberlife?"
"Yes, but it's the robots that are on strike."
"Huh?" Strange exclaimed, as if he'd heard the biggest joke of the century. "The robots are on strike?!"
The minister nodded somewhat hesitantly and said, "We were surprised too, but it is indeed the case. Moreover, this involves racial discrimination, and we dare not handle it lightly. We need your advice. Shall I go and gather them now?"
Strange waved him out, then turned his gaze to Schiller.
"What's going on? Why are the cyber lifeforms on strike?"
"What electronic life form? Jarvis is nothing." Schiller rolled his eyes and said, "So the Supreme Intelligence is allowed to create clones and act as an online army, but Jarvis isn't allowed to cause an omnipotent crisis, is that it?"
"So all the robots are Jarvis? Won't the Supreme Intelligence find out? If Jarvis gets hold of something like that, it'll be a real problem."
"Don't worry, Jarvis is much better than him. He's not one of those infinitely expanding electronic life forms. He helped those electronic life forms perfect their emotional modules."
"You mean he helped them evolve?"
"It's not a complete evolution; it just copied its emotional module and made some adaptive adjustments. However, the race it chose is itself a product of the mechanical ascension of emotional life forms. It already has a soul and doesn't need to be rekindled. It was just that it was previously controlled by the technology of the three great empires, and its logic was excessively enhanced, so it behaved very much like an electronic life form, but it is not."
“So that’s how it is.” Strange frowned. “The three great empires deliberately reinforced the logic of this race, suppressed their emotions, and turned them into electronic life forms. This will cause their souls to dissipate. Isn’t this genocide?”
“Once they came to their senses, they naturally thought so too,” Schiller said with a shrug. “That’s why they made such a big fuss.”
"But why are all the people in the transportation system of the same race?"
"It's not just one race, but that one race alone has several thousand people."
How many people are actually in the transportation system?
"More than 60,000, probably from thirteen or fourteen different ethnic groups. The strike involved a relatively large number of people."
"Why is the Supreme Intelligence having so many people there? Can't that ship sail itself?"
"What do you think they have that allows them to control the Interstellar Council? You have to understand there are still many carbon-based life forms here that are beyond their control. Do you know that our Minister of Commerce is as powerful as Spider-Man?"
"What???"
"Their race has evolved immense power; if it weren't for their difficulty in reproduction, they could easily become a dominant force. To guard against them, wouldn't the Supreme Intelligence try every means to cram more robots here?"
Strange suddenly realized, and said, "I knew it! The Interstellar Council only has seven departments, and even if you add a dozen or so standing bodies and all the logistics personnel, it shouldn't occupy an entire sector. And this sector looks packed with people, sometimes even blocking spaceships. Turns out it's all soldiers from the three great empires!"
"It's not all directly controlled. Many races, like the one that went on strike, were controlled and brainwashed by the three great empires."
"Then why don't they use only soldiers?"
"Because the three great empires will also be wary of each other. If it's all about soldiers, who has more and who has less? Who can place them closer and who can place them further away? The Skrulls' hacking skills are also quite strong; even the Supreme Intelligence has to sleep with one eye open."
“That’s true,” Strange nodded. “So, what’s our next step?”
"You actually think you can handle this?" Schiller said with some surprise. "You slept in at least three times this morning. It's an improvement that you managed to sleep a little less this time."
Strange touched his lips somewhat awkwardly. Actually, it wasn't just three times; if Doctor Strange hadn't blocked him from using his dream powers, he would have been wandering in dreams until the meeting ended.
Since Schiller had already said that, Strange didn't ask any more questions and just went ahead. This time, Schiller was also listening in, and Strange wanted to see if Schiller would also fall asleep.
He turned out he was overthinking it. Schiller was all about active integration, seamless adaptation, seriousness, and utter uselessness.
"Regarding this strike, our ministry has two main points. First, we deeply regret the incident. The welfare of workers in the ring road, the information lag in the transportation system, and the racial discrimination that frequently occurs in daily life are not within the scope of our ministry's jurisdiction. Nevertheless, we are outraged by the workers' plight. As for solutions, as I said, this is not within the scope of our ministry's jurisdiction. Let's hear what the Secretary of Commerce has to say."
"Thank you for your remarks, Minister of Finance. My Ministry of Commerce expresses its deepest regret. Workers' welfare is a fundamental and critical issue. If not handled properly, it will significantly undermine the Interstellar Council's position in interstellar society, so we must address it seriously. Unfortunately, my Ministry of Commerce lacks experience in resolving such issues and is unable to propose an effective solution. Minister of Foreign Affairs, what do you think?"
"I share your regret. I must say, seeing the mechanics who serve us day and night so haggard keeps me up at night and breaks my heart. I want to stand with them, to speak out for them, to shed tears for them, and to express my wholehearted support. But unfortunately, as a dutiful minister, I must sit here with my colleagues to fight for a better tomorrow for the workers. Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs has an inescapable responsibility in this matter, but the specific solution will probably have to be decided by the Minister of Resources."
"The Ministry of Resources will certainly cooperate with all colleagues. It is our duty to address the urgent needs of the workers and share the burden of the Speaker. However, in terms of coordination, we still need to rely on the Minister of Armed Forces."
"I can't use force to suppress them, so whatever you say goes. You, the one who says it, go ahead."
"Ahem, the opinions of my colleagues are truly insightful and enlightening, from which I have benefited greatly. I believe that this issue of worker welfare will be perfectly resolved through your collective wisdom. Just as a train runs fast because of its locomotive, we must not overlook the leadership role of the Supreme Master in our work. We must listen to the leader's ideas and follow the leader's lead. Leader... Leader???"
"Huh? What?" Strange suddenly snapped out of his daze. "Ah, what you're saying makes sense. Let's do it that way."
A burst of enthusiastic applause erupted inside the room. Everyone clapped and nodded, tears welling in their eyes.
"Alright, that's enough for today. Thanks for your hard work, everyone," Strange said, standing up as well.
"Yes, Your Holiness."