Outsiders would find it hard to imagine a cabinet meeting looking like this, as if everyone were honest people speaking their minds.
Minister He spoke in hypotheticals, like saying he had a friend. Everyone understood perfectly well.
Politicians were full of lies. There was no doubt about that; most of the time, that was simply how it was.
But sometimes, they were also incomparably sincere.
Because even the slightest deception could trigger all kinds of suspicions, eventually sending the outcome sliding into an unknowable abyss. Unless... they believed they could control the outcome.
In fact, they usually only believed they could.
The Director-General admitted frankly that, faced with the temptation of Transcendent Power and the intervention of other Angel Civilization factions, he himself would most likely be unable to resist.
"If, Minister He, you were the one cooperating with representatives of the other Angel Civilization factions, how would you determine whether they were sincere?"
The Director-General had raised a crucial question. Maintaining balance required a certain degree of skill, especially when caught between two behemoths.
They were afraid of botching it too, of ending up with an even worse outcome.
Minister He remained silent. Of course, he could not reveal everything. That would not be winning others over; it would be stupidity.
Seeing this, the Director-General understood that he would not get an answer to that question.
This kind of choice was itself a gamble. It all came down to whether one dared to take it.
Every major event that affected an entire civilization contained an element of gambling.
Otherwise, if both sides in a conflict won, who lost?
Could anyone say that when they decided to fight, they had set out intending to lose?
Either they believed they could win, or they wanted to take a gamble.
So now,