PFC Chapter 4179 is about the Supreme Sorcerer (9)
Chapter 4179 is about the Supreme Sorcerer (9)
Chapter 4179 is, The Supreme Mage (19)
When Strange led his men into the office, the Minister of Public Relations was still boasting to someone. Leaning back in his chair, feet propped on the edge of the desk, arms crossed, head bobbing:
"Ha, that finance minister is a complete show-off. He doesn't know a thing or two about finance, yet he gave me the entire budget for this quarter. That's a whopping 60 million! I'd like to see what he does when the other departments ask him for funding!"
With a bang, the door was pushed open. Strange, dressed as the Sorcerer Supreme, didn't say a word. He reached out, and golden light shone, instantly trapping the Minister of Public Relations in a cage made of golden lines.
"Oh my God!" everyone screamed and frantically ran in all directions. The propaganda minister was terrified; he let out a scream and then began shouting for help.
At this moment, the Supreme Intelligence arrived and shouted, "Stop!"
The next second, he was lifted up too. To be honest, he panicked for a moment, because he realized that if he used the same domineering attitude he had used in the Interstellar Council on the Sorcerer Supreme, it would be more likely to make him lose his mind and go on a killing spree. So he quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, "I mean, Your Excellency the Sorcerer Supreme, please calm down! Let's talk this out!"
Strange gave him a cold look before silently setting him down. The propaganda minister immediately began protesting his innocence upon landing:
"Your Holiness! The propaganda department has been diligently promoting environmental protection work. What have I done to offend you?! Yes, we applied for a little too much funding, but you also emphasized in the morning meeting that as long as it's effective, it's all worthwhile! If you go back on your word like this, who will be willing to work for you in the future?!"
The Supreme Wisdom sighed; he knew the Minister of Propaganda would try to make excuses.
The Minister of Publicity also felt he was quite right. He wasn't unaware that the Supreme Master wouldn't be so foolish as to not see that they were deliberately trying to scam funding and cause sabotage; however, even if he wanted to find fault with them, he would have to wait until the work was completed. After all, he himself had said at the morning meeting, "As long as it's effective, everything is worthwhile," so at least he had to wait for the results before discussing the quality of the work. Therefore, even though he had spent so much money, the Supreme Master could only grit his teeth and accept it for the time being.
But to his surprise, the Supreme Master was even more reckless than he had imagined. Forget about any results, the work hadn't even started yet, and he just barged in and demanded the money back. He really didn't understand politics at all.
However, this brute was simply too powerful, and no one dared to confront him head-on. If he were to be too forceful, even the Supreme Wisdom might not be able to save him. But the Minister of Propaganda was unwilling to back down so easily. He would definitely have to repay the money, but it would be better to take this opportunity to slightly damage the reputation of the Supreme Master.
He wasn't deliberately slandering them. Everyone heard it at the morning meeting: the Supreme Master encouraged them and even allowed them to approve large sums of money. But how long has it been? He's already gone back on his word. This is not the behavior of a wise ruler.
His words drew attention from many onlookers. While they knew humans lacked moral boundaries, this sudden change of heart was far too swift. No one likes a leader who is capricious, unable to distinguish right from wrong, praising you one moment and making you take the blame the next.
Seeing that the atmosphere was sufficiently built, the head of the publicity department rolled his eyes and then said, "I apologize, Venerable Master, I didn't mean to contradict you. Since you feel that the funds allocated to us are too much, then let the finance department take them back..."
The Supreme Intelligence desperately wanted to rush over and cover his mouth, but unfortunately, the entire room was now Strange's territory, and no one could move unless he gave the order. So he could only stand there, desperately trying to signal to the Minister of Public Relations.
Unfortunately, the Minister of Propaganda was from the Shi'ar Empire and hadn't undergone any mechanization modifications. He couldn't read the robots' expressions or receive their signals. So, he stubbornly walked to the computer to check the budget.
But at that moment, he was shocked to see that the tens of millions on the budget statement he had been looking at had turned into twenty trillion, and it had just changed, right in his sight. The numbers were increasing continuously in his field of vision, as if the system had malfunctioned.
“This…this system might be malfunctioning,” the propaganda minister said. “The numbers suddenly went wrong for some reason. Mr. Secretary-General, let’s check the system first…”
The Supreme Intelligence was too busy to deal with him, because it had already connected to the propaganda department's system.
The financial department's system data may have been altered, and the Supreme Intelligence is capable of accepting this. After all, humanity has super scientists like Stark, and the Interstellar Council's system, designed to facilitate such machinations by mechanical civilizations, wasn't particularly rigorous; it's perfectly normal for it to be hacked.
The Supreme Intelligence assumed the propaganda department hadn't changed its data because they were too late. However, if the propaganda department didn't change its data, the blame wouldn't fall on the propaganda minister. Therefore, they definitely had to change it, and they had to change it immediately.
So the first thing he did upon entering was connect to the propaganda department's system, install various monitoring plugins, and keep a close eye on every single piece of data. As a super electronic life form, this was a piece of cake for him.
He was confident that those emotional beings who could only read data through their senses would never be able to alter the data under his nose. Even if they could forcibly change it, he would definitely discover it, and if he caught them red-handed, the Sorcerer Supreme would lose face big time.
To his utter dismay, after waiting there for half a day, not only did he fail to capture anything, but the data was also altered right under his nose, and the person escaped unscathed. This was an absolute humiliation!
The opposing party destroyed all monitoring plugins in an instant, their data modification swift and decisive, catching the Supreme Intelligence completely off guard. Now, the problem arises: if the Supreme Intelligence falsifies data like humans, while there's a chance of protecting the Propaganda Minister, the opposing party's power surpasses that of the Supreme Intelligence. If caught red-handed, he'd lose his position as Secretary-General.
Whether to take the risk or give up, the supreme intelligence's main brain spun for ages, almost smoking, but still couldn't weigh the pros and cons.
"No, someone tampered with the data!! Someone tampered with the data!!! Mr. Secretary-General, someone has altered the system data!!!"
If the Supreme Intelligence had emotions, its expression would probably be, "You're really getting annoying." The data was altered right under its nose; how could it not know someone changed the data? The question is, how did it do it?
The head of the propaganda department wasn't stupid; he immediately realized this might be a trap set for him. Because if the data showed approved funds of 20 trillion, but the propaganda department's account didn't have that much money, where did the money go? Who would believe he didn't take it?
While the amount is somewhat exaggerated, he had mentioned in a previous morning meeting that the cost of promotion is very high, not only for Interstellar News Network but also for the new Huan Video campaign he planned to launch. Although the figure is large, it's not entirely unimaginable. This time, he's just shooting himself in the foot again.
So he could only turn his hopeful gaze to the Supreme Intelligence, because he knew that there was only one way to break the deadlock: for the Supreme Intelligence to find a way to change the data back.
The Supreme Intelligence was currently busy searching for the person who altered the data, but it couldn't find them or any trace of them. It was still baffled itself, so it had no time to concern itself with the Minister of Propaganda.
Seeing him like this, the propaganda minister felt a chill run down his spine. He gritted his teeth and trembled all over; at that moment, the weakness of his emotional life was revealed.
Logically speaking, the situation is already beyond repair. He will soon be proven guilty of embezzling a huge amount of public funds. If he turns against his former employer now, not many people will believe him. Instead, he may end up dragging himself and his family down with him.
The correct approach would be to take the blame and then gamble on the wisdom of the highest authority to win over the people and ensure a lenient punishment. Even if it goes to court, the maximum sentence would be a few years, after which he could return to politics as if nothing had happened. Considering how loyally he took the blame, he might even be able to advance further.
Unfortunately, when emotions run high, they lose their rationality. If the propaganda minister were a good-natured and intelligent person, he wouldn't have been the one to stick his neck out in the first place. So, gritting his teeth, he unleashed a torrent of abuse at the supreme intelligence: "You bastard! I've done so much for you, and now you want to abandon me?! You're dreaming!!!"
"Your Holiness, it's him! He's the one who approached me before the morning meeting and said that if I could put pressure on the Minister of Finance at the meeting, I could get more publicity funds, create a parliamentary funding crisis, and drag you down!!! It's him!!!"
The Supreme Intelligence's cooling system started spinning wildly again. Ever since Strange arrived, he felt that the aging rate of his cooling system had increased hundreds of times; the fans were even starting to jam, causing an extremely loud noise. Strange couldn't help but turn around and glance at him, as if afraid he might die there.
Just then, Strange heard a cough behind him. He turned around and saw Schiller winking at him.
Strange was a little confused. Right now, the three great empires were fighting like dogs, and he was enjoying the show. He shouldn't have any lines to write, right?
Schiller sighed helplessly and stepped forward, saying, "Minister, I completely understand. Things happened so fast that you didn't have time to come up with a defense, so you just wanted to find someone to shirk responsibility and minimize your own guilt. However, you can't slander and frame his secretary just because the Sorcerer Supreme revealed this. Do you think that will damage the Sorcerer Supreme's prestige? It will only make people think you're a petty person who's framing others and trying to sow discord between the Speaker and his secretary. That's really not clever."
"Since His Holiness the Venerable Master took office, the Speaker and the Secretary have worked together seamlessly without any friction. Why would the Secretary-General need to interfere with His Holiness the Venerable Master's environmental protection efforts? This is utterly delusional. You fabricated such a low-level rumor just to attract attention and divert everyone's focus. I believe everyone here is intelligent and no one will fall for it."
Strange stared wide-eyed at Schiller: "No, why are you speaking up for the people of the three great empires?"
Then he suddenly remembered that they had mentioned before that the Supreme Intelligence and he were from the same department, both belonging to the Speaker's Office. In other words, no matter how many disagreements they had, they could only discuss them behind closed doors and could never make a scene in public.
So he cleared his throat and said, "Yes, your way of making excuses won't work. Being able to distinguish right from wrong is a basic quality of a person, and no one will listen to your attempts to sow discord. I advise you to quickly tell me where the embezzled funds went, otherwise, no one can save you."