PFC Chapter 4176 is about the Supreme Sorcerer (6)
Chapter 4176 is about the Supreme Sorcerer (6)
Chapter 4176 is, The Supreme Mage (Sixteen)
The following morning, the entire star sector where the Interstellar Council was located was still bustling with activity. Official ships came and went, and the lobby of the office building was packed with people. The only difference was that this time everyone was wearing a suit.
In fact, human creativity is quite strong, especially compared to mechanical life forms; they are much better at dressing themselves. However, unlike the Shi'ar Empire, they don't overdo it with ornamentation. Instead, they emphasize moderation and invest a lot of energy in developing diverse aesthetic styles. Take suits, for example: there are Italian, British, and American suits, and within these styles, there are retro and modern designs, old-fashioned tailoring, and new-style embellishments. They also pay attention to matching accessories, such as ties, cufflinks, and brooches; in short, there are many styles to choose from.
The Sorcerer Supreme had issued a strict order forbidding the wearing of Imperial attire, and no one dared to offend him at this critical juncture. So, despite their reluctance, some had no choice but to investigate what exactly this "suit" he was referring to was.
As mentioned before, because many humans in space wear tight-fitting suits, they have a stereotype of humans and naturally lower their expectations, even accepting that humans wear tight-fitting suits. However, a quick online search reveals that humans don't just wear tight-fitting suits; their everyday clothing is no different from that of other humanoid beings.
When the Creator created life, there was a universal template, so most beings in the universe are humanoid. Those that are not humanoid are mostly secondary civilizations that arose after the destruction of humanoid civilizations, and their level of civilization is generally not very high. Advanced civilizations are mostly humanoid, and even if their height, skin color, and appearance are different from humans, they all walk upright on two arms and two legs, so their clothing culture is not much different from that of humans.
They were surprised to find that, in terms of casual wear, humans were actually quite similar to them, mostly wearing loose-fitting clothes made of soft fabrics. And what they considered formal wear—suits—was a style somewhere between formal and casual wear.
Most aliens' formal attire is extremely ornate and complex; the Imperial attire is actually a simplified version, and the noble costumes of the Shi'ar Empire are even more extravagant. Surprisingly, human formal attire is even simpler than the Imperial attire, requiring neither adjustments to sashes nor the wearing of medals, and the style of the belt is not as elaborate.
Most people breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the style of the suits: firstly, they wouldn't have to wear tight-fitting clothes anymore; secondly, these clothes should be even more comfortable than the imperial uniforms, practically like wearing casual clothes to work. No worker dislikes wearing casual clothes; previously, due to the majesty of the three great empires, they had to wear those stiff military uniforms, the discomfort of which was unbearable. With Strange's order, they could finally openly slack off.
So the employees got over this hurdle without any psychological burden and sincerely hoped that His Holiness the Supreme Master could serve as Speaker for a longer period of time so that they could come to work in comfort.
There's a proper way to buy suits. They definitely can't order them from Earth—that's too far. Besides, even if they don't understand suits, they know that these clothes need to be tailored. They can't get into Earth's magical defense network, and the styles of these suits aren't complicated. You can tell what they're all about at a glance. It's better to find a tailor from their own civilization; they can even get some unique little designs.
Some shrewd individuals were already preparing to use this incident to demonstrate their stance to the Sorcerer Supreme. Therefore, they took it very seriously, working through the night to find the best tailors in their civilization to analyze a large number of human images. Some of the more capable ones even managed to find mutants and ask them for several suits to analyze, striving to be the most stylish person at the meeting the next day.
The vast majority of aliens unanimously chose British suits, mainly because British suits evolved from military uniforms. Some old-fashioned British double-breasted suits look similar to military uniforms and are also somewhat like imperial suits, making them more suitable for serious work occasions.
Some people in the Shi'ar Empire or its subordinate star systems prefer colorful Italian suits. However, even Italian suits pale in comparison to the very ornate imperial attire they usually wear; they are at most a bit more lively than English suits, and still look rather plain.
Some very clever and meticulous people did a thorough investigation into the background of the Sorcerer Supreme and learned that he was American. So they deliberately tailored the suits to resemble American suits, trying to make the Sorcerer Supreme feel the taste of home.
The next morning, when Strange entered the office for the routine meeting, he was stunned: the whole room was filled with people sitting neatly, regardless of whether they were yellow, purple, blue, or green-skinned, whether they were high elves, dwarf goblins, or even those with wings or tails, all of them were wearing human suits and sitting in their seats with serious expressions.
The scene looked rather strange, even a bit like the uncanny valley, but Strange didn't care. He figured the suit looked much better. So he cast a spell, changed into his favorite suit, and sat down in the main seat.
He said, “It seems you take what I said yesterday very seriously, that’s good. I hope you will continue to do so in the future.” Strange looked around and then said, “Okay, as I said yesterday, the work going forward may be different from what you’ve done before, and departmental functions may also be adjusted, so I’ll rearrange the seating: the heads of finance and commerce will sit to my right, and the head of resources to my left…”
Strange rearranged the seating, and unsurprisingly, everyone exchanged glances. However, it was quite clear that some people made more frequent eye contact, while their gazes towards others were tinged with considerable hostility.
“I don’t understand,” a burly man suddenly spoke up, “I’m the Minister of the Armed Forces Department, how can I sit at the very end?”
Everyone looked in his direction. There was a long table, and he was sitting in the last row, very far away from Strange. He was originally sitting in the second row, after the Department of Commerce and the Department of Security.
The difference between the Armed Forces and the Security Department is similar to that between the military and the police. The Interstellar Council has its own army, called the Interstellar Peacekeeping Force, which is a joint force of the three great empires and is under the command of the Armed Forces.
The Security Department also has its own armed forces, officially known as the Interstellar Security Police, but these are mainly composed of local armed forces from various star systems. This might sound unfamiliar, but it becomes much simpler if we start with the Guardians of the Galaxy.
In the Guardians of the Galaxy comics, a recurring faction is the Nova Corps from Xandar. They have protected the galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy for many years, often fighting alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy. The Nova Corps is part of the Security Department's security police force.
On one side are the elite troops of the three great empires, and on the other side are militias cobbled together from various local armed forces. It goes without saying who is stronger. Therefore, the Security Department has always been inferior to the Armed Forces Department—the Armed Forces Department is the military guarantee for the three great empires to control the Interstellar Council.
The Minister of Armed Forces has always been an official within the three great empires, and this time was no exception. Schiller submitted a list including two Kree generals and one Skrull general; ultimately, he chose the Skrull general, the large man speaking now.
“Alright,” Strange waved his hand and said, “As I said, the focus of our work in the next phase has shifted. We need to concentrate on environmental protection. And when it comes to getting to the grassroots level, your Armed Forces Department is simply not as reliable as the Security Department. Do you know how many civilizations exist in Cygnus? Do you know their relationships with each other? Who is the strongest in the galaxy? Who is in charge? What about Andromeda? What about Triangulum? Your Armed Forces Department deals with the most dangerous war events in the universe; how can you spend your days dealing with these trivial matters?”
These words were a mix of praise and criticism, leaving General Skrull speechless. After all, Strange was telling the truth: their armed forces didn't understand the situation at the grassroots level in space, and he was just a general who only knew how to lead troops; the thought of doing environmental protection work gave him a headache. Thinking about it this way, it was actually a good thing he wasn't transferred to the front lines; at least he had troops under his command, and no one could do anything to him.
So he fell silent. Then, another tall, thin man stood up and said, “Supreme Master, if we’re going to do environmental protection work, our propaganda department should be at the forefront. Do you really want the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do propaganda work? Although they understand the basic civilizations of the universe, they are laymen in propaganda. We are the most professional propaganda personnel.”
"Yes, you guys are really professional. My outline of the agenda hasn't even been sent out yet, but the news about our environmental protection work has spread throughout the entire interplanet. You're really efficient."
"But to carry out environmental protection work, we must promote it vigorously. We must first make them realize how important environmental protection is before we can carry out subsequent work."
"I didn't say you did anything wrong, ma'am, or maybe sir. I just want to ask: where does the money for buying the front page headline and banners on Star News Network for a whole day come from?"
"It's using the propaganda department's propaganda funds," the propaganda minister said confidently. He was certainly confident because he came from a finance background, and there couldn't be any problems with the funding approval process and usage. The guy in the finance department was a complete novice; he probably couldn't even read the budget approval reports and couldn't possibly find fault with him.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, the Minister of Finance stood up and said, "Supreme Master, I was just about to say this. I fully understand the importance of environmental protection and know that we should increase publicity efforts to educate the citizens of interstellar society about the importance of environmental protection. However, they are spending too much money. If this continues, we will be in debt before the end of the quarter."
Strange nodded and said, "Environmental protection is important, but we can't just waste things without restraint."
“But the Interstellar News Network has a huge influence. Most citizens of interstellar society open the Interstellar News Network to get the latest information and buy their front-page headlines for publicity, which is very effective.” The Minister of Publicity was not flustered at all. He took out a PDA, projected the data onto the center of the table, and then said, “Moreover, thanks to the efforts of all the staff in the Publicity Department, the tweets on environmental protection were written in a simple and easy-to-understand way, which were captivating. The click rate reached 26%, and the completion rate was 70%. The editors of the Interstellar News Network all said that this was an unprecedented success. Although the budget was a bit high, it was completely worth it for such results.”
Strange looked at the data on the panel and nodded in satisfaction, saying, "Not bad, the Minister of Publicity makes sense. Although the price is a bit high, the effect is good in the end. We should focus on results in our work. If we reduce costs and increase efficiency too much, it may slow down the progress of the work, which would not be worth it."
"Supreme Mage, although the headlines on the Interstellar News Network have a lot of publicity, if we're talking about what young people really like, then it has to be New Ring Video. It's the largest video website in the entire interstellar space, with hundreds of millions of popular podcasts from all over the universe. If we could place ads on this website, the publicity effect would definitely be much better."
"No, Sorcerer Supreme! Just because this website is the most popular video website in the entire universe, podcasts on it are extremely expensive, easily costing hundreds of thousands of universal coins, and that's just for the cost of inserting ads between videos. If we were to ask them to produce a standalone commentary video, it would probably cost millions. That's just too expensive!"