Volume 3: Warfire in the Cold Wind Chapter 23: Chairman of the Continental Congress

  Here is the translation:

  "At present, although we have eliminated Sophia-Liard's army, Emon Port has almost been reduced to ruins, and soldiers are either dead or fled. The southern states are said to have been drained of their last soldier, with even the dead in the tombs being enlisted by the local parliaments, but unfortunately, they forgot to bring along the necromancers.

  Charlotte changed the subject again, shifting from sex trade to military politics, "My old troops are almost all left in your legion, and apart from the allocated funds, there's hardly anything else. The local parliaments have such an attitude, it's really difficult for me to conjure up a whole legion out of thin air within these few months!"

  "Are you going to take people away from the Giant Bear Corps again?" Phil looked at Charlotte with a tight gaze, his body involuntarily shrinking back, like a customer clutching their purse in front of an unscrupulous salesperson. "You're just staying behind and enjoying the comforts, but I'm the one who has to go to the front lines and fight for my life! Rick, the best at training troops, has already been taken away by you, you can't poach again!"

  "No, no, no," Charlotte hastily waved her hand. "The combat effectiveness of the Giant Bear Corps has already dropped to almost the same level as the local garrison, and it's really not feasible to withdraw more troops. Besides, when the weather warms up a bit later, you'll have to send troops northward, and in any case, you must prioritize ensuring your military strength on this side."

  "What do you want to say?" Phil relaxed a bit, but still didn't let his guard down, staring straight at Charlotte with eyes like a thief, making the atmosphere a little awkward for a moment.

  "Here's the thing," Charlotte said, rubbing her hands together and flashing a fervent grin. "I think that bunch of thugs under Grand Druid Vini would make an ideal strike team - they don't need to be paid and they're not likely to run off. So I was wondering if you could ask Mr. Vini if he could send some relatives or friends my way? We'll treat them like royalty, of course! They just have to be druids. Magic level doesn't matter, as long as they can summon a bunch of fierce animals!"

  He was actually envious of the Great Druid's misfortune bear corps and wanted to get some formidable animals to become his own cannon fodder. Phil felt relieved, but still felt a bit puzzled, "This shouldn't be a big problem, but why didn't you go tell him yourself?"

  "Because you come and go often, you're quite familiar!" Charlotte chuckled, continuing to rub her hands.

  He's often been exploited and oppressed by him, Feili rolled her eyes, and didn't even think about how many times she had taken advantage of the great Druid. "Okay, I'll go try, but whether it will work or not, I'm not sure, after all, I don't know much about my relationship with Mr. Vinnie."

  "You just have to open your mouth and it's done. Also, Speaker Zena came by earlier and asked me to attend tonight's celebration banquet, which is also her and our inauguration ceremony." Charlotte pulled out a red invitation card with golden letters from her pocket and waved it in front of Phi. "Tonight at 6 o'clock, City Hall. This is your copy, be sure to arrive on time. And don't forget to dress up nicely."

  "Got it, I'll bring Lenny along then." Phil took the invitation and glanced at it briefly before putting it in his pocket. He stood up to leave, "I won't disturb you and the two beauties getting cozy. Continue with your 3P fun, if you need any adult toys just let me know, I'll give you a 30% discount for old times' sake."

  "I don't want your counterfeit products!"

  However, things don't always go as planned. Eight or nine times out of ten, even if you seem to have grasped a delicious roasted chicken, it can turn into tasteless dry bread in the blink of an eye. This is especially true in politics.

  The city government of New Masobra City has a unique feature of the new continent, it is not built in the urban area, but is excavated on one side of the road leading to the ground in this underground city, half an hour's drive from the city center. Just like many leaders now, for the sake of a spacious and atmospheric workplace, they move their government offices to the suburbs, and also sell the old houses in the city center at a good price. Leaders with cars are fine, but the subordinate staff suffer, having to get up early and work late, wasting precious life on meaningless commuting.

  After struggling with the crowded traffic and pedestrian flow for nearly half a day, Fei Li finally arrived at the dinner party venue with his girlfriend. Standing at the entrance of the packed banquet hall, he had some irresponsible wild thoughts.

  As it was built outside the city, the municipal government's building area appears to be quite large, but the exterior decoration and interior design still reflect the local characteristics of the new continent, even the ground is not very flat. Simply put, it is easy to be misunderstood as a hastily decorated unfinished building, with red carpets and various cheap decorations laid out in key areas, waiting to fool the visiting senior leaders.

  "This is still better, at least it's not like the parliament building being turned into a casino, and officials having to work from their own homes!" Renny commented.

  According to the imperial law, after the speaker of each state is elected, he automatically takes office as the mayor of the city where the parliament is located. The local taxes of the city can be retained by themselves, and all official positions in the municipal government are appointed by the speaker himself, with great power. However, correspondingly, the salaries of all employees of the municipal government, as well as the decoration and maintenance of government buildings, must also be borne by the state speaker out of his own pocket. The term of office of the speaker is only one year, and he cannot be re-elected. Therefore, each successive speaker has been frugal to the extreme in investing in the municipal government, striving not to leave a single thread or a single table.

  The city governments of all the cities where the parliaments are located are often ridiculed by foreigners for being dilapidated.

  On the contrary, the governor's office of each state, although also serving as the local municipal government, had to pay salaries and decoration expenses for its subordinates. However, the term of the governor was very long, and there was no limit, with some serving for 40 or 50 years not uncommon. Therefore, the governor's office was always built in a grand manner, after all, staying in a slum for a year could still be tolerated, but if one had to stay for half a century... This brother who was so willing to suffer would absolutely be loved by the crying goddess Aemita, and the nuns in her church would definitely take him as a key target for education and cultivation, indoctrinating him every day with the idea of "achieving redemption through suffering".

  As the crowd entered the banquet hall, Fili finally understood why they had chosen such a broken place to hold the celebration party and inauguration ceremony. This place was really too big. The entire banquet hall was like an oversized semi-circular air-raid shelter, from the ground to the roof it was as high as five floors, with a diameter of over 200 meters. People standing inside looked especially small, so the more than 1,000 remnants of the Giant Bear Army and almost the same number of civilians gathered here didn't seem crowded at all.

  Like other parts of the city government, the banquet hall itself was not decorated at all, but a temporary paper carpet was laid on the floor. Paper screens were also erected around it. With white tablecloths and sumptuous dishes and drinks, the long tables looked quite good. At least the greatest contributor to this war, Mr. Vini, the great Druid, and his unlucky bear team had already started eating before Zena, the speaker of the parliament, stood on the podium to announce the start of the banquet, attracting attention from others. However, no one went to stop them because it was absurd for the bears to follow the banquet etiquette.

  The banquet itself was nothing out of the ordinary. It started with Zena, the Speaker, making a speech condemning the aggressors' atrocities and praising the brave warriors defending the city, followed by everyone freely eating and chatting. Once everyone had basically filled their bellies and the atmosphere was suitable, the inauguration ceremony began. People went up to the podium one after another to receive new shoulder badges, official seals, and inauguration documents. Everything was going very smoothly until the last part of the ceremony, when it was Zena's turn as Speaker, a big problem arose.

  "What does this mean?!" Zena, the Speaker of the Continental Congress, exclaimed, her face pale as she glared at the throat of the transmission mage who had brought the document from the Central Government via ultra-long-range communication. "If the Commander-in-Chief dies, shouldn't I, as the Vice-Commander, take over? What is the meaning of this new position?"

  "This is a proposal submitted by the State Council, considering that you belong to the council system and do not conform to the convention of being appointed as a war zone commander by military personnel or governors. The face of the transmitting mage was extremely calm, not being overwhelmed at all by Zena's fierce momentum. And this proposal has been approved by the central government and has formal legal effect. Chairman Miss, you'd better sign and take office quickly."

  "Bang!"

  A slap in the face and a deafening roar of anger.

  "This group of people is as evil as a nine-headed dragon!"

  The parliaments of the southern states poured a basin of cold water on the head of Speaker Zena, who was proud and arrogant, making her career advancement become an instant bubble.

  The establishment of a war zone commander means that the functions of the state councils within the war zone are basically suspended, and the war zone commander's office directly leads the governor's offices of various states, and then leads the local governments to establish a temporary military dictatorship. Except for accepting orders from the central government, the war zone commander has the final say in his jurisdiction, and it is not an exaggeration to call him a local emperor.

  However, if it is a regular war zone joint council, which is generally called the Continental Congress here, then it would be just the opposite. The functions of the local governor's offices are basically suspended, and the state councils lead the local governments and report to the Continental Congress, establishing an expanded democratic institution. Unlike the War Zone Commander's Office, any member of the Continental Congress has the right to question the Chairman's orders; one-fifth of the members' proposals can be discussed and voted on; if the number of opposing votes exceeds two-thirds of the total in the vote, the chairman's order will be vetoed.

  It can be seen that the actual power difference between the two positions is not just a little bit, if the war zone commander is an all-powerful king, then the Continental Congress Chairman has become a restricted and controlled leader. It's no wonder that Speaker Zena, now should say President Zena, would behave so unreasonably in public.

  "Your Excellency, this is a public place!" Seeing Xena still hysterically grabbing the teleporter's hair and shouting, Fili had to step out from behind her, "Please pay attention to your image! There are many eyes watching below!"

  Zena, who had somewhat calmed down, finally stopped her embarrassing behavior and sullenly accepted the appointment. She then quickly announced that the banquet was over. From her expression and actions, it was easy to see that this female politician, who had just fallen from heaven to earth, was still on the verge of an outburst.

  I wonder if she'll take it out on the dolls or whip the maid when she gets back, either way it's going to be a show. Phil had some wicked thoughts in her mind while praying that President Zena wouldn't direct her flames at herself.